Texas stares down the barrel of ‘open carry’ and ‘campus carry’ debate

I was watching a weightlifting competition in a Juarez gym not too far from my old home near Plaza Juarez Mall in 2009. As I sat near the stairs toward the back of the gym, a young man was struggling to lift an absurd amount of weight when two men who did not seem interested in the competition came in through the back entrance . I remember hearing a loud metal clanging noise like the sound of weights dropping, followed by gun shots. Everything after that is a blur — running up the stairs, finding a place to hide, people screaming. Only one particular detail remains clear, the jet black 9mm handgun in the killer’s fist.

A Caribbean memory / Un souvenir de la Caraïbe

Fort-de-France, Martinique – A stiff wind blew in over Martinique the other night, first under clear skies, then under clouds that zipped by so fast they didn’t have time to rain. It wasn’t the kind of wind that ebbs and flows in gusts. It was constant like a fan turned on high blowing right at you. The awnings of our fourth-floor apartment in Fort-de-France creaked and groaned as they fought off the assault. I was nervous they might come loose. But I checked the bars and screws and satisfied myself that all was secure, that the hatches were battened down, as it were.

Legal abortions are still illegal abortions, just with a different name

The two little feet sculpted in relief on the pin I wear, exactly the same size as the feet of a 10-week-old fetus, say it all. I have worn it proudly to work, to school and in public. The precious-feet pin represents the myriad life journeys that were left unfulfilled by those who never had a voice or a proper beginning. The number is big — 55,772,015. Ever since the Roe vs.

As long as the rivers shall flow

Independence Day has come and gone. Native Americans can only watch from the sidelines, aware that they were considered “savages,” used by the British to harass the colonists. The Declaration of Independence charges that King George “has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.” Disdain for the First Nations is not now the focus of Fourth of July festivities – but it has shaped US history for some four centuries. Let’s consider another American party, the Super Bowl. The Washington Redskins were absent from this year’s contest, reducing media interest in the team’s nameand the campaign to change it.

6 great El Paso live music venues for the 18 and up crowd

Not every bar with a stage allows young adults under the age of 21 inside to enjoy the band, so here are some bumping places in El Paso where young music lovers can relish in some live tunes. 1. Tricky Falls – 209 S. El Paso St. Are you a hardcore metal-head ready to get hardcore? Then, Tricky Falls is the way to go.

To serve and protect … or arrest and murder

Across the country unarmed civilians continue to be murdered by police and nobody seems to be immune to police brutality and overuse of force. Antonio Zambrano Montez cast his last stone before police killed him with bullets — another murder at the hands of those who have taken an oath to protect and serve. As police in Pasco, Washington, responded to a 911 call, they saw Zambrano throwing rocks into traffic. He then threw a rock at police. In no way are his actions acceptable, but while not acceptable they were not deadly.

8 examples of the problem Hollywood has portraying Mexico and Mexicans

He lives in the desert or in a dangerous place, wears a big hat, sports a mustache, and sleeps under a cactus bush. She cleans fancy houses, takes care of Anglo children and lives in a drug-infested neighborhood. These are just some of the portrayals of Mexicans and Mexico in several popular Hollywood movies. Other stereotypes of our neighbors south of the border: vicious criminals, heartless drug dealers, poor, uneducated undocumented immigrants. But that’s only one side of the story.

Dehumanizing women is a global problem

Growing up in a borderland community, I had two options in my life – pursue a college education or start a family at an early age. As a young Hispanic aspiring journalist I know my purpose in life is to obtain a degree in hopes of continuing on to graduate school. I feel saddened that for the most part many women around the world do not have this opportunity in life. Men dictate their lives and say what route they should take in their careers. I have been doing a lot of research on human trafficking, and I have come across many stories about young women in search of a better life who are lured into that dehumanizing situation.

Mexican filmmakers erasing borders with their talent

“Who gave this son of a bitch his green card?” said Sean Penn handing an Oscar for best picture to Mexican-born Film Director Alejandro González Iñárritu at the recent film Academy Awards. Talent. His talent gave him a green card. What was meant as an inside joke sparked outrage in immigrants all over the country.

Detrás de la máscara: Mi vida como travesti

Empieza los viernes en la mañana. Esmalte de uñas verde, blanco y rojo para representar a la bandera mexicana, alternando esos colores en cada dedo del pie. El esmalte debe secar y endurecerse para la función de la noche. En la oficina, nadie nota que la transformación ya ha empezado. Los calcetines y zapatos lo ocultan, pero en mi mente los colores y las imágenes de contoneos me invaden paulatinamente.

Borderzine multimedia experience leads to journalism career opportunities

It’s been five years since my wife Danya and I first walked into the Cotton Memorial building for our introduction to journalism class at the University of Texas at El Paso. This is where we met our mentors David Smith Soto, Zita Arocha, and Lourdes Cueva Chacon. And where we learned the countless lessons we referenced every day at our internships and now at our jobs working for a daily newspaper. I was a creative writer at heart and felt comfortable with my storytelling abilities. Danya was an artistic photographer and felt comfortable telling visual stories.

Borderzine redesign reaches out to Border Life readers across all platforms

The 6-year-old online Border Life magazine, Borderzine, crosses another milestone this month with a redesign, enhanced digital features and visuals to better reflect its mission to publish rich relevant content about the borderlands by multicultural student journalists. A few of the exciting changes include a responsive design that allows readers to easily navigate across computer platforms and mobile devices, an updated logo, new story categories covering “Immigration and Fronteras” and “Diversity and Ideas” as well as a snazzier portfolio page to showcase the multimedia journalism of our student reporters. Here are some highlights of what we’ve added:

 At the core of the new Borderzine.com is the responsive web design, which makes the site look good across computer platforms and on mobile devices.  We’ve updated our look with a fresh, new logo inspired by the sunrise over a Southwest landscape – the vibrant glow of a new dawn in multicultural America.  New category sections on the home page showcase our unique and varied content.

Yo también soy Latina – Una mirada personal a lo que significa ser latina en la sociedad actual

Por Bianca Betancourt, Borderzine.com

Angélica Ruiz estaba en la escuela secundaria cuando fue al salón de belleza de su barrio y con mucha decisión le entregó a su estilista una imagen impresa de cómo ella quería verse una vez que saliera del salón. La imagen en cuestión era de la cantante Ashlee Simpson, a quien Ruiz admiraba por su cabello negro, cortado en capas mostrando un flequillo. En lugar de dejar el salón con el look de la estrella de rock, Ruiz se fue con una lección aprendida. “Cariño, tu cabello no se va a ver así”, le dijo la estilista. Ella le explicó que debido a sus raíces naturales, con su cabello rizado y voluminoso producto de su herencia mexicana, negra e italiana, nunca iba a  parecerse al estilo de Simpson.

A Haitian Youth Orchestra: Is It a Dream?

Port-au-Prince, Haiti – It’s fitting that I sit to write about Pastor Jean Enock on Martin Luther King Day, because he has a dream, too. It’s about using music to lift up young Haitians who are in desperate need. The problem is that the pastor’s dream is slipping away, and he needs your help. (See French translation below. Voir la traduction en Français ci-dessous)

Back in 2006, Pastor Enock founded the Occide Jeanty Music Academy in Cité Soleil, one of the worst slums in Port-au-Prince.

Border policies hurt parents, children split by citizenship

People say immigrants need to come to the U.S. legally, but I don’t think they know what that means. For Jorge and Lourdes Reyes becoming legal residents was not like a Hollywood movie with the American dream picture-perfect scenario. Historically, people traveling through Mexico into the U.S. could just walk over national boundaries without being asked to present any type of documentation. It was that way for much of North America’s history until relatively recently. Today we find people who are culturally, economically and ideologically tied together being separated by a border fence no higher than 21 feet tall.

3 great El Paso outdoor fitness spots to inspire your new year workout resolutions

When I ask people around the city what is holding them back from working out, the answer often deals with not feeling comfortable in the gym environment or not wanting to pay for pricy gym memberships. I can relate. I don’t have a gym membership either. However, that is not stopping me from trying to maintain a healthy life. I have found much comfort and peace in the beautiful and free outdoor workout areas my hometown of El Paso, Texas, has to offer.

U.S.-Cuba peace pact: Enemies, a Love Story, to be continued …

I blinked in disbelief when the message that the U.S. was restoring full diplomatic relations with Cuba flashed across the top of my iPhone screen. How do more than five decades of Cold War strife between Cuba, my native country, and the U.S., my adopted one, come crashing down with a headline flash on a sunny midweek December morning? At first I was doubtful it was true but after listening to simultaneous announcements by Obama in Washington and Raul Castro in Havana, the impact of what I had heard hit me and I began to sob. They were tears of joy at the good news and long suppressed grief over a homeland lost in time and memory when I was four and my penniless guajiro parents immigrated to Florida in search of una vida mejor, a better life, a tired cliché but true nonetheless. I imagine most Cuban exiles residing in the U.S. and throughout the world –the so called Cuban Diaspora ­– felt similar mixed emotions when they learned that se acabó lo que se daba, the party’s over, after five decades of U.S.-Cuba enmity.

8 things to know when considering becoming a go-go dancer

Go-go dancing might seem like an easy job. You just get in front of people at a club or party and dance, right? Wrong. There is so much more to it than just moving around. As a former go-go dancer I learned the hard way that it takes more than just looks and moves to succeed.

The suburbs of Fort-de-France, the capital of Martinique, with the legendary Mount Pelée looming in the distance. Photo courtesy of Stacy Marie-Luce, Tanisha Photography.

Learn more about America’s neighbors in the Caribbean’s Creole region

 Life in the Creole region of the Caribbean

FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique — Bonjour ! Sa’w fè?  Please allow me to introduce myself.  I am a former aid worker, journalist, musician and all-around n’er-do-well who lives in Martinique, an island with a history, people, and language most people know very little about. The booming influence in the United States of all things Hispanic dwarfs our knowledge of the Caribbean’s Creole region, even though the latter is geographically closer to our shores than most of Latin America. Like the other islands that form this diaspora of former slave colonies, Martinique is much more than a Club Med beach or the obligatory “…and the Caribbean” tacked on  to discussions about Latin America.  First, unlike, say, Saint Lucia or Trinidad and Tobago, Martinique is not a nation; its status as part of France could best be compared not to Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. territory but rather to Hawaii’s statehood.

5 pizza combos worth trying in El Paso

EL PASO—My love for pizza is undeniable. I find it fascinating that you could eat pizza every single day of your life and never repeat the same combination. Delectable, creamy cheese that melts in your mouth is the one layer that’s a constant among many variations. Usually, it is the endless toppings that range from spicy meats to fresh vegetables on top of a delectable crust make pizza unique. I decided to take my infatuation of pizza eating to the next level by driving to several of El Paso’s locally owned restaurants to try a diverse range of pizzas.

Breast cancer shadows my family, redefines womanhood

The years 1989, 2000, 2013 and 2014 scarred the women in my family. The scars remained on their breasts, the same breasts that nurtured their children, the same breasts that marked their rise into womanhood. Breast cancer scarred them, one of the most common cancers to affect women. More than 220,000 women in the U.S. were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011 according to the Centers for Disease Control. My grandmother, Natividad Saucedo, was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer in 1989.

Condenan en El Paso la muerte de los estudiantes y la corrupción en México

Shine a Light for Mexico! “Ayotzinapa Sin Fronteras” from Jesus Genaro Limon on Vimeo. Por Sharon Murillo

EL PASO — El pasado 26 de Septiembre 46 estudiantes de la Escuela Normal Rural “Raul Isidro Burgos” en el estado de Guerrero, México, fueron víctimas de la violencia y corrupción de la policía y el grupo criminal Guerreros Unidos. Estudiantes normalistas habían viajado de Ayotzinapa, Guerrero a Iguala, para recolectar fondos y exigir mejores condiciones para su escuela. Sin embargo, esa noche se convertiría en una pesadilla para ellos y la sociedad mexicana.  Esa noche marcaría la historia de México como una de las mas grandes tragedias del país.

Celebra la Comisión Internacional de Límites y Aguas 125 años de razón y diálogo

Por Myriam Cruz

En este año de 2014, estamos de fiesta, celebramos el triunfo de la razón, el diálogo y la diplomacia, celebramos los 125 años del establecimiento de la Comisión Internacional de Límites y Aguas (CILA), con su Sección Mexicana y su Sección Estadounidense, una institución que nos marca el camino de lo que significa tratar con tus vecinos de manera pacífica, y que ha dejado una profunda huella en nuestra historia y seguirá siendo crucial en el desarrollo de esta bendita frontera. Una forma de trabajar única, porque las secciones de cada país siempre están consultando entre sí, -con todo lo que eso conlleva, lidiar con cultura, puntos de vista, lineamientos de los gobiernos, y por supuesto, personalidades; trabajando para el bien común de todos, mexicanos y estadounidenses, los que vivimos en las ciudades y los agricultores que esperan con gran anticipación las descargas del río para empezar una nueva cosecha y un nuevo sueño. “CILA es ejemplo de cooperación fronteriza en el mundo”, dijo Enrique Serrano, Presidente Municipal de Ciudad Juárez, en septiembre 2014. Como a veces pasa, la razón de su creación se desprende del Tratado de Guadalupe-Hidalgo, cuando México pierde más de la mitad de su territorio y hay que establecer una nueva Línea Divisoria Internacional, en los tiempos en que se hacían los deslindes y marcaciones a través del compás y observando las estrellas, viajando por meses y acampando en medio de la nada para establecer la nueva frontera. Sucesivas convenciones van estableciendo las delicadas funciones de la CILA, usando los instrumentos a la mano de acuerdo con la época, para dirimir desde los límites de cada país -las fotografías que ilustran la forma en que se medían los aforos de agua, en canastilla a mitad del rio en los 40’s, hasta las modernas estaciones telemétricas que se utilizan actualmente, que nos van llevando por los entramados de un largo camino para repartir de manera justa lo que nos corresponde a cada uno.

Dale un efectivo “like” a las elecciones – Los millennials no ejercen su derecho al voto

Por Elizabeth Giadans

Los de la generación del milenio [“millennials” en inglés] vivimos en un tiempo donde hablamos sobre la violencia como si fuera algo regular, común y corriente. Los temas del entretenimiento y deportes consumen nuestro tiempo. Pero cuando de política o economía se trata, nos quejamos pero no hacemos nada. Nuestra generación representará el 40 por ciento de los votos en los Estados Unidos en el 2020. Un estudio del Pew Research Center revela que somos la generación más liberal en el país.

An El Pasoan’s personal reflections on the Ottawa attack

By Roberto Perezdiaz

Canada’s governmental openness is at risk. Many comments I have read online under the different headlines on the internet indicate many Canadians do not want to see the implementation of the draconian security measures the US has put in place. Although I’m reflecting on the “Attack on Ottawa” the day after (10/23/2014) the deadly events on Parliament Hill it would have been a forgettable day as I prepare to return to El Paso to vote and other “chores.” I write, reflecting it was three weeks ago Irasema and I were in Ottawa for a Border Conference at Carlton University and stayed at a hotel a short walking distance from the National War Memorial and from our café across the street watched a couple of changes of the memorial guards. I bet in the winter it is very hard duty for them to march out there, observed Irasema. I wonder if they wear those kilts in minus 20 plus weather, I said, as we have already experienced 36-degree days.

Ebola coverage too important to be a competition, editor tells journalists

After reports of an El Paso hospital closing its emergency room over a possible Ebola case burned like wildfire through social media Friday, Bob Moore, editor of the El Paso Times, posted the following cautionary note on his Facebook account:

“Something important to remember about reports of the closure of the Del Sol ER and any possible connection with Ebola:

Hospitals across the country have been dealing with concerns about possible Ebola cases. They react with an abundance of caution, as is appropriate. But in every case except those tied to the case in Dallas, tests have all turned up negative. We in the media should be informative but not alarmist.”

On Saturday the hospital released a statement saying its emergency room did not close. It explained that a patient’s symptoms and answers during a screening process triggered infectious disease protocols.

Feminismo e igualdad en el piso del cabaret

EL PASO — En el piso del cabaret Dreams, Jaguar’s, Tequila Sunrise o cualquier otro, se encuentra el dólar, el “todopoderoso”, mojado, no por culpa de las bailarinas exóticas, si no por las manos sudadas del hombre ansioso por tocar. Ahí en los tubos cromados, divergen dos puntos de vista que es el empoderamiento femenil y la humillación de la mujer. Uno puede encontrarse un dólar en el piso, recogerlo y ya, no se piensa mucho al respecto, más que un “vaya que suerte”. Sin embargo, para la bailarina exótica esto suele ser mucho más complicado ya que mientras ella se agacha a recoger el dólar, a lado de sus zapatos de plataforma, toda una infinidad de pensamientos recorren su mente. Para un proyecto final para una clase de sociologia de la Dra.Nuñez-Mchiri en la Universidad de Texas en El Paso, decidí investigar si es posible que en los “strip clubs” la mujer pueda ejercitarse y empoderarse al mismo tiempo, o es simplemente un medio más por el cual la mujer es percibida como objeto?

British parliament welcomes El Paso scholar on global health panel

After walking around in Parliament Square and mingling with the larger-than-life cast iron statues of Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela, my wife, Anuja and I entered the Palace of Westminster from the Cromwell Green.  We were, finally, inside the closely guarded compound of the United Kingdom’s Houses of Parliament. The date was September 2, 2014 and the Big Ben struck its chimes precisely at 5:30 p.m.

Some 45 minutes later, Lord Collins of Highbury introduced me as “Dr. Arvind Singhal, a leading global academic of communication and social change, based at the Department of Communication, The University of Texas at El Paso”

A wave of UTEP Miner pride ran down my spine. What was I doing inside the highly ornate complex of towers, turrets, and spires that is home to the British House of Commons and the House of Lords? Sitting in the packed CMA room which adjoined the 100 yard long Westminster Hall — where Winston Churchill lay in state for 23 days, and from where Nelson Mandela and President Barack Obama addressed the two Houses of Parliament, I was participating in a parliamentary panel on global public health policy.

Message to news media: Embrace diversity if you want to survive and thrive

Editor’s note: This commentary is part of Borderzine’s continuing series about the growing urgency to transform newsrooms into diverse work places. By Hugo Balta

Diversity doesn’t happen easily. It is slow progressive change. The pundit who asks, “why don’t they just hire more _____,” fails to understand the fiscal constraints in which media companies operate under. Newsroom budgets continuously contract in the ever-changing new technology economy.

Changing the complexion of news media calls for revolución

It’s time to shatter the myth that young Latino journalists won’t leave home for jobs in news media. This thought and others flashed in neon across my mind as I sipped white wine recently in a San Antonio ballroom to celebrate 30 years of tilling the soil to transform newsrooms into diverse work places by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. As the speeches and awards played out on stage, I recalled the offensive words of a top news media recruiter not so many years ago.  The recruiter, in his early fifties, had come from Washington, DC to UT El Paso, where I teach journalism, to meet with our journalism students. We thought he was coming to talk about jobs and internships. Instead he lambasted me and my journalism colleagues for producing journalism graduates who “aren’t aggressive enough, do not speak up and refuse to leave home for jobs elsewhere.”

Old stereotypes linger among recruiters

While we were all too stunned to respond, his insensitive comments didn’t surprise me.