DALLAS, Texas — Well, 12 weeks may seem like plenty of time.

It’s really not.

After working last week (week two), and getting my weekly evaluation, I’m feeling a sense of urgency to get my enterprise stories written.

I have been working on one in particular that I want to wrap up. It’s been challenging getting a few details squared away, but if all goes well, I should be able to have it done next week. I’m also going to start on a second enterprise story next week as well.

I have two solid weeks in Dallas left before I start traveling for the AP. The first week of July I’ll be in Houston, the next week in Austin, then New York. Two weeks is not a long time. It will be over before I know it. So I really have to push to get these stories done.

Next week, I have at least one spot news story to cover (things have been a little slow in Dallas as far as spot news is concerned), but I expect to be writing much more than the first two weeks. The more I can write, the better off I’ll be.

Meanwhile, I continue to plug away at trying to refine my writing and reporting. It helps to get the weekly feedback. Sometimes you don’t realize the mistakes you’re making until they are pointed out. My editor has a funny way of pointing out some of the things I need to change. It’s good to be able to laugh a little at yourself.

But in all seriousness, I take the advice to heart and try to implement the information into my work.

It’s tricky to switch from writing for broadcast to writing for print. It’s a skill that is constantly being used for the AP and one that I need to further refine.

That being said, it was a good week, but next week I’m gonna have to take it up a notch!

DALLAS, Texas — Week one of 12 down!

Well, it’s one when your job is to take a red pen to the copy. It’s another thing when the red pen is taken to your own copy. Before I graduated, I was copy editing for The Prospector so the red pen was in my hand.

It’s inevitable with being a reporter that editors go over your stories with the red pen. We all know what this means–corrections, suggestions and trimming.

Some stories get more than others.

With this internship, I print out a copy of all my unedited stories and save them for the end of the week when I get an evaluation.

So today, I got my first evaluation.

Despite the bleeding pages, I was really thankful to get the feedback and suggestions on how to improve my writing for the AP. It wasn’t all bad, don’t get me wrong.

It was really useful to see those comments and be able to discuss them with my editor and trainer. Every summer internship has been a little different for me, and this summer, I rather enjoy the fact that I will be getting this feedback on a regular basis.

This internship has a pretty solid training program.

Now that week one is under my belt I can go in next week a little better prepared.

As they say, you can’t be in this business if you have a thin skin. This is especially true when it comes to having your work edited.

Overall, I had a very productive week. I wrote every day, got my first byline picked up by several news outlets and am working on an enterprise story.

And I’m getting the hang of our operating system.

Looking forward for week two!

DALLAS, Texas — Well, I survived the first day.

It started out routinely enough, I left way too early in the morning to make sure I wouldn’t arrive late. Driving on 635 in Dallas can be slow at best during rush hour so now I know how long it takes to get to work about 15 minutes early and not almost an hour early (unlike today).

I met mostly everyone in the bureau and was happy to find that my colleagues have good senses of humor.

—Newsrooms can be intense and it’s great when people can find a little humor in the small stuff.

Just as I was getting the ball rolling on some routine posts to the wire, breaking news hits.

It’s a strange process when you are on your first day and you realize you are in the midst of a big news event. Luckily for me, the professionals are at hand to make sense of it all. Since it was my first day, I did my best to help out the seasoned reporters by gathering contacts and listening for any changes while they wrote several updates. It can sometimes feel as though you’re a little turned around in situations like that.

I also can’t help but feel a little rusty after editing all year for The Prospector and Borderzine.com when it comes to writing fast and getting back into the reporter swing of things. But I can see that that rustiness will quickly disappear as the days go by.

There is really no choice in the matter.

I’m happy to be with the AP for the summer and I intend to make the most of it. There are great reporters to learn from and many stories to be written.

_____

Editor’s note: This blog was originally published on UTEP Communications.

Years ago, if anyone asked me what I was going to do with my life, I would not have had an answer. But now that I am graduating, I am excited to say that I have an answer to that question –a journalist.

There are many people out there that will say that journalism is a dying field and that the odds of finding a job are slim. The truth is that journalism is an evolving field and this is a very exciting time to be entering the workforce.

With all the developments in new media, there are actually quite a bit of opportunities for those of us who have adapted to the changing field. Am I worried that I won’t find a job in a newsroom? No.

UTEP has come a long way in trying to ensure that journalism students are able to walk away with the skills needed to be competitive out in the real world. With opportunities like being able to work in newsrooms like The Prospector and now Borderzine.com, students are able to practice what they learn and have access to equipment like video and still cameras, audio equipment and editing software that professional newsrooms are using everyday.

In addition to that access, UTEP journalism students are also always encouraged to apply for internships. Luckily for us, UTEP has several strong partnerships with newsrooms around the country that are ready and willing to take us in and give us the chance to work with them as fellow reporters and photographers.

I can attest to the fact that without these internships, the chance of finding a job does become more difficult. Editors don’t want to hire someone fresh out of college without newsroom experience. The more internships, the better the chances of being able to get that first job.

Internships are also a great way to experience the industry first hand. How will you know if this is what you want to do with the rest of your life if you have never stepped foot into a professional newsroom?

I can say that after completing three of them from the Pacific Northwest to Washington DC, that yes, this is exactly what I want from a career.

I have spent four years working for The Prospector and there have been some good times, some stressful times and some exciting times. But throughout it all, this newsroom has helped me spread my wings and do what I love.

So, to all of my fellow student colleagues and Prospector staff –you know who you are–, thank you and good luck on your journeys.

My college experience would not have been the same without being a part of this newsroom. It can sometimes be a thankless job, but it’s worth every minute.

_____

Editor’s note: This story was previously published on The Prospector.

Cortez used to fashion a dark brown braid, when she first started cutting, matting and assembling frames at the Art Center, 3101 E. Yandell, but now she’s older and experienced. With nearly 53 years of framing experience and a short white hairdo, she has seen a half-century of history pass through the glass of frames she works with.

Ana Cortez getting ready to frame a customer's invaluable memories. (Justin Monarez/Borderzine.com)

“I love what I do,” Cortez said. “I’ve met a lot of famous artists in my 50 years. That to me is one of the nicest things that has happened in my life.”

Cortez started framing after graduating from Bowie High school in 1957. She was 17, and her favorite musicians were Fats Domino and The Platters. She was hired on the spot at the Art Center.

With no experience, she began working. She never thought she would be framing this long, but she can’t imagine not working there. Cortez has developed a love for her job, and the customers she works with.

“Work where you like to work. If you like what you’re doing work there,” Cortez said.

Framing the customers’ invaluable belongings has become her life. It is a privilege, Cortez said.

“You get attached to your bosses, the people that you meet,” Cortez said.

Cortez doesn’t consider herself an artist, but she does contribute to the overall piece. Therefore, she said customer service is the most important part of her job because they deal with items that may carry sentimental value.

“I know a lot of the artists and they are so grateful their artwork looks even better,” Cortez said.

Cortez has framed anything from astronauts Danny Olivas’ space-toured flags to a woman’s personal letter from President John F. Kennedy.

Cortez said she enjoys her work because it challenges her artistically and logically. She has to figure out which materials best protect and preserve the artwork while still complementing it.

“We do so many pieces that are very sentimental to people,” Cortez said.

Frames enhance the artwork aesthetically, in addition to protecting the piece. Cortez frames many works including – drawings, watercolors, pastels, letters, flags, rugs, etchings, clothing engravings, lithographs, silk-screens and photographs.

Although the framing was tedious, her favorite article was an heirloom wedding dress she framed nearly 20 years ago.

“I had to be super cautious with it because it was old,” Cortez said.

She has framed work for Tom Lea, Jose Cisneros, Dorothy Geyer, Peter Hurd and many more, and recalls a painting worth more than $20,000 as the most expensive piece she has done.

Pat Cisneros, artist Jose Cisneros’ daughter, had two of her father’s pieces framed in the last month. Cortez realizes, in some cases, she may be one of few people to see the piece and, for that, she is “very honored.”

Within her half-century as a framer, Cortez has married, purchased a home and raised two kids, one which currently works at Art Center as well.

Michelle Lightbourn and her mother Ana Cortez, two generations of memory carers. (Justin Monarez/Borderzine.com)

Other than the love for her job, Cortez’s daughter Michelle Lightbourn said her mother probably loves her job because it allowed her to be around her children.

“I was proud of what she did,” Lighbourn said. “I loved it because she was able to work full-time and still pick us up from school.”

Lightbourn, who is a single mother, has worked as an assembler for a year. She said she also values her job because it allows her to spend time with her children.

Over the years, her line of work has become a family affair. Cortez gets to work with her daughter and sister, Suki Tonchi, who has worked as a matte cutter since 1973.

“Now that I work here I get to see everything that she does. It amazes me,” Lightbourn said.

Although she has been working for a long-time, Cortez said she is not going to resign anytime soon.

“I don’t even feel like retiring, to be honest, because I love working here,” Cortez said.

Working inside, Estine Davis, an elderly but lively African-American woman who won’t reveal her age, has cut hair for decades. The wrinkles on her face and the countless plaques on the wall whisper tales of times long past.

Barber Estine Davis taking care of Dr. Donald Phifer, a customer of her for 25 years. (Eddie Delgado/Borderzine.com)

Davis is the owner of Estine’s Eastside Barbershop. For those familiar with this border city, this area is considered South Central El Paso. But according to Davis, that wasn’t always the case.

“This is the Eastside of town when I started here and it will always be the Eastside to me,” said Davis. Although now the area has billboards in Spanish and is rapidly becoming a predominantly Hispanic area, she said.

“This area has always been white, black and Mexican, although I have been seeing more Mexicans come in lately.”

Davis’ story starts in Pendleton, Texas, a town near Austin of 60 souls. She said that her family moved from Pendleton to El Paso when she was six years old and she has lived here ever since.

She started cutting hair in Fort Bliss, Texas for the soldiers at the time and became accustomed to cutting men’s hair.

A female barber was rare then and she said she could have gone into styling in a beauty shop, but she enjoyed her work. She didn’t mind being a barber.

“The woman is interested in the way a man looks and want’s his hair cut, a man barber just get’s it cut to get the customers out. That’s what makes a woman barber better!”

After leaving Ft. Bliss, she would later work for her godfather. He had bought a shop from a man named “Fred Hughley” on the corner of Alameda and Piedras, the very same shop she was working in now.

Most people would have already retired at her age but she will have none of that.

“Nobody should retire. When you retire your brain retires with it. You have to keep moving and doing stuff.”

Then she curled her lip and smiled and said. “Besides, I’m not everybody else. I’m just Estine.”

Just at that moment a customer drove up outside the shop and came in the door. He sat down and Davis began to place the red gown over him and prepare her tools.

The man in the chair, Dr. Donald Phifer, a local El Paso Physician, has been Estine’s regular customer for over 25 years.

He said that Estine doesn’t just leave her imprint on a barbershop. She leaves it in several places in the community.

“Estine believes in the development of the young black woman,” said Phifer. She turned on the clippers and began to cut his hair.

Estine’s Eastside Barbershop (Eddie Delgado/Borderzine.com)

“She’s sponsored the Ms. Black El Paso pageant for countless years,” he said trying to speak over the clipper’s noise.

“She’s so creative, adventurous, and a relentless worker. She’s been making floats for the Thanksgiving parade for years.”

Twenty-eight years to be exact. Davis created her first float for the El Paso Thanksgiving parade in 1982 and has been making one yearly ever since. Last year’s float named “Soul Train” won the Honorable Mention.

“This year’s parade theme is about dreams. What should I make this year’s float about?” she asked.

“Maybe Disney characters since, they constantly use the ‘dream’ theme,” someone said.

But she had already decided on the real dream come true for African Americans and the rest of the American people.

“I’m going to do the float on the White House,” she said, smiling.

This was surreal to me, as cliché as it sounds. It seems like just yesterday I was filling out my application and waiting for the acceptance letter from UTEP.  Soon, I will be exposed to the real world, exposed to life. Not sure if I am ready for all that just yet.

This year, I grew up.

I finally got enough courage to move out of my dad’s house and get a new car. This change was drastic for me because I went from paying nothing to worrying about rent, a car payment, groceries and other necessities.

Juggling life's responsibilities (iStockphoto.com)

Although I have a lot on my plate I don’t regret a thing. I am having the time of my life, and moving out has really helped me become more independent and grow as a person. It is amazing to see what a difference it makes to be living on your own. I no longer have to call and let my parents know who I’m with, where I’m going or what time I will be home.

I can come and go as I please.

With this new-found independence came a boatload of responsibilities. I couldn’t get away with working three or four times a week like I used to. I have bills to worry about, so I now have to work five days a week.

I have come to realize that growing up is not so easy and life can be overwhelming at times. Time management is important, and I’m still figuring it out. I have always been one to do everything and sadly you can’t do everything all the time. You’ve got to pick and choose your battles.

As a kid I couldn’t stick to one sport, I had to do them all. This semester has served as the biggest challenge for me; with all these new responsibilities I have found it really hard to juggle my time wisely. I am still trying to get into the hang of things. I’ve learned slowly but surely that I have to do things in moderation because if I don’t I won’t have time for other things that need to get done. I’m also a full-time student and intern at channel 7. Talk about busy! I wish there was more time in the day to do all the things I want, but unfortunately there is not. Is two more hours a day a lot to ask?

As this semester comes to an end, I find myself scared but eager at the same time to embark on another chapter in my life. Although procrastination seems to have been by best friend this semester I have learned from past mistakes and grown so much. My college experience so far has been a roller coaster of emotions and events. In the beginning I was a lost puppy.

I was so confused about what I wanted to do and life in general. But as I come to my final semesters I couldn’t be more content because I finally feel that I am where I need to be and on the right path. I never expected the college life to be as difficult as it is.

It is portrayed in the movies as a time in your life to party, granted I have had my share of partying, but it is a time to reflect and find out who you are as a person and pursue what you want out of life. I am so proud that I have come this far; I can’t fathom the idea of me being the first in my family to obtain a college degree. To me that is quite an accomplishment.

Come December, I will be thrilled to death that all this hard work has finally paid off.

EL PASO, Texas — Last summer, she traded in her sneakers for high heels in hopes of becoming Miss El Paso.  A win meant gaining media exposure to launch her volleyball career and experience in front of the cameras for her journalism aspirations. It turned out to be the ace of her game.

If being smart, talented, civic minded and articulate is what is needed to win beauty pageants, then UTEP Miner Kelsey Moore, who captured Miss Texas 2010 with no prior pageant experience, could just win Miss USA 2010 in Las Vegas this April.

Although she entered the El Paso pageant with only one month to prepare, she astonished the pageant community by her intense focus and uncompromising determination to learn fast. She captured the Miss El Paso title in June and went on to win Miss Texas in September as well.

Kelsey Moore, Miss Texas 2010 (Nora Orozco/Borderzine.com)

While her competitive spirit is what drives her, self-awareness also plays a role. “This experience has taught me that I can do more things than I give myself credit for. I learned that I can really do anything I want if I just put my mind to it,” reflected Moore. “Everyone had her little pageant moms and I really did this by myself,” said Moore.  Her mother lives in Chandler, AZ. It was not until she competed in the Miss Texas pageant that she got help from director Laura Rayborn.

Of course, being a blue-eyed-blonde, towering at 6’2”, and a 19-year-old-student athlete with a killer smile helps. After all it is still a beauty pageant. Moore’s striking beauty is only accentuated by her height, which she says her parents taught her to value as an asset. “My parents decided to put me in sports at an early age so that I could learn to use my height and get coordinated,” she said.  It is something she learned well. “I hate it when I see tall girls slouched over,” she added, “be proud of your height.”

Moore believes it was more than her good looks though, that captured the judge’s attention.  She believes the judges saw a smile that was natural and raw. She added, “I think the judges could tell I was really having fun out there.” Unspoiled by the clamor of beauty queen pageantry and extravagance, Moore’s appeal at the Miss El Paso and Miss Texas competitions, was her invigorating fresh presence.

“My goal was to win the swimsuit competition,” admitted Moore. When she captured that title she knew she had a shot at the crown.

While Moore also credits her competitive spirit, discipline, and volleyball workouts to her win, the Division I volleyball player on a full-ride scholarship at the University of Texas at El Paso has more passion in her than for just sports and tiaras. “If I wasn’t training for volleyball, I’d be out attending Tea Parties,” she said, revealing that politics is her abiding passion. She believes it is crucial that all people young and old be involved in the political discourse of the country.

Aside from her studies, she also pays attention to the current health care debate. “When health care makes-up one-sixth of our entire economy, it is important that we take time to perfect it and not just throw it together,” she said. “I do believe in reform, making it affordable, and covering pre-existing conditions, but not in a government run health care system,” she continued, “it’s just not a good idea.”

She is highly critical of the Obama administration and what Moore characterizes as his failed policies.  The health care proposal is what she is most critical of. “Come on, it is his baby, and he is not able to convince the country on the thing he is most passionate about,” she said.  Moore hopes to one day become a political anchor like Martha MacCallum on Fox News, while revealing that her true devotion is to her favorite political commentator Glenn Beck.

Moore is optimistic that this spotlight will allow her message to future generations to “stay true to your personal values” to be heard. To Moore this means preserving the faith that her Christian upbringing has taught her to value and that now shapes her opinions and beliefs.  At times this can prove quite controversial in a country that is divided between left and right, conservative and liberal.  Nevertheless expressing your opinions, in such a public role is something Moore is confident in doing regardless of whether she wears a crown or not.

“Stay true to your personal values” said Kelsey Moore. (Nora Orozco/Borderzine.com)

“In America we do have free speech and we shouldn’t get beaten and battered for expressing our views,“ she said referring to the assailed Carrie Prejean, who initiated a storm of controversy when she conveyed her opinions on traditional vs. gay marriage at the Miss USA pageant in 2009. Moore does not believe that Prejean lost the crown due to the expression of her personal beliefs since she was not a contender in the swimsuit or evening gown competitions. She does however allege that such a politically divisive question was unfair.

Nonetheless, Moore is not in the least bit intimidated. She is assured that she represents a majority of the country that shares her social and fiscal conservative views. “Most of the country is conservative,” she said. But even if she felt she was in the minority, she would not be afraid to challenge the dominant and popular thinking. “I believe in standing up for what you believe in, regardless of whether it is popular or not,” she said. “The important thing is to be respectful and be knowledgeable, do your research, have a basis for what you believe,” added Moore.

It is obvious that her strong family ties and Christian upbringing shapes her confidence, determination and self-reliance.  Above all, what she values most deeply is her faith. She feels it helps her to be a better person. She has also been influenced greatly by her parents. While she believes she inherited her dad’s competitive spirit and love of sports she also looks up to her mom. “She has got a quiet strength that I admire, because she realizes what is important to speak on and when it is better to not speak,“ said Moore, while admitting that she personally tends to talk too much.

Whatever Kelsey Moore is doing El Paso wants her to do more of it. “The support here has been amazing,” said Moore. “People really want El Paso to get back on the map,” Moore said. El Paso had not won Miss Texas in 15 years and she is recognized wherever she goes, but she said she still can’t get used to people asking for her autograph.

Esther Chávez Cano (Courtesy of Victor Munoz)

EL PASO — She stood five feet two inches tall in her sensible heels. With her short-cropped blonde bob and piercing blue eyes behind rounded spectacles, Esther Cano looked more like a school librarian than a scrappy fighter for human rights for women in crime-plagued Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

But Cano, who died of cancer on Christmas Day at age 75, could definitely deliver a mighty wallop and often did, taking aim at political indifference and the lack of legal and police protection for women victims of violence in Mexico.

Some who gathered in El Paso recently to celebrate Cano’s life and activism remember her as, “an army of one.”

Esther Cano's nieces, Marta Strobach (left) and Sylvia Berdeja (right), listen to speakers at a recent gathering to celebrate Cano's life.(David Smith-Soto/Borderzine.com)

“She said she was not a saint or Mother Teresa but just a human-being fighting for justice,” said niece Marta Strobach.

The diminutive “güera,” or blonde, as some friends affectionately call Cano, was largely responsible for bringing international media attention to the previously ignored murders of hundreds of women and girls in the scrappy border town of 2 million residents, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, TX.

As pink crosses with the words “ni una más” (not one more) proliferated on Juarez lamp posts, street corners and a prominent border crossing, so did news stories and a slew of movies about the grisly murders of young, single, working-class women and girls in Juarez.

UTEP's Associate Provost, Dr. Irasema Coronado (left), and Dr. Kathy Staudt (right), listen to Cynthia Bejarano of Amigas de las Mujeres de Juarez (David Smith-Soto/Borderzine.com)

Professor Socorro Tabuenca, a friend and fellow rights activist, recalls Cano’s tireless determination. Once, during a protest march in front of the Juarez cathedral, Cano requested that she and others, including a nun, sing out loud so others would join in the march. Click here to read Tabuenca’s reflections on Cano in Spanish.

During the 1990’s, a time when Mexican politicians and law enforcement were oblivious to crimes against women, Cano began combing through newspaper archives and other sources for names of victims, dates, information on family members, and other relevant details of each disappearance, every body discovered in an isolated neighborhood or desolate field.

She eventually amassed an extensive database of relevant information. Click here for the Esther Cano collection at the NMSU library.

Not satisfied to just document the murders, she wrote (click here to read two of her columns) often in the local newspaper about women’s rights, domestic violence and called on authorities to investigate the growing murders.  In 1999, she convinced a relative to lend her a house in central Juarez to open a rape crisis center. Later, a group of local businessmen donated a house and Casa Amiga found a permanent home.  Cano raised money to run the center through fundraisers and private donations, and the center expanded its mission to help victims of domestic violence.

In 2004, the murders of women caught the attention of playwright Eve Ensler, author of the Vagina Monologues, who brought a number of U.S. and Mexican actresses to El Paso-Ciudad Juarez for a bi-national march that drew thousands.  Later, Ensler wrote a story in Marie Claire magazine about her visit to the border and the crimes against women, which were referred to in the press as “femicide.” ( Click here to read Ensler’s story).

The event drew worldwide press attention and later in 2004 Cano received an International Human Rights Award in London, and in 2008 she won Mexico’s National Human Rights Award.

Despite the accolades, Cano remained grounded in the grassroots human rights activity she started two decades ago.

“Soon there will come a time when my voice becomes silent so that new voices can be heard,” Cano wrote on her website recently. “Voices that will carry forward the cause of women and also the cause of men leading us all to a more just and democratic society.”

Memorial to Juarez's murdered women and girls at a Juarez border crossing into El Paso, 2004. (Courtesy of David Smith-Soto)

_____

Related links:

V-Day obituary of Cano

Los Angeles Times obituary of Cano

NMSU librarian Molly Molly’s memorial to Cano

Los Angeles Times story about a recent ruling against Mexico for failing to investigate the murders of three women in Ciudad Juarez in 2001.

Conocí a la Güera a mi regreso a Juárez a principios de los ‘90 cuando acababan de pasar las elecciones para la alcaldía en las cuales ella había perdido con el PRD. Recuerdo que me dijo que sabía que iba a perder, pero que como ciudadanas teníamos que empezar a hacer algo para cambiar al país. Al poco tiempo me invitó a formar parte del grupo 8 de Marzo y nos reuníamos en la sala de rectores de la Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez (UACJ).  Éramos un puñado de mujeres dispuestas a reclamar igualdad entre los sexos y los géneros. En aquel entonces Irma Campos (que en paz descanse también) traía una propuesta para cambiar la ley del estado, pues en Chihuahua se castigaba más el robo de una vaca que la violación de una mujer.

La Güera era una mujer inquieta y convencida de la equidad de géneros en todos los ámbitos; así que su lucha empezó con algunos derechos constitucionales y civiles de las mujeres. Además del cambio constitucional que proponía Irma, empezamos a ver la posibilidad de abogar por el derecho a decidir de las mujeres. Por ella conocí la organización de Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir con la cual coordinamos algunos seminarios y tuvimos discusiones interesantes. Asimismo, me invitó a dialogar con Patricia Mercado, y con los también desaparecidos, Gilberto Rincón Gallardo y Cecilia Loria. Eran los primeros años de su ardua carrera en pos de la justicia y la igualdad, en los que en cantidad de ocasiones nos reunimos en su casa a discutir, hacer planes de cambio, a crear estrategias… y Paulita se encargaba de ver que estuviéramos a gusto, que no nos faltara nada.

Cuando empezaron los asesinatos seriales de mujeres nos reunimos para protestar en su contra y nuestras marchas apenas reunían entre 50 y 100 personas… Recuerdo que en la primera manifestación, ya frente a la Catedral, me lanzó a media Plaza de Armas a cantar con Micaela Solís y con una monjita el Himno a la Alegría en señal de convocatoria para unir a más gente a la lucha. En otra ocasión,  esperamos ocho de nosotras a Barrio en el entonces hotel Plaza Juárez con cartelones que decían ¿Cuántas más señor Gobernador? …pero él no se presentó. Después me invitó a formar parte del Consejo de Casa Amiga pero al poco tiempo tuve que renunciar pues mis constantes salidas de la ciudad por motivos de trabajo no me permitían asistir a las reuniones. Esther era una mujer con empeño y decisión y a pesar de que había logrado fundar el centro en aquel entonces en la calle Perú, siguió clamando justicia y levantando un “censo” o pequeña estadística hemerográfica de los asesinatos de mujeres.  Era importante llevar una cuenta, al menos de lo que salía en los periódicos, a fin de que las autoridades no nos pudieran engañar.

Los asesinatos no cesaron y las manifestaciones se fueron haciendo más grandes… el resto es historia… Mucha gente recordará la famosa marcha el 14 de febrero de 2004, en la que nos reunimos cerca de 10,000 personas de distintas partes del mundo. Esther, había logrado una amistad con Eve Ensler y Eve se había encargado de contagiar a Sally Field, Jane Fonda y Cristine Lahti para participar en la lectura de los Monólogos de la Vagina y unirse a la marcha. Éste fue un evento de gran relevancia para dar a conocer la horrible masacre que durante años se estaba cometiendo en nuestra ciudad y la impunidad con la que se cometía (y se sigue cometiendo). Sin embargo, lo trascendental fue y es su lucha diaria.

Esther tuvo detractores y detractoras e incluso gente a quienes apoyó mucho, con el tiempo le volvieron la espalda de una u otra manera. Sin embargo, eso no permitió que cejara su empeño porque la violencia contra las mujeres se erradicara y, así, continuó clamando justicia por las mujeres asesinadas y sus familiares. Luchó casi hasta el final de sus días. Quince días antes de su muerte se presentó su libro en Casa Amiga y la Güera, débil de su cuerpo pero fuerte de espíritu, estuvo ahí, presente como siempre.

Alguna vez una académica en un análisis sobre esta problemática dijo que en Chihuahua las mujeres no estábamos preparadas para enfrentar la lucha feminista de la cual Esther fue pionera. Yo no sé si estábamos listas o no, pero para efectos prácticos y políticos y con los elementos que contaba en ese preciso momento, la Güera se levantó (lista o no) con el arma de su voz y tras de ella y junto con ella muchas mujeres y hombres. Con sus defectos y su cantidad de virtudes, como ser humano comprometido, Esther fue un gran apoyo para una gran cantidad de personas y su fuerza, voluntad y valor se quedan con nosotras y nos alientan para no claudicar.

2009 se cerró en Chihuahua con la pérdida de dos grandes luchadoras en pos de los derechos de las mujeres: Irma Campos y Esther Chávez Cano, a quien merecidamente dedicamos este homenaje. 2010 se inicia, en Ciudad Juárez con una guerra intestina, la cual acaba de dejar sin vida a jóvenes inocentes. Sus cuerpos masacrados son un recuerdo más de aquéllos de jóvenes mujeres violentadas que se fueron encontrando despojados de a 6, de a 10, de a 8, de a 15 en diferentes rumbos de nuestra querida ciudad y en diferentes momentos de los últimos 17 años. Seguramente Esther, mi Güeris, habría también hecho un reclamo de justicia hoy, como lo vino haciendo hasta el 25 de diciembre pasado en que cerró sus ojos para siempre. Todas sus luchas  fueron las mías y tuve la suerte de poder compartirlas con ella de distintas maneras, desde diferentes espacios. Sé que como yo, hay infinidad de personas que compartieron y comparten las mismas inquietudes de ella y con ella. Esther se fue y dejó un gran legado en Juárez y en el mundo. El apoyo que nos dio en vida, se queda y su espíritu nos alienta en nuestras pequeñas y grandes luchas de esta dura cotidianidad que hoy vivimos. Gracias a Irasema, a Kathy, al padre Henry por organizar este evento. Gracias a la Güera por su cariño, amistad y por todo lo que le aprendí en estos años; estoy segura que desde donde está, nos ve y sonríe con nosotras.