(Graphic Design by Raul R. Saenz)

My personal Fever Chart perspective on the never-ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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EL PASO – I am extremely content to have been part of this risky play, The Fever Chart. It changed my perspective of the Arab-Israeli conflict and I hope the production taught other young minds to not be oblivious to a continuing war that is happening this very second. The Arabs and the Israelis have been ripping each other to threads ever since I can remember. War kills love and joy, along with piles of people. And the only question I ask myself is this.

Immigrant dreamers find hope in Obama’s Deferred Action Plan

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EL PASO – The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that there are more than 1.7 million undocumented students in our nation. This is the case of my friend Ana, a 26-year old political science college student. Ana and I grew up together in a small mostly Anglo town in Kansas. For the security of Ana the location and her full name will not be disclosed. I never noticed any differences between us; we both always embraced the American culture rather than our Mexican roots.

Rembrandt, Rubens, and Golden Age of Painting in Europe, currently at El Paso Museum of Art. (Christina Duran/Borderzine.com)

Understanding the Baroque through paintings, music and theater

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EL PASO — Using words such as chiaroscuro, castrati, and rima to describe paintings by Caravaggio and other Italian artists, Jon Seydl explained the blend of music, poetry, and theater in Baroque paintings. ‘The Lute Player,’ a painting by Caravaggio in the late 16th century was one of the images explained by Seydl. It portrays an androgynous figure believed to be a castrato in a camerino, a small room in houses used for private performances. In the image, the castrato is playing a lute, a violin, a tenor recorder, a spinetta, and a musical score in front of him. This painting is a perfect example how the different aspects of the Baroque culture are shown in the paintings.

Mujeres víctimas de violencia encuentran refugio en Juárez

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Read this story in English

CIUDAD  JUÁREZ – Las  puertas del edificio se abrieron cuando Blanca, una mujer de 31 años, entró nerviosa y desesperada. Una vez más, su esposo la había golpeado. Convencida por una vecina de que debía buscar ayuda, Blanca se acercó al Instituto Chihuahuense de la Mujer en Cuidad Juárez, una institución descentralizada del gobierno del estado de Chihuahua que inició sus operativos en el 2002 en relación a una época que marcó trágicamente a la cuidad con la muerte de cientos de mujeres. “Es un proceso que se lleva a cabo lentamente”, dijo Blanca. “No es fácil, sin embargo, una tiene que luchar por si misma y también por sus hijos; darse cuenta que la vida a veces nos pone en situaciones difíciles, pero que siempre hay un camino de esperanza”.

(©Angela Kocherga)

When bullets turned to ballads

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Juárez, the war-ravaged border town, welcomes back Juan Gabriel, and hope
CIUDAD JUAREZ – This city, along with its prodigal son, the mega-star known as Juan Gabriel, has seen better days—we all have. The world-renowned singer with the thinning, dyed hair, wrinkles, and a few too many pounds walked forcefully on stage. Never mind that his voice was a bit raspy, his steps a bit wobbly. There he was, in full splendor, dressed in white with brown and green trimmings. Like Juárez, he was still standing.

Local DJ Amer and Co-Founder of Project Freedom. (Meili Bettina Robles/Borderzine.com)

Downtown welcomes glowing Halloween revelers with open streets

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EL PASO — Whether they were dressed as a banana, boxing champion, a huge hand flipping the bird, or just plain decked out in glow sticks, one thing was certain, they celebrated the first Halloween of its kind running through downtown. Thanks to Downtown Glow, the first annual event by Flow Entertainment, El Pasoans had a place to celebrate Halloween in a healthy, fun and bright way. The event took place on October 31 on one mile of closed streets including Oregon and Main. “We had seen this concept in other cities and saw that it was very successful,” said Crystal Bocanegra, co-founder of Downtown Glow. After seeing an event like this in Las Vegas, Crystal and her husband Alby decided to use their experience in event planning to create one where participants could enjoy what their own city had to offer.

Portada del 21/08/11 de El Siglo de Torreón.

La Narco-Guerra se intensifica y asesina al periodismo

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Por Ana Arana y Daniela Guazo

El reloj marcaba 38 minutos del primer tiempo, del partido Santos contra Monarcas, en el estadio Territorio Santos Modelo, a 442 kilómetros de la frontera con Estados Unidos, cuando los jugadores dejaron de perseguir el balón y corrieron hacia los vestidores. Había una balacera. El sonido de las balas interrumpió a los cronistas. Millones de espectadores mexicanos frente a la televisión observaron cómo se desarrollaba un enfrentamiento entre uno de los carteles más sanguinarios de México y la policía municipal de la ciudad industrial de Torreón, Coahuila. La cámara mostró a niños, ancianos, mujeres y hombres aterrorizados, escondidos debajo de los asientos.

In learning about my family and Smelter Town, I found out that my great, great grandma is buried in Smelter cemetary. (Ernie Chacon/Borderzine.com)

Smelter Town – a personal look at a ghost town firmly embedded in El Paso history

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EL PASO  – Smelter Town, a deserted ghost town on the north side of the Rio Grande inhabited for a century starting in the late 1880s by residents who worked for the copper smelting company that would become ASARCO has no inhabitants but is loaded with history. I was born in the late 1980s and I had heard stories from my grandma about her time living in Smelter Town when I was young. Of course, then I was a child who didn’t care about any of those things. I just wanted to play videogames, or run around outside pretending I was Indiana Jones with my rope which I imagined was the famous whip from the movies. I do remember news stories that were being reported about ASARCO in the 90s.

El Paso residents are confident that new toll roads will improve traffic in the area. (Anthony Rodriguez)

Toll road promises smoother traffic but unwanted bills may flow back to drivers

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EL PASO – El Paso county’s very first toll road, expected to speed up traffic flow when it opens in 2015, has caused traffic jams and major detouring along a nine-mile stretch on the I-375 loop during its construction phase. Charging tolls is seen as a positive change necessary to accommodate a growing community, so many residents say they are not worried about the problems that the construction process is causing at the moment. “I’m not sure when the streets will be in full effect, but I know we are making some major progress,” said El Paso mayor John Cook when asked if he knew a date of completion. “One side is practically done. As far as the other side, I’m seeing construct going on.”

The two new lanes will be built along the Border Highway between Zaragoza Road and Highway 54.

Abraham Velázquez, el fundador de unos de los sitios web para latinos más importantes de Chicago. (Carolina Sánchez/Borderzine.com)

Qué cool es ser latino

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CHICAGO – Ese es el mensaje de Abrahan Velázquez Tello, creador de gozamos.com. “Ser latino está de moda, es diferente, es cool”. Su objetivo es representarlo en su sitio web, donde ofrece una variedad de informaciones enfocada a latinos de entre 18 y 35 años interesados en la cultura, las artes y en el ocio. “La misión de gozamos.com siempre ha sido crear una mezcla entre cultura, educación y entretenimiento”. Este website es la obra de Abraham, un joven emprendedor de 27 años nacido en México D.F. y criado en Estados Unidos.

Sassil Ayala uses the “match your price” strategy to buy groceries and save money. (Selene Soria/Borderzine.com)

Consumers apply shopping strategies that won’t bust stretched budgets

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EL PASO – Buying the staples we need and the things we want has become a bit of an art in the weak economy following the Great Recession and folks are applying many different strategies to stretch their dollars as far as possible. The effort to acquire the supplies needed to live a decent life has become harder in the last few years. The essentials are more expensive than ever and luxuries are ridiculously expensive. Sometimes, though, there is a very fine line between what people need and what they want. In order to maintain a normal existence in our consumer society, people must be able to buy their basic needs and incomes have not kept up with the cost of goods.

Bamboo roll-up shade tying itself in a knot. (Cheryl Howard/Borderzine.com)

Knotty opine

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Teaching and Learning and Caring Blog

MIMBRES, N.M. – Why is it that necklaces, bamboo roll-up shades, and extension cords tie themselves up in knots without any help, and intentional knots are so difficult to learn? Since I started making jewelry, I have tried several pendants that are more masculine, or at least earthy, and I wanted to use leather cords rather than metal chains to complete them.  First I took a lesson from Roberto Santos when I made pendants for the drum circle guys. He taught me one way to make the knots so the laces slid up and down to adjust in length. I could do it right then, but I couldn’t do it a few days later when I was working on something else. Next, I took my problem to a luncheon at the Sociology and Anthropology department at UTEP.

Click on the image to enlarge. (Infographic by Nicole Chavez)

West Nile virus hits-all time record – Infographic

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EL PASO – With less than two months before the year ends, national and local health authorities are still treating cases of people with West Nile virus mosquito bites. A record number of cases has been reported making 2012 the worst year in history since 2003, confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Texas leads outbreak with more than a third of the total cases reported in the country – 1,754 of 5,054, according to CDC. On a media briefing held by U.S. health officials in Houston in early September, David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services declared this year as the worst in the state of Texas for West Nile. In the Southwest, those identified with West Nile virus live in eight different zip code areas of El Paso county.

Sun City Music Festival 2011 at Cohen Stadium. (Iris Lopez/Borderzine.com)

The Sun City’s nightlife rocks with the electronic-dance music that left Juarez

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EL PASO – This city on the U.S.- Mexico border known for the strong Mexican-American culture experienced a dramatic growth spurt in music and entertainment in the past two years as nightlife fizzled in violence-plagued Cd. Juarez. “Many people expected the Juarez violence to spill over the border, but the only thing that spilled over that border was the real electro nightlife,” said Silver IsReal, head of Estylow Junktion clothing design. Juarez’s nightclubs such as Hardpop and Morocos concert halls were host to many shows that attracted well-known DJ’s. When the violence in Juarez began to increase, many El Pasoans stopped crossing the border to see those shows and the nightlife followed them north.

Women who are trafficked into the U.S. are often kept secluded and isolated to avoid suspicion. (Nadia Garcia/Borderzine.com)

Citizen awareness is critical to the prevention of human trafficking

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EL PASO – The car headlights flashed past the windows of a farmer’s house out on a rural road in far west Texas on a sweltering, summer night bringing him outside to find out what the unusual midnight activity is all about. In the distance, he saw the car slowly approach a trailer parked in a desolate area and a man get out and open the trailer. “It has got to be a drug deal going on out there,” the farmer told Border Patrol officials in Hudspeth County, approximately 84 miles east of El Paso, Texas. Days later, Border Patrol officials broke into the trailer and found five Honduran women, dirty and barely clothed, shackled to cots. Between 18,000 and 20,000 persons are trafficked into the U.S. each year with the majority of cases involving sex trafficking of women and children.

Denisse Hernandez, who participated in El Paso Fashion Week 2012, considers that El Paso's fashion industry still has a long way to go. (Juan Salomón/Borderzine.com)

Fashionistas are knocking at the Sun City gates

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EL PASO – Accustomed to a free and easy fashion style best described as “desert leisure,” the Sun City has belatedly and slowly begun incorporating world-class fashion design into its culture. Fashion consciousness is progressing in baby steps here compared to fashion forward cities such as New York or Los Angeles, but this traditional southwestern city started developing a more sophisticated fashion sense during the past two years. “I have noticed that the fashion industry in El Paso has grown but we still have a long way to go,” said Denisse Hernandez who participated in Fashion Week of El Paso 2012 as a designer. El Paso Fashion Week (EPFW) aims to become a bi-annual event. The first official EPFW took place this year from March 23 to the 31.

Sonya Delgado supervises children at the Reynolds Home during the annual Fall Festival. (Nadia Garcia/Borderzine.com)

The homeless and abused find shelter and support at Reynolds Home

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EL PASO – Children glide playfully down the red, castle-like inflated slide while others giggling dance around a grassy field decorated with yellow, blue, and red balloons. But there is a tragic story behind each innocent smile. The annual Fall Festival held October 6th at the Reynolds Home was a time for the children there to join in fun and games at the start of the fall season. The Reynolds Home shelter opened in 1990 to provide safe shelter for homeless women and children. Some lack economic resources, others are fleeing from domestic violence.

Lucia Durá speaks about nurturing habits of the eye to see the beauty of the pigeon. (Moushumi Biswas/Social Justice Initiative)

Just Story Hour features creative deviance

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Just change: media, stories, and actions

By Moushumi Biswas

EL PASO – It was a celebration of innovative minds at Just Story Hour at the Rubin Center for the Visual Arts, UTEP, on October 15. The theme for the bright and sunny early fall afternoon was “thinking to make a difference.” It was the signature bi-annual event of the Social Justice Initiative (SJI), which is housed in UTEP’s Department of Communication, held in conjunction with the YWCA’s Week without Violence and the Rubin Center’s exhibit, Shifting Sands: Recent Videos from the Middle East. The SJI’s motto is “cultivating the habits of the heart” instead of the “habits of the mind” to break the status quo in conversations and actions about issues of justice, equity and peace. In accordance with its motto, the SJI invited guests who have created new approaches to tackle existing challenges. For instance, there was “mathemusician” Larry Lesser who composed songs to increase awareness and motivation in mathematics.

El proyecto de la Orquesta Esperanza Azteca pretende no solo formar músicos si no además alejar a los niños y jóvenes de la violencia desatada en la ciudad. (Foto cortesía de Jove Garcia)

Jóvenes, padres de familia y maestros trabajando en concierto tocan un son de esperanza en Juárez

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CIUDAD JUÁREZ, México – La vida de la pequeña de 11 años cambió por completo cuando la Orquesta Esperanza Azteca llegó a Cuidad Juárez. Jaqueline, cuyas calificaciones en la escuela no eran las más altas, sentía que le faltaba llenar un vacío dentro de si misma. “Antes de incorporarme a la orquesta me faltaba algo que me hiciera sentir más viva, más plena”, dice Jaqueline. La Orquesta Esperanza Azteca de Cuidad Juárez, un proyecto iniciado por el gobierno municipal y operado por Fundación Azteca, del Grupo Salinas en la Ciudad de México, es un proyecto social cuyo propósito principal es contribuir a la formación de mejores seres humanos a través de la música. “La orquesta consiste aproximadamente de 230 niños y adolescentes de seis a 17 años de edad que provienen de diversos niveles socioeconómicos de la ciudad”, dice Jove Garcia, coordinador del proyecto.

Daniel Centeno lanza un puñado de dardos agudos con sus Retratos Hablados

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EL PASO – Entre risas y anécdotas Daniel Centeno presentó ante aficionados de la literatura su libro Retratos Hablados en la Universidad de Texas en El Paso (UTEP). Retratos Hablados es una recopilación de 50 entrevistas a personajes de la literatura y la música entre las que destacan las de los escritores Elena Poniatowska y Carlos Monsivais y los músicos Gustavo Cerati, Manu Chao y la difunta Chavela Vargas. En 444 páginas Centeno no sólo comparte las respuestas resultado de sus cuestionamientos, sino también revela detalles que solo pueden ser percibidos al conversar frente a frente. “Centeno abandona por momentos el oficio de cazador para volverse un pescador. Si no de almas, al menos de confesiones inconvenientes”, dijo Luis Arturo Ramos, profesor de creación literaria de UTEP, quien junto a Lourdes Cárdenas, editora del portal de noticias Somos Frontera, acompañaron a Centeno en la presentación de su más reciente libro.

Carlo Mendo, co-founder of EPPG, explains the basics of permaculture to students of Somerset Charter School. (Josue Moreno/Borderzine.com)

Volunteers hope to transform urban blight into green gardens

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EL PASO – A once destroyed alleyway covered in syringes and broken bottles in downtown El Paso was turned into a thriving garden by a group of volunteers brought together by the El Paso Permaculture Group (EPPG). “Permaculture is a way of life that helps everyone, and teaches you to respect the earth,” said Claudia Paolla, a volunteer with EPPG. “It teaches the children to learn about their food sources and to appreciate the environment.” EPPG invested staff time and money to set up the garden for nearby families and taught them how to tend the crops. Created about a year ago with the help of various activists and volunteers, EPPG continues to reach out to the community, creating gardens in local schools and unexpected places. Permaculture is a growing movement that examines the issues and problems brought up by the way human beings relate to the earth.

Pan dulce and candies to honore the victims on violence in Juarez. (Krystle Holguin/Borderzine.com)

Relatives mourn victims of Juarez violence at Día de los Muertos remembrance

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EL PASO – An altar with pan dulce, candles, and fruit baskets placed next to photos of the dead honored the victims of violence in Juarez on this year’s Día de Los Muertos remembrance. Early Friday afternoon, Nov. 2, a mother wept as she stared at the photo of her 15-year-old son, murdered in Juarez, Mexico, in drug-related violence. She said her son was shot at his own residence. About 30 other photos of persons who were killed or who suddenly disappeared were displayed on the altar

Laughter and sobs were heard as family members remembered their loved ones.

Visitors to the Mirazozo Luminarium compared the experience to walking into a kaleidoscope. (Francis Regalado/Borderzine.com)

Visiting the Mirazozo Luminarium is like floating inside a giant kaleidoscope

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EL PASO – Inside a structure shaped like a spaceship, a world of bright luminous red, green and blue stripes of light form bouncing patterns of color on the walls of five metallic domes like fireworks in outer space. The structure, called a Mirazozo Luminarium, a creation of the British company Architects of Air was brought to El Paso as part of this year’s Chalk the Block event from October 12 to 14 and was displayed on Cleveland Square Park, next to the El Paso Museum of History. “I think it was awesome, “ said Esmeralda Quintana. 29. “I carry a kaleidoscope in my car and being inside the Luminarium was a dream come true.”

Residents approaching the event could see the 158 ft.

Jackie, a 27-year-old prostitute who has been in the business for only six months. (Shane Hamm/Borderzine.com)

Anguish and abuse define the life of a young El Paso prostitute

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EL PASO – The young woman has a frail frame, thin from a lack of food and an appetite for cocaine, black hair shaved on the sides, two silver rings piercing her bottom lip and tattoos on her arms and legs. Jackie, a 27-year-old prostitute doesn’t touch the wads of bills folded up on a dresser in a hotel room on Mesa Street. A friend will pick that up before she has sex with the man who made the payment, an average American guy, five-feet-10-inches tall, normal build. He was looking for sex, but she gave him more than that. He also received kind words and support from Jackie, who believes it her job to provide something more to the men who come to her.

San Elizario’s unique revival gathers local history, gardening and hundreds of artists

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SAN ELIZARIO, TX – There’s only one place in El Paso County where a family can see work by hundreds of artists, visit a veteran’s museum, get a homemade empanada at a café, see a live band at a restaurant that’s right next to the jail that once housed Billy the Kid, then walk a few blocks down the street to a community garden. This is the San Elizario Historic district, also known as “San Eli,” home to the only art district in the county, located about 10 miles east of the city limits. “We started this madness out here in 2009 with the Main Street Gallery and things just quickly grew,” said Al Borrego, a self-taught artist who invests most of his time promoting San Elizario and all the artists. “I take pride in my community and I think with the history and talent out here, it’s the perfect place for something like this.”

There are over 100 artists exhibiting their artwork in about 40 galleries, with more venues on the way. The artworks range from traditional acrylic and oil paintings, to iron and woodwork as well as sculptures, stained glass and jewelry.

Angelica Sanchez and her children enjoy Puerto Rican food at Maracas. (Meili Robles/Borderzine.com)

Maracas plays a savory Cuban beat and a Puerto Rican salsa

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CANUTILLO, TX – At the border, a few yards before the tiny town of Canutillo becomes the busy city of El Paso, cars whiz by a run-down gas station without a second glance at the caution tape wrapped around the gas pumps, missing what many believe to be the best sandwich shop in town. Maracas, located at 911 Talbot, is the home of the Cuban sandwich, the sandwich that made the eatery famous in El Paso. What many don’t know however is that it is also home to a vast variety of Puerto Rican food. “I come Friday’s because he has the comida criolla… That’s the type of food I really like,” said Raymond Valles, a regular customer who was enjoying Pollo en Fricasé. Maracas owner Raymond Ortiz explained that to prepare Pollo en Fricasé, they must let the chicken marinate overnight in a stew-like marinade made with pureed vegetables.

Former White House correspondent, Sam Donaldson, gave the lecture "Road to the White House." (Ernie Chacon/Borderzine.com)

Sam Donaldson says the presidential election is too close to call

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EL PASO – Veteran ABC news reporter Sam Donaldson has covered every national political election since 1964 but he has never seen one as close and as difficult to call as the upcoming contest next week between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. “I can’t call this election.  Many times at this point, two weeks before a presidential election you kind of know who is going to win. I don’t know this time,” Donaldson told students at the University of Texas at El Paso October 23. “It’s been an interesting year,” the former White House correspondent said. He told students that each candidate has flaws, referring to Obama as an “empty suit” during the first debate for which the President was criticized for not speaking out as forcefully on the issues as Romney did.

El Paso’s culture war (Cont. 3) – Voters must defeat the bond propositions at the polls Tuesday

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EL PASO – Betraying their responsibility as democratically elected officials to represent the will of the citizens, El Paso’s City Council members have declared war on El Paso taxpayers by signing off on an unauthorized multimillion dollar baseball stadium that will transfer taxpayer money to the group of developers behind this coup d’état. I again paraphrase Henry David Thoreau’s Essay on Civil Disobedience that: Never have so few in the name of so many done so much harm. This action by the Central Committee composed of GPL (Gullible Political Leaders) or maybe consciously complicit usurpers of the public trust, constitutes a brazen breach of their status as representatives of the will of the El Paso citizens who elected them. With this betrayal, they lost all – I repeat all – credibility. The most serious ethical line they crossed, and it may be a legal line, was that by approving this baseball stadium boondoggle they attempted an end-run around the legal requirement to present any increase in tax rates to the voters.