ARMANDO RASCÓN

American media artist

based in Washington, DC

Armando Rascón's work in conceptual art is widely acclaimed and has been the subject of a number of commendations, including fellowship grants from the the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, the prestigious Adaline Kent Award, and project grants from the US-Mexico Fund for Culture, San Francisco Arts Commission, as well as from both the Lannan and Rockefeller foundations. Born and raised on the US/Mexico border town of Calexico, California, Rascon's childhood was informed by the language and symbolism of the nascent Chicano civil rights and cultural movements of the early 1970s. Rascon's early works employed contemporary methods of research and analysis to examine the institutional construction of cultural repositories, archives, and information systems. As a young artist, Rascón established himself a pioneer in Chicano conceptual art. Departing Southern California for San Francisco in 1981 Rascón's first body of work addressed AIDS activism. Early warning signs predominated his Folsom Street studio neighborhood (in the leather district), as the city's Gay community erupted in a health threat of apocalyptic proportions --with the entire global community ultimately affected. For over three decades Rascón has merged video, computer animation, sound, interactive web-based art, queer and Xicanx identity, language, and borderlands cultural 'lore discourse into expansive installation projects. SELECTED CV Copyright © 1977-2026 Armando Rascón. All Rights Reserved. All contents of this site (including photos, audio, video, images, text and other representations of the artwork, materials related to the artwork) are protected by copyright - any use of these materials without the express permission of Armando Rascón is a violation of said copyright.


VIDEO selections

Naco Nocturnes (video projection) 2006, RT: 5:27, Element from installation Armando Rascón: Naco Nocturnes at the De young Museum, San Francisco, California. 2006-2007.
Niño Perdido (Sur) 2003, 2-channel DVD projection.TRT: 5:45 minutes. Two-channel, Left panel. Armando Rascón: Border Xicanographies, Galería de la Raza, San Francisco, California. 2003.
Niño Perdido (Norte) 2003, 2-channel DVD projection. TRT: 5:45 minutes. Two-channel, Right panel.Armando Rascón: Border Xicanographies, Galería de la Raza, San Francisco, California. 2003.
Armando Rascón: Two Ballcourts w/ a Mediated Third, RT: 8:24 minutes, 2002. Video projection element from project Armando Rascón: Border Xicanography, commissioned to appear alongside The Sport of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame. The Newark Museum, New Jersey, 2002. Video comprising outtakes from the 1992 World Cup quarter-final match between the USA and Mexico, the Juan Soldado Chapel in Tijuana, and youth scaling the border fence at site Mexicali/Calexico.
Armando Rascón: Border Crossing Action, 1991 TRT: 01:24 minutes. 1991. Video. Roundtrip walk -- Calexico, California en-route Mexicali, Baja California and back to the USA on October 12, 1991. Created for Projections in the Public exhibition at INTAR, New York.

AUDIO selections

Gloria Anzaldua's Borderlands/La Frontera Opening pages, reading of opening and video by Armando Rascón for public programs associated with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego's exhibition To Tame a Wild Tongue curated by Alana Hernandez in 2020.
This segment is part of a compilation of artists reading the entire book for public broadcast by the MCASD.
Armando Rascón: Naco Nocturnes (audio soundscape), RT: 70 minutes, 2006. AUDIO link to SOUNDCLOUD stream is here:
Armando Rascón: Chicanx Victory Applause Demo, 1991, invited guest artist lecturer Armando Rascon teaches Yolanda M. Lopez's class the Chicano Victory Applause, The Little Theater, San Francisco State University, October 1, 1991.AUDIO link to Soundcloud stream is here:
Armando Rascón: radio capture 9 November 1994 Audio clip from Spanish radio broadcast morning of 9 November, 1994, on first day after passage of Proposition 187 in the state of California. AUDIO link to Soundcloud stream is here:
Armando Rascón: radio capture 9 November 1994 (pt. 2) Audio clip from "Entre Mujeres", Spanish radio broadcast on morning of 9 November, 1994, on first day after passage of Proposition 187 in the state of California. AUDIO link to Soundcloud stream is here:
VIDEO: sketch for Artist Talk by Armando Rascón, Invited speaker for the 4th Annual Soy Bilingue Festival, Los Angeles, California, 2021. Broadcast on May 26, 2021.
Interactive Web Based Projects: 1993 - 2002
AztlanLifeExtensionFoundation 2002. Online site with digital mural, Galería de la Raza, San Francisco, Fall. This project to re-emerge on www.xicanx.net
Institute for Xicano Relations: Portable Chapel Juan Soldado 1998, html interactive computer station + bilingual information database; commissioned by Sala de Exposiciones Canal de Isabel II, Madrid, Spain, for exhibition “Aztlan Hoy.” This project to re-emerge on www.xicanx.net.
instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado
institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado
Portable Chapel Juan Soldado (1993-1998) is being reconstituted. The Occupied Aztlán Database information is presented below, the images are forthcoming. Click the arrows to advance forward (or to reverse).

  • instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado


    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    Dichos (Todos los hombres mueren pero sólo unos cuantos realmente viven) (Estereotipos codependientes)Dichos (All men die but only some really live) / Citations (co-dependant cultural stereotypes)
    Dichos (Masculinity): Más vale andar sólo que mal acompañado Better to travel alone than to do so with bad company
    ACharlas (Public Policy Institute of California)"The nation's first long-term study to examine how long immigrants from Mexico remain in the United States has concluded that, contrary to popular perception, most return home. SF Chronicle, "Most Mexicans Don't Stay in the U.S. Study finds that most return home within a few years" Aurelio Rojas, Wednesday January 29, 1997. Charlas (Instituto de Normas Públicas de California)"El primer estudio a largo plazo que ha conducido la nación para examinar cuanto tiempo permanecen los inmigrantes de México en Estados Unidos, ha concluido que, contraria a la percepción pública, la mayoría regresa a su pais." SF Chronicle, "La Mayoría de los Mexicanos No Pernanecen en E.U. Estudio concluye que la mayoría regresa a su país en unos cuantos años" Aurelio Rojas, miércoles 29 de enero de 1997.
    Dichos (Chicaneidad) No por mucho madrugar te amanece más temprano Earlier rising will not presagean earlier sunrise

  • instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado


    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    BCharlas (Interiew)"Q: The Senate's retiring immigration expert, Alan Simpson, says you have the worst job in the world.Meissner: I read where he said that. Well I think the Immigration Service is a fascinating place. I don't thinkthat in my lifetime the immigration issue has ever had the saliency and the resonance that it has in thismoment. This is the second-largest immigration period in our country's history. Only a few years ago, we hadabout 300,000 naturalizations a year. In 1994 that jumped to about 500,000 and in 1995 to 1,000,000. Andwith the new welfare reform legislation that Congress has just passed [which prevents non-citizens fromgetting public assistance], I suspect the numbers will go up.Q: To curb illegal immigration from Mexico, Pat Buchanan has suggested a fence along the Southwest border.Meissner: How are we going to do that? What Buchanan is missing is that 'the border' is alot bigger than our2,000-mile frontier with Mexico. Our borders are also the beaches of Florida, the airports and overseasconsulates where visas are issued. About 40 percent of the illegal immigrants in this country are people who have overstayed legally issued documents." The New York Times Magazine, "The Worst Job in the World? With a few recent victories in the ver-shrill immigration debate, Doris Meissner, the I.N.S.Commissioner, has keptthe nativists in Congress at bay --for now." Claudia Dreifus, October 27, 1996. Charlas (Entrevista)"Pr: El experto de inmigración saliente, Alan Simpson, dice que Ud. tiene el peor empleo del mundo.Meissner: Leí que dijo eso. Bueno, yo creo que el Servicio de Inmigración es un lugar fascinante. Creo que entoda mi vida el tema de inmigración no ha tenido la notabilidad y resonancia que tiene en este momento. Estees el segundo periodo de mayor inmigración en la historia de nuestro país. Hace sólo algunos años, teníamoscomo 300,000 naturalizaciones al año. En 1994 saltamos a 500,000 y en 1995 a 1,000,000. Y con la nuevareforma legislativa de asistencia pública [la cual impide que personas que no son ciudadanas reciban asistenciapública], sospecho que incrementarán los números.Pr: Para frenar la inmigración ilegal de México, Pat Buchanan ha sugerido una valla a lo largo de la fronterasudoeste.Meissner: ¿Cómo vamos a hacer eso? Lo que no entiende Buchanan es que 'la frontera' es mucho más grandeque nuestra frontera de 2,000 millas con México. Nuestras fronteras también son las playas de Florida, losaeropuertos y los consulados en el extranjero donde se expiden visas. Aproximadamente 40 por ciento de losinmigrantes ilegales en este país son personas que han permanecido más tiempo de lo estipulado en susdocumentos expedidos legalmente." The New York Times Magazine, "El Peor Empleo en el Mundo? Con unascuantas victorias recientes en el debate de inmigración, Doris Meissner, Comisinada de la I.N.S. ha contenido anativistas en el Congreso --por lo pronto". Claudia Dreifus, 27 de octubre de 1996.
    Dichos (Spirituality) Ojos que no ven corazón que no siente What the eyes don't see the heart won't feel

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    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    CCharlas (Silent Deaths)"El Paso, Aug. 20 -- In police reports, they often have no names and are chiefly described by the clothes theywore when their bodies were found . . . Some who die are never found, so no one knows the exact number ofsuch fatalities over all. But in the first systematic effort to study these deaths at the border, a recent reportby the University of Houston found that over the last four years, 1,185 people had drowned, died of exposureor dehydration or been hit by automobiles while, the authorities concluded, they had been trying to cross theborder away from designated checkpoints." The New York Times, "Silent Deaths Climbing Steadily As MigrantsCross Mexico Border" by Sam Howe Verhovek. Sunday, August 24, 1997. Charlas (Muriendo en Silencio)"El Paso, Agosto 20 -- En reportes policiácos, no tienen nombre y son identificadas por la ropa que llevabancuando fueron encontradas . . . Algunas muertes no serán descubiertas, ni se sabe el número exacto de estasfatalidades. Pero en el primer esfuerzo sistemático de investigar las muertes fronterizas , un reporte reciente dela Universidad de Houston encontró que durante los últimos cuatro años, 1,185 personas se ahogaron,congelaron o se ensolaron, o fueron atropelladas por autos mientras intentaban cruzar la frontera a unadistancia de los retenes oficiales." The New York Times, "Silent Deaths Climbing Steadily As Migrants CrossMexico Border" by Sam Howe Verhovek. Sunday, August 24, 1997.
    Dichos (La Voz Latina) Está como mírame y déjame Look but don't touch
  • ChCharlas (Selena)"Christy Haubegger, a Mexican-American from Houston who is publisher of Latina, a New York-based magazinefor Hispanic women, said "Selena is an icon to us because she is both culturally and physically like we are,someone born here in the United States and definitely American, but also a Latina, proud of who she is andable to say she didn't have to lose her culture to be successful. She not only embodied ideals of Latina beautybut the struggle we live with every day, between two cultures, two languages and two sets of values." Evenbefore Selena was born, of course, Latinas like Rita Hayworth ad Raquel Welch had built large followings. Butthey gained their fame only by changing their names, trying to discard their identities as Hispanic women andprojecting an exotic image that was sexy and submissive. That formula reinforced 'a stereotype of us being theoppressed half of a partiarchy, which we certainly aren't,' as Ms. Haubegger put it. The New York Times, "ALegend Grows, and So Does an Industry" Larry Rohter, January 12, 1997. Charlas (Selena)"Christy Haubegger, una mexicoamericana de Houston que publica Latina, una revista con base en Nueva Yorkpara mujeres hispanas, dijo "Selena es un ícono para nosotras porque es culturalmente y físicamente comonosotras, alguien nacida aquí en Estados Unidos y definitivamente americana, pero también latina, orgullosa dequien es y capaz de decir que no perdió su cultura para ser exitosa. No solamente encama los ideales de labelleza latina, también la lucha que vivimos cada día, entre dos culturas, dos idiomas y dos tipos de valoresdiferentes." Aún antes de nacer Selena, por supuesto, latinas como Rita Hayworth y Raquel Welch habíanadquirido grandes números de seguidores. Pero obtuvieron su fama sólo al carnbiar sus nombres, tratando dedesechar sus identidades de mujeres hispanas y proyectando una imagen exótica que era sexy y sumisa. Estafórmula reforzó 'el estereotipo de que somos la mitad oprimida de un patriarcado , que en verdad no somos,'como dijera la Srita. Haubegger." The New York Times, "Crece una Leyenda, También una Industria" LarryRohter, 12 de enero de 1997.
    Dichos (Immigration) Andamos de Herodas a Pilatos We go here and there and do not find our place

    instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado


    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

  • instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado


    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    DCharlas (Redistricting 11)"Washington, Nov. 12-- The Supreme Court today threw into doubt the future of the first Hispanic-majorityCongressional district in the Midwest, setting aside a lower court's decision that found the oddly shaped Illinoisdistrict to be constitutional." The New York , "Setback for Hispanic Congressional District" Linda Greenhouse,November 13, 1996.CharIas (Cambio de Distrito 11)"Washington, 12 de nov. --La Suprema Corte hoy echó a duda el futuro del primer distrito Congresional demayoría hispana en el área central de Estados Unidos, dejando a un lado la decisión de un tribunal menor quedictó que este distrito extrañamente configurado de Illinois es constitucional." The New York Times, "Atrasopara el Distrito Congresional Hispano" Linda Greenhouse, 13 de noviembre de 1996.
    Dichos (Cultural Space) No hay mal que por bien no venga The road to hell is paved with good intentions

  • instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado


    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    ECharlas (Sanctuary)"The INS will continue to operate with a fixed formula of enforcement priorities. "We spend 30 percent of ourtime on criminal aliens, 30 percent on employer sanctions, and 30 percent on fraud and counterfeitdocuments," said Schiltgen [Director, INS San Francisco]. "We need to spread [the remaining IO percent] outto all the areas, including finding John Doe who is an illegal alien. Those have been our priorities. Quitefrankly, I don't see them changing in the next year." Schitgen refused to portay himself as different from hispredecessor, Republican appointed David Ilchert, who was criticized by civil rights and immigration advocatesas being too harsh with immigrants. Ilchert orchestrated numerous INS sweeps of Mission Districtestablishments frequented by Latinos. In the mid'80s Patricia Aguayo, then a producer for Channel 44 (she isnow board president of the Mission Economic and Cultural Association), was swept up in a raid at the Missionnightspot Club Elegante. "It was a reign of terror," said Aguayo. "I saw firsthand how inhumane the INS was."Public criticism of the Club Elegante raid eventually led to the city's passage of a sanctuary ordinance to limitINS abuses in San Francisco. San Francisco Bqy Guardian, "Welcome to ground zero: San Francisco's new INSchief says the agency can't afford to enforce Prop. 187 -- but defends past abusive policies." Eric Stephan,December 7, 1994. Charlas (Santuario)"El Servicio de Inmigración y Naturalización continuará operando con una fórmula fija de prioridades para hacercumplir la ley. "Gastamos 30 por ciento de nuestro tiempo en extranjeros criminales, 30 por cientosancionando patrones y 30 por ciento en fraude y documentos falsificados," dijo Schiltgen [Director, INS SanFrancisco]. "Necesitamos repartir [el IO por ciento restante] a todas las áreas, incluso para hallar a ilegalesperdidos. Esas han sido nuestras prioridades. Francamente, no creo que vayan a cambiar el año próximo".Schitgen se rehusó a presentarse como diferente a su antecesor, el Republicano designado David Ilchert, quienfue criticado por defensores pro derechos humanos y de inmigrantes como demasiado severo con losinmigrantes. Ilchert organizó numerosas barridas en establecimientos del Mission District frecuentados porlatinos. A mediados de los 80, Patricia Aguayo, la entonces productora del Canal 44 (ahora es presidenta de laAsociación Cultural y Económica de Mission), fue detenida en una razzia en el club nocturno Club Elegante."Era un reinado de terror", dijo Aguayo. "Yo misma vi lo inhumano que era el INS". Críticas públicas sobre larazzia del Club Elegante eventualmente causaron una orden de refugio para limitar los abusos del INS en SanFrancisco. San Francisco Bay Guardian, "Bienvenidos al punto cero: El nuevo jefe del INS de San Francisco diceque la agencia no tiene el dinero para hacer cumplir la Prop. 187 -pero defiende politicas abusivas del pasado".Eric Stephan, 7 de diciembre de 1994.
    Dichos (Corazón) El que nace para tamal del cielo le caen las hojas The tenor's voice is a gift from heaven

  • instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado


    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    FCharlas (Prensa)"Habla usted Español? For magazine publishers the answer is sí. Big publishers, and publishers who want tobecome big, are busy launching magazines for the Hispanic market. The likes of Newsweek, People and Men'sHealth are joining a field already crowded with titles such as Sí, Latina, Latina Style, and Frontera." SanFrancisco Chronicle, "Hispanic Gloss - Publishers and advertisers have discovered wealth of readers in untappedmarket" David Armstrong, Sunday January 12, 1997.Charlas (Prensa)"Habla usted español? Para muchas editoriales de revistas la respuesta es sí. Las grandes editoriales yeditoriales que quieren expanderse, se están ocupando de lanzar revistas para el mercado hispano. Revistassimilares a Newsweek, People y Men's Health están emergiendo en un carnpo ya repleto de títulos como Sí,Latina, Latina Style y Frontera". San Francisco Chronicle, "Brillo Hispano - Editoriales y publicistas handescubierto una abundancia de lectores en un mercado no explotado" David Armstrong, domingo 12 de enerode 1997.
    Dichos (Por Vida) Nunca apuntes con un dedo porque tres te apuntaran a ti Never point with onefingerbecause three shall point back in return

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    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    GCharlas (Coordinadora 96)"People are really concerned," said Juan Martinez from East Lansing, Michigan, as he walked alongside hisfather, Efrain, who came from Mexico 73 years ago and whose great-grandfather was bom in San Antonio,when it was still part of Mexico. "They hear Spanish spoken at the grocery store or at the K-Mart, and theysay, 'My God, we're being invaded.' But if you really look at it, what was the first European language that wasspoken in this hemisphere. It wasn't English." The New York Times, "In Capital, Crowd seeks Immigrants'Ethnic Rights" Steven A. Holmes, Sunday October 13, 1996.Charlas (Coordinadora 96)"La gente está muy preocupada", dijo Juan Martinez de East Lansing, Michigan, mientras caminaba junto a supadre, Efrain, quien vino de México hace 73 años y cuyo bisabuelo nació en San Antonio cuando aún formabaparte de México. "Escuchan español en el mercado y en el K-Mart y dicen, 'Dios mío, nos están invadiendo.'Pero si te pones a pensar cuál fue el primer idioma europeo que se habló en este hemisferio. No fue el inglés."The New York Times, "En la Capital, la Muchedumbre Busca los Derechos Etnicos de los Inmigrantes". Steven A.Holmes, domingo 13 de octubre de 1996.
    Dichos (Risas) Primero son los dientes que los parientes Yourself first, others last

  • instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado


    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    HCharlas (Travel)"Nogales is the Spanish word for walnuts. It is said that when the city was named in 1854, two identicalwalnut trees mirrored each other on opposite sides of the border. There is no sign of those trees in thisburgeoning, but still mostly poor, metropolis. Ambos Nogales --"both Nogales"-- is economically andspiritually one city, separated but not divided, by a wire fence. It was here, in 1882, that Mexico was firstconnected to the United States by rail. Now, because of hotly contested immigration laws, the heavily policedborder is ominous, but the folklorist James Griffith documented a practice common in the 1980's: internationalvolleyball games, with the wire fence serving as the net." The New York Times, "Jewels of the Desert- Savoringthe border cultures and saguaro cactuses on a weekend drive from Tucson into Mexico" Kim Westerman,January 26, 1997. Charlas (Viajes)"Los nogales son los árboles que dan las nueces. Se dice que cuando la ciudad fue nombrada en 1854, dosnogales idénticos habían crecido frente a frente en lados opuestos de la frontera. No queda señal de estosárboles en esta metropolis pujante, aunque en su mayor parte pobre. Ambos Nogales son económicamente yespiritualmente una ciudad, separada pero no dividida por una cerca de alambre. Fue aquí en 1882 que porprimera vez México se conectó con Estados Unidos a través del ferrocarril. Ahora, por las reñidas leyes deinmigración, la frontera, altamente vigilada es amenazadora. Pero el folclorista James Griffith documentó unapráctica común en los 80: juegos de volibol internacionales, con la cerca de alambre usada como red". The NewYork Times, "Joyas del Desierto - Saboreando las culturas fronterizas y los saguaro en un paseo de fin desemana en auto de Tucson a México" Kim Westerman, 26 de enero de 1997.
    Dichos (Espectro) Fue por lana y salió trasquilado Went for wool and returned hairless

  • instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado


    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    ICharlas (DMV)"Sometime next year, clerks in every Department of Motor Vehicles field office, from Tule Lake to Calexico, willbe able to match the faces of driver's license renewal applicants with photos called up by the computer. Andthe long reach of the new immigration legislation will have been extended once again." San FranciscoExarniner, "Immigrants feel the noose tightening" Eric Brazil, Sunday October 13, 1996.Charlas (DMV)"El año que entra, los empleados en todas las oficinas de campo del Departamento de Vehículos Motorizados,desde Tule Lake hasta Calexico, podrán verificar las caras de quienes soliciten la renovación de su licencia confotos en una computadora. El largo alcance de la nueva legislación de inmigración ha sido extendido una vezmás. San Francisco Examiner, "Los inmigrantes sienten la soga apretando" Eric Brazil, domingo 13 de octubrede 1996.
    Dichos (Infinitos) Solo borracho y dormido no se siente lo jodido Only drunk and asleep are the wretcheddesensitized

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    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    JCharlas (social space)"In urban struggles ... the politics of space is closely connected to the formation of collective identities thatare grounded in particular interpretations of the past. In this regard, Stuart Hall's discussion of therelationship between identity and history is instructive. He argues that cultural identities are not fixed in asingle or hidden history but are "subject to the continuous play of history, culture, and power. Far from beinggrounded in a mere 'recovery' of a past just waiting to be found, . . . identities are the names we give to thedifferent ways we are positioned by, and position ourselves within, the narratives of the past." Conquests andHistorical Identities in California: 1769 - 1936, Lisbeth Haas, University of California Press, 1995. Charlas (espacio social)"En luchas urbanas las políticas de espacio se conectan a la formación de identidades colectivas enraizadas eninterpretaciones particulates del pasado. En este caso, el debate de Stuart Hall sobre la relación entreidentidad e historia es instructive. Arguye que las identidades culturales no están fijas en una sola o escondidahistoria sino que están "sujetas al continuo paso de la historia, la cultura y el poder. Lejos de estar enraizadasen solamente "recobrar" el pasado esperando ser hallado, . . . las identidades son los nombres que les damos alas diferentes maneras en las que estamos colocados y nos colocamos dentro de las narratives del pasado".Conquests and Historical Identities in California: 1769 - 1936, Lisbeth Haas, University of California Press,1995.
    Dichos (discovery/transformation/transcendence/actualization) Camar6n que se duerme se lo lleva lacorriente Slhe who snoozes looses

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    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    KCharlas (Obituary)"Austin, Tex., July 28 -- Hector Perez Garcia, a South Texas doctor who founded one of the nation's mostinfluential Mexican-American civil rights organizations, died on Friday in Memorial Medical Center in CorpusChristi, Tex. The New York Times, "Hector Perez Garcia, 82, Dies; Led Hispanic Rights Group" obituary, July 29,1996. Charlas (Obituario)"Austin, Tex, 28 de julio -- Héctor Pérez García, un médico del sur de Texas quien fundó una de lasorganizaciones mexicoamericanas más influyentes pro derechos civiles , murió el viernes en el Memorial MedicalCenter en Corpus Christi, Tex." The New York Times, Héctor Pérez García, 82, Muere; Dirigió Grupo Pro DerechosHispanos" obituario, 29 de julio de 1996.
    Dichos (Calaca Olmeca/Calaca Postcolonial) Limosnero con garrote Beggars Can't be Choosers

  • instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado


    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    LCharlas (Acâgchemem Neophytes)The 1775 erection of a cross and celebration of mass on an Acâgchemem religious site was followed shortly bythe Spaniards' retreat to the presidio at San Diego as a result of an Indian revolt against the Mission San Diego.It was therefore not until one year later that the process of buildng a mission and converting the Acâgchemempopulation began. The vast majority of initial converts at San Juan Capistrano were children, a commonpattern in most of the missions. The children were likely brought by their parents to make alliances with themissionaries, who not only possessed new knowledge and goods but also presented the threat of force. Themilitary was in fact crucial to the encounter between missionaries and potential converts, even though mostsoldiers and Spanish settlers did not live near either the missions or Indian villages. One confrontationbetween Father Serra, the president of the California missions and head pf the colonization effort in California,and a number of arned Acâgchemem illustrates the relations of power that sustained this colonial encounter.Father Serra was approaching San Juan Capistrano from the north, having left Mission San Gabriel withlivestock and neophytes who would help build the mission and serve as interpreters for the priests. The grouphad divided, and Father Serra was traveling in the company of one soldier and one neophyte. As they enteredAcâgchemem territory, these three suddenly found themselves surroundeed by a crowd of painted and well-armed Indians, some of whom put arrows to their bowstrings as though they intended to kill the Spanishintruders. The neophyte, however, shouted in their language that they should not hurt the missionarybecause many soldiers were coming behind who would kill them all. Accordingly, they desisted, aware of theserious threat that military retaliation represented." Conquests and Historical Identities in California: 1769 -1936, Lisbeth Haas, University of California Press, 1995. Charlas (Neófitos de Acâgchemem)En 1775 la erección de una cruz y la celebración de una misa en un sitio religiose Acâgchemem fueron seguidaspor la retirada de los españoles al presidio en San Diego como resultado de una insurgencia india contra laMisión de San Diego. Por lo tanto, no fue hasta un año más tarde que comenzó el proceso de construcción deuna misión y la conversión de la población Acâgchemem. Inicialmente la gran mayoría de converses en SanJuan Capistrano eran niños, lo cual era común en la mayor parte de las misiones. Los niños eran traidos porsus padres para hacer alianzas con los misioneros, quienes no sólo poseían nuevos conocimientos y bienesmateriales sino que también presentaban una fuerza amenazadora. Las fuerzas militates eran de hechocruciales en el encuentro entre misioneros y converses potenciales, aunque la mayoría de los soldados ycolonizadores españoles no vivían cerca de las misiones o los poblados indios. Una confrontación entre elPadre Serra, el presidente de las misiones de California y lider de la colonización de California y un grupo deAcâgchemem armados, ilustra las relaciones de poder en este encuentro colonial. El Padre Serra se acercaba aSan Juan Capistrano desde el norte, habiendo dejado la Misi6n San Gabriel con ganado y neófitos que leayudarían a construir la misión y servirían de intérpretes para los sacerdotes. El grupo se había dividido, y elPadre Serra viajaba en compañía de un soldado y un neófito. Al entrar a territorio Acâgchemem, los tres derepente se encontraron rodeados por una multitud de indios pintados y bien armados, algunos de los cualesIlevaron flechas a sus arcos como si tuvieran intenciones de matar a los intrusos españoles. Sin embargo, elneófito gritó en su idioma que no debían lastimar al misionero ya que muchos soldados venían detrás de ellos ylos matarían a todos. En consecuencia, desistieron, conscientes de la seria amenaza que representaba unarepresalia militar. Conquests and Historical Identities in California: 1769 - 1936, Lisbeth Haas, University ofCalifornia Press, 1995.
    Dichos (Divinity) El que al cielo escupe a la cara le cae Spit at the sky, it falls on your face

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    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    LlCharIas (Olmeca Time / Postcolonial Time)Especially in cultural critique, the event of political independence can be automatically assumed to stand in-between colony and decolonization as an unexamined good that operates a reversal. As I am insisting, thenew nation is run by a regulative logic derived from a reversal of the old colony from within the cited epistemeof the postcolonial subject: secularism, democracy, socialism, national identity, capitalist development. Thereis however a space that did not share in the energy of this reversal, a space that had no firmly establishedagency of traffic with the culture of imperialism. Paradoxically, this space is also outside of organized labor,below the attempted reversals of capital logic. Conventionally, this space is described as the habitat of thesubproletariat or the subaltern ... this is the space of the displacement of the colonization-decolonizationreversal. This is the space that can become, for her, a dystopic representation of decolonization as such. Inthis context, "decolonization" becomes only a convenient and misleading word, used because no other can befound. Outside in the Teaching Machine, by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Routledge, New York & London, 1993. Charlas (Tiempo Olmeca / Tiempo Poscolonial)Especialmente en la crítica cultural, el evento de independencia política puede automáticamente suponerseentre colonia y decolonización como un bien no examinado que opera una inversión. Como insisto, la nuevanación es manejada por una lógica reguladora derivada de la inversión de la vieja colonia dentro del epístemacitado del tema poscolonial: secularismo, democracia, socialismo, identidad nacional, desarrollo capitalista.Existe sin embargo, un espacio que no compartió la energia de esta inversión, un espacio que no tenía unaagencia firmemente establecida de tráfico con la cultura del imperialismo. Paradójicamente, este espaciotambién se encuentra fuera de la organización laboral, debajo de los intentos de inversión de la lógica delcapital. Convencionalmente, este espacio es descrito como el hábitat del subproletariado o el subalterno estees el espacio del desplazamiento de la inversión de colonización-decolonización. Este es el espacio que puedeconvertirse, según ella, en una representación distópica de la decolonización como tal. En este contexto,"decolonización" se convierte en una palabra conveniente y engañosa, usada por falta de otra. Outside in theTeaching Machine, por Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Routledge, New York & London, 1993.
    Dichos (Maternidad) Vale más una paloma en mano que cien volando A bird in the hand is worth two inthe bush

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    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    MCharlas (Detention)"... detention of illegal immigrants like this have risen in the past year in all the nine Border Patrol sectorsalong the United States - Mexico border. And the Immigration and Naturalization Service, one of the fewFederal agencies to have a large budget increase approved by the Republican-controlled Congress, is hiring1,000 new agents to patrol the border, a 20 percent increase in the size of the force. The increase also allowthe agency to expand its technological resources, like motion sensors, night-vision devices and a computerizedfingerprint file for every detainee." The New York Times, Tuesday February 13, 1996. Charlas (Detención)". . . las detenciones de inmigrantes ilegales como esta han incrementado en el último año en todos los nuevesectores de la Patrulla Fronteriza a lo largo de la frontera Estados Unidos - México. Y el Servicio de Inmigracióny Naturalización, una de las pocas agencias federales que ha tenido un gran incremento en su presupuestoaprobado por el Congreso controlado por republicanos, está contratando a 1,000 agentes nuevos para patrullarla frontera, un incremento del 20 por ciento en el tamaño de la fuerza. Estos incrementos también permitenque la agencia expanda sus recursos tecnológicos, como sensores de movimiento, aparatos para visión nocturnay un archivo computarizado para cada detenido." The New York Times, martes 13 de febrero de 1996.
    Dichos (Lagrimas) El muerto al pozo y el vivo al gozo Consecrate the dead, celebrate the living

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    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    NCharlas (Redistricting 1)"Justices, IN A 5-4 VOTE, REJECT DISTRICTS DRAWN WITH RACE THE 'PREDOMINANT FACTOR' The New YorkTimes, reported by Linda Greenhouse, June 30, 1995. Charlas (Cambio de Distrito 1)"Jueces, EN UN VOTO 5-4, RECHAZAN EL PLAN DE DISTRITO CON RAZA COMO 'FACTOR PREDOMINANTE'" The NewYork Times, reporte de Linda Greenhouse, 30 de junio de 1995.
    Dichos (Dignidad) Cuando tu vayas, yo ya vengo I've already trod where you wish to tread

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    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    ÑCharlas (Victoria)Santa Ana -- A recount of ballots from the November 5 election showed that DemocratLoretta Sanchez beat veteran arch-conservative Republican Representative RobertDornan by 979 votes, election officials said. Sanchez won with 48,056 compared toDoman's 47,077, they said. Reuters International, January 1997. Charlas (Victoria)Santa Ana -- un recuento de votos de la elección del 5 de noviembre demostró que la Demócrata LorettaSánchez venció al Representante Robert Dornan, el veterano archiconservador Republicano, por 979 votos,dijeron oficiales electorales. Manifestaron que Sánchez ganó con 48,065 votos comparados con los 47,077 deDornan. Reuters International, enero de 1997.
    Dichos (Picardía) No le busque tres pies al gato porque le vas hallar cuatro When you pry too deep do notbe surprised with what you may find

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    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    OCharlas (Venganza)"Santa Ana -- A federal judge yesterday revoked dozens of subpoenas recently issued by attorneys for formerU.S. Representative Robert K. Dornan, ruling the ex-congressman does not have the legal authority to demanddocuments as he tries to prove he lost the last election because of voter fraud." "Judge Revokes 40 SubpoenasDornan Issued: Setback in his attempt to prove voter fraud" San Francisco Chronicle, Saturday, March 8, 1997. Charlas (Venganza)"Santa Ana -- Un juez federal ayer revocó docenas de citatorios recientemente expedidos por abogados delanterior Representante Robert K. Dornan, declarando que el ex congresista no tiene la autoridad legal parademandar documentos al tratar de comprobar que perdió la última elección debido a fraude electoral". "JuezRevoca 40 Citatorios que Expidió Dornan: Declive en su intento de comprobar fraude electoral" San FranciscoChronicle, sábado, 8 de marzo de 1997.
    Dichos (Census Bureau) Panza llena, corazán contento My belly full, my heart happy

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    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    PCharlas (bajadores)On a dusty side street in the Mexican border town of Nogales, in the shadow of the steel and concrete fencebarring illegal immigrants from the United States, stands a brightly painted building with a tin roof. Barscover the windows of Mi Casa Nueva --Spanish for ,'my new house'-- and the doors are locked to adults. Butthe building is open to any child that wants a hot meal, a change of clothes, or simply a respite from thestreets for a few hours. The safe house has been set up by volunteers on both sides of the border to provide asanctuary for the town's child vagrants [known as bajadores or "tunnel rats"] some young as six, who live inold storm drains 20 feet below the ground amid the sewage and garbage that seeps downhill from Mexico intoArizona. Abandoned, abused, doing whatever it takes to stay alive, the children have made these sewers andthe streets around the sewage outlets their own. There are estimated to be at least 200 of them. Many arebraindamaged from the stolen additives, spray paint and other substances they use in a constant effort to stayhigh and escape their wretched reality. Disease and violence are a way of life --not long ago, one 15-year-oldwas stabbed to death by a 13 year-old in a fight over a girl. The Economist, February 1st 1997. Charlas (bajadores)"En una calle lateral del pueblo fronterizo de Nogales, en la sombra de la cerca de concreto y acero queobstaculiza a inmigrantes ilegales la entrada a Estados Unidos, se encuentra un edificio vivamente pintado conun techo de hojalata. Las ventanas están cubiertas con barrotes en Mi Casa Nueva, y las puertas están cerradaspara adultos. Pero el edificio está abierto para cualquier niño que quiera una comida, un cambio de ropa osimplemente un descanso de las calles por unas cuantas horas. Esta casa franca ha sido preparada porvoluntarios en ambos lados de la frontera para servir de refugio para los niños vagabundos, [conocidos comobajadores o "ratas de tunel"] algunos de ellos son pequeños de seis años, y viven en las viejas alcantarillas 20pies bajo tierra entre el drenaje y la basura que se filtran cuesta abajo de México a Arizona. Abandonados,maltratados, haciendo lo necesario para sobrevivir, los niños se han apropiado de estas alcantarillas y de lascalles donde hay rejillas. Se calcula que hay por lo menos 200 de estos niños. Muchos sufren de dañoscerebrales por los aditivos, pinturas en aerosol y otras sustancias robadas que usan en un esfuerzo constantepor permanecer drogados y escapar su miserable realidad. La enfermedad y la violencia son el medio de vida --hace poco, un chico de 15 años mató a uno de 13 años a cuchilladas en un pleito sobre una niña." TheEconomist, primero de febrero de 1997.
    Dichos (Tiempo) Camina como chencha: 2 pasos para adelante y 3 pasos para atrás Walks like a chencha:2 steps forward, 3 steps back

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    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    QCharIas (Ident/Enforce/Inspass)"A 2.2 billion project to automate many of the Immigration and Naturalization Services most important tasks,including airport inspections and tracking illegal immigrants, is in trouble, the Justice Department's inspectorgeneral said today. The project has been so poorly managed that it has no internal benchmarks that wouldallow managers and independent auditors to judge whether it was on schedule or within costs limits, or tootherwise quantify its progress, the inspector general, Michael R. Bromwich, said. Mr. Bromwich singled outthree of the agency's larger technology programs for criticism, including Ident, an automated fingerprintidentification system used to track illegal immigrants. The system has been installed at 80 stations along theSouthwest border and is working well at individual stations. But Mr. Bromwich said there was no network toallow all the stations to communicate. Another program, Enforce, is designed to replace 50 paper forms usedto process illegal immigrants with an automated system. Mr. Bromwich said the system, now in prototype, istwo years behind schedule. A third program, Inspass, allows low-risk, foreign frequent travelers to speedthrough immigration inspections at high-volume airports and border crossings. Mr. Bromwich said the cost ofthe program may outweigh its benefits, and that the system, used at Newark International and John F.Kennedy International Airports, as well as a Toronto airport, is also behind schedule. Not all of the agency'stechnology is foundering. Mr. Bromwich praised two of the agency's programs: new motion sensors that detectillegal U.S.-Mexico border crossings, and an automated system that tracks refugees. The New York Times,"Immigration Service Faulted On Oversight of Automation" Eric Schmitt, Febrary 27, 1997. Charlas (Ident/Enforce/Inspass)"Un proyecto de 2.2 billones para automatizar muchas de las labores más importantes del Servicio deInmigración y Naturalización, incluyendo las inspecciones de aeropuerto y encontrando a inmigrantes ilegales,tiene problemas, dijo hoy el inspector general del Departamento de Justicia. El proyecto ha sido manejado tanmal que no se tienen puntos de referencia internos que les permita a los administradores y a los auditoresindependientes juzgar si el proyecto se está llevando a cabo oportunamente o dentro de los límites delpresupuesto, o de alguna manera cuantificar su progreso, dijo el inspector general, Michael R. Bromwich. El Sr.Bromwich criticó a tres de los programas más importantes de la agencia, incluyendo Ident, un sistemaautomatizado para identificación de huellas digitales utilizado para encontrar a inmigrantes ilegales. El sistemaha sido instalado en 80 estaciones a lo largo de la frontera sudoeste y está funcionando bien en estacionesindividuales. Pero dice el Sr. Bromwich que no hay una red que permita que se comuniquen las estaciones.Otro programa, Enforce, está diseñado para remplazar 50 formularios de papel utilizados para procesar ainmigrantes ilegales con un sistema automatizado. El Sr. Bromwich dijo que el sistema, actualmente enprototipo, tiene dos años de retraso. Un tercer programa, Inspass, permite agilizar la inspección de viajerosextranjeros de bajo riesgo y que viajan frecuentemente, en aeropuertos y garitas fronterizas de alto volumen.El Sr. Bromwich dijo que el costo del programa puede ser mayor que los beneficios, y que el sistema, utilizadoen los aeropuertos internacionales de Newark, John F. Kennedy y Toronto, también se ha retrasado. No toda latecnología de la agencia está tambaleante. El Sr. Bromwich elogió dos de los prograrnas de la agencia: losnuevos sensores de movimiento que detectan cruces ilegales en la frontera de México E.U., y un sistemaautomatizado que rastrea refugiados." The New York Times, "Servicio de Inmigración Culpado por Descuido deAutomatización" Eric Schmitt, 27 de febrero de 1997.
    Dichos (Memoria) El que es mentiroso tiene que tener mucha memoria A liar must have a very goodmemory

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    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    RCharlas (Mentira)"If it's anyone's job, then it's the job of the rulers of our community: they can lie for the good of thecommunity, when either an external or an internal threat makes it necessary. No one else, however, shouldhave anything to do with lying. If an ordinary person lies to these rulers of ours, we'll count that as anequivalent in misguidedness, if not worse, to a patient lying to his doctor about his physical condition, or anathlete in training lying to his trainer about his physical condition, or someone misleading a ship's captain,with respect to his ship or crew, by telling him lies about his own state or that of one of his fellow crewmen"Plato - Republic, Translated by Robin Waterfield, Oxford University Press, 1993. Charlas (Mentira)"Si es que a alguien le corresponde, entonces le corresponde a los gobernantes de nuestra comunidad: puedenmentir por el bien de la comunidad, cuando una amenaza interna o externa lo haga necesario. Nadie más, sinembargo, debe mentir. Si una persona ordinaria le miente a nuestros gobernantes, esta insensatez lacontaremos como el equivalente o peor, de un paciente mintiéndole a su médico sobre su condición física, o unatleta en entrenamiento mintiéndole a su entrenador sobre su condición física, o alguien engañando al capitánde un barco con respecto a su nave o su tripulación, al decirle mentiras sobre su propio estado o el de uno desus compañeros" Platón - La República, Traducido por Robin Waterfield, Oxford University Press, 1993.

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    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    RROración a la Anima Sola deJ U A N S O L D A D OAlabado sea el Santísimo Nombre del Padre, el Hijo y el Espíritu Santo; tres divinas personas yun solo Dios verdadero. Quienes con su infinito y Misericordioso Poder, han colmado de gracia ymilagrosas indulgencias a mi querido hermano y protector Juan Castillo Morales.En el nombre de Dios Todopoderoso, Espíritu y Anima de Juan Soldado, por motivos muy ciertosy con mi corazón rebozante de Fé en tu inmediata ayuda, vengo a confiarte todas mis penas que meatormentan moral y materialmente, no dudando ni un instante que por medio de tu InfalibleIntercesión ante el Todopoderoso vea colmados mis buenos deseos, si éstos convienen a mayor Gloria deDios Nuestro Señor y Tuya en Particular. SE HACE LA PETICION DESEADA Como te darás cuenta JUANITO, mis anhelos están desprovistos de capciosas maldades y todo lo quedeseo es encontrar un apoyo eficaz de tu parte para acallar la indigencia moral y material en que meencuentro sumido.HERMANO JUAN SOLDADO: Yo te suplico encarecidamente que no me abandones con tuprotección en esta difícil prueba.Confío en la Omnipotencia Misericordiosa de dios y en tu Infalible Ayuda, prometiéndote desdeeste momento, ser uno más de tus innumerables devotos. AMEN. Como final se rezan tres Padres Nuestros. NOTA: Ofrézcase la presente oración en culaquier momento, pero de preferencia a las 12:00 y 15:00 horas.
    Dichos (Braceros en Aztlán: 1940's) se pueden matar 2 pájaros de un tiro killing two birds with one stone

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    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    SCharlas (Politics)"Is it a new day for state politics? What with the first Latino speaker of the Assembly in California's history,the enactment of a promising campaign finance reform initiative and two-term Governor Pete Wilson a fastdiminishing figure in our collective rear-view mirror, the argument for the new day scenario is clear. TheLegislature is looking more like California, a cleaner political system --and term limits may well continue theprocess. A cynically small-minded period in the executive governance of the state is ending even sooner thananticipated. All very much to the good." San Francisco Chronicle, "The Election's Impact on California" SamBradley, January 1997. Charlas (Politica)"¿Es un nuevo día para la política del estado? Entre el primer latino como presidente de la Asamblea en lahistoria de California, la promulgación de una iniciativa para reformar el financiamiento de campañas y elGobernador de dos periodos Pete Wilson siendo una figura que se aleja en nuestros retrovisores colectivos, elargumento es claro para el panorama de un nuevo día. La Legislatura se parece más a California, un sistemapolítico más limpio -- y los límites de mandato muy bien pueden continuer el proceso. Un periodo cínicamentecerrado de mente en el gobiemo ejecutivo del estado, termina antes de lo anticipado. Y para bien." SanFrancisco Chronicle, "El Impacto de la Elección en California" Sam Bradley, enero de 1997.
    Dichos (Dinero) En casa de herrero cucharas de palo In the plumber's house, leaking faucets

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    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    TCharlas ($)"As Federal agencies issued a torrent of cheery reports in the last few weeks about rising incomes, fallingpoverty rates and improvements in educational performance, one group buckled the trends: Hispanic people.For the first time, in fact, a higher proportion of Hispanic people than of blacks were officially defined as poor--a consequence, in part, of dramatic increases in the income of black households, but also of decliningincomes among Hispanic households. Income figures help explain the demonstration. Recently, the CensusBureau reported that for the first time in six years, median household income rose for the country over all,increasing by 2.7 per cent in 1995. The 3.6 per cent increase in median black income was particularlydramatic. Meanwhile, though, median household income among Hispanics fell by 5.1 per cent. For now,Hispanic people are stuck at the low end of the labor force and and are subject to the chilling trends thatbuffet all low income workers in this country --globalization of the economy, the loss of manufacturing jobs,poor performances of schools in low income areas and, yes, immigration. "It's really easy to divert attentionaway from the issue of poverty because it's a hard issue, it's a complex issue," said Sonia Perez, director of thepoverty project at the National Council of La Raza. "It's alot easier to say, it's immigrants and it will go awayin two or three generations. It's alot harder to say it has to do with low wages and low education and highunemployment and how do you create jobs. Those things have policy responses. But they're hard and they'reharder to talk about, especially in this climate." The New York Times, "For Hispanic Poor, No Silver Lining"Steven A. Holmes, Sunday, October 13, 1996.Charlas ($)"Mientras que agencias federales expidieron un torrente de alegres reportes en las últimas semanas sobre elincremento de ingresos, niveles de pobreza descendiendo y mejoras en la educación, un grupo dislocó latónica: los hispanos. Por primera vez, de hecho, una proporción más alta de gente hispana que de negra fueoficialmente definida como pobre - una consecuencia, en parte, del dramático incremento de ingresos en loshogares negros, pero también en los ingresos menguantes en los hogares latinos. Estadísticas de ingresospueden ayudar a explicar la demostración. Recientemente, el Censo reportó que por primera vez en seis años,el ingreso medio por hogar subió en todo el país, incrementando por 2.7 por ciento en 1995. El incremento del3.6 por ciento en el ingreso medio negro fue particularmente dramático. Mientras tanto, el ingreso medioentre hispanos bajó por 5.1 por ciento. Por ahora, los hispanos están atrapados en el extremo bajo de la fuerzalaboral y están sujetos a las escalofriantes tendencias que sacuden a todos los trabajadores de bajos ingresos eneste país -- globalización de la economía, la pérdida de empleos de manufactura, mal desempeño en las escuelasen áreas de bajos ingresos y, sí, inmigración. "Es muy fácil desviar la atención del tema de la pobreza porquees un tema difícil, es un tema complejo", dijo Sonia Pérez, directora del proyecto de la pobreza en el ConsejoNacional de la Raza. "Es mucho más fácil decir que son los inmigrantes y que desaparecerá en dos o tresgeneraciones. Es mucho más difícil decir que tiene que ver con sueldos bajos y baja educación y desempleoalto y ¿cómo crear empleos? Esas cosas tienen respuestas políticas. Pero son difíciles y es más difícil hablar deellas, especialmente en este clima". The New York Times, "Para los Hispanos Pobres, No Hay Píldora Dorada"Steven A. Holmes, domingo 13 de octubre de 1996.
    Dichos (Political Economy of the Sign) Perro que ladra no muerde Dogs that bark don't bite

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    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    UCharlas (Citizenship/Voting Rights)"Article IX provided that those who did not choose to remain Mexican citizens would be considered 'to haveelected' to become U.S. citizens. As early as 1849 the nature of citizenship rights of these Mexicans becamethe subject of controversy. In California the delegates to the state constitutional convention wrestled with theproblems of race, rights of citizenship, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Six of the delgates were nativeCalifomios (former Mexican citizens) who were aware that Mexicans who looked like Inidians faced the prospectof racial discrimination. Ultimately they argued for the protection of their class even if it meant endorsing theracist views of their Anglo colleagues towards Indians and Blacks. Mexico had granted citizenship to 'civilized'Indians and to Blacks, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo clearly stated that former Mexican Citizens wouldbe given the opportunity to become citizens of the United States. Following the biases of their age, theframers of the state constitution sought wording that would exclude Blacks and Indians while includingMexicans. A Mr. Edward Gilbert introduced a proposal that eventually became the first section of the stateconstitution defining suffrage. It extended the vote to 'every white, male citizen of Mexico who shall haveelected to become a citizen of the United States.' The convention agreed that Indians and Blacks might atsome future date be given the franchise but that because voting was not an absolute right of citizenship, theycould be excluded. There was some concern over whether in fact the Mexicans remaining were citizens of theUnited States. Ultimately the delegates agreed 'it would seem that they are not in fact American citizens, butrequire some further action of Congress to make them citizens of the united States.' Califomia's admission as astate presumably would be that conferring act. (Later court cases challenged this assumption.) The ambiguouscitizenship of the califomios meant that they could not expect the full protection of the laws during a stressfuland violent period in Califomia's history." The Treaty of Guadalulpe Hidalgo: A Legacy of Conflict, RichardGriswold Castillo, University of Oklahoma Press, 1990. Charlas (Ciudadanía/Derechos de Voto)"El Artículo IX estipuló que para aquellos que no eligieron permanecer como ciudadanos mexicanos seconsideraría que habían 'elegido' convertirse en ciudadanos estadounidenses. En 1849 la naturaleza de losderechos de estos mexicanos se convirtió en tema controvertido. En California los delegados de la convenciónconstitucional del estado lidiaron con los problemas de raza, derechos de ciudadanía y el Tratado de GuadalupeHidalgo. Seis de los delegados eran californios oriundos (anteriormente ciudadanos mexicanos) que estabanconscientes de que los mexicanos que parecían indios se enfrentaban a la perspectiva de la discriminaciónracial. Ultimadamente pelearon por la protección de su clase, aún cuando significó aprobar las ideas racistas desus colegas anglos hácia los indios y los negros. México les había otorgado ciudadanía a los indios y a losnegros'civilizados', y el Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo claramente declaró que a los anteriores ciudadanosmexicanos se les daría la oportunidad de convertirse en ciudadanos de Estados Unidos. Siguiendo los prejuiciosde su era, los creadores de la constitución estatal buscaron términos que excluían a los negros y a los indiosmientras incluían a los mexicanos. Edward Gilbert introdujo una propuesta que a la larga se convirtió en laprimera sección de la constitución estatal que definía el sufragio. Le extendía el voto a todo hombre blancociudadano de México que hubiera elegido convertirse en ciudadano de Estados Unidos. La convención acordóque en un futuro se les podría otorgar el sufragio a los indios y los negros, pero como el voto no era underecho absoluto de la ciudadanía, podrían ser excluidos. Había cierta preocupación sobre el hecho de que silos mexicanos restantes eran ciudadanos de Estados Unidos. En última instancia, los delegados acordaron que'parecería ser que de hecho no son ciudadanos de Estados Unidos, que el Congreso tendría que tomar algunaotra acción para hacerlos ciudadanos de Estados Unidos'. El ingreso de California como estado supuestarnenteconcedería esta acción. (Más tarde los tribunales retaron esta suposición.) La ambigua ciudadanía de loscalifornios significó que no podían esperar la completa protección de las leyes durante este angustiante yviolento periodo en la historia de California". The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: A Legacy of Conflict, RichardGriswold Castillo, University of Oklahoma Press, 1990.
    Dichos (Y2K: y tú ¿que?) El que con niños se acuesta, miado despierta S/he who plays with fire

  • instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado


    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    VCharlas (soy single bilingual)"In the next year or so whites will become a minority of the Californian population. A state that was 90%white in 1900 will have evolved --or perhaps disolved-- into a polyethnic society, with a cacophony of morethan 160 languages in Los Angeles schools. The transformation of minorities into a majority will, if presenttrends persist, slowly be repeated across the rest of the country: in Texas by about 2015, followed by Arizona,New York, Nevada, New Jersey and Maryland. By the middle of the next century the United States will bealmost half non-white. California is thus playing two central roles in the remaking of America: as a port ofentry for immigrants and as the pioneer of a new type of polyethnic society." "Polyethnic America: The sunrises in the west" review of "The Coming of the White Minority: Califomia's Eruptions and the Nation's Future"by Dale Maharidge, Times Books, in The Economist, February 15, 1997. Charlas (soy single bilingual)"En el próximo año los blancos se convertirán en una minoría en la población de California. Un estado quetenía un 90 por ciento de blancos en 1900 habrá evolucionado -- o quizá se habrá disuelto -- en una sociedadpoliétnica, con una cacofonía de más de 160 idiomas en las escuelas de Los Angeles. La transformación deminorías a una mayoría, se repetirá lentamente, si persiste la actual tendencia, a través del resto del país: enTexas para el año 2016, seguido por Arizona, Nueva York, Nevada, Nueva Jersey y Maryland. Para mediados delpróximo siglo, casi la mitad de Estados Unidos no será blanca. Por lo tanto, California está desempeñando dospapeles centrales en la nueva versión de Estados Unidos: como puerto de entrada para inmigrantes y comopionero en un nuevo tipo de sociedad poliétnica". "Estados Unidos Poliétnico: el sol sale por el oeste." Reseñade "The Coming of the White Minority: California's Eruptions and the Nation's Future" por Dale Maharidge,Times Books, en The Economist, 15 de febrero de 1907.
    Dichos (Deseos) Cataplasmas del olvido con fomentos de otro amor Cataclysmic oblivion with signs ofanother love

  • instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado


    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    WCharlas (21 Century Polyethnic America)"Among American-born married women ages 20 to 29 in 1990, 67 percent of Asian-Americans and 38 percentof Hispanic women married outside their ethnic group , according to Zhenchao Qian of Arizona State University.Only 3 percent of African-American women currently marry outside their race, a testament to their extremeresidential and social isolation." The New York Times Magazine, "Children Will Pay: Demography's crystal ballshows that 21st-century America will be older, wiser and more ethnically diverse. But its kids face trouble."Samuel H. Preston. September 29, 1996. Charlas (Estados Unidos Poliétnico del Siglo 21)"En 1990, de las mujeres nacidas en Estados Unidos entre las edades de 20 a 29 años, el 67 por ciento de lasmujeres asiáticas y el 38 por ciento de las mujeres hispanas se casaron fuera de su grupo étnico, de acuerdo aZhenchao Quian de la Arizona State University. Sólo el 3 por ciento de las mujeres negras actualmente secasan fuera de su raza, un testamento a su extrema aislación residencial y social." The New York TimesMagazine, "Los Hijos Pagarán: La bola de cristal demográfica muestra que los Estados Unidos del siglo 21 seránmás ancianos, más sabios y étnicamente más diversos. Pero sus jóvenes tendrán problemas." Samuel H.Preston. 29 de septiembre de 1996.
    Dichos (Define the Enemy) De tal palo, tal astilla The apple falls not far from the tree

  • instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado


    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    XCharlas (Education)'African American and Latino high school students are leaving San Francisco public schools faster than othergroups, reflecting trends that educators say are undermining the education of disadvantaged and vulnerableteens in urban areas. The number of African Americans in San Francisco's Unified graduating class of 1996shrank 55 percent over four years, according to district figures. Latino enrollment in the class of 1996 fell 44percent since 1992. Educators and children's advocates say the decline reflects family instability , a shortage ofaffordable housing, a lack of high-paying jobs, and the need for more school counselors. 'It's kind of anevolutionary thing where where it begins early in the educational experience,' she said. 'Students feel asthough they are not important. They don't see the value of remaining in school to a higher good. There aretoo many of them and they come back to us in terrible ways, coming as prison statistics." San FranciscoExaminer, "Educators lay blame for S.F. dropouts - Blacks, Latinos quit at higher rate" Venise Wagner, June 17,1996. Charlas (Educación)Estudiantes de High School afroamericanos y latinos están abandonando las escuelas públicas de San Franciscocon mayor rapidez que otros grupos, reflejando las tendencias que los educadores dicen están debilitando laeducación de adolescentes desfavorecidos y vulnerables en áreas urbanas. El número de afroamericanos en SanFrancisco que se graduaron en 1996 se encogió un 55 por ciento a lo largo de cuatro años, según los cálculosdel distrito. La inscripción de latinos en la clase a graduarse en 1996 cayó un 44 por ciento a partir de 1992.Educadores y defensores infantiles dicen que este declive refleja la inestabilidad familiar, escasas viviendasasequibles, falta de empleos bien pagados y la necesidad de más consejeros en las escuelas. 'Es como una cosaevolutiva que comienza al principio de la experiencia educativa,' dijo. 'Los estudiantes sienten que no sonimportantes. No ven la importancia de permanecer en la escuela para salir adelante. Hay demasiados que nosllegan en forma de estadísticas de prisiones." San Francisco Examiner, "Educadores señalan culpables de quealumnos en S.F. que no terminan sus estudios - negros y latinos abandonan la escuela con mayor frecuencia"Venise Wagner, 17 de junio de 1996.
    Dichos (¿Y tú que?) Lana sube lana baja y el que es hombre no se raja The harder they come the harderthey fall

  • instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado


    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    YCharlas (Y2K'ers)" . . . increasingly, the border is being fortified with yet another line of defense that even the fastest sprintermay have trouble eluding. Whether using stealth or crossing legally by car, citizens and noncitizens alikemust now overcome a barrier of computer chips, copper wires, video monitors and camera lenses." The NewYork Times, "A Silicon Wall Rises on the Border: Scanners, X-Rays and Databases Transform the Hunt forSmugglers and Illegal Immigrants," by Verne G. Kopytoff, Thursday January 14, 1999. Charlas (Y2K'ers)" . . . cada vez más, va fortificándose la frontera con defensas imposibles de eludir, hasta por el más rápidoembalaje. Utilizando 'stealth' o cruzando legalmente por auto, todo ciudadano y hasta el que no lo es, tendráque pasar una barrera de discos de computación, alambre de cobre, pantallas de video, y lentes de cámara." TheNew York Times, "A Silicon Wall Rises on the Border : Scanners, X-Rays and Databases Transform the Hunt forSmugglers and Illegal Immigrants," por Verne G. Kopytoff, jueves 14 de enero, 1999.
    Dichos (Sensuality) El coraz6n no se muere, el cuero es el que se arruga The heart never dies, only theskin grows wrinkled

  • instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado


    institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado


    occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999

    ZCharlas (Eros + Aggression)"Mexico City -- A new immigrant-based social movement has emerged on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico borderto seek redress from both governments. The roots of the grievance stretch back more than 50 years, to 1942,when the U.S. government began the "bracero" program to fill labor shortages caused by World War II. Underthis program, the government issued contracts to Mexicans willing to cross the border for temporaryemployment . . . braceros, working on farms and railroads, made it possible for the U.S. economy to meet thechallenges imposed by the war effort. Government and employers found the program so appealing that it wasextended, through various acts, until 1965. Then it was terminated unilaterally, after much pressure fromunions and activists concerned with the systematic exploitation of the workers. During its existence, some44½ million contracts were issued. As part of their contract, braceros agreed to have 10 percent of their wagesplaced in a fund controlled by the Mexican government. When they returned to Mexico, individuals couldrequest that the money be returned to them . . . {however} the overwhelming majority of workers neverreceived compensation. Moreover, the whereabouts of the funds remains unknown. Despite their contributionsto the U.S. and Mexican economies, many former braceros now live in poverty, abandoned by bothgovernments and without even the means to claim Social Security, which was supposed to be a benefit of theprogram." San Francisco Examiner, "Braceros: Exploited, swindled, ignored" by Jesus Martinez, August 8, 1999. Charlas (Eros + Agresión)"México, D.F. -- Un nuevo movimiento social del inmigrante ha surgido en ambos lados de la frontera entreméxico y los estados unidos, buscando remedios de ambos gobiernos. El motivo de queja regresa más de 50años, al 1942, cuando el gobierno norte americano empezó el programa del 'bracero' para reemplazar la falta detrabajadores causada por la segunda guerra mundial. Bajo este programa, el gobierno otorgó contratos amexicanos dispuestos cruzar la frontera para tomar trabajos interinos . . . braceros, trabajando de campesinos ode ferrocarrilereros, ayudaron confrontar el reto impuesto a la economía norte americana por el esfuerzo contrala guerra. El gobierno y los patronos encontraron el programa tan affectivo que fué prolongado, a través variosactos, hasta el año 1965. Luego fué terminado unilateralmente, después de recibir muchísima presión de lasuniones y de activistas que contrarrestaban la explotación sistemática del obrero. Durante su existencia,algunos 44½ millones de contratos fueron expedidos. Como parte del contrato, el bracero estubo de acuerdoponer el 10 por ciento de su sueldo dentro un fondo controlado por el gobierno mexicano. Al regresar améxico, el indivíduo podría pedir el regreso de su dinero . . . {sin embargo} la mayoría de los trabajadoresjamás fueron compensados. Por otra parte, el paradero de los fondos permanece desconocido. A pesar de habersido contribuyentes a las economías de los estados unidos y de méxico, muchos braceros viven en la pobreza,abandonados por ambos gobiernos y sin medios de poder reclamar Seguro Social, que debía ser un beneficio delprograma del bracero." San Francisco Examiner, "Braceros: Exploited, swindled, ignored " by Jesus Martinez,August 8, 1999.
    "Institute for Xicano Relations: Portable Chapel Juan Soldado/Instituto Para las Relaciones Xicanas: Capilla Portátil Juan Soldado" proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, Tijuandiego, CalifAztlán, copyright 1993-1999
Home ,1999 Web Art Commission, Queer Cultural Center, San Francisco, www.queerculturalcenter.org.This project to re-emerge on www.xicanx.net
XICANO.COM 1997 html component of project Armando Rascón: Postcolonial Califas, dual-site exhibition comprising both the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego and Centro Cultural de la Raza, San Diego. XICANO.COM was launched online and also as a standalone projection at the Centro Cultural de la Raza. The web-based art was cast onto the far wall as a projection --created in 1996, it was published in 1997 to accompany the exhibition project instead of a normative exhibition catalog. The work presented a series of hyperlinks to an expansive information study of immigration policy and spanning a period of ten years (1986-1996). Installation views below. Top image: Centro Cultural de la Raza, San Diego. Bottom image: Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego. The html content of the legacy site to be recovered and posted on www.xicanx.net
Occupied Aztlan Database 1993-94. Simultaneous live online conference hosted by www.well.sf.ca.us andinteractive computer kiosk --on-site at the Walter/McBean Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute. The online virtual feature was the active user-interactive element of Califas Paralegal Station, one of several installations comprising Armando Rascón: Occupied Aztlan, the 1994 Adalyn Kent Award exhibition. This project to re-emerge on www.xicanx.net

PUBLICATIONS

Printed matter access via BLUE LINKS below
ARMANDO RASCÓN: BIBLIOGRAPHY (selections since 1990)2006 Cornell, Daniell. “Naco Nocturnes: Armando Rascón” Connections Project Essay, de Young, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco exhibition publication. July 8, 2006 thru January 7, 2007. Link to Daniell Cornell essay / publicationGomez Aguinaga, Carolina. “Clausura del taller de pintura e instalaci6n”Tribuna de la Bahia. page 4, No. 5873, 24 February. Puerto Vallarta.Gomez Aguinada, Carolina. “Inicio el taller de pintura e instalaci6n”Tribuna de la Bahia, page 3, No.5861, 12 February. Puerto Vallarta.Reyes, Angel. “Armando Rascon, en busca de liberar la creatividad” Vallarta Opina, pg. 7, No. 9830, Ano 28, 6 Febrero. Puerto Vallarta.2005 Ramirez, Delia. “Rescata con su lente iconos olvidados” Tribuna de la Bahia, page 4, No. 5516, 23 February, Puerto Vallarta.2003 Jacobs, Joseph. “Armando Rascon: Border Xicanography” curatorial essay in exhibition catalog "Armando Rascon: Border Xicanography" published by the Newark Museum, New Jersey. Exhibition held at The Newark Museum in 2002-2003. Westbrook, Lindsey. “Armando Rascon at Galeria de la Raza” Artweek, Vol. 34, Issue 7, pages 18 + 19. Link to ARTWEEK articleLim, Ji Ilyum. “Chicano Artist Illustrates Migrants’Journey North in Galeria Exhibit” El Tecolote, pages 1& 9, Volume 33, No. 13, July.Swanhuyser, Hiya. “Crossing Over” SF Weekly, page 38, June 11-17.2002 Bonetti, David. “Ugly fence becomes work of art: Artist makes mural of Mexican border” San Francisco Chronicle, Datebook pgs 1 + 6, Tuesday January 6. Link to Bonetti article2001 Bonetti, David. “Pick of the Week” San Francisco Chronicle, February.Cotter, Holland. “Loyal to Two Cultures, From Chicano Roots To a NewAmbiguity” The New York Times, June 8, pg. B25.1999 “Destruyendo estereotipos” El Periodico del Arte. Madrid, Spain, no. 28, December.Benitez, Claudia. “El mas joven arte chicano desembarca en Madrid” La Razon, Madrid, Spain, 21 November.1998 Dumbadze, Alexander. “Armando Rascon: Blue Star Art Space” ARTLIES 22, page 58, Spring. Link to Bumbadze article in ARTLIESEwing, John. “Beyond Borders: Armando Rascon tackles the postcolonial frontera” San Antonio Current, January 14. Page 13 & 36. Link to Ewing article in San Antonio CURRENTMontenegro, Richard. “Binational mural project receives financial boost” The Imperial Valley Press, January 8.Goddard, Dan R. “Cultural reflections: Armando Rascon’s photos honor Latina leaders” San Antonio Express-News. January 3, pages 7-H & 13-H, Arts etc. Texas. Ollman, Leah. “A Multi-Sided Look at Lone Woman” Los Angeles Times, Friday October 2. Roth, Charlene. “Original Accounts of the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island at Side Street Projects” ARTWEEK, November.Montenegro, Richard. “Border Artist: Blending American, Mexican cultures” The Imperial Valley Press, April 30. “Binational Mural Project Off To Good Start” Calexico Chronicle, Editorial, Thursday May 7, Vol.93, No. 197.Levin, Kim. “Voice Choices” The Village Voice, New York, January 13, pg.2.Sorell, Victor Alejandro. “Telling Images Bracket the Broke-en-Promise(d) Land’: The Culture of Immigration and the Immigration of Culture across Borders” Culture Across Borders, The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp.112 thru 117.1997 Pincus, Robert L. “Links in the Fence: Chicano Artist’s Work Bridges the Borders Between Cultures” The San Diego Union-Tribune. Monday, April 7, Currents & Arts section, pp E-l and E-6. Vasquez, Monica. “Postcolonial Califas: Armando Rascon at MOCA and El Centre Cultural de la Raza” La Prensa, San Diego, April 4.Fernane, Wendy. “Opening History: Latino artist explores state’s immigration issue” North County Times, Friday April 4.Berger, Laurel + Howardena Pindell. ”Who Do Some of Today’s Big-Name Artists Think Will Be the Stars of the Future?” Artnews, New York, March.Sichel, Berta. ”Translinear: Redefining Text with Technology” Flashart International, pages 70-71, March-April. Link to Berta Sichel artcile in FlashartZamudio-Taylor, Victor. Arco Publications, Arco International Art Fair, Madrid, Spain. Zamudio-Taylor, Victor. “Contemporary Artistic Impulses from Chicano & Latino Dislocations: Notes on the work of Armando Rascon, Jesse Amado and Inigo Manglano-Ovalle,” AtlAntica International, Canary Islands. Winter. Link to Zamudio-Taylor article PDF 1996 Sichel, Berta. “Arte Latinoamericano y tecnología: Entre aquí y allá” Lapiz, Madrid, Spain. Link to Berta Sichel article in LAPIZZamudio-Taylor, Victor. “Where Is The Bleeding Heart?” Chicano Art, Latin American Art in the Twentieth Century, Phaidon, London. Pgs. 324-26. Edward Sullivan, Editor.1994 Klausner, Betty. “Armando Rascon at Walter/McBean, ” Art In America. Vol. 82, No. II, November, Page 138. Link to Art in America articleKelley, Jeff. “Armando Rascon: San Francisco Art Institute” Artforum, Vol. XXXII, No. 10, Summer. Page 98. Link to ARTFORUM article“Occupied Aztlan: Yolanda Lopez talks to Elizabeth Martinez about Armando Rascon’s turning point multimedia exhibit.” CrossRoads, No. 44, September 1994, pages 10,11,&12. Link to Yolanda M. Lopez + Elizabeth Martinez article in CROSSROADSRoche, Harry. “Armando Rascon: Clear on the Concept.” SF Bay Guardian, September 14, pg.46. Jenkins, Steve. “Uneasy Rider: Armando Rascon at SFAI”Artweek, May 5, Vol.25, No.9/,Pages 26 & 27.Bonetti, David. “Three installations put a face on cultural identity” San Francisco Examiner, Wednesday April 20, Pg.B-5.Tanner, Marcia. “North of the Border” San Francisco Chronicle. Datebook’s Hot Picks, March 27, pg. 5.Roche, Harry. “Critic’s Choice: Armando Rascon” Bay Area Guardian. April 20, pg. 84.Lopez, Angel. “Chicaneidad es Hablar de Identidad” Noticias de Arte. March, April, New York. Alarcon, Norma. “T(r)opographies for a Critical Imaginary: the Work of Armando Rascon” Adaline Kent Award exhibition catalog, San Francisco Art Institute.Zamudio-Taylor, Victor. “Reading Between the Lines” catalog essay. Armando Rascon: Xicano Anesthetic, INTAR Gallery, New York. January. Link to INTAR Catalog1993 Wolf, Herta. “Notes on Mistaken Identities” ThirdText. No. 24, pg. 107.Walter Tiotz, Von. Schwarz, “ich weiss, schwarz,” Der Spieqel, Kultur, Freitag, 30 April. Wolf, Herta. “Identitad Versus Identitaten?” Camera Austria, No. 145, pg. 68.Becker, Jochen. “Mistaken Identities”, Kunstforom, Volume 123, Germany, July, pages 320 -322. Martin, Victoria. “Talking Back: Mistaken Identities at DC Santa Barbara and Counterweight at CAF” Artweek, Volume 24, Number 3, page 22, February 4.Solomon-Godeau, Abigail. Principal essay Mistaken Identities exhibition catalog, published by University Art Museum, U.C. Santa Barbara + University of Washington Press. Link to Solomon-Godeau essay1992 Darling, Michael W. “Art Probes Identity” The Independant Santa Barbara, CA, Page 27, November 19.Matthews, Lydia. “Armando Rascon at Southern Exposure Gallery, ” VISIONS Art Quarterly, Pages 27, 28 & 29. Spring.1991 Friedman, Robert. “Caught in the Capitalist NEXUS” San Francisco Sentinel. September 12. Bonetti, David. “At alternative spaces, the business of art is politics” San Francisco Examiner, Pages B-3 & B-4, Thursday, September 26.Jenkins/ Steven. “Conversation with Armando Rascon, ” ARTWEEK, Volume 32, Number 31. Pages 20 & 16. Link to article by Steven JenkinsCook, Katherine. “Timelines Into a Very Strange Future: Armando Rascon at Southern Exposure” ARTWEEK, Volume 22, September. Link to critical review by Katherine CookS & L: Transactions in the Post-industrial Era. San Francisco Art Institute. L. Brun, M.Lehmann, R. Lemcke, catalog Editors.Wright, David H. “Sore in Spirit: AMDG at Grace Cathedral” ARTWEEK, San Jose, CA, May 16. Kelley, Jeff. “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam at Grace Cathedral” VISIONS Art Quarterly, Los Angeles, Spring. Pages 24 - 28.Smith, Irvin. “The Human Mark,” ARTWEEK, San Jose, CA, April 11.1990 Mary Murphy & Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, catalog essay, “Two Projects: The Black Museum and The Multicultural Reading Room,” Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago.Mesa-Bains, Amalia. “Chicano Bodily Aesthetics” exhibition catalog, “Body/Culture: Chicano Figuration”. Sonoma State University.Sorell, Victor Alejandro. “Words and Images in the Margin: Chicano Art and the Canon,’ catalog Body/Culture: ibid..Brookman, Donna. “Community Connections” ARTWEEK, December 13.Bowen, Cathleen. “Art and Politics” VOX Magazine. Volume I, No. 2, Winter 1990.
PUBLICATIONS2006 “Armando Rascon: Naco Nocturne at De Young” artdaily.com, lead article Friday July 14. “Naco Nocturnes” apartmenttherapy.com, in “Look!” Column, 12 September.2002 Cover art for El Andar, portrait of writer Sandra Cisneros by Armando Rascon, Fall Issue, September. 2000 INSITE 2000, commissioned Public Art Project by Armando Rascon "Cine Furaztlan Presenta: Film Festival with Immigration Differential" catalog. Link to INSITE 2000 catalog1999 “Border Metamorphosis: Armando Rascon” AU LA, (Architecture and Urbanization in Las Americas) Vol I, No. I, Inaugural issue, Spring.1998 “Original Accounts of the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island” exhibition catalog, Side Street Projects, Santa Monica.1995 “Talking with: Armando Rascon,” WEST, Volume I, No. 3, 94, 95, pages 42-49, May.“Lagrimas y Sonrisas” curatorial essay by Armando Rascon, (Re)Generation Project exhibition catalog, Galeria de la Raza, San Francisco, CA.“Xicano Progeny,’ curatorial essay by Guest Curator Armando Rascon, exhibiton catalog: “Xicano Progeny: Investigative Agents, Executive Council and Other Representatives from the Sovereign State of Aztlan” published by the Mexican Museum, San Francisco; third of four traveling exhibitions in a series entitled “Redefining the Aesthetic: Toward a New Vision of American Culture.” Link to Rascon's essay "Xicano Progeny"1994 “In Consideration of Certain Artifacts Contained in the Exhibition (Elements that Make Reference to the Institution of Public Education)” statement by Armando Rascon in “Occupied Aztlan” Adaline Kent Award catalog, San Francisco Art Institute. Armando Rascon curatorial essay "Xicano Ricorso: A Thirty Year Retrospect from Aztlan" Museum of Modern Art, New York. Organized with Barbara London and Sally Berger, Department of Film and Video. Link to Press Release1992 “The Socio-cultural Reading Room: Center for Research & Information, ” published in conjunction with project of same title by Armando Rascon. Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum and Santa Barbara Public Library.“Existential Monochrome,” exhibition brochure, images and text by Armando Rascon, produced by Randolph Street Gallery in connection with installation of same title in the Project Space. Chicago Weekly, publication of “Untitled (The Only Free Choice is the Refusal to Pay)/” painting by Armando Rascon, included in Existential Monochrome, installation at Randolph Street Gallery. September 13.Frame/work, “Re-discovery” Guest editors Roberto Bedoya and Karen Atkinson. Volume 5, Issue 1. Images from “Re-interpreting Miss Rucker’s American History Lesson, Fifth Grade, Jefferson Elementary, Calexico, California, School Term 1966-67” by Armando Rascon.Art Papers, Editor: Maureen Sherlock. ‘Bifocal Borders’ Article and compendium list from “The Multicultural Reading Room: Center for Research and Information” by Armando Rascon, Pgs 14, 15 & 16. New Observations, ‘New World Women 1992’ Guest Editor: Karen Atkinson. Image/Text work: “Pendant Bell with Eagle Warrior” by Armando Rascon, page 15. Number 88. Winter 1992.S.O.S. Int’l, edited by Robin Kahn. Winter. Untitled (Quincentenniel Recipe)/ a xerox multiple by Armando Rascon.Five Fingers Review, “Art and Spirituality” edited by Jon Winet and Lovell Thoreau. Winter.

PROJECTS

Naco Nocturnes media project at de Young Museum, San Francisco

The centerpiece of Rascon's multimedia project was a thirty foot section of the U.S./Mexico border fence that once separated Calexico, California, USA and Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. After the close of the show at the de Young, the border artifact was gifted by the artist to the National Museum of American History, thus initiating the Border Objects collection at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The project featured a 70 minute audio soundscape comprising the artist's musical compositions entitled Border Ragas, with a variety of atmospheric field recordings of borderland incidental sound captures and resonant border ethos noise. The ninety-nine small circular paintings shown here horizontally are titled Naco Modern: the Tortilla Paintings (painted on a maize-resin composite ground). A five minute digital video projection that featured motion graphics of Olmec earthenware artifacts of musicians dating to 300 B.C. (from the De Young's permanent collection), were also on display as part of the installation. Naco Nocturnes ran from 8 July 2006 through 7 January 2007 framing the inaugural reopening year of San Francisco's newly built de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park.





Naco Modern: the Tortilla Paintings, 2006 99 paintings: enamel on aluminum panels. The round ground is a combination of maize and resin (tortilla composite substrate). 33 of these paintings are in the Permanent Collection of the Fine Arts Museums, San Francisco.
Naco Nocturnes (video projection) 2006, RT: 5:27, visible as a projection in the installation shots above, and intended to run in an endless loop accompanied by its ambient sound counterpart Naco Nocturnes (audio soundscape). Link to the audiostream is below.
Armando Rascón: Naco Nocturnes (audio soundscape) 2006, TR: 70 minutes.Seventy minute audio montage on endless loop. Audio samples recorded during daily walks through the Imperial (California, USA) and Mexicali (Baja California, Mexico) Valleys, captured during Rascón's border residence in Calexico from 2005-2006. Samples include Rascón playing acoustic guitar/accordion, or else, improvising on an electric guitar in a Mexicali music shop, a 4th of July fireworks display near Calexico High School, desert sounds, agricultural fields with insect sounds, bird migrations in Spring, drunken disputes in El Abanico gay bar and other juke joints, the metal clanging of port of entry entrance/exit turnstiles, ambient ghost radio blasts from passing cars, or shops with their radios turned high, the itinerant urban Banda trios in Baja, and digital drum and sequencer samples performed on Windows XPS and ProTools. The spoken word Yaqui interspersed through the audio is Rascón chanting a concrete poem written as the core message of the piece, channeling Rascon's paternal Sonoran ancestry in response to the 900 Minutemen Project volunteers patrolling of the Devil's Highway, a 23-mile stretch of the border between Naco and Douglas in Arizona --seeking to arrest undocumented border-crossers in 2005. The Mesoamerican earthenware whistles borrowed from the De young Museum collection served as catalysts in the overall creative concept of Naco Nocturnes by signaling the Olmec philosophy that the world is perceived through sight, touch and sound. Link to audio track stream on SOUNDCLOUD is here.
Below: Detail, View of the US/Mexico border fence as seen through Tía Andreita's kitchen window, East First Street, Calexico, California, Armando Rascón, ©1998-2026.

Armando Rascón: Naco Nocturnes closed at the De young Museum in San Francisco in January 2007 and the border fence was shipped back to Rascón's home/studio for outdoor storage in the back yard. In 2008, Rascón made the journey cross-country and relocated to the metro Washington, DC area. Upon his arrival in DC Rascón met up with Magdalena Mieri and Eduardo Diaz of the Smithsonian Latino Center and began a conversation with the National Museum of American History that set the stage for the border fence artifact to become part of the Smithsonian's permanent collection. It took a few months but the museum's Work and Industry curatorial team completed multiple steps, meetings and paperwork to accession the border artifact as the "first" in their newly minted Border Objects Collection at the MAH. The work is mandated to indicate "Gift of Armando Rascón" whenever displayed in public.
HERE is the link to the National Museum of American History's description of the Border Artifact.
Rascón relates how he acquired the border fencing on East First Street, Calexico, California, when it was being removed in 1998: "I had planned to visit my Tía Andreita and cousin Alejandrina in late 1998. My cousins the Herreras had owned their home on East First Street Calexico since 1960 and I grew up about three blocks away on East Fourth Street. Our families were very close, and we spent lots of time back and forth between our respective homes. But it had always fascinated me that they lived directly across from the border fence separating our two countries.
En route along East First Street I had encoutered the men of the Army Corps of Engineers actively dismantling the last remaining segments of the border that had separated Calexico from Mexicali since the late Forties.Upon arrival at my Tía's home in 1998, I did what I always do and began to capture family photos of my kin seated at their kitchen table with the US/Mexico border fence in view from the kitchen window.
Operation Gatekeeper had mandated removal of the fences starting in late 1997. The effort had advanced eastbound during the course of the year and had finally arrived on the block the Herreras lived near Andrade Avenue. It was fortuitous to coincide with the noisy work as I approached. The photos that I captured in those minutes include views with family members standing by the window with a white government truck parked in front and the border in the background. The single image above captures the fence in-situ as seen through the kitchen window on its very last day as an official border fence.
After my visit with the Herrera's, I approached Border Patrol and initiated the formal process of acquiring the entire section of fencing that was being taken down in front of my Tía Andreita's. Exacting arrangements were made for transport of the border artifact (after removal, the active fence became an artifact) and had it moved --chain link, posts, landing tarmats, barbed wire and all, to my sister's Imperial County rural property for long-term storage out on her land.
I should note, when the fences were abruptly removed from downtown and west side Calexico without any prior notice and without any local input whatsoever, a major storm erupted from the citizenry with demands for some form of resolution. I received a call from City of Calexico Beautification Committee member Mark Esquer requesting my input for a round table discussion with Imperial Valley civic leadership. I attended the meeting and presented my proposal for a community-involved public artwork Border Metamorphosis: the Binational Mural Project. The project was approved and I began to serve as project artist from ground level.
It was during one of our project monthly Mural Paint Workshops with the community in Calexico (visiting from San Francisco in 1998) that I captured final shots of the Herrera family's longtime kitchen window view and obtained the historic border fence artifact for posterity."
--Armando Rascón
Views of the border fence artifact on Rascón's Calexico, California studio yard grounds prior to loading and driving the piece to San Francisco's de Young Museum in June 2006. The original artifact was a solid 30-foot wall. Rascón's team endeavored to un-weld the artifact and engineer a series of metal support parts and elements to allow piece to remain upright in the exhibition space at the de Young Museum and later at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Photos by Armando Rascón.
Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC
Border artifact on loan to National Building Museum for Borderlands exhibition.
Rascón gift initiates border objects collection at MAH.
Border fence artifact in situ, Armando Rascon: Naco Nocturnes, at the de Young Museum, San Francisco. 2006-07.
Detail of Many Visions/One Nation --border fence artifact at MAH.
Armando Rascón organized El Gato Verde, a public arts project of several interrelated installations by Rascón and his students from the Centro Cultural Cuale. The works ranged in subject and permanence, all centered around the botanical river environs around the Isla Cuale, an arts center in Puerto Vallarta.
Rascón taught a seminar for young Puerto Vallarta artists at the Centro Cultural Cuale in February 2006. The weeklong session resulted in a series of ephemeral to semi-permanent installations in and around the grounds of Isla Cuale. located within the Cuale River. Rascón titled the project El Gato Verde, in memorial to the hundreds of wild cats that had inhabited and roamed the island for many decades and which had been summarily exterminated during the Summer of 2005. Rascón's lectures covered a range of categories from Earth Art sculptures to politically-based group projects such as the exhibitions by Group Material (and others.) The image on the poster above is Rascón's stencil that was spray-painted on city walls at various locations throughout the Zona Romántica section of Puerto Vallarta. Some of the stencil art was still there during Rascón's last visit to PV in 2020.

Armando Rascón + BEZANDO (Mexicali Collective) Art For Humans Gallery, Los Angeles 2007

Armando Rascón formed the Mexicali art collective BEZANDO when living in Calexico, California between the years 2005-2008. BEZANDO is an acronym for Border Enterprise Zone and Drum Octave. Members of BEZANDO included Juan Quintero (Los Sweepers), Yung Sing (Manniqui Lazer), Marco Vera (Mexicali Rose), Ismael "Malamen" Castro and Armando Rascon. In August 2008 the group traveled to Art for Humans Gallery, Los Angeles for an exhibition and performance Unfinished Symphony, posted on the youtube video below (Courtesy of Paul McLean and artforhumans gallery).
Border Boy, 2007, vinyl mural by Armando Rascón to left. BEZANDO collective members Armando Rascon and Juan Quintero to right of mural.
Performance view of Armando Rascón with accordian.
Project flyer for Chinesca<Chinatown>Ricorso project at Art for Humans, Los Angeles.
BEZANDO members Juan Quintero, Armando Rascón and Ismael Castro.

Armando Rascón: Border Xicanographies Galeria de la Raza, San Francsico, California 2003

Installation view: to left Border Xicanography, 2003. Neon text. to right Niño Perdido, 2003, 2-channel DVD projection
Installation view of dual screens: Niño Perdido, 2003, 2-channel DVD projection. TRT: 5:45 minutes. Video links are in VIDEO selections at top of site. Video stills:
Niño Perdido (Norte)
Niño Perdido (norte)
Niño Perdido (Sur)
Niño Perdido (Sur)

Armando Rascón: Border Xicanography The Newark Museum, New Jersey 2002

Curator of American Art Joseph Jacobs invited Rascon to produce a new project to run during The Newark Museum's presentation of The Sport of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame. Rascon responded by creating a crossmedia installation entitled Border Xicanography, merging five distinct works into a standalone project. In echoing the Mesoamerican Ballgame, Rascón debuted Two Ballcourts w a mediated third, (RT: 8:24 minutes), a dvd projection combining binational sporting and cultural references. The dvd weaves intimate closeups from the Juan Soldado chapel in Tijuana with outtakes from the 2002 semi-quarter World Cup match between the USA and Mexico, and shots of athletic youth scaling the border wall by the Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood in Mexicali. The work may be viewed HERE:
Ceremonial station w/ ambient flame landscape, 2002. 99 votive candles, digital prints, set atop 33 aluminum shelves.
Two subjects with Dream Reality, 1998 Chromogenic print on silk fabric.

Armando Rascón Cine Futuraztlan Presenta: Film Festival with Immigration Differential inSITE 2000, Tijuana and San Diego

Photo: view of film festival audiences entering the outdoor plaza of Mercado El Popo on opening night, Day of the Dead, November 2, 2000 enroute to Cinelandia 2000.
Rascon conceived a public art project that utilized the framework of a normative film festival with the theme of IMMIGRATION as the core public engagement content.
Twelve specialists in their respective fields of immigration studies, border literature, film theory, as well as film directors and critics were invited by Rascon to engage in conversation leading to selection of a work in cinema for inclusion in the film festival. The works chosen all signaled immigration as their primary content. Rascón then traveled to each of the twelve collaborator's homes to create ten-minute video shorts of his conversations with each of the specialists. Rascón's video shorts were screened immediately prior to the screening of each work in cinema selected by each collaborator for the Film Festival. Several collaborators also participated in Open Forums with the Public at each of the four evenings of the Film Festival.
Detail: Armando Rascón performing a spoken word piece (the DJ is in the ticket booth, lower right) for opening night November 2, 2000, outdoor plaza of el Mercado Popo adjascent to entrance of the host film theater Cinelandia 2000, located in downtown Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.
Armando Rascón: 99 actions for film festival, 2000. Ninety-nine performance actions were woven into the entire content of this multi-disciplinary and procedurally complex work in public art for the run of the four-day film festival. From barking out on the streets of Tijuana attempting to engage the passers to enter the festival, to ushering, to running Forums with the Public each evening, to DJ sets prior to each screening to making awards to the film viewers for "most original content" on requested comments forms ... the conversations with audiences went late into each evening with multiple testimonials from a diverse audience comprising all levels of borderlands residents from both sides of the border. Rascon enlisted performers Julio Cesar Morales , Sergio de la Torre and Eduardo Rascon to join him in performance all four nights of the Festival. A full list of all of the 99 actions to be published on xicanx.net in future.
Armando Rascón: Cine Futuraztlán Video Shorts, 1999-2000. TRT: 10:00 minutes each of 12 works. Project Collaborators, left to right: Lourdes Portillo, Sylvia Morales, Rosalinda Fregoso, Maria Amparo Escandón, Gustavo Vasquez, David Maciel, Jose Valenzuela Arce,; Bottom row: Norma Alarcón, Victor Alejandro Sorel, Jennifer Maytorena + Vicky Funari, Maria Herrera-Sobek, Maria Novaro, and Paul Espinosa.

Aztlan Hoy: La Posnacion Chicana curated by Berta Sichel Sala de exposiciones del Canal de Isabel II, Madrid, Spain 1999

Latina Postcolonial Photobureau, 1990-1999. Mural size C-type chromogenic prints. Permanent collection: the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; the Di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, California.
Commissioned for the exhibition Aztlan Hoy: the Aztlan Postnation at the Sala de Exposiciones del Canal de Isabel II, Rascón authored Institute for Xicano Relations: Portable Chapel Juan Soldado, an html information site featuring a tour of the Tijuana chapel honoring Juan Soldado, venerated saint to would-be border crossers. Hyperlinks in the piece connected viewers to detailed research on immigration policy and facts regarding the undocumented classes in the United States (researched by Rascón spanning the years1993 through 1999.)

Armando Rascón

Latina Postcolonial Photobureau + 7 related media installations

Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, Texas

1998

Artist Statement Some thoughts on postcolonialism from the perspective of border citizenry by Armando Rascón Link to PDF is here Project Reviews Ewing, John. "Beyond Borders: Armando Rascón tackles the postcolonial frontera" San Antonio Current, January 14, Pages 13 and 36. Link to Ewing article is here Dumbadze, Alexander. "Armando Rascón: Blue Star Art Space: ARTLIES 22, Page 58, Spring 1998. Link to Dumbadze article in ARTLIES
Installation view: Karmabo(a)rder Skateworks, 1998, one of eight standalone yet interrelated installation artworks presented at the Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, Texas. The video was created in conjunction with a workshop led by the artist with the Jefferson High School skate team.
Video projection: Santa Fe (Light Spirit Dream), 1997, RT: 25 minutes. The work opens with Rascon's ritual action of creating thirty gallons of holy water from a small vitamin container with holy water given to the artist by his grandmother. The 30 gallons of water were ported from the San Antonio River to the gallery by Rascón and gallery staff. The San Antonio River water is in the seven white plastic containers on the floor by the projection screen wall.
to left: el conquistador/el conquistado/la conquistadora/la conquistada, 1997. Four stacked neon texts. to right: Latina Postcolonial Photobureau, 1990-1999. Mural size C-type prints.
Free Radio Aztlan (receiver / transmitter), 1997 Mixed mediums with antique bicycle and birdcage; Spanish radio broadcast captured by Rasóon on the morning of November 9, 1994 --the first day of passage of Prop.187 in California. Audio samples were transmitted via wireless audio equipment mounted on the cage and bicycle for live sound in the gallery. AUDIO link to Soundcloud stream is HERE:

Armando Rascón: Border Metamorphosis - The Binational Mural Project US/Mexico border between Calexico, California and Mexicali, Baja California. 1998-2002

The Binational Mural Project, two-mile community involved public art project at the international site of the US/Mexico border. Over two thousand volunteers participated in once monthly weeklong paint workshops with the artist between 1998 through 2002; Calexico , California and Mexicali, Baja California.
Nocturnal view The Binational Mural Project, 1998-2002, photo courtesy of Getty Images. The work was removed by the Trump Administration in 2017, effectively replaced by 'the Wall."
In response to the mural's destruction, City of Calexico civic and community leaders erected a public monument in 2019. Situated in Rockwood Plaza Park, in central Calexico, California, the monument features a fully restored section of the original salvaged artwork, and, commemorates the historic binational achievement of this major community-involved public art project. Photo courtesy of Palmoc Herrera.
For a deeper dive into the world of Border Metamorphosis: the Binational Mural Project visit the project portal https://www.binationalmuralproject.com

Armando Rascón: Postcolonial Califas

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

+ Centro Cultural de la Raza, San Diego, California 1997

Installation view: Postcolonial Califas, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, 1997. In the foreground, Olmec Lightpiece for XX Century Fin de Siecle, 1997, a ceiling to floor projection of 80 digital images on an oval-shaped elevated floor screen. Permanent Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Link to MCASD is HERE
Installation view: Postcolonial Califas, Centro Cultural de la Raza, Balboa Park, San Diego, California. Projection is an online html artwork titled Institute for Xicano Relations: Postcolonial Califas commissioned for the joint exhibition with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and projected via live broadcast simultaneously at the Centro via the site xicano.com (domain registered to Armando Rascón at that time.) The artist changed the domain to xicanx.net in 2017.
Postcolonial Califas Public Service Announcement, 1997.
The distribution of these rub-on 12,000 temporary tattoos served as a call to action and information campaign to impulse youth towards voter registration. The 800-973-1848 telephone number provided users a sophisticated Interactive Voice Response system awith information regarding the imperative for the youth vote in light of passage of Proposition 187 earlier in the year and the impact that this was already having on undocumented populations in the state of California.
The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology that Rascón used to deliver prerecorded telephone prompts provided callers an extended navigation menu to five separate information user choices with distinct themed paths: (1) voter registration option; (2) a brief historical overview of the meaning of the term Aztlán; (3) the political history of the Mexico-American War that ended in 1848, with the loss of about one-third of the northern part of Mexico (ceded to the USA); (4) an overview of the recently passed Proposition 187; and, (5) a brief overview of the Olmec, the mother culture of the Americas.
The audio above is an audio simulation of the Postcolonial Califas P.S.A. message deployed during the era of analog telephony over copper wire. The temporary tattoos were distributed on the exhibition announcements as well as at both El Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park and Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego's downtown locations free of charge.

Armando Rascón Institute for Xicano Relations: Reading the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies 1995

Detail from installation Institute for Xicano Relations: Reading the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1995, Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies. Image depicts Mexicali based farm laborers working in agricultural fields in Imperial Valley, several miles North of the US/Mexico border (demarcation line separating the USA and Mexico was established in 1848 by the tenets of the Treaty, thus ending the US Mexico War). Installation views:

Armando Rascón: Occupied Aztlan Adaline Kent Award exhibition, San Francisco Art Institute 1994

Armando Rascón: Love letters from the Maid(en) to the Garden(er) 1993 Installation at Oliver Gallery, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland 1994

Installation view: Love letters from the Maid(en) to the Garden(er), 1993. Work included in the exhibition Cultural Identities and Immigration, 1994, the College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland.
The yellow horizontal panel contains passages from Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's text Can the Subaltern Speak?, hand painted by Rascon in barrio calligraphy.
Detail: inside the vitrine, atop a dozen roses, are the artist's parent's love letters from the Forties --a gift from his mother.

Armando Rascón

Center for Research and Information:

Socio-cultural Reading Room

Contemporary Arts Forum,Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara Main City Library

1992

Armando Rascón: Existential Monochrome Southern Exposure, San Francisco and Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago 1991

Permanent collection Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. Exhibited as part of the installation Existential Monochrome at Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago and Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francsico. Featured in the traveling exhibition Mistaken Identities curated by Abigail Solomon-Godeau and Connie Lewallen. 1992-1995 Mistaken Identities essay by Abigail Solomon-Godeau
Armando Rascón: Existential Monochrome Project Installation views at Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago and Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francsico 1991-1992 Existential Monochrome, 1991 Laminated oversize xerox prints with neon text. The image is a composite portrait of male world leaders in 1990.
Installation view: Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago, 1992. top Existential Monochrome, 1991 bottom ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPH, 1991. Floor mural with light.
Untitled (Destroy Power Not People), 1989-90
Untitled (Boredom is Counterrevolutionary), 1989-90. 14 x 14 inches. Black leather, colored dyes, vinyl text.
Installations view: Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco. 1991.
Installation view: wall tableaux of eleven USA landmark court cases.
Installation view: 11 of 26 black leather paintings with counter-culture slogans from the Sixties.
Detail: tops of two of the eleven freestanding verticle wall tableaux court cases.

Armando Rascón The Multicultural Reading Room: Center for Research and Information 1990 New Langton Arts, San Francisco Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago

Installation view: Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago, 1991
Installation view: New Langton Arts, San Francisco, 1990
In a nod to the institution of the public library, Rascón conceived a project involving a selection of participating collaborators from different vantage points of the worlds of art and culture, to construct a reading room setting with a precise selection of books chosen by the invited participants. The gesture of opening participation to a cross section of 'collaborators' served to democratize the project space and to redefine the subject of public engagement in the social sphere. The PDF of the Multicultural Reading Room pamphlet is HERE Article for Art Papers is here:

Armando Rascón Decay and Resurrection AIDS activist informed works 1981-1993

Self portrait (prayer), 1993Ink on silverprint. Published in the exhibition catalog Armando Rascon: Occupied Aztlan, Adaline Kent Award exhibition at the San Francisco Art Institute. Spring 1994.
Burroughs-Wellcome Triptych with Dahlias from project Medicinal Pictures / Corporate Healers, 1991 Included in the exhibition S & L: Transactions in the Post-industrial Era, San Francisco Art Institute.
Medicinal Pictures / Corporate Healers, 1991 Installation view with three still lifes: Bristol-Meyers Triptych with Camelia Begonias, Sandoz Triptych with Gladioli, and Burroughs-Wellcome Triptych with Dahlias, --and numerous pages of automated research computer print-outs generated under the subject headings (1) Pharmaceudical Industry, (2) Pharmaceudical Ethics, and (3) AIDS Research. A research project involving pharmaceudical corporations which are engaged in AIDS research and which sell over-the-counter drugs.
Armando Rascón, Untitled (Martyr Totem), 1989. Work featured in the exhbition The AIDS Timeline organized by Group Material, University Art Museum, UC Berkeley, California, 1990.The piece is composed of the 1984 judicial injunction issued by San Francisco's Board of Health that closed the city's Gay bath houses with an overlay of collaged fragments of The Martyrdom of St. Hippolytus (Dirk Bouts, 1475). It is a freestanding work set on the floor. Collection: Dr. Milton Estes, Sausalito, Ca.
Untitled (A Private Memory), 1988 Glass, metal, charcoal, paper. 20 panels, each 12 x 10 inches. From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93. Work included in the traveling exhibition Body / Culture: Chicano Figuration organized by the Sonoma State University in 1990.
Installation view The Biology of Moral Systems, 1987 From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93 Project at MEDIA gallery, San Francisco, California.
Untitled (The Postulate of Hot and Cold), 1987 Black leather , color dyes, antique frames. From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93
Untitled (Double Cryogenic), 1986 Collection: Ken Cleaveland, San Francisco. From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93 PDF SYNOPSIS of Decay and Resurrection is HERE
Untitled (Bug Boy), 1987 From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93 Collection: Chris Daubert, Dixon, California
Domine Mundi, 1984 From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93
AlphaOmega, 1987 Collection: Fred and Beth Rabin, New York City. From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93
Untitled Ritual, 1984 From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93
Untitled (ring vortex), 1986 From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93
Untitled (insect with gamma particles), 1985 From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93
Life in the Love Hate Garden, 1984 From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93
Those Astronauts Again, 1984 From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93
Auto-erotic, 1983 From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93
Mathematical Certainties that Fail to Stagger, etc., 1984 Collection: Eduardo Rascon, Tijuana, BC, MexicoFrom the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93
Emergence of Desire, 1984 Collection: Bill Ryan and Carter Lowrie, Palm Springs, Califonia From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93
Eros Coil, 1985 From the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-93
Boy and Running Dogs, 1983 Collection: Joan Haratani, Oakland, Califonia
Boy Playing with Shadow, 1983
Youth Disguised as an Elder, 1983
Fear of Angels, 1984
Prisoner Dance, 1982
Still, 1982 Collection: Eduardo Rascon, Tijuana, BC, Mexico
Armando Rascon: Decay and Resurrection AIDS activist informed works 1981-1993 My arrival in San Francisco on St. Patrick's Day 1981 to take up residency in a cold-water warehouse studio on Folsom (at 11th) was a veritable thunderclap break from my past New York or Southern California life choices. The impact that AIDS was having in the City was an immediate departure, primarily visible upon the physiognomy of the gay male population at large. San Francisco is a boutique scale urban space, very densely populated and built vertically on a peninsula surrounded on three sides by water. In the early 80's one out of every four males was Gay. The per square-mile number of residents made the City feel even more condensed a civic polity and details tended to be more in-your-face in the neighborhoods, downtown, in the workplace and in general wherever residents were present. My first Saturday night at the Folsom studio, upon leaving the building to go to the corner store, I was immersed in a sea of leathermen that filled the sidewalks in all directions, necessitating me to walk on the streets with the cars to increase velocity and make progress to the store. By 1984 AIDS had rendered the Folsom Street leather district a complete ghost town and the myriad leather bars had closed, with only a few that still remained including the SF Eagle and the Powerhouse. The first work that I created in the Folsom studio reflected the pervading complexity of the pandemic that was killing off all of my friends. The zetgeist proclaimed an approaching APOCALYPSE and the work necessarily embodied that. Thus my first body of work, Decay and Resurrection, stands as a testament to the era of AIDS activism and personal artistic growth during a running encounter with prevailing fear of the plague blamed principally on the Gay male population. As a young queer youth, the apparent lack of response from the Federal Government was both shocking and astounding. --Armando Rascón

CRITICAL PRACTICE: Image selections 1977-2026

Panoramic view ofBorder Metamorphosis: the Binational Mural Project

1848-1998 One Hundred and Fifty Years Later, 1988 Installation view, South of Market Cultural Center, San Francisco, California. The work combines antique photographs, vinyl text, and lightbulbs set atop an antique photograph on the floor. Note: 1848 was the year the western states/territories belonging to Mexico were annexed to the United States, ending the US/Mexico War. It is a historically undisputed fact that from 1848 to the present, citizenship by descendants of the original inhabitants of the Southwest (often referred to as Aztlán by natives) has been largely an unresolved crisis for over one-hundred and fifty years.
Photograph above:View of the borderfence from my Tía Andreita's kitchen window, First Street, Calexico, California , 1998-2026 © 2026 by Armando Rascón
A tableaux that included portions of the thirty-foot borderfence gift from Armando Rascón to the Museum of American History is seen in the above shot from the exhibition Many Voices, One Nation at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Washington, DC. 2019. Below: Museum didactic with attribution to Armando Rascón as donor of the border artifact.
View of the border fence artifact on loan to the National Building Museum for their exhibition on the Borderlands. July 2022. Photo by Rascón.
To left: Alpha Omega, 1984 From the body of work Decay and Resurrection 1981-1993
Study for AlphaOmega, 1986. From the series Decay and Resurrection 1982-88.
Performance with Irwin Irwin at New Langton Arts, San Francisco, 1984. Richard (Irwin Irwin) was one of hundreds of personal friends lost to AIDS during my first decade in San Francisco, the Eighties. Temple of the Assassins 1984
Performance by Irwin Irwin
Music composed and performed by Robert Daugherty and Armando Rascon.
New Langton Arts, San Francisco.
All Soul's Eve -- October 31, 1984Sound: Armando Rascón and Robert Dougherty
Postcolonial Califas Public Service Announcement, 1997. The distribution of these rub-on 12,000 temporary tattoos served as a call to action and information campaign to impulse youth towards voter registration. The 800 telephone number provided users to a sophisticated interactive audio site replete with information regarding the imperative for the youth vote in light of passage of Proposition 187 earlier in the year and the impact that this was already having on undocumented populations in the state of California.
The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology that Rascón used to deliver prerecorded telephone prompts provided callers an extended navigation menu to five separate information user choices with distinct themed paths: (1) voter registration option; (2) a brief historical overview of the meaning of the term Aztlán; (3) the political history of the Mexico-American War that ended in 1848, with the loss of about one-third of the northern part of Mexico (ceded to the USA); (4) an overview of the recently passed Proposition 187; and, (5) a brief overview of the Olmec, the mother culture of the Americas.

Armando Rascón: Postcolonial Califas Public Service Announcement, 1997 As worn by the artist during his lecture for Louis Hock's art class at the University of California, San Diego, 1997.
Armando Rascón AztlanLifeExtensionFoundation 2002.Interactive online site with Mission District digital mural, commissioned by Galeria de la Raza, San Francisco, California. The domain xicano.com was changed to xicanx.net in 2017.Project to re-emerge on www.xicanx.net.
Felix with eyes closed (when we were young), 1990, portait of Felix Gonzales-Torres during setup of The AIDS Timeline with Group Material at the University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley. Photo by Armando Rascón © 1990-2026
Félix González-Torres correspondence maps 1987 from the AMAYA PROJECT by Armando Rascón ©1987-2026
Portrait of Sandra Cisneros, 2002 photograph by Armando Rascón (nikon35mm, Ektachrome asa 25 film) published on the cover of el ANDAR.
Armando Rascón Cosmic Unity 1979. Ortega Park, Santa Barbara, California. Public art mural project sponsored by La Casa de la Raza. Cosmic Unity was a mural that I painted as part of the Ortega Park murals project in 1979. The concept for the image was inspired by having traveled with several fellow College of Creative Studies students in 1978 to a site high up in the Figueroa Mountains to study Chumash cave paintings that were completed by tribe shamans over hundreds of years before. Our professor, environmental sculptor Elyn Zimmerman, had made advance arrangements with the Park Service and had officers in jeeps drive us about five hours into protected wilderness until we reached the site of the ancient cave paintings where we were able to study the signs and symbols painted throughout the caves. We camped out over two days, having slept overnight inside one of the caves. It was a distinct spiritual experience and I was able to envision the sense of cosmic Chumash time as a lifelong takeaway, and the following year took that vision to Ortega Park. My young Chumash friend Mark, a neighborhood resident, assisted with the mural adding to the cultural significance and meaning of the work. For me personally, the essence of the native indigenous roots of being Chicano (what we call Indigenismo) were strengthened profoundly by the experience. This work is currently the subject of a major restoration as part of the Ortega Park redesign to be completed by 2025. A detailed 3-D image and press coverage are below: 3-D image of Cosmic Unity is HERE Santa Barbara INDEPENDANT story HERE: Santa Barbara News-Press story HERE:
Paquita (Portrait of a Poet) 1977, oil on linen.

Rascon selected critical writing: published image/text, curatorial and solo projects

Synopsis: Untitled (Double Cryogenic), 1986, one of the works created by Armando Rascón during his AIDS activist years (from the series Decay and Resurrection 1981-2003). The synopsis was written by Rascon (in 2019) and presented to David Evans Frantz of One Collection Foundation, University of Southern California in August of 2019. Link to PDF Remembrance: Félix Gonzales-Torres by Armando Rascón, 2004, wall tableaux text accompanying the gallery installation of Felix's work 1987, (1987, photostat, 8 x 10 inches), at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Gift of Armando Rascon in memory of Maria Herrera Rascon. The work was originally given to Rascon by Felix Gonzales-Torres in 1987. Link to written text by Rascon is here: Curatorial essay by Armando Rascón, Skatelore Expo: California Skate(board)ing Index to Concepts, Forms, Life, 1998, Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, California. Link to exhibition announcement Link to Rascón essay PDF Project essay by Armando Rascón, Latina Postcolonial Photobureau + 7 Related Media Installations , Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, Texas. 1998.Link to Rascon essay PDF Project essay Armando Rascón: Postcolonial Califas, 1997 Link to PDF is here Curatorial essay by Armando Rascón, Waveforms: skating the urban forest, 1996, The Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History Link to printed matter Curatorial essay by Armando Rascón, Xicano Progeny 1995, The Mexican Museum, San Francisco, California. Link to essay PDF Curatorial essay by Armando Rascón, Lagrimas y Sonrisas: the first (Re)Generation Exhibition 1995, Celebrating 25 Years, Galeria de la Raza, San Francisco. Link to Rascon essay Curatorial essay by Armando Rascón, Xicano Ricorso: a Thirty Year Retrospect from Aztlan, Museum of Modern Art, 1994, New York City Link to Rascon essay Exhibition catalog Armando Rascón: Xicano Anesthetic, INTAR Gallery, New York, New York. 1994Link to Rascon essay manuscript PDF Link to INTAR catalog Project for New Observations Armando Rascón: Pendant Bell with Eagle Warrior, 1992 Link to New Observations PDF Curatorial essay by Armando Rascón, La Moda, 1993, Galeria de la Raza, San Francisco, Caifornia. Link to Rascon essay Curatorial essay by Armando Rascón, A Quincentenary Ricorso: Redeeming Our Dead 1992, Dia de Muertos/Day of the Dead exhibition at Galeria de la Raza, San Francisco.Link to PDF Project exhibition pamphlet Armando Rascón: Sociocultural Reading Room 1992-93, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum and Santa Barbara Main Public Library, California. Link to printed matter Exhibition pamphlet Armando Rascón: The Multicultural Reading Room 1991, Project Space, Randolp Street Gallery Link To printed matter Link to ART PAPERS article on The Multicultural Reading Room Exhibition pamphlet Armando Rascon: Existential Monochrome 1992, Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago, Illinois. Link to printed matter Curatorial essay by Armando Rascón for exhibition Light Spirit Dream, 1990, TERRAIN, San Francisco. Link to printed matter Curatorial essay by Armando Rascón for exhibition Corporate Crime / Malicious Mischief, 1987, INSTALLATION Gallery, San Diego and MEDIA Gallery, San Francisco. Link to printed matter Curatorial essay by Armando Rascón Art After Eden: An Unnatural Perspective, 1986, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco. Link to printed matter Written article by Armando Rascón: Solamente para artistas, PAVAC, 1981 Link to printed matter
instituto para las relaciones xicanas: capilla portátil juan soldado
institute for xicano relations: portable chapel juan soldado
occupied aztlán database -- proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, 1993-1999
Favor hacer clic las palabras subrayadas para ver imágenes de la Capilla Juan Soldado.
For a self-guided tour of the Juan Soldado Chapel, click colored links to open images.
Dichos (Todos los hombres mueren pero sólo unos cuantos realmente viven) (Estereotipos codependientes)Dichos (All men die but only some really live) / Citations (co-dependant cultural stereotypes)
Dichos (Masculinity): Más vale andar sólo que mal acompañado Better to travel alone than to do so with bad company
ACharlas (Public Policy Institute of California)"The nation's first long-term study to examine how long immigrants from Mexico remain in the United States has concluded that, contrary to popular perception, most return home. SF Chronicle, "Most Mexicans Don't Stay in the U.S. Study finds that most return home within a few years" Aurelio Rojas, Wednesday January 29, 1997.Charlas (Instituto de Normas Públicas de California)"El primer estudio a largo plazo que ha conducido la nación para examinar cuanto tiempo permanecen los inmigrantes de México en Estados Unidos, ha concluido que, contraria a la percepción pública, la mayoría regresa a su pais." SF Chronicle, "La Mayoría de los Mexicanos No Pernanecen en E.U. Estudio concluye que la mayoría regresa a su país en unos cuantos años" Aurelio Rojas, miércoles 29 de enero de 1997.
Dichos (Chicaneidad) No por mucho madrugar te amanece más temprano Earlier rising will not presagean earlier sunrise
BCharlas (Interiew)"Q: The Senate's retiring immigration expert, Alan Simpson, says you have the worst job in the world.Meissner: I read where he said that. Well I think the Immigration Service is a fascinating place. I don't thinkthat in my lifetime the immigration issue has ever had the saliency and the resonance that it has in thismoment. This is the second-largest immigration period in our country's history. Only a few years ago, we hadabout 300,000 naturalizations a year. In 1994 that jumped to about 500,000 and in 1995 to 1,000,000. Andwith the new welfare reform legislation that Congress has just passed [which prevents non-citizens fromgetting public assistance], I suspect the numbers will go up.Q: To curb illegal immigration from Mexico, Pat Buchanan has suggested a fence along the Southwest border.Meissner: How are we going to do that? What Buchanan is missing is that 'the border' is alot bigger than our2,000-mile frontier with Mexico. Our borders are also the beaches of Florida, the airports and overseasconsulates where visas are issued. About 40 percent of the illegal immigrants in this country are people whohave overstayed legally issued documents." The New York Times Magazine, "The Worst Job in the World? Witha few recent victories in the ver-shrill immigration debate, Doris Meissner, the I.N.S. Commissioner, has keptthe nativists in Congress at bay --for now." Claudia Dreifus, October 27, 1996.Charlas (Entrevista)"Pr: El experto de inmigración saliente, Alan Simpson, dice que Ud. tiene el peor empleo del mundo.Meissner: Leí que dijo eso. Bueno, yo creo que el Servicio de Inmigración es un lugar fascinante. Creo que entoda mi vida el tema de inmigración no ha tenido la notabilidad y resonancia que tiene en este momento. Estees el segundo periodo de mayor inmigración en la historia de nuestro país. Hace sólo algunos años, teníamoscomo 300,000 naturalizaciones al año. En 1994 saltamos a 500,000 y en 1995 a 1,000,000. Y con la nuevareforma legislativa de asistencia pública [la cual impide que personas que no son ciudadanas reciban asistenciapública], sospecho que incrementarán los números.Pr: Para frenar la inmigración ilegal de México, Pat Buchanan ha sugerido una valla a lo largo de la fronterasudoeste.Meissner: ¿Cómo vamos a hacer eso? Lo que no entiende Buchanan es que 'la frontera' es mucho más grandeque nuestra frontera de 2,000 millas con México. Nuestras fronteras también son las playas de Florida, losaeropuertos y los consulados en el extranjero donde se expiden visas. Aproximadamente 40 por ciento de losinmigrantes ilegales en este país son personas que han permanecido más tiempo de lo estipulado en susdocumentos expedidos legalmente." The New York Times Magazine, "El Peor Empleo en el Mundo? Con unascuantas victorias recientes en el debate de inmigración, Doris Meissner, Comisinada de la I.N.S. ha contenido anativistas en el Congreso --por lo pronto". Claudia Dreifus, 27 de octubre de 1996.
Dichos (Spirituality) Ojos que no ven corazón que no siente What the eyes don't see the heart won't feel
CCharlas (Silent Deaths)"El Paso, Aug. 20 -- In police reports, they often have no names and are chiefly described by the clothes theywore when their bodies were found . . . Some who die are never found, so no one knows the exact number ofsuch fatalities over all. But in the first systematic effort to study these deaths at the border, a recent reportby the University of Houston found that over the last four years, 1,185 people had drowned, died of exposureor dehydration or been hit by automobiles while, the authorities concluded, they had been trying to cross theborder away from designated checkpoints." The New York Times, "Silent Deaths Climbing Steadily As MigrantsCross Mexico Border" by Sam Howe Verhovek. Sunday, August 24, 1997.Charlas (Muriendo en Silencio)"El Paso, Agosto 20 -- En reportes policiácos, no tienen nombre y son identificadas por la ropa que llevabancuando fueron encontradas . . . Algunas muertes no serán descubiertas, ni se sabe el número exacto de estasfatalidades. Pero en el primer esfuerzo sistemático de investigar las muertes fronterizas , un reporte reciente dela Universidad de Houston encontró que durante los últimos cuatro años, 1,185 personas se ahogaron,congelaron o se ensolaron, o fueron atropelladas por autos mientras intentaban cruzar la frontera a unadistancia de los retenes oficiales." The New York Times, "Silent Deaths Climbing Steadily As Migrants CrossMexico Border" by Sam Howe Verhovek. Sunday, August 24, 1997.
Dichos (La Voz Latina) Está como mírame y déjame Look but don't touch
ChCharlas (Selena)"Christy Haubegger, a Mexican-American from Houston who is publisher of Latina, a New York-based magazinefor Hispanic women, said "Selena is an icon to us because she is both culturally and physically like we are,someone born here in the United States and definitely American, but also a Latina, proud of who she is andable to say she didn't have to lose her culture to be successful. She not only embodied ideals of Latina beautybut the struggle we live with every day, between two cultures, two languages and two sets of values." Evenbefore Selena was born, of course, Latinas like Rita Hayworth ad Raquel Welch had built large followings. Butthey gained their fame only by changing their names, trying to discard their identities as Hispanic women andprojecting an exotic image that was sexy and submissive. That formula reinforced 'a stereotype of us being theoppressed half of a partiarchy, which we certainly aren't,' as Ms. Haubegger put it. The New York Times, "ALegend Grows, and So Does an Industry" Larry Rohter, January 12, 1997.Charlas (Selena)"Christy Haubegger, una mexicoamericana de Houston que publica Latina, una revista con base en Nueva Yorkpara mujeres hispanas, dijo "Selena es un ícono para nosotras porque es culturalmente y físicamente comonosotras, alguien nacida aquí en Estados Unidos y definitivamente americana, pero también latina, orgullosa dequien es y capaz de decir que no perdió su cultura para ser exitosa. No solamente encama los ideales de labelleza latina, también la lucha que vivimos cada día, entre dos culturas, dos idiomas y dos tipos de valoresdiferentes." Aún antes de nacer Selena, por supuesto, latinas como Rita Hayworth y Raquel Welch habíanadquirido grandes números de seguidores. Pero obtuvieron su fama sólo al carnbiar sus nombres, tratando dedesechar sus identidades de mujeres hispanas y proyectando una imagen exótica que era sexy y sumisa. Estafórmula reforzó 'el estereotipo de que somos la mitad oprimida de un patriarcado , que en verdad no somos,'como dijera la Srita. Haubegger." The New York Times, "Crece una Leyenda, También una Industria" LarryRohter, 12 de enero de 1997.
Dichos (Immigration) Andamos de Herodas a Pilatos We go here and there and do not find our place
DCharlas (Redistricting 11)"Washington, Nov. 12-- The Supreme Court today threw into doubt the future of the first Hispanic-majorityCongressional district in the Midwest, setting aside a lower court's decision that found the oddly shaped Illinoisdistrict to be constitutional." The New York , "Setback for Hispanic Congressional District" Linda Greenhouse,November 13, 1996.CharIas (Cambio de Distrito 11)"Washington, 12 de nov. --La Suprema Corte hoy echó a duda el futuro del primer distrito Congresional demayoría hispana en el área central de Estados Unidos, dejando a un lado la decisión de un tribunal menor quedictó que este distrito extrañamente configurado de Illinois es constitucional." The New York Times, "Atrasopara el Distrito Congresional Hispano" Linda Greenhouse, 13 de noviembre de 1996.
Dichos (Cultural Space) No hay mal que por bien no venga The road to hell is paved with good intentions
ECharlas (Sanctuary)"The INS will continue to operate with a fixed formula of enforcement priorities. "We spend 30 percent of ourtime on criminal aliens, 30 percent on employer sanctions, and 30 percent on fraud and counterfeitdocuments," said Schiltgen [Director, INS San Francisco]. "We need to spread [the remaining IO percent] outto all the areas, including finding John Doe who is an illegal alien. Those have been our priorities. Quitefrankly, I don't see them changing in the next year." Schitgen refused to portay himself as different from hispredecessor, Republican appointed David Ilchert, who was criticized by civil rights and immigration advocatesas being too harsh with immigrants. Ilchert orchestrated numerous INS sweeps of Mission Districtestablishments frequented by Latinos. In the mid'80s Patricia Aguayo, then a producer for Channel 44 (she isnow board president of the Mission Economic and Cultural Association), was swept up in a raid at the Missionnightspot Club Elegante. "It was a reign of terror," said Aguayo. "I saw firsthand how inhumane the INS was."Public criticism of the Club Elegante raid eventually led to the city's passage of a sanctuary ordinance to limitINS abuses in San Francisco. San Francisco Bqy Guardian, "Welcome to ground zero: San Francisco's new INSchief says the agency can't afford to enforce Prop. 187 -- but defends past abusive policies." Eric Stephan,December 7, 1994.Charlas (Santuario)"El Servicio de Inmigración y Naturalización continuará operando con una fórmula fija de prioridades para hacercumplir la ley. "Gastamos 30 por ciento de nuestro tiempo en extranjeros criminales, 30 por cientosancionando patrones y 30 por ciento en fraude y documentos falsificados," dijo Schiltgen [Director, INS SanFrancisco]. "Necesitamos repartir [el IO por ciento restante] a todas las áreas, incluso para hallar a ilegalesperdidos. Esas han sido nuestras prioridades. Francamente, no creo que vayan a cambiar el año próximo".Schitgen se rehusó a presentarse como diferente a su antecesor, el Republicano designado David Ilchert, quienfue criticado por defensores pro derechos humanos y de inmigrantes como demasiado severo con losinmigrantes. Ilchert organizó numerosas barridas en establecimientos del Mission District frecuentados porlatinos. A mediados de los 80, Patricia Aguayo, la entonces productora del Canal 44 (ahora es presidenta de laAsociación Cultural y Económica de Mission), fue detenida en una razzia en el club nocturno Club Elegante."Era un reinado de terror", dijo Aguayo. "Yo misma vi lo inhumano que era el INS". Críticas públicas sobre larazzia del Club Elegante eventualmente causaron una orden de refugio para limitar los abusos del INS en SanFrancisco. San Francisco Bay Guardian, "Bienvenidos al punto cero: El nuevo jefe del INS de San Francisco diceque la agencia no tiene el dinero para hacer cumplir la Prop. 187 -pero defiende politicas abusivas del pasado".Eric Stephan, 7 de diciembre de 1994.
Dichos (Corazón) El que nace para tamal del cielo le caen las hojas The tenor's voice is a gift from heaven
FCharlas (Prensa)"Habla usted Español? For magazine publishers the answer is sí. Big publishers, and publishers who want tobecome big, are busy launching magazines for the Hispanic market. The likes of Newsweek, People and Men'sHealth are joining a field already crowded with titles such as Sí, Latina, Latina Style, and Frontera." SanFrancisco Chronicle, "Hispanic Gloss - Publishers and advertisers have discovered wealth of readers in untappedmarket" David Armstrong, Sunday January 12, 1997.Charlas (Prensa)"Habla usted español? Para muchas editoriales de revistas la respuesta es sí. Las grandes editoriales yeditoriales que quieren expanderse, se están ocupando de lanzar revistas para el mercado hispano. Revistassimilares a Newsweek, People y Men's Health están emergiendo en un carnpo ya repleto de títulos como Sí,Latina, Latina Style y Frontera". San Francisco Chronicle, "Brillo Hispano - Editoriales y publicistas handescubierto una abundancia de lectores en un mercado no explotado" David Armstrong, domingo 12 de enerode 1997.
Dichos (Por Vida) Nunca apuntes con un dedo porque tres te apuntaran a ti Never point with onefingerbecause three shall point back in return
GCharlas (Coordinadora 96)"People are really concerned," said Juan Martinez from East Lansing, Michigan, as he walked alongside hisfather, Efrain, who came from Mexico 73 years ago and whose great-grandfather was bom in San Antonio,when it was still part of Mexico. "They hear Spanish spoken at the grocery store or at the K-Mart, and theysay, 'My God, we're being invaded.' But if you really look at it, what was the first European language that wasspoken in this hemisphere. It wasn't English." The New York Times, "In Capital, Crowd seeks Immigrants'Ethnic Rights" Steven A. Holmes, Sunday October 13, 1996.Charlas (Coordinadora 96)"La gente está muy preocupada", dijo Juan Martinez de East Lansing, Michigan, mientras caminaba junto a supadre, Efrain, quien vino de México hace 73 años y cuyo bisabuelo nació en San Antonio cuando aún formabaparte de México. "Escuchan español en el mercado y en el K-Mart y dicen, 'Dios mío, nos están invadiendo.'Pero si te pones a pensar cuál fue el primer idioma europeo que se habló en este hemisferio. No fue el inglés."The New York Times, "En la Capital, la Muchedumbre Busca los Derechos Etnicos de los Inmigrantes". Steven A.Holmes, domingo 13 de octubre de 1996.
Dichos (Risas) Primero son los dientes que los parientes Yourself first, others last
HCharlas (Travel)"Nogales is the Spanish word for walnuts. It is said that when the city was named in 1854, two identicalwalnut trees mirrored each other on opposite sides of the border. There is no sign of those trees in thisburgeoning, but still mostly poor, metropolis. Ambos Nogales --"both Nogales"-- is economically andspiritually one city, separated but not divided, by a wire fence. It was here, in 1882, that Mexico was firstconnected to the United States by rail. Now, because of hotly contested immigration laws, the heavily policedborder is ominous, but the folklorist James Griffith documented a practice common in the 1980's: internationalvolleyball games, with the wire fence serving as the net." The New York Times, "Jewels of the Desert- Savoringthe border cultures and saguaro cactuses on a weekend drive from Tucson into Mexico" Kim Westerman,January 26, 1997.Charlas (Viajes)"Los nogales son los árboles que dan las nueces. Se dice que cuando la ciudad fue nombrada en 1854, dosnogales idénticos habían crecido frente a frente en lados opuestos de la frontera. No queda señal de estosárboles en esta metropolis pujante, aunque en su mayor parte pobre. Ambos Nogales son económicamente yespiritualmente una ciudad, separada pero no dividida por una cerca de alambre. Fue aquí en 1882 que porprimera vez México se conectó con Estados Unidos a través del ferrocarril. Ahora, por las reñidas leyes deinmigración, la frontera, altamente vigilada es amenazadora. Pero el folclorista James Griffith documentó unapráctica común en los 80: juegos de volibol internacionales, con la cerca de alambre usada como red". The NewYork Times, "Joyas del Desierto - Saboreando las culturas fronterizas y los saguaro en un paseo de fin desemana en auto de Tucson a México" Kim Westerman, 26 de enero de 1997.
Dichos (Espectro) Fue por lana y salió trasquilado Went for wool and returned hairless
ICharlas (DMV)"Sometime next year, clerks in every Department of Motor Vehicles field office, from Tule Lake to Calexico, willbe able to match the faces of driver's license renewal applicants with photos called up by the computer. Andthe long reach of the new immigration legislation will have been extended once again." San FranciscoExarniner, "Immigrants feel the noose tightening" Eric Brazil, Sunday October 13, 1996.Charlas (DMV)"El año que entra, los empleados en todas las oficinas de campo del Departamento de Vehículos Motorizados,desde Tule Lake hasta Calexico, podrán verificar las caras de quienes soliciten la renovación de su licencia confotos en una computadora. El largo alcance de la nueva legislación de inmigración ha sido extendido una vezmás. San Francisco Examiner, "Los inmigrantes sienten la soga apretando" Eric Brazil, domingo 13 de octubrede 1996.
Dichos (Infinitos) Solo borracho y dormido no se siente lo jodido Only drunk and asleep are the wretcheddesensitized
JCharlas (social space)"In urban struggles ... the politics of space is closely connected to the formation of collective identities thatare grounded in particular interpretations of the past. In this regard, Stuart Hall's discussion of therelationship between identity and history is instructive. He argues that cultural identities are not fixed in asingle or hidden history but are "subject to the continuous play of history, culture, and power. Far from beinggrounded in a mere 'recovery' of a past just waiting to be found, . . . identities are the names we give to thedifferent ways we are positioned by, and position ourselves within, the narratives of the past." Conquests andHistorical Identities in California: 1769 - 1936, Lisbeth Haas, University of California Press, 1995.Charlas (espacio social)"En luchas urbanas las políticas de espacio se conectan a la formación de identidades colectivas enraizadas eninterpretaciones particulates del pasado. En este caso, el debate de Stuart Hall sobre la relación entreidentidad e historia es instructive. Arguye que las identidades culturales no están fijas en una sola o escondidahistoria sino que están "sujetas al continuo paso de la historia, la cultura y el poder. Lejos de estar enraizadasen solamente "recobrar" el pasado esperando ser hallado, . . . las identidades son los nombres que les damos alas diferentes maneras en las que estamos colocados y nos colocamos dentro de las narratives del pasado".Conquests and Historical Identities in California: 1769 - 1936, Lisbeth Haas, University of California Press,1995.
Dichos (discovery/transformation/transcendence/actualization) Camar6n que se duerme se lo lleva lacorriente Slhe who snoozes looses
KCharlas (Obituary)"Austin, Tex., July 28 -- Hector Perez Garcia, a South Texas doctor who founded one of the nation's mostinfluential Mexican-American civil rights organizations, died on Friday in Memorial Medical Center in CorpusChristi, Tex. The New York Times, "Hector Perez Garcia, 82, Dies; Led Hispanic Rights Group" obituary, July 29,1996.Charlas (Obituario)"Austin, Tex, 28 de julio -- Héctor Pérez García, un médico del sur de Texas quien fundó una de lasorganizaciones mexicoamericanas más influyentes pro derechos civiles , murió el viernes en el Memorial MedicalCenter en Corpus Christi, Tex." The New York Times, Héctor Pérez García, 82, Muere; Dirigió Grupo Pro DerechosHispanos" obituario, 29 de julio de 1996.
Dichos (Calaca Olmeca/Calaca Postcolonial) Limosnero con garrote Beggars Can't be Choosers
LCharlas (Acâgchemem Neophytes)The 1775 erection of a cross and celebration of mass on an Acâgchemem religious site was followed shortly bythe Spaniards' retreat to the presidio at San Diego as a result of an Indian revolt against the Mission San Diego.It was therefore not until one year later that the process of buildng a mission and converting the Acâgchemempopulation began. The vast majority of initial converts at San Juan Capistrano were children, a commonpattern in most of the missions. The children were likely brought by their parents to make alliances with themissionaries, who not only possessed new knowledge and goods but also presented the threat of force. Themilitary was in fact crucial to the encounter between missionaries and potential converts, even though mostsoldiers and Spanish settlers did not live near either the missions or Indian villages. One confrontationbetween Father Serra, the president of the California missions and head pf the colonization effort in California,and a number of arned Acâgchemem illustrates the relations of power that sustained this colonial encounter.Father Serra was approaching San Juan Capistrano from the north, having left Mission San Gabriel withlivestock and neophytes who would help build the mission and serve as interpreters for the priests. The grouphad divided, and Father Serra was traveling in the company of one soldier and one neophyte. As they enteredAcâgchemem territory, these three suddenly found themselves surroundeed by a crowd of painted and well-armed Indians, some of whom put arrows to their bowstrings as though they intended to kill the Spanishintruders. The neophyte, however, shouted in their language that they should not hurt the missionarybecause many soldiers were coming behind who would kill them all. Accordingly, they desisted, aware of theserious threat that military retaliation represented." Conquests and Historical Identities in California: 1769 -1936, Lisbeth Haas, University of California Press, 1995.Charlas (Neófitos de Acâgchemem)En 1775 la erección de una cruz y la celebración de una misa en un sitio religiose Acâgchemem fueron seguidaspor la retirada de los españoles al presidio en San Diego como resultado de una insurgencia india contra laMisión de San Diego. Por lo tanto, no fue hasta un año más tarde que comenzó el proceso de construcción deuna misión y la conversión de la población Acâgchemem. Inicialmente la gran mayoría de converses en SanJuan Capistrano eran niños, lo cual era común en la mayor parte de las misiones. Los niños eran traidos porsus padres para hacer alianzas con los misioneros, quienes no sólo poseían nuevos conocimientos y bienesmateriales sino que también presentaban una fuerza amenazadora. Las fuerzas militates eran de hechocruciales en el encuentro entre misioneros y converses potenciales, aunque la mayoría de los soldados ycolonizadores españoles no vivían cerca de las misiones o los poblados indios. Una confrontación entre elPadre Serra, el presidente de las misiones de California y lider de la colonización de California y un grupo deAcâgchemem armados, ilustra las relaciones de poder en este encuentro colonial. El Padre Serra se acercaba aSan Juan Capistrano desde el norte, habiendo dejado la Misi6n San Gabriel con ganado y neófitos que leayudarían a construir la misión y servirían de intérpretes para los sacerdotes. El grupo se había dividido, y elPadre Serra viajaba en compañía de un soldado y un neófito. Al entrar a territorio Acâgchemem, los tres derepente se encontraron rodeados por una multitud de indios pintados y bien armados, algunos de los cualesIlevaron flechas a sus arcos como si tuvieran intenciones de matar a los intrusos españoles. Sin embargo, elneófito gritó en su idioma que no debían lastimar al misionero ya que muchos soldados venían detrás de ellos ylos matarían a todos. En consecuencia, desistieron, conscientes de la seria amenaza que representaba unarepresalia militar. Conquests and Historical Identities in California: 1769 - 1936, Lisbeth Haas, University ofCalifornia Press, 1995.
Dichos (Divinity) El que al cielo escupe a la cara le cae Spit at the sky, it falls on your face
LlCharIas (Olmeca Time / Postcolonial Time)Especially in cultural critique, the event of political independence can be automatically assumed to stand in-between colony and decolonization as an unexamined good that operates a reversal. As I am insisting, thenew nation is run by a regulative logic derived from a reversal of the old colony from within the cited epistemeof the postcolonial subject: secularism, democracy, socialism, national identity, capitalist development. Thereis however a space that did not share in the energy of this reversal, a space that had no firmly establishedagency of traffic with the culture of imperialism. Paradoxically, this space is also outside of organized labor,below the attempted reversals of capital logic. Conventionally, this space is described as the habitat of thesubproletariat or the subaltern ... this is the space of the displacement of the colonization-decolonizationreversal. This is the space that can become, for her, a dystopic representation of decolonization as such. Inthis context, "decolonization" becomes only a convenient and misleading word, used because no other can befound. Outside in the Teaching Machine, by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Routledge, New York & London, 1993.Charlas (Tiempo Olmeca / Tiempo Poscolonial)Especialmente en la crítica cultural, el evento de independencia política puede automáticamente suponerseentre colonia y decolonización como un bien no examinado que opera una inversión. Como insisto, la nuevanación es manejada por una lógica reguladora derivada de la inversión de la vieja colonia dentro del epístemacitado del tema poscolonial: secularismo, democracia, socialismo, identidad nacional, desarrollo capitalista.Existe sin embargo, un espacio que no compartió la energia de esta inversión, un espacio que no tenía unaagencia firmemente establecida de tráfico con la cultura del imperialismo. Paradójicamente, este espaciotambién se encuentra fuera de la organización laboral, debajo de los intentos de inversión de la lógica delcapital. Convencionalmente, este espacio es descrito como el hábitat del subproletariado o el subalterno estees el espacio del desplazamiento de la inversión de colonización-decolonización. Este es el espacio que puedeconvertirse, según ella, en una representación distópica de la decolonización como tal. En este contexto,"decolonización" se convierte en una palabra conveniente y engañosa, usada por falta de otra. Outside in theTeaching Machine, por Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Routledge, New York & London, 1993.
Dichos (Maternidad) Vale más una paloma en mano que cien volando A bird in the hand is worth two inthe bush
MCharlas (Detention)"... detention of illegal immigrants like this have risen in the past year in all the nine Border Patrol sectorsalong the United States - Mexico border. And the Immigration and Naturalization Service, one of the fewFederal agencies to have a large budget increase approved by the Republican-controlled Congress, is hiring1,000 new agents to patrol the border, a 20 percent increase in the size of the force. The increase also allowthe agency to expand its technological resources, like motion sensors, night-vision devices and a computerizedfingerprint file for every detainee." The New York Times, Tuesday February 13, 1996.Charlas (Detención)". . . las detenciones de inmigrantes ilegales como esta han incrementado en el último año en todos los nuevesectores de la Patrulla Fronteriza a lo largo de la frontera Estados Unidos - México. Y el Servicio de Inmigracióny Naturalización, una de las pocas agencias federales que ha tenido un gran incremento en su presupuestoaprobado por el Congreso controlado por republicanos, está contratando a 1,000 agentes nuevos para patrullarla frontera, un incremento del 20 por ciento en el tamaño de la fuerza. Estos incrementos también permitenque la agencia expanda sus recursos tecnológicos, como sensores de movimiento, aparatos para visión nocturnay un archivo computarizado para cada detenido." The New York Times, martes 13 de febrero de 1996.
Dichos (Lagrimas) El muerto al pozo y el vivo al gozo Consecrate the dead, celebrate the living
NCharlas (Redistricting 1)"Justices, IN A 5-4 VOTE, REJECT DISTRICTS DRAWN WITH RACE THE 'PREDOMINANT FACTOR' The New YorkTimes, reported by Linda Greenhouse, June 30, 1995.Charlas (Cambio de Distrito 1)"Jueces, EN UN VOTO 5-4, RECHAZAN EL PLAN DE DISTRITO CON RAZA COMO 'FACTOR PREDOMINANTE'" The NewYork Times, reporte de Linda Greenhouse, 30 de junio de 1995.
Dichos (Dignidad) Cuando tu vayas, yo ya vengo I've already trod where you wish to tread
ÑCharlas (Victoria)Santa Ana -- A recount of ballots from the November 5 election showed that DemocratLoretta Sanchez beat veteran arch-conservative Republican Representative RobertDornan by 979 votes, election officials said. Sanchez won with 48,056 compared toDoman's 47,077, they said. Reuters International, January 1997.Charlas (Victoria)Santa Ana -- un recuento de votos de la elección del 5 de noviembre demostró que la Demócrata LorettaSánchez venció al Representante Robert Dornan, el veterano archiconservador Republicano, por 979 votos,dijeron oficiales electorales. Manifestaron que Sánchez ganó con 48,065 votos comparados con los 47,077 deDornan. Reuters International, enero de 1997.
Dichos (Picardía) No le busque tres pies al gato porque le vas hallar cuatro When you pry too deep do notbe surprised with what you may find
OCharlas (Venganza)"Santa Ana -- A federal judge yesterday revoked dozens of subpoenas recently issued by attorneys for formerU.S. Representative Robert K. Dornan, ruling the ex-congressman does not have the legal authority to demanddocuments as he tries to prove he lost the last election because of voter fraud." "Judge Revokes 40 SubpoenasDornan Issued: Setback in his attempt to prove voter fraud" San Francisco Chronicle, Saturday, March 8, 1997.Charlas (Venganza)"Santa Ana -- Un juez federal ayer revocó docenas de citatorios recientemente expedidos por abogados delanterior Representante Robert K. Dornan, declarando que el ex congresista no tiene la autoridad legal parademandar documentos al tratar de comprobar que perdió la última elección debido a fraude electoral". "JuezRevoca 40 Citatorios que Expidió Dornan: Declive en su intento de comprobar fraude electoral" San FranciscoChronicle, sábado, 8 de marzo de 1997.
Dichos (Census Bureau) Panza llena, corazán contento My belly full, my heart happy
PCharlas (bajadores)On a dusty side street in the Mexican border town of Nogales, in the shadow of the steel and concrete fencebarring illegal immigrants from the United States, stands a brightly painted building with a tin roof. Barscover the windows of Mi Casa Nueva --Spanish for ,'my new house'-- and the doors are locked to adults. Butthe building is open to any child that wants a hot meal, a change of clothes, or simply a respite from thestreets for a few hours. The safe house has been set up by volunteers on both sides of the border to provide asanctuary for the town's child vagrants [known as bajadores or "tunnel rats"] some young as six, who live inold storm drains 20 feet below the ground amid the sewage and garbage that seeps downhill from Mexico intoArizona. Abandoned, abused, doing whatever it takes to stay alive, the children have made these sewers andthe streets around the sewage outlets their own. There are estimated to be at least 200 of them. Many arebraindamaged from the stolen additives, spray paint and other substances they use in a constant effort to stayhigh and escape their wretched reality. Disease and violence are a way of life --not long ago, one 15-year-oldwas stabbed to death by a 13 year-old in a fight over a girl. The Economist, February 1st 1997.Charlas (bajadores)"En una calle lateral del pueblo fronterizo de Nogales, en la sombra de la cerca de concreto y acero queobstaculiza a inmigrantes ilegales la entrada a Estados Unidos, se encuentra un edificio vivamente pintado conun techo de hojalata. Las ventanas están cubiertas con barrotes en Mi Casa Nueva, y las puertas están cerradaspara adultos. Pero el edificio está abierto para cualquier niño que quiera una comida, un cambio de ropa osimplemente un descanso de las calles por unas cuantas horas. Esta casa franca ha sido preparada porvoluntarios en ambos lados de la frontera para servir de refugio para los niños vagabundos, [conocidos comobajadores o "ratas de tunel"] algunos de ellos son pequeños de seis años, y viven en las viejas alcantarillas 20pies bajo tierra entre el drenaje y la basura que se filtran cuesta abajo de México a Arizona. Abandonados,maltratados, haciendo lo necesario para sobrevivir, los niños se han apropiado de estas alcantarillas y de lascalles donde hay rejillas. Se calcula que hay por lo menos 200 de estos niños. Muchos sufren de dañoscerebrales por los aditivos, pinturas en aerosol y otras sustancias robadas que usan en un esfuerzo constantepor permanecer drogados y escapar su miserable realidad. La enfermedad y la violencia son el medio de vida --hace poco, un chico de 15 años mató a uno de 13 años a cuchilladas en un pleito sobre una niña." TheEconomist, primero de febrero de 1997.
Dichos (Tiempo) Camina como chencha: 2 pasos para adelante y 3 pasos para atrás Walks like a chencha:2 steps forward, 3 steps back
QCharIas (Ident/Enforce/Inspass)"A 2.2 billion project to automate many of the Immigration and Naturalization Services most important tasks,including airport inspections and tracking illegal immigrants, is in trouble, the Justice Department's inspectorgeneral said today. The project has been so poorly managed that it has no internal benchmarks that wouldallow managers and independent auditors to judge whether it was on schedule or within costs limits, or tootherwise quantify its progress, the inspector general, Michael R. Bromwich, said. Mr. Bromwich singled outthree of the agency's larger technology programs for criticism, including Ident, an automated fingerprintidentification system used to track illegal immigrants. The system has been installed at 80 stations along theSouthwest border and is working well at individual stations. But Mr. Bromwich said there was no network toallow all the stations to communicate. Another program, Enforce, is designed to replace 50 paper forms usedto process illegal immigrants with an automated system. Mr. Bromwich said the system, now in prototype, istwo years behind schedule. A third program, Inspass, allows low-risk, foreign frequent travelers to speedthrough immigration inspections at high-volume airports and border crossings. Mr. Bromwich said the cost ofthe program may outweigh its benefits, and that the system, used at Newark International and John F.Kennedy International Airports, as well as a Toronto airport, is also behind schedule. Not all of the agency'stechnology is foundering. Mr. Bromwich praised two of the agency's programs: new motion sensors that detectillegal U.S.-Mexico border crossings, and an automated system that tracks refugees. The New York Times,"Immigration Service Faulted On Oversight of Automation" Eric Schmitt, Febrary 27, 1997.Charlas (Ident/Enforce/Inspass)"Un proyecto de 2.2 billones para automatizar muchas de las labores más importantes del Servicio deInmigración y Naturalización, incluyendo las inspecciones de aeropuerto y encontrando a inmigrantes ilegales,tiene problemas, dijo hoy el inspector general del Departamento de Justicia. El proyecto ha sido manejado tanmal que no se tienen puntos de referencia internos que les permita a los administradores y a los auditoresindependientes juzgar si el proyecto se está llevando a cabo oportunamente o dentro de los límites delpresupuesto, o de alguna manera cuantificar su progreso, dijo el inspector general, Michael R. Bromwich. El Sr.Bromwich criticó a tres de los programas más importantes de la agencia, incluyendo Ident, un sistemaautomatizado para identificación de huellas digitales utilizado para encontrar a inmigrantes ilegales. El sistemaha sido instalado en 80 estaciones a lo largo de la frontera sudoeste y está funcionando bien en estacionesindividuales. Pero dice el Sr. Bromwich que no hay una red que permita que se comuniquen las estaciones.Otro programa, Enforce, está diseñado para remplazar 50 formularios de papel utilizados para procesar ainmigrantes ilegales con un sistema automatizado. El Sr. Bromwich dijo que el sistema, actualmente enprototipo, tiene dos años de retraso. Un tercer programa, Inspass, permite agilizar la inspección de viajerosextranjeros de bajo riesgo y que viajan frecuentemente, en aeropuertos y garitas fronterizas de alto volumen.El Sr. Bromwich dijo que el costo del programa puede ser mayor que los beneficios, y que el sistema, utilizadoen los aeropuertos internacionales de Newark, John F. Kennedy y Toronto, también se ha retrasado. No toda latecnología de la agencia está tambaleante. El Sr. Bromwich elogió dos de los prograrnas de la agencia: losnuevos sensores de movimiento que detectan cruces ilegales en la frontera de México E.U., y un sistemaautomatizado que rastrea refugiados." The New York Times, "Servicio de Inmigración Culpado por Descuido deAutomatización" Eric Schmitt, 27 de febrero de 1997.
Dichos (Memoria) El que es mentiroso tiene que tener mucha memoria A liar must have a very goodmemory
RCharlas (Mentira)"If it's anyone's job, then it's the job of the rulers of our community: they can lie for the good of thecommunity, when either an external or an internal threat makes it necessary. No one else, however, shouldhave anything to do with lying. If an ordinary person lies to these rulers of ours, we'll count that as anequivalent in misguidedness, if not worse, to a patient lying to his doctor about his physical condition, or anathlete in training lying to his trainer about his physical condition, or someone misleading a ship's captain,with respect to his ship or crew, by telling him lies about his own state or that of one of his fellow crewmen"Plato - Republic, Translated by Robin Waterfield, Oxford University Press, 1993.Charlas (Mentira)"Si es que a alguien le corresponde, entonces le corresponde a los gobernantes de nuestra comunidad: puedenmentir por el bien de la comunidad, cuando una amenaza interna o externa lo haga necesario. Nadie más, sinembargo, debe mentir. Si una persona ordinaria le miente a nuestros gobernantes, esta insensatez lacontaremos como el equivalente o peor, de un paciente mintiéndole a su médico sobre su condición física, o unatleta en entrenamiento mintiéndole a su entrenador sobre su condición física, o alguien engañando al capitánde un barco con respecto a su nave o su tripulación, al decirle mentiras sobre su propio estado o el de uno desus compañeros" Platón - La República, Traducido por Robin Waterfield, Oxford University Press, 1993.
RROración a la Anima Sola deJ U A N S O L D A D OAlabado sea el Santísimo Nombre del Padre, el Hijo y el Espíritu Santo; tres divinas personas yun solo Dios verdadero. Quienes con su infinito y Misericordioso Poder, han colmado de gracia ymilagrosas indulgencias a mi querido hermano y protector Juan Castillo Morales.En el nombre de Dios Todopoderoso, Espíritu y Anima de Juan Soldado, por motivos muy ciertosy con mi corazón rebozante de Fé en tu inmediata ayuda, vengo a confiarte todas mis penas que meatormentan moral y materialmente, no dudando ni un instante que por medio de tu InfalibleIntercesión ante el Todopoderoso vea colmados mis buenos deseos, si éstos convienen a mayor Gloria deDios Nuestro Señor y Tuya en Particular.SE HACE LA PETICION DESEADAComo te darás cuenta JUANITO, mis anhelos están desprovistos de capciosas maldades y todo lo quedeseo es encontrar un apoyo eficaz de tu parte para acallar la indigencia moral y material en que meencuentro sumido.HERMANO JUAN SOLDADO: Yo te suplico encarecidamente que no me abandones con tuprotección en esta difícil prueba.Confío en la Omnipotencia Misericordiosa de dios y en tu Infalible Ayuda, prometiéndote desdeeste momento, ser uno más de tus innumerables devotos. AMEN.Como final se rezan tres Padres Nuestros.NOTA: Ofrézcase la presente oración en culaquier momento, pero de preferencia a las 12:00 y 15:00horas.
Dichos (Braceros en Aztlán: 1940's) se pueden matar 2 pájaros de un tiro killing two birds with one stone
SCharlas (Politics)"Is it a new day for state politics? What with the first Latino speaker of the Assembly in California's history,the enactment of a promising campaign finance reform initiative and two-term Governor Pete Wilson a fastdiminishing figure in our collective rear-view mirror, the argument for the new day scenario is clear. TheLegislature is looking more like California, a cleaner political system --and term limits may well continue theprocess. A cynically small-minded period in the executive governance of the state is ending even sooner thananticipated. All very much to the good." San Francisco Chronicle, "The Election's Impact on California" SamBradley, January 1997.Charlas (Politica)"¿Es un nuevo día para la política del estado? Entre el primer latino como presidente de la Asamblea en lahistoria de California, la promulgación de una iniciativa para reformar el financiamiento de campañas y elGobernador de dos periodos Pete Wilson siendo una figura que se aleja en nuestros retrovisores colectivos, elargumento es claro para el panorama de un nuevo día. La Legislatura se parece más a California, un sistemapolítico más limpio -- y los límites de mandato muy bien pueden continuer el proceso. Un periodo cínicamentecerrado de mente en el gobiemo ejecutivo del estado, termina antes de lo anticipado. Y para bien." SanFrancisco Chronicle, "El Impacto de la Elección en California" Sam Bradley, enero de 1997.
Dichos (Dinero) En casa de herrero cucharas de palo In the plumber's house, leaking faucets
TCharlas ($)"As Federal agencies issued a torrent of cheery reports in the last few weeks about rising incomes, fallingpoverty rates and improvements in educational performance, one group buckled the trends: Hispanic people.For the first time, in fact, a higher proportion of Hispanic people than of blacks were officially defined as poor--a consequence, in part, of dramatic increases in the income of black households, but also of decliningincomes among Hispanic households. Income figures help explain the demonstration. Recently, the CensusBureau reported that for the first time in six years, median household income rose for the country over all,increasing by 2.7 per cent in 1995. The 3.6 per cent increase in median black income was particularlydramatic. Meanwhile, though, median household income among Hispanics fell by 5.1 per cent. For now,Hispanic people are stuck at the low end of the labor force and and are subject to the chilling trends thatbuffet all low income workers in this country --globalization of the economy, the loss of manufacturing jobs,poor performances of schools in low income areas and, yes, immigration. "It's really easy to divert attentionaway from the issue of poverty because it's a hard issue, it's a complex issue," said Sonia Perez, director of thepoverty project at the National Council of La Raza. "It's alot easier to say, it's immigrants and it will go awayin two or three generations. It's alot harder to say it has to do with low wages and low education and highunemployment and how do you create jobs. Those things have policy responses. But they're hard and they'reharder to talk about, especially in this climate." The New York Times, "For Hispanic Poor, No Silver Lining"Steven A. Holmes, Sunday, October 13, 1996.Charlas ($)"Mientras que agencias federales expidieron un torrente de alegres reportes en las últimas semanas sobre elincremento de ingresos, niveles de pobreza descendiendo y mejoras en la educación, un grupo dislocó latónica: los hispanos. Por primera vez, de hecho, una proporción más alta de gente hispana que de negra fueoficialmente definida como pobre - una consecuencia, en parte, del dramático incremento de ingresos en loshogares negros, pero también en los ingresos menguantes en los hogares latinos. Estadísticas de ingresospueden ayudar a explicar la demostración. Recientemente, el Censo reportó que por primera vez en seis años,el ingreso medio por hogar subió en todo el país, incrementando por 2.7 por ciento en 1995. El incremento del3.6 por ciento en el ingreso medio negro fue particularmente dramático. Mientras tanto, el ingreso medioentre hispanos bajó por 5.1 por ciento. Por ahora, los hispanos están atrapados en el extremo bajo de la fuerzalaboral y están sujetos a las escalofriantes tendencias que sacuden a todos los trabajadores de bajos ingresos eneste país -- globalización de la economía, la pérdida de empleos de manufactura, mal desempeño en las escuelasen áreas de bajos ingresos y, sí, inmigración. "Es muy fácil desviar la atención del tema de la pobreza porquees un tema difícil, es un tema complejo", dijo Sonia Pérez, directora del proyecto de la pobreza en el ConsejoNacional de la Raza. "Es mucho más fácil decir que son los inmigrantes y que desaparecerá en dos o tresgeneraciones. Es mucho más difícil decir que tiene que ver con sueldos bajos y baja educación y desempleoalto y ¿cómo crear empleos? Esas cosas tienen respuestas políticas. Pero son difíciles y es más difícil hablar deellas, especialmente en este clima". The New York Times, "Para los Hispanos Pobres, No Hay Píldora Dorada"Steven A. Holmes, domingo 13 de octubre de 1996.
Dichos (Political Economy of the Sign) Perro que ladra no muerde Dogs that bark don't bite
UCharlas (Citizenship/Voting Rights)"Article IX provided that those who did not choose to remain Mexican citizens would be considered 'to haveelected' to become U.S. citizens. As early as 1849 the nature of citizenship rights of these Mexicans becamethe subject of controversy. In California the delegates to the state constitutional convention wrestled with theproblems of race, rights of citizenship, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Six of the delgates were nativeCalifomios (former Mexican citizens) who were aware that Mexicans who looked like Inidians faced the prospectof racial discrimination. Ultimately they argued for the protection of their class even if it meant endorsing theracist views of their Anglo colleagues towards Indians and Blacks. Mexico had granted citizenship to 'civilized'Indians and to Blacks, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo clearly stated that former Mexican Citizens wouldbe given the opportunity to become citizens of the United States. Following the biases of their age, theframers of the state constitution sought wording that would exclude Blacks and Indians while includingMexicans. A Mr. Edward Gilbert introduced a proposal that eventually became the first section of the stateconstitution defining suffrage. It extended the vote to 'every white, male citizen of Mexico who shall haveelected to become a citizen of the United States.' The convention agreed that Indians and Blacks might atsome future date be given the franchise but that because voting was not an absolute right of citizenship, theycould be excluded. There was some concern over whether in fact the Mexicans remaining were citizens of theUnited States. Ultimately the delegates agreed 'it would seem that they are not in fact American citizens, butrequire some further action of Congress to make them citizens of the united States.' Califomia's admission as astate presumably would be that conferring act. (Later court cases challenged this assumption.) The ambiguouscitizenship of the califomios meant that they could not expect the full protection of the laws during a stressfuland violent period in Califomia's history." The Treaty of Guadalulpe Hidalgo: A Legacy of Conflict, RichardGriswold Castillo, University of Oklahoma Press, 1990.Charlas (Ciudadanía/Derechos de Voto)"El Artículo IX estipuló que para aquellos que no eligieron permanecer como ciudadanos mexicanos seconsideraría que habían 'elegido' convertirse en ciudadanos estadounidenses. En 1849 la naturaleza de losderechos de estos mexicanos se convirtió en tema controvertido. En California los delegados de la convenciónconstitucional del estado lidiaron con los problemas de raza, derechos de ciudadanía y el Tratado de GuadalupeHidalgo. Seis de los delegados eran californios oriundos (anteriormente ciudadanos mexicanos) que estabanconscientes de que los mexicanos que parecían indios se enfrentaban a la perspectiva de la discriminaciónracial. Ultimadamente pelearon por la protección de su clase, aún cuando significó aprobar las ideas racistas desus colegas anglos hácia los indios y los negros. México les había otorgado ciudadanía a los indios y a losnegros'civilizados', y el Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo claramente declaró que a los anteriores ciudadanosmexicanos se les daría la oportunidad de convertirse en ciudadanos de Estados Unidos. Siguiendo los prejuiciosde su era, los creadores de la constitución estatal buscaron términos que excluían a los negros y a los indiosmientras incluían a los mexicanos. Edward Gilbert introdujo una propuesta que a la larga se convirtió en laprimera sección de la constitución estatal que definía el sufragio. Le extendía el voto a todo hombre blancociudadano de México que hubiera elegido convertirse en ciudadano de Estados Unidos. La convención acordóque en un futuro se les podría otorgar el sufragio a los indios y los negros, pero como el voto no era underecho absoluto de la ciudadanía, podrían ser excluidos. Había cierta preocupación sobre el hecho de que silos mexicanos restantes eran ciudadanos de Estados Unidos. En última instancia, los delegados acordaron que'parecería ser que de hecho no son ciudadanos de Estados Unidos, que el Congreso tendría que tomar algunaotra acción para hacerlos ciudadanos de Estados Unidos'. El ingreso de California como estado supuestarnenteconcedería esta acción. (Más tarde los tribunales retaron esta suposición.) La ambigua ciudadanía de loscalifornios significó que no podían esperar la completa protección de las leyes durante este angustiante yviolento periodo en la historia de California". The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: A Legacy of Conflict, RichardGriswold Castillo, University of Oklahoma Press, 1990.
Dichos (Y2K: y tú ¿que?) El que con niños se acuesta, miado despierta S/he who plays with fire
VCharlas (soy single bilingual)"In the next year or so whites will become a minority of the Californian population. A state that was 90%white in 1900 will have evolved --or perhaps disolved-- into a polyethnic society, with a cacophony of morethan 160 languages in Los Angeles schools. The transformation of minorities into a majority will, if presenttrends persist, slowly be repeated across the rest of the country: in Texas by about 2015, followed by Arizona,New York, Nevada, New Jersey and Maryland. By the middle of the next century the United States will bealmost half non-white. California is thus playing two central roles in the remaking of America: as a port ofentry for immigrants and as the pioneer of a new type of polyethnic society." "Polyethnic America: The sunrises in the west" review of "The Coming of the White Minority: Califomia's Eruptions and the Nation's Future"by Dale Maharidge, Times Books, in The Economist, February 15, 1997.Charlas (soy single bilingual)"En el próximo año los blancos se convertirán en una minoría en la población de California. Un estado quetenía un 90 por ciento de blancos en 1900 habrá evolucionado -- o quizá se habrá disuelto -- en una sociedadpoliétnica, con una cacofonía de más de 160 idiomas en las escuelas de Los Angeles. La transformación deminorías a una mayoría, se repetirá lentamente, si persiste la actual tendencia, a través del resto del país: enTexas para el año 2016, seguido por Arizona, Nueva York, Nevada, Nueva Jersey y Maryland. Para mediados delpróximo siglo, casi la mitad de Estados Unidos no será blanca. Por lo tanto, California está desempeñando dospapeles centrales en la nueva versión de Estados Unidos: como puerto de entrada para inmigrantes y comopionero en un nuevo tipo de sociedad poliétnica". "Estados Unidos Poliétnico: el sol sale por el oeste." Reseñade "The Coming of the White Minority: California's Eruptions and the Nation's Future" por Dale Maharidge,Times Books, en The Economist, 15 de febrero de 1907.
Dichos (Deseos) Cataplasmas del olvido con fomentos de otro amor Cataclysmic oblivion with signs ofanother love
WCharlas (21 Century Polyethnic America)"Among American-born married women ages 20 to 29 in 1990, 67 percent of Asian-Americans and 38 percentof Hispanic women married outside their ethnic group , according to Zhenchao Qian of Arizona State University.Only 3 percent of African-American women currently marry outside their race, a testament to their extremeresidential and social isolation." The New York Times Magazine, "Children Will Pay: Demography's crystal ballshows that 21st-century America will be older, wiser and more ethnically diverse. But its kids face trouble."Samuel H. Preston. September 29, 1996.Charlas (Estados Unidos Poliétnico del Siglo 21)"En 1990, de las mujeres nacidas en Estados Unidos entre las edades de 20 a 29 años, el 67 por ciento de lasmujeres asiáticas y el 38 por ciento de las mujeres hispanas se casaron fuera de su grupo étnico, de acuerdo aZhenchao Quian de la Arizona State University. Sólo el 3 por ciento de las mujeres negras actualmente secasan fuera de su raza, un testamento a su extrema aislación residencial y social." The New York TimesMagazine, "Los Hijos Pagarán: La bola de cristal demográfica muestra que los Estados Unidos del siglo 21 seránmás ancianos, más sabios y étnicamente más diversos. Pero sus jóvenes tendrán problemas." Samuel H.Preston. 29 de septiembre de 1996.
Dichos (Define the Enemy) De tal palo, tal astilla The apple falls not far from the tree
XCharlas (Education)'African American and Latino high school students are leaving San Francisco public schools faster than othergroups, reflecting trends that educators say are undermining the education of disadvantaged and vulnerableteens in urban areas. The number of African Americans in San Francisco's Unified graduating class of 1996shrank 55 percent over four years, according to district figures. Latino enrollment in the class of 1996 fell 44percent since 1992. Educators and children's advocates say the decline reflects family instability , a shortage ofaffordable housing, a lack of high-paying jobs, and the need for more school counselors. 'It's kind of anevolutionary thing where where it begins early in the educational experience,' she said. 'Students feel asthough they are not important. They don't see the value of remaining in school to a higher good. There aretoo many of them and they come back to us in terrible ways, coming as prison statistics." San FranciscoExaminer, "Educators lay blame for S.F. dropouts - Blacks, Latinos quit at higher rate" Venise Wagner, June 17,1996.Charlas (Educación)Estudiantes de High School afroamericanos y latinos están abandonando las escuelas públicas de San Franciscocon mayor rapidez que otros grupos, reflejando las tendencias que los educadores dicen están debilitando laeducación de adolescentes desfavorecidos y vulnerables en áreas urbanas. El número de afroamericanos en SanFrancisco que se graduaron en 1996 se encogió un 55 por ciento a lo largo de cuatro años, según los cálculosdel distrito. La inscripción de latinos en la clase a graduarse en 1996 cayó un 44 por ciento a partir de 1992.Educadores y defensores infantiles dicen que este declive refleja la inestabilidad familiar, escasas viviendasasequibles, falta de empleos bien pagados y la necesidad de más consejeros en las escuelas. 'Es como una cosaevolutiva que comienza al principio de la experiencia educativa,' dijo. 'Los estudiantes sienten que no sonimportantes. No ven la importancia de permanecer en la escuela para salir adelante. Hay demasiados que nosllegan en forma de estadísticas de prisiones." San Francisco Examiner, "Educadores señalan culpables de quealumnos en S.F. que no terminan sus estudios - negros y latinos abandonan la escuela con mayor frecuencia"Venise Wagner, 17 de junio de 1996.
Dichos (¿Y tú que?) Lana sube lana baja y el que es hombre no se raja The harder they come the harderthey fall
YCharlas (Y2K'ers)" . . . increasingly, the border is being fortified with yet another line of defense that even the fastest sprintermay have trouble eluding. Whether using stealth or crossing legally by car, citizens and noncitizens alikemust now overcome a barrier of computer chips, copper wires, video monitors and camera lenses." The NewYork Times, "A Silicon Wall Rises on the Border: Scanners, X-Rays and Databases Transform the Hunt forSmugglers and Illegal Immigrants," by Verne G. Kopytoff, Thursday January 14, 1999.Charlas (Y2K'ers)" . . . cada vez más, va fortificándose la frontera con defensas imposibles de eludir, hasta por el más rápidoembalaje. Utilizando 'stealth' o cruzando legalmente por auto, todo ciudadano y hasta el que no lo es, tendráque pasar una barrera de discos de computación, alambre de cobre, pantallas de video, y lentes de cámara." TheNew York Times, "A Silicon Wall Rises on the Border : Scanners, X-Rays and Databases Transform the Hunt forSmugglers and Illegal Immigrants," por Verne G. Kopytoff, jueves 14 de enero, 1999.
Dichos (Sensuality) El coraz6n no se muere, el cuero es el que se arruga The heart never dies, only theskin grows wrinkled
ZCharlas (Eros + Aggression)"Mexico City -- A new immigrant-based social movement has emerged on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico borderto seek redress from both governments. The roots of the grievance stretch back more than 50 years, to 1942,when the U.S. government began the "bracero" program to fill labor shortages caused by World War II. Underthis program, the government issued contracts to Mexicans willing to cross the border for temporaryemployment . . . braceros, working on farms and railroads, made it possible for the U.S. economy to meet thechallenges imposed by the war effort. Government and employers found the program so appealing that it wasextended, through various acts, until 1965. Then it was terminated unilaterally, after much pressure fromunions and activists concerned with the systematic exploitation of the workers. During its existence, some44½ million contracts were issued. As part of their contract, braceros agreed to have 10 percent of their wagesplaced in a fund controlled by the Mexican government. When they returned to Mexico, individuals couldrequest that the money be returned to them . . . {however} the overwhelming majority of workers neverreceived compensation. Moreover, the whereabouts of the funds remains unknown. Despite their contributionsto the U.S. and Mexican economies, many former braceros now live in poverty, abandoned by bothgovernments and without even the means to claim Social Security, which was supposed to be a benefit of theprogram." San Francisco Examiner, "Braceros: Exploited, swindled, ignored" by Jesus Martinez, August 8, 1999.Charlas (Eros + Agresión)"México, D.F. -- Un nuevo movimiento social del inmigrante ha surgido en ambos lados de la frontera entreméxico y los estados unidos, buscando remedios de ambos gobiernos. El motivo de queja regresa más de 50años, al 1942, cuando el gobierno norte americano empezó el programa del 'bracero' para reemplazar la falta detrabajadores causada por la segunda guerra mundial. Bajo este programa, el gobierno otorgó contratos amexicanos dispuestos cruzar la frontera para tomar trabajos interinos . . . braceros, trabajando de campesinos ode ferrocarrilereros, ayudaron confrontar el reto impuesto a la economía norte americana por el esfuerzo contrala guerra. El gobierno y los patronos encontraron el programa tan affectivo que fué prolongado, a través variosactos, hasta el año 1965. Luego fué terminado unilateralmente, después de recibir muchísima presión de lasuniones y de activistas que contrarrestaban la explotación sistemática del obrero. Durante su existencia,algunos 44½ millones de contratos fueron expedidos. Como parte del contrato, el bracero estubo de acuerdoponer el 10 por ciento de su sueldo dentro un fondo controlado por el gobierno mexicano. Al regresar améxico, el indivíduo podría pedir el regreso de su dinero . . . {sin embargo} la mayoría de los trabajadoresjamás fueron compensados. Por otra parte, el paradero de los fondos permanece desconocido. A pesar de habersido contribuyentes a las economías de los estados unidos y de méxico, muchos braceros viven en la pobreza,abandonados por ambos gobiernos y sin medios de poder reclamar Seguro Social, que debía ser un beneficio delprograma del bracero." San Francisco Examiner, "Braceros: Exploited, swindled, ignored " by Jesus Martinez,August 8, 1999.
"Institute for Xicano Relations: Portable Chapel Juan Soldado/Instituto Para las Relaciones Xicanas: Capilla Portátil Juan Soldado" proyecto realizado por Armando Rascón, Tijuandiego, CalifAztlán, copyright 1993-1999

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