FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE El Paso, TX – On Wednesday, September 30, 2020 at 4:30 p.m. local educators, school staff, unions and community organizations will lead a caravan and teach-in to advocate for an adequate COVID-19 safety plan at the EPISD Administrative Offices, located at 6531 Boeing. The local action is in unity and solidarity with… Read More Reopening Schools Safely for the Community

There are growing protests across America demanding that police departments be defunded. Other protestors are demanding that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) be abolished. Protestors in Portland protested outside the ICE building recently. ICE has drawn attention in recent years as the Trump Administration has intensified efforts to close the borders to immigrants. U.S.… Read More The Culture of Racism At El Paso Based Border Patrol & BORTAC

As the numbers of COVID cases in El Paso continue to decline more and more, activities are beginning to be allowed with various restrictions for safety.  Our churches have resumed services, some schools are having in person classes, football games are being played, and restaurants have certainly started to see more customers.  Libraries across Texas and the… Read More We need your help…

By Donna Snyder, Artwork Courtesy of Alfonso Valenzuela The claims by ICE detainees of trauma by hysterectomies[i] without informed consent is horrifying but sadly not shocking. Throughout much of the 19th and 20th centuries, unethical physicians and governmental agencies have conditioned health care or other benefits on acceptance of sterilization, have performed these surgeries during… Read More Collecting Uteruses—the American Way

It showed up on my Apple news feed innocently enough and I almost skipped the article. I almost skipped it because it was from The Kansas City Star, a newspaper I wasn’t familiar with and I was afraid it was just clickbait. But the headline, As a Black US diplomat in Mexico, I was constantly… Read More U.S. Diplomat Describes What I Felt Crossing The U.S.-Mexico Border In El Paso For Years

By Xavier Miranda, EPISD Teacher, EPAFT member, DSA member, El Paso Grassroots Chief Academics Officer Tamekia Brown of EPISD, will host a live chat, specifically for EPISD Teachers and answer questions about the return to school. It is scheduled for Friday, September 25, 2020 from 4 PM to 4:30 PM. Considering that the County of… Read More EPISD Teachers Live Chat, Friday, September 25, 2020 from 4 PM to 4:30 PM.

El Paso, TX-  On Monday, September 21, 2020 Sunrise El Paso and local climate action advocacy groups invite the press and public to a COVID-safe demonstration to oppose the proposed “Newman 6” 228 MW fracked-gas plant in El Paso at 5:30 pm at San Jacinto Plaza, 114 W Mills Ave, El Paso, TX 79901. Speakers… Read More FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

By Maria R. Perez, MSSW As our society—our world—continues to struggle with issues of human rights and equality, the DNA and ancestry markets are booming. Somewhat of an irony, I dare say. Now more than ever, we see advertisements for DNA kits; TV shows depicting ancestral roots of celebrities; documentaries on stolen babies; the reunion… Read More Your DNA – To Test or Not to Test

By Martin Paredes, Special to the El Paso News. The Thin Blue Line was a 1952 television show about the Los Angeles Police Department. It was conceived and produced by William H. Parker, the then Los Angeles police chief. The show, which lasted for a short time, was a question and answer show about policing.… Read More The Racist History Of The Thin Blue Line

PARA LA PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATAALTO A LA PERSECUCION POLITICA DE SUSANA PRIETO TERRAZAS. ¡DEFENDER DERECHOS LABORALES NO ES DELITO!  EL PASO, TX- Obreros viviendo en Estados Unidos, apoyenos en la protesta en contra de los narcogobernadores Francisco Javier Garcia Cabeza DeVaca y Javier Corral Jurado este jueves 17 de septiembre a las 10 AM en en Consulado… Read More Press Release – Against the Persecution of Attorney Susana Prieto Terrazas

By Miguel Juárez, PhD In his cooking show promo, Chef Raul Gonzalez, who is better known by his clientele as Chef Rulis states: Welcome to the Chuco Cooking Show. You’re invited to go on a culinary journey covering 600 years of regional cuisine. You’ll hear stories about the cultures that settled these lands and we’ll… Read More The Chuco Cooking Show featuring Chef Rulis from Ruli’s International Kitchen

By María Eugenia Trillo, Ph.D. Community, barrio, neighborhood, hood, Second Ward, South Side, El Segundo.  Each of these terms evokes a different image and feeling. Río Linda is a diaspora community, one of three unique communities that were forced to uproot themselves and disperse in more than five thousand pieces to the four winds.  September… Read More Río Linda…a community of the Chamizal – forever

By Jeryl Marcus For the first time in its long history, the physical Burning Man was cancelled in response to the health concerns related to large gatherings. Personally, this meant that after ten consecutive years David and I would not pack our motor home with camping supplies, costumes and gifts and travel 3,000 miles in… Read More Burning Man 2020 Ups the Ante for Virtual Reality Technology

In response to the Covid-19 emergency and because Congress has beenunable to pass new legislation to help the economy, Donald Trump issuedseveral executive orders on August 8. One of them was the Payroll TaxDeferral Holiday. The so-called payroll tax holiday memorandum reducesthe amount of taxes withheld on employee paychecks from September 1through the end of… Read More Payroll Tax Holiday – What It Means To You and Your Company

Over the past two years since Congressperson Veronica Escobar was voted into the seat there’s been a bit of neglect on her part with regard to Veterans Issues in El Paso. El Paso has about 45,000 Veterans that have served our country during Peace and during conflict. We have taken the oath to protect these… Read More VERO & THE VETERANS

By Maria R. Perez, MSSW Recently, the topics of unknown ancestors, lost family members and estranged families have been highlighted by various television programs. These TV shows feature many factors causing family separations, one of which is infant abduction. When this takes place in the healthcare facility where the baby is born, a cruel abuse… Read More Losing an Infant, Yet Not Losing Hope

By Chuck Taylor Quiet. The desk clerk and I are the only ones. He gives me permission to turn a side-lamp on. He is working on figures on his adding machine and laughs. It is quite dark here inside. The great center mosaic dome is unlit. Three good western style oils on the wall across… Read More In the Lobby of the El Paso De Norte, 4:30 AM, 1978

Updated September 3, 2020 By Jeryl and David Marcus Every year in August we pack our camping gear and head to the Black Rock desert just outside of the little town of Gerlach, Nevada. We are among the 70,000 people (yes: 70,000!) who trek to this dry lakebed located 140 miles North of Reno, Nevada.… Read More Burning Man: it’s every festival you’ve ever been to – on steroids!

By Brian Antonio Sieve, Metropolitan Community Church, August 3, 2019 I moved to Juarez-El Paso June 1, 2019 to be pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of El Paso (MCC).  MCC EL Paso is part of a global denomination founded in 1968 to be the first safe churches for LGBTQ+ folks.  Our church here in El… Read More Pastor Brian Antonio Sieve Remembers August 3, 2019

By Corinne Chacón In the hours and days after the tragic assault on El Paso which took place at the Cielo Vista Walmart on August 3, 2019, I grappled, like so many others, with a swarm of emotions. My feelings included shock, intense sadness, a fury at the murderous hatred directed at my gente, and,… Read More ABOUT “EL PASO STRONG MASETA”

By Miguel Juárez, PhD Updated August 28, 2020. The Val Verde neighborhood is a historical community south of the Medical Center of the Americas, and north of Delta Avenue in El Paso, Texas.  The neighborhood is north of the city’s water treatment plant and east of the El Paso County Coliseum.  When President Donald Trump… Read More The Delta Welcome Center, For Senior Citizens Who Used Los Hilos de Plata Senior Center, It’s Now a Matter of Life or Death

By Lisa Maria Chavira On August 3, 2019, I was home at my apartment in Sunset Heights, El Paso. After the awful news broke, I, like many others, read rumors of multiple shooters at multiple locations near the Cielo Vista area. The first thing I did was contact my loved ones. Both my parents and… Read More My August 3, 2019

“DEFUND THE WALL, FUND OUR FUTURE” New grassroots effort prioritizes needs of border residents over political border wall project PHOTOS  & VIDEO HERE Laredo, TX – More than 100 masked volunteers took to the streets of Laredo over the weekend to send a powerful message to Washington DC: “Defund The Wall” and instead “Fund Our… Read More Massive street mural completed on U.S.-Mexico border

El Paso City Manager Tomás González has instructed his staff to refer and rebrand everything north of downtown El Paso as “Uptown.”  Is González referring to “Uptown,” a neighborhood in Dallas, Texas, or to the new name for everything north of downtown El Paso?  Before anyone states that these statements are conspiracy theories or marketing… Read More Opinion Editorial: “Uptown” and the Re-imagine I-10 Project at the City Plan Commission Meeting

By Heide Sobrig In the early days of August 2019, I was prepping for my next trip to El Paso. It was coming up quickly, in only two weeks. My experience of El Paso is as a friendly, progressive town—everyone I have met on my visits have been supportive and willing to talk to me… Read More Holding Grief in 2020: El Paso

August 14, 2020 Press Release Chicago, IL — Today Reps. Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), and 107 Members of Congress sent a letter to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador urging him to ensure Mexican state governments drop politically motivated charges against labor lawyer Susana Prieto Terrazas. The letter also urges Mexico to… Read More Reps. García, Schakowsky, and 107 Members of Congress Urge Mexican President López Obrador to Drop Charges Against Activist and Protect Labor Rights

By Michelle E. Carreon A lot can change in one year. At the same time, lives can be forever altered in a matter of minutes. The August 3rd mass shooting lasted for less than fifteen minutes but ultimately resulted in the death of twenty-three people and left countless others wounded. Our community would be forever… Read More What a Difference a Year Makes: Reflections on August 3, 2019

By Kayla Victor Terry Dean Call, escaped this mortal realm on August 9, 2020 at the age of 74-years-young, just eight days shy of his 75th Birthday. We think he did it on purpose to avoid having to make a decision in the pending presidential election. Terry leaves behind a loving husband, his beloved dogs,… Read More In Memory of Terry Dean Call

By Miguel Juárez, PhD In August 2019, Adan Griego, our colleague at the Stanford University Library, who is originally from El Paso, sent some of us an e-mail suggesting we archive news materials from the August 3, 2019 Walmart Shooting.  Unfortunately, the “El Paso Mass Shooting Archive,” joins other mass shootings which have occurred which… Read More Updated: The El Paso Mass Shooting Archive in Archive-It

By Maria R. Perez, MSSW There are many reasons why folks are searching for their roots. The popularity of genealogy has vastly grown. We see commercials for many websites that help search for ancestors and generate family trees. Plus, with advancements in science getting a DNA test today has become as easy as any other… Read More Ancestors & Familia – Love is Thicker Than DNA

Reflection and Interviews by M. Miranda Maloney M. Miranda Maloney, east Texas I was far from home, 12 hours away in east Texas, when I first heard the news of the mass shooting in El Paso.  At first, I thought surely I was confusing it for another El Paso; perhaps, El Paso County, Colorado? But… Read More Four Native El Pasoans Speak Out After the Mass Shooting

By Chuck Taylor The El Paso I lived in was a very different place. There was no Wally’s near the Bassett Center when I left the city in 1977. K-Mart was the king of retail. Sears was doing OK at Five Points. Of course, I was shocked terribly by the shootings. I was in my… Read More The El Paso I Lived In

By Bill Addington Urgent appeal for support (we urgently need your donations) for the emergency start up- reformation of the highly effective non-profit west Texas citizen advocacy – legal action organization I confounded in the 1990’s – the Sierra Blanca Legal Defense Fund Inc. (SBLDF). In the future, we may rename ourselves the Far West… Read More Urgent Appeal from the Far West Texas Legal Defense Fund

What I want to say from the bottom of my heart is that I know El Paso has always been and will remain Strong!! El Paso has weathered many storms and will this one, too. It has a history of resilience against many odds, especially with changing times and global change. It is La Frontera… Read More Celia Muñoz’s Message on the August 3rd Anniversary

Que paso en El PasoDonde todo es tranquilo ynunca pasa nada??No hay OdioSolo AlegriaSomos Creativos y TalentososY nos gusta trabajarSonrientes trabajamosPaso, que llego uno de Afueraun Tirador querompe la PazDe Pazo…Se llevo veintidos VidasHiriendo Corazones de MilesQue esta pasandoen El MundoEn Agosto 3, 2019 pasoRacismo por El Paso… ©2019 Isela Acihuatl Isela Laca What Happened… Read More Que Paso en El Paso?

By Dr. Sylvia Peregrino My wife and I were watching television on the morning of August 3rd.  We were going to take her mom and my aunt to watch a Spanish movie downtown at the annual Plaza Classic Film Festival.  It was a black and white Mexican movie about el Santo, a famous Mexican wrestler. … Read More Reflections on August 3rd: Blue Demon Comes to El Paso

By Claudia Florés I first found out in a text message from my brother on Saturday, August 3, 2019 at 3:09 PM EDT – “The family has checked in. We’re all okay here. [Cousin and Aunt] were at Sam’s next door but they’re okay.” Despite being very close to my brother, he’s a man of… Read More An Open Wound in Plain Sight

“I think we wont ever forget what happened that day.” Alicia Villa turned seventy-five this January. She was at Walmart that day having her car serviced. Not only did she survive the shooting, but she helped another person exit the building.

“Cielo Vista Means Sky View,” is a song from the album released by GLOSSOLALIA & THE MIDNIGHT SAINTS. Members of the group include: Adri Love-vocalsCarlos Espinoza-bassRick Quintanar-drumsAdrian Esparza-guitarand David Dorado Romo- sax, spoken word

By Cynthia Renteria *Spanish version follows the English text. On August 3, 2019, our border community experienced a violent attack. An armed white supremacist drove from the suburbs of Dallas, Texas to El Paso, Texas and opened fire inside a Walmart, killing twenty-three people and wounding many others.We recognize that this attack is a part… Read More Frontera Firme: One year after the Walmart Shooting

Note from the author: This outline is the beginning of what I hope will be a meaningful essay on the state of our country today – from my perspective of course. H. W. “Bill” Sparks The longer essay may be broken down into its component parts in order to more concise with my opinions and… Read More A twisted History of the United States – Part 1

Webcast: The Mass Shooting in El Paso and Controlling Gun Traffic to Mexico, Monday, August 312pm Mountain / 1pm Central / 2pm EDT / 11am Pacific On the anniversary of a racist attack with assault rifles against Mexicans in a shopping center in El Paso, Texas, which cost the lives of 22 people and wounded… Read More Webcast: The Mass Shooting in El Paso and Controlling Gun Traffic to Mexico

LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes continues their tradition of presenting the best of Los Angeles Latinx history, art and culture with En Casa con LA Plaza. Register on Zoom using the links below. Guests can also view live-streamed Sessions on their Facebook page. The series is sponsored by SoCalGas and California Humanities, https://lapca.org/en-casa-con-la-plaza-upcoming-zoom-sessions/

Updated, July 27, 2020. As we are approaching the one-year anniversary of the August 3rd shootings, a critically-acclaimed three-decades-old, Bay Area group called Los Niteliters has recorded an original country western single titled “El Paso Strong.” The song will be will be officially released on all digital download platforms on July 31st. Jesús “Chuy” Covarrubias,… Read More “El Paso Strong” new original country single by Los Niteliters

The debate over the atomic bombings—a controversy that forced the Smithsonian Institution to abandon its Enola Gay exhibit 25 years ago—continues unabated in America today as we approach the 75th anniversary of the incineration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.   Four historians, Gar Alperovitz, Martin Sherwin, Kai Bird, and Peter Kuznick, each of whom has written extensively on the… Read More What Every Global Citizen Needs to Know About the Decision to A-Bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Cover photo courtesy of Kalandra Monarez “You’re a girl. You’re going to be a girl one day. That’s what she told me.” Kalandra Monarez fondly reminisces on memories of Mercedes DeMarco. It’s a warm Saturday afternoon and Kalandra and I are video conferencing and talking about the mark Mercedes left in her life and on… Read More Remembering Mercedes

Sponsored by The Office of FCC Commissioner Starks and The Education Trust URL: https://edtrust.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lCDYCu0XSraVuLUjkMqEdg Jul 27, 2020 11:30 AM in Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join a panel discussion that seeks to unravel the layers of internet inequality that impact Latinx communities in America. The panelists will explore what actions are needed from the FCC… Read More Panel Discussion: Unraveling the Layers of the Latinx Digital

July 14th there was a victor on the GOP side of the coin. Irene Armendariz-Jackson won the bid to take on current Congressperson Veronica Escobar. While the media flocked to those that were running on the Democratic side and received plenty of media time. The GOP side didn’t even get mentioned. Democrats in El Paso… Read More District 16 Congressional Seat

The Oral History Association and Columbia University’s Oral History MA program (OHMA) are offering these great workshops online. Check out the schedule and attend any that are of interest to you. https://www.oralhistory.org/2020/07/08/summer-workshop-series-on-anti-oppression-and-oral-history/

By Miguel Juárez Editor’s Note: Individuals interviewed here have asked to remain anonymous. El Paso News is honoring their requests. This article has been updated. The lives of the residents of the Val Verde community, like so many others, have been disrupted due to Covid-19.  But some communities’ lives have been impacted more than others. … Read More City and County Officials Move Homeless Individuals to the Val Verde Neighborhood: Two Long-time Grocery Stores Close

Special to the El Paso News – There seems to be some confusion about my archive of El Paso news and information that I have maintained for over the last two decades. No, none of it has disappeared and all of it is still available online. Let me explain. But first a short history. I… Read More Where Did Everything Go?

Okay folks, after my last writing some “things” have come about. The real Bankruptcy was discovered and the information was on dates, address, which state was given. There’s has also been a question about his “Special Forces” claim per his “story” while “attached” to an infantry unit in El Salvador and Honduras in the 80’s.… Read More Samuel L Williams Jr The Epilogue

Recently, on a Facebook group called ChucoPedia, member of the group, asked a pertinent question. She asked whether there were any Latinx Moderators on the site?  She was informed by one of the moderators that if she was under the impression the page was run by Latinx, that she was given wrong information.  A lively… Read More Opinion Editorial: Who Speaks for Latinx, Chicanx on Social Media?

By Fernando Tafoya The United States Constitution is clear. “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech..” To silence protestors that do not agree with them, legislators are proposing laws and regulations that violate the constitution. What are these proposals? Why do they violate the Constitution’s first amendment protection? Can government be trusted to… Read More Anti-Protestor Legislation: The New Prior Restraint?

Last winter, after moping to everyone I knew that I hadn’t written anything all year worth typing up, I found a small notebook under a stack of old bills and flipped through the pages.  It held the almost illegible scrawl of a poem I had written last year in April in a Tumblewords Project workshop… Read More Richie David Marrufo and the Tumblewords Project–writing and reading and music and reading and publishing and reading

TXDOT has proposed frontage roads and an unnecessary expansion of l-10 from Copia to Schuster that will take about $100 million worth of property and place more high speed traffic, and the added noise, vibrations, and pollution, closer to low income and historical neighborhoods. TXDOT has said that this expansion and frontage road proposal is… Read More The Reimagine I-10 Study (Widening I-10): Public comment until July 15th

As Mexican President Comes to D.C., Abuse of Mexican Labor Activist Susana Prieto Escalates, Casting Pall on New NAFTA Prieto’s July 1 Prison Release Conditioned on 30 Month Internal Exile, End of Her Matamoros Labor Organizing, Not Leaving Mexico and Relocation to Chihuahua Where Prosecutor Has Issue New Warrants for Her Arrest The extreme conditions… Read More GLOBAL TRADE WATCH: REPORTER’S MEMO

For Immediate Release: July 7, 2020 Contact: Matthew Groch, mgroch@citizen.org, (202) 454-5111 Mexican Labor Activist Susana Prieto, on Eve of Possible  Reimprisonment, and U.S. Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.) Call on Mexican President AMLO and President Trump to Remedy Ongoing Worker Abuses and Low Wages Celebration of New NAFTA Premature: It Won’t Help Workers Absent Action to… Read More ***MEDIA ADVISORY***

You can find the first part here: https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/elpasonews.org/1807 I have produced two multimedia art shows since I last posted here. G.A.S #3: Poetry, Art, Music (GAS PAM), features two El Paso poets: Donna Snyder and Lawrence Barrett. Also featured are two El Paso dancers: Darlina Marie and Tac TheMac. Included is a video by El… Read More Surviving Artistically, Part 2

The GOP Congressional runoff as I have written about before has become unhinged. There was a bit of controversy over public records with regard to Samuel Williams Jr. Whenever you run for office you make sure there is no “negative marks” against you. Recently Williams has began speaking about a VA full on Hospital. According… Read More Samuel Williams Jr “The Unraveling”

Well the volleys continue with Mr. Williams even over the 4th of July Holiday. Veteran Blas Hermosillo and former Congressional Candidate Anthony Aguero having been going overtime with Williams. Williams himself has imploded upon his campaign as he continues to berate anyone who has different views. He has rejected any type of reasonable compromise throughout.… Read More Samuel Williams District 16 Congressional Candidate District 16

An earlier version of this article was previously published in RUTAS, Forum for the Arts and Humanities, Spring 1994 / Numero 2. By Miguel Juárez It was Saturday afternoon.  ZaZa and I drove in his air-conditioned car in the 101 degrees towards Copia and Alameda Streets on a mission to comfort our old friend, Alberto,… Read More Caldo de Res in the Decade of AIDS

“Black trans women were at the forefront of queer liberation,” says Joshua Enrique Lerma co-designer of EP JOTX, a new queer grassroots movement created with collaborator Pico del Hierro-Villa. Pride was rooted in activism and creating an alternative queer space in El Paso to discuss borderland LGBTQIA+ issues became a priority for Joshua and Pico… Read More The Art of Resistance: EP JO-TX

By Miguel Juarez, Editor, El Paso News How are you handling getting your degree right now? If you are creating art in response to the pandemic, please send us a scan or use your cellphone to create a jpeg and send it to: miguel@elpasonews.org If you want to include a short summary (a few lines),… Read More Me, several years ago – I can’t imagine trying to get your PhD in this Covid-19 time

By Roberto José Andrade Franco I was about 15 years old when I almost blew my hand off lighting firecrackers on the 4th of July. I don’t remember what kind they were. I just remember they had red and black stripes and were the type that came tied together. I was supposed to untie them and… Read More The 4th of July When I Almost Lost My Hand

For Immediate Release  Contact Veronica Frescas Vfrescas77@gmail.com915-745-0204 July 3, 2020 El Paso, TX – After all the PRIDE celebrations and Independence Day Holiday, a local performing troupe calling themselves the El Paso Quarantine Players, will be performing a one-time only, live, shelter-at-home performance of Robert Harling’s play of “Steel Magnolias” via Zoom in recognition of… Read More El Paso Quarantine Players Performs Shelter-at Home, Virtual Presentation of Robert Harling’s heartwarming “Steel Magnolias”

By: Rogelio Sáenz Last month, as part of my monthly blog for the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB), I provided an overview of the hemorrhaging job loss among Latinos. Compared to other groups in the country, Latinos had the highest unemployment rate at 18.7 in May and sustained the highest percentage decline… Read More An Update on the Latino Job Situation in May 2020: One Step Forward and Two Steps Back

By Miguel Juárez Introduction One of the most highly recognized images of 1972 La Raza Unida Party Convention in El Paso in 1972 is a black and white photograph taken by Los Angeles Photographer Oscar Castillo, at the El Paso County Coliseum on September 4th.  The photograph features three of the leaders of the party… Read More La Raza Unida Party Convention in El Paso, Texas, 1972

Special to El Paso News. Many political observers are scratching their heads as to why Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) wants to meet with Donald Trump as his first government to government meeting outside of México. López Obrador has refused to travel abroad during his presidency insisting on holding virtual meetings as he keeps to… Read More In Context: Understanding the Susana Prieto Arrest & the AMLO Response

Launch of New NAFTA Marred by Detainment of Mexican Labor Activist, Hundreds of Court Challenges Against New Labor Law From Global Trade Watch. July 1 Hearing for Susana Prieto, Arrested on Trumped-Up Charges for Exercising Labor Rights in the New NAFTA, Steps on Launch Date  Growing outrage about a jailed Mexican labor activist, bogged-down labor… Read More GLOBAL TRADE WATCH: REPORTERS’ MEMO

Dov E. Kupfer, AIFD, CFD, was born and raised in El Paso, Texas.  He was an inquisitive and artistic child. He attended Mesita Elementary School, El Paso High School, and the University of Texas at El Paso.  He said he was motivated to go into teaching is a second profession. He received his Bachelor of… Read More Dov E. Kupfer, Documenting the Gay Community in El Paso, Texas

Chuck Taylor, mysticpoetics@gmail.com Political Action Tanka Months you haven’t worked.  Demonstrators march through the streets. Statues could go. Why not melt them down, sell the  metal, buy something to eat? Chuck Taylor, mysticpoetics@gmail.com Cities for El Paso A city you can love like a woman You are entranced by the pulsing of her arteries The… Read More Two by Chuck Taylor

Randell David Fleet says he grew up knowing he was special. He said he was a gay kid in a world where people wanted him dead. He said he tried to kill himself many times and he often tried to commit suicide. He said he often begged for God to come get him. He said… Read More The Art of Randell David Fleet

Okay folks there was a slight error in the previous post. So here’s the “corrected” version. What should be the last of the mailers should be over and done. Again Candidates spend buck, bucks and more bucks on these easily discarded things. El Paso we are at a very pivotal point in the election cycle… Read More El Paso Runoff & Chisme “The Redo”

One of fronterizo artist José Montoya’s powerful images is a color photograph titled “Resistance Dance.” It depicts a dancer wearing black laced high-heel shoes, and a black skirt with black fringe. The dancer is photographed in front of the mural painted by David Herrera and El Mac at Mills and Stanton streets in downtown El… Read More Resistance Dance: The Art of José Montoya

As the Borderland began to see the spread of COVID-19 throughout our community and closures and social distancing orders were put in place, many in our community struggled with the economic repercussions that exacerbated the psychological toll that already came with these new regulations. While some received federal aid and were able to alleviate some… Read More El Paso fund dedicated to help Borderland families during pandemic

By Kathleen (Kathy) Staudt, PhD. I am here to speak with you about lawyer Susana Prieto Terrazas who has worked tirelessly for the rights of workers and the improvement of their meager wages at the hundreds of foreign-owned factories—maquiladoras—in Mexico’s northern borderlands, specifically in Cd. Juárez and in Matamoros. Susana is a political prisoner, and… Read More Libertad Para Susana: Remarks at a Press Conference in El Paso, June 20, 2020

A message from Zaza in 2020:  Oscar Wilde said, ‘the one charm of the past is that it is in the past.” Things have certainly changed and improved for the LGBTQ family in the intervening 24 years and that is as it should be. Zaza Montenegro took the name from Sasha Montenegro, the famous Mexican… Read More 1996 Interview with ZaZa Montenegro – Sas Mija!

It is the early 1990s at the Old Plantation Miss Cherry “Miss OP 1978,” a local performer is readying herself for her show.  The dressing room is frenetic energy, but Miss Cherry sits calmly smoking a cigarette and gets ready for her performance.  The cameraman zooms into Miss Cherry who looks straight at him as… Read More Documenting the Gay Community with El Paso Style

Contact: Paulina Almanza, TRLA Attorney, (915) 271-4361, palmanza@trla.org  Hilda Villegas, Familias Unidas Por La Educación, (915) 222-1977, hvillegas63@yahoo.com  Robert Elder, TRLA Communications Director, (512) 374-2764, relder@trla.org  EL PASO, Texas — Parents in the Chamizal neighborhood on June 15 sued the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) to reopen two Beall and Burleson elementary schools and force the school district to pay for critical… Read More El Paso Parents Sue School District to Reopen – Rebuild Schools in Chamizal Neighborhood

Read about and sign the petition at: https://www.change.org/p/county-commissioners-carlos-leon-vincent-perez-and-carl-robinson-recall-the-vote-to-divide-segundo-barrio?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=db590c80-b006-11ea-8f53-b1fa8e693d2b Background on the petition: https://elpasonews.org/2020/06/16/county-botches-segundo-barrio-historic-district/

By Diana Martinez, Special to El Paso News Dear Americans, Imagine, will you, that you have no consent about what is done to your body.  That in and of itself is a violent violation.  In slavery people did not own their own bodies.  Rape and torture were permissible by law.   Robert E. Lee was not… Read More Robert E. Lee School to be renamed

By El Paso History Alliance We regret to report that the County Commissioners Court, on a 3-2 vote, has moved to omit about half of Segundo Barrio from the planned Segundo Barrio Historic District. This happened under agenda item 19, with Judge Samaniego and Commissioner Stout voting to create a Segundo Barrio Historic District that… Read More COUNTY BOTCHES SEGUNDO BARRIO HISTORIC DISTRICT

By Cheryl Howard, Ph.D. Under this President, there has been a predictable rise in white nationalism, hate crimes, and the soul-crushing violence against Spanish-speaking immigrants and anyone who might sound or look like one.  The August 3 attack on the people of our bi-national community woke us up to the realization that legality or illegality… Read More What We Say: Thousands of Small Cuts

By Miguel Juárez It is the early 1990s at the Old Plantation Miss Cherry “Miss OP 1978,” a local performer is readying herself for her show.  The dressing room is frenetic energy, but Miss Cherry sits calmly smoking a cigarette and gets ready for her performance.  The cameraman zooms into Miss Cherry who looks straight… Read More Documenting the Gay Community with El Paso Style

Ending systemic racism has a good shot right now because the trauma of viewing George Floyd’s death has impacted so many people around the world.  But I fear it will be a short-lived opportunity because the steps necessary to bring about such change will be too unsavory for many people to follow for the long term.  … Read More The Fifth Commandment

In case ya didn’t notice there’s a runoff on the GOP side of Congressional District 16. Williams and Amanadriz. This race has been seriously stupid ugly on Williams part, from driving the wedge deeper withing the party itself, to shooting himself relentlessly on the issues he talks about. The most recent rasism. This particular post… Read More That Which is Williams

by Belinda Subraman In these times of unrest and uncertainty, fighting for democracy and fairness, living through a global pandemic, we all find different ways to survive and blossom. I admire and appreciate all efforts to keep positive and those who seek growth and connection during quarantine. It has been important to me to express… Read More Surviving Artistically

Detienen a Susana Prieto Terrazas, defensora de derechos laborales y abogada del Sindicato Nacional Independiente de Trabajadores de Industrias y Servicios (SNITIS). Exigimos su liberación. Attorney Susana Prieto Terrazas, labor rights defender and lawyer for the National Independent Syndicate of of Industrial and Service Workers (SNITIS) has been detained. We, the undersigned organizations and individuals… Read More Nacional Independiente de Trabajadores de Industrias y Servicios / National Independent Syndicate of Industrial and Service Workers (SNITIS), #LibertadParaSusana, COMUNICADO URGENTE!

By Miguel Juarez, Editor Noticias Fronteradice reported that El Pasoan and Labor Attorney Susana Prieto Terrazas has been detained in Matamoros and has been taken to Victoria, Tamaulipas, the state capital to be arraigned.  She has been accused of trumped charges against public servants, riots and threat and coercion of individuals by the Attorney General… Read More Labor Attorney Susana Prieto Terrazas Arrested in Matamoros

By Xavier Miranda Our education community must contend with a new malignant normalcy in our society.  Consider that our students have witnessed the brutal violence perpetrated by police.  Consider that our students are aware of the caging of immigrant children at Tornillo.  Consider that our students were impacted by the mass shooting incited by a… Read More Post pandemic education thoughts

Preface: How does one become a racist?  Do you take classes?  Do you go to “Racist School?”  Are you assigned a worksheet in which you have to write the n-word used “correctly” in fifty different sentences?  Do you have to stage a play wearing black face?  Do racist teachers play episodes of “Amos and Andy“… Read More Passive Racism

By Dr. Oscar J. Martínez* Despite the crushing financial downturn faced by the city as a result of the covid-19 crisis, on April 28, 2020, by a vote of 6-2, the El Paso City Council rejected the Annello/ Rodríguez proposal to stop the fiscal bleeding by suspending the building of two non-essential and costly projects,… Read More CITY LEADERS MUST ABANDON PLANS TO BUILD COSTLY PROJECTS

A Minneapolis man George Floyd, who was handcuffed and pleaded for air as a white police officer pressed a knee on his neck. On Friday June 5th, local El Paso Pastors issued a message calling the murder of George Floyd an inexcusable tragedy. Pastor Eddie Sinegal, founder of Northeast Bible Restoration Church hosted a press… Read More Local pastors ‘stand with George Floyd and those who demand’

By David Dorado Romo The lynching of Antonio Rodríguez by a Texas mob set it all off. At least from the point of view of the El Paso newspapers in the winter of 1910, this was the event that sparked the Mexican Revolution. It started off as just another lynching. On November 3, 1910, a… Read More The Lynching that Sparked a Revolution

Aside from re-posting important articles in the current environment, El Paso News is celebrating Pride Month. Martin Paredes is no longer contributing articles in this El Paso News site. As the Editor, I am shaping El Paso News to feature articles on local issues and highlight voices which are often not featured in other publications.… Read More This Month in El Paso News

A friend told me that no politicians have said anything good about the protest at Memorial Park. Afterwards, congresswoman Escobar told people to “Did you protest? Please get tested.” Did she that congresswoman tell people visiting their mothers: “Did you visit your mother? Please get tested?” Perhaps she could have thanked the young people, many… Read More Thank You Young People & Debbie Nathan has Written an Open Letter to “Progressive” Politicians.