OCT 8 VIGIL FOR JOSE ANTONIO ELENA RODRIGUEZ DURING THE US/MX BORDER CONVERGENCE IN NOGALES OCT. 7-10

 

Invitation from the family and friends of José Antonio Elena Rodriguez to attend the FIRST CULTURAL AND ARTISTIC FESTIVAL FOR JOSE ANTONIO, who's life was tragically cut short by a U.S. Border Patrol agent. SAT. OCT. 8 IN NOGALES, SONORA, MX.

4 PM--meet at Plaza de las Palomas in Nogales, Sonora near (one block from the border) for a short march to the corner of Internacional Street (that follows the border wall to the west) and Ingenieros Street. The mayor of Nogales, Sonora will speak.

4:45 PM--Inauguration of the installation a painting of José Antonio near the site where he was killed

5 PM--Celebration of a mass led by the bishop of Nogales

 6 PM--Press conference followed by cultural and musical presentations including Yaquis, Apaches, folklore music, rock

Schedule of the Border Convergence in Nogales, Sonora and AZ. For more information on workshops, lodging, etc. and schedule updates click on link
 http://www.soaw.org/border/

Friday, October 7

• 9:15am Exhibition of Ten Quilts Memorialize Lives Lost by Migrants Crossing the Desert in the Tucson Sector. This event will take place in the Tucson and Catalina Rooms of the University of Arizona’s Student Union (1303 E. University Blvd., Tucson, Arizona)
• 5pm – 7:30pm – Vigil and rally at the Eloy Immigrant Detention Center, and Opening of the Convergence Weekend, Welcome, and Know Your Rights Information (1705 E Hanna Rd, Eloy , AZ, 85131)++
• Welcome and Peña Celebration in Nogales, Mexico, 6:00pm-8pm
  at the Art Museum (Av. Adolfo Lopez Mateos No. 120, Nogales 84000, Mexico)
• 7pm – 11pm – Concert in Tucson, Arizona at Club Congress, a benefit for No More Deaths. For all that are interested, including People of Color Space participants, and those unable to travel past the Border Patrol checkpoint to Nogales (7pm-11pm, Club Congress, 311 E Congress St, Tucson, AZ)++

Saturday, October 8

• 8:30am – 9:30am Veteran-led march in Nogales (Sonora/Arizona)
  kick off on the U.S. side: Hotel Americana, 639 N Grand Ave, Nogales, AZ 85621
  kick off on the Mexico side: Plaza Ochoa, Nogales, Son., Mexico
• 9:45am – 11:45am – Rally at the border wall in Nogales, Sonora / Arizona
  with speakers and musicians from across the Americas
  featured speakers will include Michael McPherson of Veterans for Peace; Hector Barajas, the founder of Deported Veterans Support House in Tijuana, Mexico; Shena Gutierrez, from the Border Patrol Victims Network, Mexico, human rights activist and Green Party vice presidential candidate Ajamu Baraka; Isabel Garcia from the Coalicion de Derechos Humanos, Indigenous Community Defender Nestora Salgado; Maudí Tzy from the Alliance to Break the Silence and End Impunity from Guatemala, SOA Watch Field Organizer Maria Luisa Rosal and Father Roy Bourgeois, SOA Watch founder
  Live music performances by Pablo Peregrina, Emmas Revolution, Colleen Kattau, Olmeca, the Peace Poets, Natalia Serna La Muna, Son Jarocho musicians, and the SOA Watch Musicians Collective
• TUCSON – 9 AM – 8 PM – People of Color Space & Youth of Color Space Workshops, Break-Out Groups, and Plenary addressing mutual solidarity, racial and gender justice. For more information on the POCS workshops, please click here. If you are planning on attending the 10/8 POC Space in Tucson, please fill out this Registration/RSVP form. (9am-8pm, Dunbar African American Culture Center, 325 W 2nd St. Tucson, AZ 85705)++
  
• Workshops at Hotel Americana (639 N Grand Ave, Nogales, AZ 85621) in Nogales, Arizona (United States), 1:15pm-7:50pm
• Workshops in Nogales, Sonora (Escuela Primaria Abelardo L. Rodriguez, Fenochio 23, Fundó Legal, Nogales, Mexico), 1:15pm-7:50pm
• Nosh & Reflection: A lunch gathering for Jewish activists and allies
• 2pm – 3:30pm Encuentro de Hermanas – Congregations of Women Religious and Other Organizations are Invited to join Giving Voice Sisters in Prayerful Solidarity with the Border Convergence October 7-10 and All Catholic Sisters Attending the Border Convergence in Nogales are invited.
  
• Anniversary Vigil for José Antonio Elena Rodríguez in Nogales, Sonora: starting with a march at 4 pm from the Plaza de las Palomas in Nogales, Sonora to the site where Jose Antonio was killed and a 5 pm mass with the Nogales Bishop, inauguration of the installation of a painting of Jose Antonio, followed by a cultural/musical event
• Interfaith Ceremony at the border wall & candlelight vigil, 6:30pm-8:00pm
• Cross-border concert at the Mexico/U.S. border wall, 8:00pm-10:30pm
  with Charlie King, Colleen Kattau, the Peace Poets, emma’s revolution, Natalia Serna La Muna, Olmeca, Pablo Peregrina, and Son Jarocho

Sunday, October 9

•  9am – 1:30pm – ¡No Más! No More! & Presentes, musicians, protest, and art at the border wall
  We will commemorate those whose lives were lost as a result of state violence.
  Speakers will include Shannon Rivers, a member of the Akimel O’odham tribe; Padre Prisciliano Peraza, coordinator of CCAMYN in Altar, Sonora; Carlotta of People Helping People from Arivaca; Hector Aristizabal, Colombian human rights activist and torture survivor; Mariela Nájera Romero and Uriel Gamaliel Guzmán, Las Patronas; Marleny Reyes Castillo, Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), Maria Guadalupe Guereca Betancourt and Araceli; Carlos Garcia, Puente; H.I.J.O.S. Mexico; Frier Tomás González Castillo coordinator of La 72, Hogar Refugio para Personas migrantes y refugiadas, en Tenosique, Tabasco; George Paz Martin, peace and justice and climate activist and educator; and there will be musical performances by Francisco Herrera, Natalia Serna La Muna, Gabino Palomares and others
• TUCSON – Informal gathering/continuation of work from previous day’s POC Space for those that cannot or choose not to travel to Nogales (time & location TBA)++

Monday, October 10

• 
  
• 10am Block Party – Indigenous People Day 2016 at the Global Justice Center in Tucson, Arizona (225 E 25th St., Tucson, AZ 85713). Neoglyphix, Barrio Mindz, live art, dancers, and music in Resistance + Respect.++
  

Letter in AZ Daily Star,  Oct. 3, 2016

BLACK LIVES MATTER VIGIL IN TUCSON, JULY 9, 2016--WHAT WE ALL NEED TO LEARN FROM THE BLM MOVEMENT

An amazing diversity of folks were present among the hundreds who turned out for the Black Lives Matter vigil and healing circle in Tucson, AZ. (Above immigrant rights leader Isabel Garcia addresses the crowd).

If you didn't make it watch the video above produced by BPVN of the vigil---what everyone needs to learn from the BLACK LIVES MATTER movement!

 After the vigil a march was held through downtown Tucson and 4th Ave. bringing the chants of BLACK LIVES MATTER!
HANDS UP! DON'T SHOOT! to the crowds partying at the bars and restaurants.

While the news of the week was dominated by the killings of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and the 5 police officers in Dallas---on July 8 Tucson police killed a mentally ill man, 28 yr-old Abraham Smith, they said was threatening them with a knife. After the killing his brother told the media "We’d like to get him into a mental ward. Not the morgue. A mental ward and now that’s what they’ve done. They shot him." (link to full report below)  

Tucson Police Kill Mentally Ill Man The Day Before the Tucson BLM vigil 

REMEMBERING TERESA LEAL; a founding member of Border Patrol Victims Network and a fighter for social justice her entire life

A photo of a young Teresa Leal on her desk at the Pimeria Alta Historical Society museum in Nogales, Arizona.
  

This video shows some of Teresa Leal's involvement with the Border Patrol Victims Network since its' founding in 2014 until her death May 1, 2016. Teresa will be sorely missed. 
TERESA LEAL, PRESENTE!

LEAL MADE HER MARK (May 10 letter in Nogales International from BPVN volunteer Richard Boren)
   First thanks to Murphy Woodhouse and the Nogales International for the fine article printed the same day we all found out about Teresa Leal’s passing (“Local historian and activist Teresa Leal found dead at museum,” posted May 3). It helped soften the overwhelming shock we felt upon hearing the news only hours earlier.
   On April 29 Teresa took part in the “Border Seder” which was performed on both sides of the Nogales border wall. She seemed as vibrant as ever.

   Teresa chose to participate on the Mexican side and she sat only inches from the steel barrier. This event that used a beautiful Jewish ceremony to reflect on the suffering caused by the border turned out to be the final collective action of her life. She sat with the family of José Antonio Elena Rodriguez, who was killed by a Border Patrol agent within sight of where we sat. Teresa translated their words into English.
   The impact of Teresa’s life transcended the border that during her life changed from an imaginary line in the sand to resembling the Berlin Wall. Teresa struggled for justice on both sides of the border. She went out as she would have wanted, “en la lucha.” Her passing creates a tremendous void that will be difficult to fill. In Nogales she embodied “the movement.”
   Teresa was also one of the most hospitable and generous people I’ve ever met. Her house was always available, with no notice, to those needing shelter. She collected donations like medical supplies to distribute to the needy. During my visits to the museum people she had helped would drop by to say hello. One man who had gone through hard times called her “mom.”
   The museum of the Pimeria Alta Historical Society is an enormous legacy to her wonderful life. I encourage all to give a donation to help keep it going. Without Teresa’s selfless devotion the museum might have closed its doors long ago. It wasn’t for money that she did it or did anything else for that matter, as she hardly earned any money at all. For her the work at the museum and in the community at large were a labor of love.
Teresa Leal, presente!
Richard Boren
Border Patrol Victims Network,
Tucson
SEND DONATIONS TO:
Pimeria Alta Historical Society and Museum
136 N. Grand Avenue; Nogales, AZ 85621 call: 520-287-4621

A video made the day of Teresa's funeral when families and friends gathered at her magical house to reflect on her wonderful life, put to the music of Silvio Rodriguez's song (Días y Flores)

THE BORDER PATROL VICTIMS NETWORK (BPVN) IS A NETWORK OF FAMILIES OF VICTIMS, VICTIMS, AND VOLUNTEERS UNITED IN THE STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE AND TO END IMPUNITY FOR BORDER AGENTS

BPVN BULLETIN BOARD

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CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF BPVN ACTIVITIES

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Feb. 28, 2015: Folksinger Charlie King does benefit concert for BPVN in Tucson, AZ.


photo: Charlie King (with guitar) and concert organizer Ted Warmbrand (with banjo)

Pages from the Concert Program profiling Border Patrol Victims Network.

 FEB. 2015: A bit of justice for one victim who was shot by a Border Patrol Agent and survived. Thanks to a civil lawsuit.

Jesús Castro Romo speaking Oct. 10, 2014 at vigil for Border Patrol Victims in Nogales, Son.

click on article link below to read:

Judge Awards Half Mllion Dollars To Man Shot By Border Patrol Agent 


DEC. 2, 2014-BPVN Volunteer Loses Round In Court (from arrests last May at 48 Hour Vigil/Fast in Nogales) but gets to cross examine agents who arrested him: Appeal Pending

click on link below to read article:
Judge Orders Border Activist To Pay Fine  

The Dec. 2 gathering outside the federal courthouse in Tucson. "Hands Up, Don't shoot!" in solidarity with Ferguson and other anti-police brutality movements.


OCT. 10, 2014--2nd Anniversary of José Antonio Elena Rodriguez. Mass, march, and vigil in Nogales Sonora and AZ.

 Videos showing the day's activities for justice for of Border Patrol victims.  Above "The U.S. Border Patrol: "Honor First?"; or Taking The Law Into Their Own Hands." The video below with Spanish titles.

Guadalupe Guereca, mother of 15-year-old Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca, in Nogales, Sonora on Oct 10, 2014. Her son Sergio was murdered by a Border Patrol agent in Juárez, Chihuahua, MX on June 7, 2010.

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Sept. 2014  Letters to the Editor and Op-Eds: BPVN uses the editorial page

Re: the Sept. 11 article “Border agent cleared in May killing.”
The decision by the Pima County Attorney’s Office to clear Border Patrol agent Daniel Marquez of any wrongdoing in the shooting death of Jose Arambula is questionable jurisprudence but has its positives.

By concluding that a “jury in a criminal trial would most likely find Agent Marquez’s actions were justified,” a lengthy jury trial is avoided and taxpayer money saved. The whole case seems to be focused on Arambula’s “apparent attempt to use deadly physical force.”
However, Arambula was unarmed and was shot “in the back of the head.” A jury would surely waste valuable time debating this troubling aspect. So case closed based solely on the “unbiased” Border Patrol’s version of events. Who needs those pesky juries anyway?
The Border Patrol has acknowledged the problem of agents using excessive lethal force at times. Unfortunately, the Pima County Attorney’s Office became an enabler of this problem by clearing agent Marquez.
Ana Maria Vasquez

AUG. 6, 2014--SHENA GUTIERREZ AND TWO OTHER BPVN ACTIVISTS FACE CHARGES IN FEDERAL COURT FOR MAY ARREST BY CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION AGENTS IN NOGALES, AZ

Rev. John Fife speaking at the press conference outside the federal courthouse

CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST TWO BPVN MEMBERS

ACTIVISTS CONTINUE TO DEMAND NAMES OF OFFICERS INVOLVED IN MAY ARRESTS
(click on titles above to link to full story)

Shena Gutierrez and Attorney Vince Rabago speaking to the media.

A highly ironic moment.  Federal 
officer Joe Orozco, the same officer
who arrested the three activists in 
Nogales on May 24, shown here 
ordering the press conference
participants off the grounds of 
the federal courthouse claiming 
it was a "demonstration".

(left) Eduardo Silva speaking to the media. His grandson, Jose Arambula, was slain by the Border Patrol in May, 2014 in Green Valley, AZ.

(right) Photojournalist Will Seberger at the press conference. Sadly he passed away 12 days later. Will was a loyal witness for victims of injustice. He will be sorely missed.                            (All press conference photos courtesy Joel Smith)

Southern Border Communities Coalition Urges That Charges Against Border Rights Activists Be Dropped (click on title to read story)  

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JULY 29, 2014   PRESS CONFERENCES-

ARACELI RODRIGUEZ AND HER LEGAL TEAM INCLUDING THE ACLU FILE A LAWSUIT AGAINST THE BORDER PATROL AGENT WHO KILLED HER SON, JOSE ANTONIO ELENA RODRIGUEZ. 

Araceli Rodriguez at the Nogales press conference, announcing the lawsuit. She was unable to speak at the Tucson press conference earlier that day since the US government denied her a visa to travel to Tucson. 
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June 27, 2014--Vigil in Nogales, AZ and Sonora--Justice For Child Migrants from Central America! No Deportation!

Ana Cuen and Teresa Leal leading the exercise in Nogales, AZ "How would I feel if I were a child detained by the Border Patrol?"

     Video--Araceli Rodriguez and Jaime Millan at the vigil for child migrants in Nogales, Sonora. Video also includes news coverage of the event. 

Procession to the Border Wall and site where Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez was killed by Border Patrol
(photos courtesy Bob Torrez)

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May 28, 2014--4 YR. ANNIVERSARY OF MURDER OF ANASTASIO HERNANDEZ ROJAS BY BORDER PATROL AGENTS--EVENTS IN SAN YSIDRO AND SAN DIEGO, CA.--4 YRS. WITHOUT JUSTICE.

Press conference at the San Ysidro, CA border crossing where Anastasio was beaten and tased by Border Patrol agents on May 28, 2010 causing his death.

The family of Anastasio: (l to r) nephew, wife Maria Puga, mother Luz, and brothers (Bernardo far right)

Anastasio's parents

      Video of the day's events--May 28, 2014
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MAY 23-25;  48 HOUR VIGIL-FAST FOR ALL VICTIMS OF THE US BORDER PATROL; NOGALES, AZ AND SONORA
ON MAY 24 SHENA GUTIERREZ, ONE OF BPVN'S FOUNDERS, ARBITRARILY ARRESTED WITH TWO BPVN VOLUNTEERS FOR DEMANDING THE NAME OF CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION AGENT WHO ABUSED HER EARLIER THAT DAY.

Aztec Dance Group Mexicayotl who danced the entire weekend

(l to r) Ana Maria Vasquez, BPVN volunteer and Ana Cuen, aunt of José Antonio Elena Rodriguez

sign says "two families here at the vigil lost sons. For another family agents almost killed her husband"

POSTERS SHOWING JOSE GUTIERREZ (LEFT) WHO BARELY SURVIVED HIS BEATING BY BORDER AGENTS AND ANASTASIO HERNANDEZ ROJAS WHO DIDN'T.

Participating Families in the vigil: (l to r) Taide Elena, grandmother of José Antonio Elena Rodriguez (killed 2012); BPVN volunteer Ana Maria Vasquez; Guadalupe Guerrero, mother of Carlos Lamadrid (killed 2011); Shena Gutierrez, wife of surviving victim Jose Gutierrez

VIDEO SHOWING HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ENTIRE WEEKEND. INCLUDING SHENA GUTIERREZ SPEAKING ABOUT HER ABUSE BY CBP AGENTS AS SHE CROSSED THE BORDER--FOOTAGE TAKEN JUST BEFORE HER ARREST WHEN SHE REQUESTED THE NAME OF THE AGENT WHO ABUSED HER.
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MAY 4, 2014-INAUGURAL EVENT FOR BORDER PATROL VICTIMS NETWORK-OPEN HOUSE IN TUCSON, AZ

(Left to Right) Ana Cuen, aunt of José Antonio Elena Rodriguez); Guadalupe Guerrero (with microphone) mother of Carlos Lamadrid. 

Rebeca Cartes and Mary Kierzak performing

Ana Cuen and Taide Elena, José Antonio Elena Rodriguez's grandmother

VIDEO OF THE MAY 4 EVENT WITH NEWS COVERAGE