THURSDAY | MAY 23, 2013
Standing for Communities: ‘The Power of Collective’ (video)
Elsa Gonzalez had never thought of herself as a community organizer. But when Hurricane Dolly destroyed her family’s home in South Texas, she knew she had to do something to stand up for her family and her community. She joined a local grassroots organization, part of a network of 10 organizations that collaborate across issues [...] 
I was sitting at the bar in el Hueso del Fraile, a coffee shop in downtown Brownsville in Texas. Laura, the owner, was working with a younger friend of hers putting together sandwiches. My friend from the ACLU was going to show a film (“Two Americans“) later that evening, and the two women were [...]
Continue reading …
At a University of Wyoming conference last week, leaders from the Wind River Indian Reservation and around the nation reflected on how Indian tribes can strengthen the sovereignty that lies at the heart of Indian self-government. This is a central question for Indian tribes, which strive to relate as independent governments with local, state [...]
Continue reading …
Texas Group on Colonias: Work Remains to Bring Housing, Development and Jobs
April 1, 2013
No Comment
EDINBURG, Texas — Speaking at the South Texas Mayors’ Stakeholder Summit in late March, Proyecto Azteca’s Ann Williams Cass said that from a colonia resident’s perspective, the glass is still half empty. “I have not seen a decrease in poverty rates in the 33 years I have lived here. The people who live in [...]
Continue reading …
I am too old for this, I told myself, as the alarm chimed brightly at 3:25 a.m. I crawled out of bed, pulled on my yellow “Equal Voice” t-shirt, and my gray and green tennis shoes (the ones that make me look like I run faster than my speediest thoughts), and headed out the door. [...]
Continue reading …
About 200,000 Rio Grande Valley residents who live in the colonias of south Texas have no public lighting at night. Children can’t play outside when the sun goes down. Parents worry their youngsters might be hit by a passing car while walking home. Unlit neighborhoods provide cover for vandalism and other crime. Lack of public [...]
Continue reading …
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An income tax refund is always welcome, but for nearly 27 million workers who earn barely enough to cover the basic needs of their families, the Earned Income Tax Credit refund is a critical lifeline preventing them from falling into poverty. Now that lifeline for working families with children is in jeopardy [...]
Continue reading …
PHOENIX – As Election Day looms, a series of stunning errors, misstatements and misinformation by public officials in Maricopa County, Arizona’s largest county, has some wondering if years of work to encourage Arizona Latinos to vote is being undermined before the election. Three weeks before the high-stakes national and local elections, the Maricopa County elections [...]
Continue reading …
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Texas law enforcement agents in a helicopter were close enough to a pickup truck to see it was carrying people, not drugs, before a sharpshooter opened fire, killing two Guatemalan men hiding under a cover in the vehicle’s bed, a diplomat said Tuesday. Texas Department of Public Safety officials have said [...]
Continue reading …
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – The Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network celebrates this week’s victories in federal court in favor of civic participation. The two decisions were ratifications of the American ideal of democracy—a community who takes responsibility and participates in the forging of our shared future. The Washington DC’s district court found that the State [...]
Continue reading …
Follow Us