Rod Davis, Senior Editor of D Magazine, that smart-sassy publication in Dallas, is following the Guadalupe story. Because R. Bret Ruiz, the Guadalupe's "Presidente," led the Anita R. Martinez Ballet Folklorico for several years, the story has resonance there. Mauricio Navarro, a key source of mine, was the Chairman of the Anita Martinez Center when Ruiz was hired, and he's the one who called Juan Aguilera, the Guadalupe's Chairman last summer, to tell him that Ruiz was "the worst director we've ever had."
I looked at Ruiz's employment references for the Guadalupe Center, and he didn't list any Anita Martinez boardmembers as a reference - a curious thing when it comes to executive director positions.
Elda Silva of the San Antonio Express-News asked me if I thought that all these stories were pushing Chairman Juan Aguilera and the Guadalupe Board into a corner. You know what, I told her, sometimes we make mistakes. The Guadalupe Board has made a big one. They should admit it, respect the community, and launch a national search for someone they might not like or understand or who wears a blue suit, but someone who is committed to la raza.
If they can't do this, I say it again. The Guadalupe Board should resign. Before it's too late for the Guadalupe.
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I know that I should be writing about President Bush and the militarization of the border and immigrant rights and all the rest. But it is the Guadalupe that is the beating heart for claiming who and why we are. We need and deserve the stories that so many worked so hard for us to hear, see, and embrace. You want to resist and fight back the slippery slide of totalitarianism we're on? Start with the Guadalupe. She has the power, it's the stories, our stories, that will save us, support us, to stand up and fight back. With the fire of words.
I looked at Ruiz's employment references for the Guadalupe Center, and he didn't list any Anita Martinez boardmembers as a reference - a curious thing when it comes to executive director positions.
Elda Silva of the San Antonio Express-News asked me if I thought that all these stories were pushing Chairman Juan Aguilera and the Guadalupe Board into a corner. You know what, I told her, sometimes we make mistakes. The Guadalupe Board has made a big one. They should admit it, respect the community, and launch a national search for someone they might not like or understand or who wears a blue suit, but someone who is committed to la raza.
If they can't do this, I say it again. The Guadalupe Board should resign. Before it's too late for the Guadalupe.
**************************************
I know that I should be writing about President Bush and the militarization of the border and immigrant rights and all the rest. But it is the Guadalupe that is the beating heart for claiming who and why we are. We need and deserve the stories that so many worked so hard for us to hear, see, and embrace. You want to resist and fight back the slippery slide of totalitarianism we're on? Start with the Guadalupe. She has the power, it's the stories, our stories, that will save us, support us, to stand up and fight back. With the fire of words.
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