YOLANDA CHAVEZ LEYVA
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On punching Nazis

8/17/2017

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The past few days, social media has been filled with images of punching Nazis and toppling statues. A few months ago when white nationalist Richard Spencer was punched in the face by the anonymous man, people cheered. Memes exploded. Folks found it satisfying to see a white supremacist shocked by a punch in the face. It was enjoyable for many to see his disbelief and disorientation, to see him stumble off down the street. Two days ago, a crowd toppled a 1920s-era statue honoring Confederate soldiers in Durham, North Carolina. People cheered as the statue fell to the ground and crumpled. I absolutely understand the impulse to celebrate these actions. But they also concern me.

Such dramatic actions, while they gain media attention and provoke conversation, are meaningless if they are not accompanied by a commitment to do the much less sexy work of community organizing, educating, learning, working side by side with difficult people, constantly checking our egos, staying up night after night trying to figure out strategy, keeping hope alive in the face of hopelessness, and staying the course year after year, decade after decade. All while trying to find a balance that includes family and our own health. This kind of commitment, carried out in homes, in hole-in-the-wall meeting places, in parks, and in churches, doesn’t usually make the news. This invisibility and lack of recognition is just part of the long-term work.
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I would gladly trade the glorious moment of punching a Nazi or toppling a statue that commemorates hate for working with a generation of young people committed to the invisible and thankless work of creating a new world. I’m blessed to know and work alongside many such young people.*  
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The young people I am honored to work with inspire me and they teach me. They take on the tasks that my declining energy makes it more difficult for me to take on. And, they don’t judge me when I’m too tired or spacey or forgetful to be very effective. They facilitate meetings in ways that are respectful and kind and promote our listening to each other. They use technology eloquently and expertly to tell the stories of elders in our community. They organize block walks and then they walk house to house to ask for support. They makes lists and spreadsheets and keep us organized. They write countless FB posts and emails. They make us laugh. And they do all of this while working full-time and going to school and raising children.
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They give me hope. As I continue moving forward in my sixties, after more than four decades of working in community, and as I try to understand and navigate aging, such hope is essential for my own survival.  I knew as a young person that the elders and their experience and knowledge were critical to how I lived my life. Now I also know that the young people and their energy and brilliance are vital to my life as an elder.
Thank you to the young people in my life for everything.
 
 
* FYI, pretty much anyone under 40 now counts as a “young person” for me. When I was in my late 50’s, my 90+ year old neighbor called me her “young one.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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My father used to tell me about sneaking into this theater to watch movies as a kid in the 1910s. It showed Spanish language films. In the 1940s, it was transformed into a "whites only" theater but that didn't last long. By the 1950s, it was headquarters to the Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers Union, a radical labor organization. Before it closed, it housed the Mine and Mill Bar.
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This message is painted on the east side of the old Mission movie theater.
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The bell tower of Guardian Angel Catholic Church, built in the 1910s to serve the growing Mexican immigrant community in what was then the "east side" of El Paso.
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This pinata shop caught my attention as I was driving west on Alameda Street on my way to work.
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Hawaiian dancer, Alameda Street.
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Unicorn pinata on Alameda Street.
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Proud graduate pinata.
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Love message on the east side exterior wall of the old Mission Theater.

Segundo Barrio
Father Rahm Street
​July 2022

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Looking into Padre Pinto Plaza, Sagrado Corazon Catholic Church.
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Treasures on the window sill.
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La bici
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Tres vatos.
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Esperando el bus.
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Two generations.

 La Virgensita en la frontera
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Woman reflected on la Virgencita, Segundo Barrio, 2021.
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La Virgen de Guadalupe, 12 de diciembre 2017, Centro de Trabajadores Agricolas, El Paso
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Protecting Barrio Duranguito 2019

 Cd Juarez downtown
​December 2017
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Raramuri father and son musicians, downtown Juarez, 2017.
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The smell of copal, downtown Juarez, December 2017.
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Ciudad Juarez limpia, downtown, December 2017.
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Selling at the mercado, downtown Juarez, December 2017
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Telcel payaso, downtown Juarez, December 2017


 La Mariscal, Ciudad Juarez, 2017

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Dos perros, La Mariscal, December 2017
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Mujer con cabello verde, La Mariscal, Juarez, December 2017.
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Beautiful death, La Mariscal, Ciudad Juarez, December 2017.
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Tin Tan, La Mariscal, Ciudad Juarez, December 2017.
 
Montana Vista 2019
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Red high heels in the desert 2019
 El Centro July 2022
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A tree reaches out to Oscar Zeta Acosta (mural by Lxs Dos), El Paso, Texas July 2022
  • Home
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  • Untitled
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