This past Saturday, I went to Playas de Tijuana and found the dUS-Mexico border fence at the beach totally dismembered (see picture at right taken by my sister, Martina). Was I dreaming? Had the beginning of a borderless future arrived? Kids jumped back and forth across the ditch in the sand that marked the division between the two countries. Fishermen followed the school of fish across the border line, joking that the fish on the dUS side were bigger than on the Mexican side. ¡Increible!
Yet, as I looked beyond the hub of activity bleeding onto the dUS beach, the white SUV of la migra (the Border Patrol) remained, ever-watchful with its tinted windows. Large steel plates lay on the sand, ready to replace the rusted ones that had just been taken down. New, taller fence posts were already put into place. Visions of a future returned to the reality that this opening in the fence was temporary.
I say visions of a future because I believe that the future is still in the hands of the present. There are many possible futures, of which I saw of a preview of only one. The prevista at Playas helped me to better understand the context of this fence. Put up in the early 1990's, this is far from a permanent structure. It's a kid just reaching puberty. Still malleable. Still culpable. Even the wall in Berlin - physically much larger and with more obvious life-threatening guardians - came down on November 9th, 1989, after 28 years of existence. How? By the will (and the force) of das Volk. They came first with protest songs, then with sledge hammers, and finally with bulldozers.
So, why is it that only 100 people turn out to a protest in downtown San Diego against civilian vigilante border patrols (google: "Minuteman Project")? Why are there no sit-ins on the beach (not a bad setting for a protest)? Why do the 4+ million people in the San Diego area (and the rest of the dUS) go about their daily business while more proposals to re-enforce the border make their way through the local and national legislatures?
Easy. Unlike the ideological border between East and West Berlin (enforced from the top down), the economically-driven dUS-Mexico border policies come from the bottom (or middle) up. They are policies that stem from our fear of change. Fear that an influx of immigrants (i.e. aliens, people that speak other languages, people with difference perspectives) will make things "worse." Fear that maybe we might have to change our way of life (i.e. using potable water to wash cars, water lawns, and hose the dog). Fear that maybe the "American Way" really isn't the goal. It's US vs. them. And by them, I mean the rest of the world.
"Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to Anger. Anger leads to Hate. Hate leads to Suffering."
-Yoda, Star Wars
Currently reading: "Development as Freedom" by Amartya Sen and "La Cigarra y La Hormiga" (Mexican children's book)
Currently listening to: Jack Johnson, Manu Chao, Maná, Pancho Barraza, Sergio Vega and ABBA.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Monday, June 13, 2005
On Charity
Why is it that when it comes to working with the less fortunate, people seem to lower their standards? Here's an example:
At the end of each week here at Esperanza, the volunteer groups often leave some used clothing as donations to distribute to the communities with which we work. It's a wonderful gesture to re-use products in a way that might aid someone who needs a little extra help. Why then, do people donate used but unusable items like gloves so caked in cement that all the fingers are stiff or underwear with blood stains? It's Charity, not trash.
In working for an organization that's trying to build community and a dignified life for economically poor families in Tijuana, I've learned a lot about Charity. Unfortunately, the modern use of the word Charity as giving seems to distort it's original meaning as a love of fellow humanity. Charity, is really about respect, justice, and love. If I'm giving something to Charity, that should imply that I am participating in a mutual partnership. If someone is giving used, and unusable, underwear to another, it's not Charity. If one person is giving more than another, it's not Charity. Charity, giving, donating...all these things are two-way streets that many people see as two-lane, one-way freeways.
After decades of "charity," the coming of white, rental gringo vans to the barrios of Tijuana often brings blinds of dollar signs and gifts to the eyes of economically poor Mexicans struggling to live here. The metaphorical cat in the bag is that this form of charity doesn't solve any problems, and indeed causes more as the exportation of dUS band-aid policies penetrate ever deeper into the social fabric of the poor.
What I am asking for is a far-spread re-evaluation of Charity. If you are going to help someone less fortunate than yourself, you have a responsiblity to establish a relationship with them beyond the money or material things that you give. You have to teach them to fish instead of teaching them to beg for fish scraps. Doing the opposite doesn't help the cause, it only perpetuates the difference, materially, psychologically, socially, etc.. We want the receivers to become givers. So please...the next time you buy, buy used and the next time you give, give new.
"One love. One heart. Let's get together and feel alright."
-Bob Marley, One Love/People Get Ready
At the end of each week here at Esperanza, the volunteer groups often leave some used clothing as donations to distribute to the communities with which we work. It's a wonderful gesture to re-use products in a way that might aid someone who needs a little extra help. Why then, do people donate used but unusable items like gloves so caked in cement that all the fingers are stiff or underwear with blood stains? It's Charity, not trash.
In working for an organization that's trying to build community and a dignified life for economically poor families in Tijuana, I've learned a lot about Charity. Unfortunately, the modern use of the word Charity as giving seems to distort it's original meaning as a love of fellow humanity. Charity, is really about respect, justice, and love. If I'm giving something to Charity, that should imply that I am participating in a mutual partnership. If someone is giving used, and unusable, underwear to another, it's not Charity. If one person is giving more than another, it's not Charity. Charity, giving, donating...all these things are two-way streets that many people see as two-lane, one-way freeways.
After decades of "charity," the coming of white, rental gringo vans to the barrios of Tijuana often brings blinds of dollar signs and gifts to the eyes of economically poor Mexicans struggling to live here. The metaphorical cat in the bag is that this form of charity doesn't solve any problems, and indeed causes more as the exportation of dUS band-aid policies penetrate ever deeper into the social fabric of the poor.
What I am asking for is a far-spread re-evaluation of Charity. If you are going to help someone less fortunate than yourself, you have a responsiblity to establish a relationship with them beyond the money or material things that you give. You have to teach them to fish instead of teaching them to beg for fish scraps. Doing the opposite doesn't help the cause, it only perpetuates the difference, materially, psychologically, socially, etc.. We want the receivers to become givers. So please...the next time you buy, buy used and the next time you give, give new.
"One love. One heart. Let's get together and feel alright."
-Bob Marley, One Love/People Get Ready
Friday, June 10, 2005
(hu)Man in the Mirror
Since February, I've worked with 20+ different groups totaling over 600 volunteers from all over the dis-United States: Pennsylvania, Washington, New York, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, New Jersey and, of course, California. I've met people from all social and economic levels. I've met people on the far left, on the far right, and in the middle of the political spectrum. I've worked with an 85-year old WWII vet and a 14-year old that was born when I was in Jr. High.
Of all these experiences, I've noticed a curious trend: the further away the volunteers come from, the more open they are to what they see, hear, and do here. It's a trend that crosses financial differences, social differences, and age differences. Why is it that the groups from the San Diego area (only ~45 min. away) only stay for a couple of days and the groups from across the country stay for a week? Why is it that the groups from San Diego listen to their individual iPods at the worksite and group from NY blast their music for everyone to hear? Why is it that the groups from San Diego say "I'm a volunteer, don't tell me what to do." and the group from San Anselmo, CA asks "Is there anything else you want me to do?" ? Why is it that the groups from San Diego leave their experience without even knowing the names of the families with which they worked, while the groups from Seattle, Kansas, NY, and Ohio maintain relationships with the families with whom they worked over 5 years ago?
One possibility: it's harder to try to change our own life than it is to try to change the life of someone else. The groups from San Diego live 15 miles away from the US-Mexico border. Changing their perspective of Tijuana as dirty, corrupt, and pleasure-driven means changing their perspective of San Diego as clean, straight, and righteous. Discovering the role of Mexicans as producers means discovering the their own role as consumers.
At the same time, I could just as easily ask groups from further away, "What do you do in your community?" or "How do you help your neighbor on a daily basis?" And their response would probably be similar to the volunteers from San Diego: "Not much." It just so happens that the neighbors of the San Diegans live in Tijuana and the neighbors of Seattlites live in Tacoma, White Center, Columbia City, etc. Why is it acceptable and even admirable for someone to join the Peace Corps and help build homes in the "Third World," while Tent City IV, a temporary housing community for homeless people in the greater Seattle area, sees considerable resistance by it's future neighbors. The Golden Rule comes to mind.
Perhaps I fit into this category too. After all, I'm thousands of miles from home, away from my family, away from my friends, doing "noble" deeds. Sure, I love the delicious, authentic Mexican tacos that I eat here every day, but have I ever even been to an authentic taco stand in Columbia City (<20 miles from my home in Seattle)? No.
At any rate, this is the level of change that we are working with here at Esperanza on a daily basis. The friendly conversation between neighbors, the inside jokes of co-humans, and the trust that results from the communal support of a first step; these are the "little" individual, man-in-the-mirror changes that are revolutionary. As Gandhi said, "be the change you wish to see in this world." Now, go out into the world and start changing yourself!
Paz, Amor, y Justicia,
Marcel ("El Chino") Tam
Of all these experiences, I've noticed a curious trend: the further away the volunteers come from, the more open they are to what they see, hear, and do here. It's a trend that crosses financial differences, social differences, and age differences. Why is it that the groups from the San Diego area (only ~45 min. away) only stay for a couple of days and the groups from across the country stay for a week? Why is it that the groups from San Diego listen to their individual iPods at the worksite and group from NY blast their music for everyone to hear? Why is it that the groups from San Diego say "I'm a volunteer, don't tell me what to do." and the group from San Anselmo, CA asks "Is there anything else you want me to do?" ? Why is it that the groups from San Diego leave their experience without even knowing the names of the families with which they worked, while the groups from Seattle, Kansas, NY, and Ohio maintain relationships with the families with whom they worked over 5 years ago?
One possibility: it's harder to try to change our own life than it is to try to change the life of someone else. The groups from San Diego live 15 miles away from the US-Mexico border. Changing their perspective of Tijuana as dirty, corrupt, and pleasure-driven means changing their perspective of San Diego as clean, straight, and righteous. Discovering the role of Mexicans as producers means discovering the their own role as consumers.
At the same time, I could just as easily ask groups from further away, "What do you do in your community?" or "How do you help your neighbor on a daily basis?" And their response would probably be similar to the volunteers from San Diego: "Not much." It just so happens that the neighbors of the San Diegans live in Tijuana and the neighbors of Seattlites live in Tacoma, White Center, Columbia City, etc. Why is it acceptable and even admirable for someone to join the Peace Corps and help build homes in the "Third World," while Tent City IV, a temporary housing community for homeless people in the greater Seattle area, sees considerable resistance by it's future neighbors. The Golden Rule comes to mind.
Perhaps I fit into this category too. After all, I'm thousands of miles from home, away from my family, away from my friends, doing "noble" deeds. Sure, I love the delicious, authentic Mexican tacos that I eat here every day, but have I ever even been to an authentic taco stand in Columbia City (<20 miles from my home in Seattle)? No.
At any rate, this is the level of change that we are working with here at Esperanza on a daily basis. The friendly conversation between neighbors, the inside jokes of co-humans, and the trust that results from the communal support of a first step; these are the "little" individual, man-in-the-mirror changes that are revolutionary. As Gandhi said, "be the change you wish to see in this world." Now, go out into the world and start changing yourself!
Paz, Amor, y Justicia,
Marcel ("El Chino") Tam
Friday, June 03, 2005
Gracias a la vida
Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.I can't seem to put together a cohesive blog. Everytime I write something, another important topic pops into mind. One thing I can say though, is that I appreciate the many things that life has brought me already in my 24 years on this earth.
Thanks to the life that has given me so much.
- part of a song by Chilean poet, artist, and musician Violeta Parra
Shout out to the Kenmore Krew: Craig, Alexei, G-Tron, Robo, Marty, James, Aaron, and all the rest. To "the rest": I'm usually included in "the rest" as well, or at least I like to thinks so. :)
Can you tell I'm in a nostaligic state of mind?
Also, really quick: Being surrounded by Spanish-speakers, I've grown accustomed to trying to expressing myself first in Spanish and second in English. Thus, my postings with Spanish words intermingled are less a neo-liberal-hip-pro-Latin-American-ism and more a laziness to translate my Spanish thoughts into sloppy English words. Please forgive my laziness.
Currently reading: "Thinking in Pictures and Other Reports from My Life with Autism" by Temple Grandin
Currently listening to: Mercedes Sosa, Los Tigres Del Norte, and Gotan Project
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