by Bianca Laureano

Media Justice is often something people talk about but find it hard to do. I’ve been fortunate enough to have amazing media makers in my life and wanted to share with you their projects and how you can get involved! I’d like to introduce you to my homeboy, who is a scholar, father, activist, and media maker: Nezua. He is the creator of The Unapologetic Mexican, co-creator/founder of The Sanctuary,  creator of News With Nezua and writes fiction and more “personal stuff” online.  and he agreed to answer some questions about the projects he is a part of, how he came to become a media maker, ways to get YOU involved, and future projects.

Here’s one of Nezua’s most retweeted and shared video of the summer; a documentary of the mock checkpoint created by several activists (including Nezua) at this year’s Netroots Nation which racially profiled “European immigrants and their descendants, and required them to show papers that proved they had a right to trespass on native land.”

News With Nezua | The Illegal Europeans from nezua on Vimeo.

News With Nezua | The Illegal Europeans from nezua on Vimeo.

How do you want to be identified (name, title, etc.)

Nezua is my professional and screen name. My given name is Joaquín Ramón Herrera. I am an artist in multiple mediums, including paint, ink, music, word, film, & video.

What identities/social location do you embody? (race, class, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, primary language, ability, age, etc.)

Mexican American male, with Eastern European blood as well (Romanian, German, Polish). I come from poor and scrabbly origins, so while I don’t think of myself as of a “class,” I generally get along easier with others who come from humble beginnings and don’t reek of financial privilege. But I draw no hard lines because life is always surprising you.

I’m generally heterosexual, was born in the city of angels, and speak English mostly. Though I do have certain challenges physically and mentally, I have no “disability” that stands out beyond the normal human condition, and so I do not consider myself “disabled.” (Truth is, I don’t naturally think that way. We all have gifts and curses/challenges—some apparent, some invisible—and that’s how I tend to think about it.)

I am 41 and still get carded far too often for such an old man!

When did you create The Unapologetic Mexican? What were/are your motivations?

I created the blog in May of 2006. My motivations were to stop hiding, stop holding back, and start shouting. I wanted to give my spin on politics and culture, and my people, as I see it and as I live it. I was tired of the lies. And of the stream of derision, unanswered.

I did have very specific goals. I wanted people to be able to Google and find my writings when they looked for commentary on topics that would affect me or that I care about. I wanted to enjoin the conversation, I wanted to find solidarity out there, I wanted to strongly challenge and confront the hate, and I wanted there to be no doubt of my pride in my ethnicity.

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 Have you ever heard the song “This Land Is Your Land”? It’s one of America’s most popular folk songs- if not the most popular. The chorus goes…

This land is your land, this land is my land 
From California to the New York island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

It was first recorded by Woody Guthrie in 1944, and made popular again in the 1960s by the group Peter, Paul & Mary. If you still don’t know what I’m talking about (or just want to listen to the song) you can watch it on YouTube.
 
Now let’s get to the story. 

The National Organization for Marriage, during their summer tour, would play this song at their anti-equality rallies. Doesn’t really make sense, does it? Why would they sing a song about inclusion, beauty, and unity at a rally based on homophobia and discrimination? I can’t answer that, but since when has NOM’s actions made much sense?

When Kathleen Perrin, a Peter, Paul & Mary fan, heard that this was happening, she decided to contract the group to let them know how their song was being used. As it turned out, they were not pleased. They sent this letter to NOM’s President, Brian Brown…

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I go to a high school on the west side of San Antonio, TX where there are many teen pregnancies every year. The type of sex ed i was taught in high school was, of course, abstinence-only. I took health my sophmore year only because it was required and during the course we went through Worth the Wait. Now i will remind you that since health was a required class for graduation, most students waited till their senior year to take the class. More then half the students in my class were seniors and most were already sexually active and were taking an abstinence-only sex ed class at the same time.  

All I got out of Worth the Wait was "condoms can break and you're worth the wait," which is true but what Worth the Wait did not tell me was how effective condoms really are or how to use a condom the right way to increase the effectiveness of preventing STDs and pregnancy. We were taught about STDs, but all we did was go over them, and we were showed ugly and nasty pictures that no one even wanted to look at. We were not told how to take care of them or where we could go to get treated for an STD, and condoms were not even mentioned; everything was basically just a scare tactic.

When I took this class I had previously been through training on many different sexual health topics includinding medically accuate information on contraception and STDs. So when I had to sit through a class that only talked about abstinence I hated it. Abstinence is a great choice and should be taught in school but the reality is that it is not the only choice. Everyone is different and will not make the same "right" choices, so teens should be prepared and taught how to keep their bodies safe and protected from teen pregnancies, STDs, and so much more.

Amie Newman at RH Reality Check points us to NPR's recent interview with David Bahati, the Ugandan parliamentarian and author of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Read Amie's full commentary here. You can also listen to the NPR interview here.

The whole thing is really shocking, and we're outraged that Bahati's comments in the interview haven't been widely covered, scrutinized, and condemned yet by our public officials and the mainstream media. Amie underlines the scariest and most telling part of the NPR story:

Sharlet [NPR's interviewer] accompanied Bahati to a restaurant and later to his home, where Bahati told Sharlet that he wanted "to kill every last gay person."

"It was a very chilling moment, because I'm sitting there with this man who's talking about his plans for genocide, and has demonstrated over the period of my relationship with him that he's not some back bender — he's a real rising star in the movement," Sharlet says. "This was something that I hadn't understood before I went to Uganda, that this was a guy with real potential and real sway and increasingly a following in Uganda."

Want to help us stop David Bahati? Sign our StandForUganda petition.

Each week, I’ll be posting a list of the most news-worthy and/or inspirational, informative, well-written, thought-provoking, and/or unique posts of the week. While every post and every contributor is valuable to our community, these are the blogs that I feel are must-reads. 

August 22- August 28

Stats for this week: 30 posts by 18 writers

A Critical Look At ENDA- by Jordan

Why I chose this post:

A lot of people all over the country have been working very hard the past few months (and years) to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. This would be a very helpful piece of legislation, but, as currently written, it does have some important limitations, as Jordan explains.

A new low for anti-abortion extremists- by AFY_EmilyB
 
Why I chose this post:

People need to know about this incredible injustice: Doctors refusing to treat patients if they had previously had an abortion. Are you fleeping kidding me?!

Schoolgirls attacked with poison gas- by AFY_EmilyB

Why I chose this post:

We have to remember how lucky we are to have an education, and we have to realize that, with that education, it is our responsibility to make sure that our world is one in which boys AND girls are valued equally.

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We just sent out the alert below. Can you take a few seconds and help us spread the word on Facebook? Thanks!

Dear Advocate:

Over the past few weeks, you have sent 3,065 letters asking your elected officials to reject abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. The impact of these letters is already being felt in state capitols and in the halls of Congress.

Sometimes it's good to take a step back and remind ourselves just what abstinence-only-until-marriage programs are "teaching" to America's young people:

(Click the image for a larger version) Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs violate young people's rights by denying them access to information that could, in some cases, literally save their lives — but the problems don't stop there. They teach our children that condoms don't work. They reinforce gender stereotypes and excuse sexual assault. They tell gay and lesbian youth to "wait until marriage" in a country that won't let them get married.

If you haven't yet asked your Governor to reject abstinence-only-until-marriage funding, now is the time to take a stand. Click here to take action!

As always, I am deeply grateful for your help as we work together to ensure that every young person has access to the information and services they need to make responsible choices about their sexual health.

Sincerely,

James Wagoner
President
Advocates for Youth

On Saturday, August 28th, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin will headline a rally here in Washington, DC entitled “Restoring Honor.” According to media reports, event organizers expect 300,000 people to show up to celebrate his vision of America — a country that leaves behind the poor, one that turns a blind eye to the plight of people of color, and one that permanently relegates LGBT citizens to second-class status. Beck’s unabashed racism, homophobia, and conspiracy-laden show is a mainstay on Fox News (despite his steady loss of advertisers, as the general public quickly tired of his paranoid ravings). Beck has, however, become a hero to and the leader of the Tea Party movement… And it remains to be seen whether his supporters will turn out in full force this weekend.

(To make things easier, event organizers provided this handy-dandy guide about how to explore DC without accidentally encountering people of color!)

Glenn Beck will always come to my mind as the man who said, “I didn’t think I could hate victims faster than the families of the 9/11 victims until New Orleans…there is only a small percentage of scumbags that stayed in New Orleans that are getting all the attention and spoiling it for everyone.” So it is with the most terrifying irony that his rally will take place at the Lincoln Memorial on the 47th anniversary of MLK Jr’s speech and the weekend of the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

And then there’s Sarah Palin, who last week came out in support of Doctor Laura’s use of the N word on the radio and against her resignation. She tweeted, “Dr.Laura:don't retreat...reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence"isn't American,not fair")”. Once again, Sarah Palin rushes to defend bigotry and racism as American. It might be her dream of America, but it isn’t mine — and I’m guessing it isn’t yours either.

Finally, in a failed attempt to bring an ounce of legitimacy to the event, Glenn Beck has invited Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King Jr. to speak at the event. Using the credibility of her uncle’s name, she is an overtly anti-choice and anti-LGBT crusader. She proclaims that abortion is a “tool of genocide against…black people” and refers to gay marriage as leading to the extinction of the human race [1].

This kind of large-scale “Rally for Intolerance” cannot go unchallenged. This Saturday, I will join hundreds of civil rights activists from the National Action Network, the NAACP, and many other progressive groups to stand up for MLK Jr.’s real American Dream.

Join us as we stand up for the dream that our children “will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.“

At 11am on Saturday, we will meet at Dunbar High School, 1301 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington DC and march to the King Memorial. I hope to see you there!

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[1] "Dr. King's Niece Calls Gay Marriage 'Genocide'" (VIDEO) | TPM LiveWire. 10 Aug. 2010.

Ever wish you could give your friends something that could save their lives? Now you can! Apply today to receive a box of 500 Trojan brand condoms to distribute this Fall.

Teach your friends about safer sex and become a part of a network of over 1,000 youth activists advocating for sexually healthy campuses.

Also, click the play button below to listen to Sarah Audelo (Advocates for Youth's Senior Domestic Policy Manager) and Julia Reticker-Flynn (Advocates' Youth Activist Network Coordinator) discuss the importance of the GACC on 94.9 CHRW Radio, a radio station serving the University of Western Ontario and surrounding area. Thanks to Ashley Bushfield for inviting us on her radio program!

(Timestamps: Julia begins speaking at the 1:54" mark; Sarah starts speaking at the 3:12" mark.)

EDITOR'S NOTE: When we saw this column in The Washington Times, warning parents about colleges "poisoning" students with information and frank discussion about sex and sexuality, we knew it needed a response. We asked rising Harvard sophomore Leah Reis-Dennis, and her mother Elizabeth Reis, to weigh in. Here's what they said.

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Leah:

In her recent Washington Times piece, "Values a vaccine for poisoned Ivy," Rebecca Hagelin cautions parents with presumably frightening "snapshots of what your child might encounter" at college. Hagelin cites such supposedly alarming campus occurrences as summer reading on multiculturalism, course offerings on feminist theory, and access to condoms. Although Hagelin fears for the preservation of her daughter's Christian and conservative values, she rests assured that the strength of her family's faith and its determination to resist the dominant "liberal Orthodoxy" will prevail.

As a college student about to start my second year at Harvard (an institution which Hagelin would likely label a "poisoned Ivy"), I can vividly recall my college selection process. As I visited campuses, perused pamphlets, and spoke with students, I, like Hagelin's daughter, took time to "investigate the college landscape." In my case, however, a course offering in feminist theory got a thumbs up. Free condom access on campus? All the better! In fact, one might imagine that my mother and I, devoted advocates for feminism and women's rights, are direct opposites of Hagelin and her daughter. Still, if Hagelin's daughter and I were to attend the same college and meet, we would surely learn a lot from each other. She might teach me something about the Bible. I might teach her how to use a condom, even if she chooses to wait until marriage to put that knowledge into practice. But what Hagelin misses in her article is the understanding that college is not, as she implies, about meeting friends who will corroborate your existing beliefs. Rather, college should expand your mind. The people you meet should challenge your convictions and force you to question what you take for granted. Having lived my whole life in a liberal enclave in Oregon, I came to Harvard with a bundle of strong opinions that I had never before been forced to defend. At Harvard, some of my most valuable and memorable moments have been those in which my peers have disagreed with me and prompted me to consider their point of view and scrutinize my own. Hagelin's thinly veiled fear of difference puts her daughter at a disadvantage by attempting to confine her growth within the comfortable bubble of the known and the safe. She would do better to encourage her daughter to venture outside of her comfort zone and strengthen her faith by challenging it.

Perhaps most jarring, though, is Hagelin's unbridled fear of college sexuality. The "graphic 'safe sex' discussions" that Hagelin warns of, would, in a perfect world, be redundant: safe sex discussions should already be happening throughout high school (and earlier!). Hagelin need not fear the "corruption" of her daughter's mind or body: time and time again, studies have shown that comprehensive sex education does not accelerate the start of students' sexual activity. Rather, it increases the percentage of those sexually active youth who practice safer sex, using condoms, birth control, and healthy communication.

In another exclamation of disbelief, Hagelin laments Yale's distribution of 14,000 free condoms this year. "Impressive!" was my first thought upon hearing Yale's statistic. As part of the Great American Condom Campaign (sponsored by DC-based Advocates for Youth), I distributed 500 free Trojan condoms to my peers, mostly freshmen, this year. The peer health educators at Harvard, and probably at Yale too, are at students' disposal to answer any question they have about sex. Why keep sex in the dark on college campuses? In our modern society, Hagelin's approach of withholding sexual education and resources from college students is akin to presenting them with cars without Driver's Ed or seatbelts. Simply put, it's absurd. Some students may feel unprepared to "drive," or may choose to abstain for environmental or other moral reasons. But many, the majority, will take the wheel, and we should encourage them to do so safely. This same philosophy applies to sex. Receiving or having access to campus tools for safe sex, including mandatory education, protection, and sustained dialogue does not harm students who choose abstinence. Just like anything else at college, sex education should be a learning experience. Maybe it will come in handy in college, or maybe not until marriage—which brings up the issue of spouse-seeking.

As she justifies the importance of selecting a college with like-minded students, Hagelin cites a finding that many recently married couples met through college. Finding a husband should not be a factor in the college decision process. Never. Not in the slightest. What is this, the 1940s? College is not for meeting a husband. College is for meeting new people and learning new things—things that probably will and should include multiculturalism, feminism, immigration issues, environmental studies, and yes: sex—all elements that factor prominently into a complete understanding of the country and the world that we live in. Whether this learning remains purely theoretical or is put to the test in the dorms is up to each student. But let's hope that students at Hagelin's so-called "Poisoned Ivies" and beyond continue to be given school-supported resources with which to make informed decisions, have fun, and experience college life to the fullest, whether it's focused at the campus ministry or in the bedroom. Or both.

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College Kids Need More, Not Less, Information

Elizabeth Reis, Associate Professor, Women's and Gender Studies, University of Oregon and mother of two college-age kids

Rebecca Hagelin may not want her daughter exposed to the dangers of college life (books about multiculturalism, the environment, and animal rights are the least of it!) but I hope she has prepared her nonetheless. As the mother of two college-age kids (my daughter is a sophomore at Harvard; my son just graduated from Cornell), as well as a professor at the University of Oregon, I am aware of what students learn from the curriculum as well as in the dorms.

Those role-playing games and graphic safe-sex discussions that Hagelin disdains? Her daughter may face similar scenarios, and so why shouldn't she be ready with appropriate responses? Those workshops are meant to prepare students for situations that may arise so they can think about their reactions ahead of time. Many (not all) students drink at college. Many (not all) students have sex during their college years. Her daughter may not do either, and that is her choice. But on the off chance that she makes different choices when opportunities come along, she should have the tools to make responsible decisions in her new environment.

As a professor of Women's and Gender Studies, I speak to many, many students who do not have a clue about protecting themselves from disease or pregnancy. Recently I had a young woman in class who came to tell me she had to drop out of school because she was pregnant. She started crying in my office, telling me how she hadn't planned this, and now she was going to have to marry her boyfriend and raise her baby, none of which was on her agenda. Since she was inviting me into her life by telling me her troubles, I didn't feel too intrusive asking her if she had known about birth control. She told me, astonishingly, that she kind of knew about it, but somehow didn't think it applied to her. Didn't apply to her??

After one of my lectures on the history of sexuality where I had provided alarming statistics about the recent rise of chlamydia of the mouth, another student came to me in tears. She explained that in order to avoid intercourse (she considered herself Christian) she only has oral sex with men but doesn't really consider it "sex" and so didn't think she needed to worry about protection. Now she was upset not only because of the risks of sexually transmitted infection but because I had rocked her world suggesting that she had violated her religious principles by engaging in what I was calling "sex." She pleaded with me to tell her what to do. (I sent her to the campus counseling center, a place that every student should be made aware of and feel comfortable using).

And these are the students who have sat through all the orientations about safe sex! Perhaps some of them aren't really paying attention because they are committed to the values they've brought from home and so they can't imagine they will ever need the information. My caution to them: take it all in anyway, even if it seems unnecessary to your own life. You might find yourself helping out a friend.

Despite my overall disagreement Hagelin's misguided efforts to shield her daughter from the realities of college life, I do agree with two of her points: Students should research the schools in which they are interested, figure out what's most important to them and make sure that that school will be able to provide a social environment in which they will thrive. Feeling comfortable with one's peers will enhance students' learning, but the friends they make do not have to be cookie cutter versions of themselves. One of the greatest things about college is meeting other students from completely different backgrounds and with different perspectives. I also agree that parents should stay in touch with their child (within reason), not just by regular letters, but by other social media as well: Facebook, cell phones, texting, and Skype. Hearing the tone in their kids' voices or seeing them on the computer screen can make college a lot less scary for the parents. Of course we want to protect our children from anything bad; in my book the best protection is straightforward information and plenty of it. They are old enough now to make their own decisions, and they need to know everything they can to make good ones that keep them safe.

Happy Birthday 19^th Amendment!

Believe it or not, it’s only been 90 years since the 19^th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote in our democracy was made part of the Constitution. Since 1971, we’ve celebrated the anniversary of August 26, 1920, as Women’s Equality Day.

One great way to celebrate would be to make sure that every eligible woman is registered to vote. That includes women turning 18 and those who have recently become naturalized citizens. After all, as important as the right to vote is, it’s even more important to use the vote to help shape the direction of our nation. So make sure you’re registered and encourage everyone you know to do the same.

Women’s Equality Day is also the perfect time to consider what the United States can do to advance women’s rights as human rights. A good place to start is with CEDAW —the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

CEDAW is a landmark international agreement that affirms fundamental human rights and equality for women and girls. It was the first international agreement to address women’s rights comprehensively—politically, culturally, economically, socially and within the family. Around the world, CEDAW can be used to ensure primary education for girls; improve reproductive, maternal, and child health; pass laws against domestic violence and discrimination; promote the participation of women in the political system; and allow women to own and inherit property.

The United States played an important role in drafting CEDAW, which the United Nations adopted in 1979. But the U.S. remains one of only seven countries, including Iran, Sudan, Somalia, and three small Pacific Island countries (Nauru, Palau and Tonga), that have not yet ratified CEDAW.

That could change this year. It takes the votes of 67 senators to ratify a treaty, and President Obama and over 100 national organizations have expressed their support for the treaty’s ratification.

We know that CEDAW works: Australia, Brazil, Morocco, South Africa, Uganda, and others have incorporated provisions of CEDAW into their constitutions and domestic legal codes. And Egypt, Jordan, Nicaragua, and Pakistan have all seen significant increases in literacy rates after improving access to education for girls and women. 

Since youth comprise nearly half of the world’s population, protecting and promoting the fundamental human rights of young people will affect the health, well-being, and stability of this planet for generations to come. Ratifying the CEDAW treaty would strengthen the United States as a global leader in standing up for women and girls in countries around the world.

The CEDAW website —www.cedaw2010.org —has more information about CEDAW along with practical suggestions on how you can help the treaty become ratified.

The fight for women’s suffrage took more than 70 years of persistent advocacy, organizing and education and was only secured when a 24-year-old member of the Tennessee legislature, acting on a note from his mother, changed his vote from “no” to “yes” so Tennessee became the final state needed to ratify the 19^th Amendment.

This is but one example of the power of young voices to stand up and demand justice. Let’s make history again —and help ratify CEDAW.