La Fe Clinic Bans Artist Because of Her Political Affiliation
THE DIRECTORS OF LA FE CLINIC have prohibited Lucia Martinez, an El Paso poet and artist, from entering their cultural center because of her affiliation with the Paso del Sur Group. Last November, Lucia was invited to display her artwork in the walls of the Cafe Quetzalcoatl at the La Fe Cultural and Technology Center. When she recently tried to attend a Tumblewords poetry seminar held at the center last month however, Estela Reyes, the public relations coordinator of La Fe, ordered her to leave the building. Reyes angrily asked Lucia if she was a member of Paso Del Sur group. Lucia was too stunned to answer and Ms. Reyes stated: “I take your silence as an indication that you are. I’ll have to ask you to leave the premises.”
Last month, Lucia Martinez wrote a letter to the board of directors of El Centro de Salud Familar La Fe. We quote from it:
“On October 7, 2006, I went to La Fe Cultural and Technology Center having made plans with Nancy Green to meet at La Fe to give the group a painting that would be the illustration jacket of a CD that the Tumblewords poets recorded around March of 2006. I was one of the poets who participated in that recording of which Nancy Green was the director. Unfortunately I did not attend the meeting because Ms. Reyes demanded that I leave.
“This event happened at the first floor of La Fe’s Cultural and Technology Center when Ms. Reyes questioned my presence in the building. Her question surprised me but I answered that I was going to the Tumblewords Project. Immediately she asked me if I was a member of Paso Del Sur and if I worked for the Paso Del Sur website. Constantly she repeated the question while affirming that she had nothing personal against me but that she had to know. Her incessant questioning stunned me and she interpreted my silence as an affirmation. Consequently she told me to leave. She told me that, out of respect for La Fe, I should leave because she said that I believed that La Fe was a sellout.
“When Ms. Reyes demanded that I vacate the building, I left without resistance. Before I left, I informed Ms. Reyes that I strongly agree with the position of Paso Del Sur. Although I did not discuss this further with Ms. Reyes, I believe it is an injustice for people living and working in El Segundo Barrio to lose their homes, their livelihoods, their memories and histories through eminent domain. Also I have had family living and working in the Segundo Barrio before and after the Mexican Revolution and I find the City Council’s proposal to erase the Mexican presence both calloused and racist.
"I am perplexed by La Fe’s and Ms. Reye’s actions. I am a member of the community that La Fe should serve yet I was denied a service because of my convictions and association with Paso Del Sur. La Fe censored me and prohibited my participation in the Tumblewords Project, which is a public space where people can voice their ideas and creativity. I am angry as an artist who has been censored and as a Chicana who has been discriminated. I am also hurt and saddened by Ms. Estela Reyes’ actions.
"La Fe still has three art pieces of mine from my exhibit last year. Two monotypes and an oil painting: St. Blob (Maria Garretti), My Deer Gay Baby Girl, and Yaqui en el Ropero. I request that the three artworks be delivered to me no later than October 21, 2006.
"I am hopeful that we can resolve this quickly."
Sincerely,
Lucia Martinez
TO THIS DATE, a month and a half later, Ms. Martinez has not obtained a response to her letter from the La Fe Clinic board (although her paintings were returned). Instead, the acts of censorship and exclusion against members of the community who oppose the Downtown-Segundo Barrio plan continue.
Recently Tumblewords poet Al Soto was prohibited from reading a poem at Cafe Quetzalcoatl by Ms. Reyes that criticized the Paso Del Norte Group demolition. Ms.Reyes was also able to have Mr. Soto excluded from a Yahoo chat room of Chicano poets after he posted his poem on their site.
As a result of Lucia Martinez’s exclusion from the Tumblewords seminar, Donna Snyder, the director of the writer’s group, decided to move their regular meetings to a library in central El Paso.
Although the La Fe is a public, non-profit organization, the staff have been ordered to bar Lucia Martinez and several other individuals from the premises of the La Fe Cultural and Technology Center including musician and community activist Nancy Green, UTEP history professor Dr. Yolanda Leyva and author David Dorado Romo because of their public criticism of the Paso del Norte Group plan.
Sal Balcorta, the executive director of La Fe Clinic, is the person believed to be behind Ms. Reyes' orders to exclude individuals from the La Fe premises who have taken a public stance against the PDNG plan or have spoken out against Mr. Balcorta's conflict of interest. Mr. Balcorta is a member of the Paso del Norte executive taskforce that decided where the demolitions would take place in South El Paso. His organization owns land in and around the Magoffin District, within the so-called redevelopment zone that will be used for apartments. Amy Sanders O'Rourke, the daughter of PDNG founder William Sanders and wife of Rep. O'Rourke, works at La Fe. Balcorta argues that there is no conflict of interest because he does not stand to profit personally from the PDNG plan. However, according to public 990 IRS records, his own salary jumped from $110,000 to $220,000 around the time he began collaborating with the business elite associated with this plan.[La Fe 2002 form] [La Fe 2003 form]His $250,000 salary today probably makes him the highest paid CEO of a non-profit organization in the city.
Mr. Balcorta has not shown his face at any public meetings related to the Downtown-Segundo Barrio plan for the last several months. However, at every meeting at least six to ten of his employees are present to speak in favor of the plan and to videotape and record the statements of the plan opponents.
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