Amaury
+ FollowYou Don’t Know? Occupy is in South Texas, too, Amigo
Is the Lone Star State awakening? The loud and clear protests that began in Wisconsin this year, now filling a street near you in Manhattan, Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C. and elsewhere, have definitely raised the normally tight brows of the American political class. Groups around the country that share the original movement’s ideas and tactics have suddenly emerged: including here in Texas.
If you live in Texas, one would think the only cities participating in the Occupy Movement are, Austin, Houston, and Dallas. If your only source of news is the mainstream, that’s an easy assumption. Occupy in Texas’ arrests occur mainly in Austin or Houston. If not arrests, there are plenty of reports to pluck from about dysfunction, disagreements among group members and how certain events appear disorganized.
Recently, New Taco asked “Are Latinos Participating In Occupy Wall Street?” Sure enough, the story went viral, inviting many “experts” to explain the reason for the “… lack of diversity.”Julianne Malveaux, an economist and president of Bennett College, explains:
“Progressives frequently are so convinced of their cause and its merits that they don’t do enough to reach out. The problem is if we aren’t there, everybody’s concerns ultimately won’t be addressed.”
Latinovations, offers this suggestion:
Whether or not Latinos have been involved since the beginning, observers agree that the issue at the heart of the movement – the skewed distribution of wealth and resources – echoes strongly with the Latino community, and their participation will only increase.
Are Latina/o voices being heard? One could argue yes … and no. When Latinos are covered, it typically centers around urban settings. In the case of Texas, the real question is: “What about the regions where the Latino population is over 60 percent, such as South Texas? Why are they left out from media coverage?”
Keep in mind that Hispanic Texans are far from monolithic. Currently there are many cities peppered throughout South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley, as well as, along the Texas/Mexico border and in El Paso — areas with massive Hispanic demographics.
In a recent interview, Daniel Ryne Lucio, co-organizer from Occupy Corpus Christi, addresses this concern.
“It’s disappointing that our part of the state, which houses a disproportionately larger percentage of Hispanics, uninsured and underemployed, would be looked over by the state wide media. We are as much part of the movement as Austin, Dallas or Houston; but that doesn’t seem to matter. This isn’t to say that we haven’t received support from our brothers and sisters who are occupying in other cities across the state. In fact, we’ve received tremendous support and encouragement from many places. But not equal coverage from Texas media. I guess it’s easier to pass someone off as a hippy or nut if they film them in Austin or Dallas or something, I don’t know.
It’s disappointing and I think it highlights a broader narrative that dismisses South Texans (and really every border city in Texas) as an unimportant piece of the puzzle. We are not – we are part of the 99%.”
“The Rio Grande Valley is one of the hardest hit areas of the country when it comes to issues of poverty,” according to John-Michael Torres, organizer from Occupy McAllen. “Hidalgo County is the poorest country in the state and the Rio Grande Valley counties are among the poorest counties in the nation.”
In today’s media-saturated world, the concept of new media literacy takes precedence. The rise of blogging and social media means that journalism is somewhat firmly in the domain of the people, and there is a risk certain voices continue to drown each other out.
That, of course, has quite a few people worried. Journalism is alive and well, but only if readers can be discerning consumers of media – that’s a tough skill to acquire. Just because a citizen journalist may not be a trained journalist should be no reason for discrediting them. This is why media literacy is important. If not, the dissemination of information will continue being filtered.
Amaury Nora, MSW is the Executive Director of Somos Tejanos, an organization dedicated to cultivating Latino/a civic participation throughout Texas.
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