e-culture: Inspiring Kids, Sisters of '77, Czech Center Opening
February 24, 2005


IN THIS ISSUE

Searching for Inspiration
Our Land Before We Die
¡Viva George Washington!
Escalating Border Crisis
Film Review: Hard Times
Independent Lens: Sisters of '77
Upcoming Houston Events
Regional Conferences


John is getting ready for camp. He doesn't know what the camp will offer him, but he is ready to go just to get away from school. His mother is uneasy because he has become difficult to deal with over his problems in school; she is also relieved because she is not always able to provide enough food for the whole week.

John has never seen mountains, or known the thrill of being on an adventure. He has never known a reason to do his schoolwork. In his neighborhood, gangs are all around him and he is starting to be interested in them. At ten years old, John needs something to inspire him in his life or he will end up the way he already sees himself - a failure.

There are many Houston children who have an ability to learn and succeed, but find it difficult to develop interests because of poverty and violence. We plan to find some of these promising children and give them the benefit of Camp Dos Cabezas, an educational youth camp in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. It will offer children the experience of a lifetime to help them achieve success in their lives.

The selection process is underway for the pilot program and in three months a group of Houston children and their volunteer mentors will travel to Cochise County to explore the Chiricahua Mountains, the "Land of Standing Up Rocks", and develop interests and research skills in fifteen national and state parks in historic southern Arizona.

The children will hike through the dynamic landscape of towering spires and learn about geology, archaeology and cultural history. The campers will begin their adventure by surveying the mountain formations known as "Islands in the Sky", and the surrounding grassland seas from the fire lookout on top of Sugarloaf Mountain. By the sixth day they will plan and accomplish a full day hike through the "Heart of Rocks". During the week, the children will explore and learn how to: conduct field work and ask experts at museums for information; use historic newspaper articles for research; try on Spanish armor and meet a Spanish exploration party on the Anza Trail; learn about the lifeways of Native Americans, Buffalo Soldiers, Chinese and Serbian miners, and Western pioneers; and, visit an eighteenth century Spanish Baroque mission on the Tohono O'odham reservation.

The camp is operated in such a way that organizations and small businesses can have the same impact as large ones, and ordinary people can be involved just by volunteering their time to help children. Students from the University of Houston College of Education, as well as other area colleges, will benefit from this unique opportunity as well. The mutual benefits will extend to the community and public parks, having tremendous impact on all of our communities.


General Interest Meeting, Saturday, February 26, 4:30pm

We will give a presentation on Saturday, February 26 for anyone who is interested in being a volunteer or education partner for the camp. The pilot project will take place May 28 - June 4, 2005.

VOLUNTEERS - Get involved to help Houston children
EDUCATORS - Advocate for deserving children in the selection process
SPONSORS - Find out how to provide scholarships to at-risk children
MEDIA - Help raise awareness of this tremendous effort

A small amount of time and resources will help some of Houston's most at-risk children become leaders in their communities.

General Interest Meeting for Camp Dos Cabezas
Saturday, February 26, 2005, 4:30pm
Eleanor K. Freed Montrose Branch
Houston Public Library
4100 Montrose Blvd at Colquitt

Get more information about Camp Dos Cabezas:
http://www.houstonculture.org/camp

Here you will learn more about the subjects, museums and parks the children will enjoy while they develop interests in education and their futures while on a great adventure in the "Land of Standing Up Rocks":
http://houstonculture.org/camp/campmap.html
http://houstonculture.org/camp/topics.html
http://houstonculture.org/vc/azmextime.html

Please contact us at info@houstonculture.org to learn more.

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Our Land Before We Die

Black Seminoles have experienced one of the most interesting journeys of all American cultures. As escaped African slaves who fled into Spanish-controlled Florida swamps beginning in the eighteenth century to live among Seminole Indians, many still use their Spanish identification, Seminole Negro. The Seminole, along with their Black Seminole counterparts, fought three bloody and costly wars against the United States from 1817 to 1818, 1835 to 1842, and finally 1855 to 1858, which resulted in their removal to Oklahoma.

See the Florida Timeline in the Virtual Classroom:
http://www.houstonculture.org/vc/floridatime.html

Not satisfied with the Indian Territory, many left the reservation bound for Mexico. There they would live among other indigenous groups and provide service to the Mexican government to protect the northern frontier against the United States and outlaws. They settled in the state of Coahuila in the town of El Nacimiento de los Negros, only eight kilometers away from another El Nacimiento, which is known as Colonia de los Kikapu. (The Kickapoo migrated from the Great Lakes region to Mexico and were famous in the early days for their skirmishes with Buffalo Soldiers on the Texas frontier.)

While en route to Mexico, a contingent of Seminoles and Black Seminoles was attacked by Comanches. Many Black Seminoles would go on to serve the U.S. government as Indian Scouts during the Indian Wars of the late nineteenth century. Many of the Black Seminoles are buried in the Seminole Scout cemetery near Bracketville, Texas, and today, descendents of the Black Seminoles still celebrate their heritage there in September.

The Black Seminoles were revoked benefits they believed they were owed in 1914, including land they sought as Black Indians. Sadly, they face further hardship in their relationship today with the Seminole Nation administration in Oklahoma, as their cultural identity with other Seminoles and claim to Seminole Nation benefits has been questioned.


An excellent book recommendation for Black History Month is Jeff Guinn's "Our Land Before We Die: The Proud Story of the Seminole Negro", winner of the 2003 TCU Press and Friends of the TCU Library award for the best book about Texas.


Watch for our September newsletter feature on Black Indians of New Orleans and the Buffalo Soldiers.

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¡Viva George Washington!

The people of Laredo just held their 108th celebration of George Washington. The combined George Washington Birthday Celebration and Jalapeno Festival ranks among the largest events in Texas. The month-long festivities, which originated in 1898, culminate in a ceremony on the International Bridge between the U.S. and Mexico in which local children, and city and state officials from the two countries exchange abrazos, or hugs, while standing above the Rio Grande.

Mexican academy students held banners representing Mexico's states and a U.S. military band played patriotic hymns as representatives of the sister cities met at the border, while the normally bustling bridge closed for the ceremony. Increased border restrictions and screening, along with economic hardship, have made it difficult for Mexicans to participate in the longstanding tradition that is said to promote pride in Laredoans' American heritage (originating from Anglo settlers with ties to the American Revolution), as well as friendship between the two nations. Organizers say Mexicans are fond of George Washington.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison spoke about her interest to expand the Interstate highway system in Texas and establish a free trade zone extending beyond Mexico to all of South America. As invited guests listened to speeches, a small group of peaceful protestors waited on the Texas side to raise awareness of missing residents who are suspected to have been kidnapped or killed in surging violence across the border. A sign read, "What's more important, the economy or our missing children?"

Following the bridge ceremony, the citizens of Laredo (many had staked their claims the night before), and fans from across the state and around the world, were treated to a three-hour procession of bands, floats, police agencies, philanthropic groups, debutants, clowns and politicians. College cheerleaders from south Texas and marching drummers from three Mexican states joined the parade along with motorcycle clubs and Shriners in go-carts.

Festivities continued into the evening with a jalapeno eating contest and popular Tejano bands performing at the fairgrounds. Nuevo Laredo offered Rock en Espanol and bullfights, though many Americans are reluctant to make the crossing due to increasing violent crime.

See photos of George Washington's Birthday Celebration:
http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic

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Escalating Border Crisis

The U.S.-Mexico border is in the worst condition of its history. The Texas stretch from the Lower Rio Grande Valley to the Big Bend is deteriorating rapidly. Poverty continues to affect large numbers of people on both sides, and violence is increasing in major border cities. The types of horrific crimes - kidnappings, disappearances and murders - that have gone largely unsolved in Juarez are becoming common in Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa. Attacks on women have been unspeakably vicious.

Mostly thought to be related to drug cartels on the Mexican frontier, the victims include U.S. citizens. At least two dozen Laredo residents are missing or dead, and the U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory warning Americans to use extreme caution or avoid travel in south Texas border towns all together. [See http://www.laredosmissing.com]

Poverty is a growing concern and crime could potentially cause the region to experience further decline.

Several Texas cities along the border rank at the bottom of U.S. urban areas in per capita income. In 2002, the McAllen area had the lowest per capita income in the United States at $14,769, followed by Brownsville ($16,126) and Laredo ($16,593). El Paso, Texas is tenth on the list of lowest per capita income. From Rio Grande City to Eagle Pass, rural counties between Texas' poorest urban areas rank near the bottom of per capita income for counties in the U.S., including Starr (4), Zavala (8), Maverick (11), and Zapata (18).

On the Mexico side, many urban centers' populations of poorly paid maquiladora workers, and underemployed and unemployed workers continue to grow. Low wages cannot sufficiently provide food and housing for large numbers of workers in the Mexico border region.

Health care is suffering setbacks on the border as well. Due to increasing violence and crime, many U.S. health care providers are postponing or canceling their charitable work in Mexican colonias. On the U.S. side, medical services for the indigent have concentrated on growing demand in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and nearly abandoned poor communities near Eagle Pass.

As counter drug smuggling efforts and increased immigration controls have tightened along the western U.S.-Mexico border, sections along the Rio Grande are facing escalating smuggling activity and warfare between rival factions. The Mexican military is increasing its operations with highway roadblocks in and around Reynosa, and news of violent crimes is keeping Americans away from border towns. As these problems escalate, the interdependent international zone is facing a serious crisis.

Texas-Mexico Border Issues:
http://www.houstonculture.org/border

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Film Review: Hard Times

Argentina's model economy collapsed in 2001. In their film, "Argentina - Hope in Hard Times", Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young covered the dramatic efforts of ordinary people to put their lives back together as they organized community farms, street party fundraisers to help the poor, and art spaces in industrial areas. As factories were abandoned by their owners, workers reopened the doors and continued production by forming committees and electing management. Joseph Stiglitz (Nobel Prize recipient for Economics and author of "Globalization and its Discontents") addressed the economic crisis while the filmmakers' camera rolled.

We screened the 74-minute film earlier in the week at the University of St. Thomas Anderson Auditorium before a full house. The screening was followed by an hour of enthusiastic discussion and moments of debate, which at times resembled the passion with which some people discuss Cuba.

When all was said and done, and the final credits rolled, many in the audience felt tremendous pride for the suffering Argentines' resilience, care, and productivity in the face of despair. But a few felt the film was an unfair critique of capitalism. As if to wonder how the down-and-out dared to work without owners and bosses, or how they could profit without elite educations, some in the audience asked why the film did not portray the other side. Respondents asked, the side that failed and abandoned its employees without pay? Economists who blessed the foreign corporate dominance of Argentina, but were nowhere to be seen after the debacle left the nation in shambles almost overnight? Or the police who came to remove the thriving workers from the owner-abandoned factory?

As Stiglitz' words in the documentary film blamed Argentina's crises on its tremendous financial imbalance with foreign corporations, the word of the former World Bank economist wasn't good enough for a few dissenters who preferred an explanation more sympathetic to powerful owners and business interests.

Argentines in the film felt they had been raised to obey orders and live submissive lives as the forces of globalization controlled their agriculture and industries. It wasn't the people in the film who picked up the pieces of Argentina's broken economy to rise out of destitution, or the audience members who felt proud of the self-motivated, hard working people, but the few who didn't approve of the their newly discovered self sufficiency who raised the films' real question: Is the only acceptable economic model the one that employs the global masses for the benefit of the isolated few?

Are independent people a threat to the new world order? Or to democracy? The quiet revolution documented in the film was about people providing for themselves and caring for their communities. But with foreign owners and managers out of the picture, this might as well be Castro's Cuba to some people.

The free screening was presented by Houston Institute for Culture and the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at the University of St. Thomas, with Globalization Forum and Globalization Working Group.

For more information, please see:
http://www.houstonculture.org/film

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Independent Lens: Sisters of '77

"Sisters of '77" recalls the National Women's Conference
Airing Tuesday, March 1, on PBS (Channel 8) at 10:30pm
Twenty thousand people from across the U.S. gathered in Houston, Texas on a historic weekend in November 1977 for the first federally funded National Women's Conference, aiming to end discrimination against women and promote their equal rights. In the crowd were former first ladies Betty Ford and Lady Bird Johnson, current first lady Rosalyn Carter and women of all ages, ethnicities and political backgrounds. Combining footage of the conference with interviews--both then and now--with influential women's leaders such as Barbara Jordan, Bella Abzug, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Eleanor Smeal, Ann Richards and Coretta Scott King, SISTERS OF '77 is a fascinating look at that pivotal weekend in 1977, an event that not only changed the lives of the women who attended, but the lives of Americans everywhere.

Filmmakers Cynthia Salzman Mondell and Allen Mondell began researching SISTERS OF '77 as an opportunity to capture an historic event that was also part of their personal history: Salzman Mondell, who attended the conference, was also one of the many relay runners that helped carry a torch to Houston from Seneca Falls, New York--the site of the first U.S. women's rights convention in 1848. On the table at the 1977 conference were countless hot-button issues that ran the gamut of American women's concerns: equal pay, day care, healthcare, minority rights, abortion, lesbian rights and workplace discrimination. After four days of feverish arguments, all-night caucuses, and with the attention of both protesters and the world's media upon them, the women hammered out a plan of action, ending the weekend ready to take on the world.

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/sistersof77/film.html

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Upcoming Houston Events

After Twilight

Houston filmmaker Gary Watson has made a compelling portrait of "a future when Texas is ruled by a theocracy". 35 minutes. Discussion with the director to follow. Following Gary's presentation we plan to screen our Artery 'pilot', our version of a hypothetical 30 minute TV show based on Artery events.

Friday, February 25, 8:00pm
5401 Jackson at Prospect in the Museum District
http://www.arteryhouston.org

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The Czech Cultural Center Houston Celebrates Grand Opening/Dedication in the Museum District

Friday, February 25, 2005 - Reception 6:30 p.m., 7:00 p.m. Dedication ceremonies Brno Gallery ­ Board Member Fr. Paul Chovanec, Mayor of Houston Bill White, Ambassador Martin Palous of the Czech Embassy, Honorary Czech Consul of Texas Raymond J. Snokhous, and other dignitaries. Prague Hall - Dvorak music concert by Czech Chamber Orchestra of Breclav in Moravia, Czech Republic. Conductor Josef Kornfeil; Leos Chovanec, Director of Janacek Music Conservatory. RSVP

February 25 through April 10 - Czech Moravian emigree impressionist artist Kamil Kubik exhibit.

February 25 - Permanent exhibit of Moravian artist Antonin Vojtek "A Year in the Palava Hills."

Saturday, February 26 - 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Brno Gallery - Private Reception featuring a Wine & Cheese tasting. Fine varietals of Moravian wines accompanied by an expert vintner commentary. RSVP

Saturday, February 26 - 7:00 p.m. Prague Hall - Breclav Chamber Orchestra Classic and Folk Music concert. Reception to follow. RSVP

Sunday, February 27 - 6:00 p.m.Czech Chamber Orchestra in concert Caldwell, Texas City Civic Center. RSVP

Monday, February 28 - 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. Czech Chamber Orchestra concert at St. Christopher Catholic Church, 8150 Park Place Blvd, Houston, Texas. RSVP

Tuesday, March 1 - 7:00 p.m. Czech Chamber Orchestra in Concert at Memorial Drive United Methodist Church, 12955 Memorial Drive, Houston, Texas. Reception to follow. RSVP

Wednesday, March 2 - 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Czech Chamber Orchestra concert at Texas Heart Institute Atrium.

Sunday, March 6 - 6:00 p.m. Prague Hall - Donna & Guenter Merkle (CCCH Members) present a performance of the well-known Houston International Dancers in Prague Hall. Reception following. RSVP

Friday, March 11 - 7:00 p.m. Prague Hall - Czech/Slovak Regional Dress collection program by Helene Baine Cincebeaux of Rochester, New York owner of the worldıs largest collection numbering over 5,000 authentic costumes.

Friday, March 11 - 8:30 p.m. Prague Hall - Jozef Ivaska and son, Jozef Jr. - International Opera Stars and Folk singers from Slovakia and Vienna. Reception to follow. RSVP

Saturday, March 12 - 7:00 p.m. Prague Hall - Jitka Frankova in concert of Czech composers. Reception to follow. (Jitka is from Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic, an internationally acclaimed pianist in Houston by invitation of the Rice Shepherd School of Music and currently completing her Doctoral program.) RSVP

Friday, March 18 - 7:00 p.m. Garnet exhibit. Reception. RSVP

Saturday, March 19 - 6:00 p.m. Prague Hall - Annual Members and Friends Meeting and Dinner.

Dedication/Grand Opening/Concert $10.00 donation appreciated.

713-528-2060
Email: czech@czechcenter.org
http://www.czechcenter.org

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Blackboard Bungle
Curated by Skip Elsheimer, A/V Geeks

Returning to Aurora for the sixth time, our favorite classroom clown, Skip Elsheimer, brings a few more 16mm film reels to remember. A/V Geeks present an evening of old school films about--interestingly enough--the hazards of going to school in the 1960s and 70s. Films include: Our Obligation, Lunchroom Manners, How Quiet Helps at School, And Then It Happened and more! As always, each screening begins with Skip's ceremonial filmstrip read-a-long on a subject selected by the audience, so bring your monocle.

February 26, 8:00pm and February 27, 3:00pm
Admission $5, unless otherwise indicated
Aurora Picture Show
800 Aurora Street
Houston, Texas 77009
713-868-2101
http://www.aurorapictureshow.org

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Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi, Gandhi's Enduring Legacy of Non-Violence

Gandhi's principles of non-violence were not only instrumental in gaining India's independence from Britain, but they inspired (and continue to inspire) movements for peace and civil rights around the world. Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi is Visiting Professor, South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, and Faculty Director, Global Crossroads, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Gandhi is also the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Limited seating available for this lecture. Purchase your ticket today! Special note: this is a special opportunity for individuals who have not registered for the course India: Ancient Values and Modern Realities to hear Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi's remarks.

Monday, February 28, 7:30pm
Houston Community College (5601 W. Loop South)
Cost is $20 for members, $30 for non-members
713-439-0265
Email: txcenter@asiasoc.org

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Regional Conferences

Ireland: North, SouthEast and West

American Conference for Irish Studies
Southern Regional Conference presents "Ireland: North, SouthEast and West"
Hosted by the University of St. Thomas
February 24-27, 2005
The Warwick Hotel
http://www.stthom.edu/irishstudies

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Reinventing Hispanism in the Age of Globalization

Presented by the Center for the Study of Cultures (Global Hispanism Workshop), the Rice University Dean of Humanities, the Department of Hispanic Studies, Fondren Library, the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at the University of Houston, the Institute of Hispanic Culture of Houston

Saturday, February 26, 2005, 8:00am - 6:00pm
Humanities Building, Room 117, Rice University
For registration form and further information, email: span@rice.edu
http://cohesion.rice.edu/humanities/span/spanish.cfm?doc_id=5135



Thank you for supporting great educational and cultural activities.

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M  a  r  k @houstonculture.org


Traditions of Mexico:
http://www.houstonculture.org/mexico

Latino Music Initiative:
http://www.houstonculture.org/musica

Texas-Mexico Border Issues:
http://www.houstonculture.org/border