Photo by Daniela Pulido taken in Nicaragua. Painted sign: "No More Violence Against Women!"
Hola a Todxs,
LUCHA (Latinx Unidos for Community Healing and Awareness) has been meeting monthly and creating spaces to listen, share, and heal as a community. Last month we met virtually and spoke about Womxn like Sylvia Rivera and Berta Cáceres whose influence is still felt in our Latinx communities. Yet, we continue to reflect the many womxn who are no longer with us due to gender-based violence in Latin America. Femicides have become common occurrences in Latin America and our community is grieving the murder of Victoria, a Salvadoran migrant who was murdered by the police in Tulum, Mexico. After detaining her for public inebriation, the police held her face down with their knee on her back and despite her yells of pain they refused to release her. After several minutes she became unresponsive and when she was taken to receive medical attention, she was declared dead. Victoria was 37 years old.
This disheartening incident brings up several issues as The Centam Collective brings to light. First, there is the issue that Central American migrants are targets of xenophobic violence. There is also the issue of police brutality that has become too familiar to us. This incident shows how the Mexican police and military are a threat to public safety. Lastly, Victoria was gendered and racialized. LUCHA is aware of the femicides that occur in Mexico and the impunity surrounding crimes against womxn. We also want to highlight the fact that Victoria was detained for public inebriation in a place where many white visiting migrants are drinking excessively and disregarding COVID-19 precautions during their time in Tulum.
LUCHA wants to bring awareness to femicides and the injustices womxn face. We need to celebrate womxn resilience every single day. Womxn are tired of the violence we experience. Stand in solidarity with LUCHA and demand JUSTICIA PARA VICTORIA! If you would like to stay connected you can e-mail us at lucha@ssw.umaryland.edu or follow us on Instagram @l.u.c.h.a_umb. We also want to highlight The Centam Collective which has become an empowering community space and resource for us.
We are also looking for Foundation students who are interested in leading LUCHA the 2021-2022 academic year. If you are interested, please send us an e-mail. We would love to support you in any way we can. Keep an eye on the daily bulletin for upcoming meetings and events. We want to remind everyone that you do not need to identify as Latinx to participate.
Mil gracias,
Daniela Pulido & Melody Concas
