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Opinion: ¿Pa’que chingaos votar? / Why bother voting? [1]
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Date: 2024-10-24
Warning: This commentary includes language that may offend some readers.
By Miguel A. Reveles
Siempre hablamos about living in the hood, pero we never discuss the political realities that we faced from local policies that affected us. You know why? Because we were never given the opportunity to learn about our power in the scope of our communities and embrace our “Xicanidad” to be leaders in our own right.
Miguel Reveles
What I do remember is the many stories at the carne asada in the park, or sharing our hoodtales over menudo on Sundays that very clearly defined the oppressive and demoralizing policies enacted by local leadership in our city. Things such as the “abuse” of food stamps, TANF and “living’ in the HACEP (housing authority) apartments (colloquially known as the Guillen, Los Diablitos, The Kennedys, take your pick).
We would narrate stories of survival, about sending your older brother to the park during the inspection of your HACEP apartment because he wasn’t supposed to be living with you, or using your jefa’s food stamp card to buy a cold drink after football practice during middle school.
Todos sabemos de estas historias y experiencias que llegaron a fortalecernos to be strong-willed, unwavering, and emboldened Fronterizxs who survived at all odds. In my hood, we had a saying, “Lower Valley Kids Never Die.”
¿Y sabes que? It’s true. Aquí seguimos chingando.
Pero something so deflating about many of our city’s leaders and governance is that these incredibly amazing traits of everyday El Pasoans are hardly reflective in their governmental leadership. Our hustlers like el elotero, el señor de las cobijas y la señora de los tamales are not reflected or celebrated in the political arena.
Menos are they embodied in any way by many of our city leaders. Cada vez en cuando you find someone talking about their hardships in our community (se nos ponchó la llanta or some BS), but the reality is that most of our leadership are so far disconnected from our community that they cannot truly serve it as it deserves.
My life partner and I are prime examples of celebrated Latinx excellence who are allowed to participate at the table and provide our input with city and government leaders after we chose to engage in the political arena ourselves.
The increasingly hostile Texas Legislature came after our family in the spring of 2022 with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and there was fire in our eyes, but our flames needed fannin’.
We began our work as community organizers, with Nydia, my partner, leading the way for our little queer family. The work we thought was so beyond us as little first-generation Mexicanos and Chicanos in the most impoverished areas of El Paso became easier when we told people, “We will hold you accountable.”
It started with Nydia facing the City Council with our baby on her hip, looking at our candidates as she read her statement in support of a resolution to protect our children and community in receiving gender affirming care. La voz le temblaba, pero sus ojos no se rajaban, y mi media naranja se los chingo.
La verdad es que Latinx excellence should not be one of the valued traits that one must attain to allow marginalized community members to get an invite to the table. It should be all of us if we want it to be.
Por eso decidi escribir este editorial. I’m certain, reader, that you also had a dad who drank too much and maybe found themselves in DWI situations, or your tio may have suffered from drug addiction, or your jefita may not be receiving adequate local support from our local government entities when her AC breaks down at the hood, or when her doors are not fixed, or she breaks her leg due to the potholes in the street.
What about the camarada that you hired to fix your rock wall that left with your money y te dejo un desmadre? What about the fact that your parents may still be living in the hood because housing is so unaffordable?
What about your queer tía, la que se corta el pelo corto y que tiene roommate? ¿O tu primito que es gay y que siente temor a ir a la escuela, o al parque porque alguien lo puede lastimar? Have you considered that this may be because of local and state policies?
Pa’ dejarte caer el marro, hoy te digo que todo esto es political. And ALL of it should matter. Porque cuando se meten con uno de nosotros, se meten con TODXS, right? O nadamas cuando conviene? Cuando hay pleitos, hay vamos todos al parque a pelear.
Well, reader, here’s my invite. Those in our community with the most political influence nos estan desmadrando. And WE NEED YOU to come y pelear por lo que es justo – by voting.
Research your candidates. El Paso Matters has always done a great job of highlighting those who are running and the candidates’ platforms and interests.
Learn about who represents your district and call them. Recuerdales de las necesidades tuyas y de tu comunidad. No eres un agobio (burden para mis Spanglishers), eres una persona digna de nuestra comunidad que se merece respeto y representación. Tu voto cuenta en las elecciones locales mucho más de lo que te imaginas. Y si uno de los candidatos se porta sangron/a contigo, mandalos al león.
Y si los candidatos para alcalde y City Council no cumplen con sus promesas, te veo en los chambers del City Council para que se arme el desmadre. Hay muchos de nosotros que no sabemos cómo navegar la escena política, pero I guarantee you that we will figure it out, like we always do, in El Chuco.
Ha llegado nuestro tiempo, y nuestra voz se escuchara. Con mucho orgullo de ser de El Paso.
Miguel A. Reveles is a proud partner and papá, veterano de 16 años de las escuelas públicas in the Las Cruces and El Paso Borderplex, and a desmadroso for the fight in the LGBTQIA community, education policy y líder de la comunidad Fronterizx.
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[1] Url:
https://elpasomatters.org/2024/10/24/opinion-election-2024-paque-chingaos-votar-why-bother-voting/
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