Who says Latinos are slow for freedom?

Argentina now has marriage equality.

On Wednesday, Luis Majul wrote in his column (Spanish version) for the Argentine daily La Nación:

The heated controversy over marriage equality should not be dominated by political interests and religious interests, but by intellectual honesty and free thought.

Meanwhile, the LDS Church twists over whether or not it was involved in the political battle in Buenos Aires. See here.

Despite the differences in hemisphere and wine quality, Argentina and Utah share some similarities. Judge for yourself with the words from Majul:

Thousands of same-sex couples live in matrimonial harmony, although they cannot yet be married….

[Beyond political and religious posturing] there is a social dynamic that advances strongly and without doing damage. Sooner or later the laws will recognize the rights of thee minorities because there is no political or religious interest that can detain reality much longer.

In Argentina, one particular detention of societal reality ended yesterday. How much longer for the United States and Utah?

Thank you for this conversation. Our history and our future begin with the present.

Salman Rushdie wrote about behalfism. Beware those who speak for races, religions, sexual orientations, constituencies and political parties. They impose conformity on the rich diversity of human experience. Values subjected to political and business interests murder thought.

Let us think independently and individually. Each person can choose her own labels. Reject authority. Especially political authority. Especially in this state. Politicians have nothing on us intellectually, ethically or morally. Let our work be a conversation about values among people. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness provide nice starting points.

A label common to us and perhaps most important is “human being.” Let’s make the most of life, the Nabokovian crack of light between two eternities of darkness. Pride is not about one day. Pride is about every day.

Let’s celebrate liberty. Absent compelling argument in opposition, greater liberty for each and for all should reign. Loving couples deserve liberty to marry. Well-intentioned immigrants deserve liberty to work. Marriage equality and humane immigration reform are aspects of human freedom.

The pursuit of happiness is difficult, especially in times of economic crisis. It makes little sense for humans to make life more difficult for others. Latinos are sometimes thought to be hostile to LGBT rights. Gay Latinos, of which there are many, sometimes feel isolated in their community.

Unfortunately, they frequently feel isolated in the LGBT community. Let’s recognize and respect the great overlap in the Latino and LGBT communities. Overlap and diversity are complementary and enriching.

Put away the stereotypes. From 2007 to 2009, I lived in Mexico City, Mexico. Many LGBT people lived freely and openly. Not only on Calle Amberes and in La Zona Rosa. Now, Mexico City recognizes marriage equality.

Ten years ago, I went to an unofficial wedding ceremony for two men at Bar Claca in Valencia, Spain. Today, that couple could officially marry.

In 1993, I took the Metro from Laurel, Maryland to Washington, D.C. for the March for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation. Equal rights in the U.S.? Still waiting.

Who said Latinos are slow for freedom? Let’s work together for liberty.

Almost twenty percent of Salt Lake City residents speak Spanish at home. Many of us are bilingual. We are lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender and straight.

Estamos aquí para disfrutar del día y para celebrar nuestro orgullo. A veces usamos un lenguaje diferente. Coincidimos en los valores humanos: la vida, la libertad y la búsqueda de la felicidad. Seguimos en el camino. Conocemos las palabras de Antonio Machado:

Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino, y nada más;
caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.

(English translation: We are here to enjoy the day and celebrate our pride. Sometimes we use a different language. We agree on human values: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We continue on the path. We know the words of Antonio Machado:

Traveler, your footsteps are
the path, and nothing more;
traveler, there is no path,
the path is made by walking.)

History is a record of humans stumbling and stammering toward greater liberty. We are on the right path. In diverse languages and ways, our challenge is to keep going.

Image above: Jaguar Head, Maya, AD 300 to 900, earthenware, courtesy of the Gilcrease Museum.

In 2010, Mexico celebrates the bicentennial of its independence and the centennial of a revolution. The art and culture of Mexico and its people reach back further, thousands of years further.

Historian David McCullough has turned the phrase “gone, but not forgotten” into “not forgotten, not gone.” The ancient peoples of Mexico and the Americas are not gone.

The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) celebrates more than 3,500 years of Mexican art, history and culture with the exhibitions “Las Artes de México”; “Pablo O’Higgins: Works on Paper”; “salt 1: Adriana Lara”; and “Community: eat, work, play.”

UMFA has a welcoming presentation. The explanatory material for Las Artes de México has been translated into Spanish. UMFA has also translated some of its website.

Greeting the visitor is a tree of life from Metepec, a town just south of Mexico City known for this tradition. Las Artes de México occupies six galleries running through “The Art of Ancient America,” “Religious Art of the Mesoamericas,” “After the Conquest,” “Cultural Traditions” and “Modernism in Mexico.”

Traveling through the exhibition, the visitor can find the Olmecs from 1500 BCE in jade carvings and relics for the traditional ballgame, the Mayas in a jaguar head, the Huichol in a vibrant yarn painting bursting with color and the familiar Diego Rivera, Jose Orozco, Rufino Tamayo and Raul Anguiano.

Image above: Pablo E. O’Higgins (1904-1983), Atardecer, (Twilight), 1974, hand-colored lithograph, collection of Phyllis and Russell Vetter.

Pablo O’Higgins is famous in Mexico. Though he is virtually unknown in Utah, Pablo O’Higgins was born Paul Higgins in 1904 in Salt Lake City. Paul was the son of the sentencing judge for Joe Hill, the famous labor organizer who was executed in Utah in 1915. In 1920, Paul Higgins moved to Mexico, changed his name and found work with Diego Rivera. O’Higgins’ work would celebrate the dignity of the common worker.

Image above: Adriana Lara (1978-), Installation (Seashells), 2008, mixed media, collection of Cesar Cervantes

Mexican art is not exclusively male. “salt” began this year to highlight contemporary art and emerging artists. UMFA honored Adriana Lara of Mexico City with the inaugural “salt” exhibition. Mexico City teems with art and experimentation.

Lara is described as a Mexican artist, yet she does not appear self-consciously so. In a public conversation Lara remarked that Mexican artists living abroad tend to produce art more Mexican for their references to familiar art and culture. The artist in Mexico perhaps feels less bound and more free to disconnect from history and tradition. Lara’s art challenges the observer to find the vitality, dynamism and relevance of contemporary art.

Image above: Lincoln Elementary School students, Community: Eat, Work, Play, 2010, painted mural, photo courtesy of the UMFA.

Youth from Lincoln Elementary School in Salt Lake City created the art for “Community: eat, work, play.” Eighty first graders and seventy sixth graders learned about Mexican art and the muralists. Local art was included in their study. These were encouraged to develop themes and ideas of their own. The first graders decided that glitter was important in art. “Community: eat, work, play” shows the importance of education, the influence of Mexican art on students and the creations of Utah children.

On May 15, UMFA offers a celebration of children’s work. Admission is free. All are invited to tour the exhibits from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and to participate in a family art event from 2 to 4 p.m.

Image above: Jose Clemente Orozco (1883 – 1949), Zapatistas, 1928, lithograph, courtesy of the Gilcrease Museum.

Mestizo Coffeehouse and the Mestizo Institute of Culture and Arts formed in 2003 to create art and to build community in Salt Lake City. This month, Mestizo has presented the work of Xico Gonzalez, who came from Sacramento last week to participate in the Gallery Stroll.

Xico says, “I create art to empower and to provide a voice for my community. [I am] an individual that believes and works for justice and equality.” Xico has won several awards for his close work with immigration communities in California. His art arises from experiences with people who have suffered real harm. Xico has worked to push immigration reform as evidenced by Fuck La Migra and ¡La migra me la pela!, which uses Andy Warhol’s banana off The Velvet Underground and Nico in a criticism of current policy.

On Friday, Xico performed poetry and inspired a youthful audience at Mestizo. His art nicely matched the Mestizo mission and message. Mestizo has declared:

“We refuse to take a step back. We refuse to apologize or compromise where dignity or humanity is concerned. Our eyes have been opened. We have stared honestly at ourselves in the mirror and looked even more closely at the children who follow in our path. We are proud of what we see.”

Youth is often criticized in the media. Newspapers, radio and television give an account of troubled young people and a growing gang problem. Mestizo co-founder Terry Hurst says, “there is nothing wrong with youth.” Largely through Mestizo, Terry has worked to encourage the voices of youth and others often unheard during public conversations. He stresses culture to help bridge divides and bring people together as collaborators.

Terry also stresses activity. Staying out of trouble does nothing for youth. Creating something does.

Yesterday, Terry began an adventure for Mestizo. Terry seeks to achieve success for the Five Million Dollar Fund described on the Mestizo site. Terry will ride his bicycle to publicize the effort. Terry will broaden community contacts for Mestizo as he rides from Salt Lake City to Ogden, Logan, Boise, Yakima, Seattle and beyond. Terry plans to ride until his goals are met.

Some have criticized Terry for excessively ambitious goals. Criticism has not blunted Terry’s audacity, and he pushed off last night. Terry sometimes has told others to get off their ass and do something. Now, he will act on that advice.

The goal of the ride is funding, but it is also something else. Mestizo seeks to increase gathering space, give underserved youth access to higher education and raise issues of social justice.

Program director Walter Mason focuses on youth. He says, “Young people do not choose to get into trouble. That is an illusion. Young people who have real options will make the right choices. We should trust them to do so.”

Mestizo has an Arts and Activism program for youth. Two participants were Asa Matelau and Isaac Giron. Asa stresses the importance of confidence. He says, “Youth can create change. Mentoring is important, but most important is the opportunity to participate.” Most of us seek acknowledgement, and real outlets and opportunities can make that positive.

Isaac Giron speaks more broadly about community: “A mobilized community will stand up for itself. The key is self-esteem. When you know what you are going to do, it is harder for people to beat you down.”

The word “mestizo” describes someone of mixed blood, especially from relationships between Spaniards and natives of the American continent. The people who run and support Mestizo Coffeehouse and Mestizo programs carry the label proudly as they strive to create opportunity.

Mestizo is located at 631 West N. Temple in the Courtyard of the Citifront complex. Mestizo is a welcoming place filled with art, people, coffee and hope. Artist Ruby Chacon, Terry Hurst, university professors and others often join at Mestizo to improve the prospects for youth. Mestizo invites everyone in Salt Lake City to collaborate.

There is nothing wrong with youth. For those who want to exclude or point a finger, we have a finger as well. Better to use them to help.

Terry, have a nice ride. We await your return.

When you return, we would not be surprised if you showed up coffee vending with some sweet tattoos on your arm.

The story behind “Immersion,” a 14-minute Slamdance film about a 10-year-old Mexican immigrant who speaks no English but is struggling to fit into his new school, is as compelling as this wonderfully natural and politically potent gem.

Like his character Moises, actor Luis Bautista, 11, is a relative newcomer who is learning English, enjoys playing soccer, is good at math, and is eager to fit into his middle school in San Francisco’s Mission District.

Bautista was no immediate find to fill the leading role. Immersion’s director Richard Levien, a native of New Zealand who happens to have a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Princeton, sent out an extensive casting call to public schools in San Francisco and Oakland that reached more than 1,000 students. Levien, in a phone interview, says he was struck by Bautista’s natural poise and his always spot-on instincts. “His limited English was much better than my Spanish,” Levien recalls. “All I ever had to do was tell him where to stand and move and when to start and he would do the rest.”

The film is lucid, neat, and well paced. The boy is good at math — capable of breezing through straight arithmetic but stumped by the English in the word problems. He also is eager to do well on his first assessment test in the United States. However, the school’s teachers have been directed not to communicate with the students in Spanish, even despite the boy’s pleas to his teacher for getting a bilingual version of the test.

Moises is encouraged by Gerardo (played with equally natural effect by Gerardo Acevedo), a classmate also limited in his English, to skip the test and go for ice cream in the park. With hesitancy replaced by a renewed sense of resolve, Moises decides to stay for the test.

There are two exceptionally well-played moments in the film. When Moises is in the school restroom, waiting for Gerardo to give the all-clear signal to leave the school, he has a flashback to the windy night when he and his mother crossed the border. Despite the uncertainty and danger, Moises recalls the exhilaration of that moment and tells Gerardo he’s going back to take the test, even though his friend has warned him about failing.

The other is at the film’s conclusion which suggests a hopeful, open-ended resolution and is strong testimony to Bautista’s natural acting instincts. Moises glimpses his brother, a school janitor who is washing the windows outside his classroom, and gives him a subtly distinguishable smile before he goes back to staring at the test in front of him.

Levien says that closing scene was shot numerous times after which he decided the first take was, indeed, the best. “Initially, despite the fact that his character [Moises] had an extremely trying day, Luis smiled in that last shot and, after a quick chat, he lost the smile on the other takes,” he recalls. “But, then I realized afterward that Luis had it right the first time and he understood the character more than I did. After all, Luis’ own experiences paralleled those of Moises.”

The film succeeds not only because of this fresh sense of improvisation but also because of its organic political sense and epiphany. Lost in so much public dialogue concerning immigration reform are the personal stories that communicate so powerfully the ramifications of policy choices. In California, the state’s embrace of structured English immersion only affords students such as Moises (and Bautista) just one additional year of language instruction — certainly not even a satisfactory modicum — after which students are expected to be proficient. As Levien notes, the film “shows a bright boy who, for no fault of his own, is sinking.”

The film’s accessibility is versatile and universal. Levien believes the film can be viewed in many public settings as well as classrooms — from elementary schools to colleges and universities. Such screenings certainly would help to stimulate worthwhile conversations about the pitfalls of English-only or fast-track immersion programs that don’t necessarily help bring immigrant children comfortably into their new school environments.

With the Slamdance premiere, Levien brought Bautista and fellow actor Acevedo (both of whom have uncles living in Salt Lake City) along with crew members to Park City, where they talked with some 200 students at Treasure Mountain International School. Among the groups they met were the Latino students in the school’s ESL program. “The students asked if they could speak to the actors in Spanish,” Levien says. “They were obviously excited to be able to express themselves more freely in their native language.”

And, the film hit home with the students asking the two young actors for autographs and a handful asking about what it’s like to be an actor. “It’s nice to play at a film festival like Slamdance,” Levien says. “But this kind of presentation and question-and-answer session is really why we made the film.”

“Immersion” is the directorial debut for Levien, who says he is one of the few New Zealanders who played no role in the making of “The Lord of the Rings.” He’s worked as a freelance film editor, having edited and having created motion graphics for the short film “On the Assassination of the President” which premiered at Sundance last year. He also edited the cult Internet hit “Store Wars,” which was seen by 5.5 million in the first six weeks of its release.

Levien also is developing educational lesson plans as a complement to the film and is hoping to make it available to as many community film festivals, schools, and immigrant rights and reform groups as possible.

Other producers for the film include Zareen Levien and Kit Fox with cinematography by Frazer Bradshaw (whose photography graces this post). Also notable is Theodora Dunlap who essayed the role as Moises’ teacher. Viewers may recognize the music of Los Tigres del Norte.

For more information about “Immersion,” see here.