Journey For Justice: Dec 8th, Day 8 Tornillo

Vigil at Tornillo where the children separated from their families were held for months. Such beauty so close to such cruelty.

Plus I find wild arugula growing all along where the containment fence with the barbed wire was.

Many of the people on this present journey started their activism here several years ago when word got out that children were being seperated from their parents and families and imprisioned here. Eventually, the El Paso and near-by communities along with people on this journey and those coming from all over the country, Mexico, and even the world were successful in shutting this prison down.

Only to find out the children were being shipped to other detention centers around the country, including the largest one (I think) at Homestead Florida so off folks went to work to shut that one down.

We know of 2,300 children dying in border patrol custody from 2004 until 2014 - that's children who were counted.

But tonite we are celebrating the absence of huge tents, barbed-wire and tall fences as we feel the presence of children kicking soccer balls over their confinment walls and their ghosts calling Mama and military personnel telling us they are not allowed to talk with us and we better not talk with them.

Journey For Justice Dec 8th, Day 8 Presidio to Marfa

After spending the night at a campground where the owner is very welcoming, we get up early enough to see the moonrise and along with the sunrise.

We are supposed to do an action at Presidio but that too is canceled because of our exposure to covid so we drive slowly to Marfa

A couple of the caravaners want to stop at the fuckin prada display of the high-end, expensive shoes and pocketbooks that store sells. It is supposedly somekind of "art" installation but both Marina and I are incensed and find this stop unbeliveable and unforgivable. Can you imagine if a person does somehow against all odds make it through this part of the desert where they have to go over 7 more miles to reach water, maybe, and they see this structure with shoes in the middle of the desert? Shoes most u.s.ofa. people can not afford, let alone shoes manufactured by enslaved labor with no regard for Mother Earth.

Marina wants me not to stop but to just take off to Marfa. We have the walkie-talkie and are supposed to be the end of the caravan. I pass the entire caravan after we post our vehement objections to the list - objections that are ignored. But I do pull over and wait for everyone to get back in their vehicles and proceed to Marfa. When we get to Marfa, we are still smarting from their privileged decision to stop at fuckin prada and leave most of the caravan members at a gringo-ish restaurant. We go to the local grocery store where I ask one of the womyn working there where we can get good tamales. Somehow she understands my elementary Spanish and tells me to go to "el parque de remolques" and find Merce as she is making tamales today.

We had seen an rv and trailer park on our way into town so we go back and drive around the four or five block long streets, looking for someone we can ask. No one is out and about so after circling several times, we decide to go to a trailer that has several cars parked by it, guessing someone must be home.

And what do you know - as we pull up to the trailer, a man comes out and lets us know that his wife has made tamales today $15 a dozen. Of course we buy two dozen as I want tamales de rajas con queso and Marina wants pollo.

We happily park right there, bring out our chairs and chow down on the best tamales we've had this side of the border! YEAH!!!!