The Militant - March 30, 2009 -- Conference on Martí, Lincoln, Juárez builds

Vol. 73/No. 12 March 30, 2009

Conference on Martí,
Lincoln, Juárez builds

BY STEVE WARSHELL
AND SARAH KATZ
EDINBURG, Texas—Professors and students at universities in Texas are preparing to participate in the International Conference on Martí, Juárez, and Lincoln in the Heart of Our America, set for May 18-19 in Monterrey, Mexico. The gathering will bring together academics, students, and others from the United States, Mexico, and Cuba.

José Martí led Cuba's 1895 independence war against Spain. In the 1850s and ’60s Mexican leader Benito Juárez instituted revolutionary measures that struck blows at the power of semifeudal landowners and the church hierarchy, and led the fight against French invaders.

Abraham Lincoln led the Union forces in the U.S. Civil War, which overthrew the slavocracy and abolished chattel slavery.

Here at the University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) "we are quite excited about the conference,” David Anshen, a professor in the English department, told the Militant. “This will give us, academics and students living on the border with Mexico, the opportunity to have real serious discussions on culture, politics, academic, intellectual, and human rights issues between people of the United States, Cuba, and Mexico."

Several UTPA professors are preparing papers for the Monterrey conference. For example, David Carlson will present a paper on slave revolts in Cuba and Radical Reconstruction in the United States. Theron Francis will speak on Henry David Thoreau, Martí, and the fight against slavery.

UTPA professor José Skinner is preparing a paper on resistance to the border wall, the barrier being constructed along the U.S. border with Mexico. “I want to talk about this issue and its connection to the militarization of the region and the privatization of prisons—especially the growing use of private prisons to hold immigrant detainees," he said.

Skinner is working with professors Nick Braune, who plans to speak on the historic May Day 2006 demonstrations by nearly 2 million immigrant workers for legalization of undocumented workers, and Erik Toren, who will discuss raids, deportations, and militarization of the border.

Other professors will present papers on pedagogy, education, and free access to information. Stephanie Alvarez will discuss multicultural education and teaching Latino students in Spanish, and UTPA librarian Deidre McDonald will take up the restrictions on information about Cuba.

Conference organizers have set a date of April 19 for submitting titles and abstracts of papers to present at the conference.

Students at the University of Texas Law School in Austin are working with the Human Rights Society to fund transportation to the conference for four students. At the University of Houston and the University of North Texas in Denton, students are approaching school departments and campus clubs to help cover their travel and hotel costs.

Others planning to speak at the conference include professors Luis Barrios at John Jay College in New York; Bruce Levine, University of Illinois; August Nimtz, University of Minnesota; Claudia Kaiser-Lenoir, Tufts University; and Dionicio Valdés, Michigan State University.

To register and for more information, write to Alma2008@mail.uh.edu or martijuarezlinconconferencia@gmail.com; or call organizers in Monterrey at (011-52-81) 8300-4169.

A special rate for rooms and meals has been arranged with the Fiesta Inn Hotel in downtown Monterrey, near the conference venue. To make a reservation, e-mail sales representative Rubí Mares Ruiz at ventas2fimtc@posadas.com, or call (011-52-81) 8150-2200, ext. 3032, or 8150-2220.

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