Our July Author: Teresa Rodriguez

This month we read The Daughters of Juarez: A True Story of Serial Murder South of the Border by Univision correspondent Teresa Rodriguez. Here is her website and here is an audio interview about her reporting on the Juarez cases with NPR and another with WNYC. If you prefer a print there is this Q&A from LatinoBlogs,

That evening, as I lay down to sleep, I received a couple of phone calls on the hotel phone, but no one spoke, all I heard was heavy breathing. When I called the front desk to complain and to ask that they not transfer any more calls to my room, they explained they had not done so, in other words, the calls had originated from inside the hotel...

Here is a recent report from NPR on drug killings in Juarez.

For a visual take on Juarez, check out this photo essay by Tim Fadek and don't miss this previous post on the topic.

See Amnesty International's Mexico and Stop Violence Against Women pages for appropriate actions.

Juarez: Poetry, Art and Song

As a little warm-up to this month's discussion of Teresa Rodriguez' The Daughters of Juarez: A True Story of Serial Murder South of the Border, take some time out for a poetic treatment of the tragedy of the women of Juarez through the work of Marjorie Agosin. Her poetry collection, Secrets in the Sand: The Young Women of Juarez,

Sometimes
How many times do I talk with my dead?
And the night was a precipice

More of her poems here.

You might also want to check out musical tributes by Lila Downs and Los Tigres del Norte (more on the Los Tigres song from NPR here). I know there has been more than a few artists who have commemorated these young women, but so far I've found only one link. Suggestions welcome.

For July: Daughters of Juarez

For July we have selected The Daughters of Juarez: A True Story of Serial Murder South of the Border by Teresa Rodriguez,

For more than twelve years, the city of Juárez, Mexico -- just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas -- has been the center of a horrific crime wave against women and girls. Consisting of kidnappings, rape, mutilation, and murder, most of the atrocities have involved young, slender, and poor victims -- fueling the premise that the murders are not random. As for who is behind the crimes themselves, the answer remains unknown -- though many have speculated that the killers are American citizens, and others have argued that the killings have become a sort of blood sport due to the lawlessness of the city itself. And despite numerous arrests over the last ten years, the murders continue to occur, with the killers growing bolder, dumping bodies in the city itself rather than on the outskirts of town, as was initially the case, indicating a possible growing and most alarming alliance of silence and cover-up by Mexican politicians.

Sunday Meditation: Women of Juarez

For today's contemplation we suggest an excerpt from Marjorie Agosin's Secrets in the Sand, a poetic tribute to the hundreds of women of Juarez who have been murdered and whose deaths have not been properly investigated so that perptrators are brought to justice. Agosin is well known for her poems about strong women (see Melodious Women). Here's another of her poems.

For further reflection we suggest exploring Amnesty's Bordertown (a forthcoming feature film on the women of Juarez) resources, where among other things you can find mp3 and video downloads and a petition.