Joined at the Hip: The Next Bi-National Protest Against the Wall

Email from Jay Johnson-Castro.

Hola y’all…

Here you are. The official itinerary for Hands Across el Rio…a 1250 mile…17 day protest against the border wall. See the border ambassadors web site.

We are not launching as early as anticipated…but the launch date is going to be worth the weight. Yesterday, we received the commitment of El Paso to support our project with a press conference on August 25th and a send off on August 26th. Folks in the Big Bend region want to support the Presidio-Ojinaga event on August 28th. Both Mayors of Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña are pledged to support the event 31st. Mayor Chad Foster of Eagle Pass is in touch with the Alcalde of Piedras Negras to receive us on September 1st.

Mexican Congresswoman, Maria Dolores Gonzales-Mendivil will lead the coordination of Los Dos Laredos Hands Across el Rio on September 2nd. She is also coordinating support to the four Mexican neighboring states of Texas , the alcaldes along el Rio Bravo (mayors on the Mexican side) and Mexican consuls. We’re lining up similar commitments from Roma-Miguel Aleman, Rio Grande City-Camargo, Los Ebanos-Diaz Ordaz, McAllen/Hidalgo-Reynosa on down to Brownsville-Matamoros on September 8th. We will finish our journey at the mouth of the Rio Grande at Boca Chica on Sunday, September 9th.

LULAC National, Rosa Rosales , President and Jaime Martinez, Treasurer, have committed their support of Hand Across el Rio. The same is true of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. We anticipate the support of many other organizations and coalitions, from environmental, cultural, economic, political, faith-based, and tourism.

With the exception of El Paso y Juarez…we will launch kayaks and canoes upriver from each principal international pedestrian bridge. Any one who wants to join our flotillas for any portion or any day of this historical event is welcome to do so. Kayaks, canoes, inner-tubes. We will paddle down river to each international bridge respectively and meet up with fellow grass roots citizens from both sides of our Rio who are opposed to the wall. As we experienced in Roma and Miguel Aleman this past weekend…we will be inviting the grass roots folks from both sides of el Rio…to form a human chain in symbol of our border solidarity and amistad.

As Mayor Chad Foster says…”We’re joined at the hip”. That’s something that folks like Lou Dobbs and members of Congress who have never lived inside the checkpoints do not understand. Our Congressmen and Texas legislators from the border region have spoken out against the border wall. The Texas Border Coalition of our border mayors, judges and economic experts have all spoken in our behalf…in solidarity…against the wall. Our border sheriffs have spoken out against the wall. No one in Washington is listening to them. Now…we the people of the Rio Grand Corridor…from both sides of el Rio…must make our voices heard. “NO Border Wall…!” “Hell NO!!!

We can tell the Congress and the national media all day long that we who live on the border live in friendship with our neighbors on the other side of el Rio. We can tell them that we don’t want to be in a militarized zone…on American soil…here in Texas . Now…we will show them why we don’t need one. We get along just fine!

En amistad and solidarity…

Jay

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Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr

(830)768-0768

jay@villadelrio.com