Monday, December 17, 2007

Closer to Home

[Follow-Up] The current City Weekly cover story features two young Hispanic artists, Jesus Silva and Marisela Perez, finding their lives in a new dance by choreographer Charlotte Boye-Christensen. Friday night Silva and Perez went to see the dance, "Lost," at the Rose Wagner Theater. Their mentor Walt Hunter went with them. After the sold-out performance, Silva and Perez went to Ririe-Woodbury's Christmas party and mingled with the dancers and Ririe-Woodbury founder Joan Woodbury. "They were treated like celebrities," Hunter says.

Meanwhile, in Tijuana the next day, Jose Hernandez got off an aeroplane. Hernandez's idea for a club, a place where undocumented Hispanic kids--kids without a country--could go, was the genesis for what became the "Lost" project.

Hernandez landed in Tijuana having just been deported by the U.S. government after serving 11 months for a gun possession conviction. Deportees are not allowed to enter Mexico without money. Hernandez had $100. Within the hour, he and another deportee were arrested by local cops and robbed.

"The cops know who we are, they know what the deal is," a frightened Hernandez told Hunter on the phone. With no family in Tijuana and no money, quite how Hernandez will survive is open to question. (Stephen Dark)

1 comment:

  1. How would that be? Having one's own survival needlessly put at risk over the political games of asshats one will likely never meet?

    Ryan

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.