[Short Film] "Speaking Through Walls," co-directed by McAllen ISD Teacher Clarissa Riojas

I am so happy to get reacquainted with this excellent, high-quality video that I remember viewing back in 2018. It was co-directed by a former mentee of mine and McAllen Independent School District English language arts teacher and department chair extraordinaire, Ms. Clarissa Riojas.

Photo Credit: David Bacon

This short, 5-minute film “Speaking Through Walls,” was screened at Cine Del Sol in South Texas and featured, as well, in the Texas Sierra Club Newsletter. The concerns expressed in the video are as germane today as they were back in 2018 if not more so.

I am so proud of her many accomplishments and touched at how she taps into the soulful voices of our community in South Texas. Someday, as our ancestors once knew, we will have no need for this or any other border wall, allowing for free and open movement up and down the continent. When? I don't know. What I do know is the harm to our spirit when such walls divide us. 

On a personal note, Ms. Riojas and I go back to the earliest breaths of Academia Cuauhtli before we even had a name. She was a University of Texas at Austin undergraduate at the time and played the vital role of attending and taking minutes at our many meetings that led up to the establishment of our escuelita, our precious Saturday school, that is now in its eighth year of existence. She and I even published a short piece on our efforts back then titled, "No time to waste: We must advocate for books for our children."

There is still no time to waste. 

Students and mentees like Clarissa who move on to accomplish great things remind us of why we do what we do. My heart is full. 💗

-Angela Valenzuela 

#BridgesNotWalls

#OpenBorders