Seeking Justice for Brisenia Flores

As a member of Presente.org , an organization seeking to strengthen the political voice of Latino communities, I received this very sad message today:

Nine-year-old Brisenia Flores was murdered in her home in Arivaca, Arizona in May 2009.

She pleaded, “Please don’t shoot me,” right before she was shot — point blank, in the face — by a member of the Minutemen American Defense Corps (MAD).

The alleged mastermind behind Brisenia’s murder, Shawna Forde , has publicly represented anti-Latino hate groups including the Minutemen and the Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform (FAIR) .

Forde is currently on trial in Arizona for the murder of Brisenia and her father, Raul. As we speak, the jury is deliberating and will return a verdict within days, or hours.

Our community is waiting on justice for Brisenia.

Her murder represents the violence that follows when hateful and dehumanizing rhetoric and the groups that promote it goes unchecked.

Brisenia’s story has been largely ignored in the mainstream media, but her life has galvanized people around the country to speak out against hate violence towards Latinos. We at Presente designed a poster to honor Brisenia’s memory, and to send a statement that we want justice.

Together, let’s take a stand against anti-Latino violence and the hatred that ruins lives. Please download this memorial poster , display it proudly, and share it with your friends and family.

Brisenia’s murder follows the mainstreaming of the most dangerous strands of hatred in the United States.

The extremist groups like those that Shawna Forde represented publicly are the same groups responsible for hateful laws like Arizona’s SB1070, attempts to repeal birth-right citizenship for babies born in the U.S. and the dehumanization of immigrants and Latinos.

Click here to take a stand and help us share this little girl’s story by spreading her image far and wide.

Reality Check, Latinos: You’ll Never Be “White” Enough

We’ve seen this before. The reality is as much as the Latino community (which is segregated within itself not unlike any other non-White group) wants to assimilate into White America (also not unlike any other group), they will never be “White” enough.

You will never read or hear a story about a White child murdered in the United States by a non-White group of self-appointed, government-accepted law enforcement.

And if ever some group, which would be labeled “terrorist” and/or “insurgents,” were to target White families, they would be quickly infiltrated and made an example of.

Why ask why?

Why does mainstream media ignore this story? How long did we hear about Natalee Holloway ? 6 months?

Where is the 24/7 coverage? How many similar cases go unnoticed while we are pummeled with stories about which non-celebrity, non-wives of unimportant athletes still aren’t wives and which public figures are getting sucked off?

Furthermore, where are the protests? Where are the community leaders? Where the hell is Nancy Grace ?

The only media attention I’ve seen given to this case was this year from Anderson Cooper . And are you so naive that you think your child could not be next? There never has to be a “reason.”

For more on this trial, go to gather.com

UPDATE

Arizona vigilante Shawna Forde was convicted February 14, 2011 of murdering 9-year-old Brisena Flores and her father during a 2009 raid Forde led on the Latino family’s home.

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