Announcement: AJAAS Planning Meeting, Spring 2012

Dear Comunidad,


This note is to inform you all that this spring we will be holding a planning meeting in Las Vegas, NV as part of our continued efforts toward building the Association for Jotería Arts, Activism and Scholarship (AJAAS). Below are details for the meeting:


Dates: February 17-18, 2012
[10am - 5pm both days]


Location: 
The Center for Social Justice
University of Nevada-Las Vegas
4791 Brussels Street
Las Vegas, NV 89154


If you are able to join us, please e-mail joteriamail [at] gmail.com so that we know how many people to expect.


En solidaridad,




AJAAS Planning Team & Board of Directors

Official Mission Statement

Greetings Comunidad!

At the recent meeting that took place at UC Berkeley, the group charged Joaquín Sánchez, Daniel Enrique Pérez and Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano, with the task of completing the process of crafting a mission statement for the Association for Jotería Arts, Activism and Scholarship. After numerous hours of wordsmithing and incorporating the ideas and intentions that came out of the Berkeley meeting, we came up with a product that we are quite proud of. While this is a small part of a greater organization building effort, it is critical in that it begins to shape and guide our direction. The following is the official Mission Statement of the Association for Jotería Arts, Activism and Scholarship:

AJAAS MISSION STATEMENT

The Association for Jotería Arts, Activism and Scholarship (AJAAS) is an organization dedicated to advancing Jotería through practices that recognize the intimate relations of art, activism and scholarship. By way of familia-making, we facilitate a generative and communal space to map and shape our stories toward a Jotería homeland. In weaving a vibrant web of ideas, mediums and disciplines, we create a sanctuary for transgenerational teaching and learning, healing and wellness, and professional development. Together, we manifest Jotería consciousness as a tool for liberation, thus transforming the conditions and possibilities for our communities.

INTRODUCING THE ASSOCIATION FOR JOTERÍA ARTS, ACTIVISM AND SCHOLARSHIP

October 26, 2011

Dear Comunidad,

On October 14 and 15, 2011, we took steps toward building an organization that brought together Jotería arts, activism and scholarship. After years of community dialogues and three Jotería conferences, which took place at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (2007), California State University, Los Angeles (2008) and the University of Oregon (2010), the need for institutional spaces that support, affirm and manifest Jotería consciousness surfaced.

The Association for Jotería Arts, Activism and Scholarship (AJAAS) is intended to build on the ways of being and knowing of our communities by creating a space where Jotería consciousness thrives. This organization will embody the interwoven nature of the arts, activism and scholarship. Recognizing the ways in which we move within and across multiple mediums, practices and disciplines, we are forging an organization capable of supporting its members in multiple formats and contexts.

The meeting was hosted at the University of California-Berkeley. We are grateful for the generous support and hard work of our hosts, YQUE! (Young Queers United for Empowerment). We had an amazing gathering and accomplished a variety of tasks including, but not limited to, the following:

• Naming the organization: Association for Jotería Arts, Activism and Scholarship (AJAAS)
• Crafting a mission statement: the final draft is forthcoming
• Electing a founding board of directors:

o   Anita Tijerina Revilla, Co-Chair

o   Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano, Co-Chair

o   Joaquín Quetzal Sánchez, Jr., Secretary

o   José Manuel Aguilar Hernández, Treasurer

• Identifying a state for incorporation: California
• Selecting a site and dates for next planning meeting: Las Vegas, NV (early 2012)
• We are also working on the vision statement, scope, by-laws, values, and organizational structure of AJAAS.

The path toward building this organization is one that has just begun. We welcome those of you interested in rolling up your sleeves and working with us. For more information about the Las Vegas meeting or to join our e-mail listserve, please e-mail us at joteriamail [at] gmail.com.

Lastly, we have created a Facebook group page for our comunidades to begin connecting, sharing, learning and familia-building. Join the conversation by visiting https://www.facebook.com/groups/joteriamail.

In love and Jotería,

José Manuel Aguilar Hernández

Xamuel Bañales

Luz Calvo, PhD

Xuan Carlos Espinoza Cuellar

Felipe Flores

Gibran Guido

Michael Hames-García, PhD

Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano

Emmanuelle Neza Leal

Daniel Enrique Pérez, PhD

Yosimar Reyes

Catrióna Rueda Esquibel, PhD

Joaquín Quetzal Sánchez, Jr

José Manuel Santillana

Anita Tijerina Revilla, PhD