< 1 min readIf you’re interested in the dysfunction promoted by the current TUSD board majority and how they’ve botched the potential firing of Superintendent H.T. Sanchez check out these articles in the Tucson Sentinal: TUSD board delays vote on Sup’t Sanchez’s job — again Stop the insanity: TUSD eschews the easy for the scandalous in Sanchez battle A toda la raza, lo siento pero estos artículos solamente están en ingles…

2 min readby Cesar Aguirre For the second time in the last week the Tucson Unified School District board has discussed whether or not they should fire Superintendent H.T. Sanchez. By watching the TV news and reading the Daily Star one could not tell that there was overwhelming support for H.T. Sanchez at last night’s board meeting. People spoke at Call to the Audience, one after another, in support of Sanchez. There were parents, teachers, and even members of the business community speaking on his behalf. Adelita Grijalva mentioned, after the board voted to not allow the rest of the people who

2 min readby Brian Flagg The newest album by Rich Hopkins and the Luminarios (also known as the Casa Maria house band) is really good and has recently received 3 rave reviews, in the Daily Star, the Weekly, and in Zocalo. My personal fave is the collaboration between Rich, his wife Lisa Novack and Casa Maria’s own Cesar Aguirre on the rap song “Meant for Mo’”.  It’s not about stupid stuff, he raps about the journey to find himself and his relationship with the Creator in the midst of this oppressive society, with the full electric Luminarios rock band backing him. And

3 min readby Brian Flagg Last week I was once again proud to be a Catholic! This is because our Bishop, Gerald Kicanis, spearheaded an effort that gathered more than 60 Southern Arizona religious leaders to express their opposition to recent presidential orders calling for the construction of a border wall and banning the admission of refugees. He was actually providing leadership! But neither he nor practically anyone else talks about why there are so many refugees, from Mexico and Latin America and from all over the world. The world-wide refugee crisis didn’t just happen by  chance or by magic… It is rooted

< 1 min readWe here at Casa Maria believe that quality public education really is the key to breaking the chains of oppression. And we think that American satirist, comedian, actor and writer Andy Borowitz really got it right in this quote. DETENER AL TRUMP ES SOLO SOLUCION POR MIENTRAS Nosotros en Casa Maria creemos que educación publica de calidad es instrumental para poder romper las cadenas de opresión. Y pensamos que Andy Borowitz, un satírico,actor, cómico y escritor Norte Americano, lo dijo muy bien en esta cita que dice: Detener al Trump es solo solución por mientras. La solución a lo largo,

< 1 min readJust in case you missed it last week there was a letter to the editor in the Daily Star titled “HSL doesn’t need tax breaks”. Tell me that Jim Kelly from the Foothills didn’t hit the nail on the head with this one. HSL doesn’t need tax breaks Re: the Jan. 3 article “La Placita owner HSL seeks tax break from city for redevelopment”  If the Mayor and City Council want to know why the people of Tucson feel neglected, they should look no further than that Jan. 3 headline in the Star.  The city cuts services and aid to

3 min readby Brian Flagg Today, January 6, is Jon Miles 76th birthday. He is my close friend and has been a central advisor to Casa Maria from day one! For many years, many decades, he has been the rock, the heart and the soul of the struggle for peace and justice in Tucson. He has lived in Tucson since being a teenager and he knows all about the desert, the mountains, the outdoors. He was drafted into the army and fought in Vietnam and was the president of Vets for Peace for many years. He worked at the mines and was

3 min readby Brian Flagg The other day I was talking to the Casa Maria diners and some of the volunteers who come from all parts of Tucson. They might be having a hard time but they are paying attention. Recent events have given us all a lot to think about, especially about what the future holds for Tucson families. The City has been telling us that they are broke for some time. They have cut programs for many. Higher bus fares go into effect on January 1 and the City is now saying they want us to give them a half

6 min readby Cesar Aguirre I’ve been reflecting about the local elections a lot lately, especially the TUSD school board election. It is truly disgusting that Jim Click and his buddies bought the election for Mark Stegeman and people like him who do not have the best interest of our children in mind. Jim Click is a known philanthropist, donating to charities and education. But really, is it a cover so he looks good while putting people in positions of power to pass policy that really hurts brown and black communities? It sure seems that way. Jim Click is a member of the Southern

4 min readThis is the Advent greeting we sent out this year. We want to make sure we reach all our gente so we translated it into Spanish. ADVENT 2016 Dear Friends of Casa Maria, Thanks to the generosity of you all, four hundred to five hundred individuals and more than 150 families continue to eat here every day. Without you it would not be possible to practice these works of mercy daily. We all continue to survive but for sure the times are a changing… for the worse! We expect that low income people, especially black and brown people, will very