Honoring Vanessa Guillen Means Continuing to Advocate for our Servicewomen

image of latina woman, veteran Vanessa Guillen
On September 11, 2001 during the 9/11 attacks I remember being in my elementary school watching as the World Trade Center Towers came down. Though I didn’t understand, it was obvious that something awful was happening judging by the terrified look on my teacher’s face. Next thing I know, my sister came to find me while calling my mom to pick us up. We went home only to watch the Twin Towers continue to collapse.

I still didn’t comprehend the situation or understand why my sister called my mom to pick us up. From then on, as the years went on, I saw my sister develop a want – almost a need – to serve our country in its military. During her senior year my parents hoped she would let go of this “calling” to pursue a different route, sparing them the pain and uncertainty of military life with their Latina daughter as a servicewoman. What need did she have to serve a country she wasn’t even born in? What need did she have to potentially go to war or put herself in harm’s way?

I still remember the day she left for basic training: it was September 7, 2008, a few days before the 9/11 attacks that had occurred seven years earlier. How ironic, huh? I remember I stayed in our shared bedroom to avoid watching her leave. Over the next six and a half weeks she trained in San Antonio, Texas. Once it was time for her graduation, my family and I drove down to see her. The sadness had faded into our family being just so damn proud of her. She had done it! My sister had finished basic training and in our family, individual wins are celebrated as a win for everyone especially for her as a Latina. I remember throughout the joy noticing that she was different and detached. But there was no way to understand what her experience had been like.

For the next few years that feeling remained. The closest person I had grown up with was now emotionally distant. It wasn’t until years later that she would be more open with me about her experiences in the military. The training experiences, the closeness some of her male counterparts felt they could have with her, and the general trauma of five deployments to Afghanistan. I’ll be honest, I’ll never understand how she served for so long.

As the news of Vanessa Guillen’s disappearance and murder came to light last year, it broke my spirit. Vanessa was a young Latina who had joined the military to serve her country and the system she was supposed to be protected by completely failed her. Vanessa Guillen was a young, beautiful, and thriving Latina young woman in the prime of her life who ended up dead. Not in Afghanistan fighting a war against terrorists, but at home in the same city where her base was located. A base that has received multiple complaints and is now notorious for sexual assault allegations.

After Vanessa’s tragic death we’ve seen more servicewomen come forward with their own stories. This includes Dalina, a member of the US Marine Corps. On a TikTok, Dalina goes on to share how her perpetrator would remain in the service despite an admission of guilt. While the Marine Corps has responded and said that even though Dalina has described her experience as sexual assault, the issue was “misconduct of a sexual nature” and they are investigating the video.

That statement particularly affected me because once I finally got the courage to ask my sister if she had ever been through anything like Vanessa Guillen or any of the other woman who came forward with their experiences of sexual assault, she downplayed her experiences because they had been normalized by the military. She quickly recognized her downplaying of it, but at this point she recognized her own experiences were out of line.

I’ve seen the internet use the slogan “Protect Our Servicewomen” and when I asked her if that’s something we should be saying, she quickly said no. My sister instead recommended to say: “Advocate for our Servicewomen. To promote advocacy instead of protection means to stand with them, fight with them, be their voice when they don’t have one, and amplify their calls to action.

My sister has always done things her way and will continue to serve others in whatever capacity she’s in. Service before self is an Air Force value but one that she’s lived by as a personal mantra even before joining the service. I imagine her moral compass always leads her to the situation where she can help the most, support the most, and love the most.

Now if only the country and the systems that our servicewomen are signing up for can also serve them in the same capacity when they sign up to protect our freedoms. For now, it’s on us to keep them accountable. Yes, sharing a graphic of Vanessa Guillen to honor her memory is meaningful, but having deeper conversations about holding those in positions of leadership accountable on how they manage mistreatment against our servicewomen will do more for them. It will also truly honor Vanessa, Latinas, and the countless other victims of sexual assault, including men and women, who suffer at the hands of inaction even as they serve our country.

Originally published on Feb 26th 2021

hands holding up yellow protest signs that say Hands Off Our Bodies
Photo Credit: Gayatri Malhotra via Unsplash

Originally published in Common Dreams. Reprinted with permission.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

In November, abortion rights measures will appear on ballots across ten states, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New York, where Latinos make up a significant portion of the electorate. For decades, pundits and politicians have recycled long-held misconceptions about Latino voters and abortion access, citing our conservative and religious beliefs.

Anti-abortion extremists have long fueled these misconceptions through misinformation and disinformation campaigns targeting Latino communities with egregious lies and inflammatory rhetoric about abortion. Yet, polling, focus groups, and direct interactions with Latino communities have debunked these outdated tropes.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

For Latinos, the freedom to decide, a pillar of our American democracy, is critical. Meanwhile, Latinos are being hit directly with anti-abortion efforts that take away that freedom such as the six-week abortion ban put into effect by the Florida Supreme Court and the 1864 abortion ban upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, people of color and Latinas have felt the impact of a lack of abortion access, an element of basic healthcare.

A 2023 report by the National Partnership for Women and Families estimated that nearly 6.5 million Latinas, or 42% of all Latinas of reproductive age in the country, live in a state that either had or was likely to ban abortion. Ironically, it will be abortion access and anti-choice efforts to restrict freedom of choice that will mobilize Latino voters this election.

In a poll conducted by three national reproductive justice organizations, 87% of Latinas named abortion and women’s rights as one of their top priorities as they head to the polls. Another battleground poll conducted by Somos PAC and BSP Research found that 61% of Latino registered voters expressed a more positive/favorable view of Kamala Harris after hearing that she will protect abortion rights, versus only 19% of Latinos who said they had a more negative view of Harris after hearing that.

In key states to secure the White House and both chambers, Latinos make up large chunks of the electorate: Arizona (25%), Colorado (15%), Florida (20%), Nevada (20%), and New York (12%). In the face of unprecedented attacks on basic healthcare access and targeted attempts by extremists to mislead and divide our community on this issue, this November Latinos will be key deciders on abortion access across the country.

Mari Urbina, Managing Director of Indivisible, Battleground Arizona Lead and former Harry Reid advisor.

Héctor Sánchez Barba is president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota (MFV).

This Viral Video Game Is Changing the Face of Voter Outreach

In 2024, voting campaigns have evolved greatly, to say the least. Creativity is now the name of the game and tongue-in-cheek humor is expertly leveraged to drive action. One example of that is Bop the Bigot, a revival of a viral game created in 2016 by Bazta Arpaio, an Arizona activist group, as part of a campaign to unseat Maricopa County’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio lost his re-election to Paul Penzone that year.

The game has now been updated for the current election cycle and relaunched by On Point Studios, with new features added to enable players to find out what’s on their ballot, confirm voter status, and register to vote.

Much like its former 2016 version, the game allows users to take out their political frustrations by virtually “bopping” GOP candidates in the head. It’s very similar to whack-a-mole, except the mole is replaced by former President Donald Trump, Ohio’s Senator J. D. Vance, and Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, which is spearheading Project 2025.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

B. Loewe, Director of On Point Studios, came up with the concept for this game when working as the Communications Director at Bazta Arpaio in 2016, and is the executive producer of this revamped version. In the first version of the game, Bop the Bigot players used a chancla (flip flop) to “bop” the characters, tapping into Latino culture by leaning on the childhood experience of being set right by a flying chancla from a fed-up mother or grandmother.

This year, the chancla is replaced by a more current element, a green coconut, referencing Kamala Harris’ coconut tree meme. There are also side characters like “the couch,” cat ladies, and more coconuts. All references to jokes about Vice-Presidential candidate Vance, or insults Vance has made about women on the campaign trail.

Another new addition is that Harris’ laugh is immortalized as the game-over sound effect, an unexpected detail that adds even more humor and levity to the game.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump, Kevin Roberts, and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

Bop the Bigot, which is playable on desktop and mobile, is intended not just as a way to vent political frustrations, but also as a tool for activism and securing voter engagement.

For example, the game supports the work of Mexican Neidi Dominguez Zamorano, Founding Executive Director of the non-profit organization Organized Power in Numbers by using the “game over” screen to prompt players to donate to it and support their efforts.

Organized Power in Numbers is focused on empowering workers in the South and Southwest of the U.S. through collective action and comprehensive campaigns. Their mission is to create a large-scale movement that challenges the status quo and advocates for workers' rights, and racial and economic justice.

Currently, Dominguez Zamorano is leading worker outreach to 2 million working-class voters in the South and Southwest through doorknocking, texting, and calls with the help of local groups in North Carolina, Arizona, New Mexico, and more.

“We have been blown away by the enthusiastic reception for the video game. We knew we wanted to be part of its creative approach because our movement needs more fun and laughter. We need more ways to connect with nuestra gente so we can feel joy among all the absurdity we witness every day,” Dominguez Zamorano shared with Luz Media via email.

“Our people are gente trabajadora and we deserve to feel uplifted even in our toughest moments. We are deeply involved in the South and Southwest so we know what’s at stake in this election and we’re happy this can be a resource to mobilize, raise spirits, and get out the vote," she concluded.

Dominguez Zamorano is a committed activist for immigrants and workers' rights, known for her strategist skills and expertise. She played a key role in the campaign to win DACA and has also held roles in major campaigns, including as Deputy National States Director for Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. In addition to her work with Organized Power in Numbers, Dominguez Zamorano is serving as a Senior Advisor to Mijente’s Fuera Trump Initiative.

Grassroots efforts like these have taken on new life in 2024, with Bop the Bigot adding to the larger, ongoing fight against political apathy and disinformation. Just as it did during the 2016 race, the video game uses humor to soften the serious task at hand—getting people to the polls.

"We want the game to be a fun and comical outlet for anyone who’s been insulted, frustrated, or harmed by Trump in the past and everyone who is ready to move forward as a country after election day," explained Loewe in a press release. "The proposals in Project 2025 and the beliefs of Trump and Vance aren’t just weird, they’re truly harmful. We wanted to give people a humorous and peaceful way to smack down their racism and sexism. We hope it makes people laugh and also feel empowered and motivated to get to the polls on or before election day."

With a mix of satire, sharp political critique, and nostalgia, the game is a call to action. The upcoming election, which is getting closer by the minute, has sparked fierce activism and creative yet grounded initiatives like these aim to ensure voters are engaged, especially young Latinos and disenfranchised groups.