Rebuilding and Recovering From Haiti to the Bay Area

Dear Friend,

We hope this new year finds you safe and close to the people you love. While we remain hopeful about all the positive movement that is to come in this new decade, we are present with the deep pain so many are experiencing. The numbers of Haiti's dead, injured, and displaced continue to rise in the wake of incalculable devastation. Despite the inspiring outpouring of international support, resources are scarce and the road ahead is unclear. We send our love and determination to the people of Haiti and their loved ones here in the Bay Area and throughout the world in their struggle to survive, recover, and rebuild.

Please give what you can (even if you have already made a contribution) to organizations providing aid and supporting a Haitian-led reconstruction, such as:

• Partners in Health - A Boston-based organization providing urgent medical care to poor people in Haiti. 
• Haiti Emergency Relief Fund - A Bay Area-based network supporting Hatian-led grassroots organizing and reconstruction.

In addition to the devastation in Haiti, we are mourning another blow to our communities here in the Bay Area. Leti Martinez, a 19-year-old Latina lesbian living in Alviso, California was killed a few days before the end of 2009. We are grieving Leti's passing, and are grateful for the inspiring show of support by so many in her community in Alviso, who have come out publicly to support Leti, raise awareness about domestic violence in lesbian relationships, and raise money to cover her funeral expenses. Below is a statement from Leti's aunt, Mary Ramirez, for the CUAV community:

My name is Mary Ramirez. Leti Martinez was my niece and I helped to raise her since she was 6 years old, until she was killed by her ex-girlfriend on Monday, December 28^th . I can't really believe that I've lost her for good. Right now I am more focused on laying her to rest and taking care of my family. I am outraged at what happened. There is this idea that lesbians don't have domestic violence, but it's not true. I don't want other families to suffer the way we're suffering, and I don't want Leti's death to be in vain. I know that lesbians in violent relationships are scared, but I also want you to know that people love you. Our whole community has come out to support us and Leti, and we have raised $3,600 to cover Leti's funeral expenses. We still have $4,000 to raise: please help us lay Leti to rest so we can mourn her and make sure this doesn't happen again.

Donations to support Leti Martinez' funeral expenses can be made through CUAV by giving online or sending in a contribution to 170 A Capp St., SF CA 94110--be sure to write Leti Martinez in the memo line.
 
This past Monday we honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a powerful force in the rich legacy of resistance to racism and exploitation in this country and around the world. In his 1957 essay, Loving Your Enemies, written while in jail following the Montgomery bus boycott, King writes: "Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." As we enter a new decade filled with amplified challenges and renewed possibilities, our hearts aching already, we remind ourselves of King's words and his commitment to not throwing anyone out: "By its very nature, hate destroys and tears down; by its very nature, love creates and builds up. Love transforms with redemptive power." In our efforts to rebuild and recover in the wake of so much deep loss, we choose love as our foundation. 

In loving solidarity with all those still struggling, 

The CUAV Team
Carolina, Morgan, Pablo, Stacy, and Tamara

P.S. Please also read INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence's statement on the the situation in Haiti at: http://inciteblog.wordpress.com/.