The Brave News

by Joaquin Medrano

The Catholic Church is the faith of 1.2 billion people around the world. The Church is human, like any other person, just like its leader, and by no means is it free of errors.

In the late 1970’s to early 1980’s, El Salvador was a country in the middle of a civil war. The military was fighting against the left guerrilla group, to control the power.

This war brought the Catholic Church to surrender and decide to obey the oligarchs, and support the war. In return they would receive protection from the war.

From day one there were mixed emotions, as many priests supported the idea of the extremist groups. Others, like Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero opposed the idea.

Monsignor Romero was a humble man, born in a loving family, who from a young age allowed him to have a good education and exposed him to the Catholic faith.

Romero went on to become the archbishop of the Salvadoran capital of San Salvador, and there, he was known and loved by many, as well as hated by the oligarchy.

Romero’s message was a loving, rather comforting message, something that the people weren’t used to at the time of the civil war.

The two major parties at war didn’t care to protect the people, they only wanted to prove who had the most power, and who would have the control of the country.

Romero’s message was different from other priests as he chose to see the people first before the state, so he became hated by both the military and the guerrilla group.

Oscar Romero wanted his people to feel safe and stay faithful after all the disaster the country was facing, so he went to the pope for help.

In Rome, many of the corrupted priests from El Salvador informed the pope of Romero’s visit, but they told the pope that Romero was a threat for the Vatican, disobeying the pope’s rule.

Pope John Paul II agreed to talk to Monsignor, and he was not happy or welcoming to Romero, but Romero stated his position and asked for papal support.

Romero went to the Vatican with multiple documents about the mistreatment of Salvadorians around the nation, even showing him photos of fellow priests who died in the war.

Pope John Paul II denied the support and went on to tell Romero, “Monsignor, here we do not have time to read so many things, do not come here with so many papers.”

These words really hurt Monsignor, as he couldn’t believe that the head of the Church was denning the help that was needed.

“At that moment, Monsignor Romero’s eyes filled with tears, perhaps that was what hurt him most: that one of his priests, (after being) murdered in such a cruel way, the Holy Father questioned the reason for which they had killed him in that way,” says Maria Lopez Vigil, a journalist who recorded Romero’s life.

Monsignor Romero made the trip to the Vatican and was later classified as a “danger” so any visit from him to the holy city would be suspicious.

Monsignor never gave up, he was strong and kept his word to help other. He would do whatever it took to stop the oligarchs from oppressing the citizens of El Salvador.

Oscar Romero was finally an enemy from both the military and the guerrilla group. He knew from the beginning he was going to get killed.

Finally, while offering a mass at a local chapel in San Salvador, on March 24^th, 1980, Romero was shot, allegedly by the military group.

In 1983, three years after Romero’s assassination, Pope John Paul II visited El Salvador and broke protocol, cancelling everything he had in his agenda.

John Paul II visited Romero’s tomb, where he spent a couple of minutes. Some say he was crying, others that he was asking for forgiveness and blindness from corrupted priests.

Romero’s life was full of challenges in his mind and profession, which is why many considered him a Saint right after his death in 1980.

Romero was beatified in 2015, and after a wonderful miracle last year, was canonized officially on October 14^th of 2018, something that many classify as an act of forgiveness for us, his loved ones.

by Enrique Gutierrez & Nikolas Molina

Most Americans use Veterans Day as a day of rest and see it as a regular day. Veterans Day is a day of recognition for those who served in the military and risked their lives for millions of Americans.

Although certain Americans have served for their country in the military, the United States fails to give back to their veteran’s service as there is a mass of veterans who are homeless and earn very low income.

American soldier veterans tend to return from deployment at risk. Soldiers see violence, blood, gore, and death while at war. During their journey in warfare, soldiers live in poor conditions. Being in the military, their tasks revolve around survival of the fittest and tests the ability of one’s mind and spirit. Serving in the military leads to many illnesses and disorders. Some soldiers may get used to the conditions they were living in during their deployment.

Once soldiers return home, many are not the same person they were before their tenure. Those who serve in the military tend to return with bad memories from combat. Some veterans return with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – which is a mental disorder that affects those who lived a tragic or terrifying event – giving them mental flashbacks of the scene. Since veterans lived to see war, they may have extremely bad memories regarding what they witnessed and saw before their own eyes.

The United States fails to give US Veterans aid when they return. Most veterans tend to come “home” homeless. The government fails to give necessary services to their veterans as they try to sustain their needs. Some necessities that are not given to veterans are housing, food, healthcare, and counseling. From the failure of this, some veterans become homeless and become apart of the homeless population living on the streets.

Los Angeles, California has one of the country’s highest homeless veteran populations. According to Libby Denkmann of KPCC – a public radio station based in Pasadena – there were 4,800 homeless veterans “living” in Los Angeles in 2017.

On May 31st, 2018 when Denkmann reported her article, there has been an 18 percent drop in homelessness. The number went from 4,800 to 3,910 in just over a year. This decline is a huge relief to many LA officials, especially after the rate last year raised 57 percent.

In 2012, according to calvet.ca.gov, California held 25 percent of the United States homeless veterans population. In 2012, the population of homeless veterans in the United States was around 62,600. With California having 25 percent of the population, the state alone was responsible for 15,650 homeless veterans.

In 2010, there were approximately 74,000 homeless veterans in America. In 2016, the number has dropped to an estimated 40,000 homeless veterans according to the Military Times. This decrease is a huge drop compared to 2010 but, nonetheless, there are still a large amount of homeless veterans out there.

The ultimate goal is to have zero homeless veterans in America, and the progression in the last couple of years is trending towards that number. According to the Military Times, nearly 25,000 veterans are currently living in temporary facilities. That means that 15,000 are left without any shelter at all.

The concept of veterans being homeless leads to a whole different political problem regarding the government. Immigration in the United States is currently focused on more than taking care of veterans who are living in poverty on the streets dealing with many disorders and problems.

US President Donald Trump is focusing more on the immigration issue going on worldwide rather than worrying about his own American citizens (army veterans) who are living on the streets and fighting with their personal selves. The government needs to take action and provide support to all homeless veterans nationwide. 

 

by Joshua Lucero

On December 12th, 2017, Christopher Maurice Daniels, former Marine, Black activist and also known as Rakem Balogun was arrested by the FBI. When the FBI led their attack with a surplus of men and equipment, they bust his door down and surrounded Balogun with 50-to-70 armed men.

Most men were armed with kevlar helmets and night vision goggles, AR-15’s and full body armor. Not only were these men armored, but had military hummers with full automatic machine guns mounted. ATF (the Burial of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms), military task force was present, Terrorist task force and local Dallas Police.

Balogun was investigated for Domestic Terrorism and had been recently monitored by the FBI after supposedly supporting the deaths of police officers and the people who were brutally gunned down in Dallas. He was explained to that he was arrested for “unlawful gun possession” at the time of the arrest.

When being stripped away from his home, Rakem Balogun witnessed first hand of what it means to be profiled as a Black Identity Extremist. Rakem Balogun would be arrested and charged with illegal gun possession and being a threat to law enforcement. After five-to-six month, Balogun was released from prison because the US attorney failing to prosecute him.

During this time period in jail for almost half a year, Balogun was faced with injustice and lost his house, as he was unable to provide for his family, all because of a crime he was wrongly accused of.  

Balogun openly expressed what his group of activists is intertwined in. He is the co-founder of Guerrilla Mainframe, a group modeled after the Black Panthers based on their contributions to the community in several ways. They pride themselves as a community-based political organization.

Guerrilla Mainframe contributes to food drives, self-defense classes, weapon training, open-carry patrols and educates people through political awareness rallies. Balogun’s group does not conspire against any one people, as this group is mainly present to create a sense of family and unity. When Guerrilla Mainframe feels there is an injustice, those who feel the need will participate in protest.

The FBI first stumbled upon this group in 2015 when they protested against the injustice of police brutality, kick starting the FBI’s surveillance on Balogun and other Black Activists for the next few years.

On August 3rd, 2017, the FBI created the Black Identity Extremist assessment, using a Dallas shooting in 2016 and five other unrelated attacks on police to justify their investigation. According to the FBI, they believe it is likely that this “Terrorist” group will strike once again. Because of police brutality and injustice in law enforcement units nationwide, violent revolts against law enforcement will continue in the future regardless.

The people that will advocate for these “violent revolts” will be Black Activist groups, such as Guerrilla Mainframe. This will justify any action taken by the FBI when sprint on any Black Activist group. Many questions  arose from this surveillance and investigation, many with very few answers.

Why are Black Activist groups being targeted for using lethal force and helping communities? Why is this treatment not going toward White Nationalist, Alt-right groups, Neo Nazis and other hate groups who openly express their hate to Black, Mexican, Asian, or any ethnic background that does not identify as white? Why are these White Nationalist groups not being watched more carefully by the FBI?

Ms. Jackson Lee, an American politician who currently is the U.S Representative of the 18th congressional district in Texas, realizes all these injustices. When talking to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Lee needed no introduction, immediately raising questions asking why Black Activists, who only oppose unjust acts, are being attacked.

She followed up with questioning why the same discipline is not being taken against White Nationalist and other hate groups. Sessions, who under his jurisdiction the Black Identity Extremists is pursued, was dumbfounded by the facts that were laid upon him and had little words in response when confronted about other hate groups in which they do little to investigate.

We see this injustice throughout history and continue to see unlawful acts in a society that has created “change.” These new violations against African-Americans have obstructed the rights across all of America, leading to an unequal democracy.

Black Americans are now targeted legally through a federal agency, rather than in the 1900s where discrimination was normal. In today’s society, we are taught that discrimination has stopped, but in reality the social injustices have escalated to a federal point of view. This injustice must stop, but cannot do so without the contribution of others in the community and in American society.