San antonio is the gateway to latin american couple hundred miles away from the border and we think think about san antonio, we often think about the worlds heritage missions of flesh the alamo is a vital part and we also sit on top of the worlds most prolific, is fuel t this community for generations for hundreds of years. And really waterways is why this region was settled in first place today even though we are burdening interpol is in areas and seventh largest city in the country, you can see our riverwalk which is one of the top tourist destinations in the world. And be part of a great urban revitalization that also includes ecosystem restorations. Under 25kilometer with riverway and course of the am very proud of is that here we are on footsteps one of the largest fossil fuel reserves in the entire world we just ratified a Climate Adaptation plan and make first day in office as mayor, we chose to declare in to the paris summit accords we ratified the plan is few months ago to help us implement strategies to meet compliance with the ports printed. Senate finance is one of the Fastest Growing countries. In our challenges what we are working on is really how to accommodate that growth but also benefit people who are already here printed and as we grow, we continue to build equity within communities of color. Ron we want to make sure we embrace the history. Senate tony is very much my cultural community. As a latina story in san antonio start rated we have been able to strengthen ourselves through diversity so the increasingly polarized rhetoric on immigration, is a detriment to our country and certainly, challenges some of the foundations of our city. In the french way that the administration is not handling the border issues and immigration it and didnt said, for lack of a better term, detaining people. A lot of the pressure has been relieved by dropping the detained migrants into our cities printed with very little notice. A very proud of the fact that wind that started happening here in san antonio, we stood up in the Migrant Resource Center that brought folks in and brought community into provide food and clothing, medical assistance and provide in many cases, transport tour they were going for their asylum hearings. We were mistreated them as human beings should be treated. Our care for even while all of the crisis was happening. Our whole community embrace that. That is the nature of our community. We are welcoming and compassionate place. Our first question is, how can we help pretty thats exactly what you saw the border assistance in length. We have been able to really focus on our values. And ensure that we continue to be a welcoming city to immigrants, to all communities internationally to refugees, even while the different detrimental rhetoric with regard to immigration. We continue to build on the scripts, those values but we also grow into ourselves as one of the strongest economies in america. We have all the tools at our disposal to continue to build sedentary is that we can enjoy the good quality of life but also strengthened the emerging industry that we are seeing in cybersecurity, biosciences and bioengineering. Advanced manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence technology, all of this emerging industries which we are now aligning two or Higher Education communities and our k12 Education System which will create a workforce that is built to last. That a child can be born here in a familyfriendly environment. They can find a pathway through the Education System and build a career here. And they can accomplish their dreams. So im very excited about san antonio. Claiming his place of the mental part of americas top duties. Are look at san antonio continues as we are from the author about the citys Latino History and culture. We are in the first phase of this creek culture park. And the reason it is important is the creek, rather than the river was the site of the city spanning and first settlement and among other things it was the dividing line between the part of san antonios communities in other parts of the community. So is it kind of borderline within the city but a border that connected us through deepest stories of the citys origins. So my family, like many chicano families, as deep and complex origins in this place. My families came here on my dads side 100 years ago during the mexican revolution when many families left the turmoil of mexico to seek refuge in what was with ineffective mexicans and even said even though it was in the United States. Many of our families recognized us as a place of kindred and industries, my moms family beginning in the period in the 1737 in the 17th century, found their way to the border itself. And what became the usmexico border in places like ramah, texas, other places in texas. To this old mexican city. This secret mexican city. In the United States scientists part of the fascinating story of san antonio in the way that many people from all of the world and the routes here and it they from all roads, via one freighted during the mexican revolution. John no such a huge number of people who came here seeking refuge that the city of demographics, makeup shifted again. By the middle of the 20th century, this was majority second city again. As it has been every since i grew up in the sense, and place where i was a silent minority but we were a majority minority city. And in that way we attested to americas future. A majority minority city and a majority or a world becoming a majority minority republic. So a lot of that as chicano writers, artists, film makers, attest to those transformations. Trying to encompasses much is that history and cultural meaning as we can bring to a world. I have always thought the Latino Community and the mexicanamericans, the chicano communities, the chicken max community. In the panorama of latin communities for a couple of reasons and one is particularly the fact that we are older than the American Republic this place is older in the American Republic so attest to the complexity of our origin in the indigenous world. And that is important for all kinds of reasons that have to do with the history and are altered in a big part of what was to grow up here, which is very different for instance from parts of the lake. When the proximity, to mexico, the fact that mexico, the borderlands literally our only an hour and a half away they might even be closer destinations from the border in an hour and a half. It is the border sneaks through the lynn state scape in almost sort of mysterious ways. Actually think of them as being part of the borderlands. The proximity to mexico to that sense of origin in the case of my fathers family. The organic art of being in san antonio. It imparted least to our family a sense of being deeply rooted in in this secret story of another way of being american. In 2020, and a sense, is a place of unanticipated vibrancy in terms of literary culture. In our artistic culture. So there is an incredible urgency and vibrancy about the way that literary culture has played role in reimagining the venue. And in our communities, the complexity of our past. The incredible challenge and promise of our future. We still have a huge issue with literacy. A huge issue with economic disparity. But the artists, the writers, no kinds of different ways, they have been socially engaged and played role in reshaping the citys present and future. I invite americans to come to san antonio to experience on the way of thinking about what it is to be american. In americans, as people and carry along and find history of becoming something new. How we live up to the challenges in terms of the way we treated indigenous people, and the way we have treated africans, the way we treated different franchise, and this is a place where in the American Republic, we live that story every day. And whether you visit the alamo omission or whether the institutions of ours, or literary culture, you will be reminded of that. During our time in san antonio, cspan cities tour visited various sites. We take you to the university of texas, senator and his special. To hear of the southwest Voter Registration impact. s name was william but everybody knew him as willie. Willie was and is now a name synonymous with democracy and american in the organization he founded was the southwest Voter Registration education project, and nearly doubled the hispanic voters. And elected officials in this nation. His appeal to the Hispanic Community was simple. It was passionate, and direct. Your vote is your voice. We will be talking about the education project. They are the oldest and largest nonpartisan latino Voter Registration organization in the country. The collection contains the first 20 years of the organizations and they are still in existence today. It is a very deep and wide collection if you are interested in learning about Voter Registration particularly in minority communities. It was started in 1974 by willie, and he was from san antonio and from a very and has a very young man, he was really involved in the Chicano Movement. When he was in college, he was one of the founders of the mexican Youth Organization which was involved in and doing Voter Registration guides at local colleges and also involved in high school counts. And this is in the late 60s early 70s when the sword of the Chicano Movement or the beginning and the height of it. He was really interested in Voter Registration and getting back Latino Community to vote. Register to vote, and to realize that they have a voice. And by voting, they have a voice in fact the motto is you have the right to vote which means your vote is your voice. So 1974, willie was able to successfully apply for 503 steve and he became the organization became a National Nonprofit so here we have the articles of incorporation so he would sit down and he would just start calling. Hey are you registered to vote. You know that tomorrow is election day. So the organization expanded to not only covering texas but also all of the southwest. Arizona, new mexico, california, utah, colorado, nevada, and they grew to have a fulltime staff. They had board of directors, and they had a lot going on. They still have a lot going on. Were three main departments. The field organizing departments. The legal departments, and the Research Department. The field organizing department focused mainly on Voter Education and training. And they hit the pavement, not only in san antonio and texas but they came up with a full system for identifying coordinators in the various regions in different counties all over the southwest. And they created very detailed training manuals for how to put together a voter present rent registration drive. Everything you need to know. It would start with the field coordinator. And here you can see they tell you what you need to prepare for a Voter Registration drive. For example in saying that you really need to know you state election laws. You need to be able to answer these questions. If you do not know they were the election codes you dont look as informed as you should be sometime coordinators the you need to know your stuff. And that the whole principle of this organizing campaign you want to get the Community Together and organize the community and be united in this effort. So once all of this coordinators may not tell you exactly what you need to do and you need to get local politicians on board and you need to talk to local churches and everyone in the community and say this is what were trying to do. Went to do anyhow all of that together they had a program where you can apply for a grant essentially and you would have to fill out a form that says how you were going to do the drive and many volunteers you been able to secure. What your budget is, the dates, everything has to be figured out ahead of time. They would send them their applications, it would get approved, and then they would get the training. So heres the Field Training manual. It tells you everything from Sample Household contact sheets, information on the media have deal with the median to say to the media. Procedures and administration of the Voter Registration project. Every single thing that you need to know and to have a successful Voter Registration drive. These Regional Planning committees, the files that we have, there are hundreds of them. And by the 80s, they were organizing an average 100 Voter Registrations every year. And for all of this Regional Planning committees, we have run from yuma county in arizona. We just have hundreds and hundreds of these from counties all over the southwest. And its really cool about this one is that we actually have photographs pretty nascent in photographs with a sins in their information about their registration drive. Its good about these is that ive often been asked for photographs. And really, considering how large that we dont really have that many photographs. I miss lydia, is the current president about that. Shes been with the organization for a long time and she said that we were too busy to take photographs. Organizing and registering voters to take photographs. Since really great great to be able to see what they were doing here in arizona. Some of the regional committees reports from that various counties do have photographs like this. I think this one has the most. And heres another example, this is from an rob stan, texas mary you can see, their reimbursements warm. For everything that did so their Office Supplies for the kickoff rallies, volunteer costs and everything was accounted for. So here we have examples from Research Department. The Research Department was very prolific. They did a lot of work to Like Research they conducted their own research, then the published these reports. The collection contains a lot of census data, a lot of election results, and they contacted exit polls, opinion polls, they were gathering as much data as they could to get these reports out. Now in 1985, because this was in the jet of the organization, they founded the research called the southwest Voter Research institute. We have hundreds and hundreds of reports, vacancy they would do things like a political and demographic analysis of the 27th conjure congressional district. And for hispanic political participation. And they were hauling Mexican Americans to find out what are the issues that you face and what are your opinions, what are you voting habits did and really understand how they can reach more Mexican Americans and how they can produce training material and workshops to make Mexican Americans feel like they actually have a voice and they too can participate in the democratic process. So here in san antonio, some of the issues were just basic. Basic services such as education, and from that, really influential in how willie got involved with Voter Registration. So sadly, the nation 1988, he passed away from kidney cancer. His funeral was more than a thousand people in his funeral. It was covered on local news, national news, the new york times, they had an article about it. A lot of National Politicians when they heard the news, they made statements about how important willie was buried to the political process and getting minorities involved. In 1995, president clinton awarded willie the president ial medal of freedom. Here we have the invitation to for the ceremony awarding him the president ial medal of freedom. This collection in the organization is normally important to san antonio, not only important to the southwest because they did work all across the southwest, not just texas but it is important nationally. What they have been able to do in terms of increasing Mexican AmericanVoter Registration also having an influence and have many politicians, Mexican American politicians that we have in the office now. They have made a huge impact on getting out the vote to minority communities. Twice a month cspan cities tour history on the road. The history of a selected city. Working with our cable partners, we visit Historic Sites and we interview vocal historians, authors and civic leaders. You watch any of our past interviews and tours online. I going to booktv. Org and selecting cspan cities tour from the truck down at the top of the page. Or by visiting cspan. Org cities tour pretty you can also follow the cspan cities tour on twitter for behind the scenes images and video from our visits. They have is at cspan cities. When jimmy covers book fairs and festivals around the country yearround