I am Juan Blea and after months of waffling, I’ve decided to run for Santa Fe’s school board. Several people who are close to local politics and elections have spoken with me and told me, in no uncertain terms, that I can’t win. They say that the incumbent is too strong and too connected to unseat. And they’re right. The incumbent is a savvy politician who knows how to work the system. I respect him for that.
However, the system sees Santa Fe’s south-side as a dump. The system’s actions and policies make it almost impossible to develop a sustainable economic infrastructure in our repressed area of the city. Real economic infrastructure starts with schools that create critical thinkers who can challenge and transform their circumstances. However, in accordance with El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan, I see both Democrats and Republicans as two heads of the same self-serving monster and neither want an equitable city.
This monster exists for its own sake and its own reflection. The system it nurtures needs poverty and oppression. It’s a game that uses brown, black, and poor people as its pawns to exploit. Republicans need brown, black, and poor people to sing songs of morality that say that anyone who doesn’t buy into their morality is bad, while Democrats need brown, black, and poor people to sing songs about virtuous equality that paint themselves as their heroes and anyone who doesn’t buy into their morality is bad. Meanwhile, both Democrats and Republicans scheme behind closed doors to create laws and policies that favor each of their own economic interests that need brown, black, and poor people as capital.
Any real person of faith (of any real kind) actually does the work to create a more equitable world.
Which is why I am running for school board. I am a true believer who simply wants to leave my beloved Santa Fe a better place than it was when I got here. Right now, it’s a far worse place that outside interests have shaped into their own little palace. However, every palace needs a bathroom and they see the south-side as their collective toilet. This needs to change and it starts with educational opportunities for all kids. Even those who live on Santa Fe’s forgotten south side.
Really, I may not win, but I will fight. Also, I have no idea what a school board campaign will entail. I do know, however, that I won’t take money for my campaign. And if anyone wants to “help”, they should know that I won’t pay them back with stupid favors. No soy politico. which mens I have a lot to learn. Pero, soy Juan Blea, hijo de la villareal de santa fe. I will never be anyone’s politician or sycophant. But, I WILL represent toda mi gente and will never be a part of the monster that eats us all. And I will do all I can to ensure that Santa Fe’s future isn’t this unjust system’s fodder. Que Viva la Gente de Santa Fe!!
