November 4, 2001
Subject: Saludos and an Interview Request
Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2001 18:16:59 -0800 (PST)
From: Estela Reyes "López" <xitlai@rocketmail.com>
To: almalopez@earthlink.net
Nov. 4, 2001
Dear Ms. Lopez,
Let me begin by congratulating you on your work,
your tenacity, and your determination to keep Our Lady in public display,
despite the controversies. As a writer, I can only imagine how stressful it
might be to face such a backlash and public attack for something I labored
so long to create. I can only salute you.
But the reason for my letter isn't just to offer
you my thanks as a fellow artist. It's to ask you to share a bit of your time
with me in an interview. I'm in the process of writing a column for a Texas
newspaper, La Voz de Uvalde, on the changing image and indianization of La
Virgen de Guadalupe. The column itself will focus on how many in the Chicano/a
community are now referring to her not as Guadalupe, but as Tonantzin, as
our ancestors first called her. I would greatly appreciate your perspective
as an artist, and someone who has dealt with her image, for this piece.
In addition to La Voz de Uvalde, the column
will also be published on ChicanaWriter.com to support that non-profit
website's free content efforts. Please let me know at your earliest convenience
if you might have some time later this week for a phone interview. If at all
possible, I would also appreciate your passing this message along to the young
woman who posed for Our Lady, Raquel Salinas. It's my understanding that she,
too, has some interesting perspectives on how the image of La Virgen de Guadalupe
became an affirmation of her own femininity and healing process. Please
feel free to respond to me by e-mail at xitlai@rocketmail.com. If you wish
to contact me by phone, you can reach me at home or on my cell phone. I will
promptly return your call so you don't get hit with the long distance charges.
Again, thank you for your time and attention to this e-mail.
Estela Reyes López
"No nation can be conquered until its women's hearts lay bleeding on
the ground." -- Cherokee Proverb
"Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is
not a crime."-- Ernest Hemingway