By DEBORAH MARTINEZ MARTINEZ
An audience of 400 greeted the 39 women being honored at the Pueblo Library Foundation’s Outstanding Women Awards in the fourth floor Ryals Room on March 20.
For this 35th iteration of the awards, many Spanish-surnamed women were named as well as a handful of Movimiento Chicanas included El Movimiento Sigue’s own President Denise Torrez and Transformative Justice Coordinator Chela Lujan.
The high-end event, MC’d by Public Relation Coordinator Nick Potter, featured fresh flowers at each table, and a gift of flowers for each recipient accompanied to the dais by the person who nominated the awardee. Lunch, usually a low-cost meal, spared no dime and was a delicious salute, according to attendees, starting with fresh sweet breads moving to an exquisite soup, quiche, and salad of spring greens.
Honoree Denise Torrez, of EMS, is recalled for her role, not only in the Chicana/o Movement but also in the 2018-2019 teachers’ strike, which exposed systemic failures within local education. Ms. Torrez is a 31-year veteran of the Pueblo school district having earned her degree by age 22. She says the “needs of the community were not being met and that a more inclusive, collaborative approach was, and still is, essential for meaningful change.”
Victoria Obregon, Ph.D., accompanied Ms. Torrez to the stage and said that she is not just an educator or social justice advocate; “she is a change maker.”
Chela Lujan, a community organizer with El Movimiento Sigue, was nominated by the Southern Colorado Equality Alliance. Ray Packard, President of the SCEA, accompanied her to the dais. Ms. Lujan says she believes in the transformative power of service, direct action and community building to create a better world. She collaborates with many city organizations to take visible actions to bring light to the needs of the people. She calls out to others, for example, to attend City Council meetings where Mariposa, the city’s domestic violence program was not funded, or when the city “sweeps” the streets of its homeless. She assists with the program to offer voting rights to people incarcerated in the city jail. If you’re interested in supporting these actions, email her at chela@emsPueblo.org .
Other honored women included Carmen Avalos, retired principal of Avondale Elementary where she served for 17 years, S. Nicole Ferguson, Ph.D., Director of the Mariposa Center for Safety, Crystal Gonzales, City-County Library, Kari Gonzales, nominated by MxV Rail, Olivia Gutierrez, active member of Optimists Club, Monica Hughes, Communications Chair for the Pueblo County Democrats, Cōza Mendoza, S. CO Equality Alliance, Emily Perez, 10th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Rachel Salazar, Pueblo Library Youth Team, Adelia Dawn Tripp-Sena, NAACP #4005, and teacher Ms. Magi Wren.
Other honorees are: Megan Betts, Tammy Bregar, Kelly Brude, Denise Chambers, Tara Cooper, Brandi Halvorson, Heather Hankins, Terri Kallish, Dana Lambert, Janay E. McLemore, Brandi Mears, Jordan Mecham, Sandy Morrison, Jo Nesbit, Lindsay Reeves, Carol Rickman, Barbara Ripperger, Dru Spinuzzi, Marisa Stoller, Michele Sweeney, Brandi Taylor, Vanissa VanEgmond, Shannon VanMatre, Evelyn Wertenberger, Cecilia Wood, and Dolores Wyckoff.
Past recipients are Judy Baca, Louise Anaya, Lucia Rivera Aragon, Judy Garcia Carder, Deborah Espinosa, Gloria Falcon, Charlene Garcia-Simms, Dora Hyder, Betty Martinez, Dr. Velia Rincon, Ph.D., Bernadette Villalon, Bernice Zamora, and many others.
Ironically EMS founder Rita J. Martinez, coordinator of the on-going Cinco de Mayo event, Carmen Arteaga, longtime education equity fighter, Eva Montoya, educator and Eastside activist, and Sister Nancy Crafton, director of Los Pobres in Avondale have never been nominated for the Outstanding Women’s Award.