Direct descendant of survivor of Porvenir Massacre talks about PBS documentary

“Porvenir, Texas” an hour-long documentary which is a part of PBS Voces series dedicated to Latino culture will have a special encore screening on Oct 4. The screening will be followed by an open discussion on a 1918 Texas massacre that left 15 people of Mexican descent dead. The massacre was an attack on Latinos by Texas Rangers, local ranchers and the United States Army Cavalry. The Massacre at Porvenir was the deadliest attack on Latinos until almost 100 years later when a shooter drove more than 10 hours to attack Latinos at a Walmart here in El Paso. A post-screening discussion will discuss the correlation of the two incidents.

“The ‘Porvenir, Texas’ documentary brings awareness to the events of that fateful night and reveals the tensions that still remain along the border roughly a century later. It is surreal to know that but for fate, I am alive here today and live in the same community were another incident of racial terrorism against Latinos occurred. I think it is extremely important for members of our community to know the full history of this type of violence here on the border,” said Arlinda Valencia, a descendant of one of the massacre survivors.

The documentary will be shown Friday, October 4 at the Ysleta ISD Central Office Theater, 9600 Sims.
Doors Open: 6:00 pm, the documentary will be screened at 7:00 pm, and the discussion begins at 8:00 pm.

KVIA 2019