Adios Arthur Silvers
January 25, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Longtime San Miguel resident Arthur Silvers passed away in California on Friday, January 18. He had suffered from congestive heart disorder and pulmonary fibrosis for quite some time. His family was with him when he died. There will be an informal memorial service this weekend for. Anyone interested in attending should call David Bossman at 152-3001.

A bright thread in our tapestry
Suzanne Ludekens interviewed Arthur Silvers for Atención, May 23, 2003.


“It is not what I have done, but what I have to do,” comments Arthur Silvers wryly, when asked about his involvement in the US civil rights movement. Although Silvers prefers to focus on the current Peace movement, his dedication to the defense of human rights in the past is the precursor of his current commitment. “I know what it is like to be oppressed, to be denied the most basic of human rights. I have suffered indignities all my life, but I am a tough kick-ass guy. I cannot just sit back complacently and watch the rest of the world go through what I went through, because they may be blind to the fact that rights are being systematically denied.” For Silvers, the policies and actions of the Bush administration are creating the conditions of oppression. He believes it is imperative to establish new institutions to address the principles of Peace, not just the absence of war, and have profound social impact. And so his vision moves from the local San Miguel Peace Center to the establishment of an international Holistic Institute for the Principles of Peace, which will unite the best minds to formulate strategies for peace.

Silvers held important positions in the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), CORE (Congress for Racial Equality) and the committee to elect Jesse Jackson for President. He recalls, “I had been fighting all my life when I joined the NAACP Youth but was expelled (temporarily) for being too radical, because I had no time to be nice.” As Chairman of the Speakers Bureau for CORE, he participated in civil rights history, Dr. Martin Luther King was a friend and mentor, Silvers worked with organizers of the Freedom Riders (May 1961, interracial groups of students trained in nonviolence, traveled regularly to the South on segregated buses, blacks in the whites-only section and whites in the blacks-only section, to force the Kennedy administration to outlaw segregation, achieved in November 1961, only after facing tremendous violence) and civil rights education programs, targeting three separate audiences, white people, businesses and blacks, who had almost no knowledge of their history. 

Silvers attributes his political awakening to three factors. “I was born black in the US, and learned black history orally.” At 15, Silvers’ real education was from a politically active uncle, a detective lieutenant in the LAPD at a time when no true documentation of black history existed. Second was the lynching of Emmett Till in Mississippi, 1955. “This vicious murder of a 15-year-old boy was an expression of the terror and control used to oppress blacks since the 1870s. It was the wake-up call of Black America and the beginning of the civil rights movement, not, as popularly documented, Rosa Parks sitting in the whites-only area on the bus.” The third influence was a trip to Europe in 1955, when he visited 23 countries and realized “black people were despised worldwide because US white society justified its moral and legal position of prejudice to the Afro-American, and it had spread.” 

Now Silvers dedicates his energy, experience and knowledge to the Peace movement which implies a continued defense of human rights. “This period we now live in is a time of empire building, a natural progression of capitalism, it needs more resources, and so it is making the necessary power moves,” comments Silvers.

Another issue imperative in consideration of the war is racism. Silvers notes race is a recent classification that serves political purposes, as originally, people were identified by their culture. He questions how it is possible for the US to impose or even teach democracy to the oldest cultures which have different norms. Racial classifications, he reminds us, labels the other (minority groups) as “people of no value, and puts them at risk.” Recalling the horrible conditions the Iraqis suffer; no water, no electricity, and hundreds soon to be thousands of babies dying of cholera. Or in Africa, where a child dies from malaria every 30 seconds, yet prevention only requires a 50-cent injection. 

In April (2003) Silvers attended an international peace ‘think tank’ in Paris. Silvers hopes some of these leading academics and intellectuals will come to the Holistic Institute for Principal of Peace (HIPOP) at his San Miguel home to formulate new strategies for a peaceful world. “It is a privilege to live in this country. The Mexican people are extremely tolerant and it is important to respect their position of non-involvement in this war. What better place to develop these ideas?” Silvers continues to travel, discussing funding and support for this nonprofit organization and will be in contact with participants in a Chicago forum of over 1,000 peace organizations, meeting to decide how to establish a government with a different set of aspirations. 

With an ambitious agenda, even for a person half his age, he laughs, undaunted, “as an architect I have been trained to work with an objective and have developed focus.” Such focus and commitment has accompanied Arthur Silvers through crucial moments in the history of human rights. And again history is in the making. 

Remembered by Friends

For Arthur,

May we always be bodhisattva angels for each other through time and space. Thank you for being a true friend, not afraid to tell me the truth and always accepting my truth as your spiritual adviser. Thank you for your sparkling eyes, playful spirit and radiant presence in my life. May you enjoy your freedom!

Love, Patricia



We have lost a special human being. Arthur Silvers was the kind of individual who gave much of himself to his friends and community. Even newcomers were immediately attracted to Arthur’s spiritual warmth and graciousness. I can still see him walking through the streets of San Miguel with his beloved dog, Ben. Thanks for the smiles, Arthur

David Bossman



Like Balthazar the Wiseman of old, Arthur Silvers brought me precious gifts. Arthur was a spiritual warrior. He fought the great battles for human rights. For my 50th he gifted me a photo of himself in a planning session with Martin Luther King. He taught me the history of his race and we had many discussions about their contributions to humankind. He purged any remnants of racism that might have existed in my being. He was kind, he was gentle, he was good and true and yet he was stern and had no time for those who did not see his beauty. He loved and adored women above all things. We played and we laughed and we enjoyed high conversation. Arthur’s lessons and goodness will always be with me. He was a bright thread in my San Miguel tapestry.

Warren Hardy

Candelaria’s festival of plants and flowers returns to Parque Juárez

Candelaria fair
February 2–12
Parque Juárez
Calle Diezmo Viejo & José Guadalupe Mojica 

Candelaria, San Miguel’s festival of plants and flowers, returns to fill the centrally located Parque Juárez with color and fragrance, after having being under the arid pavement of El Cardo parking lot last year. Now in its 18th year, the annual fair is a blend of religious and local community celebrations completely unique to San Miguel.

The festival of La Candelaria, on February 2, celebrates both the purification of the Virgin Mary after giving birth and after the presentation of Jesus as “The Light of the World” in the temple, 40 days after his birth. Mary’s purification, in the Catholic faith, is represented as the Virgin of the Candelaria, who cradles Baby Jesus in her left arm and a candle symbolizing the light, in her right hand. The associated religious procession is known as the “Festival of Lights.”

Another aspect of this tradition, one with prehispanic origins, is the Blessing of Seeds. Heads of rural communities bring seeds for the next season’s crops to be blessed at the morning mass. The tradition continues today among campesinos and those who grow flowers for Easter festivities.

The Oratorio church, at the end of calle Insurgentes by the Plaza Cívica, is home to the only statue of the Virgen de la Candelaria. On February 2, the statue is placed on the church altar to bless the faithful who bring candles, seeds and nativity scene figures of Baby Jesus. This statue of the Virgin is then removed from public viewing until the next year.

Candelaria is also linked to the Three Kings Day, January 6, when the Rosca de Reyes (Kings’ cake) is cut. The one who finds the small plastic doll (representing the Baby Jesus) baked in the cake is considered the godfather and must host a party on February 2.

Controversy continues over the project for former Presidencia
By Jesús Ibarra

The controversy surrounding the museum proposed for the former Presidencia building continues.

Although the proposal put forth by archeologist Gabriela Zepeda and her team was approved in mid-December, last week TV and radio producer Lucy Zavala, the proponent of the proposal that was not chosen, convened a local press conference to present an official document she had found. That document, which certifies the creation of a civil association called Instituto de Conservación de la Cultura A.C. (Institute for the Conservation of Culture), contains a clause that states that the association can construct, install within or manage any building that may be required or convenient for the development of the social objective of the institute. According to Zavala, this clause suggests that the former Presidencia building can be managed by this civil association, which is illegal since the building is a municipal property and thus cannot be managed by any association. 

According to the document, the association was formed by local government authorities, including Francisco Peyret (head of the Tourism and Economic Development Department), Don Patterson (head of Ecology) and Verónica Agundis (head of the Education and Culture Department), as well as Maruja González, who was a member of the assistant council that selected the winning project, and Carmen Acosta Riojas, a member of Gabriela Zepeda’s team that proposed the winning project. Zavala believes the fact that members of the local government, a member of the assistant council and a member of the winning project team are all in the same association indicates that they had previously agreed to give the nod to Zepeda’s project. 

“The original deadline for submitting the proposals was November 30, but it was extended so that Zepeda could submit hers. That is unfair and illegal,” said Zavala, who added that Zepeda copied her project. She considers the decision illegal and said she would ask the city council to revoke it. 

However, Christopher Finkelstein, city secretary, stated and proved with documentation that this association had been created beginning in 2006, before the request for proposals for the building was announced, and that it was created for the sole purpose of rescuing, conserving and maintaining a collection of pre-Hispanic objects donated to the municipality by an American, Mary Gaston (see Atención, November 30, 2007). “It was created for no other purpose, and it has nothing to do with the project for the former Presidencia,” said Finkelstein. 

Finkelstein showed Atención the two written proposals by Zavala and Zepeda, explaining that Zepeda’s is an interdisciplinary and more professional project than Zavala’s. “The vote was unanimous, and it took into consideration the sustainability and the main idea of the project, as well as public opinion expressed in the questionnaires distributed on the day of the presentations.” Finkelstein said the deadline for proposals was extended because they were expecting news about a federal museum project. “With a federal museum, created and organized by federal institutions, things would be easier for the local government and there would be less expense for us,” explained Finkelstein. “There is still a chance that the bicentennial celebration program might create a federal museum. If this happens, we would explain to the creators of the winning project the convenience of a federal project,” he ended.