Review by Isidro D. Ortiz; reprinted with permission; originally published for COMD (Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft) newsletter DRAFT NOtices, Jan.- Mar. 2024
Can ordinary people make change in the face of seemingly insurmountable circumstances? In the age of neoliberalism, rampant militarism and creeping fascism, at a time when resistance to injustice and institutional betrayal has often been deemed futile, for many the answer would be "no." However, the documentary I am Vanessa Guillen offers reason to be optimistic. It shows how ordinary people can make change even in the face of tragedy, in the midst of profound grief, and in confrontation with the overwhelming power of the military.
Released in the fall of 2022, the film focuses on the story of Army Pfc. Vanessa Guillen. The story is skillfully told through the words of participants, especially Guillen's sisters and mother. Their accounts are vigorously incorporated along with first-hand accounts by the family's attorney, fellow soldiers, boyfriend and legislators like Congresswoman Jackie Spier and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Their accounts add power and poignancy to the story, reminding the audience that ordinary community members have the agency to educate and encourage political elites to take action.
Guillen, the daughter of working class Mexican immigrants in Houston, Texas, enlisted in the Army at age 18, taking a step to achieve a childhood dream of military service and to acquire a scholarship for college despite her mother's expressions of deep concern about her daughter's chosen path.
A vibrant athlete, Gillen successfully overcame the rigors of basic training and was stationed at Fort Hood in Killen, Texas, where she worked as a weapons mechanic. On April 22, 2020, Guillen went missing. Concerned about her safety and welfare, Guillen's mother and sisters traveled to Fort Hood to request assistance from military officials, only to meet with bureaucratic indifference and stonewalling.
As the film amply demonstrates through first-person testimonies, her sisters and mother were frustrated and angered by the lack of response. Undaunted, sisters Mayra and Lupe, in their teens at the time of Vanessa's disappearance, and mother Gloria became relentlessly proactive, initiating a campaign to find Vanessa that soon transcended Fort Hood and prevented her story from being covered up. Throughout 2020 and 2021, they mounted protests and press conferences at the gates of Fort Hood. Along the way, they received the assistance of an organization that conducts independent searches for missing persons. They also capitalized on the power of social media, giving rise to the hashtag #IAmVanessa; their actions evoked virtual testimonies from active and inactive service members who had been targets of sexual harassment and assault in the military, breaking the wall of silence about those issues. The campaign also captured the attention of the media, celebrities, and community members who mobilized support for their effort via marches and rallies across the United States and abroad. As a result, Gillen's disappearance and fate became a dramatic national story, one made more visible by the ultimate discovery of Vanessa's remains and revelation that she had been murdered by a fellow soldier.
As shown in the film, the campaign became a movement so effective that then-President Trump took an interest in the case and invited members of the family to a meeting at the White House, where he pronounced his support for an investigation.
Their actions also catalyzed congressional action on the issues of sexual harassment and assault in the military. Not surprisingly, throughout the investigations into Vanessa's fate, military officials appeared to downplay or ignore these issues as evens evolved. But Mayra, Lupe, and Vanessa's mother were determined to focus attention on them in their quest for justice for Vanessa. Before her disappearance Vanessa had informed her mother that she was being sexually harassed and that she had observed that sexual harassment and assault were rampant at Fort Hood.
As a result of their tenacious and irrepressible efforts, major elements of the landmark "I am Vanessa Guillen" legislation were signed into law in 2021, embodying historic reforms in the military and serving as an inspiring lesson of the capacity of ordinary people to make change.
I am Vanessa Guillen is streaming on Netflix.
Isidro D. Ortiz is a Ph.D. professor for Chicano and Chicana Studies at San Diego State University and is a board member of the Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities. A political scientist by training, he teaches and conducts research on Latinx political activism.
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