Oaxaca, The Face of Mexican Facism - Post From Oaxaca Solidarity Network - Los Olvidados
Oaxaca, La cara del fascismo mexicano, miercoles el 28 de marzo de 2007 Oaxaca, The face of Mexican fascism, Wednesday 28 March 2007
Friends, Do not be fooled by the total absence of news in the corporate media into believing that Oaxaca City is once again a tranquil, beautiful tourist destination. The dirty war of terror by the Oaxaca state government and the federal forces continues in their futile effort to crush the popular movement. The governments are terrified by the unarmed people, as is obvious by the constant display of heavily armed troops and police all around the supposedly public city center, the zócalo. The effort to account for every captive, and to free every political prisoner, is ongoing. I'm glad to assist the Oaxaca Solidarity Network by circulating their appeals. Sincerely, George
"Los Olividados/The Forgotten Ones"—Ongoing Oaxaca Solidarity/EDUCACampaign for the release of political prisoners
Friends, Edgar Molina—who describes himself as "a son, brother, husband, father, and a vendor at the Oaxaca City bus station"—was arbitrarily and violently detained on November 25 last year after participating in a non-violent protest march. His friend, Felipe Sánchez—profiled in our first "Olvidados" urgent action—was arrested along with his friend Edgar, but has since been released from jail. While meeting with Felipe this morning, he expressed his serious concern for his friend Edgar, and for all the other 44 Oaxacan political prisoners who remain in jail.
In his attached testimony, Edgar tells the painful story of his arrest, torture and ongoing detention. Edgar is a father to two girls—one born just months before his arrest.
YOUR ACTION CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF THESE PEOPLE AND OF THOSE THAT LOVE THEM—TWO OF THE PRISONERS PROFILED IN OUR "OLVIDADOS" CAMPAIGN HAVE BEEN RELEASED! (See "Good News" below). THANK YOU FOR YOUR CARING AND SOLIDARITY…
URGENT ACTION: Please help us see Edgar, and ALL the political prisoners, freed. Send faxes and make phone calls to the government officials listed below, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Oaxacan political prisoners, most of whom have been imprisoned since November, badly beaten, and in some cases tortured. Please see details on recommended actions, and addresses below in the WHAT YOU CAN DO section…
Brief Background on our campaign: In response to the pleas for help of the Oaxacan political prisoners that remain imprisoned, and in solidarity with those Forgotten Ones—"Los Olvidados"—OSN is partnering with local grassroots organization EDUCA (Services for an Alternative Education), and a number of other Oaxacan human rights and other grassroots organizations in a campaign to press for the immediate, unconditional release of all political prisoners. We'll be sending out profiles of individual political prisoners each week, highlighting the cases of individuals—but always demanding the release of ALL prisoners of conscience. GOOD NEWS! Juan Carlos Ruiz Mendoza, the political prisoner profiled in our urgent action was freed last week, along with two other prisoners from Tlacolula Prison!!! And as many of you know, Felipe Sánchez (subject of our first "Olvidados" urgent action) has also been released. A warm thanks to all of you who may have played a part in making their release a reality! Background on Oaxacan Political Prisoners: As of today, 44 political prisoners remain illegally imprisoned in various prisons throughout the state of Oaxaca. Many of them were detained while participating in non-violent protests against the current repressive government of Oaxacan Gov.Ulises Ruiz. Others were not involved politically in any way, but were caught up in a wave of massive detentions carried out by state and federal police in an attempt to crush a popular movement that is using non-violent tactics to demand political change.
Local and national human rights organizations, as well as the Oaxaca Solidarity Network (OSN), have recorded many testimonies of people who were brutalized during their illegal arrests. Most of the detainees aren't directly connected with popular organizations; hence they lack the support that helped many other political prisoners to win their release. Many of them recently reported that they feel forgotten and are fighting despair. WHAT TO DO: · Contact your local representatives and Mexican consuls and inform them of your concern about Edgar Molina and the other "Olvidados" political prisoners. Ask them to contact local Mexican consuls and national Mexican authorities (listed below). Please also send appeals to official addresses below (by fax is most effective) to arrive as quickly as possible, in Spanish or your own language, making the following points: 1. Members of the recent Oaxaca Solidarity Network/Rights Action Emergency Human Rights Delegation can point out that they recently heard repeated testimonies of torture, forced confessions, and arbitrary detentions, and that they demand the immediate release of all political prisoners. 2. Express your concern for the well-being of Edgar Molina, and all other Oaxacan political prisoners. 3. Call for a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the illegal detentions of people engaged in peaceful protest, for findings to be published, and for those responsible to be brought to justice. 4. Remind the authorities that they have a duty to carry out an independent and impartial investigation into the alleged fabrication of charges against political prisoners, with the results to be made public.
SEND APPEALS TO MEXICAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS LISTED AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS E-MAIL...
MORE ON WHAT YOU CAN DO: · A fundamental element to work in favor of global justice, equality and the environment is to fund and support local organizations that are leading their own struggles in defense and promotion of development, the environment and human rights. · Get involved in education and activism work in your home community concerning the negative impacts of North American investors and hydro-electric and mining policies on community-controlled development, the environment and the human rights of local populations in Oaxaca. · Consider coming in on one of OSN's Human Rights/Educational-Activist Delegations and meet with victims of the repression, local human rights groups, leaders of the popular movement, local political and business leaders, and to visit local indigenous communities to learn about vital social, economic and political issues. · Invite us to give educational presentations in your home community. · Get on our e-mail list and visit our website for news updates, delegation announcements and more.
TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS: You can make donations to Oaxaca Solidarity Network by making a check payable to "Rights Action". Please write "FOR OSN" in the memo space and mail to: UNITED STATES: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887;
CANADA: 509 St.Clair Ave W, box73527, Toronto ON, M6C-1C0.
CREDIT-CARD DONATIONS:
www.rightsaction.org. Please note that the donation is for Oaxaca Solidariy Network. QUESTIONS: info@oaxacasolidarity.org
URGENT ACTION ADDRESSES: U.S. : Ambassador Carlos Alberto De Icaza Gonzalez Embassy of Mexico 1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington DC 20006 Fax: 1 202 728 1698 MÉXICO: President: Lic. Felipe Calderon Hinojosa Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos Residencia Oficial de ''Los Pinos'', Casa Miguel Aleman Col. San Miguel Chapultepec Mexico D.F., C.P. 11850, MEXICO Fax: 011 52 55 52772376 felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx Salutation: Senor Presidente/Dear President Calderon
Minister of the Interior: Lic. Francisco Ramirez Acuña Secretario de Gobernacion, Secretaria de Gobernacion Bucareli 99, 1er. piso, Col. Juarez, Delegacion Cuauhtemoc, Mexico D.F., C.P.06600, MEXICO Fax: 011 52 55 5093 3414 Salutation: Dear Minister/Estimado Secretario No e-mail, please send fax.
Minister of Public Security: Lic. Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza Procurador General de la Republica Paseo de la Reforma #211-213 Cuactemoc Mexico D.F. C.P. 06500 Colonia Juarez, Delegacion Cuauhtemoc, Mexico DF. C.P. 06600, Mexico Fax: 011 52 55 5241 8393 Salutation: Dear Minister/Estimado Secretario To send e-mails online: http://pgr.gob.mx/index.asp
President of National Human Rights Comisión Dr. José Luis Soberanes Fernández Periférico Sur 3469, Col San Jerónimo Lídice, CP 10200, México, D.F.
Governor of Oaxaca: Ulises Ruiz Ortiz Gobernador del Estado de Oaxaca Carretera Oaxaca - Puerto Angel, Km. 9.5 Santa Maria Coyotopec, C. P. 71254 Oaxaca Oaxaca , MEXICO E -mail: gobernador@oaxaca.gob.mx Fax: 011 52 951 511 6879 (if someone answers, say ''me da tono de fax, por favor'') Salutation: Senor Gobernador/Dear Governor
COPIES TO: President of the Oaxaca State Human Rights Commission: Dr. Jaime Perez Jimenez Presidente de la Comision Estatal Calle de los Derechos Humanos no. 210 Colonia America, C.P. 68050 Oaxaca Oaxaca , Mexico Fax: 011 52 951 503 0220
Please send appeals immediately. Thank you for your solidarity and support.
Hosted By: www.ufwfoundation.org When: 31 Mar 2007, 08:00 Where: La Placita Olvera 845 North Alameda Street Los Angeles, CA 90001 United States Description: www.ufwfoundation.org
THIS YEAR THE WALK WILL BE THE LARGEST COLLECTION SITE FOR THE OVER 28,000 FARM WORKERS WHO WERE AFFECTED by THE CA CITRUS FREEZE WHICH WAS DECLARED AN EMERGENCY IN CA AND FEDERALLY.
PLEASE SUPPORT THOSE WHO PUT FOOD ON YOUR TABLE-IN THEIR TIME OF NEED.
SPECIAL GUEST WALK TEAM:
”BLACK EYED PEAS”
and PERFORMING LIVE:
“UPGROUND”
WEBLINKS CHAVEZ WALK PROMO VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7GCCBIgFaQ
------------------------------ MARCH 30, 2007: HONOR THE CÉSAR CHÁVEZ HOLIDAY! Close All Schools, Government Offices & Workplaces on Friday, Mar. 30 Para español, vea el _BLOG_ (http://blog.myspace.com/chavezdayofaction) California has an official state holiday, during which state workers get a paid day off, but most school districts do not honor it. The following states officially recognize the importance of observing Chavez's birthday but do not give the day off: Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.
* Stop the Raids * Make California a Sanctuary State * Full and Equal Rights for All Immigrants * No More Second Class Treatment * No More Separate & Unequal Educational Opportunities * Integrated, Equal Quality Schools for All * Build the New, Integrated, Youth-Led Civil Rights Movement MARCH IN YOUR TOWN! Don't see your city? _Email_ (mailto:california [at] bamn.com) us and we'll add it! MARCH IN L.A.! Gather at 9AM at East L.A. College (1301 César Chávez). March down to L.A. City Hall. MARCH IN OAKLAND! Thursday, March 29: WALKOUT in solidarity with Mar. 30 walkout (on Friday the schools honor the Chávez Holiday). 11:00 A.M. CONVERGE + RALLY at City Hall (12th + Broadway). Friday, March 30: Gather at 9AM at International + 98th Ave. March down International Blvd. to the downtown Federal Building. MARCH IN RICHMOND! 9:00AM - Gather at St. Cornelius Church (201 28th St., corner of MacDonald Ave.). March to School District building. 10:00AM - Rally at School District (1108 Bissell Ave). 11:30AM - Join Oakland rally at Oakland Federal Building (1301 Clay + 13th St., near 12th St. Oakland BART) MARCH IN SACRAMENTO! 8:30AM - WALKOUT + MARCH begins at Hiram Johnson High School (6879 - 14th Avenue). March down Broadway to 10th St., and then to the State Capitol. MARCH IN SAN DIEGO! 9:00AM - Gather at Chicano Park (Logan Heights area). MARCH IN SANTA ANA! Gather at 9AM at Bristol Street (Bristol & Mcfadden). March to City Hall on Civic Center. ¡Sí se puede! Spring 2006, millions of different voices speaking as one. One mighty movement extending over thousands of miles, marching last spring on different days in different cities focused on the same goals—defeat HR 4437 and let America know the sleeping giant is awake and striding for freedom. One day we were marching through downtown Chicago, the next down César Chávez Avenue in Los Angeles, on another we were descending on our state capitol in Sacramento, and on another on our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. Our movement was fueled by waves of school walkouts. Young people leading the way in countless cities and towns, no one can forget that feeling of power. So many of us made the decision then and there, on a march, at a rally, in a church or during a walkout to keep fighting for ourselves, our families, our communities and to never accept less than full equality, complete dignity and total respect. Sí se puede—the words which gave our grandparents the hope and courage to march with César Chávez became our battle cry for freedom. ¡Sí se puede! César Chávez would be so proud of us. The movement he helped lead which began in the fields and factories to put food on our tables and to give us union recognition, was reborn last spring as a powerful new Latina/o youth-led civil rights movement. Our new movement unites immigrants with and without papers and people of all races in a fight for equal rights and benefits and for full citizenship rights for all. ¡Sí se puede! César Chávez lifted us from invisibility and filled us with pride and dignity. His example taught us that when we organize on a mass basis and fight we can win. In 2000, a bill sponsored by Antonio Villaraigosa, now Mayor of L.A., made César Chávez’s birthday, March 31, a statewide holiday. The holiday will be celebrated this year on Friday, March 30. Several school districts, including Oakland Unified and San Francisco Unified, and several schools including San Diego’s year-round schools, are closed on Friday, March 30 in honor of the holiday. State offices and many colleges and universities including UCLA will also close on March 30. The César Chávez holiday was specifically created to give students from kindergarten through college the day off of school. Still, many schools, including in Los Angeles (LAUSD, the largest Latina/o district in the nation) remain open. It is our right and our duty to demand that every school in California close to honor the Chávez holiday. March 30 is our day to march in every city in California. Our movement must demand that every school, college campus, every government office, and business follow the letter and spirit of the law and close in honor of the Chávez holiday. The only meaningful way to honor the work of César Chávez is to adopt his method of mass struggle for justice and equality as our own. Marching on the Chávez holiday will revitalize and strengthen our new civil rights movement and provide us with the power we need to build on our gains. Our mass actions, in particular the waves of mass student walkouts last spring, achieved important immediate victories and continue to have a profound impact on the political life of our state and nation. Our huge and historic national mobilizations defeated many of HR 4437’s most reactionary provisions. The state takeover of the Oakland schools and the attempted mayoral takeover of LAUSD suffered real setbacks because of our mobilizations. Our fight for equal educational opportunities requires students, teachers and the community to have democratic control over our schools. UCLA, which for ten years has arrogantly allowed the number of Latina/o and black students to drop to pitiful and insulting levels, announced a new admissions system this year in the wake of L.A. and Orange County school walkouts. Continuing our struggle can reverse the damage done by the anti-affirmative action Prop 209 throughout our state. Despite our gains, the raids go on. Police harassment and all forms of discrimination persist. A new guest-worker bill threatens to assign many of us to permanent second-class citizenship. New immigration laws and restrictions are already in the works. In Mexico, our brothers and sisters fighting in Oaxaca need us to build and make more powerful our new civil rights movement so they can achieve victory. Sí se puede. The sleeping giant has awoken. It is time to start moving again. THE WEEKEND AFTER MARCH 30... (http://www.bamn.com/mysp/la_conference_flyer_english.pdf) University of Southern California (USC) Room 101 Taper Hall (near Jefferson + Hoover) See _FLYER_ (http://www.bamn.com/mysp/la_conference_flyer_english.pdf) for schedule. On Friday March 30, we close our schools and march to honor California’s César Chávez Holiday. A year ago, we closed our schools and marched to defeat an unjust law, HR4437. This year, we close our schools and march to enforce the spirit and letter of a just law declaring César Chávez birthday a school holiday in California. When we take to the streets on Friday, March 30th, we will reassert the power of the new civil rights movement we are building and give living expression to the heartfelt pride and dignity of the Latina(o) communities. A year after the struggle to defend immigrant rights gave rise to the biggest and potentially most powerful civil rights movement in more than 100 years, it is up to us to keep the movement alive and to provide the leadership needed to increase the power of our movement. On Saturday, March 31, and Sunday, April 1, the weekend following our statewide Chávez day actions, the young leaders who have been organizing our mass actions will come together in Los Angeles for a conference. The conference sponsored by BAMN is being organized to develop, consolidate, and build the collective leadership of our new civil rights movement. The movement’s ability to become stronger and bolder relies on our building a more politically conscious and accountable leadership. The conference of the new civil rights movement will give the young leaders of the movement an opportunity to discuss and draw out the lessons we have learned from the struggles we have led so that we can chart a course for our future. The birth of the new civil rights movement was not the brainchild of a single great woman or man. The politics of our movement – our demand for equality, our assertion of pride in being Mexican, Salvadorian, etc., in being Latina(o), black, Asian, or Arab, our growing resistance to any form of harassment or mistreatment, our unrelenting struggle for full citizenship rights whether or not we have papers, and our determination to be treated with respect and dignity by all — are the battle cry of a people striding towards freedom. Our leaders, the people who led the walkouts, marches, boycotts and rallies, are humble and modest. Many would not call themselves leaders or are not conscious of their role as leaders. The students who scaled the school walls and led our marches past principals, police, and politicians are our real heroes and leaders. Shy, quiet students who spent countless hours organizing on Myspace and over the internet are the anonymous but crucial leaders of our movement. Women and men who work countless hours in the factories and the fields and who organized co-workers and relatives to stay home and boycott are the leaders of our mighty struggle for dignity and respect. For our new movement to grow, we do not need a single great leader to emerge or be anointed. We need some of our leaders to recognize that they are leaders and to step forward and guide the development and political direction of our movement. To take the next step forward, our leaders need to become organized and better politically educated, and to learn how to function as a single, integrated, collective leadership. On March 31-April 1, we will have a great deal to discuss. The Conference of the New Civil Rights Movement will be organized to give the leaders of our young and powerful movement a maximum opportunity to learn the political method and practical skills needed to broaden and deepen our movement. We have the power to win. With a conscious leadership stepping forward to organize our struggle, victory awaits us. Close down the schools on Friday March 30th. March to honor César Chávez Holiday. Attend the Conference of the New Civil Rights Movement of March 31st and April 1st. Become a part of the collective leadership needed to win. PRE-REGISTER for the conference by _e-mailing us_ (mailto:california [at] bamn.com) your name, phone number, email, school, and city. The latest list of cities where students are organizing, and schools where people are planning to walk out or stay out March 30th:
Los Angeles: Roosevelt High School, Garfield High School, Manual Arts High School, Locke High School, Lincoln High School, King/Drew Medical Magnet High School, Crenshaw High School, Hollenbeck Middle School, Fairfax High School, Dorsey High School, Bravo Medical Magnet High School, Verdugo Hills High School, Venice High School, Santee High School, North Hollywood High School, Orthopaedic Hospital Medical Magnet High School, Thomas Jefferson High School, Jordan High School, James A. Foshay Learning Center, Stevenson Middle School / Huntington Park: Huntington Park High School, Columbus High School, Community Day School / Orange County: Santa Ana High School, Saddleback High School (Santa Ana), Century High School (Santa Ana), Lorin Griset Academy (Santa Ana), Valley High School (Santa Ana), Garden Grove High School, Rancho Alamitos High School (Garden Grove), Orange High School, Beckman High School (Irvine), Back Bay High School (Costa Mesa, CA), Estancia High School (Costa Mesa, CA), Mountain View High School (Santa Ana, CA) / Long Beach: Cabrillo High School, Jordan High School, Milliken High School, Poly High School, Renaissance High School / Pomona: Ganesha High School, Garey High School, Pomona High School / San Diego: Bell Junior High School, Morse
Cities & Schools as of Mar. 14, 2007:
The latest list of cities where students are organizing, and schools where people are planning to walk out or stay out March 30th: Los Angeles: Roosevelt High School, Garfield High School, Manual Arts High School, Locke High School, Lincoln High School, King/Drew Medical Magnet High School, Crenshaw High School, Hollenbeck Middle School, Fairfax High School, Dorsey High School, Bravo Medical Magnet High School, Verdugo Hills High School, Venice High School, Santee High School, North Hollywood High School, Orthopaedic Hospital Medical Magnet High School, Thomas Jefferson High School, Jordan High School, James A. Foshay Learning Center, Stevenson Middle School / Huntington Park: Huntington Park High School, Columbus High School, Community Day School / Orange County: Santa Ana High School, Saddleback High School (Santa Ana), Century High School (Santa Ana), Lorin Griset Academy (Santa Ana), Valley High School (Santa Ana), Garden Grove High School, Rancho Alamitos High School (Garden Grove), Orange High School, Beckman High School (Irvine), Back Bay High School (Costa Mesa, CA), Estancia High School (Costa Mesa, CA), Mountain View High School (Santa Ana, CA) / The Valley: Reseda High, Grover Cleveland High, Taft High, El Camino Real High / Long Beach: Cabrillo High School, Jordan High School, Milliken High School, Poly High School, Renaissance High School / Pomona: Ganesha High School, Garey High School, Pomona High School / San Diego: Bell Junior High School, Morse High School, Serra High School, Gompers High School, Hoover High School, Scripps Ranch High School, Point Loma High School, Patrick Henry High School, Vista High School (Vista), Preuss School UCSD (La Jolla), Mission Hills High School (San Marcos), Escondido High School (Escondido, CA) / Fresno: Fresno High School, Buchanan High School, Sunnyside High School, Clovis West High School, Citrus Middle School (Orange Cove, CA), Parlier High School (Parlier, California), Sanger High School (Sanger, CA) / Downey: Downey High School, South High School / Lynwood: Lynwood High School, Firebaugh High School / South Gate: South Gate High School, South East High School / Whittier: Whittier High School, California High School, Los Nietos Middle School / Norwalk: Norwalk High School, John Glenn High School / Compton: Dominguez High School, Enterprise Middle School / San Gabriel: San Gabriel High School, San Gabriel SDA Academy / Palm Springs: Palm Springs High, Cathedral City High (Cathedral City, CA) / Miscellaneous SoCal schools and cities: Santa Monica High School, Bell High School, Bell Gardens, Anaheim, Narbonne High School (Harbor City), Montebello High School, Paramount High School, San Gorgonio High School (San Bernardino), Westminster High School, Alhambra High School, Carson High School, Don Antonio Lugo High School (Chino), El Monte, Bassett High School (La Puente), Hawthorne High School (Lennox), Eleanor Roosevelt High School (Corona), Inglewood, San Pedro High School, UC Riverside / Miscellaneous California: Silver Creek High School (San Jose, CA), Berkeley High School (Berkeley), North Monterrey County High School, Hiram W. Johnson High School (Sacramento), Corcoran High School, Fort Bragg, UC Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Channel Islands High School (Oxnard), Sacramento, Paramount, San Jose, San Lorenzo High School / Other States: Forest Park High School (Forest Park, Georgia), South High School (Sheboygan, WI), Thomas Jefferson High School (El Paso, TX), Arlington (Texas), Mansfield (Texas), San Antonio (Texas), Westwood High School (Mesa, AZ), Yuma (Arizona), Clark High School (Las Vegas, NV), Johnson Junior High School (Las Vegas, NV), Bailey Middle School (Las Vegas, NV), Cashman Middle School (Las Vegas, NV), Reno (Nevada), Westview High School (Portland, Oregon), Naples (Florida), St. Augustine (Florida), Chicago (Illinois), Iowa, Frederick Douglass High School (Prince George’s County, Maryland), Omaha (Nebraska), Detroit (Michigan)
Schools in Oakland, San Francisco, Hayward (CA), Baldwin Park (CA), among others, are already completely shut down in honor of the Cesar Chavez Holiday on Friday, March 30th. Also, UCLA and CSULA are shut down on March 30th. BAMN is the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary! BAMN is organizing this Day of Action and Conference and building the new youth-led integrated civil rights movement.
================================================================= National Immigrant Solidarity Network No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights! webpage: _http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org_ (http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/) e-mail: _info [at] ImmigrantSolidarity.org_ (mailto:infor [at] ImmigrantSolidarity.org) New York: (212)330-8172 Los Angeles: (213)403-0131 Washington D.C.: (202)595-8990
Please consider making a donation to the important work of National Immigrant Solidarity Network
Send check pay to: National Immigrant Solidarity Network/AFGJ
Send check to: ActionLA / The Peace Center 8124 West 3rd Street, Suite 104 Los Angeles, California 90048 (All donations are tax deductible)
*to join the immigrant Solidarity Network daily news litserv, send e-mail to: isn-subscribe [at] lists.riseup.net or visit: _http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/isn_ (http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/isn)
Stephen Dunifer is the founder of Free Radio Berkeley in Berkeley, California. Free Radio Berkeley, an unlicensed micropower pirate radio station, was involved in a protracted legal case with the Federal Communications Commission in the mid-1990s They were eventually acquitted of all charges, marking a major victory for micropower radio. FRB eventually stopped broadcasting and turned all their resources to developing new micropower technology and training activists in the use of pirate radio. They were replaced on the dial by Berkeley Liberation Radio, which has also been a target of the federal government. Stephen Dunifer is also author of several books on the micropower movement. He was coeditor along with Ron Sakolsky of Seizing the Airwaves. Stephen Dunifer offers a variety of radio broadcast kits and accessories for sale through his Freedradio website. In this talk he discusses "Autonomy and Radio in Oaxaca", an overview of the importance and role of radio broadcasting in the struggle for autonomy in Oaxaca, Mexico. He also spoke about TUPA (Transmitters Uniting the People's of the Americas), which was created by Free Radio Berkeley and exists to empower indigenous, campesino, and barrio communities in the Americas with the tools, technology, knowledge and skills to build and maintain their own community broadcast stations.
Lorna Dee Cervantes & Free Radio/ Project TUPA At Denver Zine Fest 3/24
***Saturday, March 24, 10am-6pm*** 2nd Annual DENVER ZINE FEST!!! Andenken Gallery, 2110 Market Street When was the last time you were in a room with hundreds of people who support zines, crafts, art and independent media? For those of you who made it to the last Denver Zine Fest (DZF), we know you’ve been biting your nails all year in eager anticipation. If you missed the spectacular debut DZF, you’re not going to want to have to wait another year.
***Sunday, March 25, 9am-1pm*** Pancake Breakfast Iron Feather Bookshop, 4931 West 38th Ave Don’t want this fabulous weekend to end? We don’t either. Let’s spend one more morning together as a zine community for delicious pancakes and rockin’ DJs in an amazing bookstore.
***ALL EVENTS ARE FREE AND ALL-AGES *** If you are interested in being a vendor at the Denver Zine Fest, check in with us soon – space is quickly running out! *** We’re still looking for volunteers to help the day of the event. Check the website for volunteer opportunities. *** Stay up to date year-round at www.myspace.com/denverzinefest2007 *** Brought to you by the Denver Zine Library (www.denverzinelibrary.org) and Iron Feather Bookshop (ironfeather.com) ***
For more information about the Denver Zine Fest, check out www.denverzinefest.com
Lorna Dee Cervantes At Republic of Boulder This Friday Night
March 23, 2007 at The Republic of Boulder 1095 Canyon Blvd., Boulder, Colorado 80301 7:30 pm
This reading is to celebrate the release of Symposium Magazine! The night will feature Lorna Dee Cervantes, Luis Valadez, Olutunji Okposani, Jenne Vargas, Don Franco, and Peter Rugh.
Lorna Dee Cervantes On "Poem For the Young White Man Who Asked Me How I, An Intelligent Well-Read Person Could Believe In the War Between Races"
Everything you ever wanted to know about my "Poem for the Young White Man ..." yahdayahdayahda but were too polite to bug me about is now to be found on my other blog, the decidedly too self-promo blog now revived after a one year dormancy at Lorna Dice where I tell some stories about the poem - and unmask the Young White Man.
A partially updated CV is now up at my "Lorna Dice" blog site. Sorry, but it's 28 pages single-spaced, and Blogger didn't keep the formatting - or I couldn't figure it out. But, at least it's up.
Lorna Dee Cervantes @ Bay Area Anarchist BookFair 3/17-18
Look for me at the Anarchist BookFair in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park this weekend. I'll be hanging around the Free Radio Berkeley/ Project TUPA table. If you're interested, I'll write you an original personalized poem for a donation to Project TUPA. I'll also be at the panels and talks. And, buying books. Maybe you can even buy mine. Read On!
Let me know if you'd like to meet up. I'm in SF until Monday afternoon.
Top Ten Things I Love and Hate About the AWP Conference
10. All the people! SHEESH. There's no way to see it all and see 'em all. Just no way, so don't even try. Some people I really tried to see: most po' bloggers, Jessica Smith, Alison Stine, Charles, you? Some great people I met: Bill Allegrezza, people from Fresno, my favorite poets from a new anthology of new Latina/o poets, Jonah from Oregon, the "bubble poet" blowing bubbles in the bookfair, Kristy Bowen, among them. I saw Peter Perreira as he was on his way to another off-site reading. Wow, is that guy ever handsome! And, such a fine poet.
9. Marking my program with all the panels I end up not being able to attend because I (a.) oversleep; (b.) can't decide which I want to run to first, so go downstairs and get a strong tea instead; (c.) decide, what the heck, and talk to x---- in the hallway instead.
8. All the new food you get turned onto ("She Crab Soup").
7. The open mike. This year it was great; variety of voices. I really enjoyed a lot of what I heard.
6. The panels. This year I went to the old fogies panel. I really liked what I heard, the poems and the thoughts. An early influence, Diane Wakoski was there reading from a new unpublished book. It's hard to think of her looking for a publisher. How I love all those Black Sparrow books in their fine vellum wrappers. She was exceptionally fine.
5. Recognizing poets waiting for the elevator. Ed H, Stanley P, Coleman B, Yusef K, Al Y....
4. Running into old friends waiting for the elevator; and the ensuing connections and projects: Rosemary Catacalos and John Crawford from West End Press (one of the favorite people in the world). Hated, that there's never enough time; but what time there is is just enough.
3. My panel. This year organized by Wendy Barker with Alicia Ostriker and Kimiko Hahn. Ralph Black wrote a new poem for it that was just a knock-out beauty, and, political. It was all very inspiring and definitely the high-light. I hate having to wait for the end of the conference to present; nervewracking.
2. All the off-site readings. The ones I wanted to attend I had to miss., like the Pussy-Po women's mike night that wednesday before the conference, and all the ones scheduled during the Con Tinta Event. There was no way I could miss that, especially honoring Puerto Rican poet and prof, Judith Ortiz Cofer. Besides, there was no way I could miss the fantastic reading with all the poets from the new anthology assembled. I wrote a blurb for the work, which was only the last sentence of the paragraph I wrote. I could have gone on for pages, too. The anthology is really solid. I had to miss the big Split Rock reading as my stomach was starting to act-up (all the great tasting but bad for my ulcer appetizers at the Con Tinta event) and I wrote my talk that I delivered the next morning instead. Also, loved the Tucson reading with Diane Delgado, one of the more excellent new poets who should have been in that anthology. I liked hearing the Tucson writers, good variety and energy.
1. THE BOOKFAIR! I LOVE bookfairs! I especially love the AWP bookfair. I love buying books at the fair. I miss not having a table to hang out at. I miss not being a publisher. I love talking to publishers, and editors, and people who just love bookfairs. I love all the new people. I love all the old people. I love the great deals I got at the fair, and the giveaways! I hate having to schlep heavy books home. I hate spending several hundred dollars in cash before realizing that I should have gotten receipts for taxes; I know small press people, in particular, can really use cash at bookfairs. I hate not having nearly enough time to spend at the bookfair. I only ended up going through a fraction of it. I love talking to every table (ugh, except for the religious books). I love all the connections I make. And, gotta say it, I love being recognized moseying through a bookfair.
Look for me at the Bay Area Anarchist BookFair in San Francisco Golden Gate Park this weekend, March 17-18. You can find me near the Free Radio Berkeley / Project TUPA table. And, at the Denver Zine Fest where I'll be writing you original, spontaneous and personalized poems in exchange for a donation to Free RadioProject TUPA.
Hosted By: The Age of Garudacoatl When: Friday Mar 09, 2007 at 7:00 PM Where: ALBUMS BISTRO (ON THE HILL) 1124 13TH STREET BOULDER, CO 80302 United States Description: The Age of Garudacoatl
Come support The Age of Garudacoatl at this benefit for Floricanto Naropa featuring performances by Lorna Dee Cervantes, Sheryl Luna, Tim Z. Hernandez, Luis Valadez, Jason McDonald, and Peter Rugh. The night will also feature live music, a DJ, and be hosted by Luis Valadez. All proceeds with benefit the April 20th Floricanto at Naropa University.
"Don't Mourn. Radioize!" Lorna Dee's Paper Delivered at the AWP
"Don't Mourn. Radioize!"
Poetry makes nothing happen -- People do. Poetry is not politics. Politics is not poetry. Politics is not what you write or say, it's what you do. Do it. Do it and what you do will infuse and instigate.
Poetry is not a weapon. Poetry is a way of vision, the most potent and powerful tool there is, just one small part of a process and the one most easily afforded. Poetry, instigated and infused with political action, allows one to write in a language of discovery and not just in rhetorical verses of terse nonsense that make nothing happen.
And there is much that is happening.
And there is much to do. In a world fraught with political peril, a planet in the process of collapsing in on itself due to perilous politics and a distinctive lack of vision, it's as the Borinquen Nuyorican poet, Pedro Pietri, used to say, it's poetry or suicide -- mass suicide without the mass of poetry and the politicized masses.
So, what to do? Don't mourn. Radioize. For the past couple of months I've been involved in the Free Radio movement. Pioneered in the early 90s by Stephen Dunifer of Free Radio Berkeley who would roam the Berkeley hills with a radio transmitter he designed and built, about the size of a six-pack -- with the FCC far in pursuit, Free Radio Berkeley managed to stay on the air for years until a court injunction slapped Stephen with a $10,000 personal fine -- for violating the rights of the rich and privileged to monopolize our airwaves and own our right to peaceful assembly -- on air; for free; in the privacy of our own homes. Free radio is currently involved with Project TUPA. Named after a Mixtec god from Oaxaca, a spirit of the mountains and forests which seemed to fit the "ethereal nature of radio waves," TUPA stands for Transmitters Uniting the Peoples of the Américas. They help to empower people in impoverished communities by offering free and low-cost workshops training people to assemble and maintain their own low-watt radio and television stations in places such as Haiti, Brazil, Venezuela, Chiapas and Oaxaca where last fall a young U.S. journalist, and ex-Boulderite, Brad Will was shot to death while documenting abuses and violent repression against teachers and others protesting a government they feel is corrupt.
My latest book, DRIVE: The First Quartet, opens with a highly unpublishable poem, "Coffee", about the massacre of 45 mostly women and children in Chiapas, in a place called Acteal. Yes, highly unpublishable. I know this. But what I did not know is that it is also an "unairable" poem, even on public radio, even on Democracy Now for which a public reading of it was taped for broadcast until I got to a certain line, naming and criticizing the government (oops, I meant to say the transnational corporate oligarchy) [sings: "N-E-S-T-L-E-S! Nestles makes the very best ... MURDER!"] when David Barsamian and the producer just removed their headsets and shook their heads at each other. It never aired. The poem was presented to about 6,000 assembled under a giant tent at the Dodge Poetry Festival and recorded by Bill Moyers crew -- which appeared on television in a curiously and severely edited and spliced together video version of the original which makes is appear as if I advocate violent revolution. I do not.
I am not a political poet. I am a politicized poet, which is to say, not a drunk or a suicide. As I said in an AWP panel last year on (what else?) the Chicana/o poet and politics, I said that one of these days, one of these years, I will be invited to a conference such as this to speak about "the line" in poetry, and started to cry.
I'm 52 years old. I started at age 8, after being inspired by something I heard on the radio, public radio. That's a lot of lines under someone's thumb. I urge you today -- to do it. Go out and buy someone's book of poetry. Go out today and write some lines. Freely. Openly. And with integrity, the greatest asset a poet can own. And, as I always tell my students, do what is the first, but not sole order of poetry, as one of my favorite poets and philosophers, Joan Armatrading sang it: Show some emotion. E - motion. That wordless state which follows any action. Act. And say. And, do it on air. Sign up for a 4-day summer workshop in Oakland, or bring the workshop to your own communities and for $200 you can learn how to build your own micro-watt radio transmitter and antenna good for broadcasting 10-25 miles or more depending upon the height of the antenna. Let a thousand stations blossom. After all, we are living in a state of emergency. Or, build one and donate it to an impoverished indigenous community. For what greater gift can you give than to help give voice to the voiceless?
And, if not, do what I do. If you can't do, pay. I'm collecting whatever you can donate today to Project TUPA and Free Radio. They need a mere $2,500 to $3,000 to build another 25 radio stations in Mexico. Give what you can now and receive my latest book, my latest "unpublishable" poem. Go to www.freeradio.org and www.radiotupa.org and donate online or send a tax deductible check to Project TUPA/ Global Exchange. Or visit my blog for more information and links. Let me know if you do and I'll send you my book. Donate $200 or more and I'll send you a copy of my 200 page manuscript of new and selected love poems (sure to be a rare collector's item) and 7 cds of love songs. For what can be more political or more politicized than love? Or, more revolutionary.
Now, I'd like to close with one of the most political poems I've ever written. It's a love poem entitled, "Nothing Lasts."
Nothing Lasts
Only the land lasts, not you. Only your steps upon it, the cut glass of memory and your smile within it survives. Only the land lasts; simple rock and the dumb scape of lusting lack, the rack and pinion of flight and fall. Autumn doesn't last. Not spring with all its fine tithings. Not the shine of those young girls' hair, not the waists of women, not the fading fire. Not you and the way we were. Only the land lasts, and the ridges of waiting wearing out the pursed lips of furrowed ranges, and not the cold within their lair. Only the stunned shale, the red-faced cliffs, the heights where someone sometime ascended and stood, and loved, the land layering there laid out out in its full affair, the glinting mica and the dream of hard brooding diamonds, all the hidden glory, the unseen flake of gold and petrified burl. Not this hand stroking life into an empty palm, the smooth skin of summer, the sudden skim of a wayward glance. Nothing of you or the lonelier retreat of other killer mammals and their heat. Nothing lasts but the land, not the water or the tearing, not the creeks and the clearings, not the withered heart nor the soiled clothing of social graces, nor the mouthy flaring of wondered disgrace. Nothing lasts of this house, not the boards nor the worms nor the birds. Not the words I use to slow it down and make it stick. Nothing lasts like the red clouds on the day of your passing, the wicked gassing or the olvido. Nothing lasts but this sand drained of your sea; this chisled frown in the chipped flint, this skirting of canyon, this flaw and filing, this grinding down but lasting, the silk touch in a handhold, in the holding out for the summit. Nothing but the wounding in the craters, the uplift and the gurgling lava; all the ways we read a stone's hieroglyphics, the ore's heavy lead. Were we to discover, we would uncover a myth, the stories we tell to renew the pact with this earth. This, love. Nothing lasts but the land and our love of it.
Lorna Dee Cervantes presented at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference in Atlanta, GA March 3, 2007
Returned from the AWP after airline hell. My flight was cancelled due to snow in Denver, then that one cancelled as it went through Chicago which cancelled a bunch of flights. So I had to try and fly back earlier stand-by, but no go as the airport was filled with people trying to get to Colorado to go skiing, besides AWP folk. I went up and down gate to gate schlepping all the heavy books I bought (like Silliman's latest tome) only to have to bed down at the local Econolodge and listen to planes all night. So, my ulcer started acting up and I ran out of po chai pills. At least this time I waited until the end of the conference before I started vomiting. I got in late last night, throwing up the whole way. I couldn't keep anything down for a couple of days, not food or water, and I had to cancel classes again today. Not good. But hard to leave the house when you're vomiting. Beside, just being physically wiped out. It was hard to stand. But po chai pills working their magic. And yerba mate tea. I'll be fine in no time.
More about the AWP soon. It's always good to see old friends and the strangers who are friends I haven't met yet. But I want to post my panel talk first. Meanwhile, good AWP links on Eduardo's blog. Anyone else?
I'm at the Hilton tonight (great Priceline deal) in Atlanta. Come find me. Tonight join us in celebrating the work of local Georgia poet, Judith Cofer, one of my favorite Borinquen poets, at the off-site Con Tinta event. And, come buy my book, DRIVE: The First Quartet, or exchange. My publisher, Wings Press, just signed a big contract with a major distributor - so no more book fairs and he's not here this year. Otherwise, I don't know if anyone is carrying them. Tomorrow morning, join me, Wendy Barker, Alicia Ostriker, Kimiko Hahn and others for a panel on poetry and politics.
Saturday, March 3 9:00 - 10:45 Hilton Towers - Atlanta Salon C 2nd Floor
S111. Does Poetry Make Nothing Happen?: Politics and the Poet. (Wendy Barker, Ralph Black, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Kimiko Hahn, Alicia Ostriker, Kevin Clark) In a time when Earth's future seems in the balance, a poet may feel only, to quote W. S. Merwin, "another priest of ornaments." Yet poets have always witnessed and warned of crises-Homer, Chaucer, Blake, Whitman, Celan, Neruda, and Ahkmatova were all political poets. Our panelists will read from their own poems, and discuss the problems they face and the strategies they employ to address their concerns. ---------------------------------- Con Tinta Celebration Friday, March 2 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Mitra Restaurant (Directions from Conference Hotel to Mitra Restaurant are below)
818 Juniper Street NE, Atlanta GA 30308 www.mitrarestaurant.com / 404-875-5515
Open Buffet * Cash Bar Free Admission * Public is Invited
Featuring an award presentation to Judith Ortiz Cofer
With a reading by Poets featured in The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry (A Camino del Sol title from the University of Arizona Press) edited by Francisco Aragón
From: Hilton Atlanta, AWP Conference Hotel: 255 Courtland St Ne Atlanta, GA 30303-1265
To: Mitra Restaurant, Con Tinta Celebration Venue 818 Juniper St Ne Atlanta, GA 30308-1312
Driving Directions:
1. Start out going SOUTH on COURTLAND ST NE toward HARRIS ST NE. (.3 miles) 2. Turn LEFT onto HARRIS ST NE. (0.12 miles) 3. Turn LEFT onto PIEDMONT AVE NE. (1.21 miles) 4. Turn LEFT onto 7TH ST NE. (0.09 miles) 5. Turn LEFT onto JUNIPER ST NE. (0.11 miles) 6. End at 818 Juniper St Ne Atlanta, GA 30308-1312 US
Total Estimated Time: 4 minutes; Total Distance: 1.55 miles ************************************************************************
CON TINTA is a coalition of cultural activists (Chicano/Latino poets and writers) who believe in affirming a positive and pro-active presence in American literature. We come together in the spirit of intellectual exchange, of creating dialogue with our communities and beyond, of recognizing our literary and social histories, and of establishing alliances with other cultural and political organizations.
Lorna Dee Cervantes @ AWP Atlanta - "Does Poetry Make Nothing Happen?"
Saturday, March 3 9:00 - 10:45 Hilton Towers - Atlanta Salon C 2nd Floor
S111. Does Poetry Make Nothing Happen?: Politics and the Poet. (Wendy Barker, Ralph Black, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Kimiko Hahn, Alicia Ostriker, Kevin Clark) In a time when Earth's future seems in the balance, a poet may feel only, to quote W. S. Merwin, "another priest of ornaments." Yet poets have always witnessed and warned of crises-Homer, Chaucer, Blake, Whitman, Celan, Neruda, and Ahkmatova were all political poets. Our panelists will read from their own poems, and discuss the problems they face and the strategies they employ to address their concerns. ----------------------------------- Today, it's raining hard in Atlanta. I'm listening to Paul Pena and thinking about going to get wet. Join me at the Old Tucson reading tonight with Diane Delgado and the Con Tinta reading honoring Judith Cofer tomorrow night. I'm at the Best Western at the the Peach Trees - come find me, especially if you'd like to buy a book or trade.
And the best thing about it is that I'm not sick this year. YEA!
p.s. there are real southerners in the south, if you know what I mean
Listen to Lorna Dee Reading About Love On the Radio - Project TUPA & Free Radio With Stephen Dunifer
The KGNU radio show with Stevyn Ironfeather was downright fun. I really enjoyed meeting Stevyn and his wife at the station. It felt good to be around radio folk again. And, big coup, Stephen Dunifer of the Free Radio movement called in from Berkeley. You can listen in for a few weeks while this is archived as the Afternoon Sound Alternative, February 26, 1-4pm. You can download the whole show, I start around 1:45. Listen in and hear my prose piece on love and locura. I was channeling my inner Andre Codrescu. Then, listen to us talk about Project TUPA: Transmitters Uniting the Peoples of the Americas which desperately needs your donations now to fund this next round of workshops training teachers to build their own radio stations. Donate now and get free cds and books from me, Lorna Dee.
"My Gift is that I'm not beautiful.
My career was never about looks.
It's about health and being in good shape." ~Shirley Maclaine/
For Lalo, because I miss your "¡Ajúa!"
Lorna Dee Cervantes is available for readings, musical performances with brother Steve, lectures, school visits, private manuscript consultations & summer workshops in Mexico, Poetry In Paradise at Taller Ixchel with Tammy Gomez. Write PoetDee at mac dot com.
