Other Campaign '07 (Part 2: NYC)

Message from the Zapatistas

Movement for Justice in El Barrio (MJB) is the most visible, organized presence of Mexican adherents to the Zapatistas' Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle in New York City. You can catch up on them by reading last year's article, "Walking, We Ask Questions."

Since then, a big victory against one of the worst landlords in New York City, and possibly the worst in El Barrio, secured MJB the superlative "Best Power-to-the-People Movement" in the Village Voice's Best of New York '06. They were also awarded the venerable (and useful) Union Square Award.

At the end of October, organizers with MJB traveled to the US/Mexico border at Ciudad Juarez to attend a meeting of the Other Campaign with the Zapatistas' Delegate Zero (Subcomandante Marcos). As MJB's membership is almost entirely undocumented and/or contingent workers, they could not travel down to the meeting en masse and so they created a video, "Message to the Zapatistas", to bring more of their voices and message to the meeting.

Now MJB is hosting screenings of the Zapatistas' reply, "Message from the Zapatistas." If you are in the NYC area, consider coming to El Barrio for MJB's screening for the general public (they've already done screenings for their membership and the neighborhood). The message is directed not just to the members of MJB, or even all adherents to the Sixth Declaration in NYC, but more broadly to "historically marginalized peoples struggling for social justice, including women, gays, lesbians, transgendered and indigenous peoples..."

Here's the call out:

Save the Date!!

Tuesday, February 20th, Movement for Justice in El Barrio will present a New York city wide premiere of our all-new interview with Subcomandante Marcos! The interview includes a special message for historically marginalized peoples struggling for social justice, including women, gays, lesbians, transgendered and indigenous peoples and a special message to the Other Campaign in New York!

What: Screening of Message from the Zapatistas
When: Tuesday, February 20th, 7:00 PM
Where: Julia de Burgos Cultural Center
1680 Lexington Ave Btw. E. 105th & E. 106th St.

Who We Are:

We are the color of the earth. We are women, men, youth and children of corn. We are Mexican immigrants. We have not lived in our Mexico for a long time, but Mexico is still the air we breathe, still the pulse of our heart, it is still the thought that fills our minds. We were born in our Mexican lands and our Mexico’s lands were born in us.

We are Movement for Justice in El Barrio, an organization of immigrants fighting for justice in East Harlem.

As immigrants, we were forced to leave our native country because of a savage neoliberal economic system. Here in the U.S, we are affected by neoliberalism on a daily basis. Gentrification pushes us out of our homes in El Barrio. Exploitation at the workplace forces us to work twelve hours daily for poverty wages. Racist immigration policies attempt to criminalize and dehumanize us.

In New York, we fight against neoliberalism in all its forms. We fight against racism, xenophobia, sexism, classism, and homophobia.

We fight for humanity.

So I'll see you on the 20th...and stay tuned in the coming months for more news on the Other Campaign in NYC!