Prita Lal on the 2nd Encuentro

photo: Jennifer Whitney

"Visiting the Zapatistas reinforced to me the strength of women and the vital role they play in the community."
-Prita Lal, 26, Organizer and Student in NYC

Earlier this summer, Prita and I traveled together with over 70 other people as part of the Another Politics is Possible delegation from New York City to the US Social Forum in Atlanta. Below is an in-depth interview where she reflects on her organizing in NYC, her life, and her experiences at the Second Encounter of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World.

Also this week, an effective action in NYC against representatives of Oaxacan Governor Ulises Ruiz; an excellent new film on Oaxaca is out, the Other Campaign mobilizes to defend itself; a national encuentro of the Other Campaign has been called for by collectives and individuals from Los Angeles, Fresno and Santa Barbara; Elvira Arrellano continues her struggle from México; and protests, police provocateurs, and sabotage against the Harper/Bush/Calderón meeting in Canada...

Interview with Prita Lal
August 23, 2007

RJ Maccani: Before we get into discussing the Zapatista encuentro you attended, I want to ask some questions about you. For starters, what do you do in your daily life?

Prita Lal: I live in NYC and am part of two community organizations: Center for Immigrant Families (CIF), which is a community organization of low-income immigrant women of color that uses popular education to organize for personal and social transformation in upper Manhattan; and Casa Atabex Aché (Casa), which means House of Womyn’s Power, and is a natural health and wellness center for womyn of color in the South Bronx that organizes for personal, spiritual, and collective transformation through earth-based, holistic and alternative healing techniques. I am also a graduate student in history and anthropology.

Have you always lived in NYC? How did you find yourself working with CIF and Casa?

My parents migrated to the U.S. from India in the early 1970s. I was born in Queens, NY but then (after over a decade of living in the NYC area), my family moved to Louisiana when I was 3 years old. I grew up in small towns between Louisiana and Georgia until I was 17. Having been raised in the Deep South as a child of South Asian immigrants really helped politicize me at an early age because of injustices I experienced and witnessed both because of race and class.

I went to college in New Orleans and developed my political analysis through living there and experiencing the gross disparities between the mostly white and wealthy college campus that was located in a predominately black and very poor community. I moved back to NYC four years ago and had been working with immigrant worker rights groups (specifically with grocery delivery and domestic workers in the West African and South Asian communities) before I began working at CIF and Casa.

Could you tell us a bit more about the history of Center for Immigrant Families and what the day-to-day work looks like?

Center for Immigrant Families (CIF) is a collectively-run organization of low-income immigrant women of color and community members in Manhattan Valley (Uptown NYC). Committed to a holistic vision of organizing, our stories and lived experiences are central to building a community that works towards social transformation and promotes justice, mutuality, love, trust, and dignity.

CIF was founded in 1997 in response to the increased forms of institutionalized oppression facing immigrant families and communities. Assaults have consistently mounted in recent years, from the passage of the 1996 immigration and welfare "reform" laws, which gratuitously attacked and unfairly targeted immigrant communities, particularly women and children of color, to attacks on bilingual education, the push for English-only laws, and the further criminalization of undocumented immigrants.

CIF's founding program, the Escuela Popular de Mujeres/Women's Popular Education Program, is driven by a deep understanding of and faith in the transformational and healing power – for individuals and communities – of sharing our stories. At CIF, this is where we begin, with our migration stories; for us, these stories are not mere reminders of when we arrived or of our cultural heritage, but they are also about why we came, who and what we left behind, our expectations for life here, and what we found when we arrived. Our stories become the foundation for developing a collective analysis of why we are here as well as of the realities and challenges we face in the U.S. and what we can do collectively to address them. Integrated into our work is also leadership development and skills building to organize for justice.

From the Escuela program (since many of our members have identified public education as one reason we continue to live in this country in spite of the hardships), our Project to Challenge Segregation in OUR Public School System arose—in which we are fighting to take back our schools and make them accountable to our community. We're addressing public ed within a broader context of community displacement, as the schools have become a gateway for exclusion, displacement, and segregation in all the neighborhoods that comprise our school district. As part of the Escuela, we also have an English Literacy Project--we offer English classes that challenge the traditional ESL model thereby making English language learning a tool of resistance. To support the work of the Escuela, we developed the Women's Circles program, which provides a space for healing from the ways in which the system affects us internally. Lastly, we have developed a Resource Center library, in the face of dwindling community services, that complements CIF's work and shares information about advocacy and other organizing on a wide array of issues, including but not limited to violence against women, immigrants' rights, housing, and health.

…and what about Casa Atabex Aché?

Casa began to take form since the 1960s; the founders were part of the Black Panthers and Young Lords Parties. They saw that community members were constantly being given drugs to treat illnesses caused by all the injustices happening in their communities, but that this did nothing to challenge the systems causing the oppressions—namely capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. The founding womyn sought to develop a space to heal from the violence that people internalize as a result of living in this society—we heal through our tears, experiences, and knowledge of our ancestors.

We organize monthly healing circles in which women of color come together to break the silence around issues affecting our community and heal from various kinds of trauma and violence we experience. Casa has developed an emotional release model that integrates different indigenous healing modalities such as herbology, aromatherapy, yoga, the seven chakras, and seasonal nutrition to move toxic energy out of our bodies so that they do not develop into diseases. We use earth-based spirituality to create sacred space to align ourselves with the healing elements of the season for the healing of our mind, body and spirit.

The monthly healing circles are part of ACHE, which is the first alternative Womyn’s Health & Wellness Cooperative in the South Bronx. Through ACHE, we are creating our model for sustainable and accessible healthcare for community members, activists & organizers. The cooperative will support the health and wellness needs of womyn while being a respite to integrate self-care into our daily practice and heal from internalized oppression. We also have a Young Womyn’s Fuerza/Power program and a “Healing the Rainbow” program that is geared towards the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Two-Spirit, and Queer community.

When and how did you first learn of the Zapatista struggle?

I came to know about the Zapatista struggle through these past few years of work within immigrant communities of color in NYC. Casa went to visit the Zapatistas over a year ago. Inspiration from that visit led to the creation of “ACHE” (Alternative Cooperative for Healing and Empowerment), our autonomous alternative health and wellness initiative in the South Bronx.

Similarly, CIF has learned from and draws inspiration from the Zapatistas, among many other movements. Recently, we had a series of workshops that lead up to our participation in the US Social Forum. Some of the intentions of the workshops were to build the leadership skills of members and develop our political analysis. For one of the workshops, we read a recent essay by Subcomandante Marcos entitled “Qué tan grande es el mundo?” (How big is the world?). To me, this piece speaks about the scope of injustices happening in the world and the importance of relating our struggles to those happening everywhere else. I think this piece relates to CIF’s work because it helps us to think beyond our organizing work locally and put our struggle in a larger context of movement building in solidarity with oppressed people all over the world.

Could you give us a general outline of what you participated in and experienced in this trip to Mexico and to the Zapatista Caracoles?

We went to 3 Zapatista Caracoles (Caracoles literally means ‘snails’ and they are the centers of Zapatista autonomous government): Oventik for the first 2 days, Morelia for the next 4, and then La Realidad for the last 2 days. Oventik is located close to San Cristobal, so traveling there was pretty easy, while La Realidad was deep in the jungle close to the Guatemalan border, so we spent a good bit of time traveling there via truck. It was really a special opportunity to have the chance to go so far into the jungle and experience the natural beauty of this area. We basically camped out in all 3 caracoles. During the day, in each caracol, there would be ‘mesas’ that we would participate in—which were basically plenaries about various themes like health, education, struggles of women, the juntas de buen gobierno (“councils of good government”), autonomy, and collective work done by different municipals within the caracoles. The plenaries were 45 minutes each and then there would be 15 minutes at the end for questions (hand written).

There was also a delegation of farmers and representatives from farmer’s organizations who are part of an international network called Vía Campesina. Delegates came from South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Brazil, U.S., Canada, and Mexico. During one day in Morelia, Vía Campesina held a program in which delegates spoke about the injustices and oppression experienced by farmers in their native countries.

There were also cultural performances during the evening after the plenaries finished, such as Zapatista youth performing theater pieces, and the evenings would usually finish with a band playing and a ‘baile popular.’ There were also kitchens and stores set up to provide for our nourishment. There were also collectives from different parts of Mexico that would have tables or share info about the work they are doing—such as artists or indy media collectives. I also had plenty of opportunity to talk with and get to know folks doing interesting work—I mainly met people from the global north and Mexico City.

Having never visited the Zapatistas before, why did you decide to attend this Encuentro?

My friend told me about the Encuentro and said it would be an amazing opportunity to visit the Zapatistas. Since Casa is located in the South Bronx (with a large Latina community) and CIF’s membership is primarily Latina, I was already traveling to Guatemala to study Spanish in order to make my work in NYC more effective. So I was already close to Chiapas, and since I am a part of two organizations that are working to build autonomous communities, and since building autonomous and collective leadership is a struggle in our capitalist society, I was hoping to draw inspiration that would inform the work we’re doing and learn any lessons from the Zapatista struggle.

And were there lessons you were able to learn from the Zapatista struggle?

I’m still discovering the lessons I learned from the Zapatistas during this Encuentro as I continue to reflect on this experience. Some of the things I have learned from the Zapatistas deals with their courage and commitment. The fact that they are in a low-intensity war against the mal gobierno ["bad government"] means to me that they have developed a mastery (if you will) of fear such that they are ready to literally fight for their values and autonomy.

I also feel like lessons can be drawn from their courage to rise up against the oppressors and stand firm in their beliefs to the point that they resist efforts to be bribed into complying with the system by refusing to receive benefits or privileges from it. For instance, the Zapatistas would mention the attempts made by the mal gobierno to provide funds for community development projects, but that they would remain solid and not accept these funds so that they can retain their autonomy. I feel like they can see through these attempts to receive benefits from the mal gobierno as attempts to co-opt their movement and find it to be admirable and something to learn from. I also really appreciated their veneration for their ancestors and their knowledge as central in their work.

In regards to their ancestral knowledge and practices, they seemed to be at the same time very deliberate and careful about how much and what knowledge they would share with outsiders. I seemed to get the strong impression (based on the plenaries and discussions with other people at the Encuentro) that the Zapatistas are not interested in having outsiders come in and join their community. For instance, they seem to place limits on how long outsiders can stay within their communities and they seem to have a deliberate and careful process of sharing information about their work with outsiders. It seems to me that these are efforts to protect their knowledge and hence their autonomy.

I also feel like movements in the U.S. can draw lessons from the Zapatistas going beyond the demanding rights from the state model and actually creating alternatives. The Zapatistas said that they refused to continue waiting to get rights from the state, because they would actually only get lies. To me, this shows their commitment and belief in their people and in their community—that they don’t need to rely on a state to regulate their relations, but that they can do it themselves. I also felt like it was powerful to see their commitment to collective work as critical to their communities. This is especially an important lesson because in the U.S., we get so trained to operate in hierarchies and we internalize assumptions that hierarchies are the most ‘efficient’ and effective way of organizing our relations, so its really important to see entire communities thriving through collective organization as a source of inspiration.

Also, visiting the Zapatistas reinforced to me the strength of women and the vital role they play in the community. Their firm commitment to prioritizing the leadership of women is also an important lesson.

What were the most powerful aspects of the Encuentro for you?

It was a very powerful experience to stay in the caracoles—I felt a connection to mother nature that I haven’t felt before. Living so one with nature is an experience hard to describe, but there was this feeling in the air, the spirit and energy present, its like I could feel the spirit of the ancestors in the area and the efforts to hold on to indigenous knowledge. The Vía Campesina program was very powerful as well. They began their program with a theater performance in which the stage was set up with crops and different fabrics to represent the earth. Some delegates were pretending to farm and cultivate the earth until they got forced off their land from people representing the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organization, etc. One of the people from the delegation was singing a powerful song during this reenactment about the plight of farmers. I was so moved I was brought to tears! It was also very powerful to see thousands of people from so many countries gather in solidarity with Zapatismo.

Was there anything you were hoping to experience, share, learn or connect with at the Encuentro that either did not happen or -if you had a question- that you still feel unclear about?

I did expect the Encuentro to be more participatory, and to have more space to talk directly with the Zapatistas. I can understand for security reasons why the Zapatistas would be weary of sharing too deeply about their work given the large number of attendees (perhaps to protect their autonomy), however, I did leave feeling like I would have appreciated the opportunity to dialogue more directly with them. I also hoped to have seen more people from the Global South represented. Although the Vía Campesina delegation was very powerful, it was disappointing that the farmers from the U.S. and Canada were white. I wonder why there couldn’t have been indigenous or African-American farmers represented in the delegation.

It was also disappointing that there was supposed to be a Vía Campesina delegate from Africa participating in the Encuentro, but their visa was denied. I was also expecting to meet more people from other Latin American countries, but felt like most of the folks I met were from Mexico and mainly from the capital city. I actually was talking to folks in Guatemala about this and learned that even to travel to Mexico as a Guatemalan, for instance, is difficult because the authorities would assume that they would be trying to cross the border into the U.S., or stay and work ‘illegally’ in Mexico. So, I was surprised to realize that even traveling to Mexico is a privilege not accorded to many.

What questions do you bring from the Encuentro back to your life, work, and communities in the USA?

How do we challenge neoliberalism and capitalism in our daily work? Attending the Encuentro reinforced the idea for me that there is no such thing as a utopia—so long as capitalism exists, we are all implicated in it. I did notice some contradictions within the Zapatista struggle such as a gendered division of labor in which women were predominantly responsible for preparing food while men collected money—in spite of an explicit attempt to prioritize the leadership of women and challenge machismo in their communities; the selling of corporate products like Coca-Cola in the stores; and the attendees of this ‘Encuentro de los Pueblos Zapatistas con los Pueblos del Mundo’, not exactly reflective of the people of the world (i.e., large number of attendees were white and from the Global North—and in my perception—very sparse representation of working-class folks from the global South)). I also think that although the Zapatistas are firmly committed to living autonomously from the mal gobierno, they are nonetheless connected and perhaps I could even say beholden to the state system in some ways. For instance, I noticed in the Junta de Buen Gobierno’s office that attendees were expressing interest in donating funds or other resources to the Zapatistas. The Zapatistas indeed repeated during the Encuentro that support from the national and international community has afforded them the opportunity to develop their projects better, and I got the impression that one of their intentions for the Encuentro was to continue building this support so that they could raise more resources for their projects in the future. Thus, national and international support has played some kind of role in the Zapatista’s movement, yet the attendees of the Encuentro (as well as other folks who visit Zapatista territory) had to pass through state controlled immigration officials in order to get to the autonomous liberated zone, and indeed state authorities play a role in determining who is able to enter the country (and hence Zapatista land). All this to say that the Zapatistas are still connected to state systems and, I may even say, rely on them to some degree in their struggle for autonomy. I don’t bring up these contradictions to judge the Zapatistas in any way, just to point out that to me, social transformation is really a process and not an end result and so the importance of constantly reflecting on how we are challenging these systems of oppression in our daily lives and work.

Were you able to attend the plenary in San Cristobal that preceded the Encuentro; the one where Marcos discussed different forms of anti-capitalism and the use of Coca-Cola as a replacement for alcohol in the communities?

No, I was not able to attend this plenary. I certainly would have appreciated attending it since I am only beginning the process of thinking through the relationship between the Zapatistas and Coca-Cola, so I am sure there are complexities and nuances that I have yet to discover or understand. However, just to share some of my initial reactions: I understand that Marcos has made speeches in which he criticized people for critiquing their selling of coke products, etc, and to them, it’s more important to seize the means of production than simply change consumption patterns. I also think we need to do much more than simply change consumption patterns—especially since no matter what, so long as global capitalism exists, we are all perpetuating its systems regardless of how hard we try to avoid patronizing certain oppressive corporations. So, I agree with this discourse, but I guess I am just wondering why the Zapatistas would sell products produced by a company that is responsible for the murder of folks in Latin America and campesinos in other parts of the third world. I just find it to be a bit of a shock, to be committed to taking over the means of production in an anti-capitalist way, but at the same time help support a capitalist enterprise that is causing their injustices and the injustices experienced by compas in the global south.

I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive, meaning that we don’t have to do either one or the other. I think it’s important that the two go together; because otherwise it’s kind of like we're stabbing ourselves in the back (creating autonomous alternatives/taking over the means of production, but at the same time, supporting the very institutions that are causing the oppression our communities experience in the first place...).

What else do you bring back with you?

An increased respect for the earth and nature. A firmer commitment to the importance of reclaiming our indigenous knowledge. One of the Zapatista health promoters talked about how their community lost the knowledge of their ancestors in regards to health and healing because of the Spanish invaders who said the knowledge of their grandmothers was savagery, and how they have been working hard since their revolt to reclaim indigenous healing modalities. I can really relate to these sentiments just from my own community, so really take this to heart and find inspiration in it.

And by “my community” I am referring to my upbringing in the South Asian diaspora—always feeling like I was living in exile—never really at home in the U.S. or in India. It was difficult growing up in the Bible belt south while being raised by devote Hindu parents. I felt the pressure to assimilate at a young age—by feeling ashamed of my family’s language, culture, and habits.

Also, my schooling was very euro-centric and we were not taught the value of the histories of people of color. It was very enlightening (for lack of a better word…) for me to have the opportunity to take ethnic studies classes in college. Indeed, my last trip to India was very different than ones I had taken before that. After having studied the history of India intensively in grad school, I felt much more connected and comfortable in the country in a way I had not before (although I still do recognize the tensions within this given the oppressive role the academy plays and/or can play as well…).

One of the challenges growing up in the diaspora is having to deal with the ways in which Western culture exoticizes my native culture—it’s offensive because white people try to have it both ways: to retain their white privilege while taking the culture of brown people. After experiencing how protective the Zapatistas were with their knowledge and community, it seems to me that this is important to retain the autonomy of one’s community and to resist efforts at co-optation and the stealing of knowledge. For instance, by being open and allowing outsiders to join your community and soak up the knowledge, it helps facilitate the theft and co-optation of this knowledge.

Before, I had always felt like something was wrong with me because I did not retain elements of my ancestral practices and knowledge and felt like there was so much I didn’t know. But after visiting the Zapatistas, I realized (since they also expressed that their indigenous knowledge got lost through colonialism, assimilation, etc,) that this loss of knowledge is something shared by all colonized peoples. It was inspiring to hear that this process of recuperating lost knowledge is not something I am alone in doing, but that it is shared by other communities as well.

Do you have any plans to stay connected to the Zapatistas, the Other Campaign, and/or the Zezta Internazional? If so, what are some next steps?

Definitely feel renewed inspiration and commitment to the work I am doing with CIF and Casa. I do feel like our work is strongly connected to the ideas of Zapatismo so, yes, I am feeling a stronger commitment.

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Campesinos of the World

Peasant Representatives from Korea, Brazil, the USA and Mexico speaking together in Chiapas prior to the Second Encuentro of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World

I'm excited to present this first of several reportbacks from the Second Encuentro, and related events, such as this plenary.

Also check out these new reports from Movement for Justice in El Barrio on their continued organizing against repression of the Other Campaign and their upcoming activities in NYC and beyond. For their part, the Zapatistas have just released a new communiqué regarding the upcoming Indigenous Encuentro, even as they face new paramilitary hostilities against bases of support and women. Also of note this week, the North American heads of state (of which at least 2 of 3 can hardly say they were elected!) are meeting in Canada right now to further solidify with the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" an anti-democratic, NAFTA meets the War on Terror, agenda. And as Naomi Klein recently reminded us, "...we never lost the battle of ideas...we only lost a series of dirty wars..." And so, with that in mind, here's our first reportback:

Facing Capitalist Disposession, the Defense of Land and Territory
a reportback by Jennifer Whitney
from the July 19th Plenary featuring members of Via Campesina and the Zapatistas at the University of the Land in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México

We arrived at the Round Table Among the Campesinos of the World nearly an hour late, which is to say, before anything had begun. Representatives from Vía Campesina, a global organization of farmers and fisherfolk with members in over 50 countries, were there to share their experiences of struggle, and to attend the entire encuentro.

We were greeted warmly at the entrance to the The University of the Land, which, when it is not the site of an international plenary, offers three- and six-month programs to indigenous people, covering a wide range of trades, including carpentry, sewing, mechanics, computer skills, and more. The campus is beautiful – it sits far back from the outlying neighborhood, down a rough muddy road from which it climbs up the forested hillside. It is full of new landscaping, white gravel pathways lined by saplings, canna lilies exploding with red blossoms around the dormitories. Its focal point, at least for tonight, is a beautiful octagonal building, with windows on all sides.

The octagon was far too small for the 2,500 or so of us that wanted to attend the discussion; and clearly this was not unpredicted – sloping down the hill from the octagon was a long narrow strip of bench seating, covered by a bit of roof. Approaching it from below reminded me a bit of the arduously climbing infinite staircases leading to the churches to the east and west of San Cristóbal – the likes of which can be found in most towns I’ve seen in southern México.

Dotting the rest of the campus were other wooden buildings – classrooms, dormitories, a communal kitchen, a library. I followed the signs that pointed the way to the registration and credentialing office, bumping into a few old friends from San Cristóbal and Mexico City along the way.

Despite the fact that I had registered online about five hours prior, my credential had already been handwritten, laminated, and filed neatly away with stacks and stacks of others. I gave the requested two peso donation to cover the costs of the pass, and was on my way in five minutes – surely the most efficient registration system of up to three thousand people I’ve ever encountered.

When I returned to the hall, the evening’s host had just introduced Dong Uk Min from the Campesino League of Korea, who started off by speaking of his movement’s participation in the WTO protests in Hong Kong. He then spoke of their desire for a united Korea, and of the difficulty they have had, uniting the farmers with the workers of the cities – how a large part of their work is to demonstrate the common interests of both groups, and to this end, the campesinos have begun attending the demonstrations of the urban workers and unemployed:

We’re building a large national alliance now. We promise that within the next ten years, we campesinos will create a new country where we will be the caretakers of the land, and through it all we will remain in solidarity with the Mexican campesinos’ struggle.

Soraia Soriano of the Movimento Sem Terra (MST) of Brasil then spoke of the confusion that the election of the supposedly leftist president Lula wrought on her organization, and the left in general, with some people wanting to be patient and give him time to enact reforms that would bring about substantive change, and others quick to recognize that all the so-called public works projects that his government invested in were to develop the export economy rather than to invest in internal and social development. She spoke most about the land crisis, which is, among Latin American countries, worse in Brazil than anywhere else. In particular, she focused on the disaster that ethanol production was already creating in the countryside, and with Brazil poised to become the hemisphere’s main producer and refiner of agro-fuels, that things could only get worse. Yet, in the face of so much bad news, she managed to bring some hope into plenary:

Compas, as we have seen, we have many reasons to be pessimistic, but in our hearts we have a lot of optimism. We face a challenge – to build a new cycle of the left, with new forms of politics. We know that the enemy is big capital, and that we have to develop our politics at the same time as we fight capitalism. As we say, no one person has the answer; we have to think strategically, and find the first, second, and third answers.

George Naylor, a corn and soy farmer from Iowa, who is the out-going director of the National Family Farm Coalition of the US followed up with an overview of how, since the worship of the market (that he identified as coming with the Cold War), US farming has been suffering under systematical destruction. He began by mentioning that the family farm only ever existed because of the theft of indigenous land by his (our) European ancestors, and also spoke admiringly of indigenous food security plans he was learning about. Offering sobering statistics on the concentration of food cultivation in so few hands, and the possible impacts of a further-increased specialization, with the boom market of ethanol cultivation threatening to take over even more land with monocultural industrial crops, he made it clear that this system is far from isolated to the US: “I’ve been privileged to be able to travel the world and I tell the people everywhere that farmers in the US have lived the future of the market and we know that it is going to destroy you.” With that, he planted the question in all of our minds – who will feed us in ten years, and from what land?

Wrapping all of this up was Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, Delegado Zero of the Sixth Commission of the EZLN. He began by holding up a soft drink can, and recounting a story of how, during the last encuentro, when the Zapatistas asked for comments and discussion, someone brought up several transnational products that were for sale in the stores at Oventik, dumped them on the table with a “dramatic gesture,” and criticized and condemned the Zapatistas for selling such products. “We remained silent during this judgment and condemnation, as a matter of courtesy, not because we were in agreement with what he said. And now I am going to explain what that silence meant,” said el Sub. He carried on saying that there were many ways of attacking capitalism:

You could choose to consume in an anticapitalist way, like he who judged us suggested, by picking one product over another, or you could try to influence the flow of commodities by boycotting big stores and corporations, and only buying from small businesses, both of which are “respectable” ways of struggling. But, the Zapatistas, in developing the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandón Jungle, said, ‘Well, of course, the problem with capitalism is that very few are the owners of everything, and very many own nothing, and this must change, must be turned on its head, subverted turned around.’ That is to say, the Zapatistas decided to become anticapitalist and attack the means of production, and he who judged and condemned us, and those who applauded him – they thought that our anticapitalism was not attainable, and that theirs is better, more visible, more immediate….We say that our anticapitalism is more unassuming – it’s aimed at the very heart of the system, because you can change your consumption habits, or the ways and means of circulating commodities, but if you don’t change the means of production or the exploitation, capitalism carries on, alive and operational.

He carried on, sharpening his critique, and his tongue, adding that,

Years ago, before our revolutionary laws were in existence and before we began our war…people used to make booze, from sugar cane, or corn, or fermented banana…. And so, with out any transnational consumption, without exploiting labor (because the workers made it in their own milpas…), and without enriching the bank accounts of the CEOs, people got drunk, beat and raped women, mistreated children. It was an anticapitalist alcoholism, but it was and is a crime. And since the uprising, the Zapatista women reject alcoholism, whether it be capitalist or anticapitalist.

Afterwards, during the standing ovation that followed, the Sub added, “PS. PS, that tells an anti-gender tale,” and the room filled with gasps and then silences. The tale was great, and invoked the unfazeable character Elias Contreras, of the Zapatista Investigation Commission, who, to my knowledge, first appeared in Marcos’ detective story, Muertos Incomodos: falta lo que falta, co-written two years ago with Paco Ignacio Taibo II. In the PS, Elias tells a story to a person called Magdalena, who is “transsexual, that is to say, neither man nor woman, but both.” Elias addresses Magdalena as “compañeroa,” (no @, no slash between that “o” and “a” but rather, both are pronounced in this five syllable word, for those of you who know a little Spanish). The story concluded like this:

Magdalena asked, ‘But why do you use the word “ellos” when you know that they are male and female at the same time?’ Elias got very serious, with a far away look, and said, ‘Well, it’s because we Zapatistas know that there are things for which there are no words, and we have to use the words we have, but we know well that even though we don’t know how to name them very well, they still exist…And one day…one day we will have words in order to understand that which we now do not understand, because there are many worlds that exist, even though they don’t have names.’… Long live that which still remains nameless!

And with that high-velocity journey through “ethical” consumption, taking over means of production, alcoholism, and genderqueer linguistic debates, the event was over, and as people streamed down from the building, a tumultuous melee of enthusiastic greetings and chattering ensued. The enthusiasm burned from people’s eyes, glittering in the streetlights. This thing had finally begun, and what a beginning!

Jennifer Whitney is co-author of We Are Everywhere: the irresistible rise to global anticapitalism, (Verso, 2003) and co-founder of the Seattle marching band, the Infernal Noise Brigade. After hurricane Katrina hit her home state of Louisiana, she moved back to New Orleans where she coordinates a free mobile health clinic for day laborers, and where carnival gloriously erupts in the streets more frequently than in most places she's ever seen. She currently is trying to figure out how best to support solidarity work between hurricane-affected peoples of the US Gulf Coast and of México and Central America.

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Womyn's Encuentro!

Third Encuentro of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World
"Comandanta Ramona and the Women Zapatistas"

Comandanta Ramona

UPDATES
12/31/07: Bilingual coverage of the Womyn's Encuentro at Indymedia Chiapas
12/23/07: Information, themes and schedule for the encuentro here

You can now find Sunday's post, "Abstention in Oaxaca," at Narco News. Without further ado, here's my English translation of the announcement for the Third Encuentro of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World "Comandanta Ramona and the Women Zapatistas"...hey boys, let's get ready to be calladitos!

UPDATE: Denunciation of Violence Against Zapatista Women (en español)

Compañera Everilda, candidate for Comandanta
-live recording in Spanish-
July 28, 2007 in La Realidad, Chiapas
(hasty) translation by zapagringo

Compañeros and compañeras of Mexico and the world. Good evening to all of you. With this Second Encounter of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World we are very energized, with much responsibility and this worries us greatly. It makes us think. How there is much that we would like to say in this encuentro but scarcely find the time to share what we Zapatista communities are doing and there remain things for us to share, especially us women Zapatistas. Because of this we wish to say with anticipation that these words will remain well-guarded by us while you go to inform our compañeros y compañeras in your communities of what you have already come and heard so that the rest who are not here can be informed.

But we think it’s better at once that you already bring the message from us women Zapatistas that we convoke the Third Encounter of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World, and the principle and unique theme will be the women Zapatistas, especially for us women Zapatistas of the Zapatista communities to gather with compañeras from México and the world.

We are going to speak, us women Zapatistas, with compañeras from Mexico and the world and you will be able to ask questions of how we organize ourselves, the women Zapatistas, more directly with women. We are going to ask the compañeros men Zapatistas that they help us with logistical questions. Compañeros from Mexico and the world may also come to hear us, but remain silent [calladitos], same as our compañeros men Zapatistas.

This Third Encuentro, as it will be especially of the women Zapatistas, will be dedicated to Comandanta Ramona, and will take her name. Thus it is like this: Third Encuentro of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World: Comandanta Ramona and the women Zapatistas.

Bring this message to the rest of the compañeras. That they are prepared. At the same time, that they go to tell their spouses that they will have to take care of the house, the kids, and pets for a few days, while they leave and gather with the women Zapatistas to organize ourselves on how to fight against capitalism and neoliberalism.

This Third Encuentro of the women Zapatistas we think will happen around the last days of December 2007. We are consulting with the compañeras and compañeros of the Good Government Council of the caracol of La Garrucha and the community of La Garrucha, which is the seat of the caracol, if they will permit us to have our Third Encuentro there.

We’ll confirm later. We ask that you watch our Zezta Internazional and Enlace Zapatista internet pages, the Intergalactic Commission of the Sixth Commission of the Other Campaign.

The days we are thinking of:
Arrive the day of December 28 in the Caracol of La Garrucha and register;
December 29, 30, 31: plenary workshops of the Zapatista women with time for questions from the women of the world,
January 1: Celebration of our 14th anniversary of the beginning of the uprising of these dignified lands.

This is the invitation, compañeros y compañeras. We will be waiting here as always by the doors.

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Turbulent Feminism

Cover for the first issue of the "journal-cum newspaper" Turbulence

With rumors of a December Womyn's Zapatista Encuentro coming from a recent attendee to the Second Encuentro of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World, I thought this would be a good moment to highlight this piece by Michal Osterweil. A solid activist and intellectual who I've had the pleasure of crossing paths with on several occasions, the observations she brings forward in "Becoming-Woman?" get to the heart of some key ways that patriarchy continues to manifest within many spaces of anticapitalist struggle.

Along with many other solid organizers, Michal is just returning from the aforementioned Second Encuentro and you can look forward to seeing some of their reportbacks, and perhaps even an interview or two, here at Zapagringo in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, check out her article below, come celebrate "Zapagringo's First Birthday" and catch up at "The Rest of July in Mexico."

“Becoming-Woman?”
In theory or in practice?
by Michal Osterweil
(originally published in the premier issue of Turbulence, June 2007)

There are no shortcuts and if there are they are only “table tricks”. There is only experimentation as method and substance of the “becoming-movement”.

Theory/Practice Divide?
I think a big part of why many people have been so excited about the politics ushered in by the Zapatistas, Seattle, and Social Forums — to name just a bit of what constitutes the motley “movement of movements” many speak of— is because they embodied and posited deliberate reactions to the practical and theoretical failures of previous political approaches on the Left.

That is, Leftist movements, unions and parties clearly failed to achieve or effect change based on the parameters and theories they were working by: they did not defeat capitalism or achieve equality. But these failures were not primarily due to a thwarted strategy, a forced compromise or a political loss to another side. Rather, there were fundamental problems with the modes and political visions these leftist movements were using and basing their practices on. These included: the reproduction of oppressions and micro-fascisms within supposedly progressive organizations; an inability to deal with the differences posed by contextual (historical, geographic, cultural, personal) specificities; and an inability to articulate a sustainable form of relation between movements and everyday life or society, and between movements and the ‘political’ (i.e. the State, or other more permanent forms of political organization). Finally these movements failed to relate to human desires — for leisure, love, fun and so on.

In contrast, one of the most inspiring things about the ‘movement of movements,’ is precisely the visibility and centrality of critical and reflective practices coined perhaps most famously by the Zapatista phrase — caminar preguntando—‘to walk while questioning’. Today, almost everywhere one looks among many of the diverse movement networks, there are various attempts to think through, investigate and experiment with different political practices, imaginaries, as well as different analyses of the systems and sites in which we are struggling. Moreover, this theoretical production strives to find language and concepts adequate to the complex, messy and unexpected elements always present in the lived realities of efforts at social change.

While movements have always produced theories to help guide their action, what I find particularly notable is what seems a common tendency, among many parts of this disparate movement, in the nature of both the content of the theories, and the ways they are produced. They seem based in an ethic of partiality, specificity and open-endedness; a willingness to be revised and reworked depending on their lived effectiveness, and a sensitivity to the fact that unexpected conflicts and consequences might arise when different subjects or circumstances come into contact with them. Of no coincidence, these mirror forms of theorising and political practice that many align with feminism.

I first heard a comparison to feminism almost five years ago when I was visiting Italy in an attempt to learn about the phenomenal movement that had brought over 300,000 people to the streets of Genoa; had made Italians some of the most active participants in myriad alter-globalisation meetings and protests outside of Italy; and had seen the emergence of local social forums — where non-representative forms of government were experimented with on a regular basis — in many Italian cities. The Bologna Social Forum (BSF) was one of most active of these local forums and I am told that, at its height, it was not unusual for 500 people to attend, many of whom, were individuals not affiliated with any party, union or militant organisation. At the first meeting of the BSF I attended, one of the leaders of the then Disobbedienti, opened his remarks with a bold and strange statement. He declared, ‘Io credo che questo movimento sía una donna’ — ‘I believe that this movement is a woman’. He then went on to explain that what he meant was that this movement was female because it functioned according to different logics than previous movements. It functioned according to logics of difference, dispersion and affect: no central group or singular ideology could control it, and it was propelled by an energy, from subjects and places, that far exceeded those of traditional forms of Leftist organisation and practice. To him this was intimately tied to feminine/feminist notions of politics — and therefore to the figure of woman.

After his remarks the space was filled with silence, smirks, smiles and some hesitant nods of agreement. I shared the ambivalence. On the one hand I was intellectually intrigued and somewhat in agreement with his claim about the ‘feminine’ or minoritarian logic of this movement, but on the other, I was a bit disturbed by the comment. Besides a visceral reaction to the very use of the term ‘woman’ (by a man) to describe something as dynamic and heterogeneous as the (Italian) alter-globalisation movement, it made me uncomfortable because throughout a meeting lasting well over two hours, only two or three women had actually spoken. Moreover, when they did speak, they took less time and spoke with less authority than the many male activists. In spite of this rather blatant tension— that the movement was a woman, but the women hardly spoke—the phrase and analogy struck me quite profoundly.

Two years later, I had a conversation with another male activist, again part of the Disobbedienti network. Once again I was referred to feminism as a theoretical perspective I really ought to get familiar with if I were to make sense of the ‘movement of movements’ and its potentials. I smiled and raised my eyebrows, and so this activist, excited by my apparent interest in his own interest in feminism, jotted down a few books and essays that he believed were critical reads. I smiled again and nodded to myself, starting to make more sense of at least the cause of the ambivalence provoked by such moments:

Each time I was simultaneously compelled and disturbed by these references to feminism: excited because I too think there is something to this linking of feminism with the politics of contemporary movements. But I was disturbed because the potential was not matched in reality. I was and am continuously struck by the ways the politics and potentials of our recent movements seem to posit the possibility of a refreshingly different politics: politics that are more dynamic and sensitive, more pleasurable and immediately satisfying, better able to meld with the future worlds we would like to construct, and better equipped to theorise inadequacies. And yet, when these possibilities don’t match the reality, we seem at a loss for words.

Today, although I remain inspired by the critical openness and ethos of experimentation, the willingness to theorise, analyse and reflect upon the efficacy of our actions while remaining oriented oriented towards political transformation-traits that I believe characterize the best of our movements—I have become increasingly worried about this gap that exists between our ‘new’ and ‘better’ theories, and our lived realities.

What does it mean to see yourself as part of a movement governed by feminist and minoritarian logics when in so many of the most visible spaces, the voices and languages of women continue to be less audible? Does it matter if we have a fabulously astute and sensitive notion of what a good democratic — non-representative — politics would look like if we cannot involve more people in the conversation? Worse, is it of any use to have a great theoretical notion of the politics you want, but the very subjects you are claiming to be inspired by — that is those who have traditionally been othered, marginalised, excluded — are not present to participate in the discussion? If theoretical and reflective practice is so important to us today, even as an ethical and formal element, how do we live with such inconsistencies between our theoretical language and our experiences?

Case in Point!

If you haven’t yet noticed, the pages of Turbulence are themselves filled with pieces by men. There are very few female voices, and only one member of the editorial collective is female (me). While we can identify a lot of specific reasons this particular case of such an obvious and outrageous imbalance occurred—and even point out the fact that several women were invited and even intended to contribute articles—I think we ought to think more analytically about the issue. For despite our best intentions and the belief that we were not exclusive or biased, I don’t think that the absence of many voices, especially those of women, is a coincidental or accidental occurrence. I believe it was influenced by dynamics that have everything to do with the mostly white, male editorial board, as well as cultural-structural factors harder to articulate. Moreover, I don’t think going to press—despite these obvious lacks—was an obvious or inevitable choice. Rather it was the product of a certain rubric of value. One that placed greater value on both getting it out there, and on the time and effort we had put into publishing this journal regardless of the shortcomings, over the cost of having a journal with so many voices and perspectives missing. At this point, I am not making a judgment about whether that was a good choice—I am also torn—I am simply pointing to the fact that it was a choice.

While these absences are disheartening and politically very problematic, I want to see if it is possible to turn them into a useful moment to enlist those theoretico-practical capacities to engage this persistent, yet difficult to adequately define, problem within our movements. Personally, I have been struggling over how to both put into words and address concerns about the continuing dominance of male activists and masculinist politics. (Conditions that seem to be worsening-- if not in a quantitative sense, then certainly in a qualitative one, because we should know better by now.) This dominance is quite obvious in the disproportionate visibility and audibility of men in many movement spaces and, more subtly, in a political modality that, despite the proclaimed absence of formulas and ideologies, remains unable to deal with specific problems and inequalities that inevitably arise in the course of collective endeavours. Not only the relative absence of female and other voices in this issue of Turbulence, but also the lack of women speaking at the BSF in Italy, for example. While I do not want to argue for a simplistic politics of representation, as if the mere presence of more women and more people from the global South would immediately or necessarily correspond to a better politics, I do believe that really prioritising more diversity could give us a better chance of producing such a politics!

I am also concerned that this problem is particularly insidious in the ‘autonomous’ or horizontalist area of the movement’ that most of us on the editorial collective identify with. ‘Particularly insidious’ because ‘we’ have been so critical of NGOs, ‘reformists’, parties and so many others for not being more politically consistent and for failing to recognise their complicity in maintaining and even reproducing the very things our movements contest. We have touted our ‘more democratic’ forms of organisation, our horizontality, our lack of hierarchy, our fluid, dynamic and affinity-based organisations, while we ourselves are guilty.

Could it be that, at least in part, our inability to address these imbalances and absences is an unintended consequence of the supposedly ‘new’ political theories that tend to see affinity, fluidity, horizontality and lack of identity as their defining logics? Could it be that this failure has everything to do with the language and theoretical approaches of feminist and other subaltern positions we have turned to using, but without having had the experiences that produced those theoretical and practical insights in the first place? Perhaps we’ve misinterpreted many of these new logics—we’ve read them devoid of their situational contexts, forgeting what they are a reaction against, and without recognising the fact that the logics themselves are overdetermined by a sensibility that goes against any form of theorising or theoretical language that is abstracted from the messy particularities of specific situations.

Experiential vs. Abstract conflict and theory

Last fall I attended a four-day gathering in the north of Spain. The space was beautiful: an old Spanish Church with a great deal of unused land, now home to Escanda, a live experiment in sustainable collective living. The aim of the space is to turn the principles and insights that have been promoted and experimented with at various counter-summits, social forums, encuentros and myriad other sites of our anti-capitalist activist networks, into a lasting and ongoing project where the difficulties and complexities of actually living such a politics on a day-to-day basis would be confronted. It seems fitting then that true to this spirit of taking on the challenges and difficulties we still face despite even our best-intentioned activist efforts, several women decided to organize a women-only radical (anti-capitalist) gathering. It was, to my knowledge, the first gathering of its kind: a space organised specifically and deliberately to address the ‘gender problem’ in the radical areas of our movements. In contrast to most women-only or feminist meetings, the gathering, also known as ‘Booty Camp’ self-identified first as part of the anti-capitalist/anti-authoritarian/radical-environmental networks that had been quite active in Europe for about a decade, and only secondarily as feminist. In fact, many of us arrived very critical of separatism and the exclusion of men—both in terms of whether that was good politically, and whether we would like it personally.

Despite my own concern to this end, the gathering turned out to be one of the most significant experiences I had had in years—both on a political and on a human level. The event changed me and I have not been able to engage with my political projects (or the world) in the same way since. This might sound a bit dramatic, like a cheesy harking back to the consciousness-raising groups of the 1970s where many of our mothers became empowered and from which many a legend about mirrors and masturbation come. I too felt a little overcome by how strongly I reacted to it. But in spite of the fact that I might be accused of promoting a romanticised nostalgia for a feminist movement of days gone-by, I think the parallel might be worth something, not only because of the feminist movement’s widespread effects, but also because of how and why it has been so effective and how it has changed over time.

For who can deny the transformative and lasting effects of feminism? No, it hasn’t ushered in an age of equality or the end of patriarchy, machismo, or capitalism, but it has profoundly transformed our social relations, our cultural norms, our very ways of being and seeing in the world. Whatever our gripes with its multi-generational manifestations—and believe me there are many—there was/is something about the feminist movement that has made it effective in truly widespread, durable and still dynamic ways: becoming a part of the ‘common sense’ (at least in the global North). I am not claiming that other movements like civil rights, labour, environmental and others haven’t had important effects, but I do think feminism-as-movement-- as an ethic and sensibility that forces people to consciously and continuously challenge dominant norms is quite special.

Yes, feminism has certainly been rife with conflicts, rifts and problems. Open conflicts have taken place between and among women from different economic and cultural backgrounds, of different sexual and gender identities, and from and within different global regions: it is/was continuously the object of critique. However understanding these conflicts as wholly negative is in part a problem of how we read conflict and critique. For I believe that one of the reasons feminism has been so significant despite its most problematic manifestations, is precisely because it has managed (or been forced) to really engage the conflicts and complexities that have traversed it throughout its history: conflicts between universalism and difference, cultural values and rights, North and South, etc. And because the multiple and at times contradictory elements that comprised it have subsequently worked to transform the discursive and lived spaces of feminist articulation to life and politics. Some of the most important insights about organising across differences came as a result of the fact that women of colour, queer women, anarchist women and women from the global South (among others) critiqued, seceded and worked to change what was perceived as a hegemonic feminism. While there is no doubt that the critiques must continue and the conflicts still exist, it is also undeniable that they have been extremely productive, if not constitutive of some of feminism’s most important contributions and insights into the nature of power and social change. This ethos and ability--the experience-- of engaging the intersectional complexities of life despite, or even with and through, conflicts and differences without falling apart or disbanding was part of what made the Escanda gathering so powerful.

Concluding Thoughts

I think that at their best our recent movements have the potential to have similar lived lessons emerge from encounters and even clashes among our different elements. It is that potential people were sensing when they referred to the movement as woman, as new, as exciting. However, while the language of networks, affinity groups and difference have been critical additions to our political vocabularies, they can also quite easily justify a level of complacency and comfort about remaining within our differences-- as separate groups. Moreover, while we have imagined and deployed this discourse and rhetoric of difference, becoming and affect, I fear we have forgotten about the lived and messy level of experienced conflict, as well as the time and effort it takes to work through them productively. Recognising irreducible differences, attempting to work with forms of organisation that are more fluid, dynamic and based on affect and pleasure, rather than structure and strategy, are key and important elements of the ‘new politics’, but they are not sufficient. Nor, I would add, is theorising and calling them part of a new post-representational political logic.

Ultimately one of the most important lessons of feminism, as well as of Zapatismo and other sources of inspiration for our new politics, is that the most important insights come from lived and unexpected experiences, including lived encounters with difference and lived experiences of the limitations of certain political models and ideologies. If we only talk and theorise amongst ourselves we are very unlikely to come across encounters that disrupt our ways of doing and thinking. So it is not sufficient to come up with a new narrative of social change: the terms and modality of the conversation must be recast as well. However, we need more people talking, arguing even, to truly change the terms of the conversation. That is why despite my serious reservations about the choice to publish this issue of Turbulence, I feel that it may be OK. Or rather I hope that throught its attempt at opening up an ongoing space and project of interrogation and reflection--where it may itself be an experienced object of critique-- without trying to definitively capture a snapshot of, or define absolutely an adequate politics for our movements, it could turn out to be a good thing. But only if people engage with it, argue with it, add to it…

I know that I have generalized about the “Movement of Movements” and in the process obscured important differences and the fact that many groups continue to act like the older left characterized briefly at the outset. I have chosen to do so to highlight trends that while certainly less valid among certain groups, still characterize a general tendency among many.

The opening quotation is from Global Project. For more on the links between feminism and the politics of the movement of movements, see J.K. Gibson-Graham’s A Postcapitalist Politics, and http://www.communityeconomies.org/index.php. Michal Osterweil lives in Carrboro, North Carolina, teaching and studying at UNC-Chapel Hill while working on various community projects. In addition to Turbulence, she has been active in trying to create spaces for integrating movement work with research/intellectual-theoretical production, locally and beyond. She can be contacted at mosterweil[at]gmail.com

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Zapagringo's First Birthday!

Awww...lil zappy is growin' up!

Zapagringo '06-'07 Year-In-Review

More than anything, I started this blog to get out to an english-reading audience so many of the things that are going on in this new phase of zapatismo that began with the release of the Zapatistas' Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle in June '05.

Having assembled a team of Mexican, gringo, French, and Brazilian (amateur/authentic) journalists in the first month-and-a-half of '06 to report for The Narco News Bulletin on the early days of the Other Campaign in Oaxaca, Mexico, I returned to Brooklyn with so many things I wanted to talk about and reflect on with my people here. Unfortunately, the word hadn't really got out yet...it seemed like there was a lot of explaining to do, and I didn't really see enough people doing it. So I wrote a piece on the Other Campaign for Left Turn Magazine, kept writing about the Other Campaign (on the Other Side) for Narco News, and started this blog...

Then came the Stories from the Other Campaign for the Left Turn website: Part 1 going deeper into the Other Campaign; Part 2 contemplating leadership and the role of Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos within the Zapatistas and, now, the Other Campaign; and Part 3 being the transition piece towards really talking about what we are doing here, as the Zapatistas say, "in the brain of the monster" - this was the place I really had wanted to get to all along. Figuring I know mad people who don't read long sh*t on the Internet, I wanted to get the ideas out there so I even got some friends to help me turn "Enter the Intergalactic" (Part 3) into a pamphlet.

Well, the word got out and the rest is zapagringo history...for its first birthday I updated the blog's template and cleaned up a bit. All stories are now broken down into one or more of the following themes:

* Zezta Internazional - The most common theme, these posts have to do directly with those of us who are trying to build a global movement inspired by the Sixth Declaration...here you'll find some Zapatista and Cucapá communiqués directed to internationals 1,2,3,4,5; Posts on the work of internationals who have adhered to the Sixth Declaration 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8; as well as general updates from time-to-time 1,2,3,4,5 and speculations on global struggle 1,2,3,4,5.

* Intersections - Lines are often blurry, and this is especially true for this theme. These posts generally pertain to the places where resonance can be found between the Zapatistas and the activities of folks who are not necessarily adherents to their Sixth Declaration. Here you'll find connections with Palestinians 1,2; Americans 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9; Prisoners 1,2; Childcare providers 1,2; Queer folks, as well as some great essays written by other organizers that I've had the pleasure of debuting on-line 1,2,3 ...this is also where I've included all things that fall under the banner of "Another Politics is Possible" 1,2,3.

* Other Campaign - Even as we venture out and build a global struggle, it is important to stay abreast of the national organizing taking place throughout Mexico and beyond that falls under the banner of the Other Campaign. Here we find some foundational pieces 1,2; the Other Campaign in Mexico 1,2; the Other Campaign on the Other Side 1,2,3,4,5,6; Zapatista and Cucapá communiqués 1,2,3,4; updates 1,2,3,4; some historical perspective and Gustavo Esteva!

* Oaxaca - Last but not least, the Oaxacan struggle continues! I haven't written much about it lately since there are other people (El Enemigo Común and Narco News!) who are doing it so well...but the struggle remains close to my heart as I receive e-mails and announcements from many of the folks I built with during my stay there working for Narco News. In this theme you'll find updates on the struggle 1,2,3,4,5; the words of Oaxaqueños 1,2,3; and posts from the local, national, and international struggle against the repression of their struggles 1,2,3,4,5,6.

There it is -the zapagringo blog's first year- thank you for being a part of this multi-colored web of resistance - see you in the year ahead...

Viva La Otra Campaña!
Viva La Zezta Internazional!
All Zapagringos in the Struggle!

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The Rest of July in Mexico

Not me, of course, but there's alot happening in the next couple of weeks in Mexico so I'll be covering it here. Especially exciting, as you'll see below and in their recent communiqué, is the active collaboration of the Zapatistas with peasant movement representatives from Brazil, Korea, Madagascar (refused entrance to Mexico due to "visa problems"), India, the USA, the rest of Mexico, and many other places throughout the Americas, Asia, and Europe. I'll be linking to audio from the roundtables as it emerges and will be fleshing out happenings of the Second Encuentro of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World at this post as well - so stay tuned!

Oaxaqueños are in the streets again...and being brutally repressed
--> Let's Mobilize!<--

Encuentro Anark@galactico
-July 15-18 at CIDECI (Centro Indígena de Capacitación Integral) in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas-

Alongside some nuts-and-bolts organizing to build a global network of anarchist adherents to the Zapatistas' Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, specific discussions regarding political prisoners, borders, the Other Campaign, and appropriate technology are scheduled to take place.

The Popular Guelaguetza 2007
-July 16 in Oaxaca City-

UPDATE: Oaxaca mobilizes to defend itself...let's join them! Pictures from the Popular Guelaguetza: 1, 2, 3

"Guelaguetza" is a Zapotec word meaning something like "reciprocal exchanges of gifts and services"...a concept that the Oaxacan government has reduced to an annual event where indigenous oaxaqueños dance around for tourists. The struggle of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) and the Oaxacan Teachers Union (Section 22) succesfully stopped last years state-sponsored event and held their own massive celebration...they seek to do so again this year.

"Latin America Seen from the Other Politics"
-July 16 at the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico City-

A roundtable featuring the current leader of the Zapatistas' Sixth Commission, Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos (aka Delegate Zero), as well as Carlos Antonio Aguirre Rojas (founder and director of Contrahistorias Magazine and the Immanuel Wallerstein Center in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas), Sergio Rodríguez Lascano (director of Revista Rebeldía), and Marcos Roitman (author and sociologist).

“Facing Capitalist Dispossesion: The Defense of Land and Territory”
-July 17 at the Club of Journalists in Mexico City-

A roundtable featuring Delegate Zero as well as representatives from Brazil's Landless Workers Movement, the Korean Peasants League, the Bharatiya Kisan Union of India and Mexico's National Indigenous Congress.

International Day(s) of Action Against Repression in Mexico
-July 18/19-

UPDATE: Movement for Justice in El Barrio's reportback

Movement for Justice in El Barrio has helped to organize an international component to this action being taken by the recently created National Forum Against Repression as a response to the violence visited upon the Other Campaign, and to the "Mexico of Below" in general. Called for the 18th of July, the organizers for this day of action in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas have moved their action to the 19th to give people who are traveling to join the Second Encuentro of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World a chance to participate.

"Facing Capitalist Dispossesion: The Defense of Land and Territory"
-July 19 at CIDECI in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas-

Same as the roundtable taking place in Mexico City on the 17th, but this time Delegate Zero is joined by a representatives from the USA's National Family Farm Coalition along with the delegates from Korea and Brazil.

In addition to the title link, check this one out for interventions from Tacho and Moisés.

Second Encuentro of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World
-July 20-28 in the Zapatista Caracoles of Oventik, Morelia, and La Realidad in Chiapas-

Coverage in English (text) -- Narcos News 1,2,3,4; CounterPunch, Inter-County Leader

Coverage in Spanish (text, audio & video) -- Chiapas Indymedia, Free Media Center-Mexico City, Narco News, De Tod@s Para Tod@s

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La Otra U.S. at USSF & 3 Definitions Plus

The Another Politics is Possible Session at the USSF

UPDATE (7/18/07): Movement for Justice in El Barrio has just released a reportback.

As the US Social Forum (USSF) reportbacks roll in (Uhlenbeck, Rebick, Tiny, Berger), I'm feeling lucky to be able to learn about aspects of the forum in which I didn't directly participate (as well as read about someone's experience of events that I did help to organize!).

Especially sad for this zapagringo, though, was having to miss a series of events that were recently reported on a document entitled "Abriendo Caminos: La Otra U.S. @ United States Social Forum 2007", which covered events for US-based adherents to the Zapatistas' Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle. In brief, the document describes three gatherings: Movement for Justice in El Barrio's workshop, a gathering of Sixth Declaration adherents immediately following the workshop, and another gathering of adherents the following day. Folks from Los Angeles, San Diego, Humboldt, and Santa Barbara, California; Minnesota; the US/Mexico border; Olympia, Washington; Salt Lake City, Utah; Washington D.C. and New York City were in attendance.

The reportback on "La Otra U.S. @ USSF" raised for me a series of questions that have come up again and again since the Zapatistas released their Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle just over two years ago:

1) What is the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle?,
2) What is the Other Campaign?,
3) What is the Zezta Internazional/Intergalactic?
PLUS
4) What is the work of gringo adherents to the Sixth Declaration?

With the first ever US Social Forum a little more than a week behind us and the Second Encounter of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World a little more than a week away, here are my definitions and understandings for the first three questions as well as my personal reflection on the fourth...

1) What is the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle?

If the Zapatista struggle, historically and currently, is something you want to know about, than you need to read the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle. Released in June of 2005, it is the defining document of the Zapatista struggle today. Often referred to simply as "the sixth declaration" or "la sexta", Concepción Villafuerte's piece "What is the Sixth Zapatista Declaration" helps to put it in context of the previous five Zapatista Declarations.

The Sixth Declaration lays out a history of the Zapatista struggle, their current analysis of Mexico and the World, and what they intend to do in Mexico and the World. It's a must-read as it lays out a plan to build a national and a global movement. People are invited to join the Zapatistas in building these movements and the first step in doing so is to "adhere" to the Sixth Declaration. This means publicly signing on to the Sixth Declaration and those that do so are referred to as "adherents" or "adherentes." Seperate adherence mechanisms were set up for Mexicans and internationals.

2) What is the Other Campaign?

The Other Campaign is a non-electoral and anti-capitalist movement of, by, and for Mexicans (including Mexican@s "on the other side", Chican@s, and Mexican-Americans) to liberate Mexico "from below and to the left." Broadly outlined in the Sixth Declaration, it was officially named and launched through a series of gatherings in August and September of 2005 in the Zapatista territories of Chiapas.

It is possible that you were a Mexican adherent to the Sixth Declaration after it came out in June 2005 but then you decided not to be a part of the Other Campaign and so that is why you will see "adherents to the Other Campaign" specifically shouted out in Zapatista communiques.

Contrary to how you might hear it spoken of, the Other Campaign IS NOT whatever the Zapatistas happen to be up to at the moment. The Other Campaign is a national movement of all the groups that compose it and the Zapatistas participate in it through their "Sixth Commission," currently led by Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos (aka "Delegate Zero").

3) What is the Zezta Internazional/Intergalactic?

The Zezta Internazional is the global movement inspired by the Sixth Declaration. International adherents to the Sixth Declaration can adhere to the Zezta Internazional just as Mexicans can adhere to the Other Campaign. This movement has a rich historical precedent that I describe in an essay called "Enter the Intergalactic." The Zapatistas participate in the Zezta Internazional through their "Intergalactic Commission," currently led by Teniente Colonel Insurgente Moisés.

The Sixth Declaration makes reference to building a new "Intergalactic," referring to an intercontinental gathering such as the original "Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity and Against Neoliberalism" held in Chiapas in 1996 - or it's sequel held the following year in Spain, which led to that engine of the early Global Justice Movement known as "Peoples' Global Action." This new Intergalactic has still not been called for, although preparatory gatherings have been held throughout the Americas and Europe.

The Intergalactic IS NOT the Second Encounter of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World...although I have seen this stated in many places. Rather, these encounters are a space for the Zapatistas to share their autonomy building with others from around Mexico and the world and to listen to what folks in other places have been doing. Discussion of organizing the Intergalactic took place at the first encounter and will no doubt take place at this second encounter as well. I think we can keep our eyes out for some definitive announcements regarding the Intergalactic later this summer!

4) What is the work of gringo adherents to the Sixth Declaration (a personal reflection)?

For the purposes of this question, gringo means those of us in the USA who are not Mexican@s or Chican@s...as a male US citizen with white skin privilege, I think the label is ESPECIALLY appropriate for me.

For everyone that is not in the Other Campaign and is an international adherent to the Sixth Declaration, there is the Zezta Internazional. We share in the work of building a non-electoral, anti-capitalist global movement surging "from below and to the left"...a movement that need not be about liberating a particular country, although it may be found useful to organize -or organize with- struggles that have a national character and focus.

To this end, through Regeneración Childcare NYC, I've been part of a study group in NYC called "Another Politics is Possible" (APP) that was part of convening a delegation from NYC to the US Social Forum under the same banner. The politics of the APP delegation vibe very much with Zapatismo although none of the participating groups are adherents to the Sixth Declaration and most of the participants would not take the Zapatistas as their primary point of reference.

This delegation led into a larger track at the USSF again under the "Another Politics is Possible" banner -- in this case, the participation of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) meant that there was one sexta adherent group in the mix...and thanks to the CIW and their Student/Farmworker Alliance, here is an audio recording of the unifying session of our track.

In my experience working in NYC (and perhaps this extends much further), it has made sense so far to not actively organize an explicit "zezta internazional" formation because this would limit my affiliation to only other folks that are taking the Sixth Declaration as a reference point...and right now that is EXTREMELY LIMITING. It doesn't mean that we don't talk about the Zapatistas in APP, but it just means that we focus on building an effective movement HERE with ALL the reference points folks bring to the table...and sometimes we recognize the many ways in which it is resonating with the Zapatistas or the Other Campaign, for example. This resonance may result in active participation when a date and place for the Intergalactic are announced.

Also, as Zezta Internazional and/or Sixth Declaration adherents in the USA, I think we have a special responsibility to do ally work with the Other Campaign simply because it will so greatly impact us as Mexico is also "here"...but, again, this is ally work...the Other Campaign is a Mexican movement and I think it only weakens folks' morale to have to worry about whether a bunch of gringos are gonna try to speak in its name or carry its banner.

That the Other Campaign is a Mexican movement doesn't mean that Zapatismo isn't open for all of us...what it DOES mean, though, is that, just as we have not been invited to join the Zapatista Army of National Liberation itself, we are also not invited in the Other Campaign...us gringos have our own work to do and it's not in Mexico, much less the Selva Lacandona...although we still may need to keep commitments we've made to do work in those places.

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2nd Encounter of Zap Communities & World

Second Encounter of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World

-UPDATE: Find coverage of the Encuentro at the bottom of "The Rest of July in Mexico"-

Communiqué of the Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee—General Command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.
Sixth Commission and Intergalactic Commission of the EZLN.
Mexico.

June of 2007

To the People of Mexico:
To the Peoples of the World:
To the Adherents of the Zexta Internazional:
To the Adherents of the Sixth Declaration:

Compañeros and Compañeras:
Brothers and Sisters:

As was announced at the First Encounter of Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World (held in January of this year), the Second Encounter will be held in the coming month of July. The objective of this encounter is that persons, groups, collectives, and organizations that struggle against neoliberalism, in Mexico and all over the world, hear directly the word of the EZLN’s bases of support on the process of the construction of autonomy in the Zapatista indigenous communities of Chiapas. For this reason, the EZLN, through its Intergalactic and Sixth Commissions, convokes:

The Second Encounter of Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World.

To be held in Zapatista territory July 20 through 28 of the year 2007, with the following characteristics:

First. Taking into account the difficulties that the rainy season provokes at this time in the state of Chiapas, the locations of the Encounter will not be the 5 caracoles (as was previously announced), but rather 3 caracoles (Oventik, Morelia, and La Realidad), following the schedule that we here detail:

Friday, July 20: Caracol of Oventik, Zona Altos [Highlands Zone] of Chiapas. Welcome and Inauguration.

Saturday, July 21: Caracol of Oventik, Zona Altos of Chiapas. Plenary roundtables with presentations by the Zapatista bases of support of the Autonomous Municipalities of the Altos of Chiapas, and sessions for questions, observations, and proposals by attendees.

Sunday July 22: Transfer to the Caracol of Morelia, Zona Tzotz Choj. Welcome.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, July 23, 24, and 25: Caracol of Morelia, Zona Tzotz Choj. Plenary roundtables with presentations by the Zapatista bases of support of the Autonomous Municipalities of the Tzotz Choj Zone (Caracol of Morelia), the Northern Zone of Chiapas (Caracol of Roberto Barrios), and the Selva [Jungle] Tzeltal Zone (Caracol of La Garrucha), and sessions for questions, observations, and proposals by attendees.

Thursday, July 26: Transfer to the Caracol of La Realidad, Zona Selva Fronteriza [Jungle/Border Zone]. Welcome.

Friday, July 27: Caracol of La Realidad, Zona Selva Fronteriza. Plenary roundtables with presentations by Zapatista bases of support of the Autonomous Municipalities of the Zona Selva Fronteriza, and sessions for questions, observations, and proposals by attendees.

Saturday, July 28: Caracol of La Realidad, Zona Selva Fronteriza. Final Plenary and Closing.

Sunday, July 29: Return.

Second. The themes of the plenary roundtables are:

HEALTH: Presentation given by the Health Promoters of the Zapatista communities.

EDUCATION: Presentation given by the Education Promoters.

ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMUNITIES: Presentation given by the municipal commissioners and officials.

COLLECTIVE WORK: Presentation given by the local, regional, and municipal collectives and coordinators of each zone.

THE STRUGGLE OF WOMEN: Presentation given by the women of the bases of support on their forms of organization at different levels, as “the women that we are.”

AUTONOMY: Presentation given by the autonomous authorities on the struggles and problems faced in the areas of work, health, education, trade, civil registry, justice, projects, etc.

GOOD GOVERNMENT: Presentation given by members of the Good Government Councils on their function in the construction of autonomy.

EVALUATION OF THE PROCESS OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF AUTONOMY: Presentation given by members of the political directive of the EZLN (CCRI) on advances and problems in the 13 years of existence of the Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities in Rebellion (MAREZ) and the 4 years of the Good Government Councils (JBG).

Third. The method of work in the plenary roundtables will be: Presentation of the theme, followed by a session of observations, questions, and answers.

Fourth. In this Second Encounter the EZLN will have as special invitees the compañeros and compañeras of the Landless Movement in Brazil, of the Campesino Movement of Korea, of the Campesino Movement of Madagascar, of the Campesino Movement of the United States, and of other compas of the “Via Campesina” organization in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. Given this, there will be a special space for the participation of these compañer@s.

The compañer@s of "Via Campesina" that have confirmed their attendance, among others, are:

1) Soraia SORIANO, Brazil. Member of the National Directive of the Landless Movement (MST).
2) Tsirisoa RAKOTONIMARO, Madagascar, Africa. Leader of the Peasant Confederation of Madagascar (CPM).
3) Dong Uk MIN: South Korea. Coordinator of International Relations, Peasant League of Korea (KPL).
4) George NAYLOR, United States. President of the National Coalition of Family Farmers (NFFC).
5) Henry SARAGIH, Indonesia. World Coordinator of Vía Campesina (VC), Secretary General of the Federation of Peasant Unions of Indonesia (FSPI).
6) Nemesia ACHACOLLO, Bolivia. Leader of the National Confederation of Campesina Women "Bartolina Sisa" and Representative of the MAS (Evo's party), member of the International Coordinating Committee (CCI) of Via Campesina.
7) Paul NICHOLSON, País Vasco. Leader of the Peasant Union of País Vasco (EHNE), member of the International Coordinating Committee (CCI) of Via Campesina.
8) Juana FERRER, Dominican Republic. Continental Coordinator of the Latin American Coordination of Organizations of Countryside (CLOC), Secretary General of the National Confederation of Women of the Countryside (CONAMUCA), Dominican Republic, member of the International Coordinating Committee (CCI) of Via Campesina.
9) Rafael ALEGRIA, Honduras. Coordinator of Via Campesina-Central America, Member of the International Coordinating Committee (CCI) of Via Campesina, Coordinator of the World Campaign for Agrarian Reform of Via Campesina.
10) Blanca CHANCOSO, Quito, Ecuador. Leader of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) (allies of Via Campesina), member of the Continental Commission of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities.
11) Yudhvir SINGH, India. Leader of the Peasant Union "Bhartiya Kissan," India.
12, 13, 14) Uthai SA-ARTCHOP, Patiphan WIRIYAWANA, and Banbita YANGDEE, Thailand. Members of the Assembly of the Poor (AOP), Thailand.
15) Carlos MARENTES, United States. President of Agricultural Workers of the Border, United States.
16) Kalissa REGIER, Saskatoon, Canada. Leader of the National Agricultural Union (NFU), Canada.
17 y 18) Rodolfo POCOP and Juan TINEY, Guatemala. Leaders of the National Indigenous and Campesino Coordination (CONIC), members of the Continental Commission of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities.
19) Alberto GOMEZ, Mexico. Leader of the UNORCA, Coordinator of Vía Campesina-North America, member of the International Coordinating Committee (CCI) of Via Campesina.

Fifth. Inscriptions and accreditations will begin by internet on July 2, 2007, at the following webpages:

www.zeztainternazional.org and enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx
Email: encuentrojulio@ezln.org.mx

Accreditations will be distributed starting Monday, July 16, 2007, in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, at:

The office of Enlace Zapatista: Avenida Ignacio Allende 22-A, Barrio de San Antonio, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas.
Telephone: (01) 967 6781013

Additionally, there will be a place for inscription and accreditation in each of the caracoles where the plenaries will be held.

Sixth. It is recommended that those attending bring the necessary items to spend the night. In the caracoles there will be affordable food stands, but attendees can also bring their own food.

We invite all honest, noble, and committed persons of Mexico and the World to attend.

From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.
Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee—General Command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.

Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos.
Sixth Commission.

Teniente Coronel Insurgente Moisés.
Intergalactic Commission.

Mexico, June of 2007.

(Thanks to El Kilombo Intergaláctico for the translation)

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