Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Call to Activists and Community - ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW INTERFACE

Familia and fellow activists, please take a second to read below…


Attention Activists and Community Members –


La Nueva Raza has launched a new interactive interface that NEEDS YOUR INPUT. This is a bit of a social experiment that aims to give a dedicate online presence and space to folks involved in social justice struggles mobilized around issues that affect the greater Latino community (immigration, detention, border wall, education, etc.) We’re striving to become a more well-rounded indie media source.


The new website format for LaNuevaRaza.org features:


FORUM

(discussion board) where you can discuss your thoughts on relevant issues, a space where you can discuss your issues without having to worry about hate speech or racist, xenophobic, anti-immigrant/Latino replies and postings. The goal is to claim this FORUM as OUR space to share our thoughts, connect, and network with each other.


INSTANT NEWS SUBMISSION

publish and send us your news with a click of a button


EVENTS CALENDAR

an interactive calendar that allows you to submit your events and see upcoming events in your preferred format (week/month/etc.)


TAKE ACTION

quickly view items and efforts that need your assistance


COMMENTS

allowing you to instantly post your thoughts and reflections on articles and events


INSTANT LINK SUBMISSION

send links of your orgs, or other helpful sites that will help promote community efforts


…improved email listserv, and many, many more options.


This resource has been set up for YOU and your organizations - please go to www.LaNuevaRaza.org and register with the site to start posting.


We’re still tweaking the site and welcome your comments and suggestions…let us know how we are doing and if we can try to better meet your needs!

We’ve gotten a steady stream of hits already…close to 6,000 in the past three days since we set this up, so I am positive that we can really make our presence known in the virtual world!

GO FOR IT!!!! See you online!!!


----

In Solidarity,


Íris
www.myspace.com/tejaztlana


La Nueva Raza News
News and Movimientos Across Aztlan
In Print and Online
www.LaNuevaRaza.org

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

VIDEO: No Border Camp Music Video!

A ton of more information about what happend at the No Border Camp and how you can support those who got arrested (one, a permanent resident, faces deportation to Colombia.) is available at www.noborderscamp.org







Contributed by:
Houston Sin Fronteras


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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

ARE Decolonization Conf. Follow-Up (Article/Video/Info)

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Dear Conference Participants,

Please see below for access to a conference survey, as well as a video short on the conference. The Association of Raza Educators thanks all participants, speakers, presenters, and organizers who made this event a reality. We are planning a 2nd Annual Conference on Colonialism and Urban Education with the goal of furthering existing projects and creating a Teachers of Color Congress. Join us and help us organize this amazing conference!! ! All progressive educators are welcomed!

In the Movement,

The Association of Raza Educators


Become a member of the Association of Raza Educators in Los Angeles:

General meetings are held the first and third Thursday of every month,
from 4:00 - 5:30pm,
at Santee Education Complex.
1921 Maple Ave.
LA, CA 90011 (Third Floor)
For more information please contact us at:
razaeducators@aol.com

or (626) 617-0401.


Progressive Educators Institute:

Join us on a curriculum exchange and reading circle
Saturday, December 1, 2007.

Reading Circles provide the space for educators to reflect on their pedagogy, and develop a critical consciousness of their roles as teachers.


Access the article online at:
-http://www.decolonizing.com/pedagogyliterature.html-

Place TBA. Visit our website or contact us for more information.
The Institute is FREE of charge.
RSVP,
razaeducators@aol.com

DONATE TO THE ARE UNDOCUMENTED STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP FUND!!

Make your donation at
razaeducators@aol.com

Our youth need your donations!! Thank you!!!



Access the Conference Survey:
-http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=E4WA28Wr4B3gg40L zLf_2b_2bQ_ 3d_3d-


Access the Conference Video Short:







Keep checking our website for updates on the DVD's of the Speeches of our Keynote Speakers at the A.R.E Conference that took place on Nov. 10, 2007!

Also, PLEASE donate to the Association of Raza Educators Undocumented Students Scholarship Fund!

Our youth need your support!


The Association of Raza Educators
Educators for Critical Consciousness and Democratic Education
http://www.razaeducators.org


Contributed by:
Mujeres Revolucionarias

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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

VIDEO: Secret Societies and the New World Order




Contributed by:
cuahquiahuit/eagle rain,aka(choka meeshkoaht)

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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

Mexica Words for "LOVE"

LOVE should be unconditional in all thirteen ways.let me share with you.

TLAZOA-VALUE, LOVE AND AFFECTION.

TLAZOHTILIZTLI-PRECIOUSNESS, EXPENSIVENESS, AFFECTION, LOVE.

TLAZOHTLAPALOA-TO LOVE SOME ONE OUT OF THE DEPTHS OF ONES UNWORTHINESS.

TLAZOPILLI-SOMEONE OF NOBLE BIRTH, SOMEONE OF LEGITIMAMTE BIRTH.

TLAZOLTLALTIA-TO RECONCILE ENEMIES, LITERALLY TO BRING LOVE TO EARTH.

TLAZOHTILIA-SELF ESTEEM, TO LOVE ,TO REVERE, TO RESPECT,

TLAZOHTLI-PRECIOUS,WORTHY OF ADMIRATION,BELOVED, RARE, EXPENSIVE.

TLAZOHTLANQUI-FAIR, FINE, WELL DONE.

TLAZOHTIA-TO LOVE ONE SELF OR OTHERS.

TLAZOHTLALOCA-TO LOVE WITH WICH ONE IS LOVED.

TLAZOHCAHMATI-THANK YOU.

TLAZOHTILIA-TO HOLD SOMETHING OR SOMEONE IN HIGH REGARD.

TLAZOHTLALONI-SOMEONE OR SOMETHING LOVEABLE.



LEARN THEM -SHARE THEM.

Contributed by:
cuahquiahuit/eagle rain,aka(choka meeshkoaht)

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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

LOS ANGELES, CA: MEXIKA "Sounds of Ancient Mexico" -- DEC 1

MEXIKA "Sounds of Ancient Mexico"

December, 1 2007 at East Los Angeles Public Library (323) 264-0155
4837 E. Third St., Los Angeles, California 90022-1601
Cost : FREE

MEXIKA "Sounds of Ancient Mexico" will perform a program called "Navidad en Aztlan" including brief talk about the origin of the pinata, tamales and the poinsettia flower. Lots of sing alongs in Spanish and Nahuatl, a mix of folk and indigenous flavors make this a rare seasonal offering!!!

Contributed by:
cuahquiahuit/eagle rain,aka(choka meeshkoaht)


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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

VIDEO: Miami activists take exclusive Fisher Island's private beach and make it public

Miami activists take exclusive Fisher Island's private beach and make it public
by SEIU repost Monday, Nov. 19, 2007 at 5:14 PM
info@seiu11.org

Off the coast of Miami on Saturday, November 17th, decorated boats ferried more than 100 activists as close as possible to the shore of the ultra-wealthy and until now thought to be off-limits beaches of Fisher Island to protest discriminatory and abusive treatment of the workers that clean, maintain, and protect the island. Activists then swam to shore.







The history-making landing put a public face on Fisher Island's "separate, but equal" mentality regarding the workers who service the island and the public. "Because they are so isolated, Fisher Island residents think they can wall themselves off from the poverty they create," said SEIU Local 11 Political Director Hiram Ruiz. "We set out to make a point, that there should be only one Miami, not one Miami for the wealthy and another for the rest of us."

* Check out Miami Herald coverage at
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/columnists/nicholas_spangler/story/312175.html, Fisher Island Protest video on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psL61pVP8O4.

Contributed by:
David


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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

VIDEO: Sounds of Hate (KKK = Honor?)



Contributed by:
cuahquiahuit/eagle rain,aka(choka meeshkoaht)

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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

SAN FRANCISCO: Alcatraz Island Sunrise Gathering -- NOV 22




Contributed by:
Ne74

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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

ARTICLE: TUSD-immigration issue shows young people have a vital voice

Y Que Vivan los estudiantes!!!
_______________________________________________________
TUSD-immigration issue shows young people have a vital voice
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.19.2007
Opinion by Ed Mercurio-Sakwa

Recent changes in Tucson Unified School District and Tucson Police Department policies regarding the presence of immigration authorities in schools have provoked an active community debate.

The resulting dialogue may very well inspire creative solutions.

Unfortunately, some of that debate seems to have given rise to as much anti-youth rhetoric as it has discussion on unauthorized immigration.

The day after students at Catalina Magnet High School peacefully marched in an effort to bring attention to the issues, one local radio talk-show host complained that "punk kids, most of who are probably illegal themselves" were the ones who brought about TUSD's policy change and "we can't allow this."

He went on to say that these students are "a bunch of non-taxpaying kids that don't even vote (and shouldn't influence policy)." His solution: "Let's put the fear in these children!"

Similarly, a recent letter to the editor posed the question, "Why was this policy changed because of these kids?" The writer also wondered why we let these students see that a "mob-rule mentality" works.

Although most high school students are not yet of legal voting age, this does not mean they do not care about issues that impact their community, nor does it mean they do not have the intellect, experience or critical-thinking skills to have a firm understanding of social issues. Many high school students also have jobs and, therefore, do pay taxes.

Peaceful marches and demonstrations are important tools for making your voice heard in our democracy.

For example, the young people of Birmingham, Ala., braved fire hoses and police dogs in 1963 and brought segregation in that city to its knees. Their heroism moved President Kennedy to introduce the bill that became the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Interestingly, the talk-show host mentioned above coordinated a march and rally as a way to oppose the TUSD policy change.
Here in Tucson, young people are making positive contributions every day and bringing about needed changes in their neighborhoods, and yes, their schools. Unfortunately, our society often overlooks the fact that young people are just as affected by decisions made about social issues as are adults (in some cases, even more so).

More to the point, we tend to ignore the unique perspectives and insights that young people have to share, if only we would listen.
We must remember that age does not define citizenship and that all citizens have the right, and the responsibility, to exercise one of our country's foundational principles: free speech.

Our organization works to support youth in making a positive impact in our community because someone helped us, when we were younger, see that we could make a difference. We feel very fortunate when we have the chance to learn from someone younger than ourselves.

The board of directors and staff at Every Voice in Action hope that all Tucsonans will afford themselves that amazing opportunity.

Write to Mercurio-Sakwa at ed@everyvoicefoundation.org.

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/relatedstories/212054.php

Contributed by:
Ne74


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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

ARTICLE: Unions Call for National Resistance to Neoliberalism

Mexican Labor News & Analysis
January , 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1


Unions Call for National Resistance to Neoliberalism

[Mexican document signed by many leaders of labor, social movements and political parties, translator unknown. – ed.]

Open Forum for a National Dialogue to Unite Our Resistance against Rightwing Neoliberalism – February 3 – 5, 2007

To the Mexican people:
To all social and civil organizations:

This year of 2007 presents us with threats and challenges directed at the Mexican people. The politicians, militaries, “magistrates”, and big entrepreneurs that through corruption imposed on us Felipe Calderón, are now ready to take advantage of their usurpation of power. They are ready to inaugurate a new and more vicious stage of neo-liberal politics that includes: privatization, budgets that violate public interests and social needs (like the one recently approved), of concentration of wealth for a few and deepening poverty for the majority. In addition, the surrender of sovereignty, and indiscriminate openness to subordinate integration to the United States, as in the case of corn and beans as a consequence of FTA’s. They are ready to regress and close doors to any new process of democratic transformation and elimination of despotism, electoral fraud and corruption that were characteristic of the old “priistas” (from the PRI) regime and are now part of this “new” political system.

The neoliberal right wing enthroned in power, even before the “transition”, and now headed by a new and even more dangerous government “Panista” (from the PAN), has not vacillated in violating fundamental laws of the Republic and universal human rights respected by our country. This past year was the epitome in this respect as demonstrated by the industrial crime in Pasta de Conchos that left 65 dead and continues in impunity; the repression of striking workers at Lazaro Cardenas; the blatant violations to union freedom and autonomy. And by the brutal repression of the people of Atenco and against the popular movement of Oaxaca, that left a trail of dozens of assassination, hundreds of arrests and countless cases of torture, aggression, and sexual violations that until this day have not ceased; the pretense of an investigation of the ’68 and ’71 genocides that remain in impunity.

The worst thing is that this seems to be just a glimpse of what lies ahead from a regime with an iron fist that criminalizes social protest, does not hesitate to use repressive forces and imposes the sinister and infamous torturer ex-governor of Jalisco as head of the Ministry of the Interior. This regime also puts CISEN elements in charge of national “security”- that actually utilizes the supposed war against drug trafficking to increase the militarization of the country. There is no doubt that this regime is ever more distant from a democratic transition and ever closer to a dictatorship, with the goal of imposing its policies and subjugating the democratic will of the people of Mexico.

But that is not all, the neoliberal right wing has made explicit their intention of maintaining power by any means for a long and ominous time, as it is recorded in the 2030 plan elaborated by the World Bank which is publicly accepted by the current governing team that promises 25 years of application for this project.

However, the Mexican people will not conform, they will not allow another dark day of democratic suppression, suppression of the human rights of indigenous people, peasants, workers, youth, and womyn, and of a worsening of their working and living conditions, nor of selling off of the country. Much less now, when in the South of the continent we see new winds of hope that demonstrate that another path is possible. Despite the use of economic power, fraud, and repression to maintain power, that these big entrepreneurs and their politicians have used and their dismissal of social discontent; neoliberalism is increasingly unpopular and there is growing rejection of their policies.

This is demonstrated by the rebellion of the Zapatista community and the dignified indigenous resistance; the resistance against privatization of energy, water, social security, and public education; the persistent resistance of communities like that of Atenco; the exemplary fight and resistance of the people of Oaxaca; and the enormous democratic movement against the electoral fraud and imposition. These struggles all demonstrate that resisting, and confronting are possible means to defeating the intentions of the right wing neoliberals to maintain power.

For this to happen however, it is indispensable to unite the resistance movements and popular alternatives. Fraud and repression should not sow doubt, disintegration, or isolation of these struggles. Before the shadow of violence and the illegality represented by the current federal government, we must raise a united national resistance, constitute a coordinated front where all of the people can take part and strengthen trust in their struggles and in their victories.

In the previous period, a series of initiatives and unifying forces that were developing (which were part of National Dialogue’s past three versions) got caught in the middle of an electoral dispute and the subsequent fraud and imposition of the new right wing government. Meanwhile, initiatives like La Otra Campaña (The Other Campaign) and the persistence of the APPO movement continue to expand their influence, hundreds of thousands of people await the next step in the noted resistance in the National Democratic Convention, and all types of local and national social organizations discuss and process the new challenges and strategies.

The new vision is clearly outlined and overtly determined by the new offensive of the right wing neoliberals placing at risk the survival of any democratic and popular hope demands a new encounter of the diverse movements and resistance. A new force of convergence and unity is required, even if it is over basic issues, without weakening the forces and projects from each sector. As a step towards this path, we propose to all the movements and social actors, the need for a new National Dialogue, which we see not as a simple continuation or an end to previous ones, but as a new opportunity to come together and redefine some common strategies for this new context.
We firmly and humbly believe that in this new phase of struggle against neo-liberalism enough consensus and agreement exists between the political, civic, and social movements that are determined to assure that Mexico transition into democracy, justice, and liberty through a National Political Pact to confront and defeat the common enemy. An agreement that, with out ignoring differences, can be shared with no reserve and where the consensus over basic points can be the basis for unity, and where the autonomy of each one will not undermine the common platform and united action. A probable route would be to sign an initial agreement based on a political declaration, a minimal platform for struggle, and a plan for immediate action.

It is with these aspirations that we call for a new National Dialogue, taking place from February 3rd to the 5th in the headquarters of the Mexican Electricians Union located in Antonio Caso 45, Col. Tabacalera in the city of Mexico, that can be used as a stepping-stone in this direction.

The National Dialogue Program, that starts February 3rd at 13hrs, will include the following themes:

1.- Evaluation of the diverse movement and unitary forces, and discussion of strategies for new perspectives.

2.- Wages, Employment, Social Security, Retirement and Pension Systems, and Migration.

3.- Electricity, Water, Petroleum, Biodiversity, Cultural Heritage, Internal and External Debt, FTA’s, PPP (Pan Puebla Panama) and ASPAN (Alianza para la Seguridad y la Prosperidad de America del Norte)

4.- Education, Research, Technology, Science, and Culture.

5.- Democratic Liberty, Human Rights, Militarization

6.- Gender Discrimination and Equality

7.- Agricultural Crisis, Indigenous Rights and Culture

IN SOLIDARITY

End the price hikes for products of basic consumption!
No to the militarization of the Country! For an alternative National project!
The country is not for sale, sovereignty will be defended!
NATIONAL DIALOGUE


Document signed by the following organizations and individuals:

Frente Sindical Mexicano (FSM), Red Mexicana de Acción Frente al Libre Comercio (RMALC), Asociación Latinoamericana de Medianos y Pequeños Empresarios (ALAMPYME), Asociación Nacional de Industriales de la Transformación (ANIT), Centro de Investigación Laboral y Asesoría Sindical (CILAS), Red Nacional Género y Economía (REDGE), Servicios y Asesoría para la Paz (SERAPAZ), Movimiento Nacional Organizado “Aquí Estamos” (MONAE), Movimiento “La Esperanza se Respeta” (MER), Organización Nacional del Poder Popular (ONPP), Frente Amplio Progresista (FAP), Promotora de la Unidad Nacional Contra el Neoliberalismo (PUNCN), Paz con Democracia, Cultura, Trabajo y Democracia, Frente Nacional de Resistencia Contra la Privatización de la Industria Eléctrica (FNRCPIE), Frente Socialista, Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE), Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Minero-Metalúrgicos y Similares de la Republica Mexicana, Alianza de Tranviarios de México (ATM), Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Industria Nuclear (SUTIN), Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (SITUAM), Sindicato de Trabajadores de Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (STUNAM), Sindicato de Trabajadores de Transporte de Pasajeros del Distrito Federal (STTP), Confederación de Jubilados, Pensionados y Adultos Mayores de la Republica Mexicana A.C., Frente Autentico del Trabajo (FAT), Frente Popular Revolucionario (FPR), Sindicato de Trabajadores al Servicio de los Poderes del Estado de Querétaro, Asociación de Trabajadores del Estado de Michoacán (ATEM), Confederación de Ferrocarrileros de la Republica Mexicana A.C., Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas (SME).

Sindicato de Trabajadores del H. Ayuntamiento de Patzcuaro Michoacán, Sindicato Independiente de Trabajadores del Colegio de Bachilleres del Estado de Michoacán, Sindicato Único de Trabajadores Académicos del CONALEP, Sindicato Único de Trabajadores del Colegio de Estudios Científicos y Tecnológicos del Estado de Michoacán, Sindicato Único de Trabajadores del Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Tacambaro, Sindicato Único de Trabajadores del Instituto Tecnológico Superior Purhepecha, Sindicato de Maestros y Empleados del Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Uruapan, Sindicato Único de Trabajadores del Instituto Tecnológico Superior de los Reyes, Sindicato Único de Trabajadores del Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Apatzingan Michoacán, Sindicato Único de Trabajadores del Icatmi, Sindicato Único de Trabajadores del Organismo Público Descentralizado Servicios de Salud de Michoacán, Instituto de la Probidad A.C., Asociación de Médicos y Enfermeras Suplentes del ISSSTE, Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Universidad Tecnológica de Morelia, Sindicato Independiente de los Trabajadores al Servicio del Ayuntamiento del Municipio de Ario Michoacán, Cooperativa, Asociación Nacional de Jubilados y Pensionados de la Secretaria de Salud A.C., Sindicato de Empleados de la Junta de Caminos del Estado de Michoacán.

Asociación Nacional de Empresas de Comercio del Campo, Alianza Mexicana por la Autodeterminación de los pueblos, Coordinadora Nacional de Mujeres (COM), Coalición de Organizaciones Mexicanas en Defensa del Agua (COMDA), Coordinadora de Trabajadores en Defensa del Carácter Público del Agua (CTDCPA), Movimiento Mexicano de Afectados por las Presas y en Defensa de los Ríos (MAPDER), Red de Genero y Medio Ambiente (REGEMA), Red de Mujeres Indígenas, Red Nacional de Promotores Rurales (RNAPROR), Asociación Nacional de Trabajadores del INVI (ASTINVI), Casa de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos Indios, Centro de Derechos Humanos Agustín Pro, Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Francisco de Victoria, Comisión Episcopal de la Pastoral Social, Comité Ollín Mexica, Consejo Campesino Urbano Popular Obrero (CCUPO), Coordinadora por la Unidad de los Trabajadores del GDF, Coordinadora de Unidades Habitacionales INFONAVIT (CUHI), Estudiantes Fac. Ciencias UNAM, Estudiantes Fac. Arquitectura, Estudiantes CCH-Sur, Estudiantes CIECO-UNAM, Estudiantes UAM-I, Estudiantes y Profesores UACM, Estudiantes y Profesores UAM-X, Investigadores de la IIS-UNAM, Investigadores de FLACSO, Maderas del Pueblo del Sureste, Movimiento de Unificación y Lucha Triqui DF (MULT-DF), Unión de Trabajadores de la Educación, Unión Popular Revolucionaria Emiliano Zapata (UPREZ), Comunidad del Pueblo de Tulpetlac, Guardianes de los Volcanes A.C., Movimiento Mazahua por la Defensa y Cuidado del Agua (MOVMAZDA), Unión de Pueblos del Oriente de Chalco y Cocotitlán (UPOCHCO) Consejo de Ejidos y Comunidades Opositores a la Presa La Parota (CECOP), Estudiantes Normalistas "El Mexe", Pobladores de Guadalajara Opositores a la Presa el Arcediano, Asociación de Colonos de Manantiales de Cuautla, Pastoral de la Tierra, Sistema de Agua Potable Xoxocotla, CIPO-REM, Movimiento Ciudadano Unido de Puebla (MCUP), Consejo Indígena Popoloca (CIP), Unión Campesina Emiliano Zapata vive (UCEV), UPD- Quintana Roo, Ciudadanos Unidos al Rescate de la Laguna de Acuitlapilco (CURLA), UCIVER – Pobladores, Centro de Investigaciones Económicas y Políticas (CIEPAC), AC, Alianza Arco, Alianza Braceraproa, Oaxaca, Alianza Ciudadana, Asamblea de Trabajadores de Michoacán (ATM), Asamblea Nacional de Trabajadores Democráticos del Seguro Social, Asamblea Nacional en Defensa del Agua y de la Tierra y contra su Privatización, Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Chiapas, Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Michoacán (APPMich), Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca (APPO), Asociación de Jubilados y Pensionados “17 de marzo”, Central Unitaria de Trabajadores-ONPP, Centro de Apoyo al Movimiento Popular Oaxaqueño A.C., CAMPO., Centro de Derechos Humanos Tepeyac del Istmo de Tehuantepec (CDHTT), Coalición Nacional de Trabajadores del INEGI, Consejo Nacional Obrero y Campesino, Convergencia Sindical y Social de Morelos, Coordinadora del Movimiento Urbano Popular de Jalisco, Coordinadora Nacional de Electricistas CFE-SUTERM, DECA Equipo Pueblo, Escuela Normal Rural de Mactumacza-Chiapas, Frente Sindical de Organizaciones Democráticas de Oaxaca (FSODO), Federación de Trabajadores del Liberalismo Sindical (FTLS), Federación Sindical Revolucionaria (FSR), Frente Campesino Popular de Chiapas, Frente Cívico Huamantleco Tlaxcala, Frente Estatal Magisterial Obrero Sindical y Popular-Zac. (FEMOSP), Frente Nacional de Defensa del Patrimonio Cultural, Frente Patriótico de Puebla, Frente Popoluca del Sur de Veracruz (FREPOSEV), Frente Popular Francisco Villa (FPFV), Frente Revolucionario de Acción Patriótica A.C., Coalición Trinacional en Defensa de la Educación, Movimiento Agrario Indígena Zapatista (MAIZ-Nal), Movimiento Nacional Petrolero, Movimiento Proletario Independiente (MPI), Asociación Nacional de Abogados Democráticos (ANAD), Sindicato de Trabajadores de Casa de Moneda, Sindicato Independiente de Trabajadores del Colegio de Bachilleres, Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Uniroyal, Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Productores de Semilla, Sindicato Nacional Revolucionario de Trabajadores de Euzkadi, Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México, Sociedad Cooperativa de Trabajadores Pascual S.C.L., Unidad Ciudadana de Tlaxcala, Unidad Sindical del SNTSS, Unión Campesina Democrática, Unión de Campesinos Pobres (UCP), Unión de Empresas Sociales Cooperativas del Distrito Federal, Unión de Juristas de México, Unión Nacional de Trabajadores de Confianza de la Industria Petrolera, A.C. , Unión Popular de Vendedores Ambulantes “28de octubre” (UPVA “28 de octubre”), Universidad Mexicana de los Trabajadores “Ricardo Flores Magón”.

Alberto Guerrero Flores, Alfredo López Austin, Alicia Castellanos, Ana Esther Ceceña, Armando Bartra, Arturo Huerta, Benito Mirón Lince, Carlos Payán, Consuelo Sánchez, Cristina Barros, Dip. Alejandro Chanona Burguette. Coordinador del Grupo Parlamentario de Convergencia, Dip. Javier González Garza. Coordinador del Grupo Parlamentario del PRD, Dip. José Antonio Almazán González. Secretario de la Comisión de Trabajo, Dip. Ramón Pacheco Llanes. Secretario de la Comisión de Energía, Dip. Ricardo Cantu Garza. Coordinador Parlamentario del PT, Dolores González, Eduardo Miranda Esquivel, Elvira Concheiro, Epigmenio Ibarra, Flavio Sosa Villavicencio, Gabriel Vargas Lozano, Gerardo de la Fuente, Gilberto López y Rivas, Guillermo Almeyra, Guillermo Briseño, Guillermo R. García Romero, Héctor Díaz-Polanco, Jesús Trapaga Reyes, John Saxe-Fernández, José Antonio Rueda Martínez, José Enrique González Ruiz, José Luis Vega Núñez, Juan José Calixto Rodríguez, Lucio Oliver, Magdalena Gómez, Massimo Modonesi, Oscar González, Pablo González Casanova, Raúl Álvarez Garín. Comité del 68, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, Senadora Rosario Ibarra, Víctor Flores Olea, Miguel Álvarez, Marco Buenrostro, Javier Flores.

Responsible for publication: Fernando Amezcua Castillo
Exterior Secretary for the SME

SOURCE:
http://www.ueinternational.org/Mexico_info/mlna_articles.php?id=113#636

Contributed by:
Ne74

-------------------
La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

ARTICLE: Cananea Mine Workers' Strike Enters 5th Month

Cananea Mine Workers' Strike Enters 5th Month

17 Nov 2007 09:50 GMT

Report Finds "A Serious Lack of Preventive Maintenance, Failure to Repair Equipment and Correct Visible Safety Hazards, and a Conspicuous Lack of Basic Housekeeping" on the Part of Grupo Mexico, S.A.

For more than four months 1,200 workers have been on strike at the Cananea Copper Mine in Cananea, Sonora – the largest copper mine in Mexico and one of the largest mines in the world. Mexico’s Mining and Metal Workers Union, which represents the workers, has been demanding that health and safety conditions be addressed at the mine. Cananea, located about 30 miles south of Sierra Vista, Arizona, has a long history of workplace action, including a 1906 strike that helped ignite the Mexican revolution and a bitter 1999 strike that ended in workers’ defeat. Most of the copper mined at Cananea is exported to the United States for use in electronics equipment.

Between October 6-8 a binational delegation of occupational health professionals, organized by the United Steelworkers' Union (U.S.) and the Maquiladora Health Safety and Support Network, toured the site at the invitation of the Cananea workers. A report, released November 12, found serious occupational hazards and deliberate neglect of safety precautions on the part of Grupo Mexico, SA, the owners of the mine. The Cananea strike follows a February 2006 explosion at a Grupo Mexico mine that killed 65 miners.

See United Steelworkers News for more coverage of the strike and cross-border solidarity.

From the Report: “The conditions observed inside the mine and processing plants, and the work practices reported by the interviewed workers, paint a clear picture of a workplace being “deliberately run into the ground.” A serious lack of preventive maintenance, failure to repair equipment and correct visible safety hazards, and a conspicuous lack of basic housekeeping has created a work site workers have been exposed to high levels of toxic dusts and acid mists, operate malfunctioning and poorly maintained equipment, and work in simply dangerous surroundings.”

Read a pdf of the full report here. Click here for more coverage of the strike and cross-border solidarity.
Source: Cananea Mine Workers' Strike Enters 5th Month

CHECK OUT SITE FOR IMPORTANT LINKS

REPOSTED:
http://www.indymedia.org/en/2007/11/896567.shtml

Contributed by:
Ne74

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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

The Truth About Thanksgiving

In 1621 the myth of thanksgiving was born. The colonists invited Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags, to their first feast as a follow up to their recent land deal. Massasoit in turn invited 90 of his men, much to the chagrin of the colonists. Two years later the English invited a number of tribes to a feast "symbolizing eternal friendship." The English offered food and drink, and two hundred Indians dropped dead from unknown poison.

The first day of thanksgiving took place in 1637 amidst the war against the Pequots. 700 men, women, and children of the Pequot tribe were gathered for their annual green corn dance on what is now Groton, Connecticut. Dutch and English mercenaries surrounded the camp and proceeded to shoot, stab, butcher and burn alive all 700 people. The next day the Massachusetts Bay Colony held a feast in celebration and the governor declared "a day of thanksgiving." In the ensuing madness of the Indian extermination, natives were scalped, burned, mutilated and sold into slavery, and a feast was held in celebration every time a successful massacre took place. The killing frenzy got so bad that even the Churches of Manhattan announced a day of "thanksgiving" to celebrate victory over the "heathen savages," and many celebrated by kicking the severed heads of Pequot people through the streets like soccer balls.

The most interesting part of thanksgiving is the propaganda that has been put out surrounding it. During the 19th century thanksgiving traditions consisted of turkey and family reunions. Whenever popular art contained both pilgrims and Indians, the scene was usually characterized by violent confrontations between the two groups, not a multi-cultural/multi-racial dinner. In 1914 artist Jennie Brownscombe created the vision of thanksgiving that we see today: community, religion, racial harmony and tolerance, after her notorious painting reached wide circulation in Life magazine.

On June 20, 1676 Edward Rawson was unanimously voted by the governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts, to proclaim June 29th as the first day of thanksgiving.
It was not until 1863 that Abe Lincoln, needing a wave of patriotism to hold the country together, that Thanksgiving was nationally and officially declared and set forth to this day.

Adamant protests to the celebration of thanksgiving have taken place over the years. As early as 1863 Pequot Indian Minister William Apess urged "every man of color" to mourn the day of the landing, and bury Plymouth Rock in protest. In 1970 Apess got his way. 1970 was the "350th" anniversary of thanksgiving, and became the first proclaimed national day of mourning for American Indians.

For the next 24 years, American Indians staged protest every thanksgiving, in 1996 the United American Indians of New England put a stop to the annual pilgrim parade and forced the marchers to turn around and head back toward the seaside (symbolism?). In 1997 the peaceful protestors were assaulted by members of the Plymouth police, the county sheriffs department, and state troopers on horseback in full riot gear. Men, women, children, and elders were beaten, pepper sprayed and gassed. Twenty-Five people were arrested; blacks, whites, latinos, Indians, and even a 67-year-old Penobscot elder were taken to jail. Videotape was later produced to confirm the assault and ensuing police brutality. Plymouth is known as "Americas Hometown." (http://www.americasdebate.com/forums/simple/index.php/t4221.html)

Contributed by:
Brandito

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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

HOUSTON: Indigenous People's Day of Resistance -- NOV 22

the venue for this thursday is:

doors at 6pm
performances brginning at 7 pm

Super Happy Fun Land
2610 Ashland Street (@ W27th Street in the Heights)
Houston TX 77008
(713)880-2100


vegan potluck
music n art performances

we will give a brief history of thanksgivings origins and the effects of colonization and its celebrated holiday's effects on the masses.


Contributed by:
Lady binx of Almas Intocables

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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

ARTICLE: Many youths spend months in prison awaiting legal decisions

Many youths spend months in prison awaiting legal decisions
Monday, November 19, 2007
By Gabrielle Banks, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07323/835087-85.stm

At 17, Antowian Kelly was jailed on charges of robbery with an unloaded gun. The Hill District sophomore had no prior record but spent 17 months in Allegheny County Jail before a judge decided his case should be heard in juvenile court.

Laws passed in the mid-1990s to toughen sanctions on youthful offenders like Antowian have created a backlog of teenagers awaiting trial or serving sentences in adult facilities. At any given time, the nation's jails house 7,500 teenagers, including many who have not been convicted, according to a study released last week. About 45 minors, including 10 15-year-olds, currently are lodged in the Allegheny County Jail.

Warden Ramon Rustin admitted that holding teens in adult lockdown may counteract the goal of diminishing crime.

"I think we're creating a generation of criminals," he said. "An authority has told these kids -- regardless of your maturity level and your ability to tell right from wrong -- you're an adult. You're going to emulate adults who don't have good decision-making skills. What you learn on the pods is how to commit better crimes, how to get away with more, how to beat the system and how to sell drugs."

Liz Ryan, of the Campaign for Youth Justice in Washington, D.C., said, "At a minimum, we shouldn't do any harm to kids that haven't been convicted of anything."

Her nonprofit advocacy group looked at government data on incarcerated youths and found that teenagers were 36 times more likely to commit suicide in adult jails than in juvenile facilities, and they were 34 times more likely to re-offend if they had been tried as adults. Youths made up 1 percent of the incarcerated population, but they made up 21 percent of "substantiated victims" of inmate-on-inmate sexual violence in 2005, the study found.

Inmates younger than 17 must be segregated from the county jail's general population. But the mother of a North Side boy whose car theft case was sent to juvenile court last week said her 15-year-old spent two days with a 66-year-old cellmate before the guards caught on and moved him.

"My preference is to evaluate every juvenile and see if that person would function well in a regular population as an adult. If he or she doesn't, due to maturity levels or behaviors, we'll separate them," Warden Rustin said.

Children charged with homicide have always qualified for adult court. Warden Rustin got approval, however, to transfer Rachel Booth, a 13-year-old who killed her father with a shotgun after he had repeatedly raped her. He also transferred a 13-year-old male suspect in a different homicide to juvenile detention.

In the meantime, some children 15 and older arrested for nonfatal offenses have languished a year or more on adult cell blocks waiting for a judge to determine whether they should be tried as adults.

Act 33, passed in 1995, made it legal to incarcerate and try teens as adults for assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, car theft, kidnapping or sexual assault. The built-in safeguard was that these youths could still petition to be "adjudicated delinquent" and tried in juvenile court. The county handles about 150 Act 33 cases each year.

In 2005, Common Pleas President Judge Joseph M. James ordered that Act 33 transfers occur within 20 days of the preliminary hearing. But in some cases when parents couldn't afford bond, juvenile suspects waited months before their lawyers got discovery material necessary to assess whether to start the process over as juveniles.

Antowian Kelly waited 17 months to get bumped down to juvenile court. Timothy Fullum, 16, was held on charges of fatally stabbing a friend in a 2003 fight that began as horseplay. A Common Pleas judge denied a motion to transfer him to juvenile detention. He spent nearly two years awaiting appeals and another year awaiting trial.

"The jail is a difficult place to spend more than a few months," said his defense lawyer, Chris Rand Eyster. "The jail toughened him up, he seemed to have lost his spark. It totally drained him of life. He was just in survival mode there."

Randolph A. Matuscak, a social worker who has testified as a juvenile justice expert for the county public defender's office, said about eight teenagers sat in jail from 12 to 18 months awaiting hearings on their adult status between 2005 and 2006.

Mr. Matuscak also studied criminal records of 150 youths transferred from adult to juvenile court between 1997 and 2003. He said 80 of them were never again charged with criminal offenses. Eleven were convicted of violent felonies and two were convicted of homicide.

"In most cases, Act 33 scoops up people that never had to be scooped up in the first place," he said. "It's a different mentality. Inmates at the jail are treated like thugs. Juveniles at Shuman [Juvenile] Detention Center are kids who need treatment, help, guidance, understanding."

Defense attorney Patrick Nightingale, who represents Rachel Booth and other children charged with violent felonies said, "The jail is meant to house people. It's not outfitted to take a shattered child and put that child back together again."

Judge Kim Berkeley Clark, administrator of Family Division, said the safeguards in Act 33 work, but the courts rely on the jail to provide services and enforce protective segregation.

James Reiland, who heads the county's juvenile probation program, agreed that adult hearings prevent Act 33 defendants from "slipping through the cracks."

"Our job is salvage kids and help produce solid citizens," he said. Most cases get decertified.

"Unfortunately, there are some kids whose behavior is so outrageous they may need the criminal system to contain them."

Contributed by:
Sonic Visions

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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

VIDEO: Report from Protest Against Sharon Keller Nov 16

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Texas Moratorium Network: Stop Executions Now!
Date: Nov 17, 2007 6:30 PM


Yesterday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed open late accepting letters from the public urging Judge Sharon Keller to resign. On Sept 25, Keller closed the court sharply at 5, saying "We close at five", but yesterday the court stayed open for business until 5:03 accepting letters urging Keller to resign. This shows how arbitrary the decision was on Sept 25 to close exactly at five. The court stayed open an extra three minutes today with no problem, they could have easily stayed open an extra 20 minutes on Sept 25 to accept an appeal from a man set for execution at 6 pm that day.

Click here to watch an excellent video story of today's protest from FOX 7 News.

We lined up at the office of the clerk of the court at about ten minutes before five pm to turn in a copy of the judicial complaint signed by more than 1600 people. We also each brought a personally written letter to Keller telling her to resign. Each person stood in line to personally deliver their letter to the clerk. When the clock reached five pm, there were several people still waiting in line. The clock reached 5:01 and 5:02 and still the clerk kept the office open accepting letters. Finally, after the clock had passed 5:03, the clerks stopped accepting letters, left the area and turned off the lights. We asked them to stay open an extra twenty minutes so that everyone could turn in their letter, but they refused. Yet they had already broken the "Keller Rule" by staying open three minutes beyond 5. People who had not yet had a chance to turn in their letters to the clerks left them lying on the counter.

Michael Richard's sister, Patricia Miller, spoke to the group outside the court after the delivery of the letters and judicial complaint. Watch the video above to hear what she said. Patricia demanded that Keller resign no later than Nov 25.

Please take a moment to send an email to Sharon Keller telling her to resign. Your email will also be sent to Governor Perry, members of the Texas Legislature and the other judges on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Click here to send Sharon Keller an email telling her to resign.



Contributed by:
Sonic Visions


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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

ARTICLE: El Cerebro Detras De Hillary Clinton - Una Hispana Y Se Llama Patti Solis Doyle

El "cerebro" detrás de Hillary Clinton
Es hispana y se llama Patti Solís Doyle



Univision Online

19 de Noviembre de 2007


En el mundo de la política es común escuchar que "detrás de un gran hombre, hay siempre una gran mujer". Pero esta popular frase posiblemente toma un significado más especial si "el candidato" es una mujer... Cuando Hillary Rodham Clinton tuvo que elegir a "un jefe de campaña" para su contienda presidencial, la senadora de Nueva York no dudó en reclutar los servicios de "una gran mujer" como estratega; su nombre: Patti Solís Doyle.

Una destacada estratega política

Si bien esta mexicoamericana de 42 años quizás no es muy conocida a nivel popular, las personas empapadas de los asuntos de Washington sí saben bien quien es ella y cuál fue su trayectoria política antes de convertirse en la primera mujer hispana jefa de campaña de un aspirante a la presidencia de Estados Unidos.

Su trabajo, reconocido por la misma Hillary Clinton en el reciente Foro Demócrata que organizó la cadena Univision en septiembre pasado, ha sido uno de los factores determinantes para que en la actualidad encabece la mayoría de los sondeos de preferencia para recibir la nominación del Partido Demócrata.

"Esto es una gran responsabilidad, la cual tomo bastante en serio", explicó Solís Doyle, en entrevista telefónica con Univision.com.

Pero "lo que he hecho por Hillary desde que comencé a trabajar para su campaña es realmente organizarla y establecer sistemas de trabajo para que ella pueda hacer lo que necesita hacer para salir electa", precisó.

Mientras la senadora se concentra en dar a conocer su plan de trabajo y en hacer campaña, Solís Doyle aclaró que se encarga de preocuparse por el "aspecto organizativo de la campaña".

"En eso es que yo soy buena", expresó a Univision.com. "Soy una buena organizadora, puedo manejar a grandes equipos de trabajo... Me aseguro de que todos los trenes salgan a tiempo y que los barcos naveguen en línea recta, mientras que ella [Hillary] se enfoca en hacer otras cosas importantes de la campaña".

Pero, ¿cómo esta madre de dos hijos se involucró en la política de Estados Unidos hasta convertirse en la mano derecha de la ex primera dama?

Solís Doyle es la menor de seis hermanos y nació en Chicago, luego de que su familia inmigrara a Estados Unidos desde Monterrey, Mexico. Creció en la "Ciudad de los Vientos" hasta que se graduó de la Universidad de Northwestern.

Sin embargo, un hermano 16 años mayor de ella fue quien encendió la chispa que la motivó a interesarse por la política.

"Mi hermano era un organizador comunitario en Chicago... Yo lo vi trabajar con la gente para conseguirles mejores trabajos, motivarlos para que sus fueran a la universidad y ayudando a los jóvenes a que no bebieran en las calles", recordó la especialista política. "Eso hizo un gran impacto en mi vida... y yo quería ser parte del proceso de mejorar las vidas de la gente en mi comunidad".

El hermano de Solís Doyle eventualmente se postuló para un puesto político y ella se involucró en la campaña. Luego maduró su experiencia política trabajando en la candidatura del alcalde de Chicago, Richard J. Daley.

"Lo que he hecho por Hillary desde que comencé a trabajar para su campaña es organizarla y crear sistemas de trabajo para que ella pueda hacer lo que necesita hacer para salir electa", precisó.

Contributed by:
Guillermo Rodriguez


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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

ARTICLE: Valenzuela - Renewed Focus on Mexican Immigrants Living in US

VALENZUELA: RENEWED FOCUS ON MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN U.S.

This has been a momentous week for Mexican immigrants living in the United States. Two separate, high-profile, meetings took place with U.S.-immigrant leadership in Mexico in order to develop policy in response to the raids, mass deportations of Mexican nationals, and U.S. immigration policy, in general.

Read on...

Contributed by:
Rio Grande Guardian
www.riograndeguardian.com

-------------------
La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

HOUSTON: National Conference - Claiming Our Rights, Envisioning Our Future: Communities Organizing for Justice -- JAN 18-20

Claiming our Rights, Envisioning our Future:
Communities Organizing for Justice

A National Conference for Immigrant & Refugee Rights
Una Conferencia Nacional para los Derechos de las y los Immigrantes y Refugiados


Jan 18-20, 2008
18–20 de Enero, 2008
Houston, Texas

Come to Houston in January 2008! Help build a shared immigrant rights platform for this critical election year and lift our voices to reframe the national debate towards justice, dignity and human rights.

¡Ven a Houston en enero del 2008! Ayuda a construir una plataforma compartida para los derechos de las y los inmigrantes para este año crítico electoral y alza nuestras voces para mover el debate nacional hacia la justicia, la dignidad y los derechos humanos.



Contributed by:
Arnoldo Garcia


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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

BROWNSVILLE: Protest The Border Wall -- DEC 15




A major protest is being organized by the youth(us) here in Brownsville, Texas and would appreciate if any of you all could come.

If any accommodations for any organization or individual is needed for the trip, don't hesitate to call the number provided.

We will provide signs & bottled water.

You can come and represent your organization or simply come and have a great time for a just cause.


Contributed by:
The Comedy Club!

-------------------
La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org

Invitation to Zapatista Collectives in US / Invitación A Los Colectivos Zapatistas En EEUU

[English below]


Compañeros y compañeras

Les escribimos de la campaña EZLN: El Fuego y la Palabra, para invitarlos a participar en la organización de las actividades que proximamente planeamos realizar en Estados Unidos.

Como muchos de ustedes saben, esta campaña arrancó en México en noviembre del 2003, en el marco del décimo aniversario del levantamiento zapatista y el vigésimo de la fundación del EZLN. Para festejar estas fechas, la revista Rebeldía coordinó la realización de una serie de materiales que próximamente se presentarán en Estados Unidos en versiones actualizadas. Se trata del libro *EZLN: El fuego y la palabra*, que está siendo publicado en Estados Unidos en versiones separadas en inglés y en español (City Lights); una memoria musical integrada por cuatro CDs de ska, reggae, rock, trova y corridos compuestos bajo la influencia de la lucha zapatista; la exposición fotográfica más grande y completa que se haya organizado sobre el zapatismo; una serie de videos sobre su historia y autonomía.

El recorrido de la autora del libro se realizará por regiones de Estados Unidos, en varias etapas, durante el año 2008 y partiendo de California, estado que se visitará del 1 al 15 de febrero. La invitación concreta es a organizar la presentación de alguno o todos los materiales de la Campaña (libro, fotos, memoria musical o videos en sus barrios, foros, espacios comunitarios, universidades, etcétera), con el modesto objetivo de seguir acercando esta lucha a más personas: mexicanos, latinos, chicanos, afroamericanos y otros estadounidenses (entre otros); además de apoyar la construcción de la autonomía de los pueblos zapatistas, que son la columna vertebral de este movimiento.

Estamos enviando esta propuesta a los colectivos adherentes a la Sexta Declaración de la Selva Lacandona en California (para esta primera etapa).
De antemano ofrecemos una disculpa a algún colectivo interesado que por un error involuntario no reciba la presente.

Compas, queda en sus manos esta propuesta, con la esperanza de que la hagan suya y podamos organizar algo jun@s. En archivo adjunto encontrarán más detalles sobre esta invitación, sobre los materiales y la historia de esta campaña de difusión.

En espera de su respuesta, reciban un abrazo donde quiera que se encuentren

Atentamente

Gloria Muñoz (periodista de la revista Rebeldía y del periódico La Jornada)


Campaña El Fuego y la Palabra


-------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Invitation to Zapatista collectives in the United States


Compañeros and compañeras,

We're writing to you on behalf of the campaign EZLN: The Fire and the Word, to invite you to participate in organizing the activities we are planning for 2008 in the United States.

As many of you know, this campaign was launched in Mexico in November 2003 during the 10th anniversary of the Zapatista uprising and the 20thanniversary of the foundation of the EZLN. To celebrate those dates, the magazine *Rebeldía *coordinated the development of a series of materials, which will be presented in 2008 in the United States, in updated versions.
The materials are: the book *EZLN: The Fire and the Word*, which is being published in the US in both English and Spanish editions (City Lights); a musical collection composed of four CDs of ska, reggae, rock, trova, and corridos composed with the influence of Zapatista struggle; the largest and most complete photographic exhibit ever organized on Zapatismo; a series of videos on Zapatista history and autonomy.

The book's author will tour various regions of the United States in several stages throughout 2008, starting with California, which will be visited from February 1 to 15. The concrete invitation is to organize the presentation of some or all of the Campaign's materials (book, photos, musical collection, or videos) in your communities, forums, community spaces, universities, etc., with the modest goal of continuing to make this struggle known to more
people: Mexicans, Latinos, Chicanos, Afro-Americans, and other US Americans, (among others); as well as supporting the construction of autonomy of the Zapatista communities, which are the foundation of this movement.

We are sending this proposal to those collectives which have adhered to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle in California (at this first stage). We apologize in advance to any interested collective which, due to an involuntary mistake, may not receive this proposal.

Compas, the proposal is in your hands. We hope that you will make it yours and that we will be able to organize something together. Attached you will find more details on this invitation, on the materials, and on the history of this campaign.

We look forward to your response and we send you greetings wherever you are.

Sincerely,

Gloria Muñoz (journalist for the magazine Rebeldía and the daily La Jornada)

Campaign The Fire and the Word

----

INVITATION TO ZAPATISTA COLLECTIVES IN THE UNITED STATES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CAMPAIGN EZLN: THE FIRE AND THE WORD

In November 2003, within the context of the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and the 10th anniversary of the indigenous insurrection that shook the world, the Mexican magazine Rebeldía coordinated the Campaign EZLN: 20 and 10, The Fire and the Word.

Within the framework of these two anniversaries, a series of materials was developed that gathered works created by painters, photographers, video makers, and musicians from around the world who have been influenced by Zapatista discourse and practice. Additionally, a book on the history of the EZLN, with the same title as the campaign, was presented together with the largest and most emblematic photographic exhibit in the history of Zapatismo, the most representative musical memory of this first decade of political struggle, and a video that, like the book, brings together pieces of that history.

The appearance of the EZLN represents a turning point that does not end and that continues being reinvented. The materials that make up the campaign The Fire and the Word tell the story of the days and years that shook the world. By recapitulating and documenting this history in progress, the book, the video, the photographs, and the musical collection try to become tools with the modest (and ambitious) goal of continuing to bring home this history, especially for youths who in 1994 were only children and who today try to find different ways of seeing the world.

In four years (from 2003 to 2007), the Campaign EZLN: The Fire and the Word has been presented in various countries and in various languages. In that period it traveled through over 150 cities of Greece, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Austria, Turkey, Switzerland, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, with presentations of the book The Fire and the Word in its various translations, the video and the musical collection with the same name, and the photographic exhibit “69 Gazes against Polyphemus.”

In addition to the above presentations, which were organized directly by the magazine Rebeldía and by collectives and organizations from each country, a number of events were put together as part of this campaign in 33 countries of the five continents, in a period of only two months.

THE CAMPAIGN IN THE UNITED STATES

Throughout 2008, updated versions the materials will be presented in several regions of the US, using as a pretext the publication of the book The Fire and the Word: a history of the EZLN, in both English and Spanish versions, by City Lights.

The general proposal is to present the book, the video, the photographic exhibit, and the musical collection at various events during different stages, just like it has been organized in other countries, with several tours by the book’s author accompanied by activists and collectives that are interested in the Zapatista movement. At each location the author will contact universities, collectives, and organizations interested in organizing presentations of one or more of the materials. It may be just the book, or a concert with the musical collection, or the book and the photographic exhibit, or the video and the book, all of this depending on the interest and proposals of the organizers and the spaces they choose.

It is important to note that all potential profits, both from the sale of the materials (book and musical collection) and from the events organized (conferences at universities, concerts, or any other event) will be destined to finance projects of the Zapatista Good Government Boards, as has been the case in all tours organized in other countries. Both the Good Government Boards and the Zezta Internazional (the Zapatistas’ international initiative), as well as organizers of other presentations around the world, may confirm the delivery of these funds.

Finally, it is important to clarify that the campaign EZLN: The Fire and the Word is not organized by the EZLN, but by people and collectives in solidarity. The intention is not to represent or to substitute the voice of the Zapatistas, but merely to make known a history of rebellion that, for many of us, is still an alternative. Both the Good Government Boards and the Zezta Internazional are aware of these activities, but we in no way represent them or make contacts or create connections in their name.

Proposed Calendar

California: February 1 to 17, 2008

Chicago and surrounding areas: April (dates to be confirmed)

New York and surrounding areas: June (dates to be confirmed)

Washington and surrounding areas: September (dates to be confirmed)

Border states other than California: November (dates to be confirmed)


MATERIALS OF THE CAMPAIGN EZLN: THE FIRE AND THE WORD

Book: The Fire and the Word: a history of the EZLN

Four years after its publication in Mexico, the book The Fire and the Word, written by Gloria Muñoz Ramírez, is released in the United States in an updated version and in two separate editions, in English and Spanish, both of them published by City Lights.

The original edition draws a landscape composed of pieces of the history of the Zapatista movement from its creation, in November 1988, to the birth of the Good Government Boards in August 2003. The introduction and the prologue were written by Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, military chief and spokesman of the EZLN, who in an extensive interview also evaluates the first decade of Zapatista struggle and resistance. The English and Spanish U.S. editions of The Fire and the Word have two additional texts that bring the book up to date and help answer the question: “What are the Zapatistas doing now?”

The first addendum is a series of reports by the author on the five Zapatista regions of Chiapas. According to Carlos Montemayor—president of the jury that honored the reports with the José Martí Latin American Journalism Award—it is “a series that reveals the political and social complexity of an indigenous autonomous movement—the EZLN—in today’s America.”

The reports were first published as a special supplement for the 20th anniversary of the Mexican daily La Jornada in September 2004, under the title “Chiapas, the Resistance.” They reveal the daily challenge faced by thousands of Zapatista men, women, and children in their everyday construction of autonomy; that is, as they forge their own destiny.

The new epilogue to the US editions was written by the book’s author and by Hermann Bellinghausen, renowned Mexican writer and journalist who has been covering the war in Chiapas since its beginnings. Bellinghausen is undoubtedly among the journalists who most thoroughly knows and understands Mexico’s indigenous movements.

The epilogue deals with the current stage of the Zapatista movement, set forth in the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, published in June 2005. Its national component initiated a tour through “deep Mexico”—Mexico from below and on the left. The objective was to develop a national plan of struggle and a new Constitution. This initiative, which was called The Other Campaign, spanned Mexico and crossed the northern border to reinvent the map, creating what the Zapatistas call The Other Geography—one without walls, which has become a new territory where Mexicans and Chicanos encounter one another across artificially imposed barriers. This Other Geography finds echoes around the globe because, by refusing to recognize borders, it recognizes systemic problems that affect all who struggle from below for justice and dignity in any country of the world. This is basis of the international component of the Sixth Declaration, better known as the Zezta Internazional, which is delineated in this epilogue through its recent initiatives.

Since its first Mexican edition, the book The Fire and the Word has traveled the world. It has been translated into French, Italian, German, Turkish, Persian, and Greek, and published in separate Spanish-language editions in Spain, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. It is also currently being translated for publication in Russian, Portuguese, and Japanese.

In the last four years The Fire and the Word has been presented in approximately 150 cities of Spain, Greece, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Turkey, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, by social leaders, activists, intellectuals, and scholars from various parts of the world, including Subcomandante Marcos, Nobel laureate José Saramago, Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, Catalonian writer Ramón Chao, French sociologist Yvon Le Bot, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo from Argentina, and the Mapuche Indians of Chile, among others.


Photographic Exhibit “69 Gazes Against Polyphemus”

The exhibit “69 Gazes against Polyphemus” is undoubtedly the most complete and emblematic photographic collection on the Zapatista movement (and one of the largest collective exhibits presented in Mexico on any topic). In it, 68 photographers from around the world and an anti-photographer (Subcomandante Marcos) offer 137 images covering the EZLN’s first decade of public struggle (from 1994 to 2004). The immense effort of gathering and selecting the works was undertaken by photographer Yuriria Pantoja.

According to Mexican photographer Pablo Ortiz Monasterio, “the true authors of this exhibit are not the 69 photographers—an undoubtedly evocative number. The Zapatistas soon understood the power of images and adopted them as a weapon to make themselves felt and seen, and to show the world that this other reality exists.”

Subcomandante Marcos, military chief and spokesman of the EZLN, who participates in this exhibit as presenter and, for the first time, as photographer, states: “A photograph is a gaze. And a gaze is a way of illuminating something. Like the sun, these photographers’ lenses illuminate various moments of Zapatismo. They do not encompass, nor do they pretend to, the entirety of their subject. They are honest and they declare with their gaze that they only see a part of it. But that is precisely their main virtue, because it allows us to interrogate their gaze and ask ourselves what is not seen. With those answers we begin to complete the jigsaw puzzle of gazes that neo-Zapatismo has been claiming since that cold early morning at the beginning of 1994.”

The photographers that participate in this collective exhibit—who, as a side note, paid the setup costs for their own photographs—are: Sebastião Salgado, Antonio Turok, Eniac Martínez, Fabricio León, Pedro Valtierra, Francisco Mata, Raúl Ortega, Adrián Mealand, Alberto Contreras, Alejandro Meléndez, Alfredo Estrella, Angeles Torrejón, Araceli Herrera, Arturo Fuentes, Arturo Talavera, Carlos Cisneros, Carlos Ramos Mamahua, Cecilia Candelaria, Claudio Cruz, Cristina Rodríguez, Eduardo Verdugo, Elsa Medina, Emiliano Thibaut, Erik Meza. Ernesto Ramírez, Félix Cúneo, Fernando Castillo, Fernando Luna, Fernando Villa del Ángel, Francisco Olvera, Fred Jacquemont, Frida Hartz, Georges Bartoli, Gildardo Magaña, Guiomar Rovira, Heriberto Rodríguez, Javier García, Jesús Ramírez, Jesús Villaseca, Jorge Claro, José Ángel Rodríguez, José Carlo González, José Núñez, Juan Ramón Martínez León, Julio Candelaria, Leonor Solís, Lourdes Grobet, Luis Cortés, Luis Jorge Gallegos, Marco Antonio Cruz, Marco Peláez, Marco Ugarte, María Meléndrez, Omar Meneses, Oriana Eliçabe, Pasqual Gorriz, Patricia Aridjis, Paulo Vidales, Rafael Seguí i Serres, Ricardo Deneke, Rosaura Pozos, Simona Granatti, Tim Risso, Víctor Flores Olea, Víctor Mendiola, Xóchitl Zepeda, Yazmín Ortega Cortés, Yolanda Andrade, Yuriria Pantoja and the anti-photographer Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos.

The Photographic Exhibit in the United States

For its presentation in the United States, new images will be included in the exhibit, covering Zapatista autonomy and the Zapatistas’ current initiatives, within the framework of the Other Campaign and the Zezta Internazional.

The exhibit was set up in two formats. A professional format with photographs measuring 40.64 x 50.80 cm and a smaller format laminated in plastic, easier to handle, transport, and present. For the US tour, we propose to bring from Mexico a selection of approximately 40 photographs in the professional format, and the entire exhibit in the smaller, more manageable format.

The professional exhibit should be presented in a closed space with large walls or dividers appropriately set up for hanging with nails. A total of 40 meters are needed. In the case of sufficiently tall walls, two rows of photographs may be placed together.

Installing the exhibit requires time and effort, so we recommend setting it up in places where the exhibit may remain three or four days. Ideally, the same space would be used to present the video or the book. The exhibit in the plastic format can be placed in public spaces: plazas, school patios, gardens, etc. The photographs have holes that allow them to be hung with strings. They are also easily attached to any kind of wall.


Musical collection The Fire and the Word

Any social movement that leaves its mark on time has its background music: its songs, anthems, a soundtrack. In other words, the sounds that capture and evoke its spirit. The national and international mobilization generated by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) has its own music, and it was gathered in a four-CD collection edited by the magazine Rebeldía with the title The Fire and the Word.

The collection gathers 82 songs that talk about and celebrate the Zapatista uprising and its social and political impact. The collection and selection was done by Ignacio Pineda and remastered in the studios of Foro Alicia, an emblematic center of Mexico City’s Zapatismo. Each CD in the collection has a different title: Fire, The Word, Resistance, Dignity.

For the version presented in the United States, a fifth CD is being planned, composed of groups and musicians on this side of the border who have been inspired by Zapatismo.

Fire, explains Pineda, contains “international groups that have been supporting the Zapatista cause: Basque, French, Spanish, Chilean, Argentine, Brazilian, Venezuelan, Chicano and other US American.” It includes names such as Fermín Muguruza, Mano Negra, Sargento García, Manu Chao, Hechos Contra el Decoro, Aztlán Underground, Kortátu…

The Word includes Mexican or international authors and composers that, while not necessarily alluding directly to the Zapatista movement, reflect the social context within which the EZLN arises and evolves. The volume contains songs by Lila Downs, Café Tacuba, Joaquín Sabina, León Chávez Texeiro Arturo Meza, Gerardo Enciso, León Gieco, Rafael Catana, Pedro Guerra, Real de Catorce, and Nina Galindo, among others.

The third CD, Resistance, contains Mexican ska and reggae groups that, contrary to the trends established by the large commercial music industry, combine their musical creation with social commitment: Salario Mínimo, Los Rastrillos, La Tremenda Korte, Tijuana No, Panteón Rococó, Salón Victoria, La Sonora Skandalera, and Maldita Vecindad.

Dignity, the fourth CD, includes musicians from Zapatista communities in mixed and remastered field recordings. In this CD, the protagonists of one of the most important social movements in recent years tell a musical chronicle of their own struggle, especially through cumbias and corridos. The musicians include insurgents, comandantes, and bases of support of the EZLN.

The musical memory The Fire and the Word has been distributed in Mexico, Spain, Italy, France, Greece, and Germany. Ann additional CD is being planned for the version presented in the United States, bringing together part of the music that Mexicans, Chicanos, and other US Americans have produced on this side of the border.

We propose presenting this collection in small or large concerts, with the participation of groups and singers in solidarity, according to the possibilities and resources of the organizers.

The following is the content of the four CDs (without the additional disk that will probably be included, with music and songs from this side of the border).

VOLUME 1
FIRE

1. Fermín Muguruza; Brigadistak

2. Hechos Contra el Decoro; Un mundo donde quepan muchos mundos
3.
Banda Bassotti; El pueblo unido jamás será vencido
4. Amparanoia; Somos Viento
5.
Arpioni; Zapata
6. Segarroi; Begi estalitako
indioa
7. Todos tus muertos; Alerta guerrillas
8. Aztlán Underground; Revolution
9.
99 Posse; Resiste Chiapas
10. Chico Science a nacao zumbi; Monólogo a opéido ouvido
11.
Mano Negra; Long long nite
12. Sargento García; Qué palique
13. La Banda de la Banana Voladora; Casas de cartón
14. Ozomatli; Guerrillero
15. Dusminguet; Babilonia
16. Quetzal; Todos somos Ramonas
17. Dr. Calypso; Brigadistes internacionals
18. Kortátu; La línea del frente
19. Los Miserables; Corrido Zapatista
20. Cojón Prieto y Los Guajolotes; Carcelero
21.
Manu Chao; Clandestino
22. Flor de Fango; Zapatista Anthem


VOLUME 2
THE WORD

1. Rockdrigo González; Tiempos híbridos
2. León Chávez Teixeiro; En esta ciudad
3. Arturo Meza; La rebeldía de la luz
4. Café Tacuba; Flores de color de la mentira
5.
Gerardo Enciso; Daga
6. Marina Rosell; Emiliano Zapata
7.
Ismael Serrano, México Insurgente
8. Roberto González; Ramona
9. León Gieco; Sr. Durito y yo
10. Santiago Feliú; Declaración de principios
11. Leticia Servín; Cachos
12. Rafael Catana; Pueblo de patinetas
13. Pedro Guerra; Contra el Poder
14. Joaquín Sabina;Como un dolor de muelas
15. Real de Catorce; Crecimiento cero
16. Vicente Feliú; Preguntas desde un ocho de marzo
17. Guillermo Velázquez; Para que conste
18.
Lila Downs; Smog
19.
Santiago Behm; Donde el hierro mata
20. Durito y Los Twin Tones; Moraleja
21.
Nina Galindo; Zapatista Anthem


VOLUME 3
RESISTANCE

1. Salario Mínimo; Zapatista Anthem
2.
Los Rastrillos; Vaya
3. La Yaga; Libertadores del Babylon
4.
Nana Pancha; Wake Up
5.
La Tremenda Korte; Yo no vengo
6. Salario Mínimo; Declaración de Principios
7. Bosquimanos; El fantasma del sur
8. Antidoping; Planeta
9. Tijuana No; Transgresores de la Ley
10. La Secta Kore; Insurgente
11. Panteón Rococó; Marcos Hall
12. Salón Victoria; Zapata Bophal
13. La Sonora Skandalera; Sin rostro
14. Maldita Vecindad y los hijos del quinto patio; El barzón
15. Los de Abajo; Tiempos muertos
16. Mescalito; Cosa buena
17. La Comuna; En los brazos de Babylon
18. La Revuelta Propia; Yo Digo No
19. Panteón Rococó; Gracias compañeros musicales


VOLUME 4
DIGNITY

1. Dos Vientos de Voz y Fuego; Mañanitas Revolucionarias
2. Dos Vientos de Voz y Fuego; Zapatista Anthem
3. Dos Vientos de Voz y Fuego; Combate de Ocosingo
4. Perseguidos Magonistas; Toma de Ocosingo
5. Dos Vientos de Voz y Fuego; Porque esto ya comenzó
6. Colectivo Polho; Ven, ven, ven
7. Jóvenes Zapatistas del Sur; Héroes y Mártires
8. Jóvenes Zapatistas del Sur; Año de 94
9. La Comandancia; No nos dejaremos
10. Dos Vientos de Voz y Fuego; Fundación del Municipio
11. Grupo 17 de noviembre; Compañeros Insurgentes
12. Dos Vientos de Voz y Fuego; Solicitando Parcela
13. Los Continuadores de los Veteranos del Sur; Primero de Enero
14. Los Relámpagos del Norte de Chiapas; Placas inolvidables
15. Trío Montaña; El Insurgente
16. Trío Montaña; La Cumbia del Insurgente
17. Trío Montaña; 17 de Noviembre
18. Los Magonistas Perseguidos; Traición del 95
19. Los Magonistas Perseguidos; El deber de las Mujeres
20. El Comandante David; Corrido de la Selva
21. Colectivo Musical de San José del Río; Diana Revolucionaria


Documentary Video: The Fire and the Word

The Fire and the Word is a collective work that brings together dozens of voices and faces, but not just those of the leaders. One of the most important aspects of this video is that it focuses on the least visible characters that make Zapatismo possible. The idea is for people to realize that the Zapatista struggle is a long-term movement that stays alive and keeps moving beyond current political contexts.

It is a story made up of images of small stories: a dance party, a theater piece, a soccer game, an army helicopter hovering over the village, a march of torches; previously unpublished scenes of the uprising in San Cristóbal de las Casas on January 1, 1994, of the tragedy at Acteal, of uprooted communities, of armed conflicts… “fragmentary and apparently local” stories traversed by a thread of coherence that give weight and drama to their political presence in the world and legitimizes their struggle of resistance.

This hour and a half video, in DVD format, has been subtitled into French, Greek, German, and English, and the intention is to present it in the US, whether for sale or simply for viewing, at any location chosen by interested collectives or universities.

Other videos are also proposed for presentation, produced by autonomous video makers from Zapatista communities. They are videos of various lengths in DVD format (15, 20, or 30 minutes), and they deal with topics such as the defense of the land, women’s struggles, and other aspects of Zapatista autonomy.



Contributed by:
Joe Nobody
Valley World Peace Alliance

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La Nueva Raza News
www.lanuevaraza.org