Last night, after posting, I hit a second wave of energy and finished another book (Basta! by George Collier) about the Zapatista movement. This is probably worth writing about more because it’s a large part of the reason I’m here. In 1994, in Chiapas, just east of where I am now, a couple thousand of indigenous peasants decided they were tired of being treated like second-class citizens, having their land taken and their cultures degraded, and that the Mexican government was not upholding the promises made in it’s constitution, so they got some ski masks and rifles, took over half the state, and decided they would do things themselves. Thanks to a first-of-its-kind internet outreach program, these men and women (who called themselves the Zapatistas, after Emilio Zapata, a hero of the Mexican Revolution) were able to build enough support in Mexico and internationally that the Mexican government was unable to respond with military force, instead allowing the Zapatistas to more or less govern themselves. The movement emphasizes localized decision making and sustainability and has worked to redistribute farmland, open free schools and clinics, increase opportunities for women, and preserve indigenous ways of living and knowing. In the twenty-five years since the uprising, the Zapatistas ***BREAK BECAUSE THE BIGGEST FUCKING COCKROACH I’VE EVER SEEN JUST FUCKING FLEW PAST ME, I MANAGED TO CORNER IT INTO THE BATHROOM AND SHUT THE DOOR AND HOPEFULLY IT WILL LEAVE THROUGH THE WINDOW, I’M GOING TO BUY POISON TOMORROW FUCK IT’S BACK WHY CAN’T IT JUST LEAVE I DONT WANT TO SMASH IT BECAUSE THEN I’LL HAVE TO CLEAN IT UP I COULD OPEN THE BALCONY DOOR FOR IT TO FLY OUT BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO TURN OUT THE LIGHTS OR MORE BUGS WILL COME IN…
-THATS THE BEST I CAN THINK OF, GOING TO DO IT I’LL FINISH THE POST TOMORROW GOODYE I LOVE YOU ALL
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