Relatos Zapatistas Radio Show [October 31, 2010]

In this country, institutions of education continue to be training grounds for future capitalists. Schools teach us the skills needed to “succeed” in this system -- mainly how to compete against one another -- yet we are not told that only a few of us are allowed to succeed. Many of the skills we acquire are for the life of the “successful,” but what do we do when the doors of this success are slammed in our faces? Then how are we to survive? The Zapatistas and many communities across the world are resisting this blueprint that channels us into dimly lit passages, whose only exit are metal doors, by walking through walls, slicing and opening unexpected gaps, creating new doors that lead toward other kinds of places determined by themselves and for themselves. If we want to build a new world, one that echoes the Zapatista call for a world where many worlds fit, what skill sharing has to happen so that all peoples below and to the left can learn and live in a dignified way?

In order to answer these questions, we must be able to define what we are up against. In today’s show we will hear from the streets of DF. We remember the student massacre of 1968 and protest porros, or gangs sponsored by political parties that harass and attack radical groups including our compas from Regeneración Radio and the UNAM. Last month, we reported on the repression of anarchist and anti-authoritarian compas in Chile. Today, we will here the voices of a few of these compas discussing the context of that repression, but we’re also interested in specifically targeted violence against autonomous learning spaces like the Centro Social Okupado y Biblioteca Sacco y Vanzetti. What is the nature of the threat posed by autonomous libraries?

Finally, we will hear from two Oakland high school students who recently visited Chiapas with a delegation to build the first of seven schools in Zapatista communities. The students reflect on the difference between the education they’ve received here and the learning that’s happening in Zapatista schools. Disinformation, raids, harassment, and murder are the strategies keeping us from learning from each other and resisting the system of the “haves” and the “have nots.” We at Relatos Zapatistas continue to ask ourselves what world we’re trying to build, and what skills and knowledges must we have to both dismantle the metal doors of imposed “success” and create a world where many worlds fit.

References from the show:
http://librosyletrasenguerra.wordpress.com

Benefit party for Regeneración Radio and Cruz Negra Anarquista (Mexico City)
Friday, November 5, 7pm - 3am
Casa Zapa, 678 30th St. (near MLK), Oakland