[Newspoetry] the fluttering of paper bombs
chyn at onthejob.net
chyn at onthejob.net
Wed Jan 12 11:51:31 CST 2000
------------------------------------------------------------------
ZAPATISMO AIR FORCE
From the Mexican daily La Jornada - January 3, 2000
translated by Duane Ediger
Amador Hernandez, Chiapas -- The Zapatista Air Force today attacked
the Federal Army encampment here with paper airplanes. Some flew well
and maneuvered themselves right into the dormitories, hidden by
vegetation and large black plastic sheeting. Others sputtered in
flight and barely cleared the barbed wire fence.
The aircraft, white in color and letter size, carried written messages
for the federal troops which have occupied a portion of the outskirts
of this community for the last five months. The barbed wire is not
the only cutting edge: "Soldiers, we know that poverty has made you
sell your lives and souls. I also am poor, as are millions. But you
are worse off, for defending our exploiter -- Zedillo and his group of
moneybags."
The daily, persistent and almost incredible protest of the indigenous
of this region against the military occupation of their lands on the
outskirts of Montes Azules has sought in many ways to make itself
heard by the troops, who appear to live on the other side of the sound
barrier. This afternoon they took to the air in typewritten notes,
originals and carbon copies, in the prehistory of graphic reproduction.
They wrote several editions, with their copies, to maximally equip
their contingent of Kamikaze letter-bombers. The plane is the bomb:
"We do not sell our lives. We want to free our lives and those of
your children, your lives and those of your wives, your brothers and
sisters, your uncles and aunts, fathers and mothers, and the lives of
millions of poor exploited Mexicans. We want to free their lives also
so that soldiers do not repress their towns by the order of a few thieves."
In recent nights, the military encampment has remained on alert. All
night, every fifteen minutes, a voice is heard saying, "alert, alert,"
among the soldiers. "So that they don't sleep," says Jose, a Tzeltal
Maya peasant who has spent those nights in the encampment of the
peasants who watch over the community of Amador Hernandez, and during
the day they dream up protest options.
------------------------------------------------------------------
GEURRILLA ZEBRA CROSSING
SCHNEWS CRAP ARREST OF THE WEEK (17 DEC 99)
from: SchNEWS: http://www.schnews.org.uk/thisweek.htm
For preventing kids being run over! Derek Potter was arrested after
building his own zebra crossing outside his cafe in Swansea. Derek sent a
petition to the local council after his six year old daughter suffered a
broken leg after being hit by a car. The Council replied that they had 50
requests for crossings but could only afford to build one this year (does
that mean it would take half a century to build them all?) So Derek went
out one evening, installed battery operated beacons and railings and began
painting the zebra crossing himself, before being nicked by the cops. "I
had to do it in the middle of the night when there was little traffic
around," said Derek. "The playground is just over the road and children are
always risking their lives to get there."
------------------------------------------------------------------
MAYDAY 2000
Global Day of Action, Resistance and Carnival against Capitalism
(information as of January 1, 1999)
From: "[iso-8859-1] Thomas Johansson" <tcjohans at yahoo.com>
The two Global Days of Action against Capitalism on June 18 and November
30 last year were generally very successful. Our networks grew, we
learned much, and we saw many new people engage themselves. Now many
groups around the world are preparing for a new Global Day of Action in
the same spirit on May 1 next year (M1), in recognition that the
capitalist system, based on the exploitation of people, societies and the
environment for the profit of a few, is the prime cause of our social and
ecological troubles. This day will continue the process of building up a
strong, bold, and creative grassroots movement for a society in which
people do not exploit or oppress each other, communities or the
environment, but one that is based on solidarity, co-operation, grassroots
democracy, and ecological sustainability. May 1, which offers a perfect
symbolic and real opportunity to do this, has been endorsed as a Day of
Action by the Peoples Global Action (PGA) international conference in
India in August.
Coordinative efforts are already being undertaken in
major cities like Sydney (Australia), Toronto (Canada), London (UK),
Chicago, New York, and Washington (USA). As on previous occasions, people
of different movements and different countries will join forces for a day
against the social, political, and economic institutions of the capitalist
system. Workers, the unemployed, students, trade unionists, peasants, the
landless, fishers, women groups, ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples,
peace activists, environmental activists, ecologists, and so on will work
in solidarity with one another in the understanding that their various
struggles are not isolated from each other. The simultaneous occupation
and transformation of the capitalist social order around the globe - in
the streets, neighbourhoods, fields, factories, offices, commercial
centres, financial districts, and so on - will strengthen mutual bonds at
the local, national, and international levels.
As before, the day will be organised in a non-hierarchical way, as a
decentralised and informal network of grassroots groups that employ
non-authoritarian, grassroots democratic forms of organisation, struggle
independent of the social, political, and economic institutions of the
capitalist system, and seek to effect change directly through their own
action. Each event or action will be organised autonomously by each
group, while coalitions of various movements and groups can be formed at
the local, regional, and national levels. A strategy that may be useful
at the local level is that various groups co-operate in creating a
surrounding atmosphere of carnival and festivity as a setting for their
various actions.
Examples of conceivable actions are: strikes; demonstrations; critical
mass bike rides; carnivals; street parties; reclaiming streets,
government land or office buildings for non-commercial and good
activities; marches; music; dancing; speeches; handing out flyers; banner
hangings; distributing community controlled newspapers; street theatre;
building gardens; handing out free food; mock trade fairs; offering no
interest loans outside major banks; solidarity actions; pickets;
occupations of offices; blockades and shutdowns; appropriating and
disposing of luxury consumer goods; sabotaging, wrecking, or interfering
with capitalist infrastructure; appropriating capitalist wealth and
returning it to the working people; declaring oneself independent from
capitalism and authoritarian governments; setting up grassroots' community
councils and holding meetings outside city halls; setting up economic
alternatives, like workers' co-operatives; promoting economic alternatives
to capitalist companies; promoting grassroots based forms of community
organisation; etc.
If you or your group plan to join this day of action, please let others
know as soon as possible, to facilitate networking and communication.
There are several international mailing lists available for open
discussions and co-ordination (see below). A public international
contacts list is regularly posted to them in order to facilitate
decentralized and non-hierarchic networking. To have your contact
information added to it, please contact <tcjohans at hotmail.com>, indicating
(a) the country and location in which you plan to take action, plus any
other information you see fit, for instance (b) the name of your group,
coalition or yourself, (c) the events or actions being planned, (d) your
land address, (e) email address, (f) telephone number, (g) fax number or
(h) web site.
There are many things we need to do, to make the best of May 1 at the
global, local, and national levels. We need to spread information about
it among as many suitable groups and movements as possible. We need to
spread and share propaganda materials, such as leaflets and posters. And,
in general, we need to share our experiences, thoughts and ideas with one
other and help each other out. At the local level, information about the
day needs to be spread and discussed among groups and individuals,
meetings need to be organised, events planned, leaflets printed and
distributed, funds raised, laughter and conversation shared.
The process of building up our movements can and should be continued
through further global days of action against capitalism in the future. A
suitable occasion that has been proposed for next time, after Mayday, may
be September 27-28, 2000, because of the annual meeting between the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank taking place in
Prague, Czech Republic at that time.
Any inquiries or concerns about the Mayday global day of action should be
directed to other activists in the group, city, country or on the various
mailing lists, for us to mutually help each other with ideas and advice.
There is no one in charge or pulling the strings for the day. It will be
a radically decentralised and non-hierarchic event entirely of our own
creation in co-operation and solidarity with one another.
MAILING LISTS:
ENGLISH (International mailing list) <mayday2k at onelist.com>.
Join at www.onelist.com/subscribe/mayday2k, or send a blank
email to <mayday2k-subscribe at onelist.com>.
PORTUGUESE (International mailing list) <n30-pt at listserv.fct.unl.pt>.
Join by sending a message with the text
"subscribe n30-pt" to <majordomo at listserv.fct.unl.pt>.
UNITED KINGDOM (National mailing list) <mayday2000 at egroups.com>.
Join by sending a blank email to <mayday2000-subscribe at egroups.com>.
IRELAND (National mailing list) Join by sending a blank email to
<no_wto-subscribe at onelist.com>.
Please do set up a list for your own language, country
or city, if you feel it is needed!
REFERENCES:
J18 - see www.infoshop.org/june18.html or www.j18.org
N30 - see http://go.to/n30 or www.seattlewto.org/n30
Peoples Global Action (PGA)
see www.go.to/agp or www.agp.org/agp/index.html or contact <pga at agp.org>
Prague, Czech Republic, September 27-28, 2000
see www.bankwatch.org or www.mmf2000.webjump.com
Please spread this message widely to sympathetic grassroots groups,
communities, and individuals! Translate if advisable.
Let's make this the strongest show of solidarity and resistance yet!
--------------
About ARTERY
- the Community Arts and Activism List -
------------------------------------
ARTERY is a networking forum for community-based artists to share news,
ideas and strategies about arts and activism.
ARTERY promotes techniques, scripts, proposals, dreams & visions
in a diversity of styles, from popular education to street theatre,
direct action to ceremony and celebration.
ARTERY is a resource, an inspiration, and a supportive resting place
to disseminate ideas and energy for non-violent, creative protest.
All artists working for justice and social change are invited to dialogue.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
To SUBSCRIBE: send a message to listproc at u.washington.edu
with the following in the message body: subscribe artery <your full name>
The list started in October 1997, currently with 170 subscribers.
For info, contact Artery's moderator at foolish at smartt.com.
Or, check out the WEB ARCHIVE at: http://www.egroups.com/group/artery/fullinfo.html
-----------------------
END / ARTERY NEWS PACK
12 JANUARY 2000
More information about the Newspoetry
mailing list