Did you listen? It is the sound of your world crumbling. It is the sound of our world resurging

Communiqué of the Clandestine Indigenous Revolutionary Committee – General Command of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, Mexico
 

December 21, 2012

To Whom It May Concern: Silent march in Chiapas 12.21.12

Did you listen?
It is the sound of your world crumbling.
It is the sound of our world resurging.
The day that was day, was night.

And night shall be the day that will be day.

Democracy!
Liberty!
Justice!

From the Mountains of Southeastern Mexico,

For the Clandestine Indigenous Revolutionary Committee – General Command of the EZLN

Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos,

Mexico, December 2012

The system of education is the education of the system

Zapatistas Showcase Their Autonomous School System to the Nation and the World

Refusing Government Money or Teachers, Indigenous Communities Have Built More Schools and Educated More Children Than Ever Before

By Amber Howard
Special to The Narco News Bulletin

January 6, 2007

When the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN, in its Spanish initials) began the public phase of its struggle on New Year’s Eve, 1993, it made eleven demands, one of which was “education” (the others were: work, land, shelter, food, health, independence, freedom, democracy, justice, and peace). Thirteen years later, they have seen that demand met as never before in the highlands and jungles of Chiapas. But it was not the Mexican government or any other institution that complied. They did it for themselves.

Foto: D.R. 2007 Gerardo Osuna

Whereas prior to the rebellion in these rural lands of Mexico’s poorest state schools were few and far between, Zapatista communities have built new ones, trained teachers from their own ranks, and widened the scope of what kind of education their children receive. And they did this without accepting a peso from the government. On December 31, 2006, thousands of Zapatistas and visitors from throughout Mexico and the world met in the mountain town of Oventic for the Gathering of the Zapatista Peoples and the Peoples of the World, where an entire session was dedicated to “The Other Education” and civilian authorities from throughout EZLN territory explained what they have done, and what they still hope to do.