Oaxaca, and Brad Will

I found out last night that a friend of mine in the department was a friend of Brad. Brad Will was the "one American" killed in Oaxaca this past weekend. If you are finding out about this for the first time, scroll up to my original post on Oaxaca and read the "True Story" link. As you can expect, my friend Jacob is pretty broken up about this, alot of people are. They are all involved in various campaigns, causes and movements involving Latin America, immigrant and worker rights, etc. so they were probably as aware as anyone of what was/is going down in Oaxaca, but still they did not expect to lose someone so close to them in so violent a way. I guess there isn't really anyway to prepare yourself for that.

Now, while the American media ignores Oaxaca, Brad, and everything else important, Fox and the Mexican government are using Brad's death as a "reason" for the national police's repression of the APPO. Although most media that is covering the events are portraying it as "over", what with the police's whitewash of the main square, there are still barricades set up in the city, as far as I can find out the APPO's radio is still broadcasting, and the University is still in the hands of the people. If you listen to any of the actual people in the city (as in Brad's video) it doesn't sound like everyone will just go "back to work" any time soon.

I know, we are all busy, jaded, uninterested people. Maybe you don't even really follow politics, or world events. But really, if you care AT ALL about human rights, self-determination in governance, or authoritarian repression YOU MUST follow this issue. This is a government using its own "protective" force to kill its own people, in the name of those people. We can find a thousand instances of this in history, but this is not yet history, it is still the present. It is happening TODAY, AT THIS VERY MINUTE, in a country that shares a border with this one.

Read these articles. Watch Brad's video. Find out what you can and tell other people, because CNN sure as hell won't. There were protests at embassies and consulates in 14 American cities on Monday. I'm not sure when there will be more, but there will be. Go to your local IndyMedia site to find out about local events, or if you are in an activist community/organization, organize your own. I'll post about events in NYC on my plan.

I'm not saying that just because an American was killed now all of sudden we should care about Oaxaca. But I think it does humanize death in a way that simple information cannot. The people you will see in the video standing up to gunfire know what a bullet can do in a way that even watching it doesn't transmit. Any of them could have been hit by that bullet, and some were hit by bullets. But they stood up anyway, because it was either facing the bullets or living a life that they did not want to live as it was. That is why I posted the video and graphic picture, not to make him seem like a victim, but to show what the people of Oaxaca are standing up against. If it is disturbing to you, it is because you can see the humanity in it. They believed enough for that, and Brad believed in them enough to stand and face the bullets with them in order to tell their story. Although I never met him, this is the story that I've heard from those who did. Dying doesn't make him a martyr, but I think every person should reflect on it and try to understand how people could believe so strongly. And if we understand that believe, I think we have no human choice but to support them however we can.

A good article that portrays the divide in the city.
Day of the Dead
NYC represents for Brad

Last report of Brad Will (It's shaky, understandably so. But the interviews are good and it does give a very strong impression of what its like to defend a barricade.)

Brad Will - Shot (careful, this one is graphic) - His killer, again They are reported to be cops working as paramilitary hit squads for Ruiz.

General Oaxaca Pictures:1 2 3 4 5 6 7