The Movement

The movement is not about you, it's about the people!

-JC

Guerrilla Queenz Interview

http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/23/guerrilla-queenz-interview/

Jehuniko: Tell us about your beginnings, time frame, activity/shows/events. I know you ladies from Cihuatl Tonali but now it is just you (2) in Guerilla Queenz. Bring us up to date.

Guerilla Queenz-Hip Hop Contra La Pobresa

Guerilla Queenz- Xscapin

GQZ (Centzi): Well as you all may know all good things have to come to an end and all things evolve or grow and that is exactly what happened after the Cihuatl project was done. About a year prior to Cihuatl Tonali dropping its first Album “No Necesistamos pedir permiso para ser libres”, Eyerie and I already had a project in mind just brewing and waiting for the right opportunity. We wanted to do a reggae /Hiphop project with live music, something totally different than what the Cihuatl Tonali project was doing. When the album finally dropped Eyerie and I were ready for our next Project “Guerrilla Queenz.”

At first we were just ganna call it Centzi & Eyerie in the tradition of the beautiful reggae duo of Althea & Donna, but then I was inspired by this Jamaican Poet by the name of Cherry Natural with her moving piece entitled “Calling all Guerrilla Queens”. In her piece she spoke out about how many times in armed struggles woman are not given the credit for their efforts and also how important their roles are in rebuilding their peoples after War. This was the exact message that we wanted to bring with music and activism. It was time for our Guerrilla Queenz to be paid homage to and for a forum of this style to be further developed as Revolutionary music. We launched Guerrilla Queenz in the Summer of 2007 with a debut at the Vault 350 in Long Beach and since than its been nothing but spiting fire and truth. Sometimes to much for some closed minded peeps to handle.

Jehuniko: I go to many places around the US and around the world. The movement in LA is like no other, no matter how splintered it can be, the energy of conscious Raza hip hop in LA is so special and extremely powerful. How has your journey been as Chicanas in LA doing hip hop?

GQz: (eyerie) There’s is def something very special about the hiphop scene in LA & the mix of the movement with hiphop has propelled it to new heights. As wombmyn of color in the hiphop comeUnity it has been quite an interesting journey to say the least. We have been blessed to have reached the right folks with our message. There have always been many obstacles for wombmyn of color to break to through in just about any type of art be it visual or performance, however the greatest purveyors of culture nourishing this comeUnity have been our own wombmyn. We find it is essential to include a feminine perspective always.

What is your opinion on all the inner-fighting within our community?

GQZ: (centzi) I have to say that it is the outcome of our colonization and the success of our oppressors to keep us divided and conquered as a people. First and foremost if we want to call ourselves a community the first thing we need to do is stop thinking as individuals and start being a true community. A community that holds each one accountable for their actions and for the actions that they are not doing. We have to be active in shaping our destiny. We must be able to bring down those borders in our minds, the prejudices that have been instilled in us and the lack of self control to make the necessary changes. We need to heal, educate and in doing so liberate
our people of the conditioning that has been done to us for over 500 years. We must all see beyond the obstacles that they have put before us such as land borders, poverty, addiction, abuse, self hate, criminalization, incarceration and prejudices.

We must be able to see that we are Original Peoples of these so called Americas and that we ourselves divide ourselves by identifying ourselves as Latinos,Hispanics or even Salvadoreans, Mexicans and etc. We are Native, Original People of this continent. We don’t need to identify with our colonizers! We recognize our Nations and not our Colonizers!!!! When we can recognize this as a community then we can stop all the inner-fighting and start all the inner-healing in order to be a true Native CommUnity!!!!!! GQZ say to all our relations “Recognize your Nation and not your Colonizer!!!

What is wrong with our movement and what is right with our movement?

GQZ: What’s right with our movement we can say is that the spirit is there but we need to improve on our discipline and solidify ourselves as individuals. We pray that our people can see the bigger picture and stop living in this illusion. This illusion that blinds my people from seeing whats really happening. We feel like people live to comfortable here and thats why not much change is being made. If you look at whats happening around the world to my brothers and sisters of color its heartbreaking to see how the respect for human life means nothing to those “shot callers”, everything is $ for them at all cost. We ask our selves when will we as a people say enough is enough and take our rightful place as defenders of our earth mother, because whether we believe it or not we are responsible for all the damage done. And as the saying goes, “If your not a part of the solution then you are a part of the problem.”

As I mentioned, I care not for the politics of the movement. I am motivated by the truest sense of community, in the name of unification of our people. LA is special because there is a healthy scene so what is currently going in your scene?

GQZ: We defenitly see the people that are about “It” living and being about “It!!!!” On the other hand we also see the people that just talk about “It” keep on just talkin about”It” We don’t have time to be in a struggle with our own people……..we live in a manner that already is a struggle on the daily to survive. So brothers and sisters who understand this are already building strong communties and creating a strong support system for each other. This scene is constantly evolving hopefully one day it will be a rEvolution for all to finally live free.

I remember seeing you ladies perform a few years back, tell us about the structure of your live show, your message, the dynamics of your live performance.
Our music & message first & foremost for the comeUnity, we like to say that it is our prayers & we are here to share. We approach music & palabra for what it is, sacred like our earth mother. We will always speak the truth even if it is threatening to some. It’s part of our “performance” to educate & therefore we are not entertainers, we are mothers of culture, teachers.. we speak that motha tounge & beat with the rhythm of the heart to educate the youth. Everything we do comes from the the corazon for our pueblo. We are here for Edu’tainment… to speak up for those who can’t & fight for all who know the truth will be the only thing that sets us all free.

What music do you have available?
Currently we are recording our first full length album-::OUT2INFILTR8:: working with some very crucial artist worldwide, because like aforementioned we recognize NO BORDERS! And right now we have an ep that will be available soon for download on bandcamp.com & we will be posting all our material via internet soon come. We will print a limited copy of CD’s with unique art by fellow artivist & are still taking submissions for future prints

(at:
guerrillaqueenz@gmail.com). Part of the collective called Guerrilla Queenz thrives off the idea that we can be a seed & platform for artist of like minds & hearts to spread their message. We have collaborated on various mixtapes from those that deal with poverty:
http://www.lakroso.com/2011/02/hip-hop-contra-la-pobreza-2011.html to all that exemplify what we believe in & represent to the fullest..
most currently we contributed to queens of the mic:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/queensofthemic.

Share with us some powerful memories of your journey along your musical road.
GQZ: (Centzi) I love it when a grandma of the community approaches us and hugs us with tears in her eyes and she says to us, “Thank you, thank you for telling our story……you don’t know what that means to me…or when a little girl looks at me when I’m performing and she says that she wants to do what i do. (Eye) The most powerful of experience is the present moment when someone tells us: your words inspire us, your music uplifted our spirits, you speak for those who can not, thank you for speaking the truth. Its a humbling experience, the blessings of the comeUnity.

Last CD you bought?
A mixtape off some youth after one of our shows.

Give us some insight in regards to your creation process. (who does your production, allies/who is down with the team)
Gqz: So far we’ve had the honor of working with familia & friends.. The recent works will include international artist/producers such as Vnrable:http://www.facebook.com/pages/VnrableQuilombo-Arte/102012236531056 who produces with the collective Quilombo world wide & local producers as well, youth like Eyerie’s brother http://www.myspace.com/ludcrew/friends who produced Stolen Lives of the Queens of the mic.

What artists are you currently feeling?
Local, international, upliftment, foward movement music!

I saw you on the Guerilla Republik website, tell me bout that affiliation and what it means to you.
GQZ: Well its all about unifying with like minded Peoples and building community. We all share a common history of enslavement and so supporting each other is how we will make some change, some progress!!!

What’s next for Guerilla Queenz?
::OUT2INFILTR8::

Tlazokamatli for your support & patience.
paz amor y rEvolucion
guerrillaqueenz.net

Call out for West Coast Days of Action Feb 26th and 27th against police & the prison world they maintain

Call out for West Coast Days of Action Feb 26th and 27th against police & the prison world they maintain:

No charges will be brought against Officer Ian Burke for the execution of John T. Williams. Is anyone surprised? Is this the call for justice so many police-apologists desire? It's been nearly six months since the murder of John T. Since then footage of SPD brutalizing people have been leaked to the public, and just over a we...ek since officers attacked anti-police demonstrators in their Seattle home.

In the early morning of Sun Feb. 6th the police approached a person vaguely matching the description of a suspect in a burglary on a nearby porch. After being asked for their badge numbers and denied entry to the house the pigs snuck in through an open window and attacked six people, arresting three and charging them with assault on an officer. One pig exclaimed “I'm going to Ian Burke your ass motherfucker” to one individual as he was handcuffed and beaten. Though the house didn't seem to be targeted due to knowledge of anti-police demonstrators residing there, once it was understood that these people weren't going to take shit from the authority the pigs escalated with violence.

That same night a group of 40 supporters gathered outside the jail and held a noise demo show solidarity with their comrades and other prisoners. Bells, horns, whistles, pots and pans all rattled through the empty streets and into the jail. A surveillance camera was destroyed and a grate from the guards parking lot was ripped down. The chant “A.C.A.B.- All Cops Are Bastards!” caught on inside on multiple levels. We could see lights flicker and arms wave through windows .The prisoners heard us and understood why we were there. Our friends were released on Tuesday, with no charges sticking.

The old adage “an injury to one is an injury to all” rings true in the face of our common enemy: the State and Capitalism, whose police and prisons maintain the depravity and isolation of a world reduced to commodities and appearances.

This call out for Specifically West Coast solidarity is not meant to exclude any regions from acting (in fact we encourage it!) but to reaffirm networks of affinity that already exist. To realize our strength as a collective force, and the feelings of joy that spread through moments of solidarity and revolt in the face of a common enemy. It is our actions together that bind us.

Against the police and the Prison World they maintain!

Solidarity with all imprisoned comrades, and those still resisting!
To John Graham, Leonard Peltier, Scott Demuth, G20 Arrestees, Asheville 11, Imprisoned Chilean comrades.

Solidarity with all prisoners!
Destroy what destroys you!

Below is a list of recent anti-police activity in Seattle, from most to least recent.

Feb. 12th – Another October 22nd Coalition (O22) rally, this time with a heavy anarchist presence.
http://pugetsoundanarchists.org/node/196

Feb. 6th - Noise Demo outside Seattle Jail for arrested comrades
http://pugetsoundanarchists.org/node/184

Feb. 3rd - Police accountability forum hosted by Seattle's “alternative” newspaper The Stranger was interrupted by individuals in the crowd shouting down the police and groups of protesters chanting “Cops, Pigs, Murderers!”, inside and outside the building.
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Seattle-police-accountability-forum--115252874.html

Jan. 20th - A march organized by the Oct 22nd coalition (front group for the RCP parasites ) that resulted in a group of youth holding an intersection during an unpermitted march.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014235279_policeshooting16m.html

Gabino Cué and Felipe Calderón repress the teachers and people of Oaxaca

http://angrywhitekid.blogs.com/weblog/2011/02/gabino-cu%C3%A9-and-felipe-calder%C3%B3n-repress-the-teachers-and-people-of-oaxaca.html

As well, here is a short report I wrote for El Enemigo Común.

[en español]

Gabino Cué and Felipe Calderón repress the teachers and people of Oaxaca

Today, February 15, federal and state police, thugs dressed in civilian clothes, and snipers located on the roofs of various building in the historic center of Oaxaca provoked and repressed the peaceful teachers' and Oaxacan people’s protest against the presence of Felipe Calderón in Oaxaca.

On the afternoon of Monday, February 14, an enormous deployment of federal and local police bodies, together with the army, took the Zócalo and the adjacent streets of the historic center. At 11:30 in the morning today, February 15, a group of teachers belonging to Section 22 of the SNTE-CNTE carried out a peaceful protest in one of the intersections leading to the Zócalo when the Federal Preventive Police (PFP) attacked, leaving two teachers wounded, one of them the union’s press secretary - Meliton Santiago - and a compañero from the social movement who was shot in the head. In the face of this aggression, the teachers defended themselves and as a means of protest detained three members of the Federal Preventive Police, which later resulted in a PFP operation where the PFP occupied the union’s building - CEPOS 22 - where the teachers had held the PFP agents, resulting in the violent detention of four professors who were in the building. Upon regrouping at around 2pm, the teachers and the people in general continued their protests in the area while more professors and members of the general public headed towards the Zócalo, where they were dispersed with tear gas and gunfire from snipers located on the roofs of various buildings in the historic center. On Cinco de Mayo Street, still several blocks away from the site of the protests, compañero “kalamar,” who is a member of the Hormigas Libertarias Collective, was hit with gunfire to the head. We feel obligated for the moment to withhold the name of the compañero for legal and security reasons.

On the roof of the Casa Azul Hotel, located on Fiallo Street in the historic center, the repressive police chief Daniel Camarena - an inheritance of Gabino Cué from the murderer Ulises Ruiz - was seen in the company of individuals dressed in civilian clothes who were carrying large firearms, likely sniper rifles.

After two in the afternoon, tens of SUVs drove at high speed through the tourist pedestrian area towards the former Santo Domingo convent where 50 meters from the entrance there was a blockade consisting of 12 soldiers. These SUVs carried some of the committee members of the state and federal governments, who entered the patio of Santo Domingo surrounded by tens of federal police. At approximately 2:30pm at least 50 federal police were in the tourist walkway to reinforce the siege.

Meanwhile, confrontations with the police stretched from the Zócalo to the nearby streets. During this time on Hidalgo Street at Mier y Teran Street, a black car with Puebla license plates TWM 9318 was seen leading a caravan of eight military transport vehicles which carried tens of soldiers and tens of individuals dressed in civilian clothes (at least 100) with striped t-shirts and dark glasses who were “released” into the historic center to carry out destructive acts in order to attribute them to the protesters, among them the burning of a PFP trailer in the Zócalo and apparently a bus on the road to Xoxocotlan. At the same time, the arrival of a PFP airplane at the city airport carrying more federal reinforcements was observed.

As of the time of writing this communiqué, 14 people have been confirmed wounded, two with wounds to the head, the result of shots fired from snipers located on the roofs near the Zócalo of Oaxaca, and one other individual wounded with a live round to the body, as well as two other people who have wounds as a result of being hit by tear gas canisters, all of whom have been hospitalized as a result of the wounds they received.

In ISSSTE hospital in the city of Oaxaca four members of the teachers’ union - two wounded by gunfire and two by tear gas canisters - were admitted. In the same hospital the PFP carried out an impressive operation including patrol vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks to “remove” four wounded members of the PFP who had also been admitted to the same hospital.

This evening, tens of police officers and soldiers are based at Hotel Parador Crespo, located on Crespo Street in the historic center, a location which is less than two blocks from CASOTA, the building where our organization, VOCAL, is based out of.

We denounced these events and hold Felipe Calderón and Gabino Cué Monteagudo directly responsible. Cué has very quickly betrayed the trust of the people of Oaxaca who believed in his promises that never again would the police be used to repress protests.

We denounce the gravity of these events, above all the use of paramilitary shock groups and snipers, as part of a clearly fascist strategy to repress and intimidate the people of Oaxaca and its organizations and organized sectors.

We denounce the institutional and media siege which have roundly denied and ignored the presence of snipers and paramilitary shock groups who infiltrated today’s protests.

We denounce the cynical and perverse attitude of Gabino Cué, who has immediately called for dialogue with the Oaxacan teachers’ union and we point out the danger and strain that the entire Oaxacan social movement may be faced with if these grave events remain unaddressed as a result of political agreements between the government and the leadership of the teachers’ union.

We call for international and national attention to be paid to these events in Oaxaca which appear to inaugurate an era of state fascism on behalf of Felipe Calderón and his flunky in Oaxaca, Gabino Cué Monteagudo.

Today on the streets of Oaxaca it was heard: He’s fallen, Gabino has fallen!

Fraternally

Oaxacan Voices Constructing Autonomy and Freedom (VOCAL)
Oaxaca de Magón, City of Resistance, February 15, 2011

Interview with an Egyptian Anarchist Communist

Interview with an Egyptian Anarchist Communist

Can you please tell me your name and what movement you are from?

I'm Nidal Tahrir, from Black Flag, a small group of Anarcho-Communists in Egypt.

The world is watching Egypt, and even moving in solidarity. However, due to the internet being cut, information was difficult to find. Can you tell me about what has happened in Egypt in the past week? What did it look like from your perspective?

The situation in Egypt is so crucial right now. It began with an invitation to the day of rage against the Mubarak regime on January 25th. No-one expected that an invitation to a day of rage from a loose group, a Facebook page, not really organized, called "We are all Khalid Said" (Khalid Said is a young Egyptian who was killed by Mubarak's police in Alexandria last summer), it was that Tuesday that began everything, it was the spark for the whole fire. On Tuesday there were big demonstrations in the streets in every Egyptian town, on Wednesday the massacre began. It began with trying to finish the sit-in in Tahrir Square late on Tuesday night, and continued into the following days, especially in Suez town. Suez has a special value in every Egyptian heart. It was the centre for resistance against the Zionists in 1956 and 1967, in the same district. It fought Sharon's troops back in the Egyptian-Israeli wars. Mubarak's police carried out a massacre - at least 4 people killed, 100 injured, gas bombs, rubber bullets, flame throwers, a strange yellow substance thrown above people, maybe mustard gas. Friday was called the Jumu'ah of Rage - Jumu'ah is Arabic for Friday, it's the national weekend in Egypt, in many Islamic countries also. It's a sacred day in Islam because of the big prayers on this day, called Jumu'ah prayer. It was planned for demonstrations to go on after prayers, at noon, but the police tried to prevent the marches with all of its power and violence. There were many clashes in Cairo, (downtown, in Mattareyah, east of Cairo), all over Egypt, especially in Suez, Alexandria, Mahalla (in the delta, one of the centres of the working class). From noon to sunset, people marched in Cairo to Downtown, for a sit-in in Tahrir, till Mubarak's regime was removed, chanting one slogan: "The people demand the removal of the regime". At sunset, 5pm CLT, Mubarak declared a curfew and brought the army into Egyptian towns. This curfew was followed by a police-planned breakout, letting out the criminals and thugs called Baltagayyah. The police planned a widescale breakout of criminals in many Egyptian prisons to scare people in Egypt. No police, many army troops couldn't control the street, people were scared. It was followed by a news jam on Egyptian TV channels, radios, newspaper about luddites in many towns, about thieves firing at people. People organized "popular committees" to secure every street. This was welcomed by the regime to make people more scared about instability in the country, but it is also a point we could start from to build workers councils.

As of Wednesday, there are clashes between pro- and anti-Mubarak people. Is that the correct way to describe it? Who are the "Mubarak supporters?" How are these clashes affecting the attitudes of average working-class Egyptians?

It's absolutely wrong to call it clashes between anti- and pro-Mubarak. The pro-Mubarak demonstration consisted mostly of Baltagayyah and secret police, to attack the protesters in Tahrir. It only began after Mubarak's speech yesterday, after Obama's speech too. Personally I think Mubarak feels like a slaughtered ox who is trying to throw his blood over his killers. He feels like Nero and wants to burn Egypt before his removal, trying to make people believe he's a synonym for stability, safety and security. In this way he's really made some progress - a holy national alliance has now been formed against the Tahrirites (Tahrir protesters) and the "Tahrir Commune". Many people, especially the middle class, are saying that the demonstrations must end because Egypt has been burned, famine has begun, but it's not true at all - it's only an exaggeration. Every revolution has its difficulties and Mubarak is using fear and terror to stay longer. Personally, I'm saying that even if the protesters were responsible for this situation, even IF, Mubarak must leave, he MUST go because of his inability to deal with the situation right now.

What do you see happening in the next week? How much is the position taken by the US government affecting the situation there?

Nobody can figure out what will happen tomorrow or next week. Mubarak is a stubborn idiot and the Egyptian media is making the biggest media campaign in its history to detain the protests planned for next Friday, 4th February. There are calls for another million-person march to Tahrir, called the "Jumu'ah of salvation". The position taken by the US government affects us more than the demonstrations. Mubarak is such a traitor, capable of killing the whole people, but he couldn't say no to his masters.

What has the participation of class-struggle anarchists been? Who are their allies?

Anarchism in Egypt is not a big trend. You can find some anarchists but it's not a big trend yet. Anarchists in Egypt have joined both the protests and the popular committees to defend the streets from the thugs. Anarchists in Egypt put some hope in these councils. The anarchists' allies in Egypt are the Marxists, of course. We are not now at a time of ideological debate - the whole left is calling for unity and then argue about anything. The anarchists in Egypt are a part of the Egyptian left.

What forms of solidarity can be built between revolutionaries in Egypt and revolutionaries in the "West"? What can be done immediately and what should we do in the long term?

The most difficult obstacle Egyptian revolutionaries face is the cutting of communications. Western revolutionaries must put pressure on their governments to prevent the Egyptian regime from doing this. That's for now, but no-one can say what will happen in the long term. If the revolution is successful, then Western revolutionaries must build solidarity with their Egyptian comrades against the expected aggression from the USA and Israel. If the revolution is defeated, then it will be a massacre for all Egyptian revolutionaries.

What will the main tasks be, once Mubarak leaves? Has there been much planning about this on the street level? What have anti-capitalist revolutionaries proposed?

The main task now, speaking about the street demands, is new constitution and provisional government, and then new elections. There's much planning about this issue by many political trends here, especially the Muslim Brotherhood. Anti-capitalist revolutionaries are not very numerous in Cairo - the communists, democratic left and Trotskyites are calling for the same demands about the constitution and new elections, but for us as anarchists - anti-capital, anti-State too - we will try to ensure that the committees that have been formed protect and secure the streets, make them stronger and try to turn them into real councils.

What do you want to say to revolutionaries abroad?

Dear Comrades all over the world, we need solidarity, a large solidarity campaign and the Egyptian Revolution will win!

Interview edited by Anarkismo.net

Español

IN A POST FREEDOM DREAM

IN A POST FREEDOM DREAM

In a free Puerto Rico

What was always ours will be returned at the point of a machete

Freedom will replace the resistance that filled the void of over 500 years

Our story will move beyond it's beginning

Machetes will finally be used for the fruits of labor

In a free Puerto Rico

A funeral dirge will be composed for imperialism

The only grounds for sexism will be in a graveyard

A requiem for racism will play

The last rites of homophobia will be read

In a free Puerto Rico

The individualism of capitalism will give way to collectivism

The paradigm that benefits the few will shift to benefit the many

Unemployment will dissipate into work

A living wage will be the minimum

In a free Puerto Rico

The children of workers will be cared for

Education will be an open road without a toll

Elders will be consulted for their wisdom

Youth will be encouraged for their brashness

In a free Puerto Rico

Poverty will atrophy

Hunger will starve

Homelessness will find no shelter

Illness & disease will find no host

In a free Puerto Rico

We will be governed by service to one another or not at all

Authority for authorities sake will choke its last breath

The voiceless will clear their throats to be heard

Decisions will be based on the impact of seven generations

In a free Puerto Rico

The people will police themselves

Responsibility will be to and for one another

Prisons will become unnecessary

Drug abuse will be kicked

In a free Puerto Rico

Pride will be wrung from shame

A noose will be fashioned for the neck of oppression

A grave dug for fascism

A gravestone carved for injustice

In a free Puerto Rico

The stench of a foreign domination will be rinsed away

We will not sit and ask what we will get but work to take what we want

The impossible will be dragged from the clutches of fear

The utopia that exists on the horizon will be pursued without pause

- vagabond

Revolutionary Poets Brigade at the Cultural Revial at the Tribal Cafe

NEWS RELEASE: BORDER PATROL HEADQUARTERS OCCUPATION PROTESTORS FIGHT CHARGES

NEWS RELEASE

DATE: Monday January 31, 2011

Contact: Alex Soto

Email:  stopbordermilitarization@gmail.com


Border Patrol Headquarters Occupation Protesters to Fight Charges

Group Calls for Further Action Against Border Militarization

Tucson, AZ -- On February 23, 2011, 2:00 PM at Tucson City Court, five of the six protesters who locked-down and occupied the US Border Patrol (BP) – Tucson Headquarters on May 21, 2010 are going to trial fighting one count each of "criminal trespassing". One of the six has chosen to take a diversion.

The action was taken, in part, to demand that BP, Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), their parent entity, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Obama administration end militarization of the border, end the criminalization of immigrant communities, and end their campaign of terror which rips families apart through increasing numbers of raids and deportations.

Alex Soto, one of the arrestees and member of O'odham Solidarity Across Borders states, "As we did not enter the BP headquarters alone but with prayers of O'odham elders and community supporters, we are asking for support once again for our continued stand against border militarization. Our messaging is the reality for everyone that is forced to feel the pain that borders inflict upon us in our daily lives.


The Border Patrol is not the only agency responsible for the militarization of the border – and it's subsequent destruction of Indigenous and migrant communities – or the only benefactors of border militarization." Soto states.

In a previous release O'odham Solidarity Across Borders and O'odham elders stated,

"The development of the border wall has lead to desecration of Tohono O'odham ancestors graves, it has divided communities and prevents O'odham from accessing sacred places.


Troops and paramilitary law enforcement, detention camps, check points, and citizenship verification are not a solution to "issues" of migration. Indigenous Peoples have existed here long before these imposed borders, elders inform us that we always honored freedom of movement. Why are Indigenous communities and the daily deaths at the border ignored? The impacts of border militarization are constantly made invisible in the media, the popular culture of this country and even the mainstream immigrants rights movement which has often pushed for “reform” that means further militarization of the border, which means increased suffering for Indigenous communities. Border militarization destroys Indigenous communities."

Since the creation of the current U.S./Mexico border, 45 O’odham villages on or near the border have been completely depopulated.

According to the migrant support group No More Deaths, from October 2009 to Sept. 2010 there have been more than 250 deaths on the Arizona border alone.

Actions toward ending border militarization and the decriminalization of our communities:

- Immediately withdraw National Guard Troops from the US/Mexico border

- Immediately halt development of the border wall


- Immediately remove drones and checkpoints

- Decommission all detention camps and release all presently held undocumented migrants

- Immediately honor Indigenous Peoples rights of self-determination

- Fully comply with the recently signed UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples


- Respect Indigenous People's inherent right of migration

- End NAFTA, FTAA and other trade agreements

- Immediately repeal SB1070 and 287g

- End all racial profiling

- No BP encroachment/sweeps on sovereign Native land


- No raids and deportations

- Immediate and unconditional regularization (“legalization”) of all people

- Uphold human freedom and rights

- Support dignity and respect

- Support and ensure freedom of movement for all people

Put this message in action and help end the attack on Indigenous and migrant communities. Take these messages to the street where you are.  If you can, join us inside and outside the court room in Tucson at 2:00pm. on February 23, 2011.


Tucson City Court is located at 103 E. Alameda St. Tucson, AZ.

Additional ways to take action in your community to bring awareness to the impacts of the militarization of the border and criminalization of our communities:

1. Directly intervene by:

    - Protesting institutions and agencies directly responsible (a brief list available at: www.survivalsolidarity.wordpress.com)


    - Being part of (or starting) Border Patrol, ICE, National Guard, Minutemen watch groups in your community

    - Stopping ICE vehicles from deporting migrants

    - Providing aid for migrants crossing the border


   

2. Pressure political officials:

    Janet Napolitano

    Department of Homeland Security

    U.S. Department of Homeland Security

    Washington, DC 20528

    Comment Line: 202-282-8495

3. Organize or attend an awareness or benefit event:


    An awareness and benefit show will be held in Tucson on February 22nd at Dry River Infoshop.

    A discussion on border issues will be held in Flagstaff, AZ on February 22nd at Taala Hooghan Infoshop.

4. Donate to Border Action Defense Fund:


    www.borderopposition.blogspot.com

5.  Support local Indigenous struggles for self-determination and freedom of movement.

    In particular, bring awareness to Indigenous communities on the US/Mex border that have been militarized.

To view the occupation video and for additional resources please visit:

www.oodhamsolidarity.blogspot.com

www.survivalsolidarity.wordpress.com


Note to editors photos attached:

Border Patrol Lock down credit: O'odham Solidarity Across Borders

###