Friends of Brad Will

Friday Dec 22: NYC Demos for Int'l Day of Solidarity with Oaxaca

Please join the NYC Oaxaca Solidarity Network / Unamonos a la Red de NYC en Solidaridad con Oaxaca

4:30pm at Consulate General of Mexico
27 E. 39th Street between Park & Madison
5:30 PM we will march to Rockefeller Center

6pm Rally at Rockefeller Center
W. 50th Street between 5th & 6th Avenues

Our Demands are
for the living reappearance of the disappeared,
for the freedom of the detained,
for the exit of the governor Ulises Ruiz and the federal forces from Oaxaca,
for the punishment of those guilty of torture, rape and murder,
for liberty, democracy, and justice for the people of Oaxaca.

For more info in English and Spanish
Elenemigocomun.net
friendsofbradwill.org

- – - – - – - – - – -

Unamonos a la Red de NYC en Solidaridad con Oaxaca
VIERNES 22 DE DICIEMBRE
Dia Internacional en Solidaridad con la lucha popular en Oaxaca, Mexico

4:30pm Consulado General de Mexico
27 E. 39th Street entre Park y Madison

5:30PM marcha hacia el Rockefeller Center a las 6PM
45 Rockefeller Plaza
W. 50th Street entre 5th & 6th Avenues

En contra de la represion contra la Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca (APPO)
Libertad de todos los presos politicos
Fuera la Policia Federal Preventiva de Oaxaca
Por la inmediata salida del Gobernador Ulises Ruiz

Para mas info en inglish y espanol
Elenemigocomun.net
friendsofbradwill.org

First city-wide meeting of the newly formed NYC Oaxaca Solidarity Network

IN THESE MINUTES- TRUNCATED IN THE INTEREST OF PUBLICATION:
1) Next General Meeting
2) Recap — Key Decisions
3) Mtg Agenda
******************

1) SAVE THE DATE!
Next NYC Oaxaca Solidarity Network General Meeting
Sunday, January 7th, 6pm – 8:pm
St. Marks Church, 10th St and 2nd Ave

*********

2) DEC 14 MTG — KEY DECISIONS RECAP

___We will organize NYC actions on December 22, in response to the
Zapatista call for global solidarity in support of Oaxaca that day.

December 22
4:30pm — Mexican Consulate, Rally then March to Rockefeller Plaza
27 E. 39th St btw Park and Avenue of the Americas

6:00pm — Rockefeller Plaza, Rally and Public Outreach/Education
W. 50th btw 5th and 6th Aves

___We’ll have a Dec 22nd Action Planning Meeting and Art/Props Making on
Saturday, December 16th (tomorrow)

2:00-3:00pm Action Planning Meeting
3:00-7:00pm Arts/Prop Making

Both at The Change You Want To See Gallery
84 Havemeyer St at Metropolitan Ave in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Read more »

DEC16: ACTION MTG FOR DEC 22 and ART/PROP MAKING IN SUPPORT OF OAXACA

At the NYC Oaxaca Solidarity Network meeting last night (roughly 80 folks
in attendance from a variety of groups) there was agreement around
coordinating a New York City response to the Zapatista call for global
solidarity actions in support of Oaxaca on December 22nd.

Please join us tomorrow, Saturday -

WHAT:
ACTION MTG FOR DEC 22 and ART/PROP MAKING IN SUPPORT OF OAXACA

WHEN:
2:00-3:00pm Dec 22 Action Meeting
3:00-7:00pm Art/Prop Making (see needs below)

WHERE:
The Change You Want To See Gallery and Convergence Stage
84 Havemeyer St at Metropolitan Ave, Williamsburg
(Directions at http://www.hopstop.com)
http://www.thechangeyouwanttosee.org
917-202-5479 or 646-221-7845

WHO:
Anyone! But it’d be great to have some folks with experience with stencil
making, prop making, etc to be on hand to help folks without experience.

We’ll be making visuals that can be used in the Dec 22 actions and the
ongoing vigils at the U.N.

NEEDS:
If you can get any of the following, please bring

cardboard (1, 2 and 3 ply – the bigger the better, and ideally with as
few creases as possible – refridgerator boxes are the best)

tape (duct, masking, packing.. anything with durability and strength)

box cutters and scissors

markers and sharpies (the larger the better and in multiple colours)

string and rope

fabric (by the roll ideally – there are many places in the city (canal st.
for example) where rolls of fabric can be purchased at a reasonable price

paint (spray paint, house paint, artist paint – primary colors + black and
white are best but everything helps)

glue ( white glue, glue stick, hot glue)

staplers w/ staples

paper (large sheets and by the roll)

mylar (the best possible material for making stencils can be purchase at
art supply stores)

wood (1 inch x 2 inch x 8 foot pieces come in bundles of 12 can be
purchased at any wood supply store

cardboard tubes (often times these can be found in dumpsters outside of
clothing manufactures)

screws (1 inch, 1.5 inch 2 inch, 2.5 inch coarse threaded drywall screws)

Documentary About Oaxaca

I-witness Video shows NYPD stealing Camera at Mexican Embassy Protest for Brad

The inaugural post on the I-Witness Video blog deals with police
stealing a camera during the Mexican Consulate action last month.

Jon

—–Original Message—–
From: I-Witness Video [mailto:iwitness@iwitnessvideo.info]
Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 9:52 AM
To: iwitness@list.beech-grove.net
Subject: New I-Witness Video Blog & The War on Cameras

Friends,
We’re very pleased to announce the launch of the brand-spanking new
I-Witness Video blog: The Policing of Protest.

This week’s theme is The War on Cameras.

Today’s story is about the NYPD assaulting a videographer at a
demonstration to steal his camera. Sounds kind of crazy, doesn’t it?

No, we’re not pulling your leg. And we don’t expect you to simply take
our word for it.

Visit iwitnessvideo.info to read the blog and see the video for
yourself.

Please forward this e-mail to your activist and media friends. And
please share your thoughts on our new venture.

- Eileen Clancy

I-Witness Video
E-mail: iwitness@iwitnessvideo.info
website: http://iwitnessvideo.info/

Oaxaca Solidarity/Solidaridad Benefit Sunday 12.17.06 2pm – 12am

Oaxaca Solidarity Benefit / Solidaridad con Oaxaca
Sunday 12.17.06 2pm – 12am

Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center
1680 Lexington Avenue
(corner of 106th Street)
(esquina de la Calle 106)

$5 -$10
Suggested Donation (no one turned away)
Coperacion Voluntaria (ninguno rechazado)

more info check out:

www.elenemigocomun.net

All proceeds go to sending media resources and medical supplies to some of Oaxaca’s most remote indigenous communities, in order to contribute to their ability to document their own histories of collective organizing and resistance.

Todas las donaciones van para mandar equipo de medios y medicinas para algunas de las comunidades mas remotas de oaxaca, para poder contribuir a su abilidad de documentar sus propias historias de resistencia y organizacion colectiva.

Citywide Oaxaca Solidarity Mtg: Thursday Dec 14

COME TO THE FIRST NYC MEETING IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF OAXACA
Thursday, December 14, 7:30pm
Hunter College
Room 436 North Building – 4th floor
enter 69th street between Lexington & Park Avenues

A city-wide meeting for individuals and organizations in NYC to learn about the situation and begin to make plans to coordinate a solidarity campaign in support of the peoples of Oaxaca.

The Mexican Federal government has chosen the path of violence and repression instead of negotiation to resolve the conflict in Oaxaca, Mexico. This conflict began on June 14th when Oaxaca’s governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz sent in state police to break a peaceful teachers’ strike that was camped out in the center of Oaxaca City. Gov. Ruiz had already alarmed international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, for atrocities committed before the June 14. The actions on June 14th further ignited people’s anger throughout the State who responded, by forming the People’s Popular Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO) who reinforced the teachers’ encampment in Oaxaca City. The single demand of the APPO has been the resignation of Gov. Ruiz.

Since June 14th, the violence against the teachers and the APPO by paramilitary forces and police aligned with Gov. Ruiz has escalated and on October 27th, independent journalist, Brad Will, was brutally murdered at the hands of plainclothes police officers and local government officials
in Santa Lucia del Camino, Oaxaca. Read more »

United Federation of Teachers –Resolution on Stopping the Violence in Oaxaca

The Delegate Assembly of the United Federation of Teachers/ AFT overwhelmingly passed this resolution on Wednesday, December 6, 2006.

Resolution on Stopping the Violence in Oaxaca

Whereas, the strike of the teachers in the Mexican province of Oaxaca went on for six months, and there was minimal evidence that the provincial government negotiated in good faith with, or addressed the legitimate demands of, the provincial section of the Mexican teachers union; and

Whereas, the provincial government of Oaxaca has attacked the striking teachers without justification; and

Whereas the teachers have agreed to return to their classrooms but continue to be assaulted and arrested, even taken from their homes, schools and communities;

Be it therefore resolved, Read more »

Mon, Dec 11: Oaxaca Report-back and Discussion with Barucha Calamity Peller & Friends

8pm, Monday December 11
16 Beaver st. 4th floor (directions)

Barucha Calamity Peller, who has participated in anti-authoritarian collectives in Mexico for the past 4 years, has just returned from Oaxaca where there has been a widely defended popular uprising and where dozens of people have died and disappeared in this past week alone. She will give a presentation on the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO), the life at the barricades, international solidarity and the brutal repression and assassinations at the hands of paramilitaries and police throughout last month and specifically on November 25th. Her presentation and first hand accounts will also include a slideshow and recent videos from Oaxaca. Representatives from the Friends of Brad Will network will join in the discussion about local solidarity efforts. Read more »

Video: Oaxacan filmmakers in NYC

Paul DeRienzo and Joan Moossy discuss the situation in Oaxaza, Mexico with filmmakers Damian Lopez and Sergio Julian of Mal de Ojo of Oaxaca. Translation by Amalia Cordova, director of the film and Video Center at the National Museum of the American Indian.

Recent Timeline and Current Human Rights Situation in Oaxaca

The current conflict began on June 14th when Oaxaca’s governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz sent in state police to break a teachers’ strike that was camped out in the center of Oaxaca City. Gov. Ruiz had already alarmed international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, for atrocities committed before the June 14 police violence. The actions on June 14th further ignited people’s anger throughout the State who responded, by forming the People’s Popular Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO) who reinforced the teachers’ encampment in Oaxaca City. The single demand of the APPO has been the resignation of Gov. Ruiz. Up to the end of October, 12 people had been killed by police and paramilitary forces connected to Gov. Ruiz.

On October 27th, independent journalist, Bradley Will, was murdered at the hands of plainclothes police officers and local government officials in Santa Lucia del Camino, Oaxaca. According to local residents and the Mexican newspaper El Universal, the attackers have been positively identified as municipal police officers and government officials of Santa Lucia del Camino. Two men were arrested for the murder, Abel Santiago Zárate, who works for Public Security in Santa Lucía del Camino and a member of the Municipal Police, Orlando Manuel Aguilar Coello. On December 1st they were acquitted of all charges and released.

On October 29th, the Mexican Federal government dispatched several thousand Federal Preventative Police (PFP) troops to remove civilian protesters supporting the APPO from their encampments throughout the city. There were the recorded deaths of at least three civilians as a direct result of the excessive force that the PFP used to dislodge the protesters, despite official comments from the State and Federal governments to the contrary. In a move reminiscent of Mexico’s “dirty war” of the 1970’s and 80’s, civilians were detained without charges and brought by helicopter to nearby military bases. Read more »

Photos of Nov 19 women's march and Nov 25 mega march

Global Soil posted these photos of recent marches in Oaxaca on Flickr:

November 19 March:

November 25 March: