Little Zapatista School

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(Report Back) Freedom According to the Zapatistas : The Launch of the Escuelita

Chiapas Autonomous Region

Written by Andalusia Knoll

Tuesday, 27 August 2013 09:52


“The only thing that you need, objectively, to attend the zapatistas’ little school is Disinclination to talk or to judge, Willingness to listen and watch and a well-disposed heart.” – Comunicado VOTÁN II. The Guardians. Subcomandante Marcos

From August 12-16 the zapatistas opened the doors to their caracoles, communities and hearts to 1630 students enrolled in the first grade of “the escuelita (the little school): freedom according to the zapatistas.”

The escuelita didn’t have formal classrooms with a rigid schedule and teachers imparting their knowledge. Instead it featured immersion based learning, grounded in the daily tasks of constructing autonomy. This included grinding corn, weeding onion crops, collecting firewood, and washing your clothes in the river. Continue reading →

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Classmates II. Still missing: The Political Prisoners

CLASSMATES II.

 Still missing:

THE POLITICAL PRISONERS.

June 2013. [Posted on Enlace Zapatista]

To the adherents of the Sixth in Mexico and in the World:

To the students of the Little Zapatista School:

Compañeras, compañeros, compañeroas:

In addition to the fallen and the disappeared in the struggle, who won’t be present but will indeed be accompanying us in the Little Zapatistas School, are the political prisoners who, under various juridical ruses, are held in the prisons of the world or in political exile.

There are thousands of them throughout the world, and our small word won’t reach all of them. Even as we are relying on our compañer@s in the National Network Against Repression and for Solidarity to try to reach as many as possible, there will always be some we don’t get to.

That is why we are sending this invitation, among many others, to some of the political prisoners who symbolize not only the absurdity of trying to lock up freedom, but also, and above all, the dignified resistance and perseverance of those who are not defeated by guards, walls, and bars.

Continue reading →