Wednesday, March 28, 2007
SWOP homepageIn Oaxaca, Women Rise
Women continue to be fundamental to the movement for revolutionary change. I am deeply saddened by these mothers being tagged as "urban guerrillas" sacrificing their own safety and of their children. They have no choice, but I am hopeful they will create new choices and a better life for everyone.
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Article By John Gibler - Mar 27 2007
Putting their personal lives on hold, women in the Mexican state of Oaxaca helped shut down the government, took over a TV station, and stood up to police violence.
"Everything is the movement," says Patricia Jimenez Alvarado, looking at me across her kitchen table. "You don’t have a personal life anymore." She leans her face into her open palms, and weeps.
Jimenez, in her mid-forties, is a thesis advisor at Oaxaca State University by profession. But the government of Oaxaca accuses her of being an "urban guerrilla." Her house and car have just been broken into and searched. She regularly receives text-message death threats on her cellular phone. A warrant has been issued for her arrest. And for the first time in her children’s lives, she has missed their birthdays—several months ago she sent her children to live with her sister-in-law to keep them safe.
Sitting down with me for this interview is the first moment of calm she’s had since mid-June, Jimenez says. That’s when she and thousands of other women—many of whom had never participated in a march or rally before—orchestrated the takeover of the state television and radio stations and broadcast live their opposition to state violence. Their actions earned these women a place among Oaxaca’s most wanted activists, sought by the para-police gangs that serve the state government.
To read the rest of this article click here.
*********************************
Article By John Gibler - Mar 27 2007
Putting their personal lives on hold, women in the Mexican state of Oaxaca helped shut down the government, took over a TV station, and stood up to police violence.
"Everything is the movement," says Patricia Jimenez Alvarado, looking at me across her kitchen table. "You don’t have a personal life anymore." She leans her face into her open palms, and weeps.
Jimenez, in her mid-forties, is a thesis advisor at Oaxaca State University by profession. But the government of Oaxaca accuses her of being an "urban guerrilla." Her house and car have just been broken into and searched. She regularly receives text-message death threats on her cellular phone. A warrant has been issued for her arrest. And for the first time in her children’s lives, she has missed their birthdays—several months ago she sent her children to live with her sister-in-law to keep them safe.
Sitting down with me for this interview is the first moment of calm she’s had since mid-June, Jimenez says. That’s when she and thousands of other women—many of whom had never participated in a march or rally before—orchestrated the takeover of the state television and radio stations and broadcast live their opposition to state violence. Their actions earned these women a place among Oaxaca’s most wanted activists, sought by the para-police gangs that serve the state government.
To read the rest of this article click here.
Labels: feminism, oaxaca, women
