The “Other Cinco de Mayo” in NYC

New Yorkers Protest Fox Government Repression of the Other Campaign at Mexican Consulate

By Mark Swier and RJ Maccani
The Ricardo Flores Magòn Brigade Reporting for Narco News from New York City

May 7, 2006

The Other Campaign came to New York City today as over 50 people marched, sang, chanted, prayed and screamed at the Mexican Consulate in a collective expression of solidarity and anger at the recent repression against our Mexican compañeros and compañeras in San Salvador Atenco and elsewhere.

Photo: Mark Swier

Pulled together in less than two days, the protest brought together people from throughout NYC reflecting the Other Campaign’s broad-base of support in the city: The Colorado Sisters (indigenous Mexicanas living in NYC), mothers and children from Pachamama (the Bushwick Childcare Cooperative), activists from Estación Libre (people of color in solidarity and inspired by the Zapatistas), the New York Metro Alliance of Anarchists, authentic journalists from Narco News, WBAI and Indymedia, and a representative from the National Lawyer’s Guild, among others.

This quick response from across the spectrum of rebel New York underscored the desire and commitment of those present to build relationships in the spirit of the Other Campaign, between its NYC-based adherents and other Zapatista-inspired people. Word of the protest spread through various independent media outlets and social and activist networks, and a petition has been circulating nationally calling for an end to the repression of the Other Campaign.

A clear message was sent from NYC to the Mexican Government that people here are watching and are willing to take action in defense of the Other Campaign. The protest kicked off with a blessing to the four winds, the sky and the Earth led by the Colorado Sisters. The smoke and scent of copal (traditional Mexican incense) solemnly centered the memorial nature of the actions, and then a picket lined formed and continued for over an hour, chanting, marching and building strength as Consulate office workers looked on from second-story windows.

The action spoke loudly to the trans-national – indeed, intergalactic – nature of its vision: just as the people of Mexico can’t be confined within its borders, neither is the Other Campaign. Organizers and participants in the protest fanned out around the block to pass out leaflets, discuss the week’s events and provide information about the Other Campaign to passersby and people visiting the Consulate to take care of business.

Additionally, activists who could not attend the consulate protest participated in an online sit-in — a “virtual strike against the Mexican Government.”

The details of last week’s Atenco resistance, and the brutality it was met with by the Mexican State, continue to be uncovered. The alarm, anger, sympathy, and solidarity which people are feeling around the world is being manifest from “below and to the left” in grassroots action. This critical moment in Mexico is being felt worldwide, as the Other Campaign continues to build strength, from Chiapas to Los Angeles, from Oaxaca to New York City, from Atenco to the world.

Watch the Other Journalism video newsreel, “The Other Campaign in New York City: We Are All Atenco.”

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