Teaching Rebellion: Stories from the Grassroots Mobilization in Oaxaca
Edited by Diana Denham and the C.A.S.A. Collective
2009, PM Press
383 pages
THIS is an excellent introduction to the human face behind the events that shook Oaxaca in 2006 which are now being interpreted as the most important rebellion of the first decade of the 21st century. Sprinkled with photographs that provide a visual testament to the million-strong protest movement that gathered potent momentum following police repression of striking teachers to challenge the local regime of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Teaching Rebellion crystallized as an effort to reproduce the testimonies of these Oaxacans following a visit by a human rights delegation to the state. The result is an enlightening insight into the hopes and fears of a cross-section of Oaxacan society that, taken together, reconstruct the trajectory of the events as they unfolded. As the editors point out: “Their buried fears, earned victories, suffered traumas, and sown dreams are the answers to why and how this movement organized as it did.” The book is the product of a collaboration by members of the C.A.S.A. Collectives (Colectivos de Apoyo, Solidaridad y Acción) that offer a focus for solidarity work in Oaxaca and Chiapas and facilitate the work of international activists as human rights observers, independent journalists and volunteers for grassroots organizations (www.casacollective.org). – GO’T
