October in Oaxaca : AZ IMC

October was a month full of events from the Preliminary Encuentro of Indigenous Peoples of Southern Mexico at the CIPO house, to all the memorial marches. Here is a summary of events (that I knew about) and photos to illustrate more than words.
Oaxaca will not be forgotten. Oaxaca does not give up.

Yeah these kids are bad ass.This photo was taken in the Xocalo, which as you can see was covered in spray paint when the march arrived. People know how to paint in Oaxaca!

October 3rd, 4th and 5th, around 70 indigenous people came from several towns around Oaxaca, Campeche, Yucatan, Quintana Roo to participate in a Preliminary Gathering of Indigenous Peoples of Southern Mexico. Many then traveled on to Sonora for the Gathering of the Indigenous of the Americas.
The gathering in Oaxaca was organized by CIPO RFM (http://www.nodo50.org/cipo). Participants discussed three main themes; 1. The war of capitalist conquest against indigenous peoples of America.
2. The resistance of the indigenous peoples of America and the defense of the mother earth, our territory, and our culture.
3. Why we struggle as indigenous people of America.
There were discussions all day and into the night when videos were shown. 3 meals were cooked and ate communally, people crowded around the kitchen table eating and laughing, voices speaking mostly Spanish, Zapoteco, Mixe, and Mixteco.
¨We don´t beg the government, and their enterprises to respect us, because we have seen for 515 years that they are never going to respect us.¨
¨A well organized community can resist any kind of attack¨.

Last year, October 13th, a truck pulled up to the barricades and unidentified gunmen shot and killed Alejandro Garcia Hernandez.

At 5 am a tapete was made at the intersection of Ferrocarril and Calicantos.A tapete in memory of Brad Will. NY Indymedia journalist murdered the year before while videodocumenting the struggle.
At 9 am the march departed to the Xocalo where speeches were made.
In the the people barricaded Calicantos once again, using a bus, three trailer trucks and a smaller truck to block off Ferrocarril avenue, and create a space for the Cultural Event for Life and Justice. The event consisted of; Words of the Barricade, Music, and Theatre.
Hundreds of tamales were fed to the crowd, courtesy of compañ@s who stayed up til 3 am the night before folding and cooking tamales over a fire.

That night there was a procession from the barricade to the place of Brad Will´s murder.

The anniversary of the eruption of the PFP ( Federal Preventative Police) in Oaxaca. The march started at 9 a.m., the highway was filled with more people than I can estimate.