As is being reported in the anti-authoritarian press, a young anarchist and journalist from the U.S. was shot and killed by government agents in Oaxaca. Bradley Will was working with Indy Media and helping to publicize the struggle in Oaxaca. He was killed while reporting on street fighting.
The debate within some circles is over why has so much attention been payed to Bradley while other comrades who have been murdered has largely been ignored – or so it seems. Bradley’s death has definitely galvanized many U.S. anarchists to organize Oaxaca support, and in some cities anarchists and other militants have stormed Mexican Consulates.
When the Oaxaca struggle has been ongoing for almost 6 months, it has received only minimal attention and support from many anti-authoritarians here in the U.S., even though it is only a few days drive from the southwest territories of this country. It is fair to ask and offer up criticism’s regarding why the support for our comrades in Oaxaca has been minimal. While I sympathize wth Bradley’s friends and comrades who are turning his memory in to a part of their organizing, I am critical of the fact that he is being held up as a martyr. Some organizing groups are calling their demonstrations “Direct Action at Mexican Consulate for Brad Will and Oaxaca”. A better expression against the Mexican governments repression would to be holding up all the martyrs of Oaxaca equally.
Still, I think this question reflects on a larger issue facing the radical and revolutionary libertarian movement in this country – why have we as a movement offered up minimal responses and organizing on a general scale over the last 4 years. There was so much momentum moving into this millennium post-Seattle. The enthusiasm and energy seems to have turned into confusion and a malaise. Personally, I think we as a movemnet are in a state of ideological and strategic crisis, and that the unfortuante death of comrades like Bradley jilt peoples minds and make this reality much more evident.
Statement from the New York Metro Alliance of Anarchists on the murder of Brad Will, Emilio Alonso Fabián, Esteban López Zurita, and others – victims of the para-militaries and police state of Oaxaca, Mexico, and the world.
Brad Will, independent journalist, videographer, squatter, green, and anarchist, gunned down Friday, Oct 27th, 2006, while reporting on the social struggle taking place in Oaxaca, Mexico, was our friend and compañero, a man with a fiery heart and unwavering courage in the face of injustice and repression. He joined the multitude of Oaxaca, Mexico, Latin America, and the world who seek daily a reprieve from the indignities, injustices, and violence delivered upon the ordinary people who fight for a better world.
Brad was one of many from the North who travelled to Oaxaca to witness, report, and testify to the social revolution happening there and throughout Mexico. Brad is not the first, and certainly won’t be the last person to fall silent at the hands of the state, the police, or the henchmen they hire. Hundreds have died in recent years, many more injured by violence and repression. Disappearances and political murders are common to the people of Mexico, most recently in Chiapas and Oaxaca, not surprisingly with complicity and support from the US Government.
We call on all people of conscience to reject these injustices, and use all available resources at their disposal to halt the encroachment of the Mexican, US, and paramilitary state upon the social revolution that is most certainly taking place in Oaxaca and throughout Mexico. We call on the entire left in the United States, regardless of political position, to strongly consider adherence to the “Other Campaign”, as initiated by the Zapatistas (please see link below). Honor the memory of the hundreds, the thousands killed, by organizing where you live, where you work. The people of Oaxaca have organized themselves and rejected the authority of Mexican state. We can do the same.
Alejandro García Hernández, resident of Oaxaca, presente!
René Calva, resident, presente!
Pánfilo Hernández, school teacher, presente!
Emilio Alonso Fabián, resident of neighborhood, presente!
Esteban López Zurita, school teacher, presente!
Brad Will, organizer, journalist, friend, presente!
All nameless victims of state violence in Mexico and the world, presente!
References:
http://www.narconews.com
http://zapagringo.blogspot.com/2006/07/other-campaign.html
http://www.nymaa.org
http://www.nefac.net