NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RAZA
PRISONERS AND COLONIALISM
On April 26, 1997, an event of critical importance in the history of the Chicano Movement forged new pathways of liberation. Foremost on the agenda was the establishment of a Raza Prisoners Defense Network to organize the familias whose loved ones are locked down and the creation of a "How to Defend Raza Prisoners" manual. For more info: Barrio Defense Committee, P.O. Box 1523, San Jose, CA 95109, (408) 223-0938.
Support the Mexican Independence Day, September 16, 1997 action on behalf of Ramsey Muniz, imprisoned in Leavenworth, the same prison where Ricardo Flores Magon died in 1922.
--Advocates for Justice, 5403 Everhart Road, #216, Corpus Christi, TX 78411-4895 and
--Frank San Miguel, BLACKFIST, P.O. Box 980582, Houston, TX 77098-0582. Organizing to free all political prisoners.
Letter from Mazmorra
Now tell me, who are the illegal aliens? How can you be an illegal alien from the land that was once yours?
I'm probably in the same cell that Flores Magón shared during his struggle for our people. And there shall be others after me. We were destined from the beginning. My destiny is to bring together Aztlan and the Holy Land (Mexico). Aztlan is in my heart--the Holy Land is in my blood. The next Mexicano Movement will come from these racist brutal institutions. There is no question in the minds of our brothers within these institutions that we must prepare ourselves against all odds. We are very strong throughout the system, not only in the federal, but state systems. Instead of training for drugs, crimes, etc. we train our brothers for the Movimiento of Mexi. The seed cannot be only about Villa, Zapata, etc. We must reach from the roots of the Mexicano tree. We are and shall ever be Mexicanos.
-Tezcatlipoca/Ramsey Muniz, 40288-115, P.O. Box 1000, Leavenworth, KS 66048-1000
Letter from a companero
As I read through the "Address of Enrique Flores Magón in Federal Court, Los Angeles, June 22, 1916," I was amazed at the foresight and intelligence of its writer. Imagine if people would have listened to him when he states, "The court is in error. We are aliens to no country, nor are we aliens to any people on earth. The world is our country and all men are our countrymen." Imagine a world like that!
In reference to the exploitation of the peoples by private property, it is imperative that all victims of exploitation--prisoners, drug addicts, prostitutes, murderers, drunks, thieves, etc. realize that they do these things through the incessant machinations of the ruling class. To continue to do so is to allow them to continue to exploit the masses and heap injustices upon the poor. This realization is empowerment, for then we can begin to resist it. Drugs, violence, prison, and ignorance are the very tools being used against us; therefore we must leave these things behind and stand strong in the face of the enemy and work to empower others. We must start from the bottom and work our way to the top.
The United States sought to snuff out the flame of revolution in Mexico by jailing the Magón Brothers, but this only served to fan the flames of passion, and the people rose up. Enrique quoted Emerson--"Whenever a thinker is turned loose, tyrants tremble." A world of thinkers would surely bring about justice. We can all become thinkers and effect change first in our own lives and second in the lives of our countrymen. Our struggle is a part of a larger struggle worldwide against the same forces at work in our own society. We may enjoy a modicum of liberty and prosperity, but they are only scraps being thrown to us from the table of the rich and powerful, as they sit in their big fancy houses surrounded by all the things that we have made, pinche perros, drinking our blood, sweat, and tears, planning the future exploitation of our children, contemptuous of equality, liberty, and justice. The Magón Brothers are not only heroes of the Mexican Revolution and the Mexican peoples, but of the world. Their words ring true even now, almost 90 years after their deaths. I will keep their vision alive and their spirit in the hearts of the people.
-Gerardo Yescas, Cafe Mexica
ANARCHISM AND THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION: The Political Trials of Ricardo Flores Magon in the United States
by Colin M. MacLachlan
Published by University of California Press
A history documenting the process of an individual harassed, reduced and ultimately eliminated by the judicial arm of the state.
Also by Colin M. MacLachlan:
The Forging of the Cosmic Race: A Reinterpretation of Colonial Mexico, U. C. Press
". . . it is necessary to educate people, to teach them the real causes of their misery and slavery . . . This is why our hands, instead of being armed with muskets are armed with pens; a weapon more formidable and far more feared by tyrants and exploiters."
--Ricardo Flores Magon, Federal Court, Los Angeles, 1916