Not An Alternative — In memory of Brad Will
Topic(s): Mexico | Comments Off on Not An Alternative — In memory of Brad WillFriends of Not An Alternative and The Change You Want to See,
A close friend of our collective was just murdered in Oaxaca, Mexico on
Friday. He was an activist and a journalist, there to document a popular
movement of teachers and other civilians. They were peacefully protesting
at the barricades there, and he was filming, when paramilitaries and
government thugs opened fire and killed Brad Will.
Brad was truly the most dedicated and passionate environmental, human
rights, and global justice activists and journalists that we’ve ever
known. He dedicated his life to visiting the places where globalization
hit the hardest — to tell the stories of people whose stories go untold
in mainstream press. Now the government of Mexico has used his death a
pretext to send in thousands of federal troops, to bulldoze the
barricades, arrest protest leaders, and squash the popular uprising that
Brad and sadly, many others in Oaxaca have died to defend. This sickens us.
Not An Alternative has been working with other friends of Brad’s to
coordinate media work, organize demonstrations, vigils, build a website,
and build grassroots pressure. There is a Oaxaca support letter that a
number of luminaries have signed on to, including Tariq Ali, Noam Chomsky,
Eve Ensler, Danny Glover, Eduardo Galeano, Michael Hardt, Michael Moore,
Antonio Negri, Arundhati Roy, Alice Walker, Howard Zinn, and many others.
It calls on the Mexican government to withdraw troops from Oaxaca, release
all detainees, bring assasins to justice, and remove the corrupt and
illegitimate governor Ruiz.
Please sign on to the letter by visiting
http://www.friendsofbradwill.org/supportletter. You can also go there to
send an email to Congress, and donate to send a delegation to Oaxaca.
This has been and continues to be an international media story…CNN has
been playing Brad’s final footage, filmed as he was shot, and every
major outlet has been covering the ongoing violence in Oaxaca.
Demonstrations have been held in cities across the globe this week. But we
need to ensure that this attention translates into pressure on the Mexican
government.
Brad loved to sing. And fire-spin. And dumpster dive. And fight for
freedom, and the planet, and all her people. We have so many memories of
his grin and his guitar and his irreverant activist songs. You can see a
video of him singing at The Change You Want to See here this summer, and
of our demonstration at the Mexican consulate this Monday, at
www.friendsofbradwill.org. Brandon and Beka spent a couple of days
in jail after the demonstration this week…it felt like the best place to
be to commemorate our fallen friend.
La lucha sigue. Brad has died, but in doing so, has awoken a movement.
Love and rage,
Beka, Brandon, Deanna, Ian, Jason, Winnie and the rest of the Not An
Alternative collective.
P.S. You can learn more about Brad at http://nyc.indymedia.org. His
writings, dispatches, songs, and stories are there. We’re planning to
send a delegation down to Oaxaca to bring more international attention
and support to the area. Folks can donate at www.friendsofbradwill.org
to help send independent journalists and activists to Oaxaca.