The here and now... and what and why

Complacency is a trap. At least that’s what I was thinking when I up and left the comfort of a Yankee prep school gig, where I taught music, amongst other things, for 28 years. There was also that life long career as a composer, musician and artist.

First, it was a year in St. Thomas, USVI, working as a reporter and shooting photography and then, a year in San Agustin Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Time passed.
More time passed and a year back in the Athens of America followed by a hasty return to Oaxaca where it is all happening.
A couple of years in San Sebastian Etla and now, just down the road in San Pablo Etla. Life is good.

Click on an image to see it larger.
For additional photography please visit my flickr page.
You can find my music on Jango (World & latin - Worldbeat) and at iTunes and most online stores.
¡Soy consciente de todas las tradiciones del Internet!
If you are coming to Oaxaca, please contact me for tours or advice.

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo
The view from Corazon del Pueblo

The hereafter re me

My photo
Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
Musician, photographer, videographer, reporter, ex-officio teacher, now attempting to be a world traveler

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

A perspective

These are shots from the zocalo yesterday.  It is pretty much impassable.  The tents are packed in so tightly it is impossible to move.....  or do any business.
 We are moving into the fourth week of this.  This is the south west entrance to the zocalo and that blue is not sky.  It's a tarp.
I will have more on the situation in the city tomorrow, but for now, this is one person's perspective and it is a perspective shared by many.
Amo Oaxaca. Y no sólo es una expresión, en verdad amo mi tierra. Oaxaca es mi más grande orgullo y mi mejor valorado sueño. Oaxaca es mi pasión y mi más grande meta. En verdad doy gracias a Dios y a la vida por ser oaxaqueño. Hoy en día me encuentro estudiando en México, no porque no quiera estar en la tierra que me vio nacer ni por huir de sus problemas, sino porque busco la mejor preparación para en un futuro poder coadyuvar a solucionarlos. Y claro que extraño mi ciudad, extraño la calidez de su gente y sus costumbres, extraño a mi familia y a mis amigos, en fin, extraño Oaxaca. Pero lo que definitivamente no extraño es lo que políticos corruptos, líderes sociales que lucran con las necesidades más sensibles de nuestra gente, y en especial, organizaciones radicales que buscan que sus demandas e intereses sean impuestos ante todo, hacen de nuestra tierra.
Oaxaca le ha dado mucho a México, pero México poco le ha regresado a Oaxaca, o más bien, nuestros gobernantes, de todos los partidos políticos, mucho nos han quitado. Eso nadie lo discute. Sin embargo, el daño que hoy en día hacen la Sección XXII de la CNTE, los normalistas, entre otros grupos a nuestra economía, a la educación de nuestra niñez, en fin, a nuestra vida diaria, es algo que merece punto y aparte. Me duele transitar por la calle y ver camiones secuestrados, personas encapuchadas coartando los derechos de todos nosotros, me duele ver mi ciudad en llamas. Me duele, me pone triste y me da coraje que varios turistas de los que vinieron a nuestra ciudad durante la Guelaguetza 2014, digan que fue la primera, única y última vez que vienen a Oaxaca. Pero lo que más me duele es ver cómo la vida de los oaxaqueños es controlada y limitada por las manifestaciones de estos individuos. Y repudio sus acciones no solamente porque afectan nuestra vida económica y social, sino porque estas personas logran pocas cosas con su forma de actuar, pero dentro de ellas está el hacer que los oaxaqueños estemos hartos de vivir aquí. Sí, amamos nuestra tierra, su riqueza y conocemos su potencial, pero odiamos lo que hacen de ella. Y no es la primera vez que vivimos algo así, esto ha prevalecido por años y el ejemplo más cercano es el conflicto del 2006, sin embargo, en la opinión de un servidor, estamos igual o peor que en el más difícil de los escenarios que ha vivido
I love Oaxaca. And it is not only an expression, I really love my land. Oaxaca is my biggest pride and my best dream. Oaxaca is my passion and my biggest goal. I truly thank God and be Oaxacan life. Nowadays I am studying in Mexico, not because I do not want to be in the land where I was born nor to run away from their problems, but because I seek the best preparation for a future to be able to help solve them. And of course I miss my city, miss the warmth of its people and their customs, miss my family and my friends, in the end, I miss Oaxaca. But what I definitely do not miss is the corrupt politicians, social leaders who profit from the most sensitive needs of our people, and in particular, radical organizations seeking their demands and interests are imposed first and foremost, make of our land.

Oaxaca has given much to Mexico, but Mexico has little returned to Oaxaca, or rather, our leaders of all political parties, much have been taken away from us. No one argues that. However, the damage today on day make section XXII of the CNTE, fearfully, among other groups to our economy, to the education of our children, in short, to our daily lives, it is something that deserves point and separate. It hurts to walk down the street and see hijacked trucks, people hooded to subverting the rights of us all, it hurts me to see my city in flames. It hurts me and makes me sad gives me courage that several tourists who came to our city during the Guelaguetza 2014, say that it was the first, only and last time coming to Oaxaca. But what hurts me most is to see how the life of Oaxaca is controlled and limited by the manifestations of these individuals. And repudiation their actions not only because they affect our economic and social life, but because these people achieve few things his way, but within them is doing that oaxacans are tired of living here. Yes, we love our Earth, its wealth and we know his potential, but we hate what you make of it. And it is not the first time that we are living something that has prevailed for years and the nearest example is the 2006 conflict, however, in the opinion of a server, we are equal to or worse than in the more difficult scenarios that has lived in Oaxaca.
 Click on through to read the whole op-ed.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sección XXII.
Extorsionistas.