From: Camilleviv @ aol.com Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2006 01:35:53 EDT Subject: Brad Will RIP, a companero and a journalist

Brad Will, a friend and a friend to the international struggle for justice, was murdered. I meet Brad when went we traveled cross country and attended a radical conference in Ohio together. I remember him dancing to a contemporary dance piece during the Active Resistance conference in Chicago in the 1990s adding well done and creative art to the events.

Brad continued to dance. He danced against wrecking balls that tried to rip apart squats in New York City. He crisscrossed the global south recording and publizing the struggle for justice. He did not forget the struggle here, the last time I saw him was in NYC during the Still We Rise demonstrations against the RNC. He greeted me with his trade mark warm smile as always and was so proud of his improved Spanish skills. He was excited that he could better serve the struggles that inspire him.

He inspires us, to challenge ourselves to learn and grow to be better in service to our liberation and the liberation of others. He inspires us to live full lives, to take risks in the here and now, to never stop our dance that we must do when we listen to the voices of those fighting oppression, to never stop our dance to unite with those yearning for freedom by following the sounds of aching hearts, to never stop the dance that moves us to join those who cry in pain in the struggle, to never stop the dance that follows the rhythm of the multitudes’ beating hearts for justice.

I will miss you Brad. I will miss your spontaneity, your warmth and your joy.

Brad I will dance with you, even if I am never as graceful as you are, even if I stumble and I fall and even if I am feeble at times, I will dance with you brother, forever. I love you, Brad.

Camilo Viveiros

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From: “Marina Sitrin”

Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2006 23:20:05 -0400

Subject: friend and companero brad was killed

Our friend, brother, and companero, Brad Will was killed today by paramilitaries in Oxaca Mexico.

Brad has been an inspiring and passionate militant, joining struggles all over the world, from land occupations in the Pacific North West of the US, to direct actions against global capital, to rebellions in Argentina, land occupations in Brazil, and anti-privatization struggles in Bolivia. Brad was always a part of whatever he was in. He was always with people, not organizing them. He taught me, and so many others so much through example. He will be missed in so many ways.

Brad was a part of our communities. We should remember him with the love and affection that he showed, and we feel. We should also carry on with direct action to stop those that are trying to stop social creation, in the US, Mexico, Argentina, and the globe.

brad Presente!

brad presente!

brad Presente!

Brad’s last email dispatch …

early dawn, oct16

yesterday i went for a walk with the good people of oaxaca — was walking all day really — in the afternoon they showed me where the bullets hit the wall — they numbered the ones they could reach — it reminded me of the doorway of amadou diallos home — but here the grafitti was there before the shooting began — one bullet they didnt number was still in his head — he was 41 years old — alejandro garcia hernandez — at the neighborhood barricade every night — that night he came out to join his wife and sons to let an ambulance through — then a pickup tried to follow — he took their bullet when he told them they could not pass — they never did — these military men in civilian dress shot their way out of there

a young man who wanted to only be called marco was with them when the shooting happened — a bullet passed through his shoulder — he was clearly in shock when we met — 19 years old — said he hadnt told his parents yet — said he had been at the barricade every night — said he was going back as soon as the wound closed — absolutely

just days before there was a delegation of senators visiting to determine the ungovernability of the state — they got a taste — the call went out to shut down the rest of the government — dozens went walking out of the zocalo city center with big sticks and a box full of spray paint — they took control of 3 city buses and went around the city all morning visiting local government buildings and informing them that that they were closed — and we appreciate your voluntary cooperation — and they filed out preturbed but still getting paid — shut — as they pulled away from the last stop 3 gunmen came out and started shooting — 2 buses had already pulled away — mayhem — 10 minute battle with stones and slingshots and screaming — one headwound — another through the leg — made their way to the hospital while the fighting continued — shout out on the radio and people came from all parts — the gunmen were around the side of the building — they got away — they were inside — no one sure — watchful  — undercover police were reported lurking around the hospital and folks went running to stand watch over the wounded

what can you say about this movement — this revolutionary moment — you know it is building, growing, shaping — you can feel it — trying desperately for a direct democracy — in november appo will have a state wide conference for the formation of a state wide assemblea estatal del pueblo de oaxaca (aepo) — now there are 11 of 33 states in mexico that have declared formation of assemblea populares like appo — and on la otra lado in the usa a few — the marines have returned to sea even though the federal police who ravaged atenco remain close by — the new encampment in mexico has begun a hunger strike — the senate can expell URO — whats next nobodies sure — it is a point of light pressed through glass — ready to burn or show the way — it is clear that this is more than a strike, more than expulsion of a governor, more than a blockade, more than a coalition of fragments — it is a genuine peoples revolt — and after decades of pri rule by bribe, fraud, and bullet the people are tired — they call him the tyrant — they talk of destroying this authoritarianism — you cannot mistake the whisper of the lancandon jungle in the streets — in every street corner deciding together to hold —  you see it their faces  — indigenous, women, children — so brave — watchful at night — proud and resolute

went walking back from alejandros barricade with a group of supporters who came from an outlying district a half hour away — went walking with angry folk on their way to the morgue — went inside and saw him — havent seen too many bodies in my life — eats you up  — a stack of nameless corpes in the corner — about the number who had died — no refrigeration — the smell — they had to open his skull to pull the bullet out — walked back with him and his people

and now alejandro waits in the zocalo — like the others at their plantones — hes waiting for an impasse, a change, an exit, a way forward, a way out, a solution — waiting for the earth to shift and open — waiting for november when he can sit with his loved ones on the day of the dead and share food and drink and a song — waiting for the plaza to turn itself over to him and burst — he will only wait until morning but tonight he is waiting for the governor and his lot to never come back — one more death — one more martyr in a dirty war — one more time to cry and hurt — one moretime to know power and its ugly head — one more bullet cracks the night — one more night at the barricades — some keep the fires — others curl up and sleep — but all of them are with him as he rests one last night at his watch

uro= Ulises Ruiz Ortiz “governor” of the state of oaxaca
planton= sit in, vigil, encampment
zocalo= central plaza

‘In sum, we are an army of dreamers, and therefore invincible. How can we fail to win, with this imagination overturning everything. Or rather, we do not deserve to lose.’

– Subcomandante Marcos

Seamos realistas, hagamos lo imposible ~ che

BBC Story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6093582.stm

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