Comments on: Venezuela Speaks! Voices from the Grassroots- Book Tour! http://hartfordimc.org/2010/01/27/venezuela-speaks-voices-from-the-grassroots-book-tour/ Hartford Independent Media Collective - your real alternative for news and views in central CT Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:54:53 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: abbey volcano http://hartfordimc.org/2010/01/27/venezuela-speaks-voices-from-the-grassroots-book-tour/comment-page-1/#comment-2418 abbey volcano Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:29:53 +0000 http://hartfordimc.org/?p=4203#comment-2418 CT-WSA hosted a stop in Hartford for the Venezuela Speaks! Voices from the Grassroots book tour. Two of the three authors, Carlos Martinez and Michael Fox, as well as Yanahir Reyes who is directly involved with the women’s movement in Venezuela (she’s from Caracas) came and shared their stories. As well, the photographer for the book was able to come as well (she’s from Brazil). The book is a series of interviews that the authors conducted with grassroots organizers in Venezuela. In mainstream media, we mainly hear about the Chavez government and what’s going on with that. We don’t really hear about the folks who are organizing from below, who advocate socialism from below. This book covers some of those folks, and it seems really awesome. The authors are pretty spot-on and extremely nice. Yanahir was a fucking amazing speaker. She spoke in Spanish while Carlos translated for her. She asked us all questions about ourselves, our thoughts. She fucking ruled when she started talking about what the fuck the point of reproductive rights are when you can’t even afford them (BTW- abortion is illegal in Venezuela, as it is in most S. American countries). She brought a class-analysis to everything. She problematized rich feminists, while still acknowledging that they face gendered oppression, so I love her, of course. I hate when folks says things like “Who the fuck cares about rich women, or rich gay men or lesbians, etc…” We all face oppression on many fronts and I’m not about to start saying I don’t give a fuck about the sexism that rich women face, the violence they face. That doesn’t mean we can’t still center our analyses and struggles around the most marginalized women, of course. But thank god she said that. I love her. Anyway, we talked a lot about union organizing, anarchist-specific organizations, as well as the tension organizers face when finding the need to be in support of their gov’t at times, but struggling against it at the same time. They call it “a movement within a movement.” Yanahir also talked about the universities in Venezuela and how they’ve failed the people, for the most part. She said they don’t do much to help the people- to struggle against their oppressors. After the talk we went out to a diner and had a fun time, talking, eating, laughing, etc… These folks were nice and they were funny and their politics seem solid. Carlos will be at the San Fran Book Fair the 2nd weekend in March, and he’ll also be at the Left Forum in NYC at the end of March, if you want to try to catch up with him at either of those dealies. CT-WSA hosted a stop in Hartford for the Venezuela Speaks! Voices from the Grassroots book tour. Two of the three authors, Carlos Martinez and Michael Fox, as well as Yanahir Reyes who is directly involved with the women’s movement in Venezuela (she’s from Caracas) came and shared their stories. As well, the photographer for the book was able to come as well (she’s from Brazil).

The book is a series of interviews that the authors conducted with grassroots organizers in Venezuela. In mainstream media, we mainly hear about the Chavez government and what’s going on with that. We don’t really hear about the folks who are organizing from below, who advocate socialism from below. This book covers some of those folks, and it seems really awesome. The authors are pretty spot-on and extremely nice.

Yanahir was a fucking amazing speaker. She spoke in Spanish while Carlos translated for her. She asked us all questions about ourselves, our thoughts. She fucking ruled when she started talking about what the fuck the point of reproductive rights are when you can’t even afford them (BTW- abortion is illegal in Venezuela, as it is in most S. American countries). She brought a class-analysis to everything. She problematized rich feminists, while still acknowledging that they face gendered oppression, so I love her, of course. I hate when folks says things like “Who the fuck cares about rich women, or rich gay men or lesbians, etc…” We all face oppression on many fronts and I’m not about to start saying I don’t give a fuck about the sexism that rich women face, the violence they face. That doesn’t mean we can’t still center our analyses and struggles around the most marginalized women, of course. But thank god she said that. I love her.

Anyway, we talked a lot about union organizing, anarchist-specific organizations, as well as the tension organizers face when finding the need to be in support of their gov’t at times, but struggling against it at the same time. They call it “a movement within a movement.”

Yanahir also talked about the universities in Venezuela and how they’ve failed the people, for the most part. She said they don’t do much to help the people- to struggle against their oppressors.

After the talk we went out to a diner and had a fun time, talking, eating, laughing, etc… These folks were nice and they were funny and their politics seem solid.

Carlos will be at the San Fran Book Fair the 2nd weekend in March, and he’ll also be at the Left Forum in NYC at the end of March, if you want to try to catch up with him at either of those dealies.

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