Chicago Rebelde

Students at Northwestern University get a class on revolution

The Teaching Rebellion Tour rolled into my home base of Chicago on November 5th and spent four days talking with activists and organizers from across the city.   True to the diverse nature of Chicago, each of our events in the city were totally distinct.  On Weds. we were welcomed by the Gender Studies Department at Northwestern University for a well attended talk to students and faculty.  On Thursday we headed South to Pilsen, where we joined organizers from ChicagOtra, La Voz de Los de Abajo (a Honduras solidarity group) and Radios Populares, for a broad discussion on the use of popular media in community struggles across MesoAmerica.  We were also invited to speak at Maya Essence, a fair trade store and community center run by Casa Guatemala, where a spirited discussion lasted long into the night.  Continue below to read more about our time in Chicago:

An audience member considers the book.

In addition to the formal presentations, Gustavo gave a workshop on photography to an immigrant women’s support group at Centro Romero.  The women are continuing their own photography project over the next two weeks, documenting their work, families, and lives as immigrants with disposable cameras bought thanks to a grant from the Fire This Time Fund to ChicagOtra.

!Agaralo bien!

We also had a chance to talk to the program Worldview on Chicago Public Radio about the book, the struggle in Oaxaca, and the current detention of activists around the Brad Will case, and to reporter Kari Lydersen, who published this excellent story on the blog upside down world.

Jerome McDonnell in the flesh!

Don’t worry though, it wasn’t all work in Chicago. We also had a chance to relax and join our friends from the Chiapas Media Project as they celebrated 10 years of incredible indigenous media work in Mexico.