Repression is the Massage

[All pictures taken from #1DMx2014]

Grab all those who are running, you asshole!

"We wanted to protect the people but the police forces encapsulated us too..."

This is not going to be easy, I know. Last time it was discouraging but not now, we're not scared anymore. On December 6th, there will be another march. And we will be there.

Yesterday, while I was waiting for the people from the Zócalo to gather around the Independence Angel, I sat down and spoke to some people around me. The first was a student that had some other people on the march at the Zócalo and was worried there were so little of us at the Ángel.

I was worried too, but then he left, his friend told him, they were almost arriving to where we were so he was going to meet up with them. Take care, he said. You too! I replied.

After a while, a man in black sat down. He had a fancy camera with him. I asked him who he was working for and if he wasn't scared of police beating him up, because from what I heard, I knew reporters have been used in the last marches to get the message across too. He said, it was his job but after 31 years working for Channel 11, he was sort of used to it. "After a while you grow immune to these kinds of things, it's not that you don't care, it's just you have to disconnect to get the job done". I told him about my brother and him being a surgeon so I kind of understood his remark. We heard crowds in the distance... "I think they're coming, sorry have to go..."

Soon the Ángel was filled. The Ayotzinapa parents started speaking. After this rally we were all supposed to leave for Los Pinos, which is the "official" house of the president. There were police forces placed at a spot that would prevent this from happening, so the Ayotzinapa parents decided NOT to tempt the president's corrupt forces of repression and keep the rally at the Ángel.

To my left I had three elder folks who had some signs with them. They were silent but merry. Along the rally, people were also selling food and drinks. Two of them ate some esquites (or loose corn in it's broth with lemon, salt, chili and sometimes mayonnaise) while the third person was munching on some chicharrón, with chili sauce.

To my right, two strangers, a woman who is a psychologist and a man around 60 who was involved in some activism in his past. He had four Starbucks wooden stirring straws on his hands. "This, applied with force towards an artery, can help you get away from being hurt..." The psychologist just nodded doubtfully and looked away. I just nodded.

Before Denisse Dresser spoke, which by the way was yelled at: "Dresser for president!" we all heard a huge noise behind us. My heart started beating faster. Some reporters ran towards the source of the sound. People awaited as the rally went on. I remembered about the phrase regarding how crowds don't think and started thinking about my possible way out.

We all knew there were police forces blocking the four roads out of the roundabout we were inscribed in. Was it better to stay and leave with the crowds as it got darker and more dangerous or leave earlier and venture through those "police forces" by myself? I stayed with the crowd of course.

Nothing happened to me but as I came back, I watched and read the repression news through the web. Marshall McLuhan came to mind as I read PINAC's slogan, Be the Media.

Let's keep the loop of abrasive encounters mediatized, hopefully taking the grievance and anger to the surface, in the quest of discovering who we Mexicans are and how can we use the power of the society in a peaceful way. Rather than becoming nostalgic victims, this is no news but within the pieced together bits of mobile media we are becoming the resistance message.