Historically, the U.S. government has consistently and consciously through the force of its military and police arms as well as its more insidious covert forces utilized a strategy, at times viciously, without morals or principle, aimed at keeping us down. One of its most effective tactics has been one of "divide and conquer." The "powerless" masses have been kept powerless and made unaware of the power inherent in our very numbers. Fighting amongst ourselves for crumbs of pieces of the pie, we rarely attempt to address the enemy. When we effectively form the alliances necessary for our liberation (from the oppressive beast), in reality when we even attempt to provide the analysis making possible this union we face the repressive machinery of the beast. Why do the powers that be, namely the techno-industrialist, multi-national corporate capitalist power structure which backs the U.S. government…

Why do they find the potential alliance of communities of color involved in struggle so threatening?

Why do they prefer to kill us or imprison us rather than allow us to be free, rather than allow us our liberation?

Why?

Because the rulers who are scrambling to maintain their power today have amassed their power through the blood, the sweat, the tears, the death, the sacrifice, of our people. They continue to profit from the fruits of our sacrifice while there are those of us in our communities who remain without.

Why?

Because when we rise up and stand strong we throw them off our backs. True liberation for ourselves automatically, by its very nature, usurps them of the power that they have stolen from us.

Why?

Because the base of their power, the foundation of their empire stems from the theft of land and labor, and the concurrent attempted annihilation of the indigenous peoples and the enslavement of the African peoples. They have raped both land and liberty barring no tactic based upon its viciousness from their greed driven schemes. Their bloody depravity has found expression time and time again throughout the continuing history of their illegitimate rule. One has only to look at history to realize that they have stolen from us all. One has only to analyze the facts to realize that this unjust pattern of exploitation continues until this day.

Why is it so important for us to continue forging and strengthening these alliances?

Only through the inclusion of the poor and the downtrodden, the discarded, the overworked, the marginalized, those who have suffered the brunt of the beasts growing pains, can we build the new society that is not a mere repetition of the old, but one that is actually based on justice, freedom and democracy. Only through our renewed efforts to define our common struggle, to confront our common enemy can we get this beast off our backs.

And we are not alone in our struggle.

For many of us, as people of color struggling within the context of the U.S. and Canada, word of the Zapatista struggle was a new breath of hope for our tired wings. Sometimes it gets so hard to go on. It seems like the subtly fascist conglomerate powers of the U.S. are just too powerful, too devious, too cruel, for us to be able to oppose. It seems like the problems are too big, that its impossible to hope for the world we would want to live in. The Zapatista wind, the wind from below, sets ablaze, once again, the inner fire. In their righteous stance against oppression at its extreme they also hold at bay the forces of despair. Knowledge of the EZLN reminds us that we are not alone. There exists in the world an effectively organized community of people, wise in their vision of the world, committed in word and in deed to take the necessary steps to accomplish their objectives. We are not alone in our struggle. The blinding cloak of world domination gets pulled from our eyes. We can see again the light at the end of the tunnel. There is hope yet in the world. There is a vision to be achieved. The EZLN help to clarify both the destination and the road we must take to get there.

Lets try to be clear about our position. We have not forgotten that the conquistadors of the U.S. stole land and lives, culture and dignity. We have not forgotten that they who speak of "illegal" immigrants are in actuality the true illegal immigrants. They contradict themselves in the talk of borders, increasing military patrols on the border while they ratify NAFTA and CAFTA(NAFTA having been crafted by the lackeys of multi-national corporations). The conquistadors of the U.S. give military and economic aid to the conquistadors of Mexico while the native peoples of the continent still struggle for basic human rights. We cannot remain blind to the fact that racist national policies within the U.S. directly correlate with racist policies abroad. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by continuing forging alliances amongst our communities and extending those alliances internationally. Leonard Peltier has written in a statement or support for the EZLN, "Your blood is our blood. Your fight is our fight. Your victory is our victory."

It seems clear that Our Struggle is one and the same. The problems that we are forced to encounter are similar in many ways, and why shouldn't they be? They have in many ways annihilated the concept of borders in terms of their ability to extend their sphere of influence. Military and economic investments suffocate the people of Mexico with little means for the people to ensure their wise use. Every convoluted gyration as power centralizes and reconsolidates itself is accompanied by what amounts to war. Communities of color within the U.S. and Canadahave this in common with the EZLN communities in Chiapas. We have experienced theft of land and labor. The destruction of culture and the loss of language, results of their process of forced assimilation. We have a history of being denied access to economic and political power in our communities. Poverty is widespread in our communities, with inadequate education, healthcare and housing. In the United States many of our present day casualties of war are psychological. As victims of the psychological component of low-intensity warfare we have internalized their racist ideology - suffering a self-hatred which manifests itself in self-destructive behavior like alcoholism and spousal abuse. Our lives being difficult we get stuck using ineffective coping mechanisms, sucking us into a downward spiral which makes the chances of our liberation even more remote. Underemployment and unemployment push our youth into criminal activity and gangs justifying in the eyes of the media-manipulated population the increased militarization of our communities. While we ask for an educational system that will teach our youth they instead increase the number of police on the streets and build prisons. We live in occupied territories of war, internal colonies. When we speak the truth in a way that people can understand they have no qualms in crushing us or imprisoning us. Political prisoners are not a phenomena reserved to "third-world" countries.

The Zapatistas are an example that our communities can not afford to ignore.

They have much to teach us and they need OUR support.