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2 Hour Special – Granito De Arena, and the Mexican OC

In the days leading up to the Mexican Presidential elections, tens of thousands of workers are planning a 24 hour strike on June 28th. The workers’ unions represent Mexican miners, university employees and telephone workers who are protesting alleged government interference in union affairs. Meanwhile striking teachers have closed schools in several Mexican states. Worst hit is the southern state of Oaxaca, where teachers are demanding pay rises and want the state governor to resign. According to Indymedia, the teachers had been camping in a tent city for 23 days when 3,000 state police, armed with riot shields and clubs tore apart the camp. Over the 6 hour police intervention, three people were reported to have been killed, two women and one child. Hundreds of thousands protested against the police brutality on June 16th. They were joined by people from San Salvador Atenco, the town brutalised by the Mexican paramilitary police last month.

You heard coverage of Atenco on Uprising and other KPFK programs. Today we focus on the struggles of teachers particularly in Oaxaca, through a new film by independent film maker Jill Freidberg called Granito De Arena.

For over 20 years, global economic forces have been dismantling public education in Mexico. The popular resistence by teachers and students has been brutally repressed by the police as has happened in the last few weeks. Granito de Arena is the story of the resistance of hundreds of thousands of public schoolteachers whose grassroots, non-violent movement took Mexico by surprise, and who have endured brutal repression in their 25-year struggle
for social and economic justice in Mexico’s public schools.

The Mexican OC

“The Mexican OC: Triumphs and Contributions of Orange County’s Mexican Communities” is an original play which recounts the history of the Mexican community in Orange County. Based on archival research and oral testimonies, “The Mexican OC” deals with subjects ranging from segregation to the so-called repatriation movement of the 1930’s. The play is directed and written by Sara Guerrero in collaboration with Heather Enriquez, Apolonio Morales, Cristina Nava and Elizabeth Sekeresh. We had featured this play on Uprising when it was showing at El Centro in Santa Ana. The OC Weekly noted the production as “One of the most significant plays in the History of Orange County Theater.” Today we bring back a radio adaptation of The Mexican OC.