Stories from the 2006 Oaxaca Teaching Rebellion

From Kim Schmidl-Gagne, Academic Affairs: Silvia Hernandez and Chris Thomas, teachers from Oaxaca, Mexico, will visit KSC to share stories of teachers organizing to build a powerful movement for democracy and accountability. They will be speaking in the Student Center’s Madison Street Lounge on Friday, November 7, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. (The film Granito de Arena will be shown following the event.)

Hernandez and Thomas wrote Teaching Rebellion: Stories from the Grassroots Mobilization in Oaxaca, a book of firsthand testimonies regarding the 2006 events in Oaxaca, Mexico. What began as a teacher’s strike demanding more resources for education quickly turned into a massive movement that demanded participatory democracy beyond the ballot box.

Silvia Hernandez is a sociology student who was active in the takeover and management of state media in Oaxaca during the social movement in 2006. She continues to work for alternatives to neoliberal development in southern Mexico. Chris Thomas spent two years collaborating with the autonomous school system in Zapatista communities in Chiapas. Learn more about this speaking tour at http://teachingrebellion.wordpress.com/.