Upside Down World recently published this article/interview I conducted on the “Sustainable Rural Cities” of Chiapas, with photos by colleague Orin Langelle Friday, 13 May 2011 Chiapas, Mexico’s poorest state, with the country’s largest indigenous population, has always been extremely vulnerable to volatile climate events. High levels of hunger and marginalization are exacerbated almost annuallyContinue reading “Apartheid Housing Posed as Solution to Climate Vulnerability in Chiapas”
Author Archives: Jeff Conant
Hanoi Diary 2: Witness the Revolution; Welcome to the Machine
Hanoi, Vietnam, April 29 At the Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution, in Hanoi, you are encouraged to follow the course of Vietnamese history from the thirteenth century to the present. Every museum offers a particular narrative, a story that is in the interests of those who arranged the objects there. In some, the story mayContinue reading “Hanoi Diary 2: Witness the Revolution; Welcome to the Machine”
Hanoi Diary
I’ll be in Hanoi, Vietnam and then ChengMai, Thailand for the next ten days, with the International Accountability Project; and will attempt to keep some sort of, I believe you call it a blog, of my impressions and activities here. — jc April 28, Hanoi, Vietnam First impressions of a place are, insistently, always inContinue reading “Hanoi Diary”
‘Landmark’ Global Warming Bill Outsources Solutions, Putting the Burden on Poor Communities in California and Mexico
By Jeff Conant Cross-posted from Alternet Amador Hernández, Chiapas. Photo: Orin Langelle 4.21.2011 — California leads the United States in energy efficiency, and is often hailed as a global beacon of environmental protection; at the same time, it is the 12th largest emitter of carbon dioxide worldwide, making the state a significant driver of climateContinue reading “‘Landmark’ Global Warming Bill Outsources Solutions, Putting the Burden on Poor Communities in California and Mexico”
“If I go around selling someone else’s home out from under him, well, he’s going to get angry”
Santiago Martinez collecting medicinal plants Photo; Jeff Conant An Interview with Santiago Martinez of Amador Hernández, Chiapas Santiago Martinez is a community health worker from the village of Amador Hernández in the Lacandon jungle of Chiapas, Mexico. Amador Hernández, a village of about 1500 people, sits at the biological center of the Montes Azules BiosphereContinue reading ““If I go around selling someone else’s home out from under him, well, he’s going to get angry””
But That It Robs You of Who You Are
– after Kabir But that it robs you of who you are, What can be said about money? Inconceivable, life without it And dismal to live for, Money lessens you. Pay a wealthy man, there is Much to gain; pay a poor one, All you get is Thanks. Kick at aContinue reading “But That It Robs You of Who You Are”
Declaration of Patihuitz: Divided We Become Allies of the Government
Members of Global Justice Ecology Project traveled in late March to Chiapas, Mexico, to investigate the emerging local impacts of the REDD+ Program (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), and specifically the REDD Agreement signed between Chiapas and California. What we found was an astonishingly complex web of economic development projects being imposed onContinue reading “Declaration of Patihuitz: Divided We Become Allies of the Government”
GENERAL STRIKE! Another great poster by my friend, movement artist and man-about-town, Eric Drooker.
John Ross: Nor Hanged Nor Shot Nor Burned Alive
John Ross, 1938-2011, was a journalist, poet, elder statesman and first rate maverick. His memorial ceremony in San Francisco was a celebration of art and resistance. For the event, I wrote this poem, and read it amidst the madness for John on February 26 of this year, at Cafe La Boheme, a Mission District landmark.Continue reading “John Ross: Nor Hanged Nor Shot Nor Burned Alive”
Massive UN-Supported African Palm Plantations Leading to Oppression, Kidnapping and Murder
http://www.alternet.org/story/149778/ Since the 2009 coup that overthrew the government of President Manuel Zelaya in Honduras, the countryside of the lower Aguan Valley, a long embattled region and one of Central America’s richest agricultural areas, has undergone a brutal rash of kidnappings, murders, detentions and intimidation. The region has been long marked by conflicts over landContinue reading “Massive UN-Supported African Palm Plantations Leading to Oppression, Kidnapping and Murder”