For those Angelinos who missed the Oct. 28th Dia de los Muertos festivities at L.A.’s famous Hollywood Forever Cemetery, there’s always next year - but did you ever miss the greatest of all celebrations! This most glorious of all Day of the Dead observances here in L.A., where the photos accompanying this post were taken, was attended by upwards of ten thousand walking dead, with art and craft booths, troupes of folk and Aztec Dancers, art shows and hundreds of altars to the dearly departed - including a beautiful altar to Johnny, Joey, and Dee Dee of the Ramones! (Johnny is actually buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.)

“The indigenous cultures have always had celebrations to rejoin with all those who have departed from this world, usually around the autumn equinox. This is an opportunity to make the children aware of their past (self, familiar and communal.) In the Mexica tradition we elaborate altars, which display precious objects and dishes that have relationship with those being remembered. Children will, as expected, be puzzled about those objects and will ask, that is our chance to have them acquainted with their history; and prepared them for the difficulties ahead in order to have a good, long life though the stories about the live and death of their ancestors; all that in a joyful dancing and singing celebration about life and death. Danza Mexica Cuauhtemoc Mexica Dance Group, invites you, to celebrate Día de los Muertos at Parque de Mexico - corner of North Main y North Mission in Lincoln Heights (L. A.). Wednesday Nov 1st from 5:00 to 9:00 pm. Join us, build your own altar or bring an offering, picture etc.”

Danza Mexica Cuauhtemoc will be holding other ceremonies across Southern Califas, from Baldwin Park and Long Beach to the San Fernando Valley and Ventura county. Call (213) 481 8265 for more information.

Vicente Fox has ordered up to 4,000 or more heavily armed Mexican Federal Preventative Police (PFP) into Oaxaca. Dressed in riot gear and carrying heavy automatic weapons, the police are using armored cars with water canons, bulldozers, and brut force to push their way to the city center, where protestors vow to put up a massive resistance. With helicopters roaring overhead, PFP units wearing masks to hide their identities, are invading private residences and arresting protest leaders.

Oaxacans are calling on people around the world to protest the government violence in front of Mexican Embassies and Consulates at 6:00 pm on Monday, October 30th. Mexico’s Zapatistas have also issued a call for unity with the people of Oaxaca. Zapatista Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos called “to compañeros and compañeras in other countries to unite and to demand justice for this dead compañero.” Masked thugs working for the Mexican government murdered American William Bradley Roland and three Mexican nationals in an armed attack against the Oaxacan people’s movement - now the government of Vicente Fox is using that violence as an excuse to unleash even more violence against the people.

The family of Brad Will has released the following statement: “We are grieving over the tragic and senseless loss of Brad’s life. Brad’s friends and family admired his brave support for the downtrodden and willingness to act tirelessly upon his convictions. We believe he died doing what he loved. We will all miss Brad’s compassionate, loving and adventurous spirit, and it is our hope that his life’s work reporting on the human struggle will never be forgotten.”

In Los Angeles a Press Conference denouncing the murders of Will and his fellow activists will be held on Monday, October 30, 2006, 12:00 pm, in front of the Mexican Consulate (Park View & 6th Street, Los Angeles). A demonstration will also be held at the Consulate on, Thursday, November 2 from 10:00 AM to 9:00 pm. Stay up to date - don’t believe lies told by the corporate media.

Striking teachers, workers and indigenous activists in the historic Mexican city of Oaxaca have for months been involved in a campaign to oust the corrupt Governor of the state, Ulises Ruiz. (Oaxaca is the name of one of Mexico’s 32 states, and also that state’s capital city.) In Oaxaca Friday Oct. 27th, 2006, armed goons attacked a barricade erected by demonstrators across a road in the old city - they fired shots that took the lives of three men - one of which was an American journalist from New York’s Independent Media Center, William Bradley Roland (36). Another victim killed during the incident has been identified as a schoolteacher named Emililio Alofonzo Fabian. Videotape was shot of the attack and broadcast on Televisa, a large Mexican television network. The paramilitary gunmen who killed Will have since been identified by name, each having connections to Oaxaca’s ruling political party, the PRI.

The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Tony Garza, made the following statement: “It appears that Mr. Will was killed during a shoot out between what may have been local police, and protesters.” However, Will was an unarmed journalist whose only weapon was a camera. Fellow activists maintain they were also unarmed, and had only sticks and rocks to defend themselves. It is obvious looking at the video of the incident, that the so-called “police” the U.S. Ambassador refers to are nothing more than thugs.

Mexican President Vicente Fox has ordered troops into the area, a provocative move that is sure to bring more violence. The question is, now that an American citizen has been murdered by a death squad known to be made up of individuals connected to Mexican government forces, what will the U.S. State Department do?

Activists in the U.S. will be pressing the State Department to investigate Will’s murder, and to demand that his killers be brought to justice. Calls will also be made for solidarity with the Mexican movement for social justice, a cause that Will gave his life to while documenting events in Oaxaca. Read the full story about what’s going on in Oaxaca, at New York’s Independent Media Center.

By Roberto Rodriguez

By now, many people are familiar with various analyses that describe the common characteristics of fascism. One that has received much attention is Lawrence Britt’s 2004 article that lists fourteen defining characteristics of fascism. All the analyses are based primarily on examinations of 20th century fascist regimes and are meant as a warning regarding the Bush-Cheney administration.

Most of the analyses were written before the recent NY Times expose on warrantless spying and before the president acknowledged the existence of a secret CIA prison system abroad and before his recent signing of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as the “torture bill.” With its signing, however, critics now agree that the president’s grab for unchecked power – beyond his assertion of his right to permanent worldwide war – has plunged the nation onto this path, faster than “anyone could have ever anticipated.” Of course, his supporters think that broaching the topic is ridiculous, if not treasonous.

That said, there’s an applicable 15th characteristic: the demonization and criminalization of so-called illegal aliens. Before expounding upon this, a little bit about the other 14.

The others generally include: enforced patriotism, hyper nationalism, disdain for human rights, control of the mass media, the creation of laws designed to enrich corporations and exempt them from labor, health & environmental standards, rampant sexism, the promotion of religious fundamentalism, the creation of a fear-based society plus a fixation with national security and law & order and attempts at achieving worldwide military supremacy. Fascist regimes typically also have an inordinate disdain for intellectuals and the arts, are completely corrupt, including fraudulent elections and are obsessed with seeking out enemies and scapegoats.

In regards to the 15th characteristic, it is beyond the traditional fear of foreigners. The very category of “illegal aliens” is couched within a hyper legalistic environment of exclusion. Citizens belong, have rights and are protected under the Constitution. Non-citizens – in this case, illegal aliens – are treated as a subhuman population.

As societies become obsessed with national security, the issue of Who is a citizen? and, Who is a citizen in good standing? is debated. Invariably, “legal” aliens also begin to lose rights. In time, movements arise to further limit citizenship – such as the one to overturn the 14th amendment; that which guarantees birthright citizenship. All this translates into the fear and hate of brown people, which in this country also translates into primarily Mexicans and Central Americans. (These limitations already include the disenfranchisement of large sectors of the population, particularly prisoners or ex-prisoners of color).

This 15th characteristic is not particular to the United States as the fear of “brown hordes” is also nowadays a feature of many “democratic” European countries. Neither is it unique for politicians to whip up a frenzy, pitting people of color and/or the poor and even the middle class against the scourge of “illegal aliens.” An analysis of this nation’s periodic movements against Mexicans shows us that this hatred precedes 911. Yet, since that day of infamy, a bizarre conflation has taken place between “terrorism and “illegal aliens.” Since 911, Arabs and adherents of Islam have become America’s latest suspect population, nowadays unrepentantly and routinely subjected to “racial profiling.” In regards to Mexicans, they’re beyond 911 scapegoats; they have historically been viewed as unwanted,
suspect, illegitimate, illegal and nowadays, associated with terrorism, this, despite a zero association between the two. With 911 as a smokescreen, that rabid hatred has once again been unleashed and legitimized in the form of repressive legislation. They have also become political piñatas, particularly in this November’s elections.

Add to this the upsurge in Minutemen vigilantism, draconian immigration raids, further border militarization and all this has created a climate that condones treating brown peoples as enemies of the state.

Hyper-obsessed anti-immigrant scoundrel politicians – aided by the likes of CNN’s Lou Dobbs & comic Jay Leno — claim their motives are not racial, yet their dehumanizing and nightly jabs are directed not at all “illegal aliens,” just the brown ones – the ones purportedly coming in from Mexico. Proof is in the dragnet and discriminatory immigration raids and walls/fences that target Mexicans and the U.S./Mexico border. Ignored is the fact that almost half of all “illegal aliens” don’t sneak into the country, but overstay their visas… and that a workable solution can be arrived at without the vitriol. And then there’s the Official English movement. What precisely does having an official language have to do with “the rule of law” or fighting “terrorism?” Nada. Is it racially motivated? Simon que si. And incidentally, most of these anti-immigrants can be found on the website by the reputable Southern Poverty Law Center.

The irony in all this is the fact that the vast majority of so-called illegal aliens are actually indigenous peoples – part of thousands-of-years old cultures on this very continent. What is also a fact is that being treated as subhuman is how Indigenous peoples have been treated since Columbus arrived here more than 500 years ago.

As calls rise to throw the Republicans out of office let’s hope that we not simply replace them with other scoundrels. The objective should be to also overturn those dehumanizing policies – or those 15 characteristics — that now virtually define this nation.

(c) Column of the Americas

Rodriguez can be reached at XColumn@gmail.com

“You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time.”

So reads an intimidating letter sent in a mass mailing to an unknown number of Orange County Latinos. The mystery mailer, printed in Spanish and clearly meant to threaten, states that federal officers are keeping a searchable database that will allow the names of Latino voters to be turned over to anti-immigrant groups. The poison pen letters are obviously meant to affect elections for the 34th State Senate District, where Republicans have narrowed margins with the traditionally Democratic voting public. L.A.’s Democratic Senator, Gloria Romero, has asked California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson and state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer to investigate the mailings, and the U.S. Department of Justice has also been asked to investigate. [ Read more about this breaking story ]

The most significant archeological find in many decades has been made this month in Mexico City. Archeologists have unearthed in the capital a gigantic 12 ton stone slab at the site of the ancient Aztec Templo Mayor, and many think the monolith may in fact cover a burial chamber where artifacts of great importance will be found. The huge stone which has a surface area of 46 feet, has yet to be fully uncovered, but it seems to be a carved portrayal of the Aztec earth goddess, Tlaltecuhtli. Next to the buried slab, archeologists found a 15th century alter decorated with relief carvings of the rain god Tlaloc, as well as carvings of an unidentified deity related to plants and fertility. The alter and the monolithic stone are still being excavated at the time of this writing, but many experts are saying this find represents one of the greatest archeological discoveries in Mexican history.

In 1978, while installing underground cables beneath the streets of Mexico City near the capital’s spacious Zocalo and national cathedral, electricity workers found an immense stone disk carving of the Aztec moon goddess, Coyolxauhqui (She Who Wears Bells on Her Cheeks). Immediately archeologists knew they had found the actual remains of the Aztec’s Great Temple of Tenochtitlan - since it was already understood that the moon goddess stone lay at the bottom of that temple’s enormous staircase. It had long been thought that the Great Temple had been totally destroyed and the cathedral built directly over the buried ruins, but finding the 10 foot wide, 8 ton carving of Coyolxauhqui launched the excavations of the area that continue to this day.

In 1987 the Museo del Templo Mayor was established on the site of the Great Temple, and today it houses a magnificent collection of over 7,000 objects excavated from the immediate area. Arizona State University maintains an excellent website in English about the Templo Mayor museum, or you may choose to view the beautiful official website of the museum (Spanish only). Unfortunately, neither museum has updates on the latest finds written about here, but you can read the latest news about the Tlaltecuhtli monolith at the National Geographic website, or from a number of other news resources.

Miccailhuitontli - Spirit of the Children: In celebration of Día de los Niños, is a most unusual Day of the Dead art exhibit. An event rooted in the ancient histories and folk traditions of Mexico, Day of the Dead has become a popular occasion in the City of Los Angeles. In presenting the Spirit of the Children exhibit, Avenue 50 Studio reemphasizes the principal meaning behind the observance - that of a heartfelt commemoration and celebration of the dead. And to widen the appreciation of the custom, making it relevant and understood by all - Ave 50 internationalized the theme by focusing on the children of the world. Artists in the exhibit have created works that commemorate, celebrate and mourn children and youth from around the globe who have died an untimely death from preventable disease, gang violence, abuse, and the horrors of war.

Miccailhuitontli - Spirit of the Children continues through November 6, 2006, and features artists, Edith and Rob Abeyta, Roberto L. Delgado, Kathi Flood, Clement Hanami, David Andrés Kietzman, Betsy Lohrer Hall, Ricardo Munoz, John Paul Thornton, and Mark Vallen. Avenue 50 Studio is located at 131 North Avenue 50, in Highland Park, CA 90042. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday - Thursday 10 a.m. - 12 noon; Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. For more information, visit the gallery’s website, at: www.avenue50studio.com

Freddy Fender, the Chicano “Bebop Kid” from the Texas-Mexico border - passed away last Saturday at the age of 69. His stage name was taken from his favorite make of guitar, and his country twang made his music famous outside of Chicano circles. His smash hit, Before the Next Teardrop Falls, climbed to number one on the country and pop charts in 1975, making Fender’s music beloved by millions. He also had country music number one hits with his Secret Love and You’ll Lose a Good Thing. Born in 1937 as Baldemar Huerta, Fender was proud of his Mexican-American heritage, and he frequently sang verses - or entire songs - in Spanish. He won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album in 2002, and also appeared in Robert Redford’s 1987 movie, The Milagro Beanfield War.

In an interview with the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in August, Fender said, “I feel very comfortable in my life. I’m one year away from 70 and I’ve had a good run. I really believe I’m OK. In my mind and in my heart, I feel OK. I cannot complain that I haven’t lived long enough, but I’d like to live longer.” Freddie will continue to live through the music he left to us all. You can sign an online guestbook of condolences to the family of Freddie Fender, as well as read more about his life and passing.