Northeastern Illinois University hosted a special conference from March 9 to the 12. “The Past and Future(s) of Revolutions: A Global Exploration” heavily focused on the Nicaraguan and Iranian revolutions, celebrating the 30th anniversary of their revolutions. Other themes included the EZLN revolution in Chiapas, Mexico, Marxism’s history, and the Cuban revolution, among other subjects. A series of movies were also presented throughout the conference. The titles included “John Adams”, “A Place Called Chiapas”, “Lucia”, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, and others.
On March 9, Cyndi Moran presented the movie “A Place Called Chiapas” which focused on the struggles of the EZLN revolutionary movement in the Mexican state of Chiapas. The film was produced by an independent Canadian production group, Canada Wild Production. The crew spent over seven months in Chiapas filming. The filming crew heavily concentrated on the residents of the village of La Realidad who were forced to leave the town because they supported the Zapatista movement. The narrator made an emphasis to stress that these individuals were unarmed and simply wanted their ejidos back. The ejidos was land that was promised to peasants by the Mexican constitution. This land was taken away as a result of the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
The film crew interviewed many of these villagers and many of them claimed that they left their villages out of pure fear. The film showed the local men in La Realidad forming their own small militia for the purpose of defending themselves and their village from, what they claimed, the unpredictable Zapatista supporters. This militia, who was responsible for many unjust beatings and deaths, ironically called themselves “Peace and Justice”. This militia also blocked and forbade the Zapatista supporters from returning to their villagers. As the narrator explained, “They have become refugees in their own country.”
“A Place Called Chiapas” ended with the Zapatista supporters moving back to La Realidad after they negotiated with “Peace and Justice” and the Chiapas State Police. The Zapatista supporters were basically tired of waiting for the EZLN to protect them. When the supporters returned to La Realidad the film crew was attacked by rocks that were hurled by “Peace and Justice” members. The same militia also did not answer directly when they were asked if they were going to let the refugees live in peace. The crew asked the viewers to think critically about the injustices La Realidad’s refugees were experiencing and how they were being unjustly attacked by a group who supposedly claimed to be carriers of freedom and righteousness.
Besides screening a number of films, the Revolutions conference also held several panels and discussion workshops. The panel “A New Route: Autonomy–EZLN of Mexico/Santa Anita Peace Community of Guatemala” mentioned the importance of social revolution in countries that have suffered years of upheavals and violence as a result of governments catering to businesses instead of public needs. A short clip of a Guatemalan farmer emphasized the significance of having his own business that did not involve large capitalist interests. The clip also stressed the importance of education and how parents just want to leave their youth with something, anything to help them move on in life. The panelists informed the attendees that through a government that would allow real representation of the people in Guatemala, more than 2% (which is the current percentage of Guatemalan teenagers that attend high school) of the Guatemalan population would have the opportunity to develop their educational skills.
The workshop “Teaching Reform, Resistance and Revolution in Higher Education” educated the attendees on the steps and struggles of teaching reform, resistance and revolution in the classroom. Two NEIU professors shared their experiences in teaching these subjects to their classes. June Terpstra lectured on how to successfully reach a sense of resistance. Terpstra claimed that resistance meant “clamping down your teeth with no intention of letting go.” She also mentioned that in order to reach full resistance one must know the history of the invader, the oppressed, and the occupied.
Brett Stockdill, another NEIU professor, spoke about activism at the local level. He mentioned the free speech impediment NEIU has attempted to force upon its students to support his point. He also drew connections between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with the oppression of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Lastly, editor John K. Wilson shared his knowledge on activism and its effects on higher education. He explained how some individuals argue that professors should not teach political activism in class. These individuals claim that professors that do teach activism in class teach it in a biased form, ultimately resulting in skewed opinions.