sin fronteras
I am back home from the No Borders Camp. And I am frying pancakes.
I love breakfast.
The camp was a pretty incredible experience and I'm very happy that it happened and that I went. The camp officially began on the 5th and lasted until the 11th. It started with a march on both sides of the 15 foot high metal wall that separates Calexico and Mexicali. We walked about three miles to where the wall ends and a canal lined with massive lights begins. The wall reminded me very much of another wall that I have seen--the wall that Israel is building in the West Bank.
A small metal gate, resembling a cattle gate, blocked the area between the wall and the canal. Border Patrol agents lined that area and the road that runs mostly parallel to the wall. We were very uncertain if the Border Patrol was going to attempt to arrest or disperse us or if we would be able to establish the camp. We moved quickly and set up and soon the camp was up and going. The Border Patrol erected large, portable stadium lighting that was used to illuminate the camp through the nights, so that they could monitor us, I guess.
We couldn't see the camp on the other side because of the wall. After awhile, it was overheard that the Border Patrol was considering using chemical weapons to disperse the camp on the Mexican side of the border. For this reason and because there was a request from the Mexican side for more people to help balance out the numbers (there were more campers on the U.S. side of the border), several people crossed the border and joined the Mexicali side of the camp.
I crossed over the cattle gate late in the afternoon. The space was similar to the other side--a big swath of bulldozed land marking the border. The camp had a kitchen and latrines set up and I spent much of the evening around a small campfire.
Once I crossed the border, I stayed on the Mexicali side. The first morning after crossing, we moved up to where the cattle gate and all the Border Patrol was at. We succeeded in having a single breakfast, served from the cattle gate to both sides of the border. This was a big step in uniting the camps into a single camp, which was one of the goals of the week. We moved our tents and equipment up to this space and were able to have eye and voice contact with the Calexico side. When the breakfast had happened that morning, the Border Patrol sent in a squad of riot police complete with pepperspray pellet guns and all their paraphernalia. The riot police came into the camp on the Mexican side and things got pretty tense but they ended up pulling back and we proceeded with the day.
I won't get into a lot of details about the camp--it would just take up so much space. There were lots of meetings (the camp was set up and operated through consensus process), various actions, workshops, and presentations throughout the week. I learned a lot about a variety of things. This definitely includes issues concerning the border, immigration, and global capitalism's exploitation of resources, people, and labor. I also learned more about trying to operate in a setting that is consensus based. I have been in some situations before that were similar to this but, since it is not how we as a larger culture operate, it is always a huge learning experience. While of course not every single aspect of the camp happened perfectly, the food got cooked, the dishes washed, the toilets built and kept up, the compost pit dug and the compost emptied, and so on. And art was made, presentations given, actions taken, and friendships made.
I am on the last pancake so I better wrap this up so I can eat some breakfast.
I learned about maquiladoras--sweatshops. There is a whole district of them in Mexicali. I met people on the other side of this border and learned a bit about what the border means to them. The brutality of the Border Patrol was displayed when, on the last day of the camp, we had a march back to the port of entry. The Border Patrol, la migra, attacked the marchers on the U.S. side. People were shot with pepperspray pellets, clubbed with batons, and beaten by the Border Patrol. One person I know was kicked in the head. While this violence was disgusting it is no where on par with the violence and hardship that Latina/o people trying to cross the border experience all the time.
I was on the Mexican side of the border when this happened. Many of us mistakenly assumed that if there would be violent repression it would come from the Mexican police. I see now that this was based on stereotypical assumptions. We could only shout and yell as we watched the Border Patrol attack the other side of the march. As the Border Patrol were chasing people through the streets of Calexico, we tried to draw them away by going into the road of the port of entry. I'm unsure if this had much effect.
The pancakes are done. And I am hungry. I will try to write a bit more about the sweatshops and maybe some of the other things. For now, though, I wanted to write down just a bit about the camp and what happened. Hopefully the above gives you a bit of an idea.
I love breakfast.
The camp was a pretty incredible experience and I'm very happy that it happened and that I went. The camp officially began on the 5th and lasted until the 11th. It started with a march on both sides of the 15 foot high metal wall that separates Calexico and Mexicali. We walked about three miles to where the wall ends and a canal lined with massive lights begins. The wall reminded me very much of another wall that I have seen--the wall that Israel is building in the West Bank.
A small metal gate, resembling a cattle gate, blocked the area between the wall and the canal. Border Patrol agents lined that area and the road that runs mostly parallel to the wall. We were very uncertain if the Border Patrol was going to attempt to arrest or disperse us or if we would be able to establish the camp. We moved quickly and set up and soon the camp was up and going. The Border Patrol erected large, portable stadium lighting that was used to illuminate the camp through the nights, so that they could monitor us, I guess.
We couldn't see the camp on the other side because of the wall. After awhile, it was overheard that the Border Patrol was considering using chemical weapons to disperse the camp on the Mexican side of the border. For this reason and because there was a request from the Mexican side for more people to help balance out the numbers (there were more campers on the U.S. side of the border), several people crossed the border and joined the Mexicali side of the camp.
I crossed over the cattle gate late in the afternoon. The space was similar to the other side--a big swath of bulldozed land marking the border. The camp had a kitchen and latrines set up and I spent much of the evening around a small campfire.
Once I crossed the border, I stayed on the Mexicali side. The first morning after crossing, we moved up to where the cattle gate and all the Border Patrol was at. We succeeded in having a single breakfast, served from the cattle gate to both sides of the border. This was a big step in uniting the camps into a single camp, which was one of the goals of the week. We moved our tents and equipment up to this space and were able to have eye and voice contact with the Calexico side. When the breakfast had happened that morning, the Border Patrol sent in a squad of riot police complete with pepperspray pellet guns and all their paraphernalia. The riot police came into the camp on the Mexican side and things got pretty tense but they ended up pulling back and we proceeded with the day.
I won't get into a lot of details about the camp--it would just take up so much space. There were lots of meetings (the camp was set up and operated through consensus process), various actions, workshops, and presentations throughout the week. I learned a lot about a variety of things. This definitely includes issues concerning the border, immigration, and global capitalism's exploitation of resources, people, and labor. I also learned more about trying to operate in a setting that is consensus based. I have been in some situations before that were similar to this but, since it is not how we as a larger culture operate, it is always a huge learning experience. While of course not every single aspect of the camp happened perfectly, the food got cooked, the dishes washed, the toilets built and kept up, the compost pit dug and the compost emptied, and so on. And art was made, presentations given, actions taken, and friendships made.
I am on the last pancake so I better wrap this up so I can eat some breakfast.
I learned about maquiladoras--sweatshops. There is a whole district of them in Mexicali. I met people on the other side of this border and learned a bit about what the border means to them. The brutality of the Border Patrol was displayed when, on the last day of the camp, we had a march back to the port of entry. The Border Patrol, la migra, attacked the marchers on the U.S. side. People were shot with pepperspray pellets, clubbed with batons, and beaten by the Border Patrol. One person I know was kicked in the head. While this violence was disgusting it is no where on par with the violence and hardship that Latina/o people trying to cross the border experience all the time.
I was on the Mexican side of the border when this happened. Many of us mistakenly assumed that if there would be violent repression it would come from the Mexican police. I see now that this was based on stereotypical assumptions. We could only shout and yell as we watched the Border Patrol attack the other side of the march. As the Border Patrol were chasing people through the streets of Calexico, we tried to draw them away by going into the road of the port of entry. I'm unsure if this had much effect.
The pancakes are done. And I am hungry. I will try to write a bit more about the sweatshops and maybe some of the other things. For now, though, I wanted to write down just a bit about the camp and what happened. Hopefully the above gives you a bit of an idea.
posted by matt iv at 8:39 AM
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