Review of Occupying Wall Street: The Inside Story of an Action that Changed America

According to the book blurb “Occupying Wall Street draws on extensive interviews with those who took part in the action to bring an authentic, inside-the-square history to life. In these pages you will discover in rich detail how the protest was devised and planned, how its daily needs were met, and how it won overwhelming support across the nation.” – which I think is funny as OWS certainly did not win overwhelming support across the nation. Did it eventually attract media interest after a number of events designed to get attention – like the fake news about Radiohead performing? Yes certainly, but there was never any great support for a new revolutionary lead by communists, anarcho-crust-punks, disaffected professors who felt the world ought to listen to their unique contributions to understanding the world and narcissistic artists and poets.

The book isn’t terribly written, though the Biblical saying here about the need to remove the beam in one’s eye before casting out the splinter in one’s brother is appropriate.

The absurdity of the premise – a call for a leaderless politics of revolution without demands, which is an open invitation for subverstion – is never questioned in opposition to simply becoming more active in the existent political project. That was my response when I was first approached by a New School student several months before the Occupation of Zuccotti Park.  I’m pretty sure my response was, “If I wanted to go camping, it’d be in the woods and if I wanted to change politics, I’d get involved in elections and policy-making.”

There are multiple admissions that the anti-capitalist seed society that the occupation camps was meant to be were riddled with problems such as theft, assault, inability to organize hygene and food and the organization being completely dependent on donations and grants to function as no one there was employed in any sort of productive activity. The encampment attracted people with mental disorders that non-professional volunteers tried to assist, but couldn’t, etc..

I’ll not keep heaping contempt on these people so deserving of it but instead share the names I’ve been collecting from OWS literature to determine if they were involved with the World Social Forum or it’s offshoots.

Occupiers 

Amy Roberts
Marina Sitrin – Professor at City University of New York
Matt Presto
Justin Wedes
Brennan Cavanaugh
Mandy
Imani J Brown – Open Society Foundation
Christy Thorton – NYU graduate student
Anthony Whitehurst – Med Mob
Charlie Gonzalez – Consciousness Group
Michael Rodriguez
Brendan Butler
Fateh Singh
Lisa Montanarelli
Adreanna Limbach
John Paul Learn
Rebeka Beiber
Pauly Kostora
Breanna Lembitz
Ed Mortimer
Frank White
Lily Johnson
Miriam Rocek
Jesse Jackson
Maria Fehling
Mesiah Bruciaga-Hameed
Betsy Fagin
Maida Rosenstein
Benjamin Shepard
Amina Malika
Kat Mahaney
Alex Gomez-del-Moral
Daniel Levine
William Scott – Professor of English at the University of Pittsburg
Jason Ide
Ilektra Mandragou
Rivka Little
Jez
Reg Flowers – theatre artist
Imani
Boris Nemch
Alessandra De Meo
Nani Mathews
Leo Goldberg
Kara Segal
Dan La Botz
Tara Hart
Jesse LaGreca
Natasha Lennard
Caitlin Curran
Kirby Desmarais
Hermes – from Mobile, Alabama
Bill Scott
Josh Frens-String – NYU Historian
Julian Tysh
Betsy Fagin
Mandy Henk
Zachary Loeb
Daniel Levine
Heather Squire
Emily Curtis-Murphy
Erin Littlestar
Many Henk – from Greencastle, Indiana
William Scott
Angela Davis
Janos Marton
Mark Bray
Jason Ahmadi
DiceyTroop – from Foxboro, Massachusetts

Foreigners
Senia Barragan – Colombian
Patricia – A Chilean woman
Alexandre de Carbalho – A Brazilian from Rio de Janiero
Jaco – from Toronto

Groups
National Lawyers Guild
Occupy the Hood
Occupy 477
Movement for Justice in El Barrio
Audre Lorde Project
Poetry Guild

181st St Community Garden
beautificationproject.blogspot.com
212-543-9017
880 West 181st Street, #4B
New York, NY 10033

Ali Forney Center
www.aliforneycenter.org
212-222-3427
224 W. 35th St. Suite 1102
New York, NY 10001

ALIGN – the Alliance for a Greater New York
alignny.org
contact@alignny.org
212-631-0886
50 Broadway, 29th Floor, New York, NY 10004

ANSWER Coalition
answercoalition.org
nyc@internationalanswer.org
212-694-8720
2295 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd., New York, NY 10030

Asian American Arts Centre
http://www.artspiral.org/

CAAAV
caav.org

Campaign to End the Death Penalty
www.nodeathpenalty.org

Campaign to End the New Jim Crow
endnewjimcrow.com

Center for Immigrant Families
212-531-3011
20 W 104th St
New York, NY 10025

Coalition for the Homeless
coalitionforthehomeless.org
info@cfthomeless.org
212-776-2000
129 Fulton Street, New York, NY 10038

Code Pink
codepinkalert.org
info@codepinkalert.org
310-827-4320

Community Voices Heard
cvhaction.org

Families for Freedom
familiesforfreedom.org
info@familiesforfreedom.org
3 West 29th St, #1030, New York, NY 10001
646 290 5551

FIERCE
www.fiercenyc.org
147 West 24th Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10011
646-336-6789

Fort Greene SNAP
fortgreenesnap.org

FUREE
furee.org
718-852-2960
81 Willoughby Street, 701, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Green Chimneys
www.greenchimneys.org
718-732-1501
79 Alexander Ave – 42A, Bronx, NY 10454

GOLES
info@goles.org
169 Avenue B, New York, NY 10009
212-358-1231”

Guide to New York City Women’s and Social Justice Organizations
bcrw.barnard.edu/guide

Immigrant Movement International
immigrant-movement.us
united@immigrant-movement.us
108-59 Roosevelt Avenue, Queens, NY 11368 USA

Industrial Workers of the World
iww.org/en
wobblycity.wordpress.com

International Socialist Organization
internationalsocialist.org
contact@internationalsocialist.org
773-583-5069
ISO National Office P.O. Box 16085 Chicago, IL 60616

Iraq Veterans Against the War
www.ivaw.org/new-york-city
646-723-0989
P.O. Box 3565 New York, NY 10008-3565

La Union
la-union.org
Labor community forum
laborcommunityforum@gmail.com

Make the Road
maketheroadny.org
Bushwick, Brooklyn: 301 Grove Street Brooklyn, New York 11237
718-418-7690
Jackson Heights, Queens: 92-10 Roosevelt Avenue,
Jackson Heights, New York 11372
718-565-8500
Port Richmond, Staten Island:479 Port Richmond Avenue,
Staten Island, New York 10302
718-727-1222

Malcom X Grassroots Movement
mxgm.org
718-254-8800
PO BOX 471711 Brooklyn, NY 11247”

Marriage Equality NY (MENY)
www.meny.us

Mirabal Sisters Community and Cultural Center
Mirabalcenter.org
info@mirabalcenter.org
212-234-3002

National Lawyers Guild
www.nlg.org
nlgnyc.org
212-679-5100
132 Nassau Street, Rm. 922, New York, NY 10038

New York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCORE)
nycore.org

New York Students Rising
nystudentsrising.org

NMASS
nmass.org
nmass@nmass.org

No Gas Pipeline
nogaspipeline.org
nogaspipeline@gmail.com
235 3rd Street, Jersey City, NJ 07302

Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition
northwestbronx.org
718-584-0515
103 East 196th Street Bronx, NY 10468

NYU4OWS
nyu4ows.tumblr.com

Occupy the DOE
nycore.org/occupy-the-doe/

Occupy Equality NY
www.facebook.com/groups/OccupyEqualityNY/

Occupy Wall Street
www.occupywallst.org/
General Inquiries: general@occupywallst.org
+1 (516) 708-4777

Organizing for Occupation
www.o4onyc.org

Parent Occupy Wall St
parents@everythingindependent.com

Parents for Occupy Wall Street
parentsforoccupywallst.com

Picture the Homeless
picturethehomeless.org
info@picturethehomeless.org

Queer Rising
QueerRising.org
queerrising@gmail.com
917-520-8554

Queerocracy
www.queerocracy.org
contact@queerocracy.org

Shut Down Indian Point Now
shutdownindianpointnow.org

Speak Up HP
speakuphp.org
info@speakuphp.org

Strong Economy for All Coalition
strongforall.org/coalition

Students United for a Free CUNY
studentsunitedforafreecuny.wordpress.com

 

I haven’t yet started cross-referencing all of the people listed above, but as  Imani J. Brown has a uniqiue name I looked her up. There I found that she is not just an Occupier, but also a Open Society Foundations fellow and that the Arts Incubator called Antenna that she is the Director of – which looks super cool and has some interesting community events – also works with other Open Society Fellows, like Dread Scott. Below is a clip from his community-engaged performance art project titled Slave Rebellion Reenactment, reinterpreting Louisiana’s German Coast Uprising of 1811—the largest rebellion of enslaved people in U.S. history.

 

 

Now Available for Purchase: Guerrilla Girls Like FARC Poetry

Guerrilla Girls 👍🏽 FARC Poetry is a collection of poems by one of the leaders of the FARC, Jesús Santrich.

The second narco-trafficker ever to become a member of Congress in Colombia – the other being Pablo Escobar – this is the first ever English-edition of his creative works ever published.

Reading this will give you insight into Santrich’s love for guerilla women, revolutionary men, deep appreciation nature, and how he views his relation to the struggle for a Utopian new world.

While both claim to be incolved in the cocaine trade, it goes without saying that given his infamy and that you can find his photos on INTERPOL Red Notices that Santrich keeps it way more real than 2 Chainz..

Go to Amazon.com now to buy and read one of the truly dopest poets out there!

English Translation of Jesus Santrich’s poem Nicholas Maduro Moros

Nicholas Maduro Moros

From the website Insurgente.

In the land of Simon
I’ve known someone valiant
Whose strength is in the People
That continues with passion
Because in his heart
Lives the fire of love
Firmness and courage
Of a true patriot:
He’s a mature guerrilla,
Of the Liberating Father.
What a great man Nicholas is,
Worthy heir of Chavez
Who I know you already know
Is someone that fights for Peace
Fighting as the most
Putting people together and dancing
With the verb whipping
To the empire and the footman;
He is thunder and he is lightning
Bolivar riding.
Be inspired and your mind flies
When you look at the distance
That the brotherhood and the alliance
from Colombia and Venezuela
they become the wake
luminous star
that marks the footprint
of the continental union
against the imperial eagle
That besieges its beautiful cause.
Convictions and loyalty
Nicolás Maduro Moros
Guards of treasures
Coupled with kindness
Of the purest humility
What is the solidarity garden
Where the libertarian song
The poor are empowered
like the fire of insurgency
And revolutionary love
Dreamy Caraqueño
Citizen President
With you always present
There’s the colonel of honor
that by making the pain yours
Of the poor subjugated
It gives you its winged dreams;
Shouts the People is not deceived
And the Barracks of the Mountains
Wakes up the indignant.

Nicolás Maduro Moros

En la tierra de Simón
He sabido de un valiente
Cuya fuerza está en la gente
Que lo sigue con pasión
Porque ve en su corazón
Vivo el fuego del amor
La firmeza y el valor
Del patriota verdadero:
Es Maduro guerrillero,
Del Padre Libertador.
Qué gran hombre es Nicolás,
Digno heredero de Chávez
De quien sé que tú ya sabes
Que en su lucha por la Paz
Guerrea como el que más
Juntando pueblo y bailando
Con el verbo fustigando
Al imperio y al lacayo;
Él es trueno y es el rayo
De Bolívar cabalgando.
Se inspira y su mente vuela
Cuando mira en lontananza
Que la hermandad y la alianza
de Colombia y Venezuela
se convierten en la estela
luminosa de la estrella
que va marcando la huella
de la unión continental
contra el águila imperial
que asedia su causa bella.
Convicciones y lealtad
Nicolás Maduro Moros
Resguarda como tesoros
Sumados a la bondad
De su más pura humildad
Que es el huerto solidario
Donde el canto libertario
De los pobres se potencia
como fuego de insurgencia
Y amor revolucionario
Caraqueño soñador
Ciudadano presidente
Junto a ti siempre presente
Está el coronel de honor
que al hacer suyo el dolor
De los pobres sojuzgados
Te da sus sueños alados;
Grita un pueblo no se engaña
Y el Cuartel de la Montaña
Despierta a los indignados.

English Translation of Jesus Santrich’s poem The Combatant Word

Original Book of Spanish Guerrilla Poetry

THE COMBAT WORD

To the strong voices and feelings of the rebel poets of Our America

Breaking a fence of silence
driveway his guerrilla boots
made of bold combative verbs
The word of the people revolts:
a squad
of gallant nouns
take the forefront
breaking through
with his rifle of steely metaphors
that shoot simple verses:
dejected, a trumpet of lies falls
but when the dust ceases
of appearances
I stay
after the first wild skirmish
a command of substantive farce
with the sad feature
of infamy
creeps forward
guiding slander
looking to kill the rhyme
of the poetic rumble
of the full attack;
but with vigor the morphemes
rearrange positions
and as a free verse
which raffles rhythmic schemes
ramming again
with your images
and phonic cadences
that take advantage
“one night,
a night full of perfumes, murmurs and
wings music”
They are airy.

Some camouflaged tricks
that are unharmed
they stub along the flank
that cover the white verses that although attentive
musitan
«So loving I delight, and I find
that this delight of mine is not madness … »
while they open fire
against the enemy
which at the same time falls
in the deadly vines
of concepts that release
disguised as riddles.

When everything seems resolved
mounted on infamy
gallop the insult
is driving afrentas
in a jargon order
of traitors
The gerunds watering
with the ambushed participles
they ride a mine
of precise accents
prosodic and orthographic
coordinating with structures
of dissimilar speeches
and epic verba harangues …;
sinalefas
diphthongs and triptongs
fedayines hiatus
accompany the assault
of the fierce composition
admirable glossary
No typos.

Between vowels and consonants
armored with meaning
from the prayer of hardened predicate
how pronoun is the decorum
in abstract
clandestine
strengthening the trench
what is a love poem
for men
From where
words appear
by Miguel Hernández
“Village wind” turns;
and screaming …
Screaming
too
are the voices of Alberti
with the face of elegy:
“With my shoes on, I have to die!”

With hyperbolic discharge,
so
busting the ambush head
with own phrases
of the “General Song”
and of the Artelians
“Poems with boots and flags”,
topping off the deed
with the jubilant thrombus
of the incandescent paisa verbiage of Herrera Torres,
Fernando Rendón,
and Gabriel Jaime.

And after a point and apart
an isolated monema justice
wounded in his semantics
seeks refuge in his lexical family
to restart
as an appreciative derivation:
between affixes
prefixes
and suffixes
look for accommodations
and comes out turned into a canyon
that shoots categories
… and when the question asks:
what to do?
the voice of experience
he opens up adverbs and says: certainly
now or never
all or nothing
over there
towards utopia;
but a clique
of dangerous epithets
still stalks
half hidden in parentheses
raised high
of a catilinaria
made of phrases in the form of sophistry
but the artillery legion
of personal pronouns
that accompany the diction
simplest language
popular on offensive
dress in addition
with Indian dialects
natural
healed of all banality
wielding by spears
arguments of the Araucana epic
animated by onomatopoeic voices
of bantu drums
they pounce quickly
getting along
of the single short pauses of the commas
taking an exclamatory impulse
of incredible walking
that crushes
the false statement
almost definitively.

A semicolon
that appears
with a small portion
additional rest
help prepare the ground
to launch a necessary pleonasm
which carries the repetition of the truth by explosive charge
reinforced now yes
with essential particles
of rhetoric
in which the polysyndeton cousin
in explosive mixture
with other tropes
reiterating the determination
rebel of the word.

A bit restless adversary paradoxes
they try to confuse the reasoning expressed
in the thesis posed by the rebellion
of each verb uttered with the voice of a people;
but
the antithetical judgments
counterattack
putting into play
an oxymoron
whose eloquent silence
presage
that what is announced
it’s the onslaught
of a conclusive axiom.

So,
not counting euphemisms
no bitches
because war is to death
a synesthetic atmosphere
of sound solitude
by the echoes
that still leave the epithets
fleeing
and the mockery of irony
satires and other concepts
that make together with calambures and paragoges
to represent parody
of the “heroism” they defecate
in each artifice lies
and with an unmistakable ilocutionary force
of all language families
the words arrived
of old and new towns
flowing in semantics
sense of justice and freedom.
The People’s axiom concludes
no end point
that if the goal is utopia
make the impossible possible
it is the imperative
what makes history
where the logic
is the People
in pursuit of freedom …

 

La Palabra Combatiente

(Spanish Origina)

A las aguerridas voces y sentimientos de los poetas rebeldes de Nuestra América

Rompiendo un cerco de silencio
calzadas sus botas guerrilleras
hechas de audaces verbos combativos
la palabra del pueblo se subleva:
un escuadrón
de gallardos sustantivos
toma la vanguardia
abriéndose paso
con su fusilería de aceradas metáforas
que disparan versos sencillos:
abatida, una tromba de mentiras cae
pero al cesar la polvareda
de apariencias
que quedó
tras la primera brava escaramuza
un comando de farsas sustantivadas
con la triste característica
de la infamia
avanza rastrero
guiando calumnias
que buscan matar la rima
del poético estruendo
del ataque pleno;
pero con brío los morfemas
reacomodan posiciones
y como libre verso
que sortea los esquemas rítmicos
embistiendo de nuevo
con sus imágenes
y cadencias fónicas
que aprovechan
«una noche,
una noche toda llena de perfumes, de murmullos y de
música de alas»
salen airosos.

Algunos embustes camuflados
que resultan ilesos
porfían avanzando por el flanco
que cubren los versos blancos que aunque atentos
musitan
«así que amando me deleito, y hallo
que no es locura este deleite mío…»
mientras abren fuego
contra el enemigo
que al mismo tiempo cae
en las enredaderas mortales
de conceptos que liberan
disfrazados de acertijos.

Cuando todo parece resuelto
montada sobre la infamia
a galope la injuria
viene conduciendo afrentas
en un orden de jerga
de traidores.
Los gerundios aguaitando
con los participios emboscados
montan un minado
de acentos precisos
prosódicos y ortográficos
coordinando con estructuras
de disímiles discursos
y arengas de épica verba…;
sinalefas
diptongos y triptongos
hiatos fedayines
acompañan el asalto
de la aguerrida composición
de admirable glosario
sin erratas.

Entre vocales y consonantes
acorazadas con el sentido
de la oración de aguerrido predicado
como pronombre está el decoro
en abstracto
clandestino
fortaleciendo la trinchera
que es un poema de amor
para los hombres
desde donde
asoman vocablos
de Miguel Hernández
vueltos «Viento de pueblo»;
y gritando…
gritando
también
están las voces de Alberti
con cara de elegía:
“¡Con los zapatos puestos tengo que morir!”

Con hiperbólica descarga,
entonces
revienta la cabeza de emboscada
con frases propias
del «Canto General»
y de los artelianos
«Poemas con botas y banderas»,
rematando la gesta
con la tromba jubilosa
de la incandescente verba paisa de Herrera Torres
Fernando Rendón
y Gabriel Jaime.

Y luego de un punto y aparte
un aislado monema justiciero
herido en su semántica
busca refugio en su familia léxica
para reiniciarse
como una derivación apreciativa:
entre afijos
prefijos
y sufijos
busca adecuaciones
y sale convertido en cañón
que dispara categorías
…y cuando la interrogación pregunta
¿qué hacer?
la voz de la experiencia
se apertrecha de adverbios y dice: ciertamente
ahora o nunca
todo o nada
hacia allá
rumbo a la utopía;
pero una camarilla
de epítetos peligrosos
aun acecha
semioculta en un entre paréntesis
levantado en lo alto
de una catilinaria
hecha de frases en forma de sofisma
pero la legión artillera
de los pronombres personales
que acompañan la dicción
más sencilla del lenguaje
popular en ofensiva
vestido además
con dialectos indianos
naturales
curados de toda banalidad
empuñando por lanzas
argumentos de la épica araucana
animados por las voces onomatopéyicas
de tamboras bantúes
se abalanzan rápidamente
haciéndose acompañar
de las solas breves pausas de las comas
tomando un ímpetu exclamativo
de increpante andar
que aplasta
la alocución falsaria
casi de manera definitiva.

Un punto y coma
que aparece
con una pequeña ración
de descanso adicional
ayuda a preparar el terreno
para lanzar un pleonasmo necesario
que lleva por carga explosiva la reiteración de la verdad
reforzada ahora sí
con partículas esenciales
de retórica
en la que prima el polisíndeton
en explosiva mezcla
con otros tropos
reiterantes de la determinación
rebelde de la palabra.

Un poco inquietas las paradojas adversarias
intentan confundir el raciocinio plasmado
en las tesis que plantea la rebelión
de cada verbo proferido con voz de pueblo;
pero
los juicios antitéticos
contraatacan
poniendo en juego
un oxímoron
cuyo silencio elocuente
hace presagiar
que lo que se anuncia
es la embestida
de un axioma concluyente.

Entonces,
sin contar con eufemismos
ni lítotes
porque la guerra es a muerte
un sinestésico ambiente
de soledad sonora
por los ecos
que aun dejan los epítetos
en fuga
y la burla de las ironías
las sátiras y demás conceptos
que hacen junta con calambures y paragoges
para representar la parodia
del «heroísmo» que defecan
en cada artificio las mentiras
y con una fuerza ilocucionaria inconfundible
de todas las familias lingüísticas
arribaron las palabras
de pueblos antiguos y nuevos
fluyendo en semántico
sentido de justicia y libertad.
El axioma pueblo concluye
sin punto final
que si la meta es la utopía
hacer posible lo imposible
es el imperativo
que marca la historia
donde el logos
es el pueblo
en pos de libertad…

English Translation of Jesus Santrich’s Poems Youth & Youth II

Original Book of Spanish Guerrilla Poetry

Youth

Juvenal is a poem
which is written with battles; with utopia syntax made of verb
it has the soul;
It declairs in the trench with rifle hares
and with shrapnel voices; it is a combat metaphor: prose and verse that shoot with infinite gunpowder
of history in the word.

Youth II

Because it is of insurgent essences revives incessantly
in the heat of utopia;
reborn with his verses,
with his wise prosas reborn …, gestated dreamer,
born
by the daring light
of conscience;
from the guts of reason is warned, from the pregnancy of sensitivity
that love for the people shapes;
is done to the fight
redeeming
without ties in the soul,
with blood in action
and in patience:
with the triple commoner audacity
make everything happy
and from every thing explodes
like aurora light
that in the darkness
Declare your presence.

 

JUVENAL

(Spanish Original)

Juvenal es un poema
que se escribe con batallas; con sintaxis de utopías hecha de verbo
tiene el alma;
se declama en la trinchera con arengas de fusiles
y con voces de metralla; es metáfora en combate: prosa y verso que disparan con la pólvora infinita
de la historia en la palabra.

JUVENAL II

Porque es de esencias insurgentes revive incesante
al calor de la utopía;
renace con sus versos,
con sus sabias prosas renace…, gestado soñador,
parido
por la osada luz
de la conciencia;
desde las tripas de la razón se advierte, desde la preñez de la sensibilidad
que el amor al pueblo configura;
se hace a la lucha
redivivo
sin amarras en el alma,
con sangre de arrojo en la acción
y en la paciencia:
con la triple audacia comunera
vuelve feliz a cada cosa
y de cada cosa estalla
como luz de aurora
que en las tinieblas
declama su presencia.

 

One of many articles on TeleSUR promoting freedom for Jesus Santrich – a member of the leadership of the designated terrorist organization (DTO) the FARC-EP.

English Translation of Jesus Santrich’s Poem Third Confession

Original Book of Spanish Guerrilla Poetry

Third Confession

I confess
in the name of everyday life
of the sun and the stones
which is more constant and everyday
that the moonlight of the brief flower
and of the butterflies …;
I confess in the name
of this great littleness
of the universe…,
and in the very name of infinity
of the eternally existing
in formal multiplicity
and continental
of the changing matter
moving…

In the name of all this
I insist on confessing that I believe
in the path
that is poured into the field
in front of these eyes of mine
of those flowing looks
that sometimes fly with the birds
or wiggle
with the dim dances
of green trees
and grasslands;
looks that usually too
stand on the cliffs
or let them bathe,
sometimes,
river glass
or clear lagoon
even in the middle of the shadows.

I confess my creed on the roads;
in their escaped breaks
between the corners
of pieces of ferns,
stubble
and dressed greenery
of animal spikes silences
through the drowsiness dozens;
I confess my creed
on the roads…,
in his deep accomplices silences
sometimes their secrets murmur
with the voice of the wind …
And I persist in saying
I believe in his erased footprints
by the tracks,
and in the current footprints
and in the rush
and in the tired tracks
and in the faint footprints …,
and I confess my creed
on material paths
and on the ideal paths;
on the long roads,
on the short roads …
in the slow ways I believe;
I believe in earthly roads,
but I also respect those who believe
on the heavenly roads …

And I believe in the trails
with beginnings and endings,
and on the fast roads
and in the ephemeral
eventual roads …;
and … I confess …
I know they exist
the ways of evil,
the paths of good,
the paths of regret …
and also the sacrificed paths
of historical struggles,
and the tattooed roads
on the skin of the earth
in which they deposit
the weary footsteps of the one who flees,
the stealthy traces of the one who advances
or the makeshift path
which is recreated walking
without any awareness
of what’s going on

I also confess that I want too
Some paths especially:
the path of sincere delivery
to austere life
and to the righteous fight,
and the simple way,
the particular way of the muleteer,
the same as the secret path
of the guerrilla:
slow road on the heavy slope …
road leading to the hidden refuge
of hope in justice
that rises in secret
in the mountain sine;
friend road, dirt road,
muddy way mate …,
where I rested my resonates
and my losses …;
clandestine roads
of militia gait
where the ads go
that shorten the route
towards the conquest
of the most fruitful dreams
of the rebellious parturients
of human need …

I would say of my ways …
that are not desolate roads
but the beloved ways
what do they do on the march
mold of the new future
without exploited,
because they are not just roads
of trampled land
but also paths of consciousness through which he travels
the insurgent congregation
of the humble
with his rebel fists raised, advancing unbeatable,
(rebels!
Against the evil of the oligarchs, looking for the best tomorrow
for the subjugated.

 

CONFESIÓN TERCERA

(Spanish Original)

Yo me confieso
en el nombre de la cotidianidad
del sol y de las piedras
que es más constante y cotidiana
que la luz lunar de la breve flor
y de las mariposas…;
me confieso en el nombre
de esta grandiosa pequeñez
del Universo…,
y en el nombre mismo de la infinitud
de lo eternamente existente
en la multiplicidad formal
y continental
de la cambiante materia
en movimiento…

En nombre de todo esto
insisto en confesar que creo
en el camino
que se vierte en el campo
frente a estos ojos míos
de los que fluyen miradas
que a ratos vuelan con los pájaros
o se menean
con las danzas tenues
de los árboles verdes
y los pastizales;
miradas que suelen también
reposar sobre las riscos
o se dejan bañar,
a veces,
de cristal de río
o de laguna clara
aún en medio de las sombras.

Confieso mi credo en los caminos;
en sus reposos fugados
por entre los recodos
de pedazos de helechales,
de rastrojos
y de verdores vestidos
de silencios espigados de animales
por el crepúsculo dormitados;
confieso mi credo
en los caminos…,
en sus profundos silencios cómplices
que a veces nos murmuran sus secretos
con la voz del viento…
Y persisto en decir
que creo en sus huellas borradas
por las huellas,
y en las huellas vigentes
y en las presurosas
y en las cansadas huellas
y en las huellas tenues…,
y confieso mi credo
en los caminos materiales
y en los caminos ideales;
en los prolongados caminos,
en los breves caminos…,
en los lentos caminos creo;
creo en los caminos terrenales,
pero respeto también a los que creen
en los caminos celestiales…

Y creo en los senderos
con comienzos y con finales,
y en los rápidos caminos
y en los efímeros
caminos eventuales…;
y …, confieso…
que se que existen
los caminos del mal,
los caminos del bien,
los caminos de pesar…,
y también los sacrificados caminos
de las luchas historiales,
y los caminos tatuados
sobre la piel de la tierra
en los que se depositan
las pisadas fatigadas del que huye,
las sigilosas huellas del que avanza
o el improvisado sendero
del que se recrea caminando
sin percatación alguna
de lo que va pasando.

Confieso además que quiero también
algunos caminos en especial:
el camino de la entrega sincera
a la vida austera
y a la lucha justiciera,
y el camino sencillo,
el particular camino del arriero,
lo mismo que el secreto camino
del guerrillero:
camino lento en la pesada cuesta…,
camino que conduce al oculto refugio
de la esperanza en la justicia
que se levanta en secreto
en el seno montañero;
camino amigo, camino de tierra,
enlodado camino compañero…,
donde he reposado mis resuellos
y mis quebrantos…;
clandestinos caminos
de andares milicianos
en los que marchan los anuncios
que abrevian la ruta
hacia la conquista
de los más fecundos sueños
de las parturientas rebeldías
de la necesidad humana…

Diría de mis caminos…,
que no son caminos desolados
sino los amados caminos
que hacen de la marcha
molde del futuro nuevo
sin explotados,
porque no son sólo caminos
de tierra yerta pisoteada
sino caminos también de la conciencia por los que transita
la congregación insurrecta
de los humildes
con sus puños rebeldes levantados, avanzando imbatibles,
(sublevados!,
contra la maldad de los oligarcas, buscando el mejor mañana
para los sojuzgados.

One of many articles on TeleSUR promoting freedom for Jesus Santrich – a member of the leadership of the designated terrorist organization (DTO) the FARC-EP.

English Translation of Jesus Santrich’s poem Second Confession

Original Book of Spanish Guerrilla Poetry

Second Confession

I confess
in the name of things,
of the strange things of things,
of the enormous things of things, of the known things
of things …
In the name
of its extension and depth
what is concrete reflection
of the complexity of the universe;
that is to say,
in the name
of the appreciated, of the hated, of the ephemeral
and of the eternal things
of things …

In the name
of those apparent simplicity
in which it entertains
each segment
of the restless attention of life,
snatching spaces and moments
that become knowledge
of each story
of the root causes,
efficient and sufficient …
of the facts present,
past,
true and transcendent
that have found
residence in reality

I also confess
in the name of the causal reasons and their consequences.
And in the name
of the driving act of imprudent or relevant coincidences;
and finally …
I repeat it:
I confess in the name
of the simple
and of the complex things
of things …;
and especially
above all things
of things …
I confess in the name
of the deepest
and pure feelings
of love to the people
that my mind does not house
as thought first
different thing
to the indispensable struggle
for the emancipation of the oppressed.

CONFESIÓN SEGUNDA

(Spanish original)

Me confieso
en el nombre de las cosas,
de las extrañas cosas de las cosas,
de las enormes cosas de las cosas,
de las conocidas cosas
de las cosas…
En el nombre
de su extensión y profundidad
que es reflejo concreto
de la complejidad del universo;
es decir,
en el nombre
de las apreciadas, de las odiadas, de las efímeras
y de las eternas cosas
de las cosas…

En el nombre
de esas simplezas aparentes
en las que se entretiene
cada segmento
de la atención inquieta de la vida, arrebatándoles espacios y momentos que se tornan en conocimiento
de cada historia
de las causas profundas,
eficientes y suficientes…,
de los hechos presentes,
pasados,
ciertos y trascendentes
que han encontrado
residencia en la realidad

También me confieso
en el nombre de las razones causales y sus consecuencias.
Y en el nombre
del acto motriz de las casualidades imprudentes o pertinentes;
y, en fin…,
lo repito:
me confieso en el nombre
de las sencillas
y de las complejas cosas
de las cosas…;
y en especial,
por sobre todas las cosas
de las cosas…,
yo confieso en el nombre
de los más profundos
y puros sentimientos
de amor al pueblo
que mi mente no alberga
como pensamiento primero
cosa diferente
a la irrenunciable lucha
por la emancipación de los oprimidos.

One of many articles on TeleSUR promoting freedom for Jesus Santrich – a member of the leadership of the designated terrorist organization (DTO) the FARC-EP.

English Translation of Jesus Santrich’s poem Painter of Illusions 

Original Book of Spanish Guerrilla Poetry

Painter of Illusions

I will brush my brushes
of blessed guerrilla dreams to paint the universe with love:
I will dye it to the wind,
and clear freedom
the vast corners of the heavens; I’m going to ink brotherhood
every point of the earth,
and to the giant sea
of righteous hopes.
And so,
with the pristine spectrum
of the human union without selfishness, I will imagine the colorful party
of communism

Pintor De Ilusiones

(Spanish Original)

Untaré mis pinceles
de benditos sueños guerrilleros para pintar de amor el universo:
al viento lo teñiré de paz,
y de límpida libertad
los rincones extensos de los cielos; voy a entintar de hermandad
cada punto de la tierra,
y a la mar gigante
de esperanzas justicieras.
Y así,
con el prístino espectro
de la humana unión sin egoísmo, imaginaré la colorida fiesta
del comunismo.

One of many articles on TeleSUR promoting freedom for Jesus Santrich – a member of the leadership of the designated terrorist organization (DTO) the FARC-EP.

English Translation of Jesus Santrich’s poem Friend, Comrade, Companion

Original Book of Spanish Guerrilla Poetry

FRIEND, CAMARADA, COMPANION
To Julián Conrado, singer of the insurrection

I got the idea
to tell you something …
because you are my friend, my comrade,
my partner…;
the idea assaulted me
to express briefly loqueentiyoveo
and I only knew how to tell you
guerrilla,
that…,
together the verses,
join the notes,
you raise your song
intuiting justice …
tearing him out of life
notions of new homeland;
weapons in songs
love messages
imagining the fire
manager of the new man …,
immense wave of the commoner example. I only knew to tell you
I hear in your word omens of freedom
that defeat fears
against every macula of evil
that intends to destroy
to the fisherman of our dreams …

I only knew to tell you,
I’ve seen you approaching
your old boots
to undertake the routes
of the figth
piggybacking
your mountaineering team
sewn with the same hands that mark the note and hold the rifle
and they speak to the people
while you feel the inspiration
that achieves the complementation between combat and certain love.

I only knew to tell you,
I’ve seen you express yourself pure without rancor,
even if it’s your turn to pose hard … and I’ve imagined you a builder
of the same assault of the heavens, proclaiming
the unplayable ad
of the terrifying peace without hunger as a dream first.
And I have known you,
anyway,
reflected in the mirror of our brief history, as a Caribbean prophet
that rises with splendor
the fire of steel,
with the same passion
How do you learn the seagull’s lament song
That rocks in the wind.

I only knew to tell you,
without pretty words,
but as a sincere message, I feel you my friend,
my comrade …
my partner.

One of many articles on TeleSUR promoting freedom for Jesus Santrich – a member of the leadership of the designated terrorist organization (DTO) the FARC-EP.