Xánath Caraza
Guest Columnist Denise Oyuki Castillo
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© Axolote 2015 (US)
Untitled (Madison WI)
Photograph
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Axolote
is a multicultural student organization at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison that was created in the fall of 2014 in an effort to raise
awareness and bring visibility to current political issues in Mexico. The
desire of forming an organization was always present, but it was not until
after the violent events that occurred on September 26th 2014 in Ayotzinapa,
that this group was formed and became active in Madison.
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| © Axolote 2015 |
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| © Axolote 2015 |
One
of the first projects was a bilingual edition of “Ayotzinapa. Desaparición política/ Forced Disappearances.”
This is the first of the collection “Libros sobre la Marcha” and is available
online through Pensaré Cartonera.
This book collects the testimonies of some of the survivors of the
violent events in Guerrero, where three students were killed and the state
police in an alliance with drug cartels kidnapped 43 students. These
testimonies deny the official version that the Government gave about the
incidents that occurred in September 26th. The book includes a brief history of
Guerrero and their problems with drug cartels. It also gives information about
the Raúl Isidro Burgos Rural Teachers College of Ayotzinapa and their political
views. Throughout the pages of this book we can also find the voices of the
protesters in México, voices that demand the safe return of the missing
students from Ayotzinapa. These documents were gathered during the protests in
Mexico in October 2014.
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| © Axolote 2015 |
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| © Axolote 2015 |
Axolote,
as a group and with the consent of Pensaré Cartonera, started the translation
and organized two Cartonera workshops in April. The money collected from these
two events was sent to the families of the victims. Since all of the books were
distributed, we are planning on organizing another workshop to create more. The
bilingual edition is available online, and the Cartonera books can be created
anywhere. In this way, all of the valuable information found within can be
easily disseminated.
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| © Axolote 2015 |
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| © Axolote 2015 |
On
May 2nd 2015, we participated in Strut!
- a community
procession planned by Mexican artist Laura Anderson Barbata that brought
together different cultural organizations in Madison.
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| © Axolote 2015 |
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| © Axolote 2015 |
Right
now, Axolote is organizing an exhibition for the main library of UW-Madison to
take place during the months of September and October 2015. This exhibition
“Ayotzinapa: Seeds Don’t Burn” will present two timelines of the drug war in
México and the United States, as well as literature about Ayotzinapa, Guerrero,
México and the United States, and ephemera collected from the protests in
Mexico, such as posters and fliers. The objective is to show how these two
countries are tied together through this situation. The exhibition will be
available online as well.
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| © Axolote 2015 |
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| © Axolote 2015 |
Axolote is
a small group that is trying to do its part to help alleviate the current
situation in Mexico. We know that indifference kills. We are happy to see that
this small group is growing, and we want to create awareness in our community
because the violence in México has to stop, and we need to help this happen.
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| © Axolote 2015 |
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| © Axolote 2015 |
Denise Oyuki Castillo
Denise
Oyuki Castillo holds an MA in Hispanic Literature from the University of New Mexico
and is pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with an
emphasis in Colonial Spanish American Literature.
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| Denise y Pablo |
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