"taking back earth day" - around the world and here in chile

This year, young environmentalists and climate activists are passionately advocating that we, the people, "take back Earth Day."

Why does Earth Day need to be "taken back?" Where did it go? When the holiday emerged in 1970, it was to generate enough momentum and people power to change policies in the U.S. government, policies that were much needed in the era before clean air and water legislation. And the first Earth Day resulted in exactly that - mass change. System change. Earth Day entered the world with panache, with passion, with people power. It caused strong new environmental legislation that made lasting change. Earth Day was born out of the collective dreams of people who knew they could make the changes they wanted to see in their communities.

I don't know if you've noticed, but these days, Earth Day seems more like a corporate concoction, where we hear about how we can "go green," and how our individual consumerist choices can really "make a difference!" Do United Airlines or USA Today really know what kind of difference I want to make? I don't think so. We need to take it back.

Students in the US mobilizing this rhetoric are the ones demanding clean energy solutions, that their universities divest from the fossil fuel industry, that the system starts to change. These students know they are powerful and they are ready to unleash their fury at any given moment. They know that their individual choices and lifestyles are meaningful, but that mass change is both possible and necessary. These students are seizing Earth Day as their own. By taking the reins of their own movement, they are   giving voice to their own dreams, dreams that are organically grown from the ground that they occupy as inhabitants of the earth.

Here in Chile, it's happening too. And it is quite a storm. On Earth Day proper, April 22nd, 2013, hundreds of thousands will hit the streets for "La Marcha Para La Recuperación y Defensa Del Agua" (the March for the Recuperation and Defense of Water). From north to south, real people from real communities will migrate and gather in the nation's capital to speak out against the unjust and inhumane privatization of water resources. Due to government legislation, water has become a private commodity, depriving communities of the water they need to grow food and sustain themselves, leaving them at the hands of large companies who prefer to sell the water that they own to natural resource exploiting companies. Water as a human right barely exists anymore. Natural resource exploitation is a sad reality in Chile, a country so rich in forests, rivers, glaciers, mountains, and desert.  In my encounters with Chileans in the regions I have explored (Santiago, Patagonia, Pichilemu, Valle del Elqui, La Campana), people are proud of their land and their communities. They love their country. But somewhere along the lines, power shifted and  control was lost. Land and resource rights diminished, and large-scale, corporate natural resource exploitation became a national priority. A priority over the people.

But Chileans know they are strong and powerful in numbers. They are passionate because this issue affects them, their families, their neighbors, and their children- personally. Earth Day belongs to them because they are of the earth. They are sustained by the earth. They know their piece of earth better than anyone else. Their communities are deeply rooted in place. And water is as essential to place, and as essential to life, as breath.

Earth Day in Chile, and around the world, does not belong to corporations. It doesn't belong to government. Earth Day belongs to us, the ones who live off the earth, the ones who know and love the earth, the ones who are the earth. Earth Day belongs to us, the ones with spirits to dream of a better future, the ones who band together and raise ruckus. The ones who take to the streets.

Mañana, el poder del pueblo subirá en las calles de Santiago. El movimiento subirá. El agua pertenece a la tierra y la gente que vive de la tierra. El Día de La Tierra es suyo, es nuestro.

http://recuperacionydefensadelagua.blogspot.com/2013/03/ultimas-informaciones-sobre-la-marcha.html

la raíz

la música de chile se origina en su tierra y historia 
cada canción una flor 
que suena colores a los oídos
pero la raíz está profundamente abajo 
en la misma tierra roja-café que alimenta los litres 
la música nace del pueblo 
que nace de la tierra 
que llena con semillas 
semillas libres del pueblo 
donde nace la música 
bailamos al música arriba del suelo 
pero la raíz está profundamente abajo 
los terremotos políticos  
se resquebrajan la tierra 
en la lucha de mamas y papas  
que llenan la raíz con historia 
para que crezca la música 
en una flor que suena nuevos colores a los oídos 
que nos deja bailar

Tengo la suerte de vivir en una ciudad rica con diversidad y cultura vibrante, con una historia tan grandiosa como sus montañas y montañas tan maravillosas como su gente. Conocer la música "nueva canción," que sigue la fuerte tradición de Victor Jara y Violeta Parra, es una experiencia especial. Artistas como Nano Stern, Manuel García, Evelyn Cornejo, y Camila Moreno me llevan a un nuevo nivel de conocimiento de la cultura chilena. Cantan y tocan de la tierra y su historia- de la lucha Mapuche, de la cordillera Andina, de la política turbulenta que ha creado la cultura actual. 

La primera vez que fui a ver Nano Stern en vivo era en el Galpón Victor Jara. El Galpón es un espacio cultural para música Chilena, nombrado por uno de los creadores brillantes de la música folklórica moderna de Chile (que sea, el Bob Dylan chileno). Victor Jara murió en los manos del estado militar de Pinochet por su activismo izquierdista, y su legado vive con pasión en la tradición de música actual y en el espacio del Galpón. Podía sentirme esta tradición en la música de Nano, en sus palabras y en su espíritu, en sus propias canciones y en las canciones que cantó de Victor Jara y Violeta Parra. Cantó con una fuerza que solo puede existir con el apoyo de una raíz, una raíz profunda. 

La segunda vez que encontré Nano era en La Festival de America Mestiza. Era una celebración de la cultura de la tierra, de Mapuche, del espíritu del sur. El festival incluyó talleres de biodanza, tambores comunales, venta de comida casera y artesanía local, información sobre luchas para tierra justa y sustentable, y música terrenal. Nano cerró el evento, mientras el sol se puso, las estrellas y la luna emergieron, y el aire empezó a enfriarse. Bajo la cordillera andina, bailamos y nos movimos al ritmo de su música, al ritmo de la tierra, todos juntos. Los hippies en sus pantalones fluidos y coloridos crearon ritmo y sensación, enviaron ondas de energía y pasión por la tierra y el aire fresco. Me sentí vinculada - mis pies en la tierra, música chilena llenando mis oídos, y un conocimiento creciendo de la historia y cultura del país. 

Chile no es mi país, esto no es mi cultura, pero de todos modos, conocer la tierra y su gente es una jornada apasionante y bonita. Cualquier jornada que incluye música y baile y alfajores es una jornada buena, en mi opinión. 

cada canción una flor que suena colores a los oídos

pero la raíz está profundamente abajo

--------------------------

the music of Chile is rooted in its earth and history
every song a flower
that rings colors to the ears
but the root is deep below
in the same red-brown earth that feeds the litres
the music is born from the pueblo
which is born from the earth
which fills with seeds
free seeds of the pueblo
where the music is born
we dance to music above the ground
but the root is deeply below
political earthquakes
crack the earth
in the struggle of mothers and fathers
who fill the root with history
so that the music grows
in a flower that rings new colors to the ears
that allows us to dance

I am lucky to live in a city rich with diversity and vibrant culture, with a history as grandiose as its mountains and mountains as wonderful as its people. To get to know the new folk music of Chile, that follows the strong tradition of Victor Jara and Violeta Parra, is a special experience. Artists like Nano Stern, Manuel Garcia, Evelyn Cornejo, and Camila Moreno bring me to a new level of understanding of Chilean culture. They sing and play from the land and its history - the Mapuche struggle, the Andean mountains, the turbulent politics that have created current culture. 

The first time I saw Nano Stern live was in the Victor Jara Galpon. The Galpon is a cultural space for Chilean music, named for one of the brilliant creators of the modern Chilean folk music (which is to say, the Chilean Bob Dylan). Victor Jara died in the hands of Pinochet's military coup due to his leftist political activism, but his legacy lives on with passion in the modern musical tradition and in the Galpon as a space. I could feel this tradition in Nano's music, in his own songs and in the songs he sang of Victor Jara and Violeta Parra. He sang with a force that could only exist with the support of a root, a deep root. 

The second time I encountered Nano was in the Festival of Mestiza America. It was a celebration of the culture of the land, of Mapuche, of the spirit of the south. The festival included biodance workshops, communal drumming, vending of homemade food and local craft, information about struggles for fair and sustainable earth, and earthly music. Nano closed the show, as the sun set, the stars and the moon emerged, and the air began to cool. Under the Andean mountain range, we danced and moved to the rhythm of his music, to the rhythm of the earth, everyone together. The hippies in their flowing colored pants created rhythm and sensation, they sent waves of energy and passion through the earth and the fresh, cool air. I felt connected - my feet on the earth, Chilean music filling my ears, and a growing understanding of the history and culture of the country.

Chile is not my country, this is not my culture, but regardless, to get to know the earth and its people is an exciting and beautiful journey. Whatever journey that includes music and dance and alfajores is a good journey, in my opinion. 

every song a flower that rings colors to the ears
but the root is deep below