Poetry and Prose For Human Rights in Oaxaca

*Please note the audio files DO work now, after someone helpfully pointed out silence . . . there are a couple of items not quite fixed which we are waiting on hearing back from the Internet Archive about as it seems to be on their side, but everything here on our pages that we have control over is fine. Thanks!*
We see our job as more than perhaps just your usual librarian duties. It's also about proactively maintaining & adding to our library/archive, and acting as a witness and curator for poetry that is more fluid and transitory in nature - poetry that really has a place in the real world - as well as sticking by the opinions of one of our heroes, which includes remembering that 'The library is a growing organism' (Ranganathan: 'Laws of Library Science', 1931). Organisms exist in the real world. As does poetry. And me and you too. As part of these duties we went to document a public read-out for 'Justice in Oaxaca, Mexico' outside the Mexican Consulate (532 Folsom St, between 1st St. and 2nd St.) in San Francisco, which took place on Monday, March 26, from 12 noon.

It featured: Rebecca Solnit, author of Hope in the Dark; Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of Blood on the Border; Larry Bogad, author of Electoral Guerrilla Theatre and a veteran of the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army; Aryeh Shell, Herstories Project; Itinerant Poet Bill Evans; Jack Hirschman, Poet Laureate of San Francisco and more . . .


powered by Aryeh Shell
Aryeh Shell reads


powered by Jack Hirschman
Jack Hirschman reads a poem


powered by Bill Evans
Bill Evans reads a poem

These poets and writers are supporting the human rights advocates calling for the end to illegal killings and the restoration of human rights in Oaxaca. To read more about why this was such an important 'read out', go here

You can also access and download these recordings c/o The Internet Archive and we will upload the rest of the recording edits from this event to the Internet Archive in the very near future here they are despite The Internet Archive having hiccups all weekend (March 30-April 1st) - other edits include words from: Rebecca Solnit, Larry Bogad *is not fixed*, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, attorney John Viola, Ted Lewis *is not fixed* of Global Exchange and more. At the moment you can go grab You can also go grab Jack Hirschman, Aryeh Shell and Bill Evans.


Jack Hirschman, Poet Laureate of San Francisco


David Solnit


Aryeh Shell hands over the mic to Larry Bogad



The documentation of why people were here


Jack Hirschman, David Solnit & Jen make sure everything is shipshape


It really is the Mexican Consulate . . .