Monday, October 27, 2008

Pueblos Originarios

Pueblos Originarios: First Peoples

A term that I had rarely heard in English for indigenous peoples (note the importance of the s and the end of peoples) until I moved to Canada, where it is common. It is slowly becoming more common in the U.S. and in Spanish.

The struggle of First Peoples in Colombia is still very very hot. Amazingly, after pulling together 30,000 people for a several day march, they were stood up by president Uribe on Sunday, and continue to face repression like the bullets shot straight at the crowd shown in the video below. If you're a U.S. citizen please support this brave struggle with this quick click action organized by the Lutherans to write a letter to the ambassador. Or if you haven't done the witness for peace quick click to the State Department, please do that one instead. Good updates on the situation here.

Friday, October 24, 2008

bastón de mando

bastón de mando: (ceremonial) staff of authority



Kudos to CNN for showing this clip of activist video - it has forced Colombia's president Uribe to sit down and talk with indigenous protesters. Here's hoping something comes of that. And much strength to the brave protesters, especially those taking video like this! They are still facing repression, you can take a quick click minute to support them here. Thanks.

Monday, October 20, 2008

waterboarding



waterboarding = el 'submarino'; asfixia "simulada" (?!) con agua

The mainstream media claims that it is "simulated", but I personally would not include that word in the definition at all - if you must include it, certainly put in the scare quotes.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

concientizar


concientizar: raise awareness

segun wiktionary (check out their conjugation table): provocar que alguien tome conciencia de algo.

relatedly, la conciencia publica is public awareness.

como se ve en la foto, there are lots of creative ways to do it.