On December 22nd, 2006, hundreds of people came together in Mexico City to honor the peoples of Oaxaca, Acteal and Atenco during a global day of remembrance and solidarity. The demonstration was held at the Hemiciclo a Juárez in Mexico City’s Historic Center where people spoke about Oaxaca and the demonstrations taking place around the world. There were musicians, memorials, stilt walkers and banners calling for liberation of political prisoners and an end to illegal detentions, an end to torture, the living appearance of the disappeared and the exit of the Federal Preventative Police and Ulises Ruiz Ortiz from Oaxaca.
There have been reports of more than 60 actions in solidarity with Oaxaca in at least 37 countries on December 22nd, 2006. The EZLN called for the day of solidarity which marks nine years of impunity for the massacre in Acteal, Chiapas. The US and Mexican governments are responsible massacres in Acteal, Atencto and Oaxaca. Read more and view photos
On November 24th, 2006, I traveled to the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California, to observe and document how people were spending their time on “the busiest shopping day of the year,” the day after Thanksgiving. To narrow down the focus of my documentary, I decided to use photos of people and the bag or bags that they were carrying. The bag a person carries can lead to many assumptions about the person carrying the bag. In some cases, the owner of the bag may not be the person who carries the bag, though I believe the bags shown in Baggage are all carried by their new or longtime owners.
