Posts Tagged culture

by Hugo Blanco

Over the course of more than 10,000 years, the rich biodiversity of the Andes-Amazon region has created a culture that is closely interlocked with Pachamama (Mother Nature). This culture is marked by deep knowledge of nature and is highly agricultural. Ours is one of the seven zones of the world to have originated agriculture. It has yielded the greatest variety of domesticated species. This has given rise to a cosmic vision different from the Western outlook that views the creator as a superior immaterial spirit who created man in his image and likeness and created nature to serve him. For the indigenous cosmic vision, humanity is a daughter of and part of Mother Earth. We must live in her bosom in harmony with her. Each hill or peak, each river, each vegetable or animal species has a spirit.

Indigenous, collectivist mentality is strong enough to have endured solidly through 500 years of invasion and the dictatorship of individualism.

The Quechua and Aymara name for the campesino community is ayllu. It is bound by strong ties, many expressed in work (ayni, mink’a, faena)[1] and in all aspects of life. The community is not restricted to persons. It entails a close communal relationship with cultivated species, with medicinal species, with animals and plants that tell cultivators about seasonal variations,[2] and, more broadly, with all animal and vegetable species, with rain, and with the land.

The development of agriculture and tending of livestock, which in other latitudes led to slavery and feudalism, led in Abya Yala (the Americas) to new forms of collectivism. In the Andes zone it led to a state that extended over the territories of six present-day countries – Tawantinsuyo (called “empire” by the invaders out of the same ignorance that led them to call the llama “big sheep.”)

It’s true that the new forms of collectivism gave rise to privileged castes and wars of conquest. But in no part of the continent was production based on slave labor or the feudal system.

• For more than 10,000 years our culture domesticated 182 plant species, including around 3,500 potato varieties.
• Our people know 4,500 medicinal plants.
• Tawantinsuyos planned agriculture based on a system of watersheds and micro watersheds or basins.
• They built long aqueducts, taking care to avoid land erosion.
• Terracing was practiced on the slopes and “waru-waru”[3] in the altiplano (highlands).[4]
• Special technologies were used from zone to zone.

Across the entire Tawantinsuyo territory they created storage buildings (qolqa) to supply food to the population whenever some climatic shift undermined agriculture.

Although there were privileged castes, hunger and misery did not exist. Orphans, persons with disabilities, and the elderly were cared for by the community.

The Invasion

The backbone of this social organization, of the agricultural infrastructure and food reserves, was crushed by the invasion.

Europe was then passing from feudalism to capitalism. The invasion was a capitalist action. They came looking for spices, believing they had reached India. They found none, but did find gold and silver.

Mining had existed as a marginal activity, but it now became the center of the economy. To exploit the mines they used a system worse than slavery. The slave owner is concerned about the health of his slave just as he’s interested in the health of his donkey. The mine owner in Peru received annually a certain quantity of indigenous people in order to “indoctrinate” them. Regardless of how many of them died, the next year he would receive the same number. Hence, youth and adults were sent into the mines and never left until they died. Because of this, young indigenous people committed suicide and mothers killed their children to free them from torment. This practice diminished following the Tupac Amaru rebellion.

Agricultural work took place through a feudal system. The Europeans took the best lands from the community and converted them into latifundios (huge estates or latifundia). Community inhabitants became serfs on their own lands. They had to work freely for the feudal lord in exchange for permission to cultivate a small plot for their own needs.

For many reasons a huge decline in agriculture took place:

• Canals, terracing, and waru-warus were destroyed because of ignorance and lack of care.
• Until this day no planning in terms of watersheds and micro watersheds has been carried out. Chaos took hold and persists.
• With the importation of foreign domestic animals to the zone, the environment deteriorated. The auquenidos (camelid)[5] cut pasture grass with their teeth, but cows, horses, and sheep uproot it.

The invaders vented their superstitions on our crops. Our agricultural mentality didn’t suit their cultured ways. So the “exterminators of idolaters” went after plants like the papa, also known as Santa Padre (Holy Father). They renamed it patata, the word used in Spain. This passed into English and other languages as “potato.” They also damned kiwicha or amaranto (amaranth).The coca plant, which the famous doctor Hipólito Unanue called the “supertonic of the vegetable kingdom,” is to this day the target of superstition and excessively harmful prejudice in “refined” circles.

The invaders pillaged the food stockpiles located across the territory to cope with times of hunger brought on by climatic irregularities.

Taking their behavior as a whole, we find that European imposition of hunger and misery — their cultural contribution — was even more deadly than their massacres and the smallpox they spread among us.

Rebellions and republic

From the beginning, our people rebelled against the invaders. Numerous insurrections took place, beginning with Tupac Amaru II’s rebellion. It spread all the way to Bolivia and lasted even after his cruel torture and assassination.

Later the so-called Revolución de la Independencía took place. It did not signify any noticeable change for the indigenous population.

The generals of “independence” were awarded “haciendas” (the new name for the feudal latifundia), “Indians” and all.

The hacienda system consisted basically of the free labor of the colono (serf) for the hacienda. There were other aspects to this serfdom.

The colono had to turn over some of his animals that grazed on natural pastures to the master. He made long treks with pack mules burdened with hacienda produce. They lasted days and he had to sleep out in the open. The owner mistreated him physically and morally. He could jail him and rape the women. The serf’s children did not go to school either because they had to work, or there were no schools, or the master forbade it.

Our land struggle in the 1960s

The hacienda feudal system lasted until the second half of the last century.

The spread of capitalism to the countryside weakened it in many ways:

* New large-scale mining absorbed labor from the haciendas.
* New mechanized latifundia expelled the serfs and employed an agricultural proletariat.
* New high-priced crops required more labor time, pressing the hacienda owner to demand more work from his serfs and to expel them in order to take over their plots. The serfs, on the other hand, needed more time for their own labors and resisted the theft of their plots.

We organized ourselves to struggle against the new outrages. Given the intransigence of the landlords, the struggle became a fight for possession of the land.

Our defensive action not only set us against the landlords but also against the government which defended the feudal system.

In over 100 haciendas we refused to work for the landlords. But we continued to work our own plots. This was in practice an agrarian reform. The government repressed us with arms and we defended ourselves with arms. The military government of the day crushed the armed self-defense; but it took note that it would be impossible to re-implant feudal serfdom. It opted to pass an agrarian reform law — only in this zone — legalizing campesino possession of the land. But indigenous campesinos in other zones of the country rebelled and took over haciendas. This was violently repressed, but could not be effectively contained. Hence, a subsequent reformist military government felt obliged to decree an agrarian reform at the national level.

In this way, we took advantage of capitalism’s weakening of the feudal system to take over the land. In this same epoch the Brazilian campesino movement was shattered. Capitalism triumphed there. Its victims are now struggling courageously in the “Landless Workers’ Movement.”

For this reason Peru is, with the likely exception of Cuba, the country of the continent with the greatest proportion of landowners, either of communal or private plots.

Some campesinos from the epoch of struggle for the land feel the qualitative change. “Now we are free,” they say. They consider that breaking down feudal servitude also broke them free from the yoke that had gripped them.

Following the rupture they worked for education, building schools and paying men and women teachers. Later they fought to get the state to pay them. They built health centres and fought to get the state to pay for health services.

They got the vote and elected their own mayors. They fought against mining pollution. They struggled to assume in a collective manner police and judicial functions, to replace corrupt cops and judges. They fought against corrupt authorities of any stripe — and for many other things.

They feel that breaking from feudal servitude freed them to spread wings and carry the struggle forward.

Current struggles

Most current struggles of indigenous campesinos are against the killing of Pachamama, Mother Earth; against depredations by the large companies, mainly mining, but also petroleum and gas. Previous Peruvian governments were servants of feudal lords; today they serve the great multinationals. They act against the Peruvian people and against nature.

Living conditions are another cause of struggle. There is more and more unemployment, and the standard of living is falling. In the countryside this is due to excessively low prices for farm products. This is linked to the struggle against the Free Trade Agreement with the United States that will demolish our agriculture for the benefit of large, subsidized imperial firms.

The indigenous movement, together with the rest of the Peruvian population, is fighting against corruption and to get their own representatives into local governments. People often suffer betrayals because there is no system for authentic democratic control.

Our allies

The indigenous movement is not alone. Although it is the most vigorous and persevering, it is not unique. The rest of the people are struggling together with us.

Intellectuals called indigenistas, whether indigenous or not, merit special mention. Ever since the oppression of the original peoples of our continent began there have been individuals who have struggled against it and to defend our culture.

The work of Father Bartolomé de las Casas is known.

In Peru there were notable political figures like González Prada and Mariátegui. Writers like Clorinda Matto, Ciro Alegría, José María Arguedas. Painters like José Sabogal. Musicians like Alomía Robles, Baltasar Zegarra, Roberto Ojeda, Leandro Alviña, and so on.

The meaning of our struggle We are defending our culture in its diverse aspects: our cosmic vision, social organization, our rituals and agricultural know-how, medicine, music, language, and many others.

We do not claim that our culture is superior to others. We are struggling to stop it from being considered inferior.

We want to be respected as equals.

We have been educated to harmonize equality and diversity. Peru is a mega-diverse country, both geographically and demographically. We have 82% of the world’s 103 natural life zones. Our inhabitants speak 45 different languages. The great Inca Sun God celebration was not exclusive. It had a procession of different peoples with diverse gods. The notion of “one God” did not exist. We are for the equality of the diverse; we are against homogenization (igualitarismo).

On the one hand we respect diverse individualities and particularities. On the other, we oppose individualism. Ours is a culture of solidarity.

We don’t seek a return to the past. We know we must make the best in general of advances in human culture.

That does not contradict our resolve to go back to our own roots. Our past will be vividly present in our future.

We love and care for Pachamama. We fervently yearn to return to basing our economy on our rich biodiversity, through agriculture and natural medicine, along with any modern advances that do no harm.

We don’t want our social system to be based on the deep-seated, antisocial individualism that the invaders brought here. We intend to recover and strengthen at all levels the vigorous, collectivist solidarity and fraternity of the ayllu, making use, as well, of universal knowledge that is not harmful.

We dream that the past 500 years of crushing blows are just a passing nightmare in the ten thousand years of building our culture.

Reference Notes

[1]. These terms from a collectivist language are not translatable to an individualist. Ayni means the mutual lending of work, as collective activity for the benefit of an individual. Faena is collective work for collective benefit. Mink’a is asking for a service with profuse and warm urgings.

[2]. There are “signs” that tell indigenous campesinos how climate or weather conditions may change or how a given crop may fare. Abundant or poor blossoming of a forest plant, the coloration of snakes, the height of bird nests, the greater or lesser brilliance of a constellation, etc.

[3]. Waru-waru is the practice of alternating belts of elevated fields and ditches (or swales); planting is done on the elevated belts. This has the function of avoiding floods in rainy years. In dry years water held in the ditches is used for irrigation. Heat absorbed by ditch water during the day helps to counteract cold nights at frost time.

[4]. [Translator’s Note] A good description of this agricultural technology can be found at here⁵ Here is an excerpt from the essay Environment and Nature in South America: the Central Andes:

“The local agro-pastoralists constructed raised fields systems or waru-waru and sunken smaller garden patches or qochas to address these problems. Construction of raised, ridged fields, with swales or canals between the ridges, resulted in ridge-top areas above the waterlogged soils in the rainy season, eliminating rot among the tubers. Both the qocha system and the intervening canals among the raised fields trapped rainwater, which was curated through the dry season to provide a continuing water supply.

“In addition to managing moisture, these systems also ameliorated temperature extremes. Thus the raised field patterns, and furrows in the qochas, were constructed either parallel to, or perpendicular to, the path of the sun, an orientation which permitted maximum solar energy capture by the water. This water kept the fields slightly warmer at night, and often radiated enough heat to prevent frost damage while the surrounding unmodified grasslands suffered heavy freezes.”

[5]. Auquenidos (camelid) are animals found in the Andes mountains, relatives of the camels. They are also called camelidos in Spanish. In Peru there are four different auquenidos: llamas, alpacas, vicuñas and guanacos. Llamas and guanacos are beasts of burden, while alpacas and vicuñas are used for their wool.

Via By Any Means Necessary

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By I. Langalibalele

The landslide election of Barack Obama to the White House opens a critical new chapter in the world working class revolution. Obama’s victory came about because Imperialist contradictions have reached rotten ripe maturity. Marxists are fond of saying this and have been repeating it for a long time, however now it is more true than ever.

Indeed, this is apparent in the growing clash for global markets, intensified militarization, an expanding police State, the international financial meltdown cause by US domestic policy, and the colonized prison labor system. With laissez faire economic policy rapidly reaching its limitations, the friction of class contradictions can only sharpen the present crisis until the breaking point.

As the recent about face at the polls indicates, a renewed series of maneuvers has swung into play to extract the Imperialists from a potentially crippling situation. The Irak war and the world financial crisis, key to the Democratic Party victory, continues to compound the danger to the two-party State. The right-wing’s pervasive attacks on the notion of socialism, since no other discussion of socialist policy have genuinely entered the public debate, present in reality an offensive against democratic ideas. This trend presents an offensive against moderating the extremist, neo-fascist economic trends that have arisen under terms like neo-liberalism neo-conservativism, all popularly known as “voodoo economics”. It continues to spread the politic of divisiveness, ideological cleansing and ruling class warfare even while America has slowly, ploddingly but deliberately rejected that message.

With ebbing support for the parasitic, racist war and widespread fear of the economic situation, it became crucially important for the cynical bourgeoisie to win over the broadest segment of the population. The GOP put together the weakest possible ticket, one which would have conceded to the contending Democrats no matter what. This was necessary to save the republic from the disaster that a shrill, reactionary faction in American politics managed to achieve.

The logic of Milton Friedman’s laissez faire economic model played itself out over the past two years with all the terror and thrills of a white-water canoe ride. As the economy dashed itself upon the rocks following a 14,000 point historic high, crafted on the mortgage bubble, the free market philosophy of cut and spend went into free fall. Oil prices (not costs) continued to inflate, working class folks lost their homes and jobs, and suddenly neo-fascism lost its appeal. It became time for a change. So faster than you can say “regentrification”, a black man on the ballot didn’t seem so frightful anymore.

Now, the threat to the two-party State is a problem inherent in capitalist society. It arises from the very authoritarian character of the capitalist class (a demographic minority) and its need to consolidate as much power as possible in a crisis situation. In this case, the crisis was manufactured thru the logical outcome of neo-conservative ideology. We call that “historical determinism”. But it is merely logic, as precise and as cold as statistics bereft of human emotion. And this has been a financial crisis thirty years in the making, and could never have happened without Democratic Party collaboration.

Imperialism thru Democracy, and vice versa, remains the strategy for spreading Imperialism, not democracy. Democracy provides cover, but it is an exhaustible resource. Imperialism dragged the world into a pivotal, militaristic conflict which has already begun to transform the American political landscape. Then it dragged the world into an economic crisis which has started new wars in the Congo, Georgia, and places we have yet to take note.

Obama’s presidency is the era of Imperialism thru democracy. Imperialism must be rebuilt thru a new democratic ideal, the ideal that anybody can rise from any circumstance to become president of the United States of America. Imperialism’s new democratic theme is that racism is dead, that America is no longer afraid of the race question, that blacks have beat Italians and Irish to the White House. But this is not a victory for black people or even for democracy. It is a victory for Imperialism.

We have to say that. We have to say that, objectively, Imperialism needs Obama more than he needs it. Obama, leaping upwardly mobile from his middle class origins, infuses new blood into a bloodsucking class of international capitalists. This allows them to declare that the sharpest facet of the class struggle has been blunted, as it is, and they falsely say that we are beginning a “post-racial” era. While racism has become blunted, the class struggle that constitutes racism remains. The victory for Obama is not really a victory for working class Africans anywhere. Our victory will come when we can declare international unity for our people, when we have control over our resources and communities. Obama is not blunting the prison industrial complex, unemployment, the wars in Africa, or poverty in Haiti. There is no “post racial” era until those contradictions are solved.

What Obama represents for us is critical breathing room to intensify our organizational capacity. We, as black organizers, must take advantage of this time to redouble our efforts. We have to put Imperialism on the defensive by ideologically defeating it first, then by out-organizing it. We have to organize the unions, community groups, Latinos, whites and everybody in this country who does not have the power to weather the coming storm. Democracy is not in trouble. We are. And we have to fight to win.

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“Starring Emma Goldman and Mikhail Bakunin, it’s a totally weird animal: part how-to, part polemic, part coming-of-age story, part interview, and Marc’s matched it with his whacked-out imagery and trippy colouring.”

Check it here.

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KQED in the Bay Area recently hosted a panel of Asian-Americans about whether the societal assumption of academic success is a burden or an advantage. Guests included Doua Thor, executive director of the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center; and Robert Teranishi, professor of higher education at NYU and co-director for The National Commission on Asian-American and Pacific Islander Research in Education.

Download the Forum (MP3)

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Via Wooster Collective

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Via Postmodern Anarchist

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Performer M.I.A., as many know, has an unexpected pop hit on her hands with “Paper Planes,” released last year on her CD Kala, but used in the trailer to the film Pineapple Express, which turned it into mall fodder. In case you missed it:

Racialicious offers up an insightful critique on M.I.A. and her presumed politics, which a lot of progressive types have ascribed to be radical (in a positive way). An excerpt:

That said, I have always been a bit skeptical of M.I.A’s politics. Is she just projecting an irresistible (lucrative) image, or is she actually doing anything? When I went to her show at McCarren Pool in June, it made me a bit uncomfortable to be dancing around with a bunch of hipsters in Brooklyn while she has images of children from developing countries flashing across the back of the stage as her visual aids.

That’s part of the brilliance of M.I.A.’s whole persona. Her music, and the visual effects in her shows, and even her voice, are so flashy and noisy and chaotic. But I mean that in the best way possible. She seems to represent our generation of media-saturated, globalized, de-sensitized minds. And she is somehow able to shout over all the noise.

Though it is hard to agree with one analysis of M.I.A.’s music as a political manifesto, there seems to definitely be progressive thought. M.I.A.’s alleged support of the Tamil Tigers, as Clyde points out, has generated a conservative backlash. Beyond that, her musical career, as Racialicious implies, seems to travel a trajectory in which white hipsters rather than communities of color are her primary audience, generally speaking. Not saying it’s not good music. Not saying there’s no value in what she does. Just saying.

Even if you disagree, two indirect points get raised in the posts:

Does anyone know of anything outside of music that M.I.A. does for oppressed communities?

Does anyone know of efforts by M.I.A. to directly politically or otherwise serve oppressed communities?

Not criticizing, but couldn’t find anything and was wondering if anything was being done. Thoughts appreciated.

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By Kevin Bottero

The Dope Poet Society’s front man, Professor D, strides on stage with a rapper’s typically confident air. Snatching the mic with one hand, he thrusts the other straight up, V-shaped fingers projecting peace to the thousands gathered at Metro Hall Square for the Global Day of Protest.

The crowd’s intensity is swelling to a feverish pitch, already pumped by a spirited march down Yonge Street. Amid a cacophony of beating drums, honking air horns, singing and chanting, a megaphone pierces above the collective clamour: “One, two, three, four, we don’t want your racist war. Five, six, seven, eight, we will not cooperate.” The throng of anti-war demonstrators joins in with the hypnotic chant, collectively fuelling the already adrenaline-drenched air.

Given the cue, Professor D slams his head down, thick, long dreads arcing around him like a racehorse’s mane as he rips into a verbal torrent: “It’s not a war on terrorism, it’s a war of terrorism. Neo-imperialism, you know that money is the reason. America is killing for oil not for freedom.” Building on the crowd’s energy, the Dope Poet strides across the stage, slicing and dicing his lyrical language to a roar of approval.

Professor D believes in hip hop’s artistic ability to catalyze social change. While most mainstream rappers commodify Hip Hop culture in a celebration of crime and consumerism, he uses the art form’s inherent journalistic capacity by rhyming about a wide range of issues across the political and social-justice spectra. Drawing inspiration from Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, Professor D crafts lyrics to represent his listeners’ political views, hopefully reviving a genre that’s lost its way from its socially conscious golden age of the 1980s.

Equally important to the Dope Poets’ message is its vehicle: Justus League Records, Professor D and DJ Spinister’s independently owned record label. Free from the shackles imposed by major record companies, they are able to release content that truly expresses how they feel. Their latest concept album, ProIntelPro (short for Promote Intelligence Program), exemplifies their lyrical approach to political discourse. The title of this particular release is a response to the FBI’s infamous CoIntelPro (Counter Intelligence Program), described on the CD’s liner notes as “a program that existed to spread lies and deception in reaction to the revolutionary movements of the 1950s and 1960s.” Focusing on current affairs, the Dope Poets aim most of their cutting rhetoric directly at the Bush Administration.

Controversial? Definitely. For most hip hop consumers, accustomed to less serious topics, this album’s political content may seem a bit much. Yet, their popularity has never been greater.

The Dope Poets’ vibe resonates with those frustrated by a lack of democratic influence in an increasingly hostile world. These listeners turn to this style of conscious music as something to rally behind. Though the Dope Poets do take a milder, more reflective tone in some of their music, those instances are overshadowed by rants against George Bush and other political figures. Their direct approach is common among many musician-activists who choose to fight back against those who initiate war and injustice, rather than simply promote peace through the tragic retelling of war. Some love this directness, some don’t.

D wouldn’t have it any other way. Speaking about his childhood, he recalls often getting into trouble while standing up for his principles. “I always had this inability to stand by and watch injustice being perpetrated,” he says. Growing up listening to acts like Public Enemy and KRS-One during hip hop’s socially conscious golden age, his next step naturally was to combine his love of hip hop with his desire for justice. It’s a tough way to try to succeed in a market that has become dominated by more commercially viable topics like cars, booty and bragging. But D’s resolve never wavered. Instead, he decided to stay true to conscious hip hop, rather than succumb to mainstream influence (see sidebar: “Conscious Hip Hop in a Commercialized World”).

Not only did he stick with hip hop, he’s helping to redirect the culture from its misguided path. By rhyming hardcore about political issues, D uses the persuasive power of rap to bring issues to the forefront of people’s minds and the media. By rapping aggressively, he’s drawing attention to rap’s ability to report on issues and create change. D steadfastly believes in the genre’s transformative potential, which he feels is too often squandered by mainstream hip hop acts. He expresses shock at the number of rappers wasting their exposure rapping about irrelevant topics when they could be releasing music that’s socially relevant. “If those guys weren’t trying to cater [to record labels’ wishes] their music would be more conscious,” he asserts.

Despite his frustration with mainstream rappers, D still believes it’s important to form ties in the larger hip hop community. He started building solidarity by collaborating with artists like Public Enemy, dead prez and Jeru the Damaja. He desires to see the day when all rappers recognize their commonalities and unite for the greater good. “On certain issues we stand together,” he says hopefully. “Against the war in Iraq, against homelessness, starvation and other major issues. That’s actually what hip hop has the power to fight against, influence and change.”

The Dope Poets believe all positive change should begin with improving the local community. Their community-development project, the Toronto Hip Hop Cultural Centre (temporarily closed for restructuring), is located in Toronto’s inner-city Junction neighbourhood. At this centre, the Dope Poets have engaged the community through a number of free activities, including regular break-dance workshops, freestyle MC sessions, community-improvement discussions and film screenings. The centre exemplifies the Dope Poets’ holistic approach to the art and culture of hip hop. “The highest form of consciousness is the understanding of the interconnectedness of all things, living and non-living,” D says. “Everything depends on everything else and we are responsible for our participation in that process.”

In a scene from the 1989 film Dead Poets Society, a radical schoolteacher (Robin Williams) asks his students to rip out a section of their textbook that he disagrees with and refuses to teach. By challenging authority, he inspires his students to develop their own identities. Similarly, by challenging the hegemonic, imperialist power structure, the Dope Poet Society promotes freedom of thought by asking listeners to question authorities and laws. They’re labeled as controversial — and that’s the point. Hip hop’s gone such a long way down the wrong path, it’s losing its ability to use controversy for any worthwhile gain. The Dope Poets are frustrated that Hip Hop is losing its original street-reporting value. Their response: Use the genre’s in-your-face shock value to bring it back.

Reproduced from Canadian Dimension

Via New Socialist

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By lunchcountersitin

You MUST check out what I regard as groundbreaking comic: Bayou, by writer/artist Jeremy Love of Gettosake.

Bayou is published by ZudaComics.com, an online comics site from DC Comics. The idea of online comics, at first, doesn’t seem viable. For comic book readers, there is a joy to holding the book itself, pondering its art and text, and going back and forth through a comic to find the words and images that really grab you. You can’t do that online.

But when it comes to Bayou… everything works.

Bayou is basically a children’s book, but this is not your mommy or daddy’s children’s book. Set in Depression-era Mississippi, it’s about a black girl who lives with her sharecropper father and “finds companionship with a blues-singing swamp monster named Bayou.”

The art is wonderful. The story line mixes elements of Uncle Remus, Alice in Wonderland, southern gothic, the Blues, African and Native American mythology, and Jim Crow.

The sheer execution of this makes me call it groundbreaking. Jeremy Love’s image’s fill the screen wonderfully; he’s calculated just the right scale to the art that makes it work on a computer screen. It’s a breeze to read the text, view the images, and go from one page to another. And Lee, the main character, is a truly heroic young black girl-the kind I wish we’d see more of in any genre.

Bayou is free. As of this writing, it has 129 pages of content, and the story won’t wrap up for several months. It’s a tale that will appeal to teens (14+) and adults, and people of all races. It has a magic that will touch everyone. Highly recommended.

Via All Other Persons

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