Feminist Collectives Mobilize “Anti-Grita” Against Patriarchal Violence Across Mexico

On Tuesday September 15th, women across Mexico mobilized an “anti-grita,” a shout out against patriarchal violence on the eve of Mexican Independence Day. The call for a feminist “anti-grita” was a critical intervention into the nationalist discourse which surrounds September 15th.

last night was particularly important because it marked the beginning of "el grito", which signifies the battle cry of mexico's war for independence. but at the CNDH, activists took part in the antigrita- a call for justice and an end to gender violence pic.twitter.com/mVs8MVWVk3

— carla (@wheelclair) September 16, 2020

On this day, the Mexican state celebrates the “Shout of Dolores,” where a Mexican priest in 1810 in a small town in Guanjuato, ordered the church bells to be rung, convoking the people to take up the struggle for Mexican independence from Spain. The “Shout of  Dolores” is recognized as the act which began the Mexican war for independence, and is reenacted every year by the Mexican president in the Zócalo of Mexico City.

In the southern state of Oaxaca, feminist collectives mobilized on September 15th in both the capital city of Oaxaca, and in the Mixteca region, in the city of Huajuapan de Leon. The mobilizations were meant to show solidarity with the recent feminist mobilizations taking place throughout the country, including the occupation of the Human Rights Commission Office in Mexico City which sparked this recent wave of protest.

In the city of Oaxaca, around 100 women dressed mostly in black, gathered at the fountain of the Ocho Regiones, on the north side of the city. There they painted and hung bandanas around the monument.

From the Ocho Regiones fountain, the group marched toward the city center, toward the main tourist attraction in the city, the church of Santo Domingo de Guzman. They painted graffiti and attacked some infrastructure along the way. “There is no independence when there are femicides,” read the banner that lead the march to the city center.

In the Mixteca region, in the city of Huajupan de Leon, feminist collectives also carried out actions to mark the “anti-grita.”

Through chant and song, around a bonfire lit on the hemicycle to Juarez, the feminist collectives Marea Verde and Hijas de la Luna, together with other women and people, visibilized the true reality that is lived in Huajuapan, the state of Oaxaca and the country. They visibilized the insecurity, the violence, the murders, the indifference, the corruption and negligence in these times of pandemic. A country submitted to patriarchy, submitted to the new global agenda.

As a demand for justice, they mentioned the names of the sisters raped, assassinated and disappeared in Huajuapan, such as is the case of Joselyn Vargas and the saxophone player, María Elena. They expressed their support for the for the “Ni Una Menos” squat in Mexico City, and collected donations in support at the event.

At the end, they called on the women to unite and struggle for their freedom from Chihuahua to Oaxaca and to maintain the fire of hope burning, until total freedom is achieved for all, offering emotional support, accompaniment, legal and reproductive advice to women that needed it.