"In the world of culture and the arts, Zapatismo has found generous ears and echoes that speak their dignity. In music – especially rock – and in the visual and dramatic arts, in literature and in science, we find good people, human beings, following their own paths of dignity. So we'd like to take advantage of this event to give our regards to all those men and women who fight for humanity through cultural work. 

 

To speak like Zapatistas about the paths of dignity we will tell a story called "The Other Player":

 

In their solemn corner, the players

control the slow pieces. The board

holds them until dawn in its strict

field where two colors despise each other.

 

[...]

 

When the players are gone,

when time's consumed them,

the rite itself has not stopped.

 

[...]

 

The player too is a prisoner

(sentenced by Omar) on another board

of the black nights and white days.

God moves the player, and he the piece.

What God behind God opens the play

of dust and time and dream and suffering?

 

– Jorge Luis Borges, "Chess"

 

Here's the story:

 

A group of players is engrossed in an important professional chess match. An Indigenous man approaches, observes it, and asks them what they are playing. No one answers him. The man goes closer to the board and considers the possibilities of the chessmen, the stern,

grim faces of the players, the air of anticipation in the gathering around them. He repeats his question. One player takes the trouble to answer: "It's something you could never understand. It's a game for people of substance and learning." 

 

The Indigenous man keeps quiet, but also keeps watching the board and the opponents' moves. After a while, he ventures another question: "Why do you keep playing when you already know who's going to win?" 

 

The same player who answered before tells him: "You'd never understand. This is for masters. It's beyond your mental reach." The Indigenous man says nothing. He looks some more and then he leaves. A little while later, he comes back, carrying something with

him. With no more words, he goes up to the game table and sets an old mud-covered boot in the middle of the board. The players, taken aback, angrily stare at him. With a cunning smile, the Indigenous man asks: "Check?"

End of Story."

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An excerpt from Zapantera Negra: An Artistic Encounter Between Black Panthers and Zapatistas. Edited by Marc James Léger and David Tomas With Emory Douglas, EDELO (Mia Eve Rollow and Caleb Duarte Piñon), Rigo 23, and Saúl Kak(2017 CC), This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution -NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/