WE MARCH TOWARDS LIFE:

Magónismo and the Mexican Revolution

Here are the links to access and download the PDFs of the Magonista zines!

Mini fanzine de magonismo IN SPANISH/en Español: MAGONISMO mini ESP

Mini-1-page zine version: MAGONISMO mini

Readable, full-length single-page PDF: WMTL

Printable, imposed full-length version: WMTL-Booklet

An Introduction to Magónismo

To know history, is to know yourself. Our existence in the present-day was only made possible by those who came before us. In schools and in daily life, we are never exposed to our true past. Those in power prefer to keep us unaware of our historical victories. Understanding our connections to the past helps us see how different our futures can be.

The Mexican Revolution of 1910 was a world changing event. The Magónistas were people from all parts of Mexico who inspired the revolution that overthrew Porfirio Díaz’s dictatorship. Magónismo was based on the philosophies of Ricardo Flores Magón, one of the most important anarchists in the history of the Americas. A vision shaped by both Mexican indigenism and anarchism, Magónista activity became a security concern that reached the highest levels of the Mexican and US governments. Their vision was not able to fully see the light of day, and so Magónismo remains an unfinished story. Their revolution lives on – it invites us to regain control of our destinies.

Why the revolutionary path? 

The era called the Porfiriato (the domination of the military dictator Porfirio Diaz from 1876-1911) carried Spain’s torch of oppressing the majority of Mexico. His tyranny used the system of government (brought by the European colonizers) to give rich Mexicans and military officers seats of power within the highest public offices all over Mexico. These political bosses who would enrich themselves by selling out the natural resources of their localities to North American companies. To do this, the Mexican elites violently evicted entire communities from their ancestral lands, robbing them of their means of sustenance. By 1910, half of the nation’s land belonged to fewer than three thousand families. Half of the rural population was landless and forced to work on brutal plantations (haciendas). Opponents of the regime who rose up in protest were violently attacked and/or killed by Diaz’s Rurales paramilitaries.

In life, as we all know, we must make difficult decisions in the face of the most challenging obstacles: when they encountered hunger and injustice, the Mexican people said “fuck it let’s get ‘em!” and made their decision to resist. One may ask, “Why would anyone risk it all?” The rebels of the Mexican Revolution were driven by a purpose whose relevance still persists: a fight for the right of Mexico’s indigenous and farmer populations to live peacefully on their ancestral lands without the threat of exploitation and violence from Mexican and transnational elites.

The legacies of colonization— from displacement and exploitation, to the torture and disappearance of those who stand up to cruelty – are issues that all Mexicans and Latin Americans continue to face to this day. Nothing’s changed.

How do you fight back?

The Magónistas sought to dethrone the brutal dictatorship through the most effective process: a libertarian revolution based on “Tierra y Libertad” (“Land and Freedom”). Although the slogan is often attributed to the legendary Nahuatl guerilla, Emiliano Zapata, it was originally penned by the Magónistas. This struggle was not a “revolution” for a change in government, but a revolution whose aim was the destruction of capitalism and government. They sought a reconstruction of Mexico based on the timeless blueprint of self-determination in indigenous communities – an ancestral form of freedom based on communal mutual aid and land-based reciprocity.

How could the people accomplish what was thought to be unimaginable, to take down a 30 year-long tyranny? What were the methods used by the Magónistas? The Magónistas were the most active opposition at the time, and made an effort to be present in worker’s and farmer’s spaces of daily life. They successfully agitated with their rebel words through their Regeneración newspaper. Their movement spread rapidly due to its anti-leader, anti-authority approach, which resonated with the existing sentiments of Mexicans. They facilitated and participated in worker strikes in both Mexico and the US, made possible through their efforts at building an international network. At the peak of their power, the Magónistas were able to pull off uprisings and attacks in all corners of Mexico and the Americas using the strategy of decentralization. Their goals were to directly seize stolen lands and the means of sustenance. Instead of waiting for orders from new political leaders or reforms, the Magónistas showed the world our untold power when we fight our oppressors through collective direct action.

Victories & Legacy

Despite the assassination of Ricardo Flores Magón by the hands of American authorities, his dreams of freedom live on. Although he would dismiss all attempts at making him into a leader or icon, Magón’s legacy undoubtedly lives on today in the minds, hearts, and actions of countless people throughout the generations. Magónismo has had a profound impact on popular Latino consciousness. Today, you can see its widespread influence on radical cultures among Mexican and Latino activists, youth, and organizations. Today, the torch of “Tierra y Libertad” has been taken up by the might and bravery of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) of Chiapas in Southern Mexico, shining a light of hope for all peoples on Earth who continue to fight for their right to life.

Notable Magonista Accomplishments:

• Toppled the Diaz regime through armed uprisings, some of which overtook entire cities, including Emiliano Zapata’s and Pancho Villa’s land expropriations
• Permanently shaped the Mexican Constitution of 1917, which took its most original features from the Program of the Magónistas
• Influenced revolutionary anarchist organizations and presses across all of Latin America and the world
• Reinforced early 20th century US Latino radical efforts against white supremacy, culminating in explosion of the Chicano Movement in the 1960s
• the EZLN: One of the first and largest municipal rebellions in Chiapas took the name of Ricardo Flores Magón. In this rebel municipality, the Tzeltals rule themselves without depending on the Mexican government. They have their own systems of justice, health, education, and production.

The dreamer is the designer of tomorrow. The practical man, the sensible, cold head, can laugh at the dreamer; they do not know that he, the dreamer, is the true dynamic force that pushes the world forward. Suppress the dreamer, and the world will deteriorate toward barbarism. Despised, impoverished, the dreamer opens the way for his people, sowing, sowing, sowing the seeds which will be harvested, not by him, but by the practical men, the sensible, cold heads of tomorrow, who will laugh at the sight of another indefatigable dreamer seeding, seeding, seeding.

“Dreamers” (June 28, 1921)