To our comrades here in Los Angeles and around the world,

The past couple of months have been traumatic for many of us. We
have felt sorrow and anger in seeing the various attacks on
communities not only here in LA but in the United States and abroad.
We look at these events as not just isolated events of violence but
rather events that are part of a larger history of violence. We, the
Peoples Education Movement, stand, grieve, remember, hope and
fight beside students, our LBGTQIAA compaerxs, and teachers across
the world.
The recent events at UCLA, Orlando, and Oaxaca have deeply
impacted us. Many of our beloved members, family, and friends are
students, alumni, and staff at UCLA. The active shooter event left
many of us concerned, anxious, and afraid for our loved ones and our
own safety in an institution that is supposed to be a haven of learning
and growth. This event has brought to surface deep reflections about
teacher and student relationships and the lack of spaces to grieve and
process.
The event at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando was an egregious attack on
a safe space that has been cultivated for the LGBTQIAA and the queer
people of color community that many of our loved ones are members
of. This has been a painful experience of not only grieving for lost loved
ones, but also serves as a painful reminder of the longstanding effects
of patriarchy, homophobia, and heteronormativity where communities
have been targeted for hateful attacks based on their identities. This
event has also surfaced this countrys preoccupation with violence,
where mainstream focus has invisibilized queer narratives and instead
has been directed towards the shooters alleged identities and has
been used as an opportunity to promote Islamophobia and enacting
classic divide and conquer strategies that attempt to pit communities
against one another.
In Oaxaca, teachers and various community members have taken a
stand against capitalist reform that seeks to privatize the education
system and dispossess teachers from their work. Courageously, folks
have taken to the streets in defense of their future only to be met with
government sanctioned violence. Teachers have been imprisoned,
tortured, disappeared, and killed, all in the name of bettering
education through neoliberal policies and reform. Many of us who make
up the Peoples Education Movement identify as teachers and students
and see ourselves in this struggle. We recognize the violence being
inflicted on the compxs as a result of historical violence that almost
always affects the most oppressed and punishes those that rebel

against powers and structures that look to dehumanize them in the

name of profit.
The Peoples condemns all acts of violence and hate rooted in the
colonial veins of dispossession, patriarchy, heteronormativity,
capitalism, and neoliberalism. We demand that the Mexican
government put an end to the repression of teachers and free all
political prisoners. We demand that the US government and media not
make what happened in Orlando and UCLA solely about gun violence
and that they put an end to reproducing narratives that promote
Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and racism. We demand that
our institutions create healing spaces to help facilitate the process of
building hope, justice, and equity.
Looking at ourselves and reflecting on our own process, we invite folks
to heal in ways that not only help us cope but that help us build
solidarity and hope amongst and across our communities. We
recognize that this is a large task and do not claim to have all the
answers. As we continue our work in seeking justice and creating
better and different worlds, love, community and healing must be at
the center. These events are not only stark reminders of the
hegemonic powers and ideologies that are entrenched in our society
but also remind us of the urgency to continue the precious labor of
love, hope-building, and reimagining we do within ourselves, with one
another, and in our communities.
From Los Angeles with love, humility, and respect,
The Peoples Education Movement