This may open up some kind of debate about the politics of Venezuela, etc., but that's fine with me.  What I want to say is that the documentary my good friends at the Global Women's Strike have produced and directed called VENEZUELA:  JOURNEY WITH THE REVOLUTION, is very important.

 

It's been playing on Philadelphia PBS  (public television), and while I only use my television for the news, THIS IS NEWS!  The importance of this documentary I feel is that it shows you the people we only hear about, read about.

 

There are friends of mine in Philadelphia (one of them Cuban) who get into screaming matches with me over Chavez and Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution.  What I've noticed is that their main argument is always that I'm naive, I'm being lied to, I'm buying it.  And when my friend Mary Kalayna of the Global Women's Strike went down to Venezuela last year for the World Social Forum and I interviewed her about it, my friends who like to get into screaming matches with me over this topic told me SHE WAS naive, being lied to, etc.  And said too that Chavez probably MADE all the people she spoke with say the things they did, to trick her, to lie and fool her.

 

Well, THIS documentary happens to be important BECAUSE if the Venezuelan people in the film are acting, they should all win awards!  SEEING THESE PEOPLE really seeing them, seeing their body language, seeing their care, seeing how they are FEELING cared for, well, it's just nothing short of infectious, that warmth, and I want it.

 

Seriously, I want it in my life, in your life, that system of care and collective strength.

 

There is a scene in a soup kitchen / homeless shelter.  The people running it make it clear that they DON'T want people to continue eating and living there.  That the goal is to find out what happened to each person brought them there, and to solve the problem, get them on their feet.  Get them medicine if they need it, etc.  It's very complicated, the jobs in the shelter, but the people working there seem to be dedicated and motivated, and are making progress.  In Philadelphia I've spoken with people who work in the shelters (a city where (I'm not making this up) one quarter of the population lives below the poverty line) and they tell me (one of these people is a co-worker of mine) that it's almost impossible to get these people on their feet and out into the world because the city is so expensive, and jobs impossible to find, especially for some of these people who are in the conditions they are in.  In Philadelphia it seems that the shelter workers are doing the best they can with terrible resources, and can only manage to maintain the situation, meaning they can't possibly invest in progressing these people into new lives so much as they can just provide food and shelter.

 

And in America, a country with the wealth we have it's shameful to see so many people whose needs are not being met.

 

There is a young man being interviewed in the documentary who is a member of the queer branch of the revolution, and it's AMAZING to see the T-shirt he's wearing, which has a quote from Chavez's own mouth about how homosexuals ARE part of the revolution, and important at that.  My president in my own country has actually said that he thinks we queers are making a choice to be queer.  So has presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.  Meanwhile here's this man in Venezuela saying that IT'S VITAL to reach out immediately to those most in need in the queer community, and that being the transgendered people and the queers of African descent.  Wow!  That was beautiful to hear!  And in Philadelphia when a black drag queen is murdered the police write it off as an accident, literally do so, and move on.

 

There's another scene in a health clinic with a doctor that just blows my mind, makes me so happy.  And another scene with Nora Castaneda, president of the Women's National Bank who is behind the heart of the revolution getting out to the poorest regions.  And the documentary points out that not everyone has been helped yet, but shows how and where they have so far been able to, and how and where to intend to go next and move everyone forward.  It's an amazing thing to see what that country was when American corporate interests had control, and what it looks like now, and what they intend to do next.  It's beautiful.

 

If you could make the effort to see this film you would give yourself the opportunity to make clearer judgments about Venezuela, whether you feel good or not about what's going on down there.

 

If you go to the PhillySound and scroll down, you'll soon see a post about the documentary with links to the Global Women's Strike, etc., and there you will be able to find a way to see the film.  I hope you do.  And I hope you let others know about it.

 

This is important, very important, and thank you,

CAConrad

http://PhillySound.blogspot.com

 

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