Our Word is Our Weapon: Selected Writings

“This is an extraordinary collection of writings, documenting one of the most important grassroots rebellions of our time. It conveys the mind and spirit of the Zapatista movement with eloquence and astonishing immediacy.” –Howard Zinn“This eccentric collection of writings, which includes everything from the Zapatista's declaration of war to magic-realist stories about a beetle named Durito, proves Marcos to be a passionate and surprisingly self-deprecating writer.” –The New Yorker“The Zapatistas are an extraordinary example of resistance by the supposedly powerless against the powerful and they have endured for 25 years—and brought us what this book offers, a poetic, sometimes lyrical, sometimes comic, often utterly fresh and insightful, political language, grounded in the natural world, in weather, seasons, plants, animals, growing, harvesting . . .” –Rebecca Solnit“… Language as strong as dignity and as subtle as love. To read this collection is to discover that rare animal: an original voice.” –Publishers Weekly“A literary masterpiece that provides an invaluable lens into the Zapatista cosmos and one of the most remarkable minds of our time.” –San Francisco Bay Guardian“Set against other radical manifestoes of the past … Our Word Is Our Weapon exudes a political timelessness … The tempered words of Subcomandante Marcos read like an instruction manual for future rebellions.” –The Guardian (UK)“Marcos is the voice for many voices. His words, fashioned from humor and poetry, reveal the deep roots and abundant branches of the Zapatista insurrection in Chiapas. It is an original language for an original movement that is transforming Mexico and is helping to change the world.” –Eduardo Galeano“Revolt is the mirror in which greed is forced to see itself. Our Word Is Our Weapon reflects the deep soul beauty and determined hearts of deliberately impoverished people as they stand up to the most insatiable giant the world has ever seen. Theirs is a stance of dignity, courage and self-respect. And that is what they inspire in us, even as they suffer.” –Alice Walker