#yosoy132 Paris

As many of you likely know, the Mexican youth movement #yosoy132 has gained quite a bit of traction over the past week. A friend of mine here at the University of Oslo (Luis De Ita) started up a facebook group called #yosoy132enelextrangero which encourages Mexican expats to get involved and show their solidarity with the movement and at the same time create awareness of our demands to the Mexican state/media in our countries of residence. From this, a series of events have been taking place all over the world and since there are so few Mexicans in Norway, Luis and I decided to travel to Paris to take part in the event there. At the event we shot a video which was then edited together with videos from other cities all over the world with the aim of spreading our message of peaceful resistance and civic awareness.

Although I have never been a very politically active person, I like so many other Mexicans (abroad and at home) feel compelled to take action in face of the erosion of our rights, freedoms and security. On the other hand, having touched rock bottom (which I believe we have) Mexicans now have a historic opportunity to turn things around and change the country for the better. Change is hard, and while I do not have any unreal expectations about what movements such as #yosoy132 can achieve in the grand scheme of things, I do none the less feel optimistic. The past several years have been heartbreaking for Mexico, and it is wonderful to for once see people coming together in a spirit of hope which could well spark the light at the end of the tunnel we are are so desperately attempting to crawl out of.