The 1994 Zapatista Uprising

Demanding equal rights and justice for their impoverished communities, the indigenous people of Chiapas, Mexico, descend from the mountains in rebellion on the eve of NAFTA's enactment.

About it, Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos said in 2005:

"Our small history is that we grew tired of exploitation by the powerful, and we organized in order to defend ourselves and to fight for justice. In the beginning there were not many of us, just a few, going this way and that, talking with and listening to other people like ourselves. We did that for many years, and we did it in secret, without making a stir. In other words, we joined forces in silence. We remained like that forabout ten years, and when we had grown, we were many thousands. We trained ourselves quite well in politics and weapons, and suddenly, when the rich were throwing their New Year's Eve parties, we fell upon their cities and just took them over. And we left a message for everyone that we are here, and they had to notice us. Then the rich sent their great armies to do away with us just like they always do when the exploited rebel. But we were not done away with at all, because we had prepared ourselves quite well prior to the war, and we made ourselves strong in our mountains. And there were the armies--looking for us and launching their bombs and bullets at us--and then they were making plans to kill off all the indigenous at one time, because they did not know who was Zapatista and who was not. We were running and fighting, fighting and running, just like our ancestors had done. Without giving up, without surrendering, without being defeated."

Here's to the latest exploited peoples rising up in Egypt, albeit slightly different. Here's to the revolutionaries that demand their own right to their land, to self-determination, to independence, and to freedom from the rich and powerful of the systems that oppress and destroy. Here's to them:

This photo is of a group of Christians forming a protective barrier against Egyptian police forces. They are forming the barrier around Muslims at prayer.