Our Culture is Our Resistance

The letter below is from a friend that I met many years ago in Guatemala. Jonathan worked as an advocate for and accompanier to indigenous communities displaced by the violence of Guatemala's armed conflict. He is also an extremely gifted photographer. A collection of his photographs, along with contributions from Eduardo Galeano, Rigoberta Menchú, Ricardo Falla, Julia Esquivel, and others, has been published in an remarkable book: "Our Culture is Our Resistance".

Dear friends,

I hope that you're all doing well. I know that most, if not all of you have already heard about my book "Our Culture is Our Resistance" and that many of you have bought it, either from me or elsewhere. However, I wanted to send out one last notice and appeal to promote it. Sales of the book have been going well, particularly the Spanish edition sales in Mexico, where the book has gotten a lot of press. The publisher of the Spanish language edition is currently considering doing a second printing. With your help, maybe we can boost sales of and interest in the English edition, and persuade the US publisher to do a second printing as well, which would get this largely ignored story of the atrocities that occurred (and continue to occur in some ways) in Guatemala, with mucho US complicity and involvement, out to a broader audience.

As you know, partial proceeds from sales of the book will go to support the work of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation in Guatemala to seek justice through legal cases for family members massacred during the war, to contribute to the strengthening of the rule of law in Guatemala, and to reveal the truth of Guatemala's recent past so that violence is never allowed to take place again. I am also sending 50% of the proceeds that I get from print sales to the AJR.

I ask that you please circulate this information widely and tell your friends, encourage your local bookstores to carry the book, and local libraries, universities, etc. to purchase it, and bring it to the attention of any and all press contacts that you might have. And if you know of venues that would be interested in hosting one of the two educational exhibitions that I have, please let them (or me) know about them (see info about the exhibits below). This powerful and beautiful publication and the exhibitions associated with it are important tools for telling the story of the suffering, struggle, and courage of the Guatemalan people.

In late February and in early March I will have two expositions and book presentations combined with public forums about issues related to the book in Guatemala (more info coming soon about this, as well as about an educational publication that I'm working on for the uprooted communities in Guatemala). That exhibition will then travel to Mexico City, San Salvador, Managua and other cities in Latin America. There will almost assuredly be a third book related exhibit going to the University of Granada in Spain in the late Spring, that will presumably stay in Europe and travel to other venues.

I am grateful for anything and everything that you can do to help promote my book and for all that you can do to support and be in solidarity with the Guatemalans and the people of other countries who continue to struggle for truth, peace, equality, and justice for all.

For peace with justice,

Jonás - Jonathan

Our Culture is Our Resistance

Spanish language edition

Photographs by Jonathan Moller

Traveling Book Exhibition Information