A celebration and… a party?

Alfredo Fernández. Journalist.
Letter of Peace addressed to the UN
 
In school they teach children that the Republic of Argentina made the first cry of freedom on 25th May 1810. On this day celebrations are held in schools, and children dress up in traditional clothes, paint their faces black to represent the black people who lived there in colonial times and they take fried pies and cakes to school and drink boiled mate.

They also dress the girls as upper class ladies who used to meet and embroider, weave and play the piano together, or as slave girls who cooked and washed clothes on the river bank.

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The 25th May is also a celebration of the fight for freedom. Many men gave their energy and their lives in the pursuit of emancipation. The decision to create the first national government was a demonstration of maturity that is manifest in numerous aspects of our lives, and whilst it implies freedom, it also means responsibility. The responsibility to defend the dream of an independent Argentina.

And yet there is still so much to be done in order to achieve it! Independence is not just a declaration; it is also the commitment to sustain it. Independence means being able to make decisions freely. But that is not so easily done today. Are we truly free to decide for ourselves? Are we tied to certain ideologies that stop us from acting freely?

May 25th is a day that invites us to reflect, to manifest patriotic ideals that are intimately linked to certain values that accompany us on a daily basis: freedom, sovereignty, equality. This freedom that is still so hard for us to see when almost half of the population is deemed poor. When more than 10% of the population is unemployed, not to mention the large numbers of people who work in marginalised jobs or the black market, and have no social protection whatsoever.

An Argentine historian remembers how “During these days the original festive dimension was brought back to life. Public spaces were filled with people taking pleasure in different performances and events”. And quite right too. Just think about it- 200 years! But of course, 200 years is nothing in Europe, whereas here in America it’s a long time.

We must celebrate these events that took place all that time ago, because although it wasn’t our responsibility or our decision, thanks to this we now exist, albeit that we are struck by a reality that regularly overwhelms us.

Because today we celebrate our liberation from Spanish oppression and domination, but we are still trapped by our own despondency and the resentments that stop us from expanding our freedom.

So, do we still have a reason to celebrate? Of course we do! But we should also engage in a process of reflection that allows us to look back at history, and in light of these events, these evidences, build a better present. We would truly feel independent if a cry of freedom could be reborn in the heart of every Argentine, bearing in mind this sense of separation, along with everything that keeps us trapped today and doesn’t let us live in freedom.

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THE ART OF COMMEMORATION: A NEW OPPORTUNITY
Francesc Torralba. Doctor of Philosophy. 
Director of the Universitas Albertiana Peace Institutes

CAN HISTORY BE TRANSFORMED?
Inés Palomeque.
Director of Mil Milenios de Paz

Can history be transformed?

Inés Palomeque.
Director of Mil Milenios de Paz
 
We thought about what would be the best way to integrate young people from Latin America, and especially from countries who will be commemorating their bicentenary- Argentina- Bolivia- Chile – Ecuador- Mexico- Paraguay and Venezuela. The decision was taken to organise the 10th Young Peace Messenger Leaders Parliamentary Assembly between 15th and 17th September 2010 in the Honourable Senate in Argentina.

In the very place where laws are drawn up and passed, the Senate Building, young people will give their point of view, from a dynamic, multidimensional, interactive, positive, creative, committed, respectful vision and with an awareness of their Rights and Responsibilities they will connect with the history of their respective countries, and the great men and women of that history and the way in which they shaped the life of the people there. They will use this to put forward suggestions and exchange innovative ideas and actions that can generate peace and wellbeing for all and help to build a fraternal, humane and just society.

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2010 is a very important year for those who want to reinvent the future. 200 years ago in a number of Latin American countries, emancipation movements rose up almost simultaneously in order to liberate people from colonialism. Argentina celebrated the anniversary of the May Revolution and the creation of the first national government on May 25th. Six years later, after a long process and in a global context that favoured emancipation, the Declaration of Independence was made, on 9th July 1816. Something which started off as a feeling and was then presented at a town meeting, helped to transform us into a Free and Sovereign Nation, to grow and develop as an independent group of people.

200 years is no small thing, without a doubt it constitutes a huge and unique opportunity for us to connect with our past, reflect on our present and achieve real, peaceful integration through personal and social transformation.

In order to transform history, we need to dream of a better tomorrow. Finding reconciliation within ourselves and with others, forgiving ourselves and others. Getting to know our roots (past) helps us to get to know ourselves, reflecting on our lifestyle (present) helps us to transform our future. We need to re-find ourselves and others.

The May celebration is an emblem of freedom. The freedom we knew how to achieve. Freedom that we want to protect for ourselves and future generations and which begins with peace and helps us to find inner freedom. Peace and Freedom are necessary for us to transform our future and expand qualitatively.

Building a plan for the country through dialogue, finding common ground, establishing fair agreements, discovering strategies that help to strengthen our dreams, as people and as a nation, requires courage and bravery. And here peace can form a bridge that unites us.

Within the state of peace all people are equals. Peace implies the presence of integral, individual harmony, which is reflected in pleasant, collaborative, creative social conduct. When we are at peace we can carry out a joint project that reaches beyond individual desire and benefits the common good.

Each and every one of us is a centre of peace. If we awaken our consciousness we will discover and recuperate our true power. The power that each of us has and should know how to use to build and help create the common good. To transform ourselves and transform others, the hatred that is within love, and the revenge that lies within forgiveness. As long as we flame the fires of resentment, we will be trapped in the past, depressed and devalued, full of negative thoughts and feelings.

Perhaps the key is to build bridges of friendship, strengthen collaboration, apply our knowledge to help develop groups of people, all groups of people. To help all men. Because we are one. And therefore the good and the bad that we do, sooner or later will affect us in some way. We need to hold everyone in our consciousness, let go of our fear when we meet others, create alliances, trust in man’s ability to give, love and be brave in order to achieve peace.

The participation of young people is fundamental to the creation of transformation. “We, as young people decide to begin to change by respecting human values, the context that we exist in and by valuing everyday life”. IX Assembly “Young people, politics and peace” 18th September 2009. National Congress. Buenos Aires (Argentina).

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THE ART OF COMMEMORATION: A NEW OPPORTUNITY
Francesc Torralba. Doctor of PhilosophyDirector of the Universitas Albertiana Peace Institutes

A CELEBRATION AND… A PARTY?
Alfredo Fernández. Journalist.
Letter of Peace addressed to the UN

The art of commemoration: A new opportunity

Francesc Torralba. Doctor of PhilosophyDirector of the Universitas Albertiana Peace Institutes
 
When an event is commemorated emotional and rational dimensions both come into play. Commemoration is not a singular or individual act; it is a process that develops within a community. It comes about when an “us” is able to recognise itself as a collective subject with a shared history, a series of dramatic and happy, positive and negative episodes, pride and indignation, pain and pleasure, but it also implies a level of rational and critical analysis of what happened and how it happened.

When we commemorate something there is always the danger of deception or evasion of pain, of ignoring the victims of the given context. When we commemorate and forget about those who suffered, the ritual becomes an industry of resentment, and a focus of hostility. We must stop commemoration from becoming a way to awaken absurd resentments because, as the Letter of Peace addressed to the UN says, these resentments become real obstacles to building peace.

Wall Painting of Diego Rivera. Palacio Nacional (Mexico).

Victims have the right to be remembered and not forgotten and when communities commemorate their history they must be honest enough to tell their own story, to publically recount the dark side of events, all the things that are not written down in the official history books about the nation’s glorious past. The act of commemoration also provides an opportunity to make public statements of regret about how things were done in the past and to move on and take on the lessons learnt for the present and future. In reality what often happens is that specific agendas influence how the story is formed, and as a result commemoration becomes a perfect selection of remembered and forgotten information, expressly sought out to have the desired effect on the masses. 

The formal objective of all acts of commemoration is to remember what happened, go back in time to think about what happened, what took place and how it took place. Memories are not emotionally neutral, especially if what is being evoked is a collective memory that left a deep imprint on the biography of a group of people or nation.

The commemoration of independence is a pretext to deepen our collective essence, our national identity and the richness of intercultural contact. It is also an opportunity to think about what your community can do to contribute to a planetary agreement, to help global history to progress. It is not just about looking at the past in order to recreate it, it is about learning from the past so future generations can live in peace in a globally connected world.

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THE ART OF COMMEMORATION: A NEW OPPORTUNITY
Francesc Torralba. Doctor of PhilosophyDirector of the Universitas Albertiana Peace Institutes

CAN HISTORY BE TRANSFORMED?
Inés Palomeque.
Director of Mil Milenios de Paz

A CELEBRATION AND… A PARTY?
Alfredo Fernández. Journalist.
Letter of Peace addressed to the UN