Javier Sicilia

Javier Sicilia (1956, Mexico City) is a Mexican poet, essayist, novelist, peace activist and journalist in Mexico. He contributes to various print media such as the Mexico City daily La Jornada and Proceso magazine. He was founder and director of El Telar ("The Loom"), coordinator of several writing workshops, is a film and television writer, editor of Poesía magazine, a member of the editorial board of Los Universitarios y Cartapacios, the National System of Creators of Art since 1995, and is a professor of literature, aesthetics and screenwriting at Universidad La Salle at Cuernavaca and was director of the now-defunct magazine Ixtus.

Javier Sicilia

Biography

Sicilia inherited his love of literature and poetry from his father, who was also a poet. An avid reader of Saints Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross, Sicilia is a poet whose themes are linked with Catholicism and Christian mysticism. Later he met the Austrian philosopher Ivan Illich, and Sicilia has since become one of the main promoters of Illich's thought among Mexican intellectuals.

As a contributor to Proceso and as the editor of the magazine "Conspiratio", Sicilia writes about various current philosophical, artistic and literary topics. In 2009 he was awarded the Aguascalientes National Award in Poetry, one of the most prestigious honors in Mexican literature.[1]

In 2011, TIME Magazine named The Protester as its Person of the Year,[2] and Sicilia was profiled in the accompanying "Profiles of Protesters" series [3] for his work in organizing the 2011 Mexican protests.

In January 2013, he met with Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto to discuss assistance and memorials for victims of violence in Mexico.[4]

Estamos hasta la madre ("We-have-had-it") protests

On March 28, 2011, Sicilia's son Juan Francisco Sicilia Ortega was murdered along with six other victims [5] in Temixco, Morelos, Mexico, by drug gang members. Two of Juan Francisco's friends were assaulted by policemen who were working with the Pacífico Sur drug cartel as muggers. The friends reported the attack, and the attackers turned to the Pacífico Sur cartel for help. On March 27, 8 Pacífico Sur cartel members, including an infamous member named El Pelón, kidnapped the two victims as well as four other friends and Juan Francisco from a bar, murdering the group by suffocation.[6] In response, the poet led protests in Cuernavaca with satellites of support held in numerous other places throughout Mexico.[7] The protesters have called for an end to the Drug War, the retreat of military forces from the streets, the legalization of drugs, and the removal of Mexican President Felipe Calderón. Protests have occurred in over 40 Mexican cities, including an estimated 50,000 in Cuernavaca and 20,000 in Mexico City.[8] The rallying cry of "Estamos hasta la madre!" ("We've had it up to here!") was used during these protests.[6]

On April 3, 2011, Sicilia announced in an open letter "To Mexico's Politicians and Criminals" [9][10] a second protest, a "National March for Justice and against Impunity," which started on May 5, 2011, in Cuernavaca, Morelos, and arrived on May 8 at the Zócalo in Mexico City,[11] where over 200,000 people attended.[12] Before the beginning of his speech,[13] Sicilia demanded that the Mexican President retire Genaro García Luna from his post as Secretary of Public Security. A six-point national pact that searches for the social fabric's refounding was read at the same protest.[14] Other related protests occurred the same day in over 31 Mexican cities and 17 cities over the globe.

Further information: 2011 Mexican protests

Literary works
Poems
  • Permanencia en los puertos (1982)
  • La presencia desierta (1985)
  • Oro (1990)
  • Trinidad (1992)
  • Vigilias (1994)
  • Resurrección (1995)
  • Pascua (2000)
  • Lectio (2004)
  • Tríptico del Desierto (2009)
  • Vestigios (2013)
Novels
  • El bautista (1991)
  • El reflejo de lo oscuro F.C.E. (1998)
  • Viajeros en la noche (1999)
  • A través del silencio (2002)
  • La confesión (2008)
  • El fondo de la noche (2012)
  • El deshabitado (2016)
Essays
  • Cariátide a destiempo y otros escombros (1980)
  • Poesía y espíritu (1998)
Biography
  • Concepción Cabrera de Armida, la amante de Cristo (2001)
  • Félix de Jesús Rougier, la seducción de la Virgen (2007)

Journalistic works
Anthology
  • La voz y las sombras (2009)
  • Estamos hasta la madre (2011)

Awards
As writer
  • 1990 - Ariel Award to Best Original Story, for the film Goitia, un dios para sí mismo (1989)[15]
  • 1993 - José Fuentes Mares National Award in Literature, for the novel El Bautista[16]
  • 2009 - Aguascalientes National Award in Poetry, for the poetry book Tríptico del desierto
As social activist
  • 2011 - People's Choice Honoree for Global Exchange's Human Rights Award[17]
  • 2011 - Lion's Heart Medal, given by the University Students' Federation from the University of Guadalajara[18]
  • 2011 - Named as a Time Person of the Year, as one of the representatives of "The Protester" figure.[19]
  • 2012 - XX National Human Right's Prize "Don Sergio Méndez Arceo"
  • 2012 - Voice of the Voiceless Award, given by Annunciation House (El Paso, Tx.)[20]
  • 2012 - "La lucha sigue" Award, given by NACLA (New York)[21][22]
  • 2012 - "Personaje del Año" Award (International Section), named by the Bolivian journal El Deber.[23]
  • 2013 - "La palabra que busca la paz" (The word that searches for peace) recognition and homage, given at and by the XXIV National Book Fair of Leon (León, Guanajuato, Mexico)[24]

References
  1. "Bitacora del Parvulo". Fabricioestrada.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  2. Stengel, Rick (2011-12-14). "Person of the Year Introduction". TIME. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  3. Padgett, Tim (2011-12-14). "Why I Protest: Javier Sicilia of Mexico". TIME. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  4. "EPN: Estaremos al lado de las víctimas". Televisa. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
  5. Mexico poet Javier Sicilia leads anger at drug violence, Julian Miglierini, BBC News, 22 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
  6. Padgett, Tim (June 30, 2011). "Day of the Dead: The drug war is Mexico's tragedy". Time Magazine.
  7. "Mexicans go out to protest against violence and the drug war | Les blogs". Frommexico.blogs.france24.com. 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  8. "The Field: And This Is What History Looks Like in Mexico". Narcosphere.narconews.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  9. Sicilia, Javier (April 3, 2011). "Javier Sicilia's Open Letter to Mexico's Politicians and Criminals" [Javier Sicilia: Carta abierta a políticos y criminales]. Proceso. Archived from the original on April 6, 2011.
  10. "2010". Proceso. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  11. Brito, Jaime Luis (May 6, 2011). "The March Advances to Mexico City Amidst Silence and Cheerfulness: Raúl Vera, Rius, Eduardo Gallo, Julian Lebarón, and Francisco Rebolledo Attend" [La marcha avanza hacia el DF en medio del silencio y el ánimo: Asisten Raúl Vera, Rius, Eduardo Gallo, Julian Lebarón, Francisco Rebolledo, entre otros]. La Jornada. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Alt URL
  12. "Marcha por la Paz en México: Cientos de Miles piden a Calderón cambiar estrategia contra narco - International Business Times". Mx.ibtimes.com. 2011-05-09. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  13. Red por la Paz y la Justicia. "English". Redporlapazyjusticia.org. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  14. Red por la Paz y la Justicia. "Propuestas para un PACTO NACIONAL". Redporlapazyjusticia.org. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-03. Retrieved 2012-04-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. "El Fuentes Mares para García Mainou". eleconomista.com. October 26, 2010. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-04-08. Retrieved 2012-01-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=276189
  19. "Person Of The Year 2011". Time. 2011-12-14.
  20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-16. Retrieved 2012-04-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. http://nacla.org/news/2012/5/10/rius-receives-naclas-2012-la-conciencia-del-pueblo-award
  22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2012-05-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2012-12-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. http://www.periodico.am/celaya/local/javier-sicilia-conmueve-en-la-fenal-12301.html%5B%5D

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