IT'S NOT CINCO DE MAYO

November 20th, 1910 is celebrated as the start of the Mexican struggle for independence. The movement led to the adoption of Mexico's current constitution.

The Mexican Revolution was a social and cultural movement which brought the beginning of changes in Mexico. The revolution started as a rebellion against the Mexican President Porfirio Díaz. His regime not only accepted the involvement of the United States in Mexican life but also centered on expanding the Mexican economy. If successful, this would have eventually classified Mexico as a capitalist country. Francisco Madero, Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, Pascual Orozco, and Venustiano Carranza were all important individuals in the revolution because of the roles they played in the success of the revolution in Mexico. - Wiki

As I think back on all of the things I've heard and read about this moment of history, I come across two different realities that exist in parallel. One is the romantic side often exposed by Diego Rivera and Frida Calo through paintings, as well as the folk music Corrida's. Corrida's tell the stories of the individual struggles within the cities.

The other reality is how quickly promises are broken and Capitalistic intentions seem to always win out. Within these two realities parallel universes exist where at any one moment the terrific suffering of the poorest sits side by side with the gluttony of the wealthiest.

Unlike the culture in the United States, there is an order of magnitude more respect for the poor amongst the middle and upper classes of Mexico. I remember being schooled on the importance of humility and the vulgarity of pompous displays of material wealth. For me, those lessons I learned the few days a year I spent in Mexico. The rest of the year I got examples of how stupid that thinking was through our media. But even that tremendous contrast is slowly blurring as more and more Mexican leaders look like our own.