In memoriam Lhasa de Sela
I recently rewatched Avi Lewis & Naomi Klein’s The Take, their documentary from 2004 on Argentina’s reclaimed factory movement that rose out of the ashes of 2001′s economic melt-down (imposed by speculative neoliberalist policies, not surprisingly). I was particularly moved by the scene towards the end of the film which shows Buenos Aires street protests against a government shutdown of the worker cooperative Brukman —a textile factory run by its seamstresses— at a similarly desperate time for the film’s protagonists, industrial workers struggling to claim legal the legal rights over their autoparts factory, Forja. Lhasa de Sela’s version of the song Yo vengo a ofrecer mi corazón, popularized by la negra Mercedes Sosa, is definitely among the emotionally strongest I’ve heard. The next day I was saddened to learn that Lhasa died only days ago, on New Year’s Day – following a long struggle against breast cancer. Here’s to her—Bless her soul!
