About

1.

This is Professor Zero, writing in memory of Paulo Freire. Here we keep our eyes on what is essential, and throw out the trash.

My name is derived from those of the Comandante Cero (Nicaragua) and Delegado Cero (Selva Lacandona).

My age is zero, because I was just born. Zero is a Mayan number.

Professor Zero thinks from the ground up, and stays close to the bone.

2.

I have said a little more about myself in Why I Am ‘Mexican’, and about my writing persona in Professor Zero and Me. Writing Is Like Walking discusses the emergence of the Professor Zero site in greater detail.

3.

The header image here is from a picture I took in the market at Chichicastenango, Guatemala, in late 2002. The smoke is from incense, being used in a pre-Christian ceremony inside the church. The mist is evening dew.

My true portrait is detail from the Casa de la Muerte in Copán, Honduras. I took this photograph in February, 2003.

4.

The Delegado Cero is also known as the Subcomandante Marcos. The term Comandante Cero is not designed to refer to a specific person. There is more information on these matters in Sergio Ramírez’ memoir Adiós muchachos.

5.

The Subcomandante Marcos, as you know, is a masked character, and refuses to have a fixed identity. I am that kind of narrator.

6.

There is a character in this site known as Da Whiteman, and a class of people (not necessarily white, straight, or male) known as whitemen. These are authorities and managers, but also condescending and conformist speakers.

7.

G raphics in this site of Emiliano Zapata and the UFW flag are by the Unapologetic Mexican, and are used by permission.

Axé.