The Story of Colors ³⁺

Let us share the peace pipe and listen to the story of all the colors that the parrot, the macaw, carries on its feathers.

Look at it – this colorful parrot!
It’s hard to believe that so many colors can exist on one single bird.
But once, it wasn’t like that.
Once, it was black and white.
And the world it flew through was black and white too – and it was boring.
There was no joy in the world.

The gods, because of this, were irritable and quarrelsome – but also wise.
They decided to color the world.
They found colors deep in the heart of the Earth, high up in the sky, in children’s laughter, and in hope.
Then the colors began to blend, and they loved each other, and new and newer colors were born.
With these, the gods painted the world.

Some of the colors fell on people too – that’s why people come in different colors and think in different ways.
And all the colors are stored on the macaw, so that people never forget them.

And the world will be happy only when every color and every way of thinking has its place in it.

Let us share the peace pipe.

This story of the colors comes from Mexico, from the region of Chiapas, where the Zapatistas have been fighting for 30 years for a dignified and autonomous life for the Indigenous communities.

Its author, Subcomandante Marcos, was for many years the voice of the Zapatista movement –
Wise, witty, and a relentless fighter for life.
For a world of many worlds.
For a human being who lives with nature, not against it.