cacerolazo: pot bang-out

Another cacerolazo tonight in downtown Bogota. These things start from a few distant clinks then blossom out of nowhere. It means there’s still high energy behind ongoing anti-government protests in Colombia and suggests high turnout at mass demonstrations called for tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/wlMJCxHcha

— Dylan Baddour (@DylanBaddour) May 5, 2021

Cacerolazo often gets imported into English, as it has been in the English wikipedia entry.  I like this solution but my concern is that often people don't know the term and won't understand it at first. To build stronger movements it is worth translating it at least the first time it comes up.

Sometimes, as in the word reference forum, I've seen it rendered as pot banging. But it's not just any random pot banging! It's pot banging as a political action. My first thought was a pot bang-in - playing on the term sit-in. But that will sound to most listeners just like banging. It's also true that what is magical about this action is that is an action of dispersion, not of concentration. We generally do it in our homes by the window, not gathered together (though in Bogotá last spring sometimes people would gather on street corners to bang together). The term bang out is completely a play on words neologism made up by me, but I like it for conveying this idea of leaning out your window and banging your pot. I've definitely broken a pot from too much banging so don't use your best one, or set aside an old one for this activity! 

Otra Cosa: Something Else

This is the translation give by a group of this name that is a queer collective land project in Puerto Rico. They are working for food and land sovereignty in Borinken, including designing a solar composting toilet. They are asking for support for their work to share the design and the tools and support to help folks across the island build their own. Brilliant. I'm a huge fan of composting toilets when done right - but it really helps for folks to have support to make that happen.