The Road of Compañeros

Abstract

This concluding chapter argues that compañerismo is a quality of a type of relationship created through participation in a social-movement organization or a small group that has come together, explicitly or implicitly, for a common cause and against an amorphous yet real enemy. It is a quality that emerges from ties of solidarity among the socially marginalized. This form of relating to others is a cultural code—hence, difficult to decipher to the outsider. In this form of relationship and coexistence rests the possibility for resistance and creative power. Indeed, as a concept, compañeros is more than a source of support and comfort; it can also be a creative force through which one resists assimilation, accommodation, racism, and homophobia. It also enables one to forge alternative ways of being.