Archive for September, 2007
Southeastern Regional Anarchist People of Color Conference Reportback
Posted by illvox collective in General on September 29, 2007
Last weekend, March 25-27, radical people of color from across the nation gathered in Asheville, North Carolina. There, at the Southeastern Regional Conference of Anarchist People of Color, we breathed a collective sigh of relief and turned that shared breath into shared struggle: personal, social, and organizational relationships; histories, hopes, and plans for social change.
The conference, organized by the Asheville APOC collective and in keeping with all things APOC, was open only to people of color. This one fundamental tenet of APOC, respected by most and conversational to some, simultaneously allows for an enormous amount of diversity (as “people of color” encompasses most of the world’s population) and crucially creates incredibly rare safe space. During that last weekend in March 2005, Asheville became a unique pocket where those attending the SE APOC conference for once did not have to explain ourselves yet again, a place where we didn’t have to worry about defending ourselves and bracing for the inevitable offense, be it intentional or unintentional.
This feeling was immense and enduring. As one African-American from Richmond put it, “Personally, now I know what twins separated at birth feel like when they meet for the first time. [This conference] was about the realization that there are people that have shared experiences all over the country, and that we all want autonomy from systems of oppression.”
Tia Ceres, also from Richmond and also African-American, had this to say about the SE APOC conference full of people she had never known in any way, “There was so much I took from the conference. Most importantly, being among family and friends. I couldn’t turn a corner without a smile, or a pat on the back or someone acknowledging my existence and starting a conversation with me. From Suncere’s Black Panther fist to Walidah’s Soul Sista swagger, I was among family.”
With such a sense of unity and comfort immediately established, all present very quickly had the ability to not only open up – comparing experiences, simultaneously sharing vulnerabilities and strengths – but to also get down to business. It was a sentiment echoed by many: finally, without the need to navigate others’ ideas of race and our places in their imposed ideas, we could roll up our sleeves and get down to the real work of the revolution.
“It is the risks we take that will take down our enemies.”
– Ashanti Alston, during the conference’s opening workshop about feminism, critical theory, sexuality and relationships. Ashanti is former member of the Black Panther Party and former Black Liberation Army political prisoner who served over 14 years. He was recently the Northeast regional coordinator for Critical Resistance, a national radical prison abolitionist organization and is now a member of its New York City chapter. Ashanti also works with Estacion Libre, an organization that works to strengthen ties between people of color in the US with folks in liberated Zapatista territories of Mexico; and is a board member of the Institute for Anarchist Studies.
One of the very first questions asked in the opening discussion of the Southeast Regional was “What is anarchism?” Over the course of an hour, almost everyone present threw out their own definition, idea, or perspective on anarchism. The list of definitions began with “working to end all systems of domination” followed by “complete and total freedom, with a sense of responsibility, respect and collective effort.” Some said anarchism is simply no single, central doctrine; or simply the act of organizing outside of any institutions or system. A reoccurring definition that persisted throughout the conference was that of anarchism as self-definition and self-determination. This perspective seemed pressingly salient to the attending people of color, with the idea voiced repeatedly in many different ways, such as autonomia, zapatismo, hybridity, and recognizing/recreating who we are.
In all of these definitions, many emphasized that anarchism is very importantly something we do; the actions of our lives individually and collectively.
Throughout the discussion, many folks talked about how they didn’t necessarily identify as anarchists, or identified to different degrees. One person commented on how, while they personally drew a huge amount from anarchist theory and silently affiliated, she feels so instantaneously marginalized by the labels people apply to her already that she isn’t particularly interested in acquiring any new ones – a sentiment that earned lots of nods of agreement.
It’s important to note that our definitions of anarchism were created simultaneously with our list of what we wanted out of the APOC conference. Thus, our suggested meanings of the political idea of anarchism were inseparable from the real concerns, issues, and desires we raised. This list was vast: solidarity with indigenous struggle; historic and current relationships between communities of color and the police; Black Bloc/direct action as tactic and privilege; anti-war and anti-imperialism; classism, sexism, masculinist ideology; gender (pronouns, language and identity); internal and internalized oppression; our own traditions of anarchism; reaching and supporting young and/or single anarchist parents; awareness of space, comfort, and safety; slavery conditions in the United States; definition of “our” communities; identifying as POC, looking white, multi-racial folks; learning from mistakes (“fluid solidarity”); identifying obstacles to solidarity; borders and immigrants; networking to take care of basic needs such as health care; POC exploitation of other/own POC community(ies); exploring our own roles in capitalism, religion, military; using and creating media; developing creative ways of communicating; raising consciousness, speaking out, bringing it back… and that doesn’t even include everything.
“We are behind enemy lines.”
– Suncere Ali Shakur, in his opening remarks. Suncere is one of the four founding members of the all black grassroots organization TRIBE; a member of DC Mayday, a DC-based organization for the rights of the homeless and decent housing for the poor; founder of the Marshal Conway Children’s Free Breakfast Program; founding member of the DC Café Mawonaj; and organizer for the Free the Dragon Political Prisoner forum.
As we emerged from liberating feel of the opening discussion and prepared to move into a weekend of workshops, nothing could have grounded us more in the seriousness of ideas and intentions discussed then the wall of Black Panther history Ashanti presented us with. Detailing every murderous moment of police repression, the display remained a palpable reminder throughout the conference of the differences in experience radical people of color must deal with.
Of course, the workshops examined the contemporary ramifications of these very same distinctions. Political prisoners here in the U.S, military recruitment targeting our communities, covert wars across the Americas and overt wars overseas – all of these effecting not distant, different others, but people who look like us, who are related to us, who sometimes are precisely us.
“The Marines: the few, the proud, my family,” was how Walidah Imarisha, a political poet and prison rights and militarism activist, opened up a workshop entitled “Going AWOL: Staying Out, Getting Out, and Organizing Against the Military”. Together with Diedra Cobb, a conscientious objector from Hampton, Virginia, she went over all the insidious ways the U.S. armed forces are ruthlessly recruiting our brothers and sisters to kill our brothers and sisters. Walidah outlined the three reasons people sign up for the military – money for college, job opportunities, and the opportunity to learn other languages and cultures – and then one by one debunked them – 80% of those who sign up don’t qualify for college funds, 90% will be left without job skills that translate into the real world, and it’s awfully hard to use and/or appreciate your skill with language and culture when you’re wounded, dead, or stuck still fighting in Iraq due to stop-loss policies. Diedra spoke to her experiences with all of these issues, as well as testifying to how military personnel are pushed to lie to get you in and keep you in. Diedra also spoke about the work she now does, helping people meet their basic healthcare needs and thus avoid joining up to do so, and talked about how in creating and participating in counter-recruitment, we must be able to provide these alternatives to people in order to be truly effective and libratory.
This is just one example of the depth of the workshops presented at the Southeast Regional. Other titles included: “Free the Dragon: Political Prisoners”; “Globalization as Racism”; “Environmental Origins of Racism”; “Can APOC Kill Freddy Krugar? Potentials in the Face of Danger”; and “Resistencia a Plan Colombia”, as well as several guerrilla workshops. One workshop that very unfortunately did not happen was about the American Indian Movement (AIM) Struggle. Despite avid interest from many conference attendees, the presenter was missing in action – a big disappointment, as participation and representation from Native Americans has been an ongoing, self-identified need in APOC events.
One workshop near and dear to this IMCista’s heart was “Representing Ourselves: Building a Media Justice Movement,” led by Selina Musuta, a freelance journalist, DC Radio Co-op member, and Free Speech Radio News Correspondent. In an hour and a half that somehow managed to encompass everything from answering lofty questions like “What is Media Justice?” and “What is Media?” and providing up-to-the-minute legal updates on independent media struggles, to the nuts and bolts of interviewing and starting a pirate radio station, Selina emphasized over and over again the incredible need for POC, and indeed everyone, to be creating their own media and telling their own stories — “Getting other people to report on their own issues is crucial because I don’t have the right to represent them.” In an earlier workshop, she had spoken to the importance of self-representation, saying: “If you don’t have the power to represent yourself, other people do and they don’t know your needs. If you can’t represent yourself, other people will fill that space and do it for you.”
So here you have it. The collected thoughts of the people of color from Richmond, Virginia who attended the Southeast Regional APOC Conference. Two African-Americans, one Palestinian-American, and one Indian/Pakistani-American carpetbagger who we let do some typing. It was hard for us to find the time away from our jobs, our classes, our activism, and our emergencies to cobble this together collectively, but we knew it was important. In reporting, however, we’ve also carried with us the concern of revealing – after all, APOC folks have been systematically targeted since the network’s inception: preparing for the November 2004 FTAA protests in Miami, getting arrested and abused while there, and targeted at RNC protests in New York, August 2004. As one Richmonder said, “The more a movement like this grows, even independently from the white-led vanguard, the more the heat will be on us as activists of color. A big concern that came out of this for me are the safeguards against the police repression. It was put into context for me by Ashanti’s beautiful historical display of what happened to the Panthers and Suncere’s workshop on political prisoners. That’s just how much activism is not a game. I think to a lot of self-defined ‘anarchists’ in Black Blocs it’s all fun and games like on Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.”
Tia echoed this sentiment and tied it back to the importance of APOC being a people of color only space, “APOC is actually defined as anarchist and autonomous people of color. Autonomy not just from the government but from the unjust privileges of our white counterparts.” And, despite all the wonderful things about the conference and how much we’d like to talk about them, despite the fact that at the conference we spent very little time having a “bitchfest about whitey” as some people have actually asked us, we know we have to end this article by preemptively reiterating this conversation about POC safe space with you.
We had to deal it with at the conference (though the one incident of intrusion was in some ways far outweighed by the enormous support we had from white allies who cooked for us relentlessly), and the APOC webpage and list serve has to deal with it all the time. So, white folks, before you ask us all those questions you’ve just been dieing to test us with since the beginning of this article, here are all the answers, and this is all the time we’re willing to grant them.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS/COMMENTS from www.illegalvoices.org
Q: Aren’t you being racist?
No.
Q: Aren’t you being separatist?
No.
Q: Aren’t you being exclusionary?
No.
Q: Is this group anti-white?
In the words of Bobby Seale, “We’re not anti-white. We’re anti-oppression.”
Q: Are you authoritarians?
No.
C: As an anarchist, I don’t agree with your position. It puts identity politics over the interests of class [insert long series of blah blah blahs]…
The anarchist and progressive movements, particularly in the last 20 years, has consistently put identity politics (or, the power to control the movement’s direction and silence opposition on the part of mostly white men, although occasionally by white women as well) over everyone else’s interests, period. Likewise, anarchists’ white-left counterparts have been equally guilty of putting their potential to control Black and oppressed masses ahead of the interests of the working class (or any other class but a small cabal of white men). Books such as False Nationalism, False Internationalism go exhaustively into such topics.
Q: Wouldn’t you get more accomplish with white people as part of the dialogue to hear out some things?
Two problems with this question:
1.) It presumes people of color won’t accomplish as much without white anarchists, which is false.
2.) It presumes people of color want white anarchists to explain away, “fix” or deal with issues that people of color themselves need to confront.
Q: Shouldn’t we all unite and take on these issues?
Of course.
C: ‘I have fought for civil rights for people of color/have biracial kids or friends-partners of different races/feel passionately about these issues, and I resent you discriminating against me because I’m white.’
Two problems here too.
1.) Having people of color as friends, lovers or comrades; having children through such unions; participating in civil rights activity; etc. is, for white people, a choice and should not be equated to living the experiences of people of color.
2.) There are many resources available for anti-racist white activists. There are few people of color spaces for organizing and dialogue. Feel free to use these resources.
… and the list of questions goes on…
ARCHIVE OF PAST VISITOR COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS from www.illegalvoices.org
“Katie Johnson” writes: As you have previously stated,”Color is NOT a choise”, so why judge someone for something they have no control over. Yes, your ancesters land was taken and colonized, but I didn’t do it.Nor, any other white person around you.What if you were born ”white”? What would be your long, thought out, smartalic response to this web site?I see how you injoy playing people and recieving there angry reactions.To tell you the truth,i really thought you were just some punk kid pulling some prank joke, but now i just realize that your a man with an ignorince that no one or thing could ever help.i’m sorry that you are truely blind to what this world is really about.I hope that some day you will wake up and realize that it’s not the past that matters but, the ”right now”. doing wrong to others as done to your ansesters, nothing will ever change for the better
Response:
These are not issues of blame, but acknowledgement of the problem, the beneficiaries of past and current injustice, and reddress of such. Whites today, almost in whole, have benefitted in some fashion from past and current injustice, whether that be through patterns of education, employment, housing and criminal justice. Much of it is unconscious (meaning most whites don’t ask to get power and privilege), but it exists.
If I was born white, I’d hope I would have the foresight to be conscious of power and privilege, and see that I benefit from it. If I were born white, I would hope I wouldn’t make it my job to deny race is an issue, or that everything today is okay because I didn’t own a Black slave. If I were born white, I’d hope I wouldn’t be a sorry excuse for a human being by sending defensive, upset email to defend one’s whiteness or how them colored folks just whine about the past.
Not having white people on a listserve is in no way equal to historical wrongs and societal inequities today or in the past.
00BakerMark@qe.dorset.sch.uk writes:
I have read your Q&A page and was surprised to notice that you are actively racist towards white people, how can you have a free and equal world when people are still discriminated against?! You have not made it equal, simply turned the tables AGAINST white people, there is no equality just a reverse of the racism of the past. Feel free to argue your point with me, I believe in a completely equal system.
Response:
Never should our goal be to change your mind or validate your politics. This project is not an anti-racist movement or an anti-racist endeavor. It’s an endeavor intended to create a space for people of color to express their perspectives on a variety of issues affecting us, as communities most profoundly affected (historically and pragmatically) by racism and associated issues. While that, in itself, is a positive and proactive expression against racism (and thus implicitly anti-racist), the APOC movement comes together on our own terms and independent of definition of or direction by the white-led movement.
We speak primarily to people of color, who often feel silenced in white-led movements, find a space to speak their minds. We have very few spaces, and this is one.
Reverse-racism is an extremely weak argument and plays into some of neo-conservatism’s worst elements.
Josh S says:
hey why do u complain so much…seriously if u really hate this contry so much why dont u leave….since i probably wont get a response can i make a suggestion….i dont think u wanna leave and go back to whatever 3rd world country u can from to face the real problems there…you complain about whites being racist…its all u “colored” people who are racist….just look if one of you walked through a white part of town nothing will happen….now reverse that… a white guy walks through the black part of town whats gonna happen…in the best case he’ll get jumped and robbed…so why dont u shut your face stop crying suck it up like men and go on with your life….and stop hiding behind your color!!!!! pls resond love to hear your side
Response:
If one has complaints, one should leave the country? Should this rule cover the first complaint, or should we institute a complaint limit? If anyone complains “so much,” like say, 20 times, they should leave. That could work. Or perhaps, if one is of an ethnic background from which the land was taken and colonized , the subjects of complaints should themselves go. After all, it wasn’t their land or that of their ancestors to colonize, correct? After all, this isn’t the land they “came from,” following your sharp logic. This is land their ancestors came to. The American Indivian Movement of the 1970s or the Brown Berets of the 1960s, to illustrate, could be argued “hated” the United States. But, obviously, the land is theirs, not that of the U.S. government (which didn’t honor upwards of 300 treaties signed with the Native Americans and Mexicans). Thus they really have nowhere to leave to.
Similarly, African Americans were forcibly brought to the United States and stripped of their cultural identities, nationalities and history. Various historians speak very vividly of slaves prohibited from all non-’American’ expressions of culture in an effort to break those ties and pride. Clearly, because of the forcible assimilation through slavery and, later, through adoption of assimilated practices, former African slaves and descendants of African slaves today have a stake in America if no other reason than their ancestors built the infrastructure and, sadly, were by their bodies the means by which the system of capital (particularly in the 1600s) was undergirded.
Very intriguing.
This is, as you have surmised by now, a long deconstruction of the very stupid argument, “love it or leave it,” which is intended purely to shut people up rather than reach consensus. It’s an anti-democratic and cowardly argument that neglects every human rights convention known as well as the ideals upon which most American-born individuals are raised.
Not that the argument here is real bright anyway. “Suck it up like men”?
Alex Peterson wrote:
“How can you call your group anti-racist when it excludes a racial group? Racism is defined as “Discrimination or prejudice based on race.” So the fact in which you are discriminating against the white racial group makes your organization racist, does it not?”
Response:
No.
First, it’s important to come correct about language, dictionaries, history and who generally writes them.
English language dictionaries comprise a sub-chapter in the history of the English language, which was born in the 5th Century A.D. with the invasion of England by Germanic tribes. As the Germanic conquerors remained in England, the language of one of them eventually prevailed; Anglisc. The effort of quantify language was a result of finding a means to assimilate people and words into the dominant (conquering) culture.
This hasn’t changed much. Usually, it’s the dominant culture which writes dictionaries. It comes from their perspective. For example, “Hispanic” is a perfectly valid word in the dictionary to address those of Mexican, Latin American and similar descent, but lost in that definition are the struggles that the Chicano civil rights movement fought for recognition beyond Nixon Administration definitions. “Negro” is in the dictionary as a term used for African-Americans. It’s certainly a definition, but so what? A “riot” is defined as “a wild or turbulent disturbance created by a large number of people,” and is now referred to as a “rebellion” (“an act or a show of defiance toward an authority or established convention”) by revolutionaries, because they know how loaded such terms are.
History is littered with words whose definitions mean nothing, but whose politics and context mean everything. This is the real issue.
Progressive-minded people attempting to use the dictionary to prove their point is trite, because many like to spend a great deal of time talking about politics and context, but fail to grasp reality when it truly affects them. Racism is indeed defined by some dictionaries as “Discrimination or prejudice based on race.” But the politics and context of racism in many countries are about power: who has it, and who doesn’t. Discrimination is about who has opportunities and who doesn’t. Is prejudice systemic subjugation of people of color for 500 years, or the request by people of color to have their own space? They can’t both be in real life, although in your dictionary, it’s probably very black and white.
Ken Hiser wrote:
“I find it amazing the hypocrisy of this event. Anarchist meetings regarding freedom but having it be only for people of color (whatever THAT means)?? This is the epitomy of hypocrisy and separatism. You should be ashamed. Unity is what is needed not separatism. And before you assume anything, YES I am an anarchist activist.what a pity.”
Response:
People of color have the right to organize autonomously; your self-importance about ideals is completely removed from context or history. The feminist movement built autonomous spaces in the 1970s. That movement grew and gained a lot from it. About the only folks who don’t know it, of course, are anarchists who never read radical history before making defensive rants about ’separatism.’
“I just wanna ask you a question: how can you describe yourself as an anarchist and, in the same time, segregate like you do? I’m a man of color: i’m white. I am in a minority group also: i am an anarchist.”
Response:
Minority as defined as both “ethnic, racial, religious, or other group having a distinctive presence within a society” and a “group having little power or representation relative to other groups within a society.” However, if you’re going to claim that both definitions are the same, perhaps a remedial English course is in order.
Anarchist politics (falling under the second part of said definition) for many are a choice — they’re a daunting, often difficult choice many struggle to come to, but they’re nevertheless a choice. Put crudely, one can choose to accept conditions as they are, choose to rebel against them, or decide to profit from the society at large and become an oppressor. Like everyone, I salute you as an anarchist comrade; we have chosen a set of politics for which there are no easy answers, and of which the state will stop at nothing to exterminate. Being an anarchist is not easy, but again, it is a choice.
Being a person of color is not a choice. It is more than this piss-poor corner-store philosophy of “I’m a man of color: i’m white.” Unlike the heaping pile of trash that masquerades as “anarchist theory,” being a person of color is not a half-assed, rhetorical deal — it’s reality. Study after study continue to indicate that a class of human beings just like you are incarcerated more frequently; given shoddier educations, childcare and “choice” of pretty damn much everything; denied homes, employment, loans and health care; treated with suspicion as immigrants; given the harshest work at the lowest wages; bashed by so-called anarchists and radicals as “segregationists” and “nationalists” for the blasphemy of wanting a voice; and treated as a lower caste of citizens because they are a different skin color, have a different culture and a different set of mores, history and identity than you. They did not make the choice to be people of color — discrimination, oppression, murder and history are theirs to bear.
Now, of course, you could claim those are ills of the larger society and have nothing to do with you because you’re an anarchist. In that case, you need to pitch your little punk-rock friends and just join the local conservative party now, since you’ll be there in 20 years anyway, waxing poetic to your snotty kids about the days you were a Generation XYZ version of the hippie.
You’re not an anarchist at all.
These issues are, in fact, ours to challenge if we are to demonstrate the liberating nature of this movement to people without hope. However, these politics are still a choice. If, in ten years, you decide you no longer want to be an anarchist, you can, it is somewhat safe to say, get a nice set of clothes and a nice hairstyle and you will be able to join the ruling class if you wish, get a profitable job, a nice home in an upscale neighborhood and perhaps run a chain of overpriced coffee shops. It is almost certain you can expect to not be pulled over, beaten and killed (without prosecution) by the police; denied loans, housing fit for the shelter of human beings, or nice schools for your kids; or chased by a gang of slur-shouting thugs or denied medical attention from the beating you may get from said thugs because you’re white. There will be NO repercussions to your choice of being an anarchist, which you can mostly write off as youthful indiscretion. Men like David Horowitz (a former youth radical turned wealthy conservative columnist paid to bash the left) can attest to that.
How can anyone call themselves an anarchist and “segregate” by wanting a people of color space?
The decision to make this a people of color-only space is a collective one, made by the vast majority of this list. But even at the most basic, we have a right to determine how we dialogue about our experiences, our ideas and aspirations as anarchists of color.
Many of the list people feel isolated and intimidated into silence by a movement which cares more for the fate of a tree than that of their brothers and sisters being warehoused in prisons, or denied basic rights, or denied housing and health care. Others feel the (mostly white, in many aspects racist) anarchist movement is itself at a dead end. Still others feel the best way to build an anarchist movement in the communities of color from which many of us hail is by dialoguing with people who share our histories and politics. All, on some level, appreciate the effort of white comrades like you, but want to talk about common experiences and feel like they’re not alone.
From the eyes of a person of color, the anarchist movement, in my opinion, is VERY “segregated,” white countercultural and completely disinterested in an equal voice for Black, Brown and all indigenous people. Most of the attitudes are frankly Neanderthal, and it’s no wonder so many of us are sometimes embarassed to be called anarchist. One Latino comrade was told people of color could not support people of color and not be a racist. Another brother who, upon telling a white comrade of people of color dialogues, was told it was “interesting.” One of the reasons this forum is exists is because the anarchist movement is a long way from being egalitarian, desegregated and honest with itself about its history, our history and a means to effect real change in a world in which they are, in numerous respects, irrelevant.
Which brings me to the question you should be asking….. why?
Why does this list exist? Why are we here? Why do we want a space for only people of color?
We’re not “segregating” white people out because we don’t like you, are playing some ‘reverse racism’ card. We’re not trying to perversely ‘make whitey pay.’ Many of us are here because, whether it differs from your view or not, we don’t have a voice in t
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Anarchist People of Color: A Brief Summary
Posted by illvox collective in Anarchist People of Color on September 22, 2007
By: Mohamed Jean Veneuse
Short Description:
APOC is a network of de-centralized Anarchist/Anti-authoritarian “screams and sighs of relief”, solely for People of Color. Though the definition(s) of APOC and those involved with it remain multiplicitous — particularly pertaining to what exactly is meant by the signifier “Person of Color” — it is those who are associated with it that define its meaning(s). APOC is built to recognize “the racially oppressed other”, whilst not being a separatist movement, and to provide the necessary means for that “other” to recognize itself, to build a space autonomously for itself and subsequently liberate itself whilst recognizing the infinite oppressions that are faced by people of the world and seeking out ways to dismantle them.
“White folks need to deal with being ANTI-RACIST ALLIES to folks of color communities and activists, activists in particular because we are usually whites’ entry point into any possible relationship with our communities.”
- Ashanti Alston
“Empowerment will remain powerless until we change power relations.”
- Angela Y. Davis
Related Theorists and Traditions:
Anarchism
Anti-Racism
Black Anarchism
Lorenzeo Komboa Ervin
Ashanti Alston
Sam Mbah
Arif Dirlik
Frank Fernandez
Kuwasi Balagoon
Martin Sostre
Related Groups and Practices:
Black Anarchism
Anti-Rascist Action
Affinity Groups
Anarchist Black Cross Network
Critical Resistance
Estacion Libre
CopWatch
Related Events:
1) First APOC conference in Detroit, Michigan between October 3-5th, 2003.
2) APOC Bloc Call to Action against the FTAA ministerial in Miami on November 18th, 2003.
3) “Rally Against Hate at MCCD” on Tuesday October 12th, 2004 in protest of ethnic minority students and educators having been the recipients of disparaging remarks by a GCC Professor.
4) “May Day – A Day without Immigrant(s)” on May 1st, 2006 in protest of the criminalization of Immigrants & their respective struggles.
Locus of Activity:
The work APOC is grounded in issues of race. However, this focus does not dismiss other sites of oppression, whether they pertain to sexuality, gender, faith, capitalism or the state form. These all represent webs of power that must be addressed as an interlocking system.
Time of Activity:
APOC has been active since 2003.
History:
The Detroit conference in October 3-5 of 2003 marked the first APOC conference, Approximately 130-150 were in attendance at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The conference was divided into six sections:
A) Women of Color Discussion
B) Sexism Workshop Action Steps
C) Saturday Evening Plenary
D) Self-Defense Workshop
E) Police & Cruising Workshop
F) Building an Anarchist People of Color Movement
Regarding what specifically and really came out of the conference in Detroit, Ernesto Aguilar highlights that “For the first time, this movement shined beyond the names and faces people know, and showed our strength and unity. Youth stepped up and took center stage as organizers and speakers. Veterans imparted their knowledge, but did not dominate proceedings. We got to talk about the issues affecting our communities, and how we can make our work more reflective of the anarchist ideal. A common thread in terms of vision seemed to be the idea that the label we called ourselves was far less important than the theory and practice that were part of our struggles. During many workshops, attendees stressed that more emphasis in the white-led anarchist movement was on capital-A anarchism rather than developing projects that exemplified the ideals we talk about. People expressed wanting to see work that went beyond activism, but that served needs and worked with the community” (From www.ainfos.ca/03/oct/ainfos00186.html)
There was some debate at the conference regarding two visions of the group’s future. The first was the POC Network’s proposal and the second was the APOC United Front’s proposal.
“[POC] Network authors, who said most conference pre-registrants had not expressed an interest in building an APOC group, requested their proposal be discussed in a workshop running concurrent with others, so those not interested in group-building could join other workshops. United Front authors argued that discussing a proposal anyplace else but a plenary was undemocratic. United Front advocates also called for a vote on all proposals, whereas the Network authors said they intended their discussion to be a dialogue and not necessarily a vote.
The ensuing debate prompted four BANCO members to issue a statement, “Stop Character Assassination and Sectarianism in the APOC Movement.” The statement condemned the Network proposal and its authors, along with various parties assisting with the conference. On October 3, Komboa emailed to say he would not attend the APOC conference due to the recent conflicts.
Ironically, in the end neither proposal was discussed. The Network proposal workshop was later changed to “Building an APOC Movement” by its authors, who later cited the need to build upon dialogues over the weekend, rather than found a group out of the conference.”
(www.ainfos.ca/03/oct/ainfos00186.html)
An outline of the conference is found below:
Mission
Solutions must reflect our unique problems and possibilities for struggle. While there are “isms” we are fighting against, just as important, we are fighting for liberation.
We understand it is up to us to win freedom, on our terms. We need an anarchist people of color organizing network. Such a network should be composed of individuals and collectives. It should be committed to building a directly democratic movement aimed at creating revolutionary change.
Points of Unity
1.) We recognize that our oppression is political. We reject dominant and subculture claims that we are to blame for our own slavery. We understand that white supremacy and capitalism are at the heart of the problems we face.
2.) We support and encourage organizing in a grassroots, anti-authoritarian way. We believe in power of the people, not by the people.
3.) We acknowledge the need to organize independently and as a movement uniting people of color. Although our organization should be composed solely of people of color, we understand the importance of our work within the international resistance movement. We also understand our efforts can only help build resistance to our common enemies.
4.) We support and encourage active participation of women, as well as newer and older generations in our work.
5.) We recognize the necessity of self-determination for all colonized nations and peoples, and we stand with struggles by colonized nations and peoples around the world. We maintain the importance of autonomy for people of color, and also recognize the importance of multiracial, multicultural unity. We stand with just struggles against our oppressors.
6.) We recognize our struggle is also against racism within various political movements.
Statement of Purpose
We address our social problems by organizing movements and communities to take on white supremacy and capitalism, which are at the root of these problems. We seek to create alternatives to current order that are democratic, just and promote mutual respect, self-determination, empowerment and liberation.
We educate, organize and cultivate organizing skills in our communities to meet the challenges we face. Some of these issues include social, political and cultural struggles we face such as police misconduct, prisons, housing issues, education, and health care, but there are many more. We seek to agitate in ways that are most strategic to overcoming our oppression.
Structure
The organizing catalyst we envision is a loosely-knit network or groups and individuals, with a basic process, organizing and communications framework established as a means of working together. Membership should be based on agreement with the mission, points of unity and statement of purpose. From there, it is critical to have a commitment to organizing and being active in struggles affecting communities of color locally, as well as against capitalism and white supremacy. As local groups form out of action, responsibility for recruiting and maintaining membership in their areas is also essential. Participants should be accountable to their local collectives.
We believe in direct democracy, mutual respect and open debate as positive ways of rebuilding stronger relations in our communities. Decisions should be made in a spokes-council format, where delegates elected by local and regional groups participate in discussions and decisions (although audience is open to all members). Committees and spokes-council members should be accountable to the group.
Committees should be based around common work, such as process, publicity and organizing strategy, and be coordinated by a chair elected by committee members on the basis of the potential chair’s commitment to spending time in skills sharing and project completion. Committees should report back monthly to the spokes-council.
Conclusion
Many movements are crippled by Eurocentric, middle class and privileged orientations. We contend that a people of color movement would not only serve to educate, but to strengthen the communities in which we are a part. An organization comprised of likeminded individuals of color would strengthen our struggles against everyday oppressions. It would also empower us as we participate in such struggles.
The second Anarchist People of Color Conference, scheduled for October 7-9th, 2005 in Houston, Texas was postponed due to the need for local organizers to turn their attention to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Modes of Social Change Advocated:
The overthrow of capitalism, and replacing this exploitative system with anarchistic modes of political organization: collective ownership, decentralized, community-based, non-hierarchal and egalitarian
Favorite Theorists:
Kuwasi Balagoon: www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/profiles/balagoon.html
Ashanti Alston: www.anarchistpanther.net/
Who is the Enemy:
White supremacy (Racism), Capitalism, Police Brutality, Authority and the multiplicity of oppressions that face the world.
Media Used:
Primarily the web.
Tactics:
APOC promotes self-defense, affinity groups, community-based social programs, co-operation with other related struggles and groups, and virtually any tactic that leads to the overthrow of racism, sexism, and the state without using authoritarianism as a means.
Examples of Action:
EXAMPLE ONE: Miami APOC Call to Action:
“During the past week of demonstrations against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), protesters have been met with a massive show of state repression, backed by $8.5 million in US Government funding. Miami Police Commissioner John Timoney oversaw a massive, paramilitary assault on our constitutional and human rights. Police wielding batons, tear gas, pepper spray, rubber, wooden, and plastic bullets and other chemical agents attacked demonstrators, specifically POC and anarchists. Over 100 demonstrators were treated for injuries; 12 were hospitalized. Police dispersed large groups of peaceful protestors with tear gas, pepper spray, and open fire, once broken into smaller groups the treatment became harsher. This campaign of fear and intimidation culminated in the closure and militarization of downtown Miami. There were confirmed reports of military tanks patrolling the streets after dark on Thursday night.
There are estimates of more than 250 arrests with specific targets of anarchists and POC. People have become political prisoners and are being held in jail. More than 50 of them were arrested while holding a peaceful vigil outside the jail in solidarity with those inside. They were surrounded by riot police and ordered to disperse. As they did, police opened fire and blocked the streets preventing many from leaving. We are now receiving reports from people being released or calling from jail that there is excessive brutality, sexual assault and torture going on inside. Reports from released prisoners’ claims that POC, Queer and transgender prisoners are particularly being targeted. There is a confirmed report of one Latino man arrested along with 62 others outside Miami-Dade County Jail Friday, who is currently hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit for an injury he received after being beaten in the head with nightstick by an arresting officer. Those practicing jail solidarity by not stating names or nationalities are even further targeted for torture from police by hours of beatings and soaking with water in the extremely cold jail cells. There are still some people who are under disappeared status.
People have also been denied access to attorneys, visitation rights, vegetarian or vegan food, and access to essential medication and medical attention.
Representing the anti-authoritarian, autonomous, people of color groups in Miami, Autonomia is putting out a call with other groups of the Miami Direct Action contingent. We call on people from around the globe to take action immediately to support our sisters and brothers who are being unfairly arrested and brutalized. We are calling for three immediate actions:
1) Call, fax, email elected officials with the demands listed below. Contact information below.
2) Money is urgently needed Wire money to Cynthia Pitt at the Western Union in Miami, FL When you do this, call the convergence center in Miami at:
(305) 373-9644
3) Global Day of Action on Monday at any time and any appropriate location. This could be US Embassies, Departments of Justice or FBI offices
THESE ARE OUR DEMANDS:
• Drop all charges.
• Release all political prisoners.
• Meet basic human needs: no more brutality, provide appropriate food, access to medicine and medical attention, arm clothing.
• Provide access to attorneys and visitation rights.
• Provide equitable treatment to all prisoners regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, etc.
• Do not share information collected with the INS.
• Fire Chief Timoney and whole all Officers responsible for their actions.
EXAMPLE TWO: Hurricane Katrina Mutual Aid Relief:
“In conjunction with Mayday DC and members of Asheville APOC, is supporting an alternative mutual aid relief project called the Common Ground Wellness Center. This project has been set up in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans in cooperation with local residents. The project has provided medical care and supplies to hundreds of people in the past week. If you’d like to help provide mutual aid to residents of the Gulf Coast affected by Hurricane Katrina, please consider helping out with this effort. If you’d like to contribute money to this effort, please donate using the button linked below. Let’s put our mutual aid where our mouths are and show that people can help each other without government help”
EXAMPLE THREE: APOC ATTACK
“APOC-NYC had mostly been meeting as a radical study group. It was and actually is still working diligently and slowly, not skipping any steps, to carve out what its identity is and is working to build a strong face-to-face living, breathing community. Just prior to the FTAA demonstrations in November, APOC had a benefit show/party to help cover the expenses of the costly trips to Detroit and to help fund the upcoming mobilization in Miami. Many at the party said that the vibe was almost ideal. People felt a real sense of strength, unity and joy being amongst one another. What happened next would shock many of us and would show not only the determination of the state to silence Anarchist/Anti-Authoritarian People of Color but also the tremendous organizing strength, ferocity and sophistication that lie nascent in the still building APOC community. Early in the morning on November 16 th 2003 the NYPD senselessly attacked what had been a private gathering held at a space in Brooklyn rented by “Critical Resistance”, a group that does work against the Prison Industrial Complex. I remember that night that I had just gotten out of a long planning meeting for my upcoming trip to Miami for the FTAA and had decided to go home and go to sleep early, exhausted. At about two in the morning I received a phone call from a friend who had gone on to the benefit only to hear that “ up to 100 people had been indiscriminately sprayed with chemical agents, beaten with nightsticks, and harassed by a throng of police officers.””
“The details are truly shocking. The official press release states, “Over 25 police vehicles arrived at 968 Atlantic Avenue, the location of the fundraising event, at around 2 AM, to investigate an officer’s report of someone standing outside the party allegedly holding an “open container”. Within minutes, the police unleashed their wave of violence onto the crowd, provoking onlookers and beating down attendees who were not resisting their orders. Over 20 people were experiencing effects of the pepper spray that was erratically sprayed into the air by the officers.” It goes further to say, “All tenants of the private, residential building were present at the event, did not request police assistance, and no one in the building placed a complaint with the precinct or the emergency response system. Witnesses report that no warrant was presented upon police entrance. Organizers responded peacefully to police threats and physical provocation, yielding to their disrespectful demands. Legal council at the scene confirmed that at least 8 arrests were made. Preliminary allegations include violation of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and inciting a riot, all of which are classified as misdemeanors…EMS visited the precinct to attend to those who sustained serious injuries, which include bruised ribs, a spinal injury, and severe blows to the head.””
“In an interview with Amy Goodman of WBAI, Mayuran of APOC-NYC stated, “First they were throwing around and beating the first young person that they had arrested. Then when we tried to ask questions, when we tried to prevent that person from being arrested, they began pepper-spraying people pretty much indiscriminately, hitting people with night sticks, dragging them on the ground, throwing them. A man was punched in the face right next to me. I was thrown to the ground and I was pepper-sprayed. A lot of things were going on at the same time to a bunch of different people because there were so many police officers, 50 police officers or more.””
(By Eisengrimm, May 19, 2004: auto_sol.tao.ca/node/view/610)
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
A Short Missive to Anarchists of Color on Primitivism, Ideology and Options
Posted by illvox collective in Ideas on September 19, 2007
How is it that people who claim to be political can be so nasty when it comes to ideological squabbling? These days it seems people can’t say unconditionally that another set of ideas might have a point. One of the most glaring examples of the turf war is the debate around anarcho-primitivism. No other debate among anarchists seems to stir greater passions than civilization, technology and revolutionary change. Sadly, most of the discussion fails to step forward in any way, and it could.
This is an open discussion with other anarchists of color about politics, ideology and anarcho-primitivism. By no means will you find me taking on a “tree name,” equating my people’s struggle with a cow’s, or throwing out my computer, but I think it’s critical we learn more about a wide range of ideas, including anarcho-primitivism. With so few ideas taking hold, it’s necessary that we look closely at everything. The way civilization functions is an anarcho-primitivist critique we all can learn from. Maybe it’s because so much of this civilization plays a culturally assimilationist role in our lives, or perhaps it’s that this civilization’s very existence plays a role in oppression. Whatever the case, with imperialism leading the way to oblivion, it is imperative that we find new ideas from which people of color can build. Civilization and modern technology, both imply, present a pleasant, pre-packaged world, cleaned of imperfections and safe. Furthermore, civilization, I argue, is implicitly summed up in most public discourse as being white.
Much of what is regarded as civilization is unabashedly white supremacist. In the Southwest, one of the Mexican American Civil Rights movement’s motivations, as Professor Rodolfo Acuna points out, was the Eurocentrism in history books. Civilization is taught to be one of “modern” conveniences, rather than the intellectual and emotional capacity of a society. Western civilization, in particular, is almost wholly focused on talking up its superiority. Aztec advances in astrology and mathematics, African strides in dozens of disciplines, and the subsequent theft of all by the European were whitewashed into this modern world of sport utility vehicles, a Protestant work ethic and straight-faced advocacy of “our democracy.”
Of course, political people tend to get very bound up in preconceptions of technology. We begin looking at technology as a tool of class, rather than as a tool of imperialism. Inadvertently, we begin buying the dominant culture’s shell game of class. Contrary to conventional leftist thinking, the perception of class is critical because it requires a perception of tension to support the idea that this is a democracy where that division is emblematic of the overarching need for unity. Thus, we begin talking about the gulf between rich and poor, for instance, and not the society that requires both. We also fail to grasp the desire to ‘buy up’ to another strata that cuts across class lines. Where class-reductionism fails to examine technology is in Eurocentric export of its visions of society. Not just in selling consumerism, but in sterilization and remote gas supply. Is every technology evil? No, but the vast majority of American technologies have a profit and Western cultural basis as their primary motives. Inevitably, such export means the destruction of Third World people’s cultures and lives. Free trade and its many variants have been a grim reminder of this.
For people of color in the “first world,” the ideas of modern civilization and technology are wedded to embracing Eurocentrism as our own. Consumerism, for example, is much more than a capitalist aberration, but a sociological and psychological outgrowth of a civilization obsessed with its own modernity and superiority. Why else, even in Communist nations, is there such interest in Western goods and lifestyle? Because, above and beyond capitalism, America has managed to make its goods’ acquisition appealing, their existence superior to homegrown items. This goes beyond mere economics. The objective of Western civilization is to strip people of color from their cultures and histories and replace them with that of the Eurocentric ideal.
If you are a person of color, your support of this modernity and superiority is integral to its success. Rebel Black and Brown factions have been part of the Western experience for time immemorial, and Black and Brown unity with Western civilization is a key debate point for the imperialists who seek a mandate for assimilation and colonization. The more people of color start identifying “our” values as American rather than Third World, the bolder imperialism gets. Thus, it’s very important for white Republicans to have the Alberto Gonzaleses and Condoleeza Rices supporting their “democratization” of Iraq. Those particular whites know it’s a powerful image. It makes them more raw in their actions. And the implicit support of Black and Brown subjects stateside, no matter the class, is supposed to undergird their push to exterminate the dark, rebel races and cultures.
To their shame, the left and class-war anarchists have provided little in the way of resistance to the onslaught of ideas. Many have been suckered into the rhetoric of “our” country, “our” struggle and so forth without ever questioning who “our” really is. Class-war anarchism has failed to positively explore many ideas, including anarcho-primitivism, and quietly fallen in line with white supremacy’s presentation of civilization itself. In “Anarchism And Other Impediments To Anarchy,” Bob Black notes:
The history of anarchism is a history of unparalleled defeat and martyrdom, yet anarchists venerate their victimized forebears with a morbid devotion which occasions suspicion that the anarchists, like everybody else, think that the only good anarchist is a dead one. Revolution — defeated revolution — is glorious, but it belongs in books and pamphlets. In this century — Spain in 1936 and France in 1968 are especially clear cases — the revolutionary upsurge caught the official, organized anarchists flat-footed and initially non-supportive or worse. The reason is not far to seek. It’s not that all these ideologues were hypocrites (some were). Rather, they had worked out a daily routine of anarchist militancy, one they unconsciously counted on to endure indefinitely since revolution isn’t really imaginable in the here-and-now, and they reacted with fear and defensiveness when events outdistanced their rhetoric.
Marxism and its bastard cousins have struggled to find relevancy in a world where the working class doesn’t fight the elite, but so desperately aspires to be the ruling class that it will die and kill in their name when called on. Ideas that fall outside the class line, including the emergence of an Anarchist People of Color tendency, are looked at as competition or reason to use class politics as a battering ram against divergent views. Class reductionist politics have done precious little to change capitalism or class structures. The idea of class unity is obliterated every time those of the working or middle classes start talking about “our safety” as if their very existence and that of the elite were somehow united. In truth, Marxism and class-war anarchism have done little in the last three generations to foment real resistance. Yet, rather than concede that their ideas have failed to evolve at the rapid pace as capitalism, or even support divergent views that have gained far more, said folk would rather go down with the ship.
By no means do I advocate anarcho-primitivism, radical environmentalism and so forth. What I do advocate is keeping our options open as oppressed people to learn about how colonialism works. How can the ideas presented get us to where we want to be? I chose to discuss anarcho-primitivism for its powerful imagery, and to demonstrate the need to be fearless in finding answers, even in what is unpopular among “serious” anarchists. Having blinders is an easy trap to fall in, because our world is all about competing. However, people of color should remember what sectarianism has brought us; we need to keep our eyes on the prize first. My hope is that we can rise above the current level of discourse and take it forward. Oppressed people around the world understand that liberation is not reinventing the wheel, but seeing that the wheel itself must be discarded for something new. How we get there requires all of us, as Heather Ajani and I point out in ” On Donovan Jackson and White ‘Race Traitors’ Who Claim They`re Down,” to build our own critiques, strategies and visions for our communities, for our lives.
This suggestion for exploration is not an endorsement for anarcho-primitivism’s many issues. In my view, where these ideas fail to most clearly define themselves is regarding race. One of the primary slights to anarcho-primitivism is that it’s white hippies waxing poetic over indigenous cultures; and indeed it’s unclear how much anarcho-primitivism is hyperbolizing ancient indigenous culture and how much it’s celebrating Third World societies as they are at this moment. Anarcho-primitivism’s advocates would be astute to point out the Eurocentric view’s racism against non-Western, non-tech-heavy cultures. Many do not, and some fall into the rather bizarre place of recognizing indigenous culture but being hostile to self-determination or the very people of color with ancestral links to such cultures. Clearly, anarcho-primitivism makes valid points regarding such relativism, though it could easily emphasize the role of race in such.
In addition, laissez-faire and social Darwinist extensions, in particular, present challenges to the philosophy. A few of its adherents seem to interpret anarcho-primitivism to be a drop-out culture, though many others build from dialogue. And there needs to be a clear line between anarcho-primitivism and Deep Ecology, which advocates population control and doing away with most existing technology. However, dismissing all ideas without acknowledging merits and possibilities to a better world is a mistake. Anarchists of color especially need to keep this in mind.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
The Six Panther Ps
Posted by illvox collective in Organizing on September 15, 2007
When people think of the Black Panther party they think Black. Some Black people who have some guns who tried to kill some white people. That they were declared by the FBI as the most dangerous bunch of Black folks trying to kill white folks. In actuality, the Black Panther Party was a group unique from a lot of the other groups who formed during the 60’s. It was formed among the unemployed, ghetto sections of the Black youth, unlike the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which was an organization of ministers who were well placed in their communities. The Panthers formed their organizing on the basis of the bottom of society – the youth who had no job prospects, who had been hurled off the plantations and into these cities. Of course in that situation, they had a constant confrontation with the police, and the Panthers largely grew out of that relationship. In the course of their organizing, we have identified six things they did (or did not do), “the Six Panther Ps” which we see as useful, which confirmed our experience in dealing with the unemployed, displaced people at the foundation of our movement. The Panthers were primarily in the Black communities, but we’re seeing that the problem of poverty today is across color lines. It was a different period back then, but we saw in what they were doing something we can learn from. We’ve been testing them as a means of building these five ingredients and building a movement for power.
The first P is program. A program indicates the values, goals, issues and interests of that segment of the population that you’re focusing on. We believe that everybody should have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that that should not be reduced in any way. However at this stage of history the upper classes of this country have given up that creed. We think everybody should have those rights, especially in a country that has the kind of productive capacity that this one has. These things should be non-negotiable. We think that our program is a program that is in the interests of the majority of the American people, and not the one that is pursued by those being controlled by the rich. We profoundly believe that, and have found that our experience corroborates that. Not only that, but we are being echoed throughout the world – throughout world people are having to take up this basic program, seeing its fundamental moral principles. We organize and unite around the program.
The second P is protest. You cannot be hurting and don’t holler. We believe that if you hurt, holler. You got to do something about it, you can’t just accept the situation. The segment of the population that we’re focusing on, upon which we’re building a movement which includes all segments, is a section which has to move, has to protest, and can’t accept business as usual. To stand still is to die. To stand still is to go backward. To stand still is to succumb to the kind of depravation that we’re seeing. The idea of protest is key, and of course you see in the experiences of the Panthers and other such groups in the past, their ability to affect public opinion, their ability to get heard was based on continuing campaigning and activities around their basic needs.
The third P is projects of survival. This country and this economy can be characterized in one word, “surplus.” It’s a shame, but that’s the reality. People can’t acquire things, but there’s surplus. They’re throwing away food, but people can’t eat. Downstairs [in the human rights house] we have more clothes than we can give away. There are surplus nurses, and not enough medical care. Surplus doctors, surplus lawyers! And yet, people are going without. There are 12 million empty luxury housing units in this country. Look it up! Not run-down units, but luxury units. They are sitting there empty while we have six to ten million people who are living with their parents, or living on the grates, or in shelters and so forth who are all homeless. 12 million units is equivalent to the entire housing stock of Canada – surplus! So, the question of projects of survival is how do we develop a cooperative effort to procure those surpluses, and to use them as a lever for organizing. And we do, we have food distributions. The way we were able to solidify our position when we took over the church was that regularly we were able to get extra baby carriages (cause we don’t have cars), fill them with food and go door to door with the carriages and talk to people about their issues and our issues and how we can unite. We get food from bakeries, from food places that are throwing it away. And the food’s perfectly good, if you see it you’ll see that there ain’t nothing wrong it. Projects of survival are especially significant in our organizing experience. Our organizing attracts people on the basis of their immediate needs – food, housing, childcare, etc. Activities like tent cities and housing takeovers, are designed to meet people’s needs and build organization in the process. As we come together to meet our common needs, opportunities for political education and other key elements arise. We have tremendous strength by virtue of addressing the problems which people are struggling with day-to-day. However, we don’t just try to meet people’s individual needs – we use that struggle to fight for everyone’s needs to be met. But that is how many people come into relationship with our organizing efforts. So projects of survival are absolutely key as far as our organizing method.
The fourth P is publicity work. We, through various forms, generate messages – through newsletters, through T-shirts, or posters, through speaking engagements, through the internet or other things. These are all very critical in terms of getting through our message, and talking to each other and informing ourselves. You gotta have publicity.
The fifth P is political education. We’re constantly engaging people in study of what their situation is, understanding what their situation is, so they can articulate what’s going on and to educate others. Our basic motto is “each one teach one,” and “the more you know, the more you owe,” to pass on the message and so forth. The significance of this P should not be underestimated. Political education is essential for building resistance, which is at the base of all our efforts. Also, political education can deepen people’s commitment to a struggle. It’s important that political education isn’t seen as something separate from organizing, but as an inseparable part of the process. When political education is irrelevant to the issues that people are struggling with, it’s ineffective. It’s more effective when it explains their experience, allowing them to gain clarity and insight into their struggles and the struggles of others.
The last P is plans not personalities. This particular P is a lesson from the panthers by way of a negative experience. The Panthers, in what they were doing was targeted by the FBI as the most dangerous organization to the natural security of this country. The FBI developed a plan to fragment, dismantle and destroy this organization. They recognized that that organization was organized as factions around personalities, around a leader, Through subterfuges, infiltration, fake letters and so forth the FBI was able to get these leaders to fight one another. Organizationally, the Panthers were based around these personalities more than a policy, plan or program. A sustainable organization is not dependent on a leader, but dependent on a plan, principles, a policy. We see that as very key.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
NYPD Attack Benefit for Anarchist Group in Brooklyn
Posted by illvox collective in Anarchist People of Color on September 1, 2007
From Democracy Now!
Nov. 17, 2003
Police officers beat and pepper-sprayed people at a benefit for Anarchist People of Color after arriving in response to an officer’s report of someone standing outside the party allegedly holding an “open container.” An organizer for Anarchist People of Color joins us in our studio. [Includes transcript]
Up to 100 people attending a fundraising event in Brooklyn were sprayed with pepper spray, beaten with nightsticks, and harassed by police officers on Saturday night.
Approximately 21 police vehicles arrived at the benefit for Anarchist People of Color following an officer’s report of someone standing outside the party allegedly holding an “open container.” At least 8 people were arrested on charges including assault, inciting a riot, and resisting arrest.
The fundraiser held at the office of The Critical Resistance, a national grassroots group that focuses on prisons and police brutality.
* Mayuran Tiruchelvam, an organizer for Anarchist People of Color. He was at the front door when the police showed up.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you describe what happened? What was happening on Saturday night before the police arrived?
MAYURAN TIRUCHELVAM: Well, it was actually, probably a very positive and beautiful event that we were having. It was a spoken word performance, live music, DJs, basically to raise some funds to cover the costs of the Anarchist People of Color, that went to an historic conference in Detroit over a month ago. It was a really beautiful event, there was a great vibe going down and clearly the police decided they wanted to break that up. There was too much fun happening in Brooklyn at the time. Before it happened everything was going really well, people were having a great time. Then all of a sudden, three plain clothes detectives were coming up in our space and everything went out of control pretty quickly.
AMY GOODMAN: How many cars? How many police cars?
MAYURAN TIRUCHELVAM: People counted 21 marked vehicles. The initial detectives arrived in unmarked vehicles. There were other unmarked vehicles, SUVs and things like that. And someone told me there was a bus that was even further down.
AMY GOODMAN: And what did the police say when they moved in?
MAYURAN TIRUCHELVAM: They just came walking right up in there and starting harassing people even before they told us that they were police, they wouldn’t show us their badges.
AMY GOODMAN: You didn’t know that the 21 cars were police, none of them were marked?
MAYURAN TIRUCHELVAM: The plain clothes detectives were in just 1 car, first they showed up. Within seconds of us going outside there was all of these other cars. It was like a hornet’s nest. All of a sudden all of these police cars were showing up in seconds.
AMY GOODMAN: What did they do when they got out?
MAYURAN TIRUCHELVAM: The reason why we ended up outside was because they pulled one of the members of Critical Resistance outside to arrest them. We went outside, why are you arresting them we asked? Can we have your names? Can we have your badge numbers? And they wouldn’t give us any of that information. They called for backup once they saw that people were coming outside the space.
AMY GOODMAN: What did they do? Just arrest people?
MAYURAN TIRUCHELVAM: First they were throwing around and beating the first young person that they had arrested. Then when we tried to ask questions, when we tried to prevent that person from being arrested, they began pepper-spraying people pretty much indiscriminately, hitting people with night sticks, dragging them on the ground, throwing them. A man was punched in the face right next to me. I was thrown to the ground and I was pepper-sprayed. A lot of things were going on at the same time to a bunch of different people because there were so many police officers. 50 police officers or more.
AMY GOODMAN: Did the police ever explain why they were there? Did they say that someone had an open can of liquor outside?
MAYURAN TIRUCHELVAM: They never told us that specifically when they came into the space. I was at the door when they came in and they just started threatening people. Saying we were running an illegal night club. They were throwing in all these different accusations at us, but they never once clearly said what the problem was, why they were there, nor did they ever ask to be invited into the space.
AMY GOODMAN: Did anyone end up in the hospital?
MAYURAN TIRUCHELVAM: Well what happened was eight people were arrested and one person was not arrested and he was pretty badly beaten and he did go to the hospital. The people who were in the jail, they had some pretty serious injuries and needed to go to the hospital and unfortunately they didn’t receive medical attention until a few hours afterwards, after they were in jail and they didn’t get to go to a hospital until after they were released last night about midnight.
AMY GOODMAN: Now, everyone’s been released?
MAYURAN TIRUCHELVAM: Everyone’s been released. Charges still stand though and they have several court dates.
AMY GOODMAN: Anymore explanation at this point? Any understanding? And, what are your plans as a group, Anarchist People of Color?
MAYURAN TIRUCHELVAM: I feel that part one of this that the event was held at the space of an organization called Critical Resistance. They do a lot of work against the prison industrial complex. Against forces of policing and repression. Clearly they’ve been targeted by the police specifically because it’s Critical Resistance. Also because as Anarchist People of Color, we’re just starting to build and organize in the city. They know that we’re starting to build and organize and they’re trying to stop it before it gets started. Much like they’ve been doing to other events and organizations in preparation for things that might be happening next year with the Republican National Convention, other kind of direct action events.
AMY GOODMAN: The Republican National Convention, here in New York City. Well, I want to thank you for being with us, Mayuran Tiruchelvam, an organizer with Anarchist People of Color, at the front door when police showed up and moved in on their group.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
What Do You Say?