The LA Anarchist Weekly

Calling All LA Anarchists: Invitation to Participate in Insurgent Summer

2010-06-07T14:23:00.000-07:00

What is this summer's most radical online project? *Insurgent Summer* is an online book reading and cooperative blog discussion of Fredy Perlman’s 1976 book *Letters of Insurgents*. This is a 800+ page book of fictional letters between two Eastern European workers, Yarostan Vochek and Sophia Nachalo, separated by twenty-five years and two continents. As they reconnect through an exchange of letters, we learn about the battles they have fought – physical, political, emotional, and moral – and eventually the ones they have left to fight.

Your reading of *Letters* will begin on *June 11, 2010*, with the first of the ten exchanges between Yarostan and Sophia. Each week, three "Guides" (DeAnna, Artnoose, and Andrej) will post discussion pieces, reflections and analysis, preparing the terrain for an engaging discussion to which everyone is invited! We will conclude on August 20, in honor of Fredy Perlman's birthday!

Though copies of the book are limited, we are happy announce that we have both audio and full-text downloads of *Letters of Insurgents* available. Insurgent Summer is an opportunity to read one of the most important books of anarchist fiction and morality of all time. Please visit *http://insurgentsummer.org/* for more information, and let us know that you're going to participate!

Also please post on websites, twitter feeds, send to friends, etc.!

Calling All LA Anarchists: August 2010 - We Are Everywhere (Dispatch from the CrimethInc. Ex-Workers' Collective)

2010-06-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

By now, anarchists and anti-authoritarians across the country have probably given up waiting for an announcement of the annual CrimethInc. Convergence. The truth is that as experienced organizers grow more weary of repeating themselves, and the emerging energetic anarchist communities are all tending to be less and less interested in organizing, few places seem to be appropriate candidates for this summer’s convergence. Moreover, by early spring it was already too late in the game for a community to come forward and offer to host the event, and interest simply had not surfaced.

In possibly the first great anarchist mistake of the decade, the CrimethInc. Experimental Committee was founded in late January. Their first assignment? To preserve and integrate the best elements of the convergence into a new model, adjust them to strengthen longstanding weaknesses, all the while upping the ante in a way that serves the anarchist community as a whole. At first, we thought their solution was a bad idea, so we commissioned a report and quickly changed our minds.

You’re being invited to participate in CrimethInc.’s next big experiment: a decentralized convergence.

THE OBJECTIVES

To create and maintain points of entry everywhere. To demonstrate our ability to work together despite internal differences and external obstacles. To invigorate anarchist infrastructure rather than lean on it. To orchestrate a show of force in solidarity with anti-authoritarians all over the world. To inspire curious newcomers without exhausting our vigor. To illuminate the map like a starchart of constellations. To remind ourselves – everyone – that we are everywhere.

THE CHALLENGE

Can anarchists mobilize to achieve these objectives with a tight deadline? In an effort to test and strengthen our potential, we’re inviting anarchists of all stripes and contexts to participate in a widespread and decentralized demonstration of outreach and infrastructure. To get involved, all that is required is that you facilitate or organize one or more events that will occur simultaneously across North America throughout the month of August.

THE PLAN

During August, we make anarchist principles and activity visible and accessible at a scale never before attempted. Consider it an international month of action; the activities can be of any caliber and temperament, and can appear anywhere: in the news, in the library, in the bedroom, in the supermarket, at the Really Really Free Market, on the streets, and so on. Use this as an opportunity to explore and experiment: if you aren’t typically involved in local mutual aid projects, give it a go; if you’ve never gone on a tour before, plan one with your friends; if you write zines, write banners; if you author theory, stage a reading; if you occupy classrooms, teach one for free. Whatever you do, wherever you go, wave the black flag for everyone to see –including, and perhaps especially for, our friends and comrades – and let the world see that we are everywhere.

THE SKELETON

To supplement the individual events we’re inviting people who’d like to teach workshops, perform skits and puppet shows, and share music and videos, to organize tours with their friends. The troupe could be just one person – you – or as many friends and companions as you can pack into a vehicle: whatever is doable and exciting. You could schedule events in a few towns in your region over a weekend, or cross the continent in a month. Your theme could be acute, spreading awareness about specific campaigns against mountain-top removal, evictions, state repression, the tar sands of Canada, the oil spill, oppression, or for mutual aid projects, solidarity with struggles happening here or elsewhere, or obscure theory. Or it could be more broad – raising awareness about anarchism itself.

Decentralized tours could the most appropriate and safe way for the anarchist community to achieve the objectives of the nationwide convergence. Accessible points of entry can emerge in all of the places that anarchists already are. Inspirational experiences can be had with new people. The diversity of anarchist perspectives and positions can be celebrated and affirmed in a way that allows them to work together, allowing us all to hold our commonalities close and activate our solidarity.

We’re pleased to announce that several tours have already signed up as endorsers: The Conspiracy Tour [USA], The Emergency Tour [USA-Midwest], and Testament & Illogick [Canada]. If you already plan on touring with a project during August, you can plug into the strategy with almost no additional effort. If you haven’t planned anything during August, please consider organizing a tour in solidarity with all those who will be organizing events in their hometowns. This goes most especially for everyone who has participated in CrimethInc Convergences in past years, and is able and willing. To help offset the price of fuel, you might consider distributing free literature for donations, and selling books and screenprinted items – if you’re partial, the Literature Distro Kit is one of the cheapest places to start.

In the next few weeks, we’ll be maintaining a list of tour dates both organized within our challenging timeframe and scheduled for the month of August. To add your project to the itinerary, please email experimental.committee@gmail.com as soon as possible, and we can publish your public events as they unfold.

THE NERVE

Drawing from the lessons of Steal Something From Work Day, our work should effectively utilize modern modes of communication and reclaim their functions when necessary.

Twitter – We can use Twitter to announce your events and simultaneously contribute to the volume of the phenomenon. If you use twitter, tag your tweets with #AnarchistsEverywhere to let people locate it in a search of the entire campaign. If we remember that these tweets are public and can function as promotional work, we can contribute to the campaign 140 characters at a time.

YouTube & Vimeo – We can upload short vignettes that promote the campaign and will be relevant for years to come. Our current recommendation is the proliferation of short 45 second clips ending in the slogan “WE ARE EVERYWHERE”. To avoid the alienation that can sometimes be felt when watching high-quality video production, it is encouraged that these clips be shot with cell phones to remind everyone that they can make their own. To contribute your video to the campaign, simply tag it with “AnarchistsEverywhere”.

Social Networking – Share this blog entry, and when more web projects and videos emerge share those too. Announce local events to everyone that you communicate with through that medium. While you’re at it, be mindful of the networks you imply on facebook.

Of course, it is also important that we create signposts in the real world too. Design posters, t-shirts, stencils, stickers, and other folk-art projects and spread them everywhere. See this appendix for helpful slogans.

THE HEART

Of course, each tour will make this campaign exponentially larger, but this August won’t be about tours. More important is what is going on in each place they pass through; if you are part of an active community – even if that community is just you –you can make your town another mark on our constellation map, which is a substantial contribution. In the context of this campaign, doing locally what tours cannot is considerably more effective than an elaborate schedule of tours. You are a part of the everywhere.

Ultimately, this campaign is about doing what we do every day. In working together as a decentralized concert of actions and activities we can collectively establish visibility for our local efforts and global struggles. For inspiration, check out Recipes for Disaster if you haven’t already, or you could plan a workshop, block party, public discussion group – even a bike ride. Put quite simply: if you’ve got a black flag and the will to fly it, this August the world will be watching.

Whatever you do, your contribution will be a part of an experiment to determine our collective power-to and solidarity-with – no amount of participation is too small, and everyone’s efforts will be counted.

THE DETAILS

Please read the arguments for decentralizing the CrimethInc. Convergence and the implications of a successful August 2010. Whether or not your project is a tour complete with a list of dates and venues, or a single event open to the public, it is still valuable and worthwhile to promote as a part of this campaign. Please email details to experimental.committee@gmail.com for help promoting your event.

APPENDIX of SLOGANS {not just a big joke}

In reclaiming and reworking modern marketing and advertisement strategies, we can re-appropriate the elements of our social conditions. Opportunities to do so will be self-evident: wherever capitalist imagery and sentiment competes for our attention. To do so effectively we would benefit from maintaining relative consistency throughout this campaign. This campaign is already built on a concept that both demands participation and refuses to be homogenized by those with particularly concentrated resources; the message is that we are everywhere and therefore the aesthetic will naturally benefit from the wide spectrum of positions from which these messages can emerge. Additionally, we cannot successfully demonstrate our prevalence without communicating things that describe our politics and the widespread nature of our resistance. That these things are true does not mean we cannot create a consistent and circular front of visibility – this can happen by taking advantage of the strategies outlined above in the nerve section and by making prolific use of, and following the various style guides accompanying, the following slogans:

{ for use wherever possible, and most appropriate }
{ for use in pre-august promotional material }
{ anytime you need a clever supplement }

These are appropriate for Anarchists without Adjectives and will work well in combination with any of the others. The use of any other slogans should be supplemented with these for best use of consistency:

WE ARE EVERYWHERE
WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS AUGUST?
GET ALL OVER THE PLACE
{ The Circle A }

These Insurrectionist slogans are sure to be attractively confusing:

DOING BEING EVERYWHERE
PARTY THIS AUGUST
MAKE TOTAL ALL OVER THE PLACE

The Anarchist People of Color who aren’t surprised that you assumed they weren’t involved in planning this campaign suggested:

NO ONE IS ILLEGAL – WE ARE EVERYWHERE
THE BLOCK IS HOT, AUGUST WILL BE HOTTER
STOLEN LAND IS ALL OVER THE PLACE

Efficient use of these slogans are sure to aid the Anarcho-Syndicalist platform:

AN INJURY SOMEPLACE IS AN INJURY EVERYWHERE
TAKE IT OVER THIS AUGUST
ONE BIG EVERYWHERE

If we would stop for a minute and listen for a change, the Anarcha-Feminist might recommend:

OUR PLACE IS ALL OVER THE PLACE
TAKE BACK THE NIGHT THIS AUGUST
MOTHERS WORK EVERYWHERE

Anarchist Queers can pack these with their strap-ons and glitter-bombs:

WE WANT YOU
ANARCHISM IS IN THIS AUGUST
BASH BACK EVERYWHERE

And lastly, if someone could tell the Anti-Civ folks about these slogans, that’d be great!

AGAINST CAPTIVITY EVERYWHERE
BREAK THROUGH THIS AUGUST
GROW BACK ALL OVER THE PLACE

A Post Sentencing Statement From Dave Solidarity

2010-06-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

A Post-Sentencing Statement From Dave Solidarity

     On June 1, I was sentenced to a 1 month stay in a Federal Prison, starting June 22nd, after being convicted of a 'violation of the terms of my supervised release.' To give a little bit of background, in 2006, I was convicted of 'damaging United States property' after setting fire to an Army recruiting center in the Bronx, and served 6 months in a federal prison, followed by 3 years of 'supervised release.' Last year, a few months before this term of supervised release was set to expire, I was arrested outside of the second occupation of the New School, and charged with assaulting an officer, rioting, resisting arrest and maybe a couple other things.

     While ultimately all of the State charges were dropped, my 'supervision' status allowed the federal government to pick up the slack and ultimately take me to trial on the same charges, only with a lower standard of proof ('a preponderance of evidence' as opposed to 'beyond a reasonable doubt') and with rules allowing hearsay, in this case, from the pigs called in to testify. The prosecution recommended a sentence of 9 months, plus 2 years of supervised release and some other stuff that I'll go into later, but ultimately I got the 1 month in, plus 1 additional year of supervised release, plus 200 hours of community service.

     Okay, so that's the bare bones boring stuff. Now I get to take this opportunity, as someone who already is one of the usual suspects, and unquestionably under surveillance, to say some wild shit that others trying to preserve their relative freedom would be unable to.

     Let's go point by point.

1. I am a crazy motherfucker.

     When I was first sentenced for setting fire to that Army recruiting center, part of the judge's sentence was that for the entire three years I was on supervised release, I attend weekly therapy sessions, so that "I could understand why I did what I did". At the time, I remember thinking 'it's pretty fucking obvious why..." but didn't go much deeper than that. After I got back to NYC, my PO sent me to my assigned therapist and the goal of state-mandated therapy became more clear.

     After a month of these 'sessions', I realized that not only was this therapist reporting everything I said to my PO, but my PO was telling the therapist what areas to 'probe deeper into.' Most of this involved him trying to get to the bottom of why I really had problems with authority. 'Because I'm an anarchist?- But what about your relationship with your Dad..?' So that had to end. When I got a little bit of money together to switch to a therapist of my choosing, who refused to tell my PO anything about what happened other than the fact that I showed up, the probation department took me to court, a battle that I eventually won.

     In that case, my lawyer argued that my political beliefs were being looked at as a pathology, and that the probation department was using therapy as political re-education camp. Now I am in exactly the same position-Once again, I've been sentenced to weekly therapy. At the sentencing hearing, the prosecution stressed the need for this therapy, because "I had exhibited an extreme problem with authority, particularly police officers." While at first I got angry about their characterization of me, I realized that they're right.

     The past 10 years of my life have been dedicated to fighting authority in general, whether they be the pigs, politicians or bosses. They all have to go. So, if that makes me crazy, fuck it. When I hear about cops getting attacked in Seattle, I get all jittery and excited. When I read about French workers taking their bosses hostage, I wanted to catch the next plane over. The best part: I'm not the only one who's crazy like this. Most people are 'crazy', and every day, more and more people are starting to do something about it.

2. We need to step up our game.

     One of the benefits of being an anarchist 'usual suspect' in NYC, is that it allows me a rare glimpse into the mind of the government, and I've found that there's not much going on in there. Every time something gets blown up around these parts, (you know, annually, when one of those cute little packages gets delivered from everyone's favorite cyclist) the Feds show up at my house (I'm never there) or follow me around everywhere, or call me into my PO's office, because they know I have to show up there. And every time they start asking questions, it becomes abundantly clear that they are unable to understand how anarchists operate. They keep trying to find leaders, or try to make dubious connections between above ground groups and actions that occur. Their obvious frustration is what leads to the kind of prosecution that put Eric McDavid away, which will hopefully be overturned on appeal.

     But what we need to recognize is that this shows our strength! When we stop squabbling with each other for long enough to extend our struggle, it turns out that fighting without leaders and without hierarchy actually works. Given that we're still in a period of 'crisis', this is the time we need to be hitting the hardest.

     Now, some people have been leading the way(see Mayday 2k10). Much of the negative response towards those actions falls into the 'it's only going to bring greater repression' category. Of course it is, but what the hell did you expect when you decided you were an 'anarchist'?

     This is the point where I get to pull out my 'former/pending political prisoner' card, and say people are going to catch some heat, but guess what-there's over 2 million fucking people in prison. My whole neighborhood is under police occupation. I'm going to prison for a violation-level charge of 'resisting arrest'. Shit is bad, and anyone who fights back is going to potentially subject to consequences. We have to understand this, and take calculated risks, but when they take some of our people, we hit back harder.

3. Hitting Back.

     I mean this literally. Solidarity means attack, remember? There have to be real, tangible consequences for the state or capital attacking us. However, the only way this can be sustainable is if we get out of the anarchist ghetto. This means putting our energies towards helping out with other peoples struggles, and building real relationships in the places that we live. Is your neighbor getting evicted? Well, guess what, landlords have addresses. The police are running up on your block to grab somebody? You and your neighbors have to let them know there's gonna be consequences.

     The point, however, isn't just to fight for the sake of fighting. We're trying to create some kind of liberated spaces, right? This means actually creating spaces, and then militantly defending them.
Look at how Portland is doing it-they're getting a little wild in their battle against the cops. NYC needs to catch up...

4. ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK.

     The only way we're going to be able to maintain any of our efforts at creating liberated spaces is if we go on the offensive. If by day we're running community centers, doing alternative education, fixing bikes, or growing our own food, by night we're attacking the police stations, the business owners, the real estate agencies. There is no conflict between these two ends, because guess what, Capital with the assistance of the State is going to come down hard these projects sooner or later, and if we've been on the offensive this whole time, we'll be much better prepared to fight back. We'll be building alliances and through those connections finding people with whom to go on the attack. And when the shit hits the fan? We won't be 'those crazy anarchists'; people will know who the fuck we are.

     From where I stand, what you get out of building things up in your neighborhood or town is necessary to be a complete person, whether it's helping out with childcare or whatever. The same is true of striking back against the forces that make our lives miserable in a million different ways, both large and small. The point is to make these two goals complement each other.

5. Don't get all worked up about a cracker being locked up.

     So, I gotta end this by pointing out the obvious-as a white man from a relatively "privileged" background, I'm getting a slap on the wrist. But there's over a hundred prisoners in the US from less privileged backgrounds who have been sitting in prison for literally decades. Many of these folks were part of liberation struggles in the 60s and 70s who took part in actions that make anything we've ever done look tame in comparison. Millions of dollars taken to fund revolutionary activities? Check. Assassinating cops in response to the police murdering Black people? Check. Busting comrades out of prison? Check.

     So, take a second to check out listing of prisoners done by the Anarchist Black Cross Federation, at abcf.net. Start up a correspondence with one of these folks, throw a benefit for them, figure out a way to get them the fuck out of prison. Also, check out the work done by local ABCs, especially those in Denver, NYC and Toronto at denverabc.wordpress.com and nycabc.wordpress.com or 4strugglemag.org(Toronto).

     So, in closing, I'd like to address a few words directly at the federal employees who will be reading this, particularly those in the Probation Department and our friends in the NYC Joint Terrorism Task Force (especially those fat motherfuckers that keep showing up at my court dates):

     First and foremost, fuuuuuuuuucccckkkkk you. It doesn't matter how many times you try and get my ass up in that court, or how many times you lock me up, or how many times you show up at my house (I will never be there). I'm never gonna stop. But guess what, much as you wish this were the case, I'm not a lone wingnut. There's thousands of us, all over the place, and this shit's just gonna keep growing, and we'll keep fighting.

     Finally, remember when you brought up in court that part of the communique I wrote when I was like 18, about how I was trying not only to bring down the United States, but to abolish the idea of the state itself? Yeah, I'm still on that shit.

Can't Stop Won't Stop,

Dave Solidarity

As soon as Dave's address in jail is available, it will be put out widely.

Nazis attack antiracists in Riverside Pt. 2 (Videos)

2010-06-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

Videos of the event recorded by Nazis:

Nazis attack antiracists in Riverside

2010-06-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

by Rockero

Saturday, May 29, 2010
RIVERSIDE, California - In the latest anti-fascist action to occur in this conservative inland city , a small group of anti-fascists planned to out Jeff Hall, the California "commander" of the Michigan-based National Socialist Movement (NSM), outside of his house. They were violently confronted by about thirty Nazis, who brandished firearms and threatened the safety of the demonstrators.

Late last year, the National Socialist Movement announced the opening of a California chapter based in Riverside, the largest city in southern part of the state's Inland Empire. On September 26, they held a protest at the corner at Madison and Indiana, where people of color gather to look for work. In response, activists formed a broad-based coalition composed of political parties, students groups, labor unions, churches, and community groups to demonstrate their opposition to racism and hatred at City Hall. Meanwhile, a smaller contingent of antifascist activists took a more direct approach at the targeted corner, confiscating swastika-laden flags from the nazis and ultimately expelling the ragtag bunch after a few small skirmishes.

Humiliated, the Nazis decided to return the following month. Once again, the community rallied against them, drawing anywhere between 700 and 1000. On this occasion, however, the racists enjoyed the protection of numerous riot-gear clad police officers from multiple agencies who allowed them to make their hateful stand. When valiant antifascists from the Brown Berets penetrated the police perimeter, a small conflict took place. The day ended with two of our comrades behind bars, one for disobeying a police order and the other for throwing a "deadly weapon" later identified as a lemon.

As Nazis continued to organize, community activists recognized the need to increase the pressure. They published Jeff Hall's home address, which he uses as a base of operations, and called for a protest, scheduled to take place during the NSM's monthly meeting. "We're doing this because there are people in our community--people of color--who live in that neighborhood," explained one of the organizers, who asked to remain anonymous.

In response, the Nazis published a flyer calling for a demonstration at the home of a longtime Riverside activist, accusing him of "child endangerment," who had been active in the anti-Nazi organizing last year. Apparently, the Nazis were under the impression that the Riverside activist--who is Jewish--had called for the demonstration at the Nazi house, where a young child also resides. The Riverside activist was not involved in the planning and execution of the home demonstration, but made a handy scapegoat, especially for those who believe that people of color are incapable of organizing in their own defense. Unlike Hall, the activist, who is a leader in a statewide socialist party, does not use his home as a base for organization.

However, due to the the overwhelming presence of California human rights defenders at the National Day of Action for Arizona, turnout was relatively low. Only about seven members of the SoCal Antiracist Network were present, backed up by a contingent of about five Brown Berets. "Our reason for being there was to be security, to get Chicanos out of there if anything happened. We were not there to break any laws, we were not intending to go into the house," said of the the leaders from the Brown Berets.

Four police officers in riot gear were at the end of the cul-de-sac where Hall lives, and the police helicopter hovered overhead. Once the antifascists took their stand, a crowd of about thirty Nazis in full fascist costume swarmed out of the house and confronted one of the organizers. "We're not here to fight," he explained, and backed up about thirty feet. The Nazi charged him aggressively, but the antiracist defended himself, knocking the Nazi out cold at the end of his charge. The Nazis continued their offensive against the antiracists, chanting "Get the girl!" and attempting to strike the only woman present, a member of the Brown Berets. They brandished two firearms as police looked on, refusing to intervene in the violence. "If you don't like it, get out of here," one of the officers told a member of the Berets.

In light of the armed Nazi aggression, the antiracists withdrew their picket for the day. The antifascist struggle in Riverside, however, is anything but over.

Raise The Fist Radio Needs Your Participation!

2010-05-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

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Napolitano in Claremont / Napolitano en Claremont (Republished from LA Indymedia)

2010-05-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

by Rockero

Sunday, May 16, 2010
CLAREMONT, California - The arrival of Homeland Security Secretary (and former Governor of Arizona) Janet Napolitano to this community at the far east end of Los Angeles county propelled a march and rally of about 300 people in denunciation of the policies of immigration agencies, which fall under her purview.

http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2010/05/may_2010_104.jpg2nkfgj.jpg

The head of the migra attended the Pomona College graduation to receive an honorary law degree, as well as to orate during the ceremony. But despite her having been invited by the institution, students, professors, and members of the community did not comply.

At eight o'clock, people, among them, Pomona College workers, whose current struggle is to unionize, warehouse workers, supermarket workers, day laborers, students, teachers, community members, human rights defenders, and numerous anarchists arrived at the Greyhound station, which has been the site of several Border Patrol raids. There agents have detained passengers from the bus line without any probable cause.

At the initial convergence, a provocateur from the anti-immigrant Minutemen arrived, but the people refused to be provoked. The march, which was undertaken without any other issues, went up Indian Hill, so called for an indigenous community that once resided in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, until arriving in the neighborhood that borders the college.

Once before the plaza where the graduation was taking place, the crowd took the steps and entryway of a building with a Greek façade to display their banners and lift their chants.

"Hey hey! What do we say? Immigrants are here to stay!" ¡"Sí se puede!" "¡Legalización!"

On the sidewalk in front of the Pomona College campus, a contingent of the most disreputable sector of society, the migrant hunters, had set up a protest, also against Napolitano. "For once we agree on something!" a comrade joked. But the agreement ended there. "We're here to protest Janet Napolitano for her complicity in allowing what's happening across the street to occur on America's soil. We're here to send a message to Janet Napolitano that the American people won't tolerate her, Barack Obama, and their form of government. One thing I find intolering [sic] about them is right across the street, how they can allow criminal illegal aliens onto American soil to displace American workers and the American dream from the American people," he gibbered.

His statement lays bare the hypernationalism, which is a progenitor of fascism, that the resistance has been exposing for some time, and which is an attribute of anti-immigrant groups that has given rise to openly-fascist demonstrations such as those we have seen in recent months.

On the other hand, those on the other side of the street sent a strong message of interethnic and international solidarity. A UFCW worker explained, "I think that it's unfair, I think it's not the answer, it's not the solution to what's going on in Arizona. I think it's only gonna lead to more people getting harassed and mistreated. We're human beings, and we're not different. We're all alike. We've got a common humanity, we gotta acknowledge that."

While the crowd demonstrated outside, the resistance also showed its strength inside the ceremony. Most of the Pomona professors wore white stoles to symbolize their solidarity with the immigrant community, as did many of the graduating students. About then, a small group of students infiltrated the ceremony, and in dead silence, unfurled a large banner reading "Alto AZ." They reported that inside, the drums and tumult of the protest were audible.

The procession left the steps and proceeded to Shelton Park, where the Jornaleros del Norte played and various speakers lectured. Emilio shared some words of welcome, and was followed by Loyda, who read a communiqué from the director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network that said:

http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2010/05/may_2010_104.jpg2nkfgj.jpghttp://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2010/05/may_2010_111.jpgq7rco3.jpghttp://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2010/05/may_2010_111.jpgq7rco3.jpghttp://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2010/05/may_2010_115.jpg3srrvs.jpg

"Napolitano's part of the Obama government is tearing families apart. She is disrupting and victimizing entire communities across the country. But no matter what they do, they cannot break our spirits. Yes, there is fear and anger. But most importantly, there is courage to resist. People across the country from all walks of life are in solidarity with Arizona. We know that in order to implement the SB 1070 bill, Arizona will need the cooperation of the Obama administration. This is the moment for President Obama to eradicate the mechanisms and programs that give the authority for police to enforce immigration law."

The intercollegial department of Latino and Chicano studies also sent a communiqué in favor of human rights and in support of humane immigration reform.

Afterwards, Connie from the UFCW told the story of a 1200-worker plant in Texas that was raided by ICE. "A plant in Texas, 1200 employees at that plant. ICE agents came in. They had warrants for 133 people. A hundred and thirty-three people that they thought might be in the country illegally. Instead of going to the human resources department and asking to pull these people aside so they could talk to them, they arrested every single person working that day. Twelve-hundred and forty-seven people. That means over a thousand legal residents or United States citizens were arrested. This is wrong! It's all wrong!"

Angélica Salas, director of CHIRLA, was next: "So, we now have a tradition here in California, that basically started in Santa Clara University, when Janet Napolitano went there. And she was received there with a thousand people, telling her that she was not welcome in California if she was gonna keep ripping apart our families. If she was going to keep deporting hard workers. And if she was going to violate the ideals of justice and equality that she's supposed to stand for."

Dilma, a representative of Warehouse Workers United, spoke next. "I'm a warehouse worker, and I'm here to represent everyone who could not come today. The truth is that I've been a worker. I'm not what they say about us Latinos, that we come to ask the government to take care of us. It's not true. I have always struggled, I've been here for 20 years and I've always gotten by. That's why I tell you all, fellow workers, that we must fight together because it can be done, yes comrades, we can fight!"

The next speaker was Cristián, a Pomona College worker. "I come to represent the members of the group Workers for Justice, which like many organizations, has fought to have our rights respected. We've been in this struggle for two years, and we're going to keep it up until our rights are respected and we're treated properly."

José, a delegate of the Inland Empire Day Laborer Congress, followed. "Today is a day of resistance, of struggle for all the women of conscience, for all the men, too, who on this fine day have come to tell Janet Napolitano, in a loud voice of protest, that we do not agree with the continual theft of the future of our children. Every member of our families have witnessed the kidnapping of our cousins. Our nephews and nieces have practically--and technically--been left orphans without receiving any assistance. For this reason we are here today, to denounce this criminal policy which actually goes beyond the Río Grande, with its grand waters, nor the scorching desert, nor the immensity of the ocean, has been able to separate that love the immigrant comrade has for his wife and who has his family here, beautiful and unified. And these criminals from immigration services come and separate them. What right do they have? Don't these gentlemen also have families? Don't they have a wife waiting for them? What will they tell her when she asks, 'What did you do today?' How can that police officer or that immigration agent show his face when he has to answer, 'How can I hide what's in the depths of my heart? Today, I separated some families'? What a nice job President Obama is doing after he used our community to take power, and now he's being manipulated by Nazi groups, like those in Arizona. What's happening in Arizona is a true danger, not just for our community residing in the State of Arizona, but for all of humanity. It must be understood thus. Because the senators who pushed these laws are Nazis. Arpaio is a Nazi. The Minutemen are Nazis in another mask, disguised Klan that has resurfaced. That's why all the women, children, and men who are here are repudiating this criminal policy that does nothing to ensure the safety of this country. Supposedly they are defending security, but what great security when they are destroying the future of the smallest of these lands! As a day worker, we've fallen victim to raids. They've taken our comrades away. The police constantly harass the corners. Sometimes they ask for our IDs, and when we give them to them, they often keep them. So I believe that these types of policies are unacceptable because they violate the human rights we all share. And my invitation to you as a day laborer is that we remain united, that we continue resisting, and also that from this site of resistance we send a loud and warm greeting to the resistance in Arizona, because we are all Arizona, and together we continue until the final victory, and for the right to live in peace. I have spoken."

Before ending with more music, Professor Calderón spoke about the new "Secure Communities program and an invitation was made to the national day of action for Arizona on May 29th. Thousands are expected to arrive to combat this assault on our community.

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Domingo, 16 de mayo 2010
CLAREMONT, California - La llegada de la Secretaria de Seguridad Interna y ex-gobernadora de Arizona, Janet Napolitano, a esta comunidad del extremo oriente del condado de Los Ángeles provocó una marcha y manifestación de alrededor de 300 personas en denuncia a las políticas de las agencias migratorias, las cuales conforman departamentos del ministerio que encabeza.

La encargada de la migra asistió a la ceremonia de graduación de Pomona College con el fin de recibir un diploma honoris causa en derecho al igual que para pronunciar durante la solemnidad. Pero a pesar de su invitación de parte de la instutición, los estudiantes, profesores, y miembros de la comunidad no se quedaron conformes

A las ocho de la mañana ya había empezado a llegar la gente, entre ellos, trabajadores de Pomona College, grupo cuya lucha actual es para sindicalizarse, trabajadores de bodega, trabajadores de supermercados, jornaleros, estudiantes, maestros, miembros de la comunidad, defensores de derechos humanos, y varios anarquistas, a la estación Greyhound, sitio de varias redadas de la Patrulla Fronteriza. Se alega que los agentes han detenido a pasajeros de la línea de transporte sin causa ninguna.

A la convergencia inicial llegó un provocador del grupo anti-inmigrante Minutemen, pero el pueblo no se dejó provocar. La marcha, emprendida sin ningún otro inconveniente, subió todo el búlevar Indian Hill, así llamado por un poblado de los indígenas que se encontraba en esa localidad de la estribación de la sierra San Gabriel, hasta llegar a las residencias vecinas del colegio.

Una vez delante de la plaza donde se llevaba a cabo la graduación, el pueblo tomó el patio y los escalones de un edificio de fachada griega para montar sus mantas y corear sus cantos.

"Hey hey! What do we say? Immigrants are here to stay!" ¡"Sí se puede!" "¡Legalización!"

En la banqueta que linda el campus de Pomona College, un contingente de la lacra de la socieded, los cazamigrantes, había armado una protesta, también en contra de Napolitano. "Por una vez, coincidimos en algo," bromeó un compañero. Aunque ambos grupos estuvieran para denunciar a la secretaria, el acuerdo no pasaba de allí. "Estamos aquí para protestarle a Janet Napolitano por su complicidad en permitir que pase sobre suelo americano lo que está ocurriendo al otro lado de la calle," comentó uno de ellos. "Estamos aquí para mandar un mensaje a Janet Napolitano que el pueblo americano no le tolererá ni a ella, ni Barack Obama, ni su forma de gobierno. Una cosa que veo intolerable de ellos está en frente, es como pueden permitir que los criminales extranjeros en el suelo americano para desplazar a los obreros americanos y el sueño americano del pueblo americano," balbuceó.

Su declaración pone en evidencia el hipernacionalismo, progenitor del fascismo, que la resistencia ha estado sacando a la luz desde hace rato, que es atributo de grupos anti-inmigrantes y que ha dado pauta a manifestaciones de fascistas abiertos como los de estos últimos meses.

En cambio, los del otro lado mandaron un mensaje fuerte de solidaridad interétnico e internacional. Según una trabajadora del sindicato de trabajadores de supermercados, UFCW, "Lo veo injusto, no creo que sea la respuesta--no es la resolución a lo que pasa en Arizona. Sólo va a dar lugar a que más personas sean hostigadas y maltratadas. Somos seres humanos, o somos diferentes. Todos somos iguales. Tenemos en común nuestra humanidad, y hay que reconocerlo."

Mientras que la muchedumbre se manifestaba afuera, adentro la resistencia también mostró su fortaleza. La mayoría de los profesores de Pomona College usaron estolas blancas para solidarizar con la comunidad inmigrante, así como lo hicieron muchos de los estudiantes en proceso de graduación. En esos momentos, un grupo pequeño de estudiantes infiltraron la ceremonia y, en pleno silencio, desenrollaron una manta grande con la letra "Alto AZ." Reportaron que desde adentro se escuchaba el tamboreo de la manifestación.

De los escalones la procesión procedió al Parque Shelton, donde tocaron los Jornaleros del Norte y hablaron varios oradores. Emilio dijo unas palabras, y fue seguido por Loyda, quien leyó un comunicado del director de la Red Nacional de Jornaleros que decía:

"El oficio de Napolitano en el gobierno de Obama está desmantelando familias. Está interrumpiendo y victimizando comunidades enteras a través del país. Mas no importa lo que nos hagan, no pueden romper nuestros espíritus. Sí, existen miedo y coraje. Pero más importantemente, hay el valor para resistir. Personas de todo el país y de diversas condiciones sociales están en solidaridad con Arizona. Sabemos que para implementar el proyecto SB 1070, Arizona necesitará la cooperación de la administración Obama. Éste es el momento para que el presidente desarraigue los mecanismos y programas que otorgan autoridad migratoria a la policía local."

La facultad intercolegial de estudios latinos y chicanos de los Claremont Colleges también hicieron comunicar su declaración a favor de los derechos humanos y en apoyo a una reforma migratoria humana.

Después contó Connie de la UFCW la historia de una planta de 1 200 empleados de Texas en la que entró ICE. "A plant in Texas, 1200 employees at that plant. ICE agents came in. They had warrants for 133 people. A hundred and thirty-three people that they thought might be in the country illegally. Insted of going to the human resources department and asking to pull these people aside so they could talk to them, they arrested every single person working that day. Twelve-hundred and forty-seven people. That means over a thousand legal residents or United States citizens were arrested. This is wrong! It's all wrong!"

Siguió Angélica Salas, directora de CHIRLA: "Aquí en California ya tenemos una tradición que, básicamente, empezó en la Universidad de Santa Clara, cuando Jante Napolitano fue allí. Y fue recibida por mil personas, diciéndole que no estaba bienvenida a California si iba a seguir separando nuestras familias. Si iba a seguir deportando a la gente trabajadora. Y si iba a violar las ideas de justicia e igualdad que debería de relevar."

Próximamente discursó Dilma, una representante de los trabajadores de bodega Warehouse Workers United. "Yo soy una trabajadora de bodegas, y estoy aquí en representación de todos los que no pudieron venir este día. Y la verdad, yo he sido trabajadora, no soy como dicen que nosotros, los latinos, venimos a pedir que nos mantenga el gobierno pero no es cierto. Yo siempre he luchado, he estado aquí por 20 años y siempre he salido adelante. Por eso yo les digo a todos aquellos trabajadores que luchemos juntos porque sí se puede, compañeros, sí se puede luchar."

El próximo en hablar fue Cristián, trabajador de Pomona College. "Vengo en representación de miembros del grupo Workers for Justice en Pomona College, que igual que muchos organizaciones hemos luchado para que nuestros derechos sean respetados. Ya llevamos dos años en nuestra lucha, y vamos a seguir luchando hast que nuestros derechos sean respetados y nos tratan como nos merecemos.

A continuación habló José, un delegado del Congreso Jornalero del Inland Empire. "Hoy es un día de resistencia, de lucha de todas mujeres que tienen conciencia, de todos los hombres también que hoy en este buen día venimos a decirle a Jante Napolitano, nuestra voz bien fuerte de protesta, que no estamos de acuerdo en que se siga robando el futuro de nuestros niños. Todos en nuestras familias hemos sido testigos que se han llevado a nuestros primos, se han llevado a nuestras primas, se han quedado los sobrinos prácticamente y técnicamente huérfanos, sin recibir ningún apoyo. Y por eso hoy estamos aquí, para denuinciar esta política criminal, que incluso, va más allá de que el Río Bravo on sus aguas bravas, ni el calcinante desierto, ni la inmensidad del oceano, han sido capaces de separa ese amor del compañero inmigrante que trae a su esposa y aquí traen una familia bonita, unida, y llegan estos criminales del servicio de inmigración y los separan. ¿Con qué derecho? Acaso estos señores no tienen también familia? ¿Acaso no tienen una señora que los espera? ¿Qué le dirán cuando le pregunta '¿Qué hiciste hoy?'?" ¿Qué cara pondrá ese policía o ese agente de inmigración cuando le ha de decir, 'No he de guardar lo del fondo del corazón, pues hoy separé a unas familias'? ¡Que bonito trabajo está haciendo el Presidente Obama después de que utilizó a nuestra comunidad para llegarlo al poder, y ahora está siendo manipulado por grupos nazis como en Arizona. Lo que está pasando en Arizona es un verdadero peligro, no sólamente para nuestra comunidad que reside en el Estado de Arizona, sino para la humanidad entera. Así hay que entenderlo. Porque los senadores que han impulsado estas leyes son nazis. Arpaio es un nazi. Los Minutemen son nazis, disfrazadas con otras caretas. Disfrazados de los Ku Klux Klan que han vuelto a resurgir. Y por eso todas la mujeres, jóvenes, y hombres que estamos aquí estamos repudiendo esta política criminal que nada garantiza la seguridad de este país. Ellos supuestamente están defendiendo la seguridad, pero ¡que bonita seguridad es esa cuando están destruyendo el futuro de los más pequeños de estas tierras! Como trabajador jornalero, nosotros hemos sido víctimas también de redadas. Se han llevado a nuestros compañeros. La policía constantemente hostiga las esquinas. Si a veces nos piden IDs, se las damos, a veces la policía se queda con ellas. Entonces, creo que es inaceptable este tipo de políticas porque vulneran los derechos humanos que todos tenemos. Y mi invitación como trabajador jornalero es a que sigamos unidos, sigamos resistiendo, y también desde esta esquina de resistencia mandamos un fuerte y caluroso saludo para la resistencia en Arizona, porque Arizona somos todos, y todos unidos vamos, hasta la victoria siempre, y por el derecho de vivir en paz, he dicho."

Antes de terminar con más música, habló el Profesor Calderón del nuevo programa "Comunidades Seguras" y se hizo una invitación al día nacional de acción para Arizona el 29 de Mayo. Ese día se anticipa que lleguen miles de personas para luchar contra este asalto a nuestra comunidad.

Calling All LA Anarchists: Anti-Racist Rally in Riverside! (Dispatch from the So-Cal Anti-Racist Network)

2010-05-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

(Editors' Note: We have received a few e-mails questioning the validity and reliability of the information below. If you, dear reader, are also experiencing this suspicion, feel free to e-mail the So-Cal Anti-Racist Network at Socal.Antiracist(at)gmail.com or us at LAanarchist(at)riseup.net for further information.)

Calling All LA Anarchists
Dispatch from the So-Cal Anti-Racist Network:

Join the Southern California Anti-Racist Network to shutdown the Nazis in Riverside, CA on Saturday May, 29 at 11:30 am.

What: Anti-Racist Rally to Disrupt Nazi Meeting

Where: Nazi Leader Jeff Hall's Riverside Home

Protest location: 5416 Lauder Court, Riverside, CA 92507

When: Saturday, May 29, 2010 11:30am (Memorial Weekend)

Jeff Hall is Sergeant of the National Socialist Movement (NSM). Hall uses his Riverside, CA home as the headquarters of the largest Neo-Nazi hate group in the United States, NSM.

Let's SHUT DOWN the Nazis!!

The last Saturday of each month Jeff Hall and his fellow Nazis gather at his home for their monthly NSM meetings.

Their "secret location" is no longer a secret!

Hall and NSM white supremacist JT Ready organized the Los Angeles gathering of Neo-Nazis in April, and worked to pass Arizona's racist SB 1070.

Let Hall know that his racist organizing will NOT be tolerated in Riverside or ANYWHERE!

Hall’s Home Address: 5416 Lauder Court, Riverside, CA 92507
Hall’s Cell Phone # 619-300-8743
Hall’s Email: cali@newsaxon.org & jeff.hall@newsaxon.org

SPREAD THE WORD!!!!

Southern California Anti-Racist Network

Socal.Antiracist@gmail.coim

*This event is strictly a NON-VIOLENT peaceful event. Do not bring weapons*

Working Class? Transfer? Sorry. (Republished from Claremont Solidarity)

2010-04-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

In 2009, approximately 40% of community college transfers to four-year universities in the state of California were made by students of ethnic minority.

PITZER COLLEGE IS NOT OFFERNING FINANCIAL AID TO TRANSFERS NEXT YEAR.

Diversity?

When identifying the role of Community College in higher learning, it is typically used as a spring board for those who are under prepared for university straight out of high school, to launch into a four-year institution. This is usually due to financial hardship, uncertainty of future interests, or lack of college resources among others. These are all typically hardships faced by working-class, minority students in their aspirations to to seek a college education.

Since, many often work while going through school, Community College is the ideal option for getting credits out of the way for cheap, finding academic interests, and transferring into a four-year institution. Not allowing financial aid to transfers limits the demographic of those who have access to college even further, while also deducting from the culture of a self-proclaimed “diverse” student body.

The Chicago Conspiracy Comes to the LA Area!

2010-04-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

The Chicago Conspiracy is a documentary three years in the making. This Subversive Action Films project was filmed in Chile, and the story extends into the Mapuche indigenous lands of Wallmapu.

The Chicago Conspiracy takes its name from the approximately 25 Chilean economists who attended the University of Chicago and returned to assist Pinochet’s military regime in imposing free market policies. Departing from the street celebrations by thousands of people after hearing of Pinochet’s death, The Chicago Conspiracy exposes a new vision of the military coup that doesn’t focus on the story of the Allende government. The film looks instead at the current political conflict and the revolutionary political initiatives, social discontent and organizing by combatant youth, politically active neighborhoods, students, families and loved ones of the disappeared and the Mapuche resistance against oblivion, repression, neoliberalism, militarism and authoritarianism.

Film screening will be followed by a discussion with the director. Screening
will be accompanied by a photo exhibit of social struggles in Chile.

Screenings throughout Los Angeles at:

THURSDAY, MAY 6 at 6:00PM
UCLA campus.
Parkin info: Hilgard Ave/ Westholme Ave, Westwood 90095
Public Affairs Building, Room 1234

FRIDAY, MAY 7 at 3:00PM
Dolores Huerta Room (in the Gold Student Center)
Pitzer College.
1050 North Mills Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711

FRIDAY, MAY 7 at 8:30PM
12520 Long Beach Blvd.
Lynwood, CA 902652

SATURDAY, MAY 8 at 8:00PM
at El Centro Cultural de Mexico
310 W 5th Street
Santa Ana, CA 92701

WATCH TRAILER BELOW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECfjBKmTg0Q

Flyers, event posts:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=111734542192265&ref=ts

http://la.indymedia.org/calendar/event_display_week.php?day=2&month=5&year=2010&topic_id=&location_id=

LA Anarchists Wanted to Participate in an Anarchist Survey

2010-04-20T12:38:00.000-07:00

Survey here

Dear friends/comrades/compañer@s,
This is a project by some friends who are interested in some of the ideas and backgrounds of modern day anarchists. We thought we would turn this into a global survey so that other people can possibly use it as a reference for studies or debates. As far as we know, such a survey has never been conducted and a lot of our ideas of anarchists are only based on assumptions. Many of us have done informal surveys on Facebook; this, however, can be a much more useful one, if we want.

As anarchists ourselves, we take your concerns of privacy very seriously. We have not asked for your name, address or anything else that can be used by the authorities and furthermore have not included any questions on illegal tactics. If you are nevertheless concerned about certain questions, just don't answer them ;-)

Having spent many years within the anarchist milieu, we also know that certain questions will be hard to answer for some of you. Who wants to admit that they / their parents are rich, for instance? We urge you, however, to fill out this survey as honestly as possible. We won't point fingers at you because we simply won't be able to: it's anonymous!

Please also invite all your anarchist friends and comrades to take this survey. The more people take it, the more useful the results will be.

The survey will take most people 10-20 minutes to complete. We will publish the results on public fora so that you will be able to use the data yourself or spread it.

Thanks a lot!

PS: We know that this survey will be biased towards English-speaking people with internet access. We also know that we can't guarantee that people will fill it out honestly or that only anarchists will fill it out. Finally, we recognize that like any such project, our survey is necessarily incomplete and, to some degree, reflects our own biases and assumptions. Nevertheless, we hope you will engage it with the spirit of camaraderie with which it was created :-)

http://anarchistsurvey.com

LAPD Undercovers Sited at Nazi Rally

2010-04-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

by Arizona Anarchist

Here are the photos that I took of LAPD undercovers at the 4/17/2010 Nazi Rally at LA City Hall. For the most part the police stood back (including filming and photographing)from the counterprotesters. Early on (prob. around 1:10 or so) I saw one of the undercovers (the hispanic undercover, with bandana, in the first photo) holding a white male and walking him across the street to the L.A. Police Department where he was arrested. Also, at the same time another undercover (whose picture I didn't get) walked a black male across the street as well.

The second and third photos show a group of undercovers (somewhat led by the officer in the SF Giants hat and shirt). They witnessed numerous people throw stuff at the Nazis but didn't really do anything. I just saw the undercover in the SF hat take a photo of someone who threw something, but that was it.

Full Size Here

Free Julio! (Julio Now Freed!)

2010-04-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

4/17/2010

Sisters and brothers,

Our beloved friend and comrade Julio Rodriguez was arrested today 4/17/10 in Downtown Los Angeles, while protesting against white supremacy, by the LAPD. For those of you who do not know Julio he has been involved with Communities For A Better Environment Huntington Park, Anarchist Black Cross Guadalajara, Nahuatl education in Brown communities, and most recently helped organize the April 10th event to raise funds for Oso Blanco and the children of Chiapas. He is being held on the trumped up charge of "Assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer or fireman," which is a felony. His court date is Tuesday 4/20/10; his bail is 50,000 dollars, and he is currently in the LAPD Parker Center, located at 150 N. Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles, CA. His booking number is #2301368. Tomorrow, Sunday, 4/18/10, visiting hours are from 10-12 and 1-3 pm. I will be able to make at least two trips to visit him tomorrow and one on Monday, if anyone has a government issued ID and wants to carpool, please contact me at MapachinABC@gmail.com . I will post the court time, address, and room number as soon as the information becomes available to me. It is crucial that as Anarchists, anti-imperialists, anti-racists, and anti-fascists we support our friend behind enemy lines, as well as his family, offering our aid in any way possible. Please circulate this message.

FREE JULIO!

Mapache

Los Angeles Anarchist Black Cross

UPDATE:

4/18/2010 JULIO RODRIGUEZ UPDATE (SPREAD THE WORD!)

Sisters and Brothers,
Today 3 of us went to the LAPD Parker Center in downtown Los Angeles to visit our brother behind enemy lines but unfortunately Parker Center only allows one visitor per day, which we were unaware of. For those wondering how Julio is doing, know that he is staying strong and positive regarding his situation and as suspected, the charge of "Felony Assault With A Deadly Weapon On An Officer" is indeed trumped up, as the original charge was intended to be "Misdemeanor Battery" until Julio's possessions were tampered with. It is important that we recognize Julio as political prisoner, and that as members of the movement he represents we are obligated to support him. For those wondering how to support Julio please spread the word and be prepared for benefit events and fundraisers. At the moment we are currently trying to find legal council for our brother as well as provide the means for people to donate as well, which I will post as time permits. I was told that Julio's first court date is Tuesday April 20th, and that he most likely will be transferred from Parker Center to Division 30, located on Temple St. between Spring and Broadway, so I will keep people posted on both his court date and transfer. He has asked that people try to make it out to his court dates to support him.
He has requested a reduction in bail, which is currently set at 50,000 dollars and we should have an estimate of what we are up against in regards to this after April 20th. Until then please, please, please spread the word that our brother is in dire need of support and be prepared to contribute in any way you can. If anyone knows of any lawyer that would be interested in taking the case, any fundraising ideas, any means to contribute, or is interested in receiving updates please contact me at MapachinABC@gmail.com

Spread the word and be ready to mobilize for our brother Julio.
FREE JULIO RODRIGUEZ!
-Mapa
ABCF

UPDATE:

4/20/2010

Today Julio Rodriguez, the activist who was arrested combating white supremacists on 4/17/10 in downtown Los Angeles, was freed from the Central Arraignment Jail located at 429 Bauchet St. After many hours of waiting we finally saw Julio go before the judge and through his public defender his charges were dropped. Julio can speak more about this on his behalf, its slightly more complex than this but be assured that he is not going to do any time. We would like to thank anyone and everyone who contributed to the liberation, support, and solidarity efforts surrounding Julio's case.

Thank you all who supported and helped to form this coalition to liberate our loved one, friend, brother, son, and comrade.
Free all political prisoners!

=Coalition to Free Julio Rodriguez=

Rodriguez Family
Anarchist Black Cross Federation
Anti-Racist Action
Communities for a Better Environment
Youth Justice Coalition
Copwatch LA
Mexico City ABC
Chicago ABC
Revolutionary Autonomous Communities
Bosque
Guillermo Suarez
Citizens In Action
And everyone else who contributed on an individual basis.

FREE THEM ALL!

A Compendium of Action (Republished from Claremont Solidarity)

2010-04-18T16:44:00.000-07:00

Thursday April 15th, 2010

We here at Claremont Solidarity have many revolutionary duties besides writing blog posts – organize, escalate, write senior theses – and these have lately taken precedence over reporting on the continuing struggle of the Pomona College dining hall workers. In brief then, here is what has happened over the past week or so:

On April 6th, worker organizer Maria ‘YoYo’ Garcia debated Karen Sisson, Pomona vice president and treasurer, in a panel forum along with three faculty. The Rose Hills Theater at Pomona College was packed with supportive students wearing orange armbands and buttons, while a crowd of workers held signs in the audience. The debate was an embarrassment for the administration, which was clearly not expecting or ready to be so directly challenged by the workers themselves so publicly. The full two-hour long video can be seen here. A highlight is YoYo telling Karen Sisson that all of the benefits the workers have gotten as workers where won through their own struggle, and not the good will of the administration.

A couple days after the public debate, workers walked off the job in the dining halls in a coordinated break-time action. Dining hall workers took their half hour breaks at the same time and marched out of the dining halls together, leading a short worker-only march through the campus.

Shortly after the walkout, workers took over an anti-union meeting, refusing to be intimidated and speaking out against the attempts of the managers to make them listen to anti-union propaganda.

The coalition of students and workers has begun expanding to include the Ohlone tribe, a local indigenous group that is also fighting for recognition. The Ohlone youth have exhibited a militancy that far exceeds the student members of Claremont Solidarity. Workers and student organizers are to be guests of honor at the upcoming Ohlone pow wow.

Ohlone Chief Tony Cerda, with button and armband, in the struggle

Today, April 15, workers again staged a breaktime walkout, this time leading a march of about 150 students to the Pomona College administration building. The march was led by a large banner painted by Ohlone youth. During the march, a representative from a filming crew that was using the elite environs of the college quad to shoot a commercial addressed the marchers with the request that they keep it quiet so that the commercial could be filmed. Students and workers responded with noise.

Claremont Solidarity updates will continue to be unreliable until thesis dates and final exams are past, or until the revolution is won.

Police Raid NY Anarchist Film-Fest Collective

2010-04-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

For Immediate Release

April 14, 2010

for more info contact announce (at) nyanarchistfilmfest.org

Yesterday, April 13 in Brooklyn NY, the NYPD entered without a warrant 13 Thames Art Space, a Bushwick based art and performance space where members of the Independent Anarchist Media (I AM) Collective have been organizing the Fourth Annual NYC Anarchist Film Festival in honor of Brad Will (http://www.nyanarchistfilmfest.org)

Two plainclothes detectives entered first, followed quickly by a Lieutenant and vans full of blue shirt officers. After corralling everyone present in the back room, they searched the space and detained and
arrested two members of the collective.

The I AM collective was preparing for the NYC Anarchist Film Festival, a showcase of resistance movements and insurrectionary events from around the world presented from an anarchist and anti-authoritarian perspective.

The I AM collective issued the following statement following the raid:

"regardless of these attacks, the film festival will happen as planned on Friday April 16, 2010 at Judson Memorial Church. The voice of decentralized creative communities will not be silenced by police
repression. They cannot stop us with illegal raids and targeted harassment, because we are everywhere."

VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeJAo4f803k

Call for Solidarity for Imprisoned Anarchist Giannis Dimitrakis

2010-04-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

by Assembly for Solidarity (Athens, Greece) keimeno.giannhs@gmail.com

In light of the appeal on April 28th 2010, we call out for actions of solidarity everywhere.

It's been more than four years since the morning of January 16th 2006, when the anarchist Giannis Dimitrakis was arrested, heavily wounded by police fire, after a robbery at a branch of the National Bank in the center of Athens.

From the very first moment a storm of constructed information broke out, systematically supplied by the police and readily carried out by the mass media. The police constructed "the gang of thieves in black," so that other comrades could be named as members, to which was attributed a string of robberies but also a close association to armed revolutionary groups, and then it was proclaimed that the whole of the anarchist- anti-authoritarian movement is closely connected to organized crime !! Gianni's arrest, the slander and the manhunt unleashed against his three supposed accomplices (which were later on declared wanted for astronomic rewards) - four comrades known for their many years of political activity - on the one hand aims for their legal annihilation and on the other, promotes a holistic plan of stripping of meaning and criminalization of anarchists, anti-authoritarians and class struggle.

Because of his political identity, the state moved with rage against him from the first moment. Parallel to the crescendo of misinformation and impression creating by the media, the district attorney tried to interrogate him in the emergency room while he was bedridden and under pharmaceutical influence. The categories against him were based on the "anti-terror" law and enriched with six unsolved robberies, attempted manslaughter and money laundering. He was probably the first man in custody to be held at Malandrino maximum security prison, which is intended to hold convicts only, while attacks by prison guards, vindictive transfers and disciplinary sentences, the exhausting sentence of the first trial (an unheard of for a robbery sentence of 35 years) and the provocative deprivation of basic rights for the preparation of his defense at the court of appeals supplement the oppressive aggressiveness against him.

In these extreme conditions, the comrade defended from the beginning his choice to expropriate a bank, without statements of remorse and with clarity as towards his motives and intentions. He gave meaning to his act as a moment in his critique and action against the system of wage slavery and exploitation, against the antisocial role of the banks and as a part of the polymorphic social struggle.

Furthermore, in the wretched reality of the prisons, he stood dynamically and with dignity from the beginning. He participated in all of the prisoner's struggles happening the past years in Greece. Advancing to hunger strikes and abstinence from the prison meals - despite the permanent health problems given him by the cop's bullets - showing his solidarity for his fellow prisoners and fighting for the terms of his survival and existence in the difficult position of imprisonment. Along with other imprisoned anti-authoritarians he was an interactive channel of communication with the grandiose prisoner's movements in the fall of 2008.

All these reasons - and because Giannis Dimitrakis and the other three wanted anarchists are some of us, comrades and co fighters in the diversity of the struggles for freedom - fired off a mass of actions of solidarity and political defense for them in many cities in Greece. From the posters, texts and brochures to the flyers, banners and slogans on walls and from the attack actions against banks, other economic targets or government vehicles to the massive presence of people at the public events in the amphitheaters, the march in the center of Athens and the demonstrations outside of the prisons of Malandrino, Koridallos, Neapolis and Alikarnasso, the anarchists and anti-authoritarians made clear the way in which they respond to their comrades being held hostage by the state.

The appeal will be on April 28th, where the decision against our comrade will be finalized. Four years after his arrest, four years after the start of this particularly repressive undertaking, one year and some months after the December revolt, the state's constant and manic attempt to oppress, marginalize and criminalize the people of the struggle is becoming all the more clear. Our key weapon against this policy is active solidarity with all means possible.

The appeal of Giannis Dimitrakis is very important, as much for the legal outcome of his case, as for if we will allow the state's manipulations and experiments against us to flourish.

In light of the appeal on April 28th 2010, we call out for actions of solidarity everywhere. Collectives and comrades are organizing marches and actions for Tuesday April 27th, throughout Greece. However it would be significant if you also could organize actions for that day (or some day near to it) in your cities and your countries, for example demonstrations outside of Greek embassies or consulates. Many such actions would send a specific message of solidarity and would be important to us.

With comradely greetings,

Assembly for Solidarity
(Athens)

April 1st occupation scare at Pomona College (Republished from Claremont Solidarity)

2010-04-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

Friday April 2nd, 2010

On the evening of March 31st, the communication channels between the Claremont Colleges administrations were alight with worried tales of anarchy and occupation. The deans of Pitzer College communicated to their southern colleagues at Pomona College that the next day a mass of Pitzer anarchists would be marching to the Pomona administration building to lock down and take over. Pomona deans were so worried that they called multiple student organizers that night attempting to avert the expected strike.

What fool occupies on April 1st?

The threat manifested itself in the form of two anarcho-syndicalists who arrived in President Oxtoby’s office on a tandem bicycle, partially unclothed but extremely classy conscious, to deliver a stack of signed petitions and a thoughtful card. The card read, “I thought of you today, I thought of you yesterday. I’ll think of you tomorrow.” It bore a handwritten note,
Happy April 1st! You’re doing a heckuva job Oxie.
The time will come.
- Direct Action Claremont

With President Oxtoby still outright rejecting the demands of the dining hall workers for a fair process to establish an independent union, the college has good reason to be afraid of militant action. And good reason to grow some intelligence if they intend to fight the union with anything more than jittery nerves.

Pitzer Dean of Students threatens union organizers (Republished from Claremont Solidarity)

2010-04-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

Wednesday March 31st, 2010

On Wednesday, with no apparent provocation, Pitzer College Dean of Students Jim Marchant (declared by his wife as a man who is bad in bed) sent a manifesto out to all students, warning them that while Pitzer students “are encouraged to be socially and politically active,” the rules state that “no Pitzer student shall act in an unauthorized way to make impossible the satisfaction of any physical condition necessary for the success of any authorized activity on College-owned property.” Those who do disturb the physical conditions necessary for the maintenance of capital and exploitation face “sanctions ranging from a warning to expulsion from the College.”

The context of this threatening message is a growing labor conflict that grows rapidly closer to coordinated workplace action as President Oxtoby continues to ignore the demands of the dining hall workers. With no other campus cause to bring students out to protest, it is clear that Marchant’s message is a pre-emptive move against those students who will be walking the picket lines with the workers.

The workers in the Pomona dining halls are already risking their jobs by publicly organizing for a union. Those students who stand in solidarity with the workers know that they are necessarily also standing in struggle against the bosses and college administrations, and they know that the college will treat them as enemies as well. The privilege that Claremont students hold shields them from the kinds of dangers the workers face, but nonetheless, victory will not come without risks, and it will not come without the threats of Dean Marchant being carried to fruition.

Follow the post for Marchant’s full message.

Dear Pitzer Students:

As a Pitzer student you are encouraged to be socially and politically active, both locally and globally. At the same time, you are encouraged to do so in an informed and responsible manner, one that is consistent with our community values and our educational objective of social responsibility.

It is with this in mind that I write to you on the subject of policies regarding protests and demonstrations at Pitzer and The Claremont Colleges. The Claremont Colleges have a shared policy regarding demonstrations on College-owned property. It is posted below and is on pages 78-79 of the 2009-10 Pitzer College Student Handbook at: http://www.pitzer.edu/student_life/pdf/Student_Handbook.pdf.

Furthermore, as part of the Code of Student Conduct, Pitzer has a policy regarding interference with college activities. This policy is on page 58 of the 2009-10 Pitzer College Student Handbook and is as follows: “Interference with College activities. No Pitzer student shall act in an unauthorized way to make impossible the satisfaction of any physical condition necessary for the success of any authorized activity on College-owned property (by College-owned property we understand property owned jointly or individually by any of The Claremont Colleges, or property of any facility or institution owned by or affiliated with the Colleges).” Keep in mind that violations of the Code of Student Conduct carry sanctions ranging from a warning to expulsion from the College.

Please read both policies closely and think carefully before deciding to take action. You should know that if you choose to take action on another Claremont campus, officials there can determine what is considered “non-peaceful” or “disruptive,” and they can involve Campus Safety or local law enforcement.

Again, please be mindful of our community values and educational objectives as you express yourself.

Sincerely,
Jim Marchant
Dean of Students
Vice President for Student Affairs

The Student Movement That Never Was

2010-04-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

by John

Premise I: Contrary to the Skeptics, Movements DO exist but ONLY when they encompass and resonate with societies as a WHOLE.

This past Fall and during some of the Winter there was a small social uprising along the West Coast primarily concentrated at higher education public universities. (Much information at: http://occupyca.wordpress.com) Some of us who participated would like to believe that it was a well-sized phenomenon, but to many who attended those universities while actions were taking place and to the general population at large, they were small, generally isolated protests for the "students".

"Oh, those 'students', always complaining about themselves."

The reality is that the image portrayed of this small social phenomenon was one isolated to those playing the role of "student". Yes, there were moments in time in which the social uprising spread out of that box. Make no mistake, I am proud of the fury, rage, and protest that took place. I am not wishing it never happened. I only wish to point out what should be obvious by now - that it was not a Movement, only something akin to a Temper Tantrum.

As soon as the initial spontaneous wave and resonance of actions died down, the activists (bureaucrats, student activists, non-student activists, etc) came out and began to suck dry the energy and fury, relinquishing the potential to encompass society as a whole.

Premise II: As soon as the activist tames and dominates any social uprising, the opportunity for Movement is lost. The activist is like a vampire, lurking in the darkness of the status quo. When they strike, they suck the potential out of an uprising, hosting meeting after meeting, conference after conference, and evoking like a sacred ritual, the holy label of "Movement".

It has not been said enough. Beware of the activist. Beware of the bureaucrat. Do not put your faith in meetings. Do not put your faith in conferences. There may be those involved in these realms who are dying to be defected and released from its vampiric grip, but remember to steel yourself.

The moment in which they are dominating the tension and uprising is the moment they are digging a grave for the potential of Movement. The moment in which they dub the actions in hindsight as part of the "_________ Movement" is the moment in which they are putting the nail in the coffin. For this particular social uprising, the term was "Student Movement" and like monks they evoked this phrase and will continue to evoke the phrase until all rebellion is crushed. Every uprising is their Christ and they gladly sacrifice Him time and time again.

Where is their weakness? What can we do? Where is our silver bullet, our stake, our garlic?

Do not be deceived, even if a social uprising does encompass a society as a whole, you can be sure they will still rise out of the catacombs. Some say to ignore them and press onward, agitating for complete social revolution. Let them feed on themselves. Others have devised their own incantations: "Student Movement? What Student Movement!?"...

Premise III: It is the duty of the Anarchist to concern themselves with the betterment of society. This means no distinction between politics and everyday life. This also means doing whatever is in their power to help conjure Movement - to dispatch all obstacles strategically and create a state of Anarchy, a seemingly irreversible state in which the tricks of the State, Capital, and all forces conspiring against Anarchy only hasten their downfall and Communism* flourishes.

So what is our role? Where do we go from here?

Within the Belly of the Beast things seem difficult. There is mass alienation and isolation. For a long time now we no longer feel connected as a society. We have been divided so we can be conquered and it has worked thus far.

THESE CONDITIONS ARE RIPE FOR THE ANARCHIST.

If the Anarchist is concerned with the betterment of society (obviously from an Anarchist Ethics & Perspective) and building real community, real connections, real solidarity, and real interactions...WE COULD NOT BE IN A BETTER SITUATION.

When the majority of the population no longer trust the government, their neighbors, capitalism, or the media but put up with these things as a matter of fatalism...THEN WE HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BY AGITATING AND BEING PUBLIC ABOUT WANTING A BETTER SOCIETY.

From this vantage point there is an open landscape of paths to take. There almost aren't even paths to take, everything begins to blur into everything else.

The Student Movement never was and that's fine. There will be more cuts, layoffs, price increases, and foreclosures all around as capitalism continues to function. There are opportunities everywhere. There are connections begging to be made everywhere to encompass society.

DO SOMETHING.

"Anarchism is not a concept that can be locked up in a word like a gravestone. It is not a political theory. It is a way of conceiving life. And life, young or old as we may be, is not something definitive: it is a stake we must play day after day. When we wake up in the morning and put our feet on the ground we must have a good reason for getting up. If we don't it makes no difference whether we are anarchists or not. We might as well stay in bed and sleep."

- The Anarchist Tension, Alfredo Bonanno

*: Communism as in the act of living in communism. A state of true community, sharing; of interconnectedness. NOT State/Authoritarian Communism or Socialism government.

Anarchy in Sierra Madre? Rebels with a Cause – Free Speech (Republished from the Sierra Madre Weekly)

2010-03-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

Cruz, Francesca, Kristen and Humas were just four of the small group of Anarchists who helped organize the picnic Saturday afternoon.

Photo by Terry Miller

Anarchy in Sierra Madre!

By Terry Miller

No, we’re not speaking of the highly volatile council candidate “forums” that have nearly bored residents to sleep with long winded statements many of which were transcribed from blog transmissions – that in itself is worthy of an equally long winded newspaper op-ed piece. Not all candidates are qually boring, some are simply outragous – but I digress. Back to the future…

As thousands of people began to descend on Sierra Madre this past weekend to pay homage to an old Wistaria Vine on Hermosa, a handful of young people gathered in Memorial park for what they consider a great deal more important – awareness of history and the power of the people.

With May Day approaching fast, these people who call themselves Anarchists use the holiday as a remembrance. The group recalls when the State put anarchism itself on trial. In 1886 the line was drawn and the US radicals lost their innocence.

These young individuals from all over the state of California believe Mayday is a celebration of anarchism, the history of defiance and feel that the Labor Day holiday was used as a distraction to deter citizens from the radical history of labor.

Several individuals were condemned and hanged for being anarchists in the nineteenth century: George Engle, Louis Lingg and Adolph Fisher ( according to the New York Times 11/11/1886) wrote an open letter to then Governor Oglesby refusing “any commutation of sentence short of liberty and declaring unabated faith in the principles of Anarchy.”

Cruz, Francesca, Kristen and Humas were just four of the small group that handed out literature and held informal discussions and workshops on Saturday afternoon. Cruz thanked the Sierra Madre Weekly for accurately covering the event and its goals when another paper The Pasadena Weekly, in fact, “made a mockery” of the group’s hopes and aspirations in a recent edition.

Concerned that the police were watching this small, harmless group…it was pointed out that the Police Dept. is right next to the park so the constant appearance of police vehicles was probably due to this simple fact and not surveillance.

Anarchists make revolutions, not war: This is a proclamation on one of the handouts we received on Saturday in Memorial Park from the group that held poetry readings, music reminiscent of the 1960’s.
Ben Franklin said: ” A scoundrel’s worst fear is a society without money: for in such a society he would only get the respect he deserves.” This quote is often used in anarchist literature as anarchists use democracy – but they don’t let democracy use them.

For more information on this particular group contact their facebook page: Windchime House.
“Windchime is a collective group that hosts, supports, and creates radical events for the sake of spreading anarchism and destroying all systems of oppression.”
The group plans on meeting once a month.

http://sierramadreweekly.com

Banner Drops on Pomona College Campus (Republished from Claremont Solidarity)

2010-03-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

Wednesday March 17th, 2010

Last week, Claremont Solidarity decorated the campus with one banner for each day of the week, as a visual reminder of the ongoing labor conflict at Pomona College.

MONDAY, PEARSONS HALL:

LA UNION HACE LA FUERZA

TUESDAY: MASON HALL

SUPPORT ORGANIZING WORKERS

WEDNESDAY: DIGNIDAD SCIENCE CENTER

DIGNIDAD Y JUSTICIA

THURSDAY: FRARY DINING HALL

NO INTIMIDATION ON OUR CAMPUS

FRIDAY: SMITH CAMPUS CENTER

POMONA, ESCUCHA, ESTAMOS EN LA LUCHA!

http://claremontsolidarity.wordpress.com

Democracy and Insurrection in Greece and the World (Republished from LA Indymedia)

2010-03-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

by Rockero

Tuesday, March 9, 2010
CLAREMONT, California - Southern California got a taste of Greek-style anarchism and insurrection in a series of talks given by Peter Gelderloos, author of How Nonviolence Protects the State, and Greek comrades from the Void Network Tasos Sagris and Sissy Doutsiou. With Audio.

Audio: http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2010/03/gelderloos09mar2010-001.mp3

While centering on the recent uprisings around issues of police brutality in Greece, the talk was structured more as a dialogue or a question-and-answer session than a traditional lecture.

Peter began. "We're gonna be talking about the social insurrection in Greece, which really came to world attention after the killing on December 6, 2008 of a fifteen-year-old in Exarchia, which is sort of the counterculture and really rebellious neighborhood in Athens, in the center of Athens, that's very much associated with the anarchists. And after that there were three weeks of major rioting. After that it disappeared largely from world attention, but these social struggles are still continuing, and a lot more stronger than before December, so in a lot of ways they've won, and what we want to do is talk about where that came from, why it was possible, and then what's been happening with that, what directions it went."

He cautioned against romanticizing revolutionary images, such as the ones being projected on a wall beside the speakers, and made reference to other struggles in the UK and Barcelona, each of which occurs in a distinct cultural and political milieu.

"In this way, we don't wanna just give information bout what's going on in Greece, because that's very interesting, but ultimately, it's useless. We want to really encourage critical thinking about insurrections which will hopefully be useful to you all here for spreading rebellions here."

He then asked people to shout out questions, the first of which was a request for some historical context to the rebellion vis-à-vis its relation to the rise of anarchism and the struggle against fascism.

Tasos began his answer with an overview of the Greek movement. "There is not existing such a thing like a 'movement' in Greece because all the groups and the affinity groups and the small collectives, they are taking care of the movement, and they are the ones that are producing the analysis and the ideas and the initiatives of the movement."

He then went briefly into the two periods of the Greek anarchist movement, explaining that in both 1936 and 1967, dictatorships were imposed on Greece to contain revolutionary movements. "So, when happened the big uprising in the Polytechnic University in 1974, that was one of the main reasons that the dictatorship fall down, there participated 50, maybe 50, 60 anarchists, that they had very much influence to the general assemblies, that most of the general assemblies, they people that participated in this struggle, we have to recognize that there was leftists, autonomous leftists, libertarian Marxists, people that they had mainly Marxist, and Maoist, and Leninist influences. But the spirit of empowerment that the anarchists they gave to the struggle that took place for three, four days for the fall of the dictatorship, there was like 10,000, 15,000 people that they gathered there and that participate in these riots, it was very influential, and there it was the first time that appeared these big banners that were saying 'Down with Authority,' 'General Social Insurrection,' that was the first time that appeared the anarchist slogans and anarchist banners, inside these riots.

"Another strategy they had, it was that they appeared after '74, there appeared anarchist and autonomous groups inside the universities. These groups, they were small in the beginning, and they had little influence, but through the strong efforts, and also through the commitment and also the creativity and also the spreading of ideas, and the big publications, many free publications, that they were distributing inside the university, and also through the empowerment to the general student movement, to the students. Like the feeling that we can fight and we can win!"

This movement occupied all the universities for three months, a feat repeated in 1979, 1980, and 1985. In 1990, a large movement occupied the universities to halt their privatization, and was supported by a movement of high school students, who occupied their schools in solidarity.

"Black flags in front of the universities and of the high schools, all the universities and the high schools of the country closed for three months."

The movement not only halted the EU-imposed move toward private ownership of education, but also succeeded in establishing in the popular consciousness the idea that "the University will forever be for free, the food in the university will be for free, and the University restaurants will give food to all the poor people and all the poor immigrants and whoever is in great need that needs to have some food that day, the university restaurant has the obligation also to give free food."

The food reform was part of an effort to teach to both the political and the academic powers the "social obligation of the University." The movement itself was part of a general assault on conservatism, and had a lasting effect in that regard.

A question was asked about how communities organized themselves, and the Greek guests explained the functioning of social centers, which, among other projects, offer many free classes. Peter explained that the anarchists tend to organize in small, decentralized affinity groups. These groups have their own analyses, work on their own projects, and create their own propaganda, he explained, and share that analysis in general assemblies.

A student asked about interactions between different groups and movements. Sissy explained, "In Greece there is no monothematic campaigns. There is no separate agendas. There is no separate groups, for example, only for the immigrants, even if the immigrants by themselves have their own groups. There are many groups that each group has its own aspect and its own analysis and its own solution to the problem. All of these groups, they take care of ecology, about the student movement, about the economy, about everything."

Tasos elaborated by giving an example. "Appeared, for example, one movement influenced by the antifa groups of Germany, they called themselves also "antifa," antifascist. They have some small influence and they work very good fighting the nazis on the streets. But when they started to mobilize for demonstration, then all the anarchists made the big assembly, for a long time. 'What do we believe about the movement of antifa?' That period, the conclusion that the insurrectionary Greeks, they made, was that 'We are not antifascist. We are anarchists, and because we are anarchists, we fight against fascism. But we don't identify ourselves as separate identity of 'antifa.' Or of 'antisexist.' Or 'anti-state.' All these are parts of the anarchist struggle."

When a movement is forming, outreach is done to the entire society, not just to the affected communities. The Greeks depend less on the internet than on paper and personal outreach. This gives the movement a body, which comes back, "first through the counterinformation, then through the demonstration, and then through the riot. All of them are body. If you miss some of these parts, then you miss all. If you have just counterinformation and you don't have demonstration, then you don't exist in the public space. If you have just demonstration and you don't have riots, then you don't have political power. Nobody believes you. It's the insurrectionary body."

Part of the reason for doing so much outreach is to "spread our vision to our unknown friends, and these unknown friends are all the other people. And the unknown friends are the ones that are all the other people that they are secretly waiting for our open invitation to them, because all our events shall be open to the public," explained Sissy.

She went on to provide some more observations about the student movement, when Peter interjected, pointing to the student struggle in Barcelona. "In the years prior to this, most anarchists had the attitude that, 'The student struggle is reformist, we're not really gonna participate.' And they didn't really give it much attention. Which is an interesting perspective to think that any struggle in and of itself is reformist. I think that really shows a lack of imagination. Goals and methods can be reformist, but to pass up not only an entire struggle, but an entire section of the population, as reformist, didn't work out too well for them."

Anarchist presence within Europe's student movements was not a given, then, and neither is any particular culture more hospitable to militancy than any other, he explained, citing the ejection of anarchist defenders of a Barcelona University occupation from a demonstration led by reformist parties early in the movement.

"A lot of people in the US might be inclined to think, 'Oh, that's very easy what they do in Greece because they have a culture there of antiauthoritarianism, they have a culture of supporting violence against the police.' Spain, and Barcelona in particular, also had political cultures of fighting back. But then, within the student scene, for several years, the anarchists--they didn't pay attention to that culture, they didn't work to renew these traditions, and all that time, the political parties, the reformist political parties, were promoting reformist values, as were school administrations, and the government itself, and the economic restructuring, and all of that. So you see a very distinct cultural change here in just a decade or less of a population that is militant and that fights back, to a population that is pacifist. And the same thing could be said in the US, that generally we have a political culture of pacifism here, and who knows? In a decade, that could be gone."

The willingness of the student anarchists to enact their politics despite the lack of popularity thereof has actually won them more allies. "By showing that they are completely different from all of the politicians among the student body, are actually gaining more and more influence. Because, in the day-to-day, the politicians and people pursuing reformist tactics are gonna have all of these advantages because the system's stacked against us, but every person who actually feels this unfairness and how wrong it is to privatize the University, every person who feels this as a form of authoritarianism, and as a form of exploitation, at least on some level will identify with the people who don't act like politicians, or the people who fight back, with the people who do whatever it takes to win their freedom."

A question was posed regarding the influence of pacifism in Greece. "We don't have pacifism in Greece!" proclaimed Tasos.

The Greek perspective on violence is different. Sissy explained, "Violence is when the banks robs our everyday life through student loans, through any kind of loans. We should have this clear in our mind, what is violence or not. Violence comes from the state, and not from the people that are fighting against the injustice."

There is also an understanding that the question of violence is not one of morality, but of strategy. "We don't do it because we believe in violence. When is the moment to show the highest power? The movement knows, not the moral code. It's moralism. We are not a religion."

Another questioner asked about anarchist perspectives on movements to defend public goods that essentially fall under the auspices of the state, such as education and protections for workers, particularly in light of the corporate media's characterization of the Greek credit default as the result of a generous social safety net.

"The governors, they stole the money, you know?" responded Tasos. "And also they stole our lives. We fight to take back our lives. And also, it's a lie to believe that the public services or the free public health makes the economy worse, because what is the economy? How do we count? What we count is how much happy we are. And we are not happy at all. We are angry, you know. Even though we have free public health and free public education. Imagine how much it is, the American society?! Really, really! I mean, inside. Even if they don't understand or if they don;t believe that they need free public health for everybody. They cannot understand the concept, you know? But, we hope that slowly, slowly, they will understand. We will enforce free public health for everybody. We will enforce free public education for everybody. Nobody can prove to the society the because we have free health, the economy's no good." He continued: "What is the economy? They count their own money. We don't care about the numbers we don't care about the crisis. We are not in crisis. Anyways, Greece is in social crisis the last 30 years. Now they say it about the Euro. We don't care! We don't read the economical newspapers, you know? We don't want to understand the way that they think, in a way. We understand the way they think, but we have our own mentality. You understand? We built our own way of looking the social life."

He concluded, "the anarchists, they want much more bigger crisis than the crisis that capitalism produce right now. But this will be a crisis full of consciousness, and full of social benefit, like full of the love of social life. That the people will care each other. This will be very beneficial for all society, and this is our vision. How the anarchist movement gonna benefit the society? The society will not feel us as terrorists, or as enemies, or as problematic people, because we are not these things. We are the people that are gonna shield the society with all our possible powers. This is the vision for the economical crisis."

audio: MP3 at 11.9 mebibytes

A few more questions/answers

Worker Delegation Swells to Spontaneous Walkout (Republished from Claremont Solidarity)

2010-03-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

Monday March 15th, 2010

A four person delegation of workers organized to deliver a letter to President Oxtoby turned into a short walkout today when the entire dining hall spontaneously decided to leave work and join the delegation. All 16 workers who where on shift at the time left the dining hall empty and took the letter to Alexander Hall. President Oxtoby was not to be found in his office, so the letter was left with his secretary.

The letter expressed the workers’ rejection of the College’s attempts at intimidation that have occured over the past week: a mandatory un-announced anti-union meeting, promising concessions to dissuade workers from organizing and discouraging workers from talking to each other about the union with threats of punishment for ‘employee-to-employee intimidation.’ The letter strongly re-iterated the demand for a card-check neutrality agreement, which the administration continues to reject without consideration or negotiation.

We are all ready for coordinated industrial action to secure workers’ rights. If a small delegation can turn into a walkout without any planning or advance notice, then the future certainly has the potential to bring wild things.

http://claremontsolidarity.wordpress.com

Wondering Around in Los Angeles // We Are An Image From The Future U.S.A. Tour 2010 (Republished from Void Network)

2010-03-15T21:30:00.000-07:00

Broken Dreams,
Hollywood afternoons,
the ocean of illusions,
the mountains of ignorance,
lost on the highways
of consumerism
and false needs,
wondering
in the streets of Los Angeles

Wondering
like a seagul flying
above the Pacific Ocean...

Hidden inside the crowds
uknown
alone
wondering
in the streets
of Los Angeles

http://voidnetwork.blogspot.com/

Claremont University / California // We Are An Image From The Future U.S.A. Tour (Republished from Void Network)

2010-03-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

The new anarchist / autonomist / insurrectionary youth and student movement that is taking place now in the universities of California and many other places in amerikkka is maybe the most important movement in our days in USA. Young people from many different economic, social and cultural backgrounds are coming together in their schools to fight against capitalism. In a period of economic crisis the students understand that there is not future for them, there is not any hope, the anxiety, the boredom and the wage slavery is the real face of the American Dream. The fight against the cademic elite, the corporations that control education and the every day life misery is a fight of all of us, a fight that brings together all of us.

For many hours we were speaking in the occupied room of the autonomous anarchist student group of Clearmont University. You can find some of their ideas, struggles, visions and mobilazation here:

http://afterthefallcommuniques.info/

http://occupyca.wordpress.com/

Following the links in the sites and blogs of this movement will offer you a clear idea about a very complicated movement that is starting to get stronger and stronger all over the world, the movement of the people with no hope, the youth of our times....inteligent, ecstatic, angry and wild, uncontroled young people. The people that will conquar this world soon....

http://voidnetwork.blogspot.com/

Class Struggle in Claremont (Republished from Claremont Solidarity)

2010-03-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

Partnership! Well, labor and capital may be partners in theory, but they are enemies in fact. – JOHN L. LEWIS; President, United Mine Workers of America; 1936

If you contract out, union-bust, or otherwise make it impossible for workers and students to have an organized voice, you don’t shut them up, you just get collective bargaining by riot. – ELAINE BERNARD; Director, Harvard Law School Labor & Worklife Program; 2002

Pomona College is the site of active class struggle. The food service workers of Pomona College are now in open conflict with the corporate administration of Pomona College over their attempts to organize an independent union. They fight for dignity, justice and respect. Their employer, Pomona College, seeks only the ability to continue its exploitative practices. The College rejects even their basic demand for an agreement against intimidation. We, as Claremont Solidarity, stand with the workers, and against the interests of capital and the corporate university.

On Monday, March 1, 150 students and workers entered the office of David Oxtoby, President of Pomona College, to deliver their demands for a fair unionization process to him. Hundreds of signed petitions were stacked in Oxtoby’s hands, petitions signed by 90% of the food service workers at Pomona College, demanding that Pomona College agree to a card check neutrality agreement with the dining hall workers. If the College were to accept this card check neutrality agreement, they would pledge to not engage in any anti-union intimidation of workers and recognize the workers’ union as soon as a majority have signed union authorization cards. On Saturday, March 6, workers came forward to speak to students, addressing a rally of more than 400 students assembled in the rain, speaking to their situation and efforts at creating a union.

The Pomona dining hall workers are organizing to establish an independent union in order to collectively fight for a contract and better working conditions. In the Pomona College dining halls, where workers are denied year-round employment, where more than 80% report having been injured on the job, where workers are at-will employee and are routinely fired for being worked to the point where injuries prevent them working any more, where decades of employment provides only the opportunity for decades of poverty-level wages, where legally required breaks have been denied with uniform consistency for years, where the managers compel workers to perform unpaid labor off the clock, and above all, where workers have been robbed of their power, their voice, and their dignity. To the administration, they are merely part of the faceless human capital that greases the wheels of the educational institution, regardless of the fact that they contribute far more to the College than the comfortably positioned PR office bureaucrat who makes certain that every letter published by the College uses the approved font, or even the faculty member who teaches students how to continue reproducing our oppressive social relations.

Pomona College is the second wealthiest liberal arts college in the country, with an endowment of $1.8 billion. An endowment of $1,160,000 per student, with a tuition of $50,000, and Pomona College pays its dining hall workers as little as $10 an hour. With the lack of reliable work that the College offers, many workers – who tend to be the primary breadwinners for their families – come out making between $10,000 and $15,000 per year. Pomona College’s endowment has grown by 240% over the past 10 years. What does that vast increase in wealth mean for the workers? It means absolutely nothing; wages have been stagnant for decades, just keeping up with inflation and lagging behind the cost of living. No matter how much money Pomona College has, it will pay its employees as little as it can get away with.

After years of paternalistic negotiations, after bureaucratic do-nothing committees, after proposals for an ombudsman, after a failed unionization campaign with an outside union, after years of proper channels and no improvement, the dining hall workers are certain that the only means to gain dignity and respect at their work is to organize and create their own union.

The workers have chosen to create their own independent, worker-controlled union and to not relinquish control to a self-interested outside union. They have been failed by the national unions in the past and now they have made complete autonomy and local control an absolute condition of any union organizing. It will be difficult for an independent union of a few dozen workers and scant resources to challenge the billion dollar corporation that is Pomona College, but with student solidarity it is possible, and it may be preferable to a few dozen workers challenging a union that either outright ignores workers who aren’t in thousand-person bargaining groups, or seeks ‘mutually beneficial partnerships’ with employers.

The response from the College administration to all of this? President Oxtoby declares his support of workers’ right to unionize! Simultaneously he rejects all of their demands and refuses to negotiate on the issue of card check neutrality. Oxtoby will allow only for talk of a unionization process that follows the model of National Labor Relations Board vote, a process that is the graveyard of democracy and unionization attempts. Oxtoby demands that the College reserve the right to intimidate its workers, to retaliate against organizing workers, to delay the unionization vote for years, and to appeal any unionization vote for yet more years. These are the points of difference between the process demanded by the workers and the process offered by the College. Unless the College was planning on utilizing some of these anti-union tactics allowed under the NLRB process then there would be no reason in rejecting the card check process.

Oxtoby has revealed the true anti-worker position of the College in statements that deny any need for workers to be concerned with the benevolent, protective employment of the College, even going so far as to call workers ‘naive’:

The assumption, often, with a union is that everything that you have now you will keep and you will get more — you will have all of the channels of communication and ways of working with the college which we’ve developed over the years, I think that’s not correct. I think it’s a little naive.”

The workers know the liberal bullshit of the administration when they see it, and have responded with a hardening commitment to the fair process that 90% of them had originally demanded, in direct rejection of the anti-worker NLRB process that Oxtoby holds to. The orange armbands are staying on in the kitchens of Pomona College.

Meanwhile, out of the public arena, the College has already forced the dining hall workers to attend anti-union meetings where they illegally promised concessions if the workers stop their organizing efforts (covering up their illegal activities with the blatant lie that they implemented these concessions months ago, without any of the workers noticing). The deans, so fond of the liberal college activist who poses no challenge to their own comfort and security, sat one student organizer down to threaten him with the loss of his job with the College if he continued devoting his efforts to the union.

Alongside the administration, numerous supposedly leftist faculty at Pomona College have belittled the workers’ attempts at forming an independent union, apparently unable to believe that workers are capable of organizing themselves without the leadership of decayed professors or bureaucratic outside unions. To them, we repeat the words one worker spoke to the faculty: “We’re not asking for your advice, we’re asking for your support.” At the very least, 90% of the workers have decided that this the course of action they want to take, and the only justifiable action for us to take is to respect their decisions and lend them our solidarity, not our paternalism.

It is no surprise that an elite liberal arts college supposedly committed to social responsibility responds to the organization of its workers in the same fashion as any profit-driven corporation, because that is exactly what the modern college has become through a long process of corporatization. The only structural difference remaining between college and corporation is that as ‘non-profits’ colleges need make only enough revenue to break even, a difference in scale only. The condition of the workers at Pomona College is a result of this corporatization of the college; a result of transformation of Pomona College into Pomona College, Inc.

As students at a corporate college we are now mere consumers of the education commodity. So workers are mere human capital, rather than dignified and respected members of our community. They are expected to have the same relationship with the College community as McDonalds fry cooks have with their customers. What should be a community of equals who are valued for their contributions to the collective education of everyone in our community is instead debased to a rude system of commodities, consumers, producers and exploitation.

Our friends from Direct Action Claremont have participated in occupations at the public universities, and we see this struggle at Pomona College as an extension of that struggle. Both the battle for public education and the unionization efforts at Pomona College are manifestations of resistance to the neo-liberal corporate model of higher education that simultaneously dispossesses students of an education, and workers of dignified labor.

Claremont Solidarity exists to escalate the class struggle at Pomona College. The interests of the workers and the interests of the corporate College are directly opposed to each other; one seeks justice and fairness, the other seeks profit through exploitation. The College will not choose through its own enlightenment to act against its economic interest and allow the workers to organize. It can only be forced to do such. In order to realize progress, we must create a situation of conflict, where the power of the administration is challenged by the power of the workers. And we must make certain at the same time that students understand this conflict, and choose to cast their lots on the side of the workers. We cannot wait for this situation of open class conflict to emerge; time is the College’s most potent weapon, and they intend to delay justice until it is terminally denied. Pomona College will attempt to batten down the hatches and wait for the storm to blow over; we pledge that this storm shall only strengthen until the workers at Pomona College have justice.

We pledge an escalating campaign of confrontational action, as this is the only way to force the College to recognize the workers’ demands. Pomona College cannot run as though everything is normal when the College is refusing to consider the demands of 90% of its food service workers. There is an active labor conflict in Claremont, and we will not let the College forget it. No business as usual!

Claremont Solidarity

Audacity! Audacity! Ever more audacity!

claremontsolidarity.wordpress.com

Kent State is Not Our Fate! A Proposal for Coordinated Action May 4th (Republished from Occupy UCI)

2010-03-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

"March 4 just the st(A)rt!" On Humanities Instructional Building (HIB) at UCI (let it suffice to say that this banner was hung from a completely unreachable ledge, and it may be impossible to remove given current OSHA regulations!)

At some point the rebels fighting behind the Orange Curtain exploded their subjectivities and took on an important position in the Crisis. We saw our reflection in the dumpsters that one day, and since then nothing has been the same. Barely 30 hours after the Fullerton Humanities occupation was raided by police, somehow breaking past double-stacked dumpsters chained to doors, and 8 days after 17 students were arrested sitting in outside Chancellor Michael Drake’s office while students outside barricaded the building; 500+ Irvine students staged perhaps the first street action in the history of the City of Irvine itself, and one of the first in Orange County as a whole. Our police had no idea how to respond, to a situation which happens weekly and twice as big most other places.

Sure, we may not be taking over the 880 (yet) or fighting riot police trying to get on the 80 (yet), but we did get close to the 73, and we feel pretty damn proud of ourselves. After all, Tiger Woods lives a few blocks away from campus, and neighboring Newport Beach is the most affluent city in the country. AND, the entire city of Irvine is actually owned by a company, and was designed to be riot-proof. We can’t even jaywalk here without being stopped by the cops, and on M4 we took over intersections.

In our experience in turning out nearly 1,000 students for militant action at a campus designed to socially atomize the student body and prevent mobilization, what has enabled the highest turnouts of uninvolved students is days of action. Students knew about S24 and M4 without necessarily even receiving a flier or being invited on Facebook. These actions should not/cannot replace actions in between; this assumption was the root of the failure of the October 24 conference. But they do supplement escalation, it’s an excuse to feel our strength collectively, at one time.

So, Irvine is calling for M4: the sequel.

May 4 is the 40th anniversary of the massacre of students at Kent State University.

The history of Kent State and the rest of the anti-Vietnam War movement is well-known (although often times incorrectly well-known). Unlike most other countries, we have no student days. We have no anniversaries to rally around, no days reserved for mourning and anger. Let’s make May 4 a day to remember, not just because of the Kent State massacre or even the Haymarket riots which happened on that day, but for the events that we will set in motion this day. Hold funeral processions and silent marches this day; tell everyone to dress in black. Let’s mourn not for ourselves but for the death of the university!

Original Post: http://occupyuci.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/kent-state-is-not-our-fate-a-proposal-for-coordinated-action-may-4/

Pomona College Workers Share Testimonies (Republished from LA Indymedia)

2010-03-11T14:20:00.000-08:00

by Rockero

Saturday, March 6, 2010

CLAREMONT, California - Despite a drizzle, students from Pomona and other Claremont colleges held a follow-up rally in support of the unionization drive for food service workers. Last week, students, arm-in-arm with workers, delivered hundreds of petitions requesting card-check certification for an independent union to Pomona College president David Oxtoby. The petition also requested non-interference from the College during the unionization drive.

Saturday's action, timed to coincide with a meeting of the Pomona College trustees, allowed workers to share their testimonies and featured the participation of religious leaders, musicians, and the grandson of the late labor leader César Chávez, Anthony Chávez.

As the crowd of mostly students assembled outside Bridges Auditorium, they chanted their demands for justice. Mariachi Serrano de Claremont sang "Tristes recuerdos."

A student organizer began with a summary of the situation. "The workers on Monday went to President Oxtoby's office and asked for a non-intimidation agreement, and he did not agree to that. I don't care what words he used, but he did not agree to that.¹ So we're here today to show our support and hear from workers, what they think, what they feel. It's the first time that they've had this opportunity, so we're here to show our support for that."

She then introduced Father Patricio Guillén, a longtime social justice advocate in the Inland Empire. "Good afternoon. ¡Sí se puede! ¡Sí se puede! ¡Que viva César Chávez! ¡Que vivan los trabajadores! I was invited to come and share with you, and I think that it's a beautiful occasion, because sometimes crises are looked at as curses, but we are in a crisis in this nation because we have followed the path of power and arrogance rather than humility and service. And we have forgotten that we are one human race bound together and our destiny is to work together to find solutions to the problems that we run into as we journey towards eternity. We just lost a beautiful person, Howard Zinn, he wrote the [People's] History of the United States, and he wrote the good and the bad about it, not to downgrade, but also to remind us that we are on a journey and we have some difficult moments like right now. Here, the workers in Claremont College, Pomona College. As a democracy, we don't have an economic system that's democratic. Eighty percent of the goods in our nation, in the economy is in that hands of about 25%, and 95% of the people posess only 20%, that's not democracy. It's not democracy either to see the political power be concentrated upon the corporations that forget the human person and the dignity of each one of us.

"We also know that we have lost the battle, to some degree, on education and the ideology of imperialism. The means of communication have also been taken over by the powerful. We, as citizens of this coutry have taken for granted our freedom and now, we have to struggle and fight and take those liberties and justice for everyone. Today we're present to say we're in solidarity with the workers of this community because we know that the workers are the ones that do the hardest part of the labor, and they get the least. I think that's an injustice. A living wage should be a dignified wage, a wage for people to live a decent human life! That's why I'm here, and that's why you're here, and I'm proud of you as young people that you're taking seriously your role in the world today. We can co longer afford to have students in our universities that are ivory towers, isolated from the real and the important struggle for like and for liberty.

"That ugly reality that we have is focused on the corporations, which have forgotten, just as the Supreme Court said that they are persons, therefore they can give money to the candidates that run for office. Well if they are, then why don't they pay taxes like everybody else?

"We know that at one time we could say that we were a government for the people, of the people, and by the people, but yet, we have seen it go in the opposite direction: A government by the corporations, for the corporations, and by the corporations. That's because we fell asleep. And we listened to the, as it were, isolated and distorted presentations of 'We don't want large government.' But we want pricate, large corporations? What a contradiction! Today we need to realize to take upon our own the torch of freedom. Our founding fathers said that all men and women are created equal, and they are entitled to their inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's not true for the workers! That's why we're here. We don't just want one sector of our country to live a high and good life. We want everybody to have a dignified life. We want to live in a world where we don't have to go to war to prove that we are a great nation. We want justice and we want to struggle for it--and democracy--so we can say to the world that we are a people that love and want and respect democracy and justice for all."

Next, Edith, a worker, spoke."Estoy aquí por justicia, y gracias a todos por estar aquí. Mi nombre es Edith [...], yo sólo tengo dos años de trabajar aquí en el colegio y trabajo en el área del salad bar, y me contenta, lo hago con mucho gusto para ustedes.

"Me gusta porque tengo experiencia, como diez años trabajé en el distrito escolar de Ontario, y esto me sirvió de experiencia, y creo que esto me ayuda a desempeñar mejor mi labor.

"Y aquí he notado unas inconveniencias, algunas que existen, injusticias para los compañeros. Como los que han sufrido algunos accidentes. Y los tratos que a ellos se les dan, muchas veces no son justos, y eso para mí se llama injusticia. El miedo que yo tengo es que si algún día, Dios no lo quiera, me pueda suceder algo. Y entonces, ¿qué va a pasar conmigo? Bueno, si ellos están pasando por eso, quizás algo me ha de pasar a mí, y entonces, ¿quién me va a apoyar?"

[I'm here for justice, and thanks to all for being here. My name is Edith [...], I've only been working here at the college for two years, and I work in the salad bar area, and it makes me happy. I'm glad to do it for you. I like it because I have experience, I worked for the Ontario school district for about ten years, and I think it helps me better undertake my work. And I've noticed a few problems here, a few injustices that have happened to some co-workers. Like those who have been in accidents. And the treatment that they receive, are often unfair, and to me, that's injustice. The fear I have is that some day, God forbid, something might happen to me. Then what will become of me? Well, if they are going through this, something could happen to me, and then, who would be there for me?]

The next speaker was Elisea. "Buenas tardes a todos los estudiantes y presentes señores, quizás algunos profesores están aquí en este momento. Trabajadores de Pomona College que nos van a escuchar y tal vez nos pueden ayudar un poquito en esta marcha, en esta lucha que estamos empezando ahorita. Mi nombre es Elisea [...], mi profesión es cashier, clean-up, y set-up. Tengo tres cosas que hacer en el dining hall. Gracias por el apoyo que todos los estudiantes nos han dado, no desde ahorita sino desde siempre. Han pasado años, tengo quince años trabajando ya en el colegio con los estudiantes y siempre nos han ayudado en algunas luchas que hemos tenido, en algunos problemas, y han sido siempre con nosotros aunque tal vez no lo merezcamos pero ellos dejan de hacer sus tareas por estar con nosotros. Pero ellos dicen, 'No le hace. Estaremos con ustedes siempre en la lucha.'"

[Good afternoon to all the students, and maybe there are some professors here with us? You'll hear us Pomona College workers and maybe you can help us a little in this march, in this struggle we're now beginning. My name is Elisea [...], my profession is cashier, clean-up and set-up. I have three jobs in the dining hall. Theanks for the support all the students have given us, not just now, but always. Years have passed, I've been working at the college with the students for fifteen years, and they've always stood with us in some of the struggles we've had, on some problems, and they've always been with us even though we might not deserve it, but they leave their homework aside to be with us. But they say, 'It doesn't matter. We'll always be with you in the fight.'"]

Francisco then gave his testimony. "Mi nombre es Francisco. Yo tengo trabajando para Pomona dieciséis años. A mí lo que me gustaría de todo esto es que se pudiera contratar a más empleados para evitar accidentes. Porque así podemos luchar mejor como podemos trabajar. Porque yo, hace como cinco años tuve un accidente porque tuve que hacer 40 pizzas en una hora. Y con tanta presión... Y yo diría que así como, estando unido todos nosotros como empleados, podemos mejorar todo y tener más poder nosotros contra los empleadores, porque así podemos luchar contra ellos."

[My name is Francisco. I've been working for Pomona for sixteen years. What I'd like to see come out of this is the hiring of more workers to avoid accidents. Because that way, we can improve the ways we're able to work. Because about five years ago, I had an accident because I had to make forty pizzas in an hour. And with so much pressure... I'd say that, us all being together as employees, we can improve everything and have more power for ourselves against the employers, because that way we can fight back against them.]

Don spoke next. "Hello everybody. First of all, I wanna thank all you guys for coming out, supporting us. I've known some of you since you were freshmen, and you're seniors now. And we get, you know, attached to you just like teachers do. So some of you, I feel like you're kinda like my children. So I thank you guys so much for supporting us, most of what--matter of fact, all of what my co-workers say, it's actually all true. And any time anyone has any question and wanna come talk to me, you're welcome to come speak to me freely. Just walk up to me and let me know. I just wanna say also, I came to Pomona because I thought it would be a pleasant work environment. You know, I'm a student myself. I'm back in school. Working at a school actually helps me out. That's why I have a special relationship with most of the students here. And I'm just for fairness. Everything you guys protest, we protested the same thing when we were in college. And it's kinda sad to say that many years later we have to still do this, but this has to be done. We definitely need a union."

Juan then took the stage. "Hola, buenas tardes. Mi nombre es Juan. Soy trabajador de Pomona. Tengo nueve años trabajando. Trabajo de dishwasher. Y quiero darle la gracias a todos por el apoyo que nos están brindando. Nosotros, nos reunimos para tratar de tener el apoyo de todos ustedes y lograr algo, y queremos un poco más de respecto para todos y un mejor salario. Y de mi parte, antes que todo, gracias por el apoyo todos ustedes."

[Hello, good afternoon. My name is Juan. I'm a Pomona worker. I've been working for nine years. I'm a dishwasher. I want to thank you all for the support you've been showing us. We got together to try to get your support and achieve something, and we want a little more respect for everyone and a better wage. For my part, first of all, I want to thak you for your support.]

Benny spoke last. "Gracias por apoyarnos hoy y siempre. Y en verdad, necesitamos todo ese apoyo, porque hay muchas cosas que queremos mejorar en las cocinas de Pomona. Necesitamos que nos den más respecto, y que nos tomen un poco más en cuenta, porque parece que nosotros, el departamento de food service, somos los más abandonados. Ustedes siempre miran unas flores muy bonitas en los jardines de Pomona. Siempre pueden mirar edificios muy bonitos, pero no muchos de ustedes saben lo que realmente pasa en las cocinas y es lo que nosotros, es lo que estamos tratando de hacerles saber en este día, todas las injusticias que estamos pasando. En el pasado ha habido personas, compañeros de trabajo que se han lastimado, y por las pólizas que tiene el colegio, esas personas, después de un año, ya no han sido aceptadas para seguir trabajando. Esas personas han perdido su casa. Se sienten con mucha depresión y yo creo que es necesario cambiar un poco las pólizas. Y creo que todos juntos podemos hacer algo para mejorar todo el ambiente que tenemos aquí en Pomona College."

[Thanks for supporting us today and always. And truly, we need all this support, because there are many things we want to improve in Pomona's kitchens. We need to be accorded more respect, and to be considered, because it seems that we, the food service department, are the most neglected. You always see pretty flowers in Pomona's gardens. You can always see beautiful buildings, but not many of you really know what happens in the kitchens, and that's what we are trying to show you today, all the injustices that we've been experiencing. In the past there have been people, co-workers, who have been hurt, and by the policies that the college has, those people, after one year, are no longer accepted as workers for the following year. Those people have lost homes. They become very depressed and I believe that those policies need to change a bit. I think that together, we can all do something to improve the environment we have here at Pomona College.]

The students and workers then marched to the Smith Campus Center, where they heard from a few more workers, Professor José Calderón, who read a statement of solidarity from Dolores Huerta. Twenty five other colleges also sent letters of support, the professor reported. He also encouraged the students to challenge their professors to become involved in the social change they so often write about, and discussed the card check process. He then informed the crowd that the local Minuteman had taken a position against the creation of a national holiday for César Chávez, saying that "what he did does not merit a holiday,"² and argued that Chávez does deserve a national holiday for his legacy of non-violence and unity.

Anthony Chávez spoke last, and he began by thanking the professors and students for their involvement in the struggle. "I've been asked to come and speak because I'm César Chávez's grandson, and I'm always very proud of my tata and all of his great work, but before I was even born, my grandfather was out working on behalf of other college staff and faculty when they were organizing. So today, I stand with you as a former college student who's here to see justice for those who feed all the students on the campuses. You guys are all here because you recognize the misnomer promoted by college administrators that say that the dining room workers can only decide the issue through secret ballot elections, and these administrators claim that this is the only way to have a democratic alternative.

"These administrators know this nation's labor laws are broken, they know that when workers vote to be in the union, it's done like any other election in America. They know that all political parties are granted the opportunity to share their opinion, but when employers use a secret ballot election, it's management-rigged balloting. Employers hold all the power, they control all the information the workers get, and they routinely poison the process through intimidation, coercion, and firing. The food workers' struggle here is not new for me, because I grew up among many other types of food workers. The farmworkers, too, have often seen the growers use the secret ballot election as another tool of oppression. At Giumarra Vineyards, the world's largest grape corporation, where I was brought up in Kern, California, workers faced cruel working conditions, and mistreatment, and even two died from extreme heat, to bring us all the fruits and vegetables we enjoy. So 75% of the workers at Giumarra signed a petition saying they wanted to be represented by the United Farm Workers, and a week later, after a secret ballot election, they lost by 49%. California state later threw out this election because of its illegal threats and coercion against the employees. And that's why the farmworkers have convinced the state legislature to pass a bill in each of the last three years, letting the workers choose a process other than secret ballot elections only to have that measure vetoed each time by Governor Schwarzeneggar. And it's why the labor movement is trying to pass a similar bill, the Employee Free Choice Act, in congress, with the support of President Obama. Our workers should be able to vote by signing their name in the privacy of their home or someplace else away from employee bullying. After all, the law allowed homeowners that they couldn't afford with a simple signature. The law allowed banks to loan out money to people who couldn't afford to borrow with a simple signature. The law allow lenders to package these loans and sell them, crippling our economy, with a simple signature. And with a simple signature, all of you can join a gym, and with a simple signature, any one of us can join the armed services. But when American workers seek their fair share in the economic wealth that they themselves produce here at home, they can't sign their names to join a union. What's really at stake here on Pomona College and across this nation is simple self-determination. Courageous workers on this campus are taking a stand, demanding the freedom of a union. Therefore, those of you, as students, have some important questions to ask yourselves. Are you only responsible to your parents and yourselves for being successful in your studies? Or do you owe a broader responsibility to support the dining hall workers who are struggling for a better life against shameful abuse defined on the job site. Is it enough to just sit in class and just study the social ills of society? [...] You have a responsibility to go out there and take part, and be part of the solution. Pomona College cafeteria workers' authentic non-violent aspirations for self-determination cannot be fulfilled in one of the most liberal and wealthy campuses in America, where else is it gonna happen? Who else is gonna do something if not you? The college workers are heroically doing something to redress years of grievances, then what does it say about students on this campus if they remain indifferent, or neutral? How do you stay apathetic in the face of immoral treatment of workers whose only sin is seeking a better life for themselves? Especially when you see the workers the most, and when your tuition pays their salaries? Some words my grandfather shared with students may help us here in this time. He said, 'We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community. Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes, and for our own.'"

Spang, a Pomona student, then voiced his support for the workers, and Professor Calderón closed the rally by leading a rendition of the farmworker anthem "De Colores."

_____________________________________________
1. Oxtoby, David. "Text of President Oxtoby’s E-mail." Workers for Justice, March 7, 2010. http://workersforjustice.org/2010/03/text-of-president-oxtobys-e-mail/. Accessed March 11, 2010.

2. Wall, Stephen. "Speaker blasts observance of Chavez holiday." San Bernardino Sun, March 2, 2010. http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_14499296. Accessed March 11, 2010.

A March on March 4th (Republished from LAEastside.com)

2010-03-08T16:34:00.000-08:00

by Julio

Original Article Here: http://laeastside.com/2010/03/a-march-on-march-4th/

The following is what I felt; what I saw. I lay no claim to objectivity: this is going to be heavy-handed. I am a student at CSULA. Been so for almost a decade. I have seen first hand the corrosion of the quality of resources, services, and education. I took no part in the organization of anything for March 4th. I was merely a participant at the march, as well as doing some acts of solidarity with the NO-CUTS COALITION at CSULA previous to the march. My lack of engagement was probably due to my tendency to not want to be an activist and also my perpetual business. As a student/worker, one is in a place that is extremely vulnerable: when one is not working, one is studying; and when one is not doing either of those, one is busy trying to get-by. This is a perfect place for the State and Global Capitalism to have us in: a place in limbo. The report continues after the jump…

My foray into March 4th’s event starts here in Lincoln Heights, right outside of Lincoln HS. I left work @ 12:30 and made my way to downtown LA on the 45. Before the start of lunch at Lincoln HS some students staged a sit-in of about 40 students at the flag pole.

I arrived at Olvera Street. Via Facebook an organizer of the CSULA contigency let me know that the meet-up point for various universities/campuses was to be the park in front of La Placita. Upon arrival, I was told we were waiting for others to arrive. The police presence at this point was not but a single squad car with a cop leaning against it just watching.

At this point people from PCC and a few other campuses had arrived. Also what seemed to be like some high school students arrived. It was awesome to see young people in the mix! One of them had one of the best signs!

A message worth taking to heart! The anti-capitalists were out in full-force at this march, but much too my own chagrin they were of the reformists/Statist sort: more on that later.

Having reached a critical mass, and all campuses arrived the air of the gathering turned festive with drums of all sorts and the chanting in full swing! Cheers met the newly arrived as they descended from buses or came out of Union Station. The part that bummed out was when someone was passing out “chants” on paper for us to do. Can’t we, us muddled-masses, be allowed to be creative and make our own? I know I am!

In awesome form, one of the organizers I knew, announced some of the things that we should all know when we are participating in a march so that we will have minimal hassle & intimidation from the pigs. For instance: state that you are exercising your first amendment right, you DO NOT consent to a search, and that you are engaging in political activity. I am not one for following pure legality, but the fact that many students are not “documented” immigrants necessitates this sort of dissemination of knowledge.

We marched our way up Alameda, turning on 1st street making our way through Little Tokyo. Here the police made sure that we stayed on the sidewalks (as did some of the organizers). A few on bicycles urged us to take to the streets but as soon as we did the cops made sure to block us and corral us onto the sidewalks once again. It was then I really wish my bicycle was in riding order so that I could help bring the march ONTO the streets. I know we had support from drivers because they greeted us with fists in the air and car horns blasting!

Here we are at the corner of 1st and Los Angeles St. As you can see the cops became more plentiful. The bicyclists helped the march taunt the police by re-inviting us into the streets. Fantastic!

Some marchers atop the sign for City Hall South. If only sledgehammers were brought along! The march continued, with lots of the usual chanting & drums heading into Downtown proper and finally ended up in Pershing Square.

Here we are on the corner of 5th & Hill. This is where my spirits went downhill. I like protest as celebration and revelry not just “letting people know what’s going on.” It should inspire us to do take to the streets every day! Making protest streamlined by handing pre-made signs makes protesting feel like work, not joyous action. I did not have a sign when I showed up. I was given a piece of cardboard by someone, borrowed a marker and made my own sign! I wish I had documented it but it read: “BUDGET CUTS = CLASS WAR / FIGHT BACK!” And I believe it. Making it more and more difficult for working people to enter into the universities is class war by the hands of the state. As I recently overheard at a discussion group: it is both the retreating and arming of the state because the money not used in public institutions are shifted to fund wars, prisons, and the militarization of the police.

As I said, I enjoy when protest becomes creative & joyous (why should it be anything else?). Here we have some performance art type stuff going on with tongue-in-cheek signs like “It must suck to be BROWN” & “Dear Governator, I <3 Debt!” Now some activists would frown at this kind of thing but most of the protest at this march existed in the realm of the symbolic and so why not at least make it interesting? Are we not just struggling against “Budget Cuts” but as well as struggling to regain the joy and freedom of our very lives?

Another great sign! And this time mocking how some punks probably only show up to protests for punk points! Although there weren’t that many punks here; the punks I did see somehow got tricked into carrying RED flags; just by reading their patches I know they listen to anarcho-punk. When I asked them where they got the flags they said someone just gave them to them. Don’t get swindled into giving someone else’s message! This is why I refused those pre-made signs that had websites to their respective socialist/communist organizations at the bottom. I am autonomous!

Here we are. Corralled in by the police. I could feel that the protesters just wanted to keep marching! They had a taste of running wild on the streets and wanted more! A few friends I met had the same sentiment. One said, “this all feels so controlled.” EXACTLY!

Here’s a truck. They had speakers on it. They were meant to rile up the crowd but I thought it was a bore. Some talked about taxing the rich to solve things. Why do State-Socialists think that that can solve everything? When they sleep do they dream only of taxing the rich? …so I turned my attention elsewhere!

Theses guys were doing some weird-ass dance moves. I’m into it. Subvert normality!

Eventually the people here joined the professors at their own march (?) a few blocks down. Here the mass of people seemed to be at least a thousand people. You could see the diversity of people out here: university workers, students, professors, etc.

I thankfully found the rowdy part of the march to hang out with. So rowdy they started to PROTEST the ORGANIZERS! See that truck in the background? It was blocking our way and blasting Rage Against the Machine (snore!). They started to chant: “START THE MARCH! START THE MARCH!” And this chant started to catch on.

Here, a bare-footed protester climbed up the wall and then proceeded to let down the fire escape ladder. His actions were greeted with cheers. I knew some here wanted more than just chanting and marching! He was inviting more to join him and I was hoping something more was going to happen but it stopped there. He came down and those Downtown security folks in purple shirts just seemed to give him a lecture as he walked away.

This is where I stopped taking photos.

Eventually we were allowed to head down to the Ronald Reagan building. Here a band played. And once again I could tell people just wanting to keep rolling through city but here we were, in front of a building.

CONCLUSION: Yes, most of this write-up was critical but what I realized is that I need to “ORGANIZE, NOT MOURN.” One cannot expect one’s desires to be realized by solely thinking of them. Soon, some of the organizers at CSULA will be meeting and I will be there to put in my two cents and see where this can go. My personal inspiration around this growing student movement comes from the wave of occupations and other direct-actions taken by students.

For more on that go here:

http://occupyca.wordpress.com/

& here:

http://occupyeverything.com/

For local stuff go here:

http://la.indymedia.org/crows/

Also do not let anyone, no matter where they are coming from, control what you want to do to express what you want. No one is the gatekeeper to your life. Just because someone has “organized” dozens of marches, demonstrations does not mean that what you feel, think is of any less value. Our dreams can never fit on a bill, in a ballot box, or on a protest sign. Keep dreaming, keep revolting! I was inspired to see anything go down to counteract what is going on.

NOTE: Feel free to disseminate, critique, and comment. I am but one voice amongst many!

March 4th in Riverside (Republished from LA Indymedia)

2010-03-06T14:14:00.000-08:00

by Rockero

March 4, 2010
RIVERSIDE - In a demonstration infused with dance, students and workers of the University of California, Riverside demanded an end to fee hikes, staffing furloughs, and cuts in class offerings. They chanted as they marched to downtown Riverside, where they were met by a contingent of student and worker activists from Riverside Community College for another rally. After the speeches, a carefully-orchestrated symbolic "death of public education" and die-in blocked traffic on University Avenue for about five minutes before protesters voluntarily cleared the street and avoided any threat of arrest.

Photo set 1: http://la.indymedia.org/news/2010/03/235667.php
Photo set 2: http://la.indymedia.org/news/2010/03/235687.php
Article: http://la.indymedia.org/news/2010/03/235709.php

The Inland Empire Invisible Committee kicked things off by hanging a banner from the UCR Belltower in the wee hours of the morning that read "March 4th" and had a picture of a raised fist.

Unfortunately, by the time of the convergence later on that morning, the banner had already been removed, but not before photos of it hit the internet. As students assembled at the base of the belltower, student organizers distributed red shirts to those without, taking small donations when possible. Students stencilled images and slogans on them.

Organizers handed out chant sheets with "March 4th Nonviolent Action Guidelines" on the back. Others handed out informative pamphlets and copies of After the Fall: Communiqués from Occupied California.

At about noon, speakers began rallying the crowd with chants, elocutions, and poetry.

The first speaker was Stephanie Kay, an educational worker at UCR and a member of the UCAFT, who spoke on behalf of "the non-Senate faculty." "We have a collective bargaining agreement with the UC, so we are both your teachers and workers in the great enterprise we call public education." Aristotle discussed the need for an enlightened body politic, she said, and expressing ourselves as an exercise of public education was one of the ways the philosopher thought we could reach our full potential as human beings. This lofty discourse was cut short, however, by breaking news. "I have just been in a meeting with the administration about your 1C classes, all the classes at the university, and how they've been cut. Well, this took the highfalutin right out of me! This is no time for highfalutin! This is a time for us to act. This is a time to think about how important demonstrations and student activism are, and how important it is for us to be in control and in charge of what our education is and could be and should be! What do we want? We don't want a compromised education. We don't want classes cut. We don't want to have to fight for the right to an affordable education for everyone! This is your right as citizens!" She urged a letter-writing campaign, and asked the students to involve their parents in "making noise," pointing to the effectiveness of protests for restoring canceled B classes, which stood in the way of many students from graduating.

The following speaker, a student organizer, cautioned against the militancy that has been present at some other student movement engagements. "I know that our brothers and sisters in other areas have had some not-so-peaceful, kinda violent things and we wanna let everyone know that that's not what we're about. We're about peace, we're about non-violence, we're about direct action."

Adriana then orated on behalf of AB540 students. "If you don't know about AB540 students, they have to pay full tuition without any financial help, and that is not fair. Personally, I have to pay $12,000 a year for education out of my own pocket! That shit is not right! It is not right to have to work three jobs to pay for school. It is not right that I have to go through hunger just to pay for school. It is not right that I have to sleep in some of my classes when I should be learning. It is a shame!"

Elliott spoke next. "As an IE native, this sight right here warms my heart. Roots, know what I'm saying? What's going on? They need soldiers for war, so what do they do? They cut education. So when the recruiters come knocking on the door, what do you tell them? What do you tell them? You say 'Hell no!' When you hear from that guy from the Navy with that nice little package and everything, what do you say?"

"Hell no!" the crowd shouted.

He reminded us that "this is a peaceful event. You guys have seen the news, things that are going down in other places, unnecessary destruction of property, all that stuff. It's about peace, and it's about building community, so keep it strong."

Michael, a librarian, then spoke about his involvement with the UC. "I went to UCI, I went to UCLA, I worked at those places, and I came here and I've been here for ten years, and this is the most active and the most dynamic student body I've seen in my time here. You should be proud of yourselves." He proclaimed the support of the librarians for the students, acknowledging that only student demands would lead to provision of services.

Next, a student organizer recited a poem called "The Separation."

He was followed by another speaker. "I'm with a group called Brown Issues, and what we've been doing is we've been holding down discussions of these things that need to be talked about, because we need to pick up the slack in these classrooms." He continued, "We've got 300 people in the class. Is there enough for individual attention? Man, I remember kindergarten, when you all sit down, the teacher says 'What do you need help with?', knows you by your name! And you just feel special, that bond with the teacher, you just feel the love that teacher. I miss those days!" He went on, "Where I'm from, sometimes I get lonely in the classroom, cause I look around and I say, ' Man, who knows what I'm going through?' I made it! I made it through the drugs, through the gangs, through the prostitution. When I think about it, I still feel that hand on my back, pushing me, just pushing me out of the institution called 'education.' They're pushing me out. They're saying, 'Yeah, you made it, but hey, it's time for you to go because you made it without money.'"

"So, we gotta rethink this idea of diversity, because when they call out people and they say 'We want diversity,' I got more in common with poor whites than I do with any rich Black, Brown, or Asian that Icould ever lay eyes on. I got more in common with them because they sit down and they say, 'We need diversity,' but that doesn't mean diversity of the mind."

He concluded, "It's a contradiction. It's not a business, it's education. We don't think about it like a business, bet they treat us like a business. They treat us like a commodity! And every one of us has a number above our heads of how much money they can bring in. So let's ask them next time, if you're gonna treat it like a business, then let's treat it like a business. Now, if we step into McDonald's, and they gonna mess up our order, we say, 'Hey, take this back!' We say, 'Either you make this right, or I get my money back. That's what we say! If they're gonna run this like a business, then we say, 'Either you gonna make this right, or you gimme my money back!'"

He was followed by a dining services worker from AFSCME, who shared how budget cuts are affecting workers. He pointed out that the priorities of the regents are giving raises and bonuses to executives, rather than education, where it should be. "I've never been a speaker, I'm just a cook right here," he began, as the crowd erupted into applause, "education of students is number one!" He ended with a chant: "When I say 'Fight back,' you say 'Fuck that!'" "Fight back!" "Fuck that!"

Paul, another educational worker, spoke about education as a public institution, shortages throughout the system, and his attempts to negotiate with decisionmakers, who have urged calm, patience, and reason. "Friends, I cannot be calm. I have lost my very patience. I will not wait! And today, in this matter, I am not a reasonable man!" He reminded us that "this country was born out of the spirit of rebellion and defiance."

Connie then addressed the students and workers. "57% of our taxes go to war. What can we do with 57% of our money? She subsequently invited us to the March 20th antiwar demonstration in Hollywood. "We have to show that we have a lot of people who care. These demonstrations are safer. Some people are concerned because of MacArthur Park. This is a coupla years ago when the police knocked cameras out of journalists' arms. The last demonstration I was in, the police let us do anything you wanted. They just stayed back and smiled, so I have no fear that they're gonna do anything to us."

Curtis, another worker from AFSCME then spoke, followed by another student organizer, who discussed a lobby visit to Sacramento. "When the new speaker was sworn in, you could hear us chanting outside. And the new speaker said, 'I stand with those students outside.' He then introduced UCR Chancellor Tim White. "He's been very supportive," one student told me, "he promised no reprisals against students and workers who participate today."

The chancellor defected blame toward Sacramento, urging students to face north and thrice shout "fund education."

The speeches ended with the UFW unity clap, and then members of the UCR dance department taught the crowd some gestures to go along with the words, "Justice," "education," and "Equality." "It's kind of like yelling, except this time, you're gonna be moving." We learned the motions and practiced them. "You'll be hearing that throughout the day, and that'll be a way to unify, to stay together, and to keep pumped up."

Another round of poems and encouraging words was shared.

Then the march around the campus began, rallying students to walk out of class and join the resistance.

About twenty-five trained "peacekeepers" lined the parade route, urging us to remain on the sidewalk. "Whose university?!" one protestor questioned when told where not to march.

Leaving the grounds, students marched down University Avenue, chanting and shouting all the while. "What do we want? Education!" "Whose univerity? Our university!" "No cuts, no fees! Education should be free!"

Meanwhile, a similar rally was going on at Riverside Community College, which also departed for downtown.

They stopped at the corner of Market and University, appropriating city electrical boxes to use them as drums to further the message. Passing motorists honked their support for the movement.

When the UCR contingent appeared on the horizon, a cheer went up and the RCC faction rushed to meet them in the downtown plaza.

After a while of chanting and milling about in front of the Sweeney Art Gallery,

another rally was held, repeating many of the speeches from the UCR rally. There was some variety, however. One student organizer spoke on behalf of immigration reform. We also heard from community college students, who spoke about the situation on their campuses. We were also treated to a stump speech from a Democratic politician, with the complicity of student organizers.

The UCR dance department performed another number, this one a Haitian dance.

Shortly after the speeches, green-vested peacekeepers, with the support of LiUNA and Warehouse Workers United volunteers, stood alongside the crosswalks connecting the plaza to the other side of University Avenue. A large tombstone was placed in the center of the street, and a student frocked with a graduation robe was carried in to be laid to rest at its foot.

"These students represent the students pushed out of education by rising costs," declared a woman via megaphone. "We have the ability to realign our priorities in this state and prevent the death of public education." She then invited the members of the public to join in a die-in in the middle of the street, which we did.

Eventually, everyone got up and got out of the street. A few more words were said, and the rally was adjourned.

Students Support Worker Demands for Independent Unions and End to Abuses (Republished from LA Indymedia)

2010-03-04T19:06:00.000-08:00

by Rockero

Monday, March 1, 2010
CLAREMONT, California - The student movement made an unexpected move in solidarity with university employees in a large-scale action at Pomona College, a private institution and part of the Claremont consortium of colleges at the eastern edge of Los Angeles County. Well over a hundred students joined with numerous employees of the three campus dining commons, other Pomona employees, and a few faculty members to deliver a petition to Pomona President Oxtoby.

The mobilization began in the morning, when students from Pitzer College assembled on their campus, while Pomona students gathered on theirs. At about ten, the two contingents converged behind the banner "Trabajadores Por Justicia", singing the union hymn "No nos moverán."

Students, arm-in-arm with workers, entered the president's office two-by-two to deliver the signed petition demanding a neutral card check process to form a union. This is the process that would be permitted in all workplaces if the much-hyped but now-stalled Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would have become law.

The petition read, in part, "An NLRB-administered election, which permits management to campaign against the Union on work-time and create a climate of fear in the workplace, is not free and fair." It went on to demand employer neutrality in the workers' decision to organize, and recognition of a majority-backed union.

Previous efforts to organize food service workers on the campus have been thwarted by intimidation, collaboration between the administration and upper-level bureaucrats from established unions and bribery-based decertification drives by management.

This time, however, the workers are seeking an independent union to collectively bargain in their interest. Over 90 percent of the food service workers signed the petition.

Forming an independent union is the first step toward justice for the workers, who complain of poor salaries, few opportunities for advancement, abuses such as disallowance of breaks and working off the clock, and underemployment.

"The salaries that we have are miserable," reports Maria R. Garcia, a Pomona food service worker. "I've been working here for ten years already. I started at $8.40, and now it's $10.65 [per hour]. Two years without a raise. The first year, they said I didn't qualify because I was pregnant, and I had an injury. Another thing, we work for seven-and-a-half months of the year. So how do you support a family?" She made it clear that it wasn't an issue of disliking the job. "We like working here; we love working here. But with these conditions, it's hard. They just make it worse every year."

The action, impressive for its size alone, is all the more remarkable in that the student/worker organizers were able to keep all of their plans secret from the Pomona administration, taking President Oxtoby completely by surprise.

Efforts were made to ensure that the message would reach its intended audience. According to one of the planners of the events, "one of our organizers, having been head sponsor of the Sponsor Program, had arranged to have a meeting about the Sponsor Program with President Oxtoby at ten o'clock today to make sure that Oxtoby was at his office."

The Sponsor Program is "a residential program through which all first-year students are housed with approximately 15 other first-years led by two sophomore sponsors," according to the college's website.

While the day's emphasis was definitely on the exploitation of workers, the student movement, which began in opposition to budget cuts and tuition hikes and has since expanded to question the growing privatization of public education, occupy and liberate student spaces, and demand liberatory (rather than neoliberal) education, formed the dramatic backdrop for the action, particularly in light of the multiple actions being planned for Thursday.

"Both what is happening at the UCs and what's happening at Pomona College right now is due to misguided attempts to balance budgets," explained Lucy Lombard, a senior International and Intercultural Studies major at Claremont.

"And attempts to turn the university into more of a corporation, which prioritizes balancing budgets over education, over the university's rightful place in society, which is to create new vision of society, of what society could become," added Christopher Wohlers, a senior Physics and Environmental Studies major.

While President Oxtoby smiled and politely thanked the petitioners as they piled the stacks of documents into his hands, he was unable to dissimulate his true emotions: several students and workers reported viewing his hands tremble as the signed forms mounted. One student organizer commented, "He realized that he's gonna have a fight ahead of him. If he wants to maintain business as usual at the university, he's going to have a difficult time doing it, and I think this morning he realized that he's gonna be a busy man."

Signing petitions

Pitzer contingent march

Thumbs-up from worker

Arm-in-arm

Students and workers unite

Arm-in-arm

Outside the administration building

Arm-in-arm

Outside President's office

A busy man

The Downtown LA Anarchist Cafe (Was A Bust!)

2010-03-02T15:39:00.000-08:00

(Editors' Note: "Reader Beware - You're in for a Scare!" Though hesitant about posting this, we have yet to receive other reports on the event. In hopes of sparking debate and another side to the story, we post it. For the record, none of us attended the event and intend no hard feelings to anyone.)

Where is the horse and the rider?
Where is the horn that was blowing?
It has passed like rain on the mountain,
Like wind in the meadow.
The days have gone in the west,
Behind the hills,
Into shadow...
How did it come to this?

-Theoden of the Rohirim

To be honest, I didn't want to write this. I was hoping someone else would step up and tell it like it is. But I don't think that's gonna happen. I even thought about blocking the event out of my head - maybe we'd all forget about it, forget it ever happened. But I can't do that, I have to get this off my chest - set the record straight.

Here we go:

This past Sunday, February 28th 2010, there was an Anarchist Cafe hosted at the Smell in Downtown LA. The event was scheduled to be $5 admission, from 1 to 8 PM with workshops, activites, vendors, poetry, and music. I believe the event was organized primarily by one person, Anarcho Paparazzi.

I arrived early during the first scheduled activity - the Hatha Yoga Class. Without a mat and uninterested in Yoga, I wandered about checking out all the vendors. PM Press was there, Revolutionary Autonomous Communities, Mass Media Distro, Arte de la Tierra, Action for Animals, Scorpion Collective, Ediciones Bizarras, Vegancitas and the vegan catering service Vegan Goodies were all present. As I browsed the vendors, I noticed some were tabling in almost complete darkness. The majority of the vendors, though having access to light, were only dimly lit.

Unable to find anything to do and without an area to congregate because of the unusual small spacing of the Smell, I wandered around until I ran into some friends. We caught up and traded stories, strategies and news about the war in progress as time flew by without any announcements of activities or workshops starting or ending. Due to the awkward arrangement of the venue and no communal interactive discussions or activities, most people tended to stick to their own friends or acquaintances.

To be frank, the event continued on in this manner until about 5 PM, when I decided to leave.

After the Hatha Yoga Class there was ANOTHER Yoga Class, this time a Prenatal Kundalini one. I did not attend, I wasn't interested. Then after that there was an hour long Vegan Nutrition Class followed by a speaker on Vegan Bodybuilding and Exercise. I didn't attend either, because I wasn't interested in either. I came to the event to find other LA anarchists, see old friends, and discuss topics pertaining to anarchism (which is broad and can relate to many issues), not pertaining necessarily to health or dietary choices. Then there was an Anarchist Dating Game (did not attend) and then a study group and meeting, leading to perhaps the only slightly interesting discussion of the event, led by Anarcha-LA on planning an action around the March 20th 7th year anniversary of the War in Iraq. While I was still present in the area as this was going on, I was already on my way out saying goodbye to friends and getting ready to take off.

After I left the Guerrilla Queenz played, then there was a round of poetry, then Subsistencia played, another round of poetry, then In Lak Ech, another round of poetry, Aztlan Underground, and then one last round of poems.

*********

Okay....I tried to keep that as objective as possible without throwing in any overt personal biases but that was HELLA hard and I know they still crept in. I also completely acknowledge this isn't a good report given that I didn't attend ANY of the scheduled workshops and activities. Trust me, it would be way more descriptive if I did.

Anyway, shit, where to start?

I want my $5 back. The Anarchist Cafe's I used to go to at Windchime House were fucking dope and FREE, even though, yeah I'll admit it - they ended up a little subcultural because of the attendees but shit man at least they were NON-vegan POTLUCKS and had FREE FOOD. Everything here was for sale the moment you walked in and paid your $5 billz.

The only thing enjoyable about this event was catching up with old friends, hanging out with them during and after the event and...that's about it. Fuck, only ONE 30 minute discussion on anarchist feminism and I don't think that even happened. I think they ended up just having the meeting to plan the March 20th action.

I really hope the PM Press guy made some dough that night during the show because it DID NOT look good when I walked by during the day. The fool came all the way out from Oakland to table. At least he got a spot near the light, some other vendors weren't so lucky. Homies looking all sad in the dark, no one touching their shirts or books for sale. That shit was depressing.

Also, what's with all the vegan and yoga workshops? And the anarchist dating game? Seriously, I almost wasn't going to go when I found out about that but I was sadly optimistic. Reminds me of what someone said I think about anarchist events in the Pacific Northwest(?) "VEGAN BIKE BIKE VEGAN VEGAN". How subcultural can we get? How 'bout we have some discussions about why there's NO anarchist movement in the Los Angeles Area and why friends stop being friends because they aren't VEGAN like he or she is? I'm glad this site exists cause people need to get their shit called out on. FUCK. At least there's the bookfairs, that shit's dope and at least folks from Windchime House are still putting on monthly anarchist events where they live. I guess that's "some" movement. I haven't been to their new events yet, but I'mma check out the Sierra Madre Anarchist Picnic on March 13th. Fuck the SF Bookfair. (Also proud of the UC Irvine kids throwing down last week. Dopeee)

Anyway, I'm getting way off track. The Downtown LA Anarchist Cafe = anarchist (as in vegan, trendy, hipster) identity for SALE. Epic Fail.

Please post this LA Anarchist Weekly,

Anonymous

Pasadena Area Anarchists Condemn the Pasadena Weekly & Commend the Sierra Madre Weekly

2010-02-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

In the days leading up to the recent Sierra Madre Anarchist Picnic (February 13th, 2010), Pasadena area anarchists were both frustrated and surprised to see a variety of newspaper-published announcements of the event. Of particular interest were the published announcements included in the Pasadena Weekly (Feb. 11 2010, Vol. 30, No. 6 issue) and the Sierra Madre Weekly (Thursday Feb. 11 - 17, Vol. XV, No. VII issue) shown below:

(Pasadena Weekly, Pg. 29, front page of the Arts Section under the "Get Your Own" Column)

(Pasadena Weekly, Pg. 33, under the Calendar listing section for Saturday)

(Sierra Madre Weekly, Pg. 3, top-left of the right-hand page)

According to organizers of the Anarchist Picnic who informed me of the issue, they had originally e-mailed every local newspaper outlet to publish their event as a normal event listing complete with the event details and description. "About a week or two before the event we decided to promote this locally as much as possible. Not only did we try and put up a lot of fliers but we also contacted the local press", said Isabella, one of the main organizers. They received no response except from the Pasadena Weekly who asked for pictures of similar events so they could run a spotlight of the event, in addition to the calendar listing. "We were really happy when we found out about that. Skeptical, of course, but pretty ecstatic."

They submit a couple pictures from the recent Los Angeles Anarchist Bookfair and waited for the next issue of the Pasadena Weekly to come out. When it did, the misrepresentation of anarchism and the rewording of the event description infuriated them. "It wasn't too surprising, but come on...A calendar listing!? That pissed us off! We looked at every other spotlight on that same page and every event listing in the calendar section, and yeah, you could tell they had fun with some of the descriptions but they didn't mess with the message. They basically played us as fools."

In response, Isabella called up the Pasadena Weekly and tried to find out who was responsible for the editing. "I wanted to find out who exactly was responsible for what happened and they wouldn't really tell me. I got into a heated discussion, chewed them out a bit, but in the end they wouldn't really tell me. I find out who the editors in charge of those sections were and I talked to some of them but all they would basically say was 'we don't know how this happened. write us a letter and we'll print it.'"

And that's exactly what they did. As a response they contacted anarchists in Pasadena to write a letter on behalf of Pasadena Anarchists, explaining to them the whole situation and the organizers themselves decided to write one of gratitude to the Sierra Madre Weekly.

"As soon as we dealt with the Pasadena Weekly issue, we found a copy of the Sierra Madre Weekly a few days before the Picnic. We were really excited to see that the paper, one in our town, decided to print the event as a very short article without touching the message."

The letters have yet to be printed as they have just been sent out. Updates will be provided as they come.

Below is a transcript of both letters:

" An Open Letter to the Pasadena Weekly & Its Readership

This letter is directed particularly to Carl Kozlowski & any other staff responsible for the obnoxiously ignorant & rude editing & comments added to the Anarchist Picnic event listing for the February 11th, 2010, Volume 30, Number 6 issue of the Pasadena Weekly.

For those unaware, this event was submitted to be published in the Calendar section by anarchists organizing the event. It was published on page 33, albeit edited to include a snarky comment. Furthermore, the anarchists were e-mailed to submit pictures so the event could be
spotlighted in the Arts section under the "Get Your Own" column on page 29. The pictures were provided yet when the spotlight was published, the description of the event was mangled & barfed on.

In all seriousness, who does that? Who takes a CALENDAR EVENT listing & twists the message of the event, defecating on the description? Why, if they had done a simple Google search of Anarchism, they might have discovered that anarchism is merely a set of ideas for the complete social, political, economic & spiritual emancipation of humanity - NOT "disorder & chaos". Perhaps then, they might have withheld their grossly barbaric comments. But maybe we're being too optimistic.

Regardless, prior to this dilemma we respected the Pasadena Weekly & were gravely disappointed when we discovered the debacle.

Carl, we want you & your colleagues to have fun with the paper, but please don't embarrass yourselves. Maybe you should take a tip from the Sierra Madre Weekly. They proudly posted the event without meddling the message, taking a bold stand to publish such "dangerous" "chaotic" ideas of freedom.

Unapologetic,
Pasadena Anarchists"

"An Open Letter to the Sierra Madre Weekly and its Readership

We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for the Sierra Madre Weekly publishing the Sierra Madre Anarchist Picnic in the Thursday, February 11th - 17th 2010, Vol XV, No VII issue.

We have to admit, we were unsure whether you would take such a bold move publishing an event that stands for such subversive ideas of freedom, liberty and autonomy. We submit the same event to be published in the Pasadena Weekly and though it was included twice in a copy (February 11th 2010, Vol 30, No 6), they made a complete mockery of the event.

Nevertheless, we were surprised and ecstatic to see the event published and hope you will publish other Sierra Madre anarchist events in the future.

Many thanks,
Sierra Madre Anarchists"

Anarcha-LA Meeting This Sunday (February 21st)

2010-02-18T13:56:00.000-08:00

Please come out for the next Anarcha LA meeting on Sunday, February 21st at 1pm. It will be held at the Eco-Village in the back yard: 117 Bimini Place, Los Angeles CA 90004.

Here's a link for directions: http://www.laecovillage.org/Directions.html

From 1-2pm we will conduct a study group and from 2-3pm we are planning the Anarcha contingent at the upcoming anti-war march on March 20th. Please come out and participate for the full two-hours of the meeting.

in love and rage,

Anarcha Los Angeles

www.anarchala.org

anarcha.losangeles@gmail.com

The Sierra Madre Anarchist Picnic (From an Organizer's Perspective)

2010-02-16T10:45:00.001-08:00

(Editors' Note: We've received a few criticisms of the content of the articles posted on this blog as well as of the quality of the articles. We'd like to remind our dear readers that, yes, this is a blog for anarchist propaganda and will contain heavy biases toward anarchism and anarchist principles. We'd also like to suggest that if they believe the quality of the articles should be of a higher caliber, then by all means, up the bar and submit an article or nag a friend with a talent for writing to submit something. Thanks for reading!)

On Saturday February 13th 2010, some friends and I organized an Anarchist Picnic at Memorial Park in Sierra Madre. We scheduled the event to be from Noon to 5 PM and organized it as a potluck with a few workshops/discussions and acoustic performances.

We organized the event for a number of reasons. First, we wanted to initiate monthly anarchist events in the town where the majority of us, the organizers, live. Second, we wanted to see how many local anarchists we could bring out and discover. Third, we wanted to start building an anarchist movement in the area. And fourth, we wanted to find people that we could develop tight affinities with so we could pursue bigger and greater projects and activities. It was for all these reasons that we decided to choose the medium of an Anarchist Picnic and promote it as an event to bring together local and not-so-local anarchists and the anarcho-curious.

We (the organizers) showed up a little before noon and secured a spot in the park. We set up a table for food and a table for literature and brought some large comfortable bed sheets to lay on. We put out anarchist literature and attached a sign reading "Welcome to the Anarchist Picnic" to one of the tables . After we set up, it wasn't until 12:30 - 12:45 that a few people showed up and by the time the first workshop started, there were about seven people total.

Around 1 PM Sean, an organizer of the event, facilitated the first workshop and discussion titled "So You Think You're NOT An Anarchist?". He had designed the workshop particularly as an introduction to anarchism and for the anarcho-curious. He started the workshop by asking the attendants what their impression of anarchism was and what some of the popular stereotypes of anarchism were. One person said "When I think of anarchism I think of disorder and chaos". Another said, "To me anarchism is living a healthy sane life and seizing complete freedom while taking up full responsibility and accountability,". Participants remarked that the stereotypes and images portrayed in the media were of bomb-throwers and terrorists and Sean talked about how these images are created to make anarchism a taboo and breed ignorance.

Sean then asked participants if they identified as an anarchist and why or why not. (At this point in the discussion the number of people at the event doubled to more than a dozen.) A majority of folks identified as an anarchist saying similar statements of how, in essence, they believe in the cause of anarchism and want to see it through to fruition. However, there were a couple people who didn't. One person said, "I believe in anarchism but I won't be an anarchist until I live in a world without money or government". Another said they didn't because their impression of anarchism was of "disorder and violence". And another person declined to identify as an anarchist but affirmed that they had "anarchist tendencies".

The facilitator then asked people what they felt most bothered and coerced by in society. One person replied that they hated how, in a capitalist society, the majority of things we actually enjoy doing have no value. Someone else talked about how they felt oppressed growing up in a family embedded with capitalist values and how oppression starts at home where you learn to (mis)communicate and relate to people and the world around you. Another person commented on how they disliked the fact that boxes of food go to waste for not meeting food appearance standards like having a scratch or mark and that we have to pay for necessities like food.

After a round of answers, Sean then asked what people would like to see in their ideal society. During this question the conversation expanded onto other somewhat related topics but one participant at the beginning said they'd like to see a world where education is de-institutionalized and we learn by doing or seeing what other people are doing. Someone else said they would like to start living in their ideal society by living with close friends that are like-minded and share ideals of anarchism and from there move forward. Another talked about looking at traditional societies in the past and learning from their ways of organizing society so we can make a difference now. From here the conversation spread and went somewhat off topic with people talking about traditional societies and different examples of the ways they lived and organized. Eventually the conversation was reigned in when someone reminded everyone that many traditional societies had some form of tribal council and that a majority of them were run by males. Sean took this opportunity to conclude the conversation, announcing a 15 minute break before Bella gave her workshop/class on Female Fertility for Men & Women. At this point in time there were about twenty people engaged in the event, taking literature, sharing food, and mingling.

After the break, Bella brought out a drawing board with a sample fertility chart drawn enlarged on the board. Bella, also an organizer of the event, began her class on Female Fertility using the zine "Fertility Awareness for Non-Invasive Birth Control". Unfortunately, as she began between five to ten people left, a majority of them female, though a few people simultaneously arrived. Despite this change up, Bella went forward teaching everyone how to use a female fertility chart. She taught everything from the symbols, to what each column and table represented as well as how to check your cervical fluid, take your temperature, and check the position of your cervix. She also taught how to see where your pre-ovulatory, fertile, and post-ovulatory phase are, when your most likely to get pregnant and the four rules to guide you in your quest to get or not get pregnant.

Admittedly, the majority of people attending her class were males and while half seemed interested, the other half were fighting to stay attentive. However, the females that were present were very attentive and asked questions to clarify certain topics and learn more on the subject. As she wrapped up she let everyone know she had a box full of the "Fertility Awareness" zines for free and that the zine explained more deeply and thoroughly everything she discussed. After a couple more clarifying questions, another 15 minute break was announced and there was an exchange of some more people leaving and others coming in. At this point there were about twenty people present.

After the break, Bella and I facilitated a workshop/discussion titled "Towards a Fresh Revolution". The idea behind the workshop was to engage all the participants and brainstorm about different projects happening now in Los Angeles and that we wanted to see happen in relation to making another world possible. While doing so we would analyze the obstacles that were stopping us from making these things possible in a way to provide some type of concrete solutions so we could move forward with a "fresh" perspective. In the past we had facilitated this discussion at an Anarchist Cafe at Windchime House and the outcome was amazing.

I started by being open about the intentions and goals of the workshop and first asked the question, "What projects are happening now in LA that people feel are contributing towards making another world possible?". Food Not Bombs, Catholic Worker, Anarchy Archives, Copwatch LA, and the Hyde Park 1/2 were a couple projects and activities mentioned. In all about a dozen different projects were named. Then Bella asked "What are projects or activities you would like to see in your ideal world?". From here the discussion got a little tense as people named all sorts of different things, some of which through my own misunderstanding I felt uncomfortable putting up on the board because I didn't feel they represented my ideal world or some of the participants'. Some of the projects/activities mentioned were apprenticeships, community gardens, de-institutionalized health care, no cars, animal liberation, free public transportation, and no wifi.

After numerous activities/projects were mentioned, the next question we asked was "What are obstacles to making those projects and activities a reality?". Some of the obstacles mentioned were social stigmas, patriarchy, law enforcement, 40 hour work weeks, Obama and the spectacle of democracy, money or lack of, capitalism, institutionalized education and rent. After we came up with a whole display board full of obstacles, Bella analyzed all three of the question and answer sequences by focusing on the lack of communication between anarchists, anti-authoritarians and radicals in LA, as well as our own personal internal dynamics that have stopped us from making our wildest dreams a reality. She talked about the unspoken dress code policy, the ageism and generational gaps, and the tendencies to communicate only with those you have strong affinities with. She stressed that there's nothing wrong with having a bias towards people who agree with you but that we need to learn how to work and communicate with those who don't agree with us 100 percent and to view them as allies. After she finished speaking, a discussion was sparked where participants shared their own experiences in the anarchist movement not just in LA but all over California.

After the discussion died down, we ended the workshop with another 15 minute break followed by musical performances. There were now about twenty to twenty-five people present. The first musician to play was Jim Ramirez. He played classical guitar and had an experimental folk indie style to his music. He played four songs of resistance and revolution, the first about his struggle to find his own unique identity and culture aside from the Western American one sold to us and the last one about a fallen friend who died young but believed in revolution.

The next performer was MSelasco. He also played classical guitar but had a Spanish/Latin American folk style to his music. Almost every song he played and sang was in Spanish and related to anarchism or freedom. Some of the songs were Argentine anarchist folk songs or poems he turned into songs. For a couple of his last songs a friend of his (lover?) joined him in playing second guitar and singing, particularly for the classic songs "Bandera Negra" and "Bella Ciao".

The last performer was Dustin or The Galen Gun. He played a steel resonator guitar and his music style was of a folk blues variety. He played numerous songs, some folk and some his own all in a laid back blues style. Once he finished the event was over and folks mingled for about thirty minutes, exchanging contact information, their opinions of the event and their excitement for the next Anarchist Picnic. As people took off we packed our things and called it a day.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall I think the event was a great start towards accomplishing the goals we set out for ourselves. I'm actually surprised there was no police interference not only because the park is in downtown Sierra Madre and RIGHT next to City Hall and the Police Department, but because Sierra Madre Police has a reputation for having almost nothing to do and instigating incidents. I'm also pleasantly surprised about the amount of local anarchists and anarcho-curious who showed up. I'm also really happy about distributing nearly one hundred pieces of anarchist literature.

To me, Sean's workshop had the most interesting dialogue going on between participants and was well suited to engage people in talking about basic anarchist topics. Bella's class was great and well-presented but I don't think it was much appreciated. I wish there would've been more females present for her class but perhaps, in hindsight, she should've saved the class for a later Anarchist Picnic. I'm glad though that people took about twenty copies of the zine she based her class off.

Regarding the "Towards a Fresh Revolution" discussion, initially I was pretty disappointed about the outcome. Compared to the way the discussion went in the past, it was pretty dull, slow, and awkward. When we facilitated the discussion at Windchime it was very fucking explosive with a whole room of people actually transforming like a vortex and talking seriously about squatting, occupying, and amazing anarchist projects. Upon further reflection, I forgot a crucial but small question to throw in and misworded the second question, while in turn relaying Bella to ask that miscommunicated question. By miswording the question, I set up a "versus" situation and tension between people's ideal worlds whereas the question should've focused on intermediate steps, projects, and activities people would like to take towards making that other world possible. Instead of a "versus" situation it would've set up an "and" situation where activities could work together. Perhaps too, like Bella's class, we should've saved this discussion for a later Anarchist Picnic when people would've known each other better and felt more comfortable to scheme about activities.

Other than that, it was pretty amazing. For putting a lot of time and energy into promoting it all over Sierra Madre, online, and in local newspapers it was well worth the effort.

On an ending note, there was some drama between us and the Pasadena Weekly and we will be having a friend write a full expose on what went down so be on the look out for that.

Till next month's Anarchist Picnic,
cruz

Another Report of 'Anarchy in Riverside' (Republished from LA Indymedia)

2010-02-12T13:32:00.000-08:00

by Rockero

February 6, 2010
RIVERSIDE, California - Riverside-area anarchists hosted a day-long event that included a series of presentations, a group discussion, and musical performances.

While lacking the variety of last year's Anarchist Fun Faire, the event allowed local anarchists, sympathizers, and activists, most of whom were about college-aged, to convene and share ideas in the basement of the independent coffee shop Back to the Grind.

The day began with a series of talks, the first of which was given by Gloria from the Inland Empire Feminist Collective. She began with definitions of feminism, patriarchy, and gender, providing an example of patriarchy. "Feminism is the belief in the social, political, economic equality of the sexes. It is the revolutionary movement that includes those who wish the world to be equal." Or, for the less academically-inclined, she provided the definition, "Feminists are just women who don't want to be treated like shit." She then went through the various theories of feminism: liberal feminism, Marxist feminism, socialist feminism, radical feminism, multicultural/multiracial feminism (including Black feminism and Chicana feminism, to name a few), and finally, anarcha-feminism, detailing the principal tenets and focuses of each. She then handed out a worksheet for participants to fill out, with questions such as "What is Feminism to YOU?" and "How can YOU apply feminism in your life?" While we were busy pondering the questions, a young man descended the staircase, and, oblivious to what was going on, began asking questions about some literature that was on display. We explained to him that there was a workshop going on, and that he was welcome to stay and participate as long as he showed respect for the process already in progress. When he found out that the topic of discussion was feminism, he became vociferous in his opposition to the principle. He spoke loudly and interrupted others, leading some of us to suspect that he was drunk. We asked him to leave. Once attendees had finished filling out the questionnaires, a discussion was held on each of the questions posed by the worksheet. Some of the ideas brought up included the idea that the socially-constructed gender binary was just as oppressive as men as it is of women, and that people should be free to decide on their own who to perform their own gender identity. Reproductive freedom and access to womens' health services were also brought up, while some male feminists asked for advice as to how they could avoid reinforcing patriarchy when interacting with younger relatives. One man argued that the sexes are much more similar than they are different, and asked what we thought of the idea of essentialism. Following the discussion, Gloria invited us to take some flyers for upcoming events and zines on feminism.

In between talks, I spoke with one member of Riverside Food Not Bombs! who told me about recent repressive actions against anarchists by members of the Riverside Police Department. They had shut down one of the community's preferred venues, the Pharaoh's Den, and made it very difficult to reopen. They had also ticketed him for being a minor in possession of alcohol despite his not being in possession of any contraband whatsoever, and harassed other members of the collective as they attempted to do their weekly serving.

The next talk was led by Doug from Modesto Anarcho Crew, who began with an overview of the location, economy, and demographics of the Central Valley city. He continued with a description of the crew's organization and tactics. In addition to operating freeboxes, maintaining an autonomous space, and creating propaganda, they participate "in ongoing class and community struggles." "Where the fire is, we bring the gasoline," he summarized. The talk centered on what the speaker characterized as the "tension between activism and intervention." He defined "activism" as "petitioning the government or the powers that be so they can change certain things." "Intervention," "in social struggles and social tensions," on the other hand, is "trying to make those things into wider ruptures against capitalism." This tension, according to the speaker, is exemplified by the dichotomy between the "scene" that seems to exist among anarchists and the "movement" that is necessary to create a "free, non-hierarchical, autonomous society." He discussed some examples of his crew's use of "interventionist" tactics in his area, including support for a rent strike against an absentee landlord, a non-government-sanctioned needle exchange program, for which some are currently facing prosecution, and the interjection of radical strategies and ideas into the student movement. The final part of the talk centered on suggestions as to how to seek out and create allies. He talked about forming alliances with local indigenous tribes, the impoverished, and the LGBT community.

The final talk was on "anarchist infrastructure," and was given by Dana Ward from the Anarchy Archives. Before beginning, he gave an overview of the archives, and then asked us what we wanted to learn about. "I can cover everything from Godwin to the contemporary period, movements, individuals, things like that. [...] I'm a resource. Suck me as dry as you can. I'll get all the information I got in me out if I can. Just tell me what you need to know." Various requests were made: "Bonnot gang!" "Worker's cooperatives." "The origins of anarchism, especially the Paris Commune," "How to raise an anarchist army, Makhnovisti-style." "I'd like to know about the anarchist version of dual power."

He began with the Paris Commune, since the topic also touched on workers' cooperatives and expropriation. That topic led into a lengthy discussion of cooperatives, both in theory, as discussed by the anarchocommunists Kropotkin and Réclus, and in practice, such as the Spanish co-op Mondragón. A few attendees were on the edge of their seats. Others seemed bored out of their minds. Most were somewhere in between. In a brief deviation from the topic of workers' collectives, he touched on the "subculture vs. movement-building" issue. "It's not really an either/or question. [...] It's really a question of creating your scene so that you're able to sustain yourselves, where you practice mutual aid, where you engage in horizontal organization and so forth, so that when the rest of the society collapses, you already have the alternative functioning and ready to stand in its place." He then returned to the central topic, emphasizing that when both ownership and labor are collectivized, production increases and becomes more safe and efficient, before opening up for questions.

The first questioner asked if collectivization created advancements in the way industries affect the environment, women's equality, and social justice in the same way that they increased efficiency and output. Ward responded that the Argentine example provided the best answer to this question in that when factories were occupied, "the community was brought in." The next question concerned accumulation of power in the absence of government regulation. Ward's response focused on the concept of mutual aid. The next question was about horizontality and collectivization in fields outside of economics, and Ward cited the example of the Modern School.

At this point, we faced yet another interruption by a sexist asshole. "Is this some feminist bullshit? This is gay. Gay, gay, gay," he commented aloud, while Ward was attempting to answer the question. Like the previous guy, he was asked to leave. The recurrence of these types of episodes would seem to indicate one way in which we are either failing to engage potential revolutionaries or failing to prepare for probable contingencies. However, it is probably more likely a comment on the state of our society and issues such as rampant substance abuse, even among our own peers. Further questions were on law enforcement and how to deal with predators among radical communities. (He suggested shunning.)

One of the members of Modesto Anarcho challenged that idea freedom could be had simply by collectivizing the workplace. I took his challenge to mean that liberty is too large to fit only within the economic sphere, and that co-ops do not threaten capitalism per se, but it seemed that Ward interpreted the question in terms of a post-Left critique of work itself. He suggested that such critiques of "work" were rooted in the class backgrounds of the critics. "I come from a working-class background [...] To me, there's no alternative to work!" While it was framed in such a way that it was not worded as a direct attack, I could see how it could have been interpreted as such. A member of the circle broke up the debate before it threatened to consume the basement by suggesting that the topic be discussed later in smaller groups to allow everyone to participate in the conversation at hand. This intervention was fortunate, because it broke up the lecturer-questioner dichotomy to which professors, due to their professional backgrounds, are overly accustomed, whereas the comrade from Modesto was interjecting an idea in a manner meant to challenge everyone, not just the lecturer.

Following that discussion, many small conversations were had among the participants before we reconvened to discuss where to go from there. One man suggested community organizing as a tactic for movement-building. Others proposed ways to apply Modesto's "interventionist" tactic to local issues.

While I was not present for the rest of the event, the LA Anarchist Weekly reported that the Riverside Police Department refused to allow the concert to proceed as scheduled due to a 'blasphemous' representation of Christ on the event's flyer. The flyer depicted Jesus playing an accordion.

Audio of IE Feminist Collective (Part 1): http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2010/02/_a_inrside06feb2010-001-iefemcol.mp3

Audio of IE Feminist Collective (Part 2): http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2010/02/_a_inrside06feb2010-002-iefemcol.mp3

Audio of Modesto Anarcho Crew: http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2010/02/_a_inrside06feb2010-003-mac.mp3

Audio of Dana Ward (Part 1): http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2010/02/_a_inrside06feb2010-004-dw.mp3

Audio of Dana Ward (Part 2): http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2010/02/_a_inrside06feb2010-005-dw.mp3

Surprise, Surprise? 11 Arrested at UC Irvine for Protesting Israeli Ambassador

2010-02-11T12:16:00.000-08:00

Why are we still surprised when something like this happens?

Why are we surprised when students get arrested for protesting representatives of murderous government? Are we still naive enough to believe in civil government? Do we still believe in their so-called democracy?

We know all about the atrocities of the United States Government, about the suffering, murder and torture perpetrated at home and around the globe each day. Then why? Why are we still surprised when something like this happens? Why?

Last fall, we saw a burdening of consciousness in the universities along the West Coast of California, abroad in Europe and other parts of the world. Knowledge of the function of universities in our societies and their role in social hierarchy and domination met power - the collective power of students! Those in training to be next year's workers and managers of society.

Yes, sadly there were many hoping and praying for reforms. Begging with their bodies for demands to be met. For a chance at having their piece of the pie - the American Dream.

But there were those who looked further and saw an absent future after graduation. Who made no demands and stepped forward and occupied to find each other. To begin scheming to build another world. This is what we need right now! This is what we must do!

Already there are those hoping that by making a hundred phone calls or writing a thousand letters that the eleven brave students will released of their charges. Perhaps they'll get off with a suspension - a mere slap on the wrist. If only we plead and pray...No!

What we need now is direct action not only to show our collective power but also to build a movement towards another world. Let us occupy and blockade to Stand with the UC Irvine Eleven, so that we may all be free!

(For more information on the arrests, see http://occupyuci.wordpress.com)

Report-back & Analysis of 'Anarchy in Riverside' & Some Thoughts on 'Building the Party'

2010-02-11T11:24:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, February 6th, there was an anarchist event in Riverside titled "Anarchy in Riverside".

It was held in the basement of Back to the Grind in downtown Riverside & organized into two parts. The first part, the meeting/conference portion of the event, was scheduled to be from 12 PM to 5 PM & the fun/entertainment portion to be from 7 PM - 10 PM.

During the meeting portion, the Inland Empire Feminist Collective, Modesto Anarcho, & Dana Ward were to hold workshops & at the end there was to be a round-table discussion on "what to do next" in Riverside. During the entertainment portion, the notorious homeless jug band from Santa Cruz, Blackbird Raum, was to play as well as Corona legends, Acoustic Destroyer & some other musicians.

I arrived halfway into the workshops, catching the tail end of Modesto Anarcho & staying for Dana Ward's lecture & the round-table discussion.

While Dana Ward was preparing to speak, I remember thinking the lecture was going to be exhausting & heavily academic, but to my surprise when he began his talk on anarchist infrastructure & worker cooperatives, I warmed up to him & thoroughly enjoyed his lecture.

His lecture was not only thorough in his explanation of the history of anarchist theory on infrastructure, but he was able to drop big name anarchists in a way that was tangible & easy to understand. He also comprehensively explained anarchist & non-anarchist worker cooperatives while keeping the attention span of the room.

Towards the end of the lecture, a debate broke out between a member of Modesto Anarcho & Dana Ward. The issue seemed to be that a member of Modesto Anarcho was concerned that anarchist worker cooperatives would create a "self-managed prison" & Dana Ward argued against that concern, claiming that wouldn't occur given everyone involved in the business would decide what happens and create an entirely different concept of what a business is. (For analysis from the Modesto Anarcho member's perspective & the ensuing debate in the comments section see: Vengeance) The ironic ending of the debate was, because of what I perceive as the Modesto Anarcho member's lack of clarity in his concern, that Dana Ward ended up questioning the class of his debater in a way that pondered whether he was from a middle class background and arguing against work itself. For those not in the know, Modesto Anarcho unabashedly represents themselves as a working class anarchist crew.

After a short break, a somewhat awkward round-table discussion was initiated in which it seemed that the facilitator of the discussion was unprepared to guide the discussion. Due to the lack of direction, the discussion never took off as participants vaguely talked about doing projects or combating local struggles. Perhaps the outcome was partly due to the lack of facilitation & direction with the discussion & also because it appeared many of the participants were strangers or acquaintances to each other. Either way it was an awkward solemn discussion.

In regards to the first two workshops, people I conversed with who were at the workshops told me Inland Empire Feminist Collective's meeting was dull & under-attended and a majority of people I talked to about the Modesto Anarcho workshop enjoyed what they brought to the table. Modesto Anarcho is well-known for critiquing anarchist projects that end up becoming another form of charity & strategizing around finding & takings sides in tensions in the community as well as using direct action & solidarity to build alliances around these tensions. (For a more detailed expose of these two workshops, once again see: Vengeance)

Though the show was planned to be at Back to the Grind, Riverside police shut down the show on the basis that the image on the flier of the accordion player from Blackbird Raum was sacrilegious in relation to Jesus.

The show was moved to a house down the street from Back to the Grind & though I didn't attend the show, a friend who did reported that the show was fun but disappointing. Disappointing because the majority of the crowd didn't attend the conference portion & appeared to be of that social clique merely following the trends of punk rock through the years without seriously involving themselves in the movement. Go figure.

Overall the event was alright. At the event I heard talk of building off this event & having continual local Riverside County anarchist events & I hope that does happen. If so, in hindsight this event will have been a nice start to build momentum but if not, then a depressing example of an anarchist movement never begun.

We need continuous monthly or periodic anarchist serious & fun social events so that we can help build the movement. It is essential we find each other & create tight affinities so we can struggle together at school, in the workplace, & in the streets. Alienated, alone & compromising our beliefs & actions amongst people who don't & may never share our beliefs will get us nowhere. "All friendship is political".

To a Los Angeles Anarchist

2010-02-10T13:51:00.000-08:00

(Editors' Note: This is a Call that was posted on LA Indymedia last year. It was sent to us to be posted on this blog and we have decided to post it because we feel it is still very much relevant to the current situation of the anarchist movement in Greater Los Angeles)

To an LA anarchist
and to those in LA who still dream and scheme.
May we continue to stay afloat in this concrete sea...

Disconnected and disembodied
gridlocked in a social prison.

For years we've aged and lived here, forged in the fires pushed around and tossed about in the blazing heat of Southern California. Waiting, watching and hoping for something to change, for something to happen. Before us and in us we felt isolation and alienation - where were our comrades? Where were the anarchists?

It seemed in the US they only existed in rumors on the evening news or elsewhere - Santa Cruz, San Francisco, the Pacific Northwest, or New England.

Once a rumor and invisible
slowly growing inmpenetrable
The Coming Anarchy, The Coming Community,
The Coming Insurrection.

As the years passed and whatever tattered remnants of anarchism in LA lay to rot, far and wide it bloomed. Anarchism seemingly on the upsurge. Yet here for what seemed forever, yearly anarchist gatherings rehashed the same perspectives, the same tactics, the same workshops. Round and round in circles we went to gatherings designed to create converts rather than meet, greet and scheme.

Disfigured, we must grow
we must take shape and form
How is to be done?
How to find one another?

We cannot wait any longer. There is and will be no Messiah. There is no use in trying to convert as missionaries. We exist and we are of all ages and backgrounds. We must find each other. We must create events, spaces for us to meet monthly, bi-monthly. To meet, greet and scheme. To find commune. To break the lack of age diversity and the dress code. In spaces of neutrality, spaces of comfortability, spaces where we can come out and find each other. From there, all else begins and can begin.

One step at a time... Forward we wade... Towards a new direction.

Introducing the LA Anarchist Weekly

2010-02-08T13:33:00.000-08:00

This blog exists for the purpose of disseminating Greater Los Angeles Area news, analyses & opinions on events happening in & around the Greater Los Angeles Area written from an anarchist perspective.

We aim to help build an anarchist movement in the Greater LA through providing a medium to showcase such writings & hope to transition from using a blog to publishing a monthly newspaper with many more features.

If you have any articles on events that are happening or have happened near you, thoughts or analysis on any topic written from an anarchist perspective pertaining to the Greater LA Area, feel free to e-mail LAanarchist@riseup.net

Comments, questions, & suggestions are also welcome.