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

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

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

(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.

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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)

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