5:30 protesters assemble at both entrance points of borders, distributing
the flyer used to promote the event and carrying banners.
6:00 pm: Jim Gilchrist arrices in a pearl-white esplanade like a captured spy; Very discreet, no red carpet, practically running into the store. Anyone with a camera who lacked a press-pass was barred from entering and anyone who antagonized the Minuteman camp (approx. 10 people) was ejected from the store.
6:30 pm: the rally numbers approx. 30-45 people, a UFW banner is visible ("Si Se Puede" w/ UFW eagle), and one person on the megaphone chants... the group is still split in two, with about 15 people marching down the sidewalk in fron of the Borders store on Thousand Oaks boulevard. About 3 squad cars and 4 bike cops guard the front entrance.

The protesters were energetic, strong, and clearly visible from the freeway, red flags and black ones are planted on the lawn. The chants directed towards Gilchrist's venue ("Down with Borders, Up with people!" etc.) were largely improvised. Right-wing old ladies, handicapped white alcoholics, and other miscellaneous human waste (the Minuteman Project's social base) pointed and laughed, but it was clear who the victors were in this situation.

The Minuteman presence apparently (according to testifying right-wingers) felt stale and offered further proof that (according to a founding member in Jim's entourage) the group is on the wane and is largely irrelevant,,, interestingly enough, this "founding member" said that this was largely a result of the co-opting of the movement by the the faux-conservative Bush'ites within the conservative movement, which will maybe build a wall but won't take further steps such as expelling the immigrant community and prosecuting "criminal" border-crossers.

Borders books apparently felt that the book-signing might be some huge event, so a ticket system was put in place for it... rather than some sold-out show,only a handful of ideologues showed up and his book-signing was heckled by protesters who took up posts around the cafe where he was based.

An interview with a professionally-dressed member of his entourage which was done by Univision was promptly drowned out and encroached upon by indignant members of the community, leading to a very awkward and defeated performance by the spokeman of the Minutemen.

Gilchrist eventually left at 8:15, 45 minutes before his planned departure, most likely discouraged by the fact that Borders effectively hosted an anti- rather than a pro- Minutemen event. Either way, Borders lost out because many refused to enter the store when protesters notified them of the event (and scared other god-fearing folk away).

Towards the end of the night a truck arrived from a Panaderia down Thousand Oaks blvd., delivering fresh baked goods (ham/jalapeno rolls, quesadilla bread, conchas, custard pastries, etc.) to the counterdemo.

The demo ended on a note which tied the Minutemen to the whole superstructure of Government policy and capitalist oppression, bridging the gap between anti-immigrant racism, the war on terror, gas prices, etc. Those who appeared generally stayed from beginning 'til end, and the energy was sustained throughout. We ended by bringing to peoples' attention the mass civil disobedience action planed for Thursday, Sep. 28, at LAX by the brave Unite-HERE hotel union campaign. Overall this was really a precedent-breaking manifestation of community power in Ventura County, and shows that if the Minutemen try to form a local chapter then this will meet opposition locally wherever it goes.

If anything, though, this was a dress-rehearsal for future local actions which will happen in response to local events and will hopefully be a strong political lever used to counter the aims of any Republican, Democratic politicians who aim to enact fascistic policies towards the people who build this county daily.. Ventura County effectively gave the Minutemen an uncomfortable, depressing experience... the anti-Minutemen were in top shape as far as morale was concerned and will move forward towards aggressively addressing issues as they come about.

Cheers

The irony that the store is called Borders should not be overlooked.

Never mind Borders. Use Amazon.

"Indy" bookstores? Sure, if I had all day to wander from one to the other looking for what I want.

Some of us work.

Thanks for calling this protest.

“"Indy" bookstores? Sure, if I had all day to wander from one to the other looking for what I want. Some of us work.”

I guess that's why "big box" books stores and department stores are so popular. They make it more convenient for people to work.

Which, as we know, is how people define their lives.

www.abebooks.

Its an on-line consortium of small independent booksellars (and some big ones, like Powells.)

Millions of books indexed, and you can find anything, no matter how obscure. You can sort by price, you can pay however you like. Its a great way to patronize indy booksellers all over the country.

Tia

Independent bookstore has been a dying source i.e. Midnight Special, 33 1/3, etc. Even in L.A. i havent seen alot of used bookstore like in San Francisco. They are dying too.

Most Borders aren't that great. The stock is often out of date. The special orders and holds seem to be a pretty big business. I went to the Pico Rivera Borders, and behind the counter, they had a few hundred books on hold for people who ordered stuff online for pickup at the store.

Most people seemed to be there to hang out. I ended up reading a book I had brought with me. Then, later, I bought a book. So the hang-out part worked on me.

I don't feel that bad about it, though. There aren't really many bookstores out here (southwest SGV/Montebello area), except at the mall or at Target. The indie bookstores are mostly Chinese or Christian (or are Christian and Chinese). It's a literary wasteland unless you read Chinese, or like to read the same book over and over.

There lots of small store in LA you just gotta look around

Short list:

http://www.smallworldbooks.com/

http://www.skylightbooks.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp

http://duttonsbrentwood.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp

http://www.booksoup.com/

http://www.hennesseyingalls.com/hennessey/


Also online

http://www.akpress.org/

Ironic that the store is called "Borders." I guess those are the kind of "borders" Gilchrist and his bunch want to hang out at.

Don't forget the one tonight at the Borders location in Mission Viejo, CA.

I called that location today and asked how it is that they let Jim Gilchrist sign books there. The store manager said it's a regional marketing person and offered to refer me to him. I decided to leave it at that. But if you want, go ahead and call them and ask for the number of the "regional marketing" whatever-it-is to complain.

If a group goes tonight, some can demonstrate and some can plant themselves as shoppers in the store. Then you can get some voice and presense when Gilchrist starts before being asked to leave the store. Exactly what you do I'll leave up to you and take no responsibility.

It's kind of silly to blame Borders. If white supremacists try to sell their manifestos in book form and a publisher thinks there's a chance to make a profit, the publisher and book distributor will do so.

Hell, someone published Mein Kampf . It's solely a matter of profit -- and ethics and treason are rarely considered.

My opinions only and only my opinions.

Ebo Gavriil wrote;

"Right-wing old ladies, handicapped white alcoholics, and other miscellaneous human waste (the Minuteman Project's social base) pointed and laughed, but it was clear who the victors were in this situation."

How about some class solidarity here? "Handicapped white alcoholics and other miscellaneous human waste" is how you refer to the unfortunate people who attend pro-Minutemen protests?

That sort of degradation of human beings is not appropriate for imc, regardless of how uninformed or unenlightened their socio-political views may be. One social group fighting against another social group is not encouraged under class solidarity when only the wealthy corporations benefit from various ethnic and/or linguistic groups fighting against one another..

Individuals like propaganda artist Jim Gilchrist are attracting all sorts of vulnerable people (ie., handicapped white alcoholics) based on their feelings of victimization, similar to the post 9/11 fears that "we were attacked". Minutemen organizers prey on lost jobs and lowered wages of working class Euro-americans, including Vietnam vets, many of whom suffer from chronic alcoholism. Scapegoating the Euro-american working class for making misinformed choices isn't any better than Minutemen scapegoating Mexican immigrants for escaping Mexico's economic hardship under neo-liberal globalization programs (WTO/NAFTA). Try talking to the "handicapped white alcoholics" as human beings and maybe they'll drop Gilchrist's Minutemen agenda like the bad habit it is and join up with your cause for human rights, class struggle and economic justice for all..

The reality of undocumented immigration from Mexico as out of economic neccesity (free trade WTO/NAFTA policies) is again ignored in the slugfest between the open borders crew and the Minutemen supporters, each one blaming the other, neither looking upwards at the puppetmasters in DC, Sacto, etc. who profit from undocumented immigrants lower wages..

Include in the puppetmaster category the industrial agriculture corporations who economically benefit from having undocumented immigrants working in plantations for below minimum wage in subhuman conditions (breathing toxic pesticides, heat stroke, etc..) without any labor union, OSHA standards, etc.. to keep them safe when working in dangerous conditions. If the farm workers would become documented sooner, then they could demand greater rights in the workplace. However, the industrial agriculture corporations do not want to pay workers minimum wage, provide benefits, etc.. so they remain undocumented..

The Global Exchange site has an excellent article about undocumented immigrants from the most recent source of the problem (NAFTA) to the exploitation by agriculture corporations;

"Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect in 1994 and the Mexican peso was devalued in 1995, the Mexican economy has been experiencing a crisis of low wages, high unemployment and increasing inflation. Though strict U.S. immigration policies such as the deadly Operation Gatekeeper make it difficult for poor Mexicans and other immigrants without family members here to enter legally, undocumented immigrants continue to take risks to improve their lives by migrating to the U.S., and many of them find work in agricultural fields. While the majority of farmworkers in the U.S. are citizens or legal residents, in 1994-1995 the National Agricultural Workers Survey found that 37% of the farmworkers in the U.S. were undocumented. These workers, who produce food for our nourishment, are especially vulnerable to denial of their rights because of the constant threat of deportation. The history of legislation around farmworkers' rights reflects a legacy of racism and discrimination against people of color and immigrants. We support a campaign by the AFL-CIO, Jobs With Justice and other groups advocating a general immigration Amnesty which would allow farmworkers who have been putting food on our tables for years to become citizens and hence increase their opportunities to exercise their labor rights.

<-->

The conditions on many US farms can only be referred to as "sweatshops in the fields." During the harvest, workers often labor 12 or more hours per day. Hand labor is especially vital to the production of the blemish-free fruits and vegetables which American consumers have learned to demand. Laboring in the fields often means stooping over rows of produce for hours under the hot sun with no breaks. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture's own data, agriculture is one of the most accident-prone industries in the United States.

Working long hours means longer exposure to pesticide residues. About 70% of the 1.2 billion pounds of pesticide products that are sold in the U.S. each year are used in agriculture. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 300,000 farmworkers suffer acute pesticide poisoning each year. "

read on @;
http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/americas/unitedstates/farmworkers/background.html

I was at the store last night and kept a low profile. Two things I noticed
1. I noticed that the family of a police officer killed by a mexican national who had gone back to Mexico to avoid charges were there offering support to the minutemen. That is a tough one on anyone with family since if I lost my child to someone who for all purposes escaped punishment I would would be very upset by people calling me racist just because I would want my sons killer apprehended.
2. A few of the people there were latino or married to latinos and kept saying that they came here legally and were upset that they were grouped with the "illegals". My grandfather came here from Mexico City in 1955 legally and to his dying day said the proudest thing that ever happened to him was becoming a US citizen.
Am I saying that I support closing the border - No. Am I saying that America is made up of people of many different faiths, opinions, and backgrounds and that the freedom to speak what we believe is part of what makes the US a great country.

P.S. the couple of people who were shouting profanity in front of the kids that where there in the protest should learn to select better words that maybe offending others beliefs thus enabling their words to be heard. I overheard some of the families inside complaining about the profanity more than the minutemen.

If you're refering to the Mission Viejo location a few hours ago, there was a large diverse group. I agree that some were a little loud. I wasn't profane or yelled loud. I actually can't yell that loud for some reason, my throat gets dry.

What you may have missed was the mother and son walking out with a Minuteman book, getting in their vehicle, and the mother backing out then suddenly drive forward as if to run us over, stopping just in time to not do so.

And there's the Minuteman with the white hate who repeatedly took photos of the group despite the minors requested him to not do so, in effect agitating the group which the Minuteman clearly didn't care about from his lack of verbal response.

There was a Minuteman supporter in a dark shirt who argued with the group for about two hours.

The bearded Minuteman was there and he was calm and we enjoyed speaking with him. According to him, it seems "Minuteman" is becoming a broad term. Meaning, a Minuteman may not see eye to eye with Jim Gilchrist but is still a "Minuteman." He explained the stickers on his truck and other stuff and his heritage, which includes indigenous. He also clearly stated that he's against any hostile actions by Minutemen.

As for the family of someone who was killed, was it the family of David March? If they or family members of someone else killed were there, obviously the group didn't know. I certainly didn't know.

I wasn't inside during the book signing. Before it started I was and saw the table with a couple pens and a pad of Post Its on it. I considered writing "Hi Jim, Cliff was here" just for kicks but didn't bother. I was going to stay inside, make some display with my sign, then willingly exit the store. But hardly anyone would be there to see it so I didn't bother. I just stayed outside to mingle with the other counter demonstrators.

Any mention of yelling at little kids or infants was exagerrated. Also, the Borders store regional manager came out to speak with us before the event. It sounded like her impression of us, before even meeting us, was formed by speaking to the Minutemen and affiliated people.

Most of the group were high school and college students, as far as I know. At least a few were Anarchists, the peaceful nice kind. I'd be happy to demonstrate with this particular local group of diverse young folks. It's not a formal organization. We're there as individuals, which we made clear when the regional manager asked us who was "in charge." Who's in charge, hahaha.

Big typo there. Where I said the Minuteman with the "white hate," I mean't hat, not hate. He had a white Minuteman hat. Always seen in Lake Forest.

It is quite clear that this isn't simply a book tour by Jim Gilchrist and this Redneck ",Ph. D" poodle of his, but a fully Borders-funded circus of fringe-right wackos...
The Borders book tour is not simply objectivity or some Equal Opportunities Program for Free Speech... It is a conscious decision to aid reactionary forces in areas where such political views provide a catalyst for the most backward forms of racial hatred and hostility towards the laboring class. I doubt that Borders would provide a forum for, say, a Ward Churchill or Subcommandante Marcos in Southern California.
The Minutemen are the manifestation of an armed-struggle faction of the capitalist class, using the vast array of forces at its' hands such as the Book-chain monopolies, Television, Radio, and all other outlets to support its cause.
It's naive to think that the Minutemen are the sole proponents of anti-immigrant populism, this legislation is passing and how do people think that the reactionary drive to "build the wall" and scapegoat immigrants should be addressed in LA/Kern/VC/IE areas?
What are some strategies for those of us who are realizing that the Minutemen may simply be scarecrows/paper tigers/potemkin villages used to distract the Left from the wider battle in the workplace, culturally, and on the grass-roots front?
How to further promote and give direction to the current "anti-'anti-immigrant'" movement? Does this translate into stilting this movement on the Democratic Party of Dean, Obama, and Clinton or what?
I'm interested in the ideas and strategies of those who fight the Minutemen, Bush, Iraq - after the single issue is resolved or fades in the background, is the one of greater prominence in the world press the next "issue of the month" for the various groups and coalition?
Cheers

thank you for protesting!

racists not welcome!

This reporting is very irresponsible. I'm totally against the Minutemen, but like class solidarity points out, your report and title are ageist and discriminate in a really ugly way against people with disabilities. I question where you're coming from, ideologically speaking. Maybe you are just immature.

Who are you speaking to? I'm not reporting formally or in any way really. Just relating what I saw from the Mission Viejo one.

> It is a conscious decision to aid reactionary forces

No, Borders almost certainly doesn't give a shit about white supremacist Republican ideologies. It's certain that Borders solely cares about whether they can make a profit catering to _anyone_.

If they want to publish white supremacist manifestos, it's not that they agree with the hatred, it's that they can make a profit from it.

My opinions only and only my opinions.

I rescind any upsetting statements; again, I was buzzing a bit from the after-party and was merely describing the Minutemen. I consider myself a humanist, and yes, human waste is an anti-social term.
Ageism was not the aim, although those in attendance were largely middle-aged and older, hardly terrifying vigilantes. They would have been cute if not for their politics. Anyway, enough PC hysteria; how did the other events go?
If you all want we can make moves to remove the "irresponsible reporting" and someone else can submit their report instead, the original intention was simply to provide a brief summary of the night.

Would like to respond specifically to this above comment;

"What are some strategies for those of us who are realizing that the Minutemen may simply be scarecrows/paper tigers/potemkin villages used to distract the Left from the wider battle in the workplace, culturally, and on the grass-roots front?"

This is sort of what i've pondered over the last few weeks, especially when dealing with the overwhelming info on immigrant farmworkers exposed to toxic pesticides in the workplace, and the fact that undocumented farmworker immigrants are exposed more and have less recourse for health/medical care following exposure..

This ties in directly with southcentral community farm and the campesino land stewards who grew many diverse vegetables without resorting to pesticide applications of industrial plantation style agriculture..

Here are the central points; land use, claims of land ownership by corporate agriculture (despite land abuse) and ecologically sustainable land stewardship by campesino sc farmers, reaching out beyond ethnic/linguistic divisions and embracing the common ground as humans in need of restoration of healthy farms ecosystems..

This focus may seem to omit those workers employed in tech sweatshops (maquiladoras), though for now my personal concern is with food supply and farmworkers, the survival of humans in the face of peak oil fertilizer shortage, industrial agriculture collapse, and the very important safety net provided by south central farm and the idea of a campesino community land stewardship..

http://www.southcentralfarmers.com/

y tambien;
http://www.southcentralfarmers.org/

As far as the Minutemen go, maybe focusing on common ground issues like food supply, pesticide exposure, and revealing the myths and abuses committed to undocumented (and documented) Mexican immigrant farmworkers by industrial agriculture. When dealing with groundwater contamination, pesticide drift and cancer from ingesting pesticide residue on produce, those politically handicapped seeming Minutemen may have a great deal more to fear from industrial agriculture's pesticide applications than a few border crossing Mexican immigrants. Bear in mind many Minutemen may reside downwind of the pesticide spraying industrial agriculture plantations, though their exposure isn't as direct as farmworkers, it still counts as exposure..

This from PANNA;

"The analysis reveals that several widely used pesticides are regularly found off-site at concentrations that significantly exceed acute and chronic air exposure levels deemed "safe" by regulatory agencies, and contaminate the air for days and even weeks after use. Hundreds of thousands of Californians are affected, with children most at risk because they are growing and developing. Drift disproportionately affects farmworkers, but increasingly, those living in suburbs, schools, and offices are affected as more people move to the urban fringe, live, commute and recreate near areas of heavy pesticide use."

read on @;
http://www.panna.org/resources/gpc/gpc_200304.13.1.10.dv.html

In a thought experiment, what if former Minutemen became the Mexican farmworker's allies against the ecological and health abuses of industrial agriculture? It is well known fact that industrial agriculture corporations often take advantage of undocumented immigrant status moreso than unionized documented immigrants. Who will grow food for people if a border wall police state prevents entry? Would former Minutemen join immigrant farmworkers, rural residents and ecoactivists to protest the abuse of undocumented immigrants health and well-being by industrial agriculture corporations?

What if all people could put aside language, culture and ethnic divisions and put farmland reclaimation from industrial agriculture corporations and restoration into organic community farms as top priority? What if we could multiply the southcentral community campesino stewarded farm across the valleys of CA, promoting cultural and biological diversity as we proceed??

Stranger things have happened..

Ecology shows that biodiversity is a key evolutionary component in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. In the human realm, cultural diversity provides people with a healthy living environment. Monoculture in food crops, ecosystems and human society is a recipe for extinction..

"He says the plan should also contain farm system goals that address things like pest control, land and soil management, climate modification, wildlife habitat enhancement and increasing biodiversity.

Earnshaw stresses that knowing your local ecosystem is critical to successful farmscaping.

"Our farms occur within the context of natural ecosystems," he says. "Learning about those ecosystems allows us to make educated choices regarding which plants to use."
"

read on @;
http://www.caff.org/programs/farmscaping/hedgerowart.shtml

all the players are merely puppets kept divided and at eachother's throats while the rich slowly poison us for profit

the anti-immigration group does this because it serves a need

to abuse and blame their problems - real or percieved - on a powerless group since it's
easy to do with little risk or thought required

the puppeteers take advantage of our own failings, weaknesses and short sightedness, and by moulding and framing the issues and conflicts, they manipulate people who would otherwise
be a threat into wasting their time and energy fighting eachother


very effectively I might add

they perform a gatekeeping function for the far-right in distracting them into ineffective
and worthless activities

ever wonder who the gatekeepers of the left are ?

looking into this question might be very revealing and enlightening..

surely there are because nothing ever really changes - no substantial progress has been made -

in fact in most ways things are getting worse one could easyly say ;

ADL spying
bush
Israel "art students" spying
9/11
AIPAC spying
patriot act I
Afghanistan
Amdocs spying
partiot act II
Iraq
bush again
patriot act III
NSA spying
Lebanon

and with false flag operations sprinkled throughout - generally successful until lately
as people seem to be catching on to this these days and watching out for it


We find teflon is bad, silicone is bad, plastics fall apart yet contaminate and poison
the environment, all pesticides are bad, one-by-one they're all being flagged as more
dangerous than originally suspected and pulled off the shelves (Lindane being the latest,
yet it's still being used in shampoos on children due to SLAPP lawsuits)

with the courts against us, the corporations against us, the tax code against us,
the media against us and us against eachother..

us against eachother is like icing on the cake for those getting rich off of it.

anyone have photos of the thousand oaks event? the san diego one is on youtube, it's not the best video and its by a pro-MM

After reading this and then visiting the minutemen website it is obvious to me that the author Ebo Gavrill is the racist here and not the minutemen. In November I will vote for whoever will secure the southern border and ensure that only legal immigrants can work in this country. I work with Mexican men in Seattle. I like all of them. Still I think that those that are working here illegal need to go. They would feel the same if millions instead of thousands of people from central America were flooding into Mexico, taking jobs from Mexicans and using government recources meant for Mexican citizens.

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I think that a lot of people are going to their first demo, and don't know proper ettiquite. The media portray demos as these out-of-control messes, and people who are new have only that as their point of reference. The "anti-illegal-immigrant" movement, in its rhetoric, is virulently anti-Mexican, so people should expect the response to be angry; people are upset.

That said, someone needs to inform the shouters that the movement has some allies who are old, white, black, female, fat, gay, lesbian, rich, and poor. When you use hate speech against these groups, the people who are your allies, who hear this, won't want to come to the next demo. This isn't PC hysteria - it's just how people feel about being singled out for ridicule.