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Coming Soon: Anarchy!

by Rockero Wednesday, Aug. 05, 2009 at 3:07 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com

Second Southern California Anarchist Conference and Feria Libertaria

Coming Soon: Anarchy...
2ndsocal_a_conf001.jpg, image/jpeg, 660x495

Saturday and Sunday, August 1 and 2, 2009

LOS ANGELES - Over a span of two days, hundreds of people from across the region converged to participate in the Second1 Southern California Anarchist Conference and the Feria Libertaria, an anarchist cultural fair. Despite the serious topic being discussed, that of constructing a genuinely free and non-hierarchical society, the relaxed atmosphere at both of the events was a perfect companion for Southern California's informal summer vibe.

Saturday's conference was held at the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research in South Central Los Angeles. After a short welcome from some of the organizers and a few announcements regarding schedule changes, a member of the library's staff gave us some background on the institution's history, as well as some of the current projects, such as the upcoming book drive for the children of the neighborhood.

With that, the workshops and panels began. In the library's reading room, Vlad lead a discussion on "piracy and hooliganism," which touched on recent news stories regarding Somali "pirates" and the riot that followed the Lakers championship victory and how they relate to anarchist theory and current anti-authoritarian struggles.

Out in the garden, Manny and Autumn discussed the Echo Park Time Bank, an institution that coordinates the exchange of services between individuals without using currency as the medium of exchange. This growing collective of individuals in the Echo Park area is an example of an alternative to the cash economy, which is becoming all-the-more important as the economic crises worsen and unemployment grows. And equally as important, since there is no exchange of money, the government is not able to tax the exchange. Even barter is taxable, but time exchanges, fortunately, are not. While a time bank cannot supplant the capitalist economy and offers no direct challenge to the oligarchies, its implementation is very useful for creating and strengthening community and localizing economies.

Inside the main room, a panel discussion became a group conversation about alternative educational models. Professor Sirena Pelarollo shed light on ongoing efforts to build local alternative autonomous educational initiatives. Excitement was felt by all as individuals, many of them teachers, professors, and students, shared their experiences with the authoritarian nature of the mainstream educational system. They also expressed a desire to share resources in hopes of establishing local non-hierarchical educational institutions. Representatives of the Institute for Anarchist Studies were also present to discuss the institute and the ways it can supports anarchist research and the importance of documenting our current struggles for scholars and activists of the future.

Upstairs, members of the Revolutionary Autonomous Communities (RAC) discussed their efforts to build a movement to resist capitalism and white supremacy through mutual aid, as exemplified by the food program, which distributes food to around 250 families weekly by involving the families and community members in the collection and distribution.

After a leisurely break, which provided a welcome respite for speakers and translators, the second workshop session began. In the main room, six panelists discussed the Los Angeles-area collectives of which they had been part, including the Los Angeles Anarchist Center, Windchime House, the Black Star Collective, the Long Beach Youth Federation, the Alternative Gathering Collective, Riot Grrl, and the Los Angeles Anarchist Black Cross Federation. They explained how their collectives were formed, and elaborated on what they were excited about, sharing ideas with workshop attendees for future projects that they found successful.

Upstairs, members of the Los Angeles branch of the Industrial Workers of the World discussed "the US labor movement and the anarchist tradition," and the Insane Dialectical Posse discussed class war as it relates to the economic crisis, proposing anti-capitalist alternatives. Alongside them, Gifford also spoke about labor's militant but hidden history in the United States.

Following the second round of discussions, Food not Bombs provided a delicious vegan meal including lentils and rice, fresh bread and fruit, and vegan burritos. As the representative of the Pittsburgh Organizing Group, which is coordinating resistance to the G20 summit in late September, was unavailable, conference attendees instead enjoyed a lengthy networking session, making new friends and developing affinities.

As the lunch hour ended, we were pleased to welcome a member of the Tongva nation. "To acknowledge where we're at, and being that this is Tongva land, we want to pay respects, but not just pay respects, but we wanted to actually create some space and we have somebody here from the Tongva nation that's going to share and we ask you to pay respects." Angie Dorame Behrns discussed what it was like growing up as an indigenous woman in Los Angeles, and talked about her struggle to the sacred springs of Kuruvungna, which are located on the campus of University High School on the West Side. She then answered questions, and invited us all to the Gathering at Kuruvungna. Kuruvungna is Tongva for "Place where we are in the sun." During the question-and-answer session, the speaker discussed her outrage at the exhumation of indigenous remains. "Trying to save our culture, what we say is, 'Keep the remains where they were interred. Leave them there. Don't dig them up.' Nobody goes to the Chinese gravesites, or Japanese graves. They don't dig them up. They don't dig them up! They're protected. But we, the indigenous people? Unh-unh. We're not protected. The developers can go dig them up, as long as they have a Native American monitoring, they can dig up Playa Vista, one of the biggest burial sites in America!"2 The speaker ended by reciting a poem.

In the last round of workshops, Sherman Austin discussed how to make use of the independent media, including radio, the internet, and cell phones to resist police brutality and other forms of oppression. He discussed the various aspects of raise the fist, and also guided us through how to create and operate an emergency response alert network through the website.

In the main room, Alex Sánchez's brother Oscar and other members of the community discussed the situation of the indicted anti-gang activist, as well as repression in general against activists, while upstairs, members of the coordinating committee of next week's Clitfest, Women's Creative Collective for Change, and Anarcha-LA (an anarcha-feminist group who also provided childcare for the younger participants) discussed feminism and issues affecting the female-identified and non-gender-conforming communities. Meanwhile, there was an impromptu APOC caucus in the reading room.

For the final event of the day, comrades from the Black Rider Liberation Party read aloud their guide to survival in the new "Obama" millenium, which was published in the latest issue of Anti-Racist Action's Turning the Tide. They then took questions from the audience.

Following the presentation, a general assembly was convoked. Organizers asked people to gather in the center of the room and to share their reactions, criticisms, questions, with everyone present. We ended with a call for announcement for future events and actions.

The next day, despite a few contretemps, last-minute cancelations, and schedule changes, many people arrived to the UCLA downtown labor center across from MacArthur Park to enjoy the music, art, food, and literature that was shared. As they arrived, they were able to see, many for the first time, RAC's food program in action. Inside, vendors of radical reading material, some traveling great distances, came to sell their wares, and many local organizations shared information and did outreach. Local youth walked in to see what was going on, and artists led stencil-making workshops. Organizers urged attendees to patronize local vendors, and later in the day, Food not Bombs arrived with large quantities of free food.

In comparison with last year's first annual Los Angeles anarchist bookfair, the turnout at each of the weekend's events was markedly lower. However, the scheduling of the conference (longer workshop sessions with longer breaks in between and block of time for networking) allowed for a increased dialogue, and increased quality thereof. And the feria libertaria allowed for the integration of the cultural arts as a visibly present aspect of our freedom-loving movement, and was judged by the organizers as an overall success.

_______________________________________

1. The first Southern California Anarchist Conference was held two years ago and was raided by police, who permanently shut down the space of a solidary community and media organization. See Southern California Anarchist Show Shut Down by Police, 19-12-2007.

2. For more information about the remains at Playa Vista, see these articles: Bates, Karen Grigsby. "At Playa Vista, a Controversy over Indian Remains," NPR. May 1, 2007. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9940767 and Madigan, Nick. "Developer Unearths Burial Ground and Stirs Up Anger Among Indians." Los Angeles Times, 2004-06-02. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/02/us/developer-unearths-burial-ground-and-stirs-up-anger-among-indians.html?pagewanted=all
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Library staff

by Rockero Wednesday, Aug. 05, 2009 at 3:07 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com

Library staff...
2ndsocal_a_conf002.jpg, image/jpeg, 618x824

At the conference, 1/aug/09
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Angie Behrns

by Rockero Wednesday, Aug. 05, 2009 at 3:07 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com

Angie Behrns...
2ndsocal_a_conf003.jpg, image/jpeg, 618x824

At the conference, 1/aug/09
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Fresher Flesh

by Rockero Wednesday, Aug. 05, 2009 at 3:07 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com

QuickTime movie at 96.4 mebibytes

At the Feria.
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(Didn't catch the group's name. But they rocked the house!)

by Rockero Wednesday, Aug. 05, 2009 at 3:07 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com

(Didn't catch the gr...
100_3839.jpg, image/jpeg, 3296x2472

At the feria
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LA conference was...

by whatevs Wednesday, Aug. 05, 2009 at 8:31 PM

two things i like about la regional anarchist events (convergences/bookfairs/etc).

the activities tend to get more to the point
(you don't have to wade through so much shit. *cough* santa cruz convergence, sf bookfair *cough*)

and there's definitely hella in your face diversity (if you're "white" and follow the typical subcultural anarchist look, people make sure to check your body language so they know whether to trust you know what the fuck you're talking about) maybe that's an exaggeration...

aside from these points,
i really don't think the la (southern california?) area should be having conferences and convergences. (maybe even bookfairs?)

maybe i'm just frustrated because there were noticeably a lot less people and even fewer people engaging in "real" anarchist projects...

but then again maybe there are less people coming out or doing "real" anarchist projects because la convergences/conferences haven't been forums to strategize about what matters and how we should be organizing around our needs (a la the coming insurrection, antioch arrow style, etc) but events to have the same fucking workshops and activities over and over again...at least that's what it feels like.

the only anarchist undertakings in la i respect is RAC's food program and indymedia. but even their model has limitations...though it beats the fuck out of FNB.

why the fuck aren't we organizing with our neighbors and housemates? why aren't we buying food together in bulk to save money? why aren't we growing food together? cooking together? eating together? working together to take back the streets? shit, if your neighbors ain't down get your homies to move in next door.

(meeting food needs is so unpolitically political, how can people refuse to work together to get food?)

either we have convergences that involve discussion on how to do that on as many levels as possible (from food to shelter to media) as well as talking about how we're trying to do that or we don't have them at all.
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reply

by Jammer CC Wednesday, Aug. 05, 2009 at 9:24 PM

Don't let that reply discourage anyone. FNB has done great things on a constant rate across the nation. Of course there will be people who will put it down and compare other projects to it. But if you're involved in FNB, keep doing it. Some of the people who are fed at the Santa Ana FNB hardly have other food options throughout the week. And the FNB chapter there have been there more than once a week. And someone wants to come here and post negativity towards FNB?
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FNB...

by had it's time in the 90's. Thursday, Aug. 06, 2009 at 7:27 AM

FNB was cool. A nice idea. A good experiment when the og homies
up in the bay and the east coast "started" it and spread it around the us and then the globe, but it's time is done.

I've been involved in Food Not Bomb's from Santa Barbara (still going strong for shit...at least more than 5 years), Fresno (been going strong for more than 5 years and there's two different servings), and helped re-start a chapter in Whittier.

Don't get me wrong, I've met some cool folks through the "project", learned where the free food sources are, learned how to cook for a lot of people, learned how to put on rad benefit shows, but it's a faulty idea/project.

When I say that, I mean that with the utmost respect to all past and current FNBers. The whole set up of Food Not Bombs is middle class* "anarchism". Don't believe me? Read the Food Not Bombs handbook. It's activism pure and simple. Anarcho-charity. We're somehow going to stop the war machine and all oppression in the world if we keep cooking for other people, keep serving, keep making new chapters, etc etc. Bullshit. We're not even meeting the direct needs of those we serve. (okay, once or twice a week...but what about the rest of the week?)

It was a good experiment back in the day but we shouldn't be wasting our time on activism (we as in "anarchists/revolutionaries/etc").
If we want to get serious, we should be organizing within our own communities and neighborhoods (and i mean just outside your house, not your activist friends halfway across la or a couple cities over). We should be starting food sharing programs where we live. We should be dumpstering together, buying food in bulk together, gardening together, cooking together, having block parties, etc etc. Neighbors not down? Get your homies to move in next door. There's a fucking war on and we need to start seeing FNB (and other similar monoculture so-called anarchist projects) for what they are. Activism.

*when i say middle class anarchism i mean projects and ideas created through the lens of middle class ethics and mindset. I don't know how many times food not bombs i've been involved with have been put on the same level as church groups and soup kitchens. that's how the rest of the world views FNB.

p.s. i've seen fnb shine the best when serving for conferences and convergences, protests and shows. But does that necessarily have to be called FNB?

All positivity to past and current FNBers.
More direct action, less activism!
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to: whatevs

by Don't be so negative Thursday, Aug. 06, 2009 at 7:32 AM

Your negative outlook is not healthy. Please check yourself and deal with your personal issues elsewhere. You are very conflicted in your comments.

First you say:

"Two things i like about la regional anarchist events (convergences/bookfairs/etc) the activities tend to get more to the point."

Then you say:

"i really don't think the la (southern california?) area should be having conferences and convergences. (maybe even bookfairs?)"

________________

So what exactly is a "real" anarchist project, as you put it. Anarchism has no set definition for what constitutes a project, nor should it.


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just venting some

by frustrations Thursday, Aug. 06, 2009 at 8:51 AM

Sorry if what I'm saying comes off too "negative" to you.
I'm just telling it like it is to me.

I like LA regional events for the reasons I mentioned above.

Other regional events I've been to in other parts of california
don't have those things. It's usually not worth it to go at all.
you end up having to wade through a lot of subculture, a lot less
diversity, and a lot of middle class thinking (not saying the people are middle class, just the perspectives in problem-solving against the machine)

that's been my experience. not saying they're right or wrong for everyone else. it's my personal truth so far.

As I tried to explain in the comment at the top, I felt frustrated about the conference. On the one hand, why have a convergence if there aren't many direct approaches being taken to meet basic needs? To me a real anarchist project is not activism but direct action. It's just doing and being. The means to survival should also be a means to attack capital, the machine, the onslaught of alienation and division seeking to make us dependent on the system, etc. Therefore any attack is something that brings people together (unalienates) and begins to collectivize and communalize life and necessities. (doesn't have to be armed struggle, in fact i think 99% of it isn't. it can start as small as getting to know your neighbors, opening up possibilities to mutual aid in a neighborhood, working to meet basic needs and unalienate and free each other from the social prison and labyrinth of the metropolis, the city)

To me the only project that is somewhat doing that is RAC's food program. FNB attempts to do it but does it from the soup kitchen, catholic worker standpoint (ie. middle class problem-solving perspective)

Yes, LA-ABCF is cool, so is la-indymedia, so are other la projects, but i think meeting basic needs should be the first priority.

But, on the other hand, maybe instead of not having convergences (like i tried to explain in the first comment i made), conferences should still happen but be more focused on discussion and sharing of ways we do meet basic needs or the question of how do we meet basic needs. How do we confront the metropolis, and begin to combat the forces of capital, alienation, the machine, etc etc. if we can't met our basic needs or even begin to be somewhat self-sufficient...how do we expect to ever progress or move beyond trying to meet those needs?

we can't shoplift forever.
we can't dumpster dive forever.
we can't rely on welfare forever.
we can't rely on the industrial production and exchange of capital forever. (ie. grocery buying in bulk, food co-ops, food banks, etc)
but we can use these tactics temporarily

i feel like i'm getting off track now so i'll stop.
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James Miller

by James Miller Thursday, Aug. 06, 2009 at 9:33 AM
fukyou@fukyou.com

You people are nothing but tools for the economic globalist elite (ie. the New World Order) who want to erase borders and build a one world gov't based on enslavement of the masses. You Trotskyites do the "trench work" of the Rockefeller-Rothschild globalists:

You:
- tear down borders (check)
- destroy the nation-state (check)
- destroy the nuclear family (check)
- destroy traditional values (check)
- destroy religion (check)
- promote multiculturalism which is a tool to tear at the fabric of societies (check)

Why do you think the Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Fund give vast amounts of money to radical leftists groups??? Because such groups do the "trench work" of tearing down society... you are useful to them. When they are done with you, they'll cast you aside and the hammer will drop and in will come the New World Order.

Wake up!
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uh...

by james miller Thursday, Aug. 06, 2009 at 10:27 AM

what the fuck are you talking about?

and who the fuck are you talking about?

it seems like you're generalizing a lot.

if you really are talking about "trotskyites"..i don't think there were
many at the conference...if any.

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