Race, Anarchy, and Punk Rock:

The impact of cultural boundaries within the anarchist movement.

by Otto Nomous

"Yes that's right, punk is dead ... Punk became a fashion just like hippy used to be and it ain't got a thing to do with you or me."

- lyrics by Crass, The Feeding of the Five Thousand(1978).

yes, I think also that Diversity should be the top priority of the movement. It worries me when I go to those anarchist protests on the street and see that anarchists look the same. If we make the effort to change or diversify our cultural habit and mix with all races, we will have the opportunity to expose our NEW friends to the Anarchist ideas and aspiration. I think we should focus all our energy in all communities... especially miniorities.. otherwise the movement is not really credible

i feel that this is why many people of color even today, like myself tend to take up ideals of marxism/leninism or maosim. However, not because anarchism is necessarily counter productive to their causes, but because historically in the US, communists/socialist have been one of the only groups active in seeking allies and leadership from within communities of color. They have been one of the only groups to truly attempt to solve racial oppression.

great article! i hope it is taken seriously that the struggle may push forward

--all power to the people

--serve the people

I'm glad the article is encouraging people to continue this important discussion. However, I disagree with the comment about how communists/socialists are "the only groups to truly attempt to solve racial oppression" or that the actively seek "allies and leadership from within communities of color." They do tend to have more people of color in their organizations, but this is due to their heavy, aggressive recruiting tactics in communities of color. Perhaps to cover up the fact that most of their top leaderships are white, leftovers from the '60s. Marxist (Lennist/Trotskyist/Maoist... take your pick) groups have been notoriously worse historically when it comes to issues of race and gender, whether it be relegating them as side issues or treating the black or indigenous community in very condescending ways, or trying to justify blatant homophobia(as illustrated by the RCP in their "New Programme," although they are by far not the only homphobic ones, as has been the case with SWP and most other Marxist groups.) So just because they use very sly tactics to heavily recruit people of color, such as using front groups(Refuse & Resist, International Action Center, Oct 22nd... can't keep track of them all) just to build their party membership, doesn't mean they're trying to solve racial oppression at all. Besides the fact that they attract people who are comfortable with hierarchical structures, as most people in this society are conditioned to be, I think it's interesting that they recruit heavily from the most undereducated sector of the population, such as the youths of color, probably because no one else takes them seriously. I must admit that many communists/socialists I've met seem to be very sincere about revolution, but I think they have a hard time realizing that authoritarian socialism is not only outdated but completely irrelevant to truly revolutionary social change, in light of historical lessons as well as the current, international anti-globalization movement that is decentralized, consensus-based, and anti-authoritarian with principles, such as direct democracy, mutual aid, ecological consciousness, and voluntary cooperation.