Jul 31, 2013

El Paso

In El Paso the talk was set up by Sarah, a comrade that I know from the Worker Solidarity Alliance, one of the other organizations involved in the formation of a nationwide anarchist organization. The talk was scheduled to be held at Maternidad de Luz, a midwifery school in El Paso where Sarah is working.

The first thing that was pretty apparent on arriving in El Paso was that this talk would certainly be better there if done in Spanish. From most of the places that I went, it seemed as though Spanish was the language people assumed you knew, and maybe you'd also speak English. While I have ok Spanish, I don't think that it's strong enough to give this presentation in Spanish.

The group that attended the talk was also a really great group of some people that had a strong understanding of anarchism and others that were there to learn more about the idea. From the talks I had with Sarah leading up to the presentation, it seemed like there was a pretty light presence of an organized radical left in El Paso. There were a couple of folks that showed up who had been involved in Occupy El Paso. There was also a couple that had been engaged in indigenous community organizing in Minnesota that were present, which led to some great conversation. Another member of the WSA was also there from St. Louis, which gave him an opportunity to see how the talk goes before we do the same thing in St. Louis later this month.

Maternidad de Luz was a great place for the presentation and really was the perfect size. A couple of new, and really valuable conversations came up at this presentation that weren't raised previously. First was really a question of the efficacy of consensus-based organizing. And, the further west I go, the more I expect this to be a major point of contention. So, I'm glad to start practicing how to talk more effectively about this now.

Second, and this conversation actually happened a lot more after the presentation than it did during the presentation, was about the importance of nationalism or anti-nationalism in anti-colonial and anti-occupation struggles. It was particularly relevant as it came to the question of indigenous autonomy struggles in North America.

To me, this presented much the same situation as working with other organizations of marginalized and oppressed folks in the United States and really points to the strength and flexibility of especifismo. When anarchists have their own organized group connected to struggles it helps us to engage in imminently important struggles that are far from perfect (from our perspectives) while still maintaining our own positions and not giving into a watered down revolutionary outlook. So, in the midst of anti-colonial struggles, it seems apparent to me that anarchists should certainly organize against the aspects of domination -- cultural, political, economic -- that all impose themselves on colonized people both as an immediate part of the anti-colonial struggle. But the key is to be in the position to point out the weaknesses of simple nationalism -- a propensity to empower an elite class within the previously dominated people, to enact many of the same styles of economic and political organization as the previous colonizers, and to avoid acknowledging important power differentials internal to the colonized peoples.

While I don't have a ton of information and understanding about anti-colonial struggles, I do have a pretty comfortable working knowledge of the Irish nationalist and republican movements. And, that history, I think very clearly points to the weaknesses of a purely nationalist strategy or even of a two-stage revolutionary process (nationalist then communist for instance). And to ignore the potentials for an anarcho-communist revolution during an anti-colonial struggle seems to me very similar to saying something like "We'll deal with patriarchy after the revolution."

Again though, I'll admit my own weakness on these questions and hope that this can help to spawn a conversation in discussion that we can further develop our analysis on this question.

Jul 28, 2013

Austin

In Austin, I spoke at MonkeyWrench Books, a long time anarchist bookstore that apparently was set up by a couple that have helped set up a number of anarchist bookstores across the country.

This talk was coordinated by Rogue, a long-time organizer in the class struggle anarchist crew. Most recently, I met her as a member of Common Action when she was still living in Seattle, WA. Not long before I came into Austin she had apparently given a talk in Austin that you can listen to here. She also co-edited Queering Anarchism: Addressing and Undressing Power and Desire. As you can imagine, I was rolling into town a little intimidated. Rogue could likely give a better presentation on the topic of why anarchists should create their own organization than I could. Luckily when I arrived in town she took me to a nearby bar and we got a couple of drinks, which certainly helped me to loosen up before the presentation.

The talk here was also recorded by Allan Campbell and you can listen to it here. The crowd here was really mixed in terms of understanding of anarchism and involvement in local social movements. There were a couple of people there that didn't have much of a grasp of anarchism as itself and then others that had already incorporated these ideas some into their organizing within local movements. I didn't get a great chance to hear much about the organizing that many people were doing, although one of the people that helped to set up this stop spoke with me some about his organizing with a group called Grassroots Leadership, which seems similar in many ways to Chattanooga Organized for Change. 

One of the great points of conversation that came up near the end of the talk was about whether or not it was essential, valuable, or important to specifically connect our work to the word anarchism rather than simply incorporate many of the ideas and principles into our work on the day to day. There was certainly no great answer to this question, as it's obviously something that varies by situation. While in some cities, there have been very counter-productive anarchist strategies that have often further separated anarchist ideas from the communities most directly and heavily impacted by capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. 

I do think however that it's important that someone, not necessarily everyone be involved in reclaiming the history of anarchist ideas, the inspiration of many of our heroes and movements, and the road-map of struggle that they've helped to lay out for us. To lose the word anarchism could very easily lose us the connection to many ideas, principles, and histories and allow the ideas of anarchism to slowly be watered down into a much weaker "radicalism". And, I think it's a term that needs to be re-captured by those that actually hold a connection to the long tradition of class struggle anarchism so that those ideas can't so easily be manipulated by opportunists. But, clearly the conversation about when and how to use the word anarchism is clearly important given the very mixed history that term has in different parts of the country today. 

Jul 22, 2013

Chattanooga

Only about an hour drive from Knoxville, the day I presented in Chattanooga allowed for a real slow day to drive and hang out with the host of the Chattanooga stop. This turned out to be a great opportunity to learn a bunch about the history of the city and the context of current social movements there.

This stop was coordinated by a man that is well connected to a number of other great organizers in town. The talk had about 15 people attend, and they were nearly all organizers involved in a variety of efforts in the city. Two social movement groups present were particularly well represented. Chattanooga Organized for Action is an organization that works to help develop the power and organization of everyday people from marginalized and oppressed communities.  Their efforts to organize alongside tenants in public housing was particularly exciting to me as it related to past efforts of Buffalo Tenants United. Their model of offering their efforts and resources as a catalyst to help with the development of organizations of marginalized and oppressed peoples' was itself a model that I think deserves a lot of thought and attention. Concerned Citizens for Justice also had a number of members in the room. CCJ was partly founded by Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin before he moved to Memphis and were really excited about the success of a recent march against the acquittal of George Zimmerman. CCJ also does work towards the direct organizing and empowerment of marginalized and oppressed communities and were having some great conversations about potential upcoming campaigns with public housing tenants while I was there. There were also some members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization there who seemed to mostly be engaged in CCJ. They had been pretty heavily involved in trips to Jackson to help with the election of Chokwe Lumumba. Leaving here I was hopeful to spend some time in Jackson, Mississippi to see what the situation there was like on the ground.

The presentation itself went far better than the stop in Knoxville. I felt more confident and tried to squeeze in less information. Also, the entire room had a fairly strong working knowledge of anarchism and class struggle anarchism specifically. It seems like there is a strong group of a few people there that would be interested in forming a local anarchist organization, given the right resources and support. A lot of the conversation after the presentation focused on details about the growing nationwide anarchist organization. Some of the questions I was in a position to answer based off of our ratified constitution. Some of the questions were unanswerable, as they have not been collectively figured out yet.

Because many people in the room were organizers, the notion and importance of especifismo wasn't hard to pass on to them. Many were radicals involved in broader movements alongside reformist and more moderate elements.

The day I was in Chattanooga, the front page article of the paper was also one of the most absurd stories I had ever seen. Apparently Volkswagen is planning to expand an auto-factory that they have in the area. But, VW has said they would only make this expansion if the factory would be represented by the United Auto Workers as a closed union shop. Amazingly, conservative activists on the ground were coordinating efforts to sop the expansion by VW and the creation of many jobs in the area because of the expectation that those jobs would be union! Apparently in the South it isn't necessary for the right wing to couch their anti-unionism in anything at all. Just outright anti-unionism even in the face of a business that wants the union there and the promise of creating lots of jobs. Just amazing.


Jul 21, 2013

Knoxville

Yesterday was the first presentation of the Building Revolutionary Anarchism tour, and honestly it didn't go great from my end. It's been about 2 years since the last time I did this presentation, and I really came into the conversation feeling like I didn't need any serious preparation. The presentation ended up being a bit scattered, and probably tried to make too many points in one sitting.

There were some good folks there though. It was scheduled for midday on Saturday at a space called The Birdhouse. This space seemed like a sort of eclectic little spot. There was a art and music show being prepared in the background while the presentation took place. There were 8 people there, and a couple that didn't have much of a base-line understanding of anarchism. So, there was some need to do a brief introduction to anarchism. I gave the introduction, but it was probably a little too brief, as there was a lot of ground to cover with the more in-depth organizational conversations.

Many of the people in the room seemed to identify anti-mountain top removal activism as the major form of organizing happening in the Knoxville area. So many of the people there had an affinity for a sort of "green anarchism", which I always have a hard time with. Sometimes this term is used to identify as anarchists who focus their organizing efforts in the environmental movements and other times it means an affinity for anarcho-primitivism.  It seemed to mean a little of both in Knoxville.

It also seemed as though the term anarchism wasn't very frequently used in Knoxville. The smaller group had a some what mixed batch of anarchist ideas among them and they seemed fairly disconnected from the nationwide anarchist discussions. Although there were a few people that certainly seemed interested in keeping up with the formation of a nationwide organization and that may be interested in developing a local group.

On arrival I didn't actually know who exactly was my personal contact when I came into town, and didn't even know if I'd have a place to stay for the night. But, the people that came to the event were very hospitable. After asking the group if anyone could put me up, one couple immediately offered a place at their house and then showed me a fun night on the town too. Through one of them, I was also able to meet a local activist with Jobs with Justice and union postal worker.

I was glad to find a connection to local economic justice work, as Knoxville was pretty apparently poor and segregated. I don't want to diminish the importance of anti-mountaintop removal work, but just to highlight that it was pretty noticeable that I didn't make much connection with anti-poverty or union organizers while in Knoxville.

Jul 18, 2013

New York City and Fast Food Workers!

The first stop of the Building a Revolutionary Anarchism Speaking Tour isn't until Saturday the 20th in Knoxville, Tennessee. I had hoped for stops at Wooden Shoes Books in Philadelphia and Red Emma's in Baltimore. But, I think the details for the tour went out a little too late for those dates to get put together.

This gives me some time to stop by New York City and visit some friends. A couple of those friends work for New York Communities for Change, one organizing tenants and the other organizing fast food workers for the Fast Food Forward campaign.

That campaign has some exciting moments coming up. A third strike of New York fast food workers is planned for July 29th. While in NYC I was able to attend a meeting of organizers and workers that was one of many meetings throughout the day helping to plan and build for the strike. They also used these moments as opportunities to talk about the strategy of their work and do some base level political education with some of the fast food workers present.

They've clearly got a strong intention of having their activities reach hundreds, even thousands of fast food workers in the city. Their first strike had around 100 participants, their second around 400, and they were calling for around 1,000 to participate in the third day of strikes.

As a former restaurant worker, who spent a decent amount of time in a Pizza Hut, this is incredibly exciting work to me. In 2008, I attended a Restaurant Opportunities Center conference around their efforts to build a nationwide worker center of restaurants. There were some things that bothered me there. Firstly, it didn't seem like there was unanimity within the organization that their aim was to eventually form a union for all restaurant workers. Second, there was a strategic focus on higher-end restaurants as the drivers of industrial standards. I don't know the argument for them being the drivers of those standards, so that might actually be a very good strategy. Unfortunately for me, I was working in a little cheap diner. I wasn't the sort of worker they were organizing, especially in a city where they didn't have an established office and line of funding.

Since fast food seems to represent the floor in terms of working standards, benefits, pay, and job security in the US, it seems like an important place to see serious workplace organizing despite how difficult this work would be.

Had you asked me 4 years ago if we'd see a movement of fast food workers organizing in their workplaces in multiple cities around the country, I'd have laughed at you. But, not only are we there, these workers are demanding a union for all fast food workers, $15/hr starting wage, and are striking to demand recognition rather than relying on the awful NLRB election process. This is an exciting moment, and I was glad to participate in the meeting of those workers beginning to build their strike for the 29th.

I hope that all fast food workers will go out in solidarity on that day, and that anarchists throughout the country will also support those efforts!

Why Am I Writing?

After an inspiring year following the social and political movements of Argentina, I returned to my hometown of Buffalo, NY intent on beginning the process of actively building local movements with the lessons I had learned in Argentina.

One of those lessons was the importance of participants in our movements telling their own stories and actively analyzing their organizations. That's exactly what I plan to do here, and I hope that some people find it relevant and interesting.