#CommunitySelfDefense & The General Defense Committee
Twin Cities GDC, Local 14, has taken #CommunitySelfDefense as the value that ties together our various projects. Community Self Defense is the principle that wherever possible, we should directly oppose systems of oppression. We directly oppose the police and capitalism.
Community Self Defense requires more than a merely reactive posture, however. We must also build projects that increase the resilience, stability, and fighting spirit of the working class communities in which we ground our work. thus replacing our reliance on state-directed or capitalist support networks, that can be taken away should our communities rebel against oppression.
We need Community Self Defense to defend our communities from the police, from fascists and racists, and from other forms of oppression. We may not be at a place yet where we can convince entire communities that calling the police is a bad idea, but we can spread this message. Unfortunately, the police themselves are often the most effective communicators of this message, every time they kill a sick person they were called to help.
Working Groups are where the projects of the General Defense Committee take shape and are the foundations of our power. Click here for a description of some of our Working Groups, along with ways to contact their chairpeople.
Our other working groups extend projects that build community self-reliance, autonomy, and resilience, key factors in any community capable of Community Self Defense. Each of the active Working Groups attempts to build alternatives to state or capitalist funded support systems, build solutions to unaddressed problems, and increase the health, resilience, and fighting spirit of the working class.
