Tempe Police and Arizona Anti-Terror Unit are targeting anarchists and indigenous projects in Arizona

A campaign of political repression is under way against anarchist and indigenous projects in Arizona, spearheaded by the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center and the Tempe Police Department Homeland Defense Unit. The Tempe police department’s anti-terror division preemptively shut down the Protect the Peaks solidarity benefit show that was planned for Friday night, using the threat of a fire code violation to ensure that the venue would have to cancel the event.  The Homeland Defense Unit acted on an alert they received from Arizona's main counter terrorism information gathering hub, also known as a fusion center, that a benefit show to raise money for the struggle to save the San Francisco Peaks was scheduled to take place in Tempe on Friday night.

The benefit show organizers had contacted a DIY venue/space run out of a warehouse in west Tempe, a well regarded space that has hosted a number of shows over the last year, often receiving coverage in the Phoenix New Times and other media.  It is a labor of love for the person who runs it, who has a full time job in addition to hosting the occasional show at the venue.  The Protect the Peaks benefit show would have been the first political show to have been hosted at the space, it also put the venue on the radar of Arizona's counter terrorism fusion center.

On Thursday, September 6^th the venue operator received an unannounced visit at his workplace from an officer assigned to the city’s Homeland Defense Unit.  The officer, Detective Derek Pittam, threatened to have the venue shut down for fire code violations if the Protect the Peaks show wasn’t canceled immediately.  Detective Pittam informed the person that he was aware that the venue regularly held shows and made it clear that under no circumstances would this benefit show be held at the venue.  The venue's future is now up in the air due to the threats of the Homeland Defense Unit, even though Detective Pittam admitted to the venue operator that he was aware that there had never been one call to police or reports of any illegal activity at that location.

 Detective Derek Pittam of the Tempe Police Homeland Defense Unit

At least one officer working in the Homeland Defense Unit spent last week locating the DIY venue, identifying the operator of the venue, finding his cell phone number, and where he works his full time job so that he could be harassed by Detective Pittam. They had also decided that their anti-terror unit was going to manufacture a fire code violation as pretext to shut down the show, unless the Homeland Defense unit is regularly enforcing code violations in Tempe.

I've learned that during the workplace visit, Pittam specifically identified support for the "Save the Peaks" as a concern for the authorities.  Throughout his visit Detective Pittam made it clear, the issue is with the benefit show not the venue, however the venue would face the consequences for allowing a radical, anarchist, and indigenous themed event.

I've also learned that the venue operator was again contacted on his cell phone Friday night by a Tempe police commander who wanted the venue's permission as the primary property manager to arrest individuals (who may not even know the show was canceled) for trespass on site.  The venue operator declined, and was then asked by the commander for the landlord's phone number, which he also declined to provide to the Tempe Police.   A friend who drove by the venue Friday evening observed one marked police vehicle on the property where the venue was located, and another vehicle parked near by.

In the short time since word got around about the show being canceled, many people involved with various projects are shocked and outraged over this show of state repression.  I was able to chat with Alex Soto, a Tohono O'odham MC from the hip hop group Shining Soul, one of the acts that was scheduled to perform on Friday.  In addition to his music, Alex has organized against border militarization on his traditional land,  the Tohono O'odham nation, a land divided by the US/Mexico border wall and militarized by the border patrol.

He had this to say about the cancelling of the show:

"The show itself is an example of the solidarity between indigenous people, the Diné and O'odham, and anarchist people who are supportive, it also means that the authorities are afraid of us acting in collaboration, collectively.  They’re afraid of all of us coming together, it’s not new, it’s happened before at past demonstrations where we’re targeted, we’re marked for oppression, mainly just by being ourselves and being there.

It doesn't matter to them whether it's an action or protest, or in this case with our talents and our musical gifts to bring people together, the state doesn’t respect that.  This act of repression by the police further motivates myself and everyone else involved to push forward and to have another benefit or show, because we know this will be effective, and all we’re doing now is picking up mics and guitars.

In addition, I’d like to express that as a Tohono O'odham person, I have solidarity with other indigenous people in this area, in this case it’s Diné people and the other 12 tribes that hold the San Francisco Peaks as a sacred site.   This act by Tempe police, and all the entities involved is an attack on who I am and who we are as indigenous people, it verifies to me that we’re doing our role, in this case by standing in solidarity with the peaks, or when we oppose the loop 202 freeway or oppose the border and militarization because this is what solidarity and healthy communities look like.   When we stand together, fight alongside each other, or in this case sing together to defend who we are and what we hold sacred, then fuck the Tempe PD, fuck Phoenix PD, fuck DPS, and any entity that tries to stop this energy that’s building here in Arizona."

When the authorities act to intimidate or threaten dissident voices and movements, it causes a chilling effect, in this case the Tempe police were willing to let a fire inspector poke around in the venue until any little violation could be found that would shut the show down.  We also know that they wanted to arrest anyone who came to the property expecting to see a show. This is a direct attack on the ability of people to freely gather, communicate, and organize without the potential of arrest or physical injury by police, in addition to the potential for serious financial problems for the venue operator. 

More information will be coming this week.

A call for action to halt the destruction of the San Francisco Peaks

Our friends and comrades from Flagstaff are calling for a week of action in the struggle to save the San Francisco Peaks from the ongoing destruction wreaked by Arizona Snowbowl. At issue is the new construction by Snowbowl to bring reclaimed waste water from Flagstaff up the mountain for snowmaking so that the resort can expand operations for more skiers. Obviously, the use of reclaimed waste water ought to be raising a few eyebrows, especially when it comes to the effects that chemicals and human excrement could have on the health of human visitors to the mountain, not to forget the animals and wildlife that live there all year round.

For years the Save the Peaks Coalition tried every avenue to halt Snowbowl, and was caught up in the courts with legal fights for years. The federal government had made it clear though that public health and respect for indigenous peoples were no match for profit and economic development, and so the Ninth circuit court denied an injunction to halt the construction a few months back. Snowbowl began pipeline construction in late May, after years of broad opposition from indigenous people, environmentalists, and residents of northern Arizona had failed to stop the proposed snowmaking desecration.

I say "desecration" because the reclaimed waste water is not just a hazard to all forms of life on the mountain, it is also a desecration of a site that is sacred to thirteen indigenous nations in northern Arizona. Efforts to protect the San Francisco Peaks (in the language of Diné people, Dook'o'oosliid) have stepped up in the last few weeks, most notably back in June when a group of six people chained themselves to the machines used to tear up the earth for the waste water pipes. The group was joined by a dozen others who blocked the road into the Peaks, these actions halted the destruction for hours as workers were unable to enter. As explained by one of those who took action against Snowbowl:

“What part of sacred don’t they understand? Through our actions today, we say enough! The destruction and desecration has to end!” said Marlena Teresa Garcia, 16, a young Diné woman and one of the six who chose to lock down. “The Holy San Francisco Peaks is home, tradition, culture, and a sanctuary to me, and all this is being desecrated by the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort. So now I, as a young Diné woman, stand by Dook’o’osliid’s side taking action to stop cultural genocide. I encourage all indigenous youth to stand against the desecration that is happening on the Holy San Francisco Peaks and all other sacred sites”, said Garcia after being arrested and released.

Snowbowl is constructing a 10,000,000 gallon storage pond to hold the treated sewage water, cutting down trees to install sewage pipe to bring more waste water up the mountain, and clear cutting over 74 acres of trees. While construction is going down every day and the news is troubling, it doesn't mean it's time to give up and walk away, now is actually a good time to get out of the heat in the valley and head up north to cool off and take action. Dozens of people have set up protest base camps up on the Peaks, and have a working food kitchen that has been feeding campers for a month, despite harassment from the authorities. A banner drop in Flagstaff kicked off the week of action earlier this week, and a list of events is posted up on True Snow, and if you and yours can't make it up to Flagstaff this weekend, there are other ways you can support.

As outlined in "call for a Diné, O'odham, Anarchist bloc" (DO@) statement, our basis of solidarity and support for projects of resistance around the state is rooted in our understanding that the colonial attack on indigenous people has not ended. It is not a history lesson to be read about, but an ongoing struggle against cultural genocide and dispossession from one end of the state to the other.

Stand with indigenous resistance to colonialism, and against the destruction of the earth for profit and recreation.

For more information, make sure to check out the sites below for more news and updates on the Peaks:
True Snow
Indigenous Action Media
Survival Solidarity
Taala Hooghan Infoshop

A banner up at the base camps

Hazy Shade of Criminal: Antisec, Police and the Media, or, "'Fuck the Police' Means 'Fuck the Police'"

This most recent, third (and, I hope not final) attack on DPS by Antisec has revealed that Arizona cops share racist jokes, endorse torture, cover up stalking in their upper ranks, worship American militarism, make light of lethal violence against migrants and regularly massage their public image through the development of PR campaigns with cutesy names like "Cops, Kids, and Christmas".

In addition, the leaked emails serve as a testament to their pathetically crippled senses of humor. In the errant communications, the traditionally far right police organizations find themselves dumbstruck by the fact that their steadfast and reliable support for the Republicans has been paid back in budget cuts and layoffs. And, though cops are not known for their highly developed sense of irony, at least some of those cops then boasting about securing their emails after the first attack must be appreciating a little bit of it now that their electronic boasts of infallibility are public record thanks to these persevering anarchist hackers. Pride before the fall, as they say.

Antisec replaced the front page of several police organizations with its press release and a video for the Public Enemy song "Hazy Shade of Criminal"

Past releases over the last couple weeks via Antisec and its predecessor, Lulzsec, have revealed similar content, including that state cops and Border Patrol were aware of armed US Marines patrolling the border on private contract for ranchers and that the Minutemen had contemplated shutting down a freeway as part of their anti-immigrant crusade. Likewise, captured internal anti-terrorism newsletters highlighted copwatch events and other clearly not terrorism related organizations and actions in their "upcoming events" section, reflecting the mission creep of policing in Arizona and the US by and large under the logic of the war on terrorism. At her always interesting website Censored News, Brenda Norrell has continued to provide excellent coverage of some of the highlights that have emerged. Because of that, I feel no need to go over the specifics of the emails. My interest in the Antisec attacks goes beyond just the details of piggy internet messaging.

Because, as is obvious from the data revealed, cops are pretty much cops. Despite the slack-jawed and gape-mouthed looks of shock and awe on the faces of the plastic TV news anchors, is anyone really surprised that cops are racist? Or that cops are a miltaristic bunch? That they cover up their crimes? Let's hope not. Least of all us at PCWC. In two past articles, "Officer Down: The Phoenix Media and Cop-Killings", and the follow-up piece, "Exhuming the State's Avenging Angels: Revisiting 'Officer Down' in Light of Recent Revelations About the Phoenix PD", I have previously written about the police as an institution and the way it is portrayed in the media.

The role of the police and the kinds of people that are recruited to do police work are so obvious to almost everyone in society that the entire propaganda apparatus of the state and capital gets enlisted in the hasty cover up work whenever the thin veneer of respectability threatens to wear off in the slightest. "Fuck the cops" remains one of the truly universal sentiments in American society that at the same time is completely unspeakable within mainstream "responsible" dialogue. The Mesa Fraternal Order of Police, its website a target for Antisec, has a facebook page with only 314 friends in a city with 440,000 residents. Surely an institution with deep support within the community could do much better than that! Hell, there are over 750 sworn officers in the department alone! Perhaps people remember the Mesa Fraternal Order of Police's staunch defense of its officers in the police murder of 15 year-old Mario Madrigal.

The lonely Mesa FOP has no internet friends!

It is common to hear the refrain, "People become cops because they were picked on in school", but we know that's not true. Cops become cops because they are bullies. Occasionally a well-meaning one may slip through, but they don't last long, and their road is an extremely difficult one marked by job stagnation and lack of promotion. Policing, like any other job but even moreso because of its relationship with power and its own criminality, demands fealty to the thin blue line. Loyalty over all else.

Now, in expressing what may seem like cynicism about the content released through Antisec's attacks on the cop computers, that is not to say that I oppose them. Quite the opposite. Unlike some in the alternative media, who question whether the right target was chosen, preferring an attack on Sheriff Joe and MCSO instead of DPS, or a hit on the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association over the Fraternal Order of Police, I'm quite content with the idea of hackers targeting the police generally, whatever organization. Though some may find it lacking, an attack on DPS has its own merits beyond their particular flaws as a law enforcement institution, and to understand that you neither have to forget that DPS will be enforcing SB1070 along with all other police in the state nor ignore that DPS was the subject not that long ago of a blistering report by the ACLU which pointed out deep and systematic racial disparities in vehicle stops and searches.

These welcome emails reveal among other things internal rivalries and things said behind others' backs. Careers could very well be in jeopardy. And, yes, as Antisec itself points out, the hacks turn the tables on the cops, making them feel the vulnerability we all suffer daily under their constant watch and often violent enforcement regime. Perhaps some cops will stop being cops. And police computers off line, with information and investigations compromised, means more freedom for those of us that suffer police oppression. Some will wring their hands if "criminals" escape prosecution because of these attacks, but not me, and not anyone who has experienced justice as delivered by the cops. We know the real villains, the ones who do the most damage, are the bosses, politicians, generals and cops of this world. Those interested in justice must first oppose the justice system.

It is precisely in the queries from the media and the responsive demands of DPS for increased spending on militarized information systems that we see the failure to understand the fundamental relationship of policed to police. Beefing up cyber-protections for the cops only makes their attacks on us, on the rest of society, more lethal! Note the rise in deaths at the hands of police that has followed the deployment of "less lethal" technologies as a point of comparison. When governments give the police more power, they do not use it less.

Any demand for security must first appreciate that the security of the cops comes at the expense of the security of the rest of us. Remember, more protections for police computers means we know less about what they are really thinking and doing. It means those racist emails don't come out. Consider for example the fact that the Tempe police had and perhaps still has kept tabs on individual anarchists, making notes about political affiliations on police reports drawn off police databases. This is what police security really means, and arguments for increased police powers to protect their information means at the same time power to protect this particular kind of information. Make no mistake about it, we at PCWC, like Antisoc, are anti-police. Their demand for "a world free from police, prisons and politicians altogether" rings true with us.

DPS: Cut backs in the mustache department.

Indeed, this lack of discrimination between police agencies hearkens back to the analysis issued by the Diné, O'odham, anarchist/anti-authoritarian bloc in January 2010. And the discussion around the Antisec attacks mirrors precisely that dynamic, of good cops and bad cops, which surrounded the events of that time. The Phoenix PD, even though their arrests result in more deportations than Sheriff Joe's MCSO, were held up as the good guys by leaders in the pro-migrant movement, even to the point of permitting police liasons in organizing meetings for the main liberal event, as they had been at marches before that. Taking this line let the sheriffs off the hook, allowing the PPD to do the day's dirty work, and thus the mainstream organizers were able to push for the further isolation of anti-capitalist and anti-state militants when the police attack came down. In framing their opposition to the MCSO in those terms, the leaders of the movement had become the racist PPD's biggest defenders.

As I pointed out before, this flawed view of police and policing echoes in the writings of movement sympathetic journalists who half-heartedly denounce Antisec's choice of targets. Consider Stephen Lemons' recent post on the subject in his New Times Blog, "The Feathered Bastard", practically lamenting what he sees as the so far squandered opportunity to hit what he considers legit targets, while at the same time offering up his own modified target list. Consider his comments on his most recent article: "[T]here are far worse police organizations in state to pick on than AZ DPS or the FOP. I mean, the FOP is no PLEA (Phoenix Law Enforcement Association), for instance. Everyone in this state knows that PLEA is an outright nativist, anti-Hispanic police union. By contrast, the FOP has a pretty good reputation. Similarly, DPS is no Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, with Hispanic-hunter Joe Arpaio as the jefe."

Offering up his correction, however, Lemons is quick to back off. He provides us this weak-kneed, wink and a nod disclaimer: "Of course, I'm not suggesting anyone hack anyone. Nor can I or would I condone such outrageous criminal activity." But will he read the emails? "Natch." He asks us, finally, "What's the point of going after cops who may just be doing their jobs?" Well, it turns out, that is precisely the point. It is the every day functioning of the police that is the problem, not the aberrations. And individual police do not escape this logic. Indeed, to the rare extent that they are not the state and capital's willing accomplices, they remain prisoners of this logic. They cannot be the "good cop". It is impossible.

But, perhaps, as Lemons suggests, Antisec is not familiar with Arizona politics enough to know the slight differences between our various racist police forces. Not knowing who they are, we naturally have little to go on. However, it's entirely possible that, as they say clearly in their own press release, they don't care. Maybe they are not interested in making distinctions between various kinds of racists and degrees of racism in Arizona police departments and organizations. After all, it took only the release of a handful of emails from just a few FOP members and DPS officers to reveal that laundry list I opened the article with, begging the question of what remains to be found. Does anyone really think that's all there is? If that sort of racism and worship of state and vigilante violence is acceptable enough to share via email with one's cop comrades, in broad daylight so to speak, what is too dangerous for it? What is said only behind the safety of the thin blue line?

Antisec is right not to split hairs when it comes to Arizona's myriad racist police. All of them, together and individually, are enemies of freedom, worshipers of authority and an obstacle to the demands of people for dignity and the ability to organize their own lives as they see fit. As we have seen in the past, the elevation of one cop gang over another does not protect from repression and police attack. So that means opposition to those institutions of repression must necessarily be anti-security, just as it is anti-police.

One final note for 2010

In these final hours of this year I'd like to recollect on some of the notable events, the highs and lows we experienced, and to share one last victory before hitting the town tonight.

2010 was defined by the struggle against racist legislative attacks (SB 1070, 287(g) secure communities) and the militarization of the border, so it was fitting that we kicked off this year with the force of the DO@ (Dine', O'odham, Anarchist) bloc. This contingent in the streets at January's anti-Arpaio march was a blueprint for the possibilities of solidarity between anti-authoritarians/anarchists and indigenous people after years of dialogue, action, and building trust through struggle and support. It is both a critique of the limitations of the movement and the marginalization of radical and indigenous voices, and a presence in the streets against the attacks on Latino, immigrant communities, and indigenous people across the state. The only response the state could muster was to attempt to isolate and silence those who resist by mounting a vicious attack on that section of the march.

Anarchists holding a banner at an anti-SB 1070 demo in May. Hacks (organizers) from the mainstream immigrant movement attempted to eject the comrades for bringing the "radical" message against the border.

Much of 2010 was spent in the defense of our comrades who were arrested at that march and faced a variety of penalties, but rather than let the authorities intimidate our movement into silence, we organized and pushed back. Anarchists across the valley continued to be a force at immigrant marches, even if the conservative immigrant leadership made it clear that anarchists and allies were not wanted.

Indigenous comrades and anarchists created a presence at the state capitol through out April, May, and June. Markers, paint, posters, and banners were made available for all who wanted to bring their own statement to the frequent immigrant rallies held at the capitol. This small camp came under frequent threat of removal by mainstream immigrant leaders, occasionally with implied arrest by state capitol police. Although one man tried to cut down the banners, the comrades stayed put, maintaining an anti-authoritarian presence through out the rallies leading up to the passage of SB 1070

Valley anarchists kept things interesting in the lead up to SB 1070 with unpermitted night time marches, a counter-rally with music, food, and free literature at a Phoenix park (that was forced out by dozens of Phoenix cops), hitting the streets with self organized copwatch patrols during the frequent immigrant sweeps carried out by Sheriff Arpaio and the MCSO, and through projects of solidarity supporting indigenous people and communities of color fighting back against repression and controls from the authorities.

We were inspired by the comrades from Tucson who blocked the highway to Mexico; there were those outside the state who dropped banners, locked down, and took to the streets in solidarity with those struggling here; and by those actions of the unknowns and disobedients who spray painted walls, left messages on the capitol, and confronted the wave of racism in their communities with night time actions and spontaneity. I know we at PCWC, were especially inspired by all the Latino and non-white youth from Arizona who walked out of class, attacked the racists and the police at the capitol, and confronted the system over the ethnic studies ban and the criminalization of their communities. These were truly some different days here in Arizona.

Indigenous, latin@, and anarchist allies shut down the lobby to the Tucson Border Patrol HQ in May. The comrades called for an end to the white supremacist and colonial attack on border communities through the laws, IDs, checkpoints, racial profiling, raids, deportations, and border militarization.

This was a banner year for Phoenix anarchists in so many other ways, we were fortunate enough to have a grip of speakers and presentations come through town, I know some of my favorites were having the Greek anarchists, John Zerzan, and Lawrence Jarach for their respective appearances at Beer and Revolution. I also admired all of the writing projects, art projects, and hard working distributors getting their hustle on in town.

The Tempe march against SB 1070. Door to door organizing initiated by anarchists and joined by their neighbors, resulted in community discussions, a march, and attempts at leveraging the city to take a non-enforcement stance on the anti-immigrant law.

Perhaps the finest moment of the year was the response to our call for a second Inglourious Basterds bloc to confront the small number of nazis from the National Socialist Movement who came from across the country to march against immigrants and in support of SB 1070. While the
nazis only made it to the federal court building because of the massive police presence and their liberal use of chemical weapons, it is widely agreed upon to have been a victory for Phoenix anarchists, anti-fa, anti-racists, and haters of nazis. However, it is in these final hours of this year that we claim one more win from these nazi chumps.

From the Feathered Bastard blog:

NSM "captain" Charles Wilson has informed me that the NSM may be back for another round in December.

Well, they didn't come back. They wanted to pretend that they weren't phased by their latest trip to the valley of the sun, and they threatened to march again a month later to prove it, which would have been sometime this December. They didn't. Something to keep this in mind if you're nursing a hangover tomorrow: we won, again.

Happy new year to you and yours!

Support the Arpaio Five!

This is a reminder that several comrades of ours still face charges stemming from the police attack on the Dine', O'odham, anarchist/anti-authoritarian contingent (DO@) at the January 16th anti-Arpaio march. If you visit the support page, you can read updates and donate money for the defense. Please consider helping out our friends in their fight against this bullshit.

Rereading the DO@ statement lately, I'm impressed with how prescient it was, as well as how the problems within the movement that were highlighted in it remain with us. Indeed, the statement was a clear, unambiguous call for a new kind of movement that recognized that the fight against white supremacy and colonialism transcended the crass and limited opposition to Sheriff Joe Arpaio. This is a point that was brought clearly home the day that SB1070 passed and the movement in general was forced to recognize the truth, even if (as usual), the people who made that point earlier have continued to be ostracized and attacked.

In addition, it critiqued the boring repetition of useless marches and predicated and called for the rise of a direct action-oriented movement, which was ridiculed at the time but has since come to pass. There is certainly a time for marches and vigils, but I think it was clear to all of us involved in organizing and writing that statement that that time had long since passed, given the situation in Arizona. As I said, that logic, though lost on the conservative movement leadership (and other non-profiteer types outside the state) and various self-appointed gatekeepers, has found fertile ground in many people these days, as we saw most recently with the lock down of the Tucson border patrol office by an affinity group of anti-authoritarian, anarchist and indigenous militants.

But, perhaps most of all, it called for a broadening of the movement, of a reconsideration of the composition of the movement and for a radically democratic and participatory movement to replace the rigid, leftist, hierarchical movement that currently holds power. We see more and more evidence of this emerging these days, whether in the student self-organized walkouts during the week SB1070 passed to the neighborhood assemblies now forming in several cities in the Valley, originally initiated by anarchists and other residents in Tempe (including PCWC), that have begun to spread, prefiguring a new way of resisting the law and racism in general that bypasses both statewide government and the movement hacks, and determines to drill down as small as it takes to get a core that can set up resistance in collective, accountable and democratic fashion.

As men and women willing to stand up and defend that vision with their bodies and their futures, the Arpaio Five deserve our support. Please visit their page and make a donation. And continue to fight for the movement we want.

John Zerzan discusses DO@ block on his radio show [VIDEO]

This comes a little late, but since we haven't updated the blog in a while, I thought I would post the video from John Zerzan's radio show which followed his visit to Arizona. He spent much of the time discussing the DO@ bloc and things he experienced on his trip. Two people from Phoenix called in and shared some thoughts on the situation in Arizona and what we're up to.

(Photos from LA Book Fair courtesy of A)

Anyhow, enjoy. We're working on some new stuff that I think will be pretty interesting, mainly focusing on calling out and challenging white people around questions of white supremacy, the policing of migrants and freeway development on the reservation. You know how we do it: look for contradictions and push on 'em. So, stay tuned for more.

Personally, I've got a lot of thoughts running through my head these days that are cross-pollinating, going back to the Indigenous resistance panel at the LA Anarchist Bookfair (which included DO@ participants) up to and including some of the new stuff that has come my way since then. I'm going to do my best to get them all down sometime in the next few days, if I can, in some comprehensible form. I'm very excited about some of the action ideas we've been tossing around. Hopefully they'll make a splash.

Indigenous Resistance Panel at the LA Anarchist Book Fair

In the meantime, enjoy the video. You can catch John's show every Tuesday night at 8 o'clock our time, sometimes streaming video. And, for those going to San Francisco for the anarchist bookfair, John will be speaking, so you can catch him again. If all goes well, there'll be some discussion of DO@ there as well.

Decolonizing, Destroying Borders and Attacking Infrastructure What side are you on?

I have been very encouraged by the level of analysis and evaluation that has come out of the DO@ organizing this winter. It's great to see people excited about ideas, about exposing those ideas to the real world, and then coming back and grappling with their implications. This is the kind of movement we need: a thinking movement that acts and evaluates itself.

It's also a sign of a democratic movement (in the most positive sense of the word), in that it means we are exchanging ideas and debating direction and ideas in a cooperative and constructive fashion. This kind of interplay of ideas is vital to a living movement, and it's important, in particular, to building the anarchist movement which must, necessarily, be critical and creative and open to debate by all participants.

This, I think, puts in stark contrast the way that anarchists approach movements versus others. Compared to how so many other actors in movements, particularly liberals, that I have engaged with over the years comport themselves, anarchists really struggle with ideas, unafraid to go places that others don't dare to investigate. This is important and something not to let slip away from us. I think it's something that makes anarchy attractive to non-anarchists. The liberals are not going to delve in depth into the roots of ideas.

So, it's great to see another addition to the discussion around DO@ and the projects were all engaged in, this time coming from PCWC's comrades to the South, Survival Solidarity. I have re-posted the first part of their essay and I highly encourage people to follow the link at the bottom to read the rest. Another solid contribution to the discussion. In particular, I'd like to say that I really like the fanatical title of the piece. Drawing lines is important. Props!

Read on!

Decolonizing, Destroying Borders and Attacking Infrastructure What side are you on?

By: Survival Solidarity

A question that all past revolutionaries have had to ask themselves at critical moments in humyn history: Which side are we on? —Down with Borders, Up With Spring!—Panagioti.

On January 16, Diné, O'odham and Autonomous/Anti-authoritarian (DO@) people answered a call-out from the O'odham Solidarity Across Borders Collective and Phoenix Class War Council to form the DO@ Block. The bloc, consisting of anarchists and Indigenous people, converged on occupied Akimel O'odham Pi-Posh land (Phoenix) to take part in what was a larger march against Maricopa County, AZ, Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio is well known for his racist border politics and strict prison regulations. However this time people were confronting his repression on those that take situations into their own hands and defiantly cross the border without the permission of others.

No deportations, relocation's or foreclosures.

The Bloc's adorning of masks and hoodies was not the only point of contrast between them and other march participants. The DO@ bloc represented the distaste in many people's mouths from endless banal discussions and approaches to the border. It brought the unwillingness to ignore the nightmare of capitalism that socially reinforces the walls that divide us. The DO@ block consisted of those that chose to no longer acquiesce to the displacement of people due to capitalism, colonization and invasive infrastructure projects.

Read the rest at the Survival Solidarity blog.

Call for the Diné, O'odham, anarchist/anti-authoritarian bloc at the anti-Arpaio rally

The following is a call for a united Diné, O'odham, anarchist/anti-authoritarian bloc at this Saturday's (January 16th) anti-Arpaio march in Phoenix. The text of the article was developed and circulated initially by the Phoenix Class War Council and our comrade collective O'odham Solidarity Across Borders over the last month. Several meetings took place and comments were solicited and received by comrades in town and throughout the state in order to clarify and expand our critique.

While this article does not and could not represent a complete articulation of the problems we see, it is an attempt to move towards a broader dialog within the movement, to point out perceived errors and to suggest another way of looking at the issue that we think could prove useful. It is, in a way, a statement of some of our common principles but it is not by any means the end of the conversation.

The bloc will converge before the 10:00 march at Falcon Park (click link for map) and then head with everyone else to Tent city. It's possible to take public transit to the park. People should be advised that we have information that, as usual, reactionaries/fascists/Minuteklan, etc, will be marching from another location to confront the protesters.

After the march, join us for a night of music and politics at Conspire (see flyer). Below that is the text introducing the bloc. See you on the streets. All out against white supremacy!

Introducing the Diné, O'odham, anarchist/anti-authoritarian Bloc!

Welcome:

The O'odham Solidarity Across Borders Collective and the Phoenix Class War Council send you greetings from occupied O'odham land. We also would like to invite you to participate with us in what we are loosely calling the Diné, O'odham, anarchist/anti-authoritarian Bloc. We hope to use this formation on the streets at the January 16th march against deportations in Phoenix to project a vision for a different mode of resistance that breaks with the stilted, uncreative status quo that dominates movement organizing in town. This document is our explanation of the type of force we would like to put out there and why we think its necessary.

Who?

We call on everyone tired of holding a sign and marching in endless circles while our lives come under increasing attack; everyone sick of a protest culture of self-sacrifice, defeat and witness; everyone who wants to stand up against the injustices that surround us; everyone interested in creative resistance rather than ritualized demonstrations; everyone tired of seeing our lands divided and destroyed and our movements tracked, tabulated and restricted.


What is the DO@ bloc?

We are an autonomous, anti-capitalist force that demands free movement and an end to forced dislocations for all people. We challenge with equal force both the systems of control that seek to occupy and split our lands in two as well as the organized commodification of every day life that reduces the definition of freedom to what can be produced and sold where and to whom, and compels our social relations to bend to the very same pathetic formula of production and consumption. Capital seeks to desecrate everything sacred. We hold lives over laws and human relations over commodity relations.

We recognize what appears to be an unending historical condition of forced removal here in the Southwestern so-called US. From the murdering of O'odham Peoples and stealing of their lands for the development of what is now known as the metropolitan Phoenix area, to the ongoing forced relocation of more than 14,000 Diné who have been uprooted for the extraction of natural resources just hours north of here, we recognize that this is not a condition that we must accept, it is a system that will continue to attack us unless we act.

Whether we are migrants deported for seeking to organize our own lives (first forced to migrate to a hostile country for work) or working class families foreclosed from our houses, we see the same forces at work. Indeed, in many cases the agents of these injustices are one and the same.

The sheriff's deputy evicts and that same cop deports. It's no coincidence that Maricopa County Sheriff Arpaio's office is in the Wells Fargo building. On Tohono O'odham land, the Border Patrol captures migrants and also harasses traditional elders seeking to exercise their rights to free movement. It turns sovereign land into an armed camp surrounded by checkpoints in the finest Nazi fashion and divided in the most unnatural way. Wackenhut profits from the transportation of migrants held captive by the prison system and at the same time it patrols the city's light rail stations. The same cameras that watch the border also watch our streets and populate our freeways, tracking our every move. These systems of control and dislocation overlap and affect all of us and, increasingly, they are everywhere. Wherever people organize in libertarian ways to resist the compulsory disarrangements of Capital, we are in solidarity with them.

Further, we categorically reject the government and those who organize with its agents. And we likewise oppose the tendency by some in the immigrant movement to police others within it, turning the young against movement militants and those whose vision of social change goes beyond the limited perspective of movement leaders. Their objectives are substantially less than total liberation, and we necessarily demand more.

Also, we strongly dispute the notion that a movement needs leaders in the form of politicians, whether they be movement personalities, self-appointed police or elected officials. We are accountable to ourselves and to each other, but not to them. Politicians will find no fertile ground for their machinations and manipulations. We have no use for them. We are anti-politics. We will not negotiate with Capital, the State or its agents.

Why?

In the last year we have seen signs that there might be openings for a new story to emerge. Almost a year ago we together led the march into the street, much to the chagrin of the leadership of the movement and the excitement of those who joined us, releasing themselves from the humiliation of marching on the sidewalk. Then, in October we challenged and shut down the National Socialist Movement, again leaving egg on the faces of those who in advance had denounced the action. A little more than a month ago what was to be just another boring leftist protest outside an Arpaio speaking engagement got out of control. Anarchists occupied the lobby where a large rally then followed, while other comrades, inside the forum, burst into song, driving the much-hated county cop from the stage. Movement leaders could only look at their hands. They have lost the initiative.

And well that they have, because the movement has failed and to continue on this course is suicide. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of migrants have been deported or self-deported themselves out of fear of attack by the State and vigilantes. The expansion of the attack on migrants, with its ubiquitous border cops and checkpoints, has spilled out onto indigenous communities and even those traveling the highways. Few are unaffected. Unable to conceptualize a framework for building resistance that can both protect those under attack and push forward to the offensive against the racist system as a whole, the movement now cries out for new ideas and creative action.

The movement has a dual problem of respect and identity. Internally, colonial relations often prevail. Age old, far off empires are evoked as justification for the marginalization, abuse and exploitation of peoples indigenous to the area. A general attitude of tokenism and disrespect dominates rather than genuine solidarity. And what was originally an honest desire to interrogate indigenous roots amongst many has morphed into something more like the colonialism of the Mexican and American states. This isn't a healthy relationship.

That said, we think now could be our time. If we take advantage of this opening we can continue to push the movement towards more interesting and, in the end, successful actions. We can remake the discussion from one of internal colonialism and self-sacrifice into one based on free movement, the resistance to dislocation and anti-colonialism. We can introduce ideas of self-organization, autonomy and direct action, as well as criticisms of Capital and the State. We can shatter the death grip of the movement zombies and make a move towards building a force that can challenge more than just one sheriff in one county in Arizona.

We think the argument for free movement and against dislocation offer opportunities that currently elude the movement because of the inherent limitations of the debate as it now is being presented. The demand for free movement represents a rejection of all controls on travel and necessarily subverts the ever-expanding reach of the State and Capital. Likewise, the opposition to dislocation offers a framework on which to build resistance, something sorely lacking. After all, a foreclosure is a dislocation just like a deportation is. Expanding the argument this way also challenges the prevailing internal colonialism and tokenism, treating the struggles of indigenous people in Arizona with the dignity and respect they deserve.

The argument as it is now framed in the movement is a moral one. And yet many, especially whites, are not persuaded by moralism. Whiteness is a political position, not a moral one. Whites oppose the immigration movement not because they are immoral but because they seek to defend their relatively privileged position. If we remake the argument in a way that brings them into the circle so that they see that they, too, are under attack, then we think all bets are off about what we can do.