Category: Articles

By m(A)tt – CLASH Collective (with shortening from slingshot)

We are fast approaching the third anniversary of the war in Iraq and the annual protests on the anniversary of the war. Hundreds of thousands have been killed, millions have suffered, and the situation becomes worse every day — indeed, every second. And in over three years of protest, we have by and large gone unheard in any practical sense. We may make some headlines now and again by winning celebrities to our cause, but regardless, our cries for peace and justice have gone unheeded.

Make no mistake: this war will come to an end, sooner or later. The hatred this unprovoked war has sewn is so entrenched, and the people of Iraq are so determined to be rid of an illegitimate, foreign rule, that it is simply impossible for the US to win in any sense of the word.

However, if we allow this war to run its course, the cost may be higher than we realize. The steady stream of broken bodies and damaged minds eats away the social fabric. The economic cost of the war — hundreds of billions of dollars — further cripples social welfare at home. The mainstream antiwar movement expresses concern for the war’s affect on society, but limits itself to liberal tactics and strategies incapable of stopping the war. Gradual tactic could take years to stop the war – similar tactics during the Vietnam war era permitted that war to continue for ten long years, which saw millions dead. The deep societal scars from Vietnam are still felt today by hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and millions of southeast Asians. Today, the consequences for the rest of the world, which will bear the brunt of an invigorated fundamentalist movement being bred in Iraq, will be far greater than anything the US government has yet to unleash upon the world. Another ten year war is not acceptable.

We must be clear about what the powers that be believe the stakes of this war are. While they are not sure if this crusade can be salvaged, they believe that no cost is too high to maintain US world supremacy in the twenty-first century. This includes the leadership of the Democratic Party every bit as much as it includes the Republicans, and we simply cannot depend on any anti-war candidates (like Richard Nixon) to do our dirty work for us. Campaign promises that run diametrically opposed to the status quo are unlikely to be honored. Fundamental change, which is the only worthwhile goal in this era, never in history has come from above and within the system — it has always come from below and without. The fact is that the government must be forced to cease its aggression by regular people of all walks, and we must intervene with our own bodies. We must end this war before it ends us.

Because of the urgency of the situation, the anti-war movement should abandon permitted mass protest and lobbying of so-called government representatives. It may be unrealistic to expect this of the whole mainstream movement immediately, but tactics that haven’t worked for three years should not be repeated blindly. We must wage war on the war-makers. Wage it in whatever ways that are consistent with our own beliefs through the use of direct action. But please, wage. We are not fighting for merely the moral imperative of the situation; it is a matter of self-preservation. If we continue to obey, we dig our own grave.

The US government is capable of waging war in the first place because it has a stable base from which to operate. That base is what is know as our society. From our society, it takes troops, weapons, goods, land for bases, and moral support, all in order to hold other peoples captive. We, the citizens of the empire, are therefore in a unique position to deprive the war machine of what it requires to continue its crimes. If we withhold troops through continued and intensified counter-recruitment work, they have no one to kill and die for them. If we block the development, manufacture and distribution of weapons, they have no implements of violence. If we put even the home bases of the military on the defensive, it will make it all the more difficult to go on the offensive. And already, the moral support for this war is steadily disintegrating. The application of these concepts are, in our opinions, very much up for debate — a debate that at the moment is very difficult to have in the broader antiwar movement, as dialogue is very much framed by the movement leadership and celebrities, who are decidedly against any such ideas.

In the last several decades, direct action has been often organized in a democratic fashion through organs of popular power known as spokescouncils. Spokescouncils are generally directly democratic (as opposed to democratic centralism) where all participants in the actions of a certain time frame and geographic area make decisions on general guidelines, agreements and policies for action, while maximizing freedom of movement and action for individual groups. Some spokescouncils are varyingly private, while others are open to the public, based on the level of police state mobilization. Concerns such as the vulnerabilities of some activists to state repression are discussed and addressed.

We realize that the repercussions for arrest are simply too high for some to risk, and so we recognize the strong and often urgent need for solidarity to our more vulnerable comrades. However, that doesn’t mean everyone must limit themselves to permitted protest. That one reality does not erase the other — that permitted protest has a bad track record in terms of making us heard by the war-makers. We believe the first priority in the struggle against the war is to use effective tactics and stop the war — they the chips fall where they may.

People who are unable to risk arrest can play pivotal supporting roles for those who do, such as providing medical, legal, media, communication, and other kinds of assistance. Other direct actions can even be legal, such as counter-recruitment work. If fulfilled, these can make an effective movement a sustainable one, and are therefore every bit as important. Maintaining visibility for people doing work behind the scenes and/or in supporting roles can be a challenge, but is by no means impossible, so long as we have organizations that are anti-hierarchical, participatory and radically feminist.

Further, practical on the ground solidarity can have a major impact on the safety of those who are more vulnerable to arrest and brutality, but risk arrest anyway. Some such examples are the tactics of forcible un-arresting, jail house solidarity, and generally being mindful of the vulnerabilities of others when planning and carrying out direct action. We also recognize that the escalation of the struggle can potentially mean that all of those who are more vulnerable in the movement become therefore more at risk, regardless of the roles they consciously play. However, we believe that any movement that effectively challenges the status quo, regardless of the tactics employed, will always receive state repression, of which we have already gotten a taste. Repression is inevitable. But if we concede effectiveness, we risk repression for nothing.

We desire a movement that is completely out of control, like a force of nature, or a wild, cornered animal. In our experience, direct action that is organized autonomously and non-hierarchically is generally the most effective kind. This effectiveness has been demonstrated at countless actions, most infamous in the streets of Seattle in November 1999, when hundreds of affinity groups blocked streets, the paths of WTO delegates, and in many cases successfully fought off police repression. We also believe too much is at risk to simply hand over command to any leadership, which may have very different priorities and ideas about what is at stake, just so they can negotiate us away with the State. What’s there to negotiate about? Either the war continues (and with it the march to apocalypse) or the war is over. What could
be simpler? Further, when those in the street are allowed to call their own shots, based on their own priorities and the mutual aid and solidarity of their comrades, they invariably call the right ones. It is only through autonomous direct action that we can foster an American insurgency capable of halting the war machine, and ultimately building the framework for a new democratic, cooperative, peaceful society.

Up the Ante!!

In attempting to secure a fair contract, the transit workers of New York City not only shut down the largest public transportation system in the country, but inadvertently brought to light the obstacles facing today’s labor movement. The negotiations, the previous spending habits of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the media onslaught, and the lack of solidarity from other unions all expose the disregard many people have towards workers. The contract reached between Transit Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 and the MTA does include some improvements for the workers. The way in which the negotiations and the strike played out reveal the overwhelming power wielded by the ruling class and yet the ability of the people to rally together in solidarity, bring a city to its knees, and achieve some measure of victory.

NEGOTIATIONS

The previous contract between the MTA and its workers expired on December 16, 2005. On that day, a limited strike began against two private bus lines in Queens. Unable to agree on a contract, the TWU 100 extended the deadline to December 20. Still unable to reach an agreement, the TWU 100 went on strike at 3:00 am that day. Joining the TWU 100 were Local 726 (Staten Island) and Local 1056 (Queens) of the Amalgamated Transit Union. @Key demands of the workers included:

• an 8% salary increase per year for 3 years

• lowering the age of retirement from 55 to 50

• pay for maternity leave

• more money spent on station maintenance Key demands of the MTA included:

• 3.0, 4.0 and 3.5% raises over the next 3 years

• a two-tiered pension system which would raise the retirement age from 55 to 62 for newly hired workers (the MTA offered to drop this if new employees paid for 6% of their pensions instead of the current 2%)

• to have new employees pay for 1% of their health insurance (current employees pay nothing for their health insurance)

The two-tiered pension plan was the main point of dispute for the workers. If the MTA had hoped the current workers would be willing to sell out future hires, one would think they’d at least have enough sense to offer current employees a decent raise. Nevertheless, they refused to come even close to the 8% demand made by the workers, and considering current inflation rates, the offer of an average 3.5% annual raise was barely a raise at all. Meanwhile, the proposed raising of the retirement age to 62-years-old would have made new hires lifelong workers. While the MTA noted an increased life expectancy as a reason for wanting to raise the age, transit workers live significantly shorter lives due to harsh working conditions. The average transit worker in New York City lives six years past retirement; upping the retirement age by seven years would thus make them workers until death. Contributing to the shortened life span is the fact that transit workers have to deal with conditions not dealt with in other sectors. Many workers develop health problems they’d never had before, such as allergies and asthma, plus they deal with dirty restrooms and rat-infested workspaces on a regular basis. This, combined with other problems such as long hours and lack of bathroom breaks, has significant effects on the workers after years on the job.

Furthermore, the MTA’s attempt to negotiate pensions wasn’t even legal under New York’s Taylor Law. Officially called the Public Employees Fair Employment Act, it was passed in 1967 after transit workers struck the previous year. Section 201, part 4 lays out the basic definitions to be used in the law. According to this section, employers are allowed to negotiate only certain aspects of a contract. For example, wages, salaries, and hours are all included in what employers are allowed to negotiate. Other aspects, such as retirement funds, are not to be handled through collective bargaining, but are instead decided by the state legislature. While the MTA blatantly violated one portion of the Taylor Law, officials blasted the workers for violating another section of it. Section 210 of the law forbids public employees from striking and penalizes them two days pay for every day on strike. Thus, the MTA was able to put the focus on the illegality of the strike and simultaneously ignore the fact that they, too, were in violation of the same law.

Indeed, the MTA’s actions towards the workers were hostile every step of the way. The directors at the MTA did not feel they had to justify any of their actions. Instead, they sought to take as much as possible from their workers without even trying to appear sympathetic. All the while, they have been giving themselves huge raises while claiming to have a deficit.

QUESTIONABLE SPENDING

When raising ticket prices, denying worker demands for improved safety, and negotiating contracts, the MTA cites a deficit, yet these supposed money problems have a way of disappearing during other times. In 2004, while the MTA sought to raise fare prices and institute a new state tax, it approved a 22% raise for executive director Katherine N. Lapp, raising her salary from $192,500 to $235,000. In addition, MTA directors have voted themselves a 20% pay increase over the last five years.

After claiming to have a very modest surplus in 2005, it was discovered the MTA actually had a surplus totaling, at the very least, a whopping $833 million. TWU 100 estimated the surplus to be as much as $1 billion. Hours before the December 16 contract expired, the MTA voted to spend the entire surplus.

LITTLE SUPPORT

Despite the reasonable demands made by the workers and the financial surplus available, the workers had insufficient public support to continue the strike over a long period, perhaps because of its crippling effects on daily life.

The reaction of the ruling class was typical. Billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg called the strikers thugs. The MTA tried to make the workers look greedy. Major Democrats failed to support the strikers: Senator Hillary Clinton declared herself neutral on the issue and said she supported the Taylor Law. The mainstream media presented a brutally anti-worker depiction of the situation: they treated the strike as a rash decision that wasn’t worth it; they pitted workers against each other by focusing on the problems faced by commuters and the losses experienced by retailers; they emphasized the illegality on the part of the workers; the much talked about cover of Rupert Murdoch’s NY Post superimposed bars over the face of TWU 100 President Roger Toussaint with the words “JAIL ‘EM.”

The mainstream’s response to the strike was appalling but not surprising. What is most disappointing about the way this strike played out was the lack of support the strikers received from other unions. Not one union struck in solidarity with the workers, and other union leaders failed to so much as verbally support the transit workers, let alone join them on the picket lines. Even the workers’ own union turned on them, when the TWU International informed Toussaint it would not support a strike at the last minute of negotiations. TWU International called the strike illegal and unsanctioned, instructed the workers to scab during the strike, and sent lawyers to argue on the city’s behalf.

While every facet of the mainstream turned its back on the strikers, certain groups and individuals stepped up to do all they could to support the strike. The New York Metro Area Anarchists formed an ad hoc group to support the TWU 100 and called for a four hour a rally at the Brooklyn Bridge on the second day of the strike. The Troops Out Now Coalition organized a rally on the third day of the strike and handed out leaflets to motorists. These are just a few of the many groups who came out in support of the workers, not to mention the various individuals who dropped banners, called Pataki and the MTA, signed petitions, and stood on the picket lines with the workers.

CONCLUSION

Given the odds stacked a
gainst the workers, they were able to at least have some successes in the contract. While they accepted the MTA’s low pay raise, they were able to reject the two-tiered pension plan, plus they got maternity pay, state disability coverage and Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday. @When TWU 100 went on strike, the goal was not to overturn the Taylor Law or challenge the capitalist system; they simply wanted a fair contract. Despite such moderate demands, they had no choice but to strike due to the MTA’s initial refusal to compromise on their offers. The fact that the workers were met with resistance from so many different angles, despite having such reasonable demands, shows the hostility this country has towards workers.

This was a struggle that revealed the priorities of those who claim to be friends of labor. The transit workers learned the hard way that union leaders cannot be depended on. While various leaders failed to come through for the workers when it mattered most, it was the people, who are not bound by political or business interests, who came through and stood in solidarity with fellow workers.

n a cowardly, middle of the night police raid, University of California at Berkeley workers tore out a brand new, steel free clothing exchange box Nov. 16 that volunteers had built in Berkeley’s People’s Park Nov. 12-13 — the third free box destroyed by the University in three months. People’s Park — a park built by Berkeley residents on land seized from the University in 1969 — has contained a free clothing box for most of the last 30 years. To this day, the university claims that they “own” the park and thus have the right to control and manage it.

Folks in Berkeley, however, do not recognize university ownership of the park and practice “user development” of the park — planting and maintaining gardens, hosting events, serving free Food Not Bombs meals, and building and maintaining the community free box. The university claimed they owned the park in 1969 and went so far as to occupy Berkeley with 3,000 National Guard troops and shoot over 100 residents with shotguns — killing one person — to enforce their claim. The university’s claim is covered in blood — the park, like all the world’s resources, belongs to everyone. The standoff between community members and the university bureaucracy has gone on for 36 years — with occasional flair-ups like the current dispute over the free box.

When a free box exists, anyone with extra clothes can bring them to give away, and anyone who needs clothes can come pick them up. The free box is thus a perfect form of non-structured recycling and economic mutual aid.

In April 2005, the previous wood free box burned down. When community members mentioned to university officials that they were planning to construct a replacement, university officials indicated that they would not permit replacement of the box. They implied that the box attracts the wrong element to areas near the university, i.e. poor and homeless people. As if poverty would go away if only no resources for poor people existed.

Of course, members of the community went ahead and started to build a replacement box anyway — the foundation of which was promptly torn down by the university in September. And we built another one in October which was also removed by police. And we’ll keep building new free boxes until the university gets too embarrassed to continue to pull them down.

Why is the university so threatened by a free clothing box? And why do we want one so much that we’ll keep building new ones even though they might get torn down? The free box and the park are key battlegrounds between the kind of world the university wants to impose and the kind of world we envision.

The free box is an example of anarchistic exchange in the best sense — exchange controlled by no one, un-mediated by money and operating on the principal “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need”. The world we envision is one of sharing, cooperation to meet human needs, and decisions made by users from the bottom up, not disconnected authorities from the top down.

In contrast, the university’s world view is threatened when people do anything for themselves — without permission from authorities, without expert planning, and without money. The university is threatened by any act of sharing or any formation of community. The university — and much of the city of Berkeley machinery which quietly tolerates university attacks on community in People’s Park — seeks to promote a world ruled by money in which those with the most money are constantly showered with more, while those in need are denied access to basic items that exist all around them in abundance.

The cops acted in the middle of the night because they are afraid — afraid that people would be outraged if they knew that the university and the city were spending thousands of dollars to rob used clothes from the poor. They didn’t want any pictures of their bulldozer cutting into the brand new shiny steel free box.

University and city leaders always imply that they need to “clean up” People’s Park — by which they mean “remove the visual indications of the inequality of a class society.” The University of California doesn’t want the future social leaders who attend the university to understand the ugly effects of capitalism, inequality and business as usual. But even more, they don’t want these future leaders to see that there are viable and beautiful alternatives to their system of greed — that people can share; that folks can use just what they need rather than accumulating property as an end in itself.

What would the world look like if everything was “cleaned up” and everyone conformed to a work-shop-die world? Do we even want everything to be clean, middle class, sterile and standardized? Do we want everything to be run on commerce and money?

The struggle to rebuild the free box — and with it to strengthen community that exists outside the economy — will continue because this is the key struggle of our age. This is the same struggle as the struggle against inhumane corporate power, globalization, sweatshops and the New World Order. It is a struggle that emphasizes direct action — communities getting together to construct the world we want to live in — not asking permission or submitting to a role as a passive consumer.

What you can do:

Folks will be getting together in People’s Park soon to build another free box — contact 510 390-0830 or People’s Park website if you want to be part of it. Or better yet, call Irene Hegarty at the Unviersity’s Office of Community Relations and tell her to let the free box live: 510 643-5296.

Radical activism hits most of us at around the ages of 16-18 and pretty much changes how we think for the rest of our lives. Being an 18 year old activist I can tell you it’s not a very easy life calling, but I am not here to talk about me per say. Lately the youth of this country have been more silent then they have been in former years in the mainstream anyway. It seems like overall youth activism is declining, but that activism is instead getting more concentrated.

In Palo Alto a group of youthful activists (most no older that 18) have started an Anarchist Action group there. On May 20, 2005 the group was able to disable the downtown area of Palo Alto with a Reclaim the Streets rally. Anarchist Action is a group of activists focused on direct action in their own communities, but the name is much like Food Not Bombs — anyone with the desire can start one. Right now known anarchist action groups are in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Seattle and Kansas City.

The work youths are doing in Palo Alto and in many cities around the country is a growing phenomena. Instead of idolizing a political leader or some one else’s ideology, more youths are realizing that they hold a new world in their hearts and they can make revolution happen in any place they want to. This country is reaching another threshold of crisis and it is the youth that have the most to lose and in some cases are the most persecuted. Now I’m not talking about your yuppie scum youth that think they are being oppressed just because they can’t have fat free frozen yogurt in the cafeteria. Lower middle class to working class youth are losing their anchor to any cultural background. I feel people need history and culture to hold on to and when what exists loses its relevance, we need to make our own. And that is exactly what is happening — the shunned youth of this country are creating our own history to tell our grandchildren.

Now if you are a youth reading this, or a youth in a grown-up’s body, I’ve found that the key to liberation is realizing that you can make history — and not being afraid. Pretty profound aint it? Think about how you feel about your life. Do you like that you have a job you hate? Do you like that you drive a car that kills the environment everywhere? Do you like the clothes you buy come from people making 3 cents an hour? If you answered no to any of these questions, then welcome to the club! People feel the same way you do, but most people are too afraid to do anything about it. Most would rather let things go they way they are than risk abuse by speaking up. But you, YES YOU, can change that. The minute you decide to stand up for your beliefs and hand out pamphlets and hold up signs, people will join you. So come on, stop reading this paper and get outside, enjoy the sun or the rain and get active. Don’t want for the revolution to come, because the revolution in now in our hands — we just need to start building our new lives before they are taken from us!

William Rodgers was one of 6 environmental activists arrested December 7. He was charged with one count of arson for a June, 1998 fire at the National Widlife Research Center in Olympia, Washington. He was found dead in his jail cell on December 21. Police claim he committed suicide with a plastic bag. Bill founded the Catalyst Infoshop in Prescott, Arizona in mid-2003.

We mourn the passing of our dear friend and community member, Bill Rodgers, who worked tirelessly for the causes of social justice and environmental sustainability. We ask that he be remembered as the gentle, kind, and compassionate person we all knew and loved here in Prescott. We remain committed to continuing the work of community building and ecological responsibility, through the Catalyst Infoshop, as part of the legacy Bill helped to create. We wish our friend the peace and serenity that he strived so hard to manifest in this world.

Bill was such a thoroughly good man; we are all richer for knowing him and having him with us, and we are all poorer for the loss of his wonderful, caring soul. We remember the inspiring conversations, and our amazement that someone so gentle and non-aggressive could have such positive, powerful hopes for the world. Words cannot express our impressions of this very human soul — nor can they contain the shock, anger, sadness and confusion about his death. Still, we will draw strength from this tragic loss to our community, and rededicate ourselves to the movement for the earth and for peace and justice. We know Bill would have wanted as much.

Bill, known to many as “Avalon,” was a deeply principled and complicated man, living a simple life oriented almost entirely around his activism to protect old growth forests and wild places. He made just enough money to keep gas in his truck, and spent the bulk of his days in the forests and deserts of the West. He was a wilderness guide and environmental educator who introduced adults to the principles of deep ecology. Bill was an articulate warrior for the wild, for environmental and social justice. He was a small man, delicate bones and gentle movements, who sometimes moved like a cat. And, like a small furry mammal, he was completely at home underground. He was never afraid to speak the truth as he understood it, and he was not afraid to take a stand against power, however risky. He was one of the brightest, most thoughtful people in this community; his insight and depth when he shared his thoughts on a subject were always well worth taking home and pondering. From catching (and releasing) live mice, to crawling through a cave opening the size of a coat hanger, to speaking for those without a voice, he will be well remembered.

The words most frequently mentioned about Bill have been “gentle,” “kind,” “compassionate,” “good natured,” and “friend.” At a small community gathering the evening we learned of his passing, we recalled funny Bill stories, his “pack rat” alter ego, how he was “the ultimate recycler,” and how he smiled even when he disagreed with you. His court-appointed attorney called him “a beautiful man with high principles,” and friends chalked “live wild” on the sidewalk in his honor. Casualty or free spirit, saboteur or man of principle, guilty or innocent — no matter. Bill was a kind, compassionate and gentle man who should never have been imprisoned. We ask that his untimely death remind us all of what is truly important in life and that it inspires personal growth beyond the need for injustice and insufficiency in the world. We know that it is now more important than ever to keep pushing forward. Endless tears on this dark night, but no fading memories or forgotten names — it will go down in action!

Is winter in your bioregion a time of rest; a lull of activity in acceptance of nature’s cycles? Maybe February is the peak of a long and frigid season that has you curious about what your bare-skin looks like or what it was like to have full sensation in your fingers and toes…

Down here in the swamps and beaches of the tropics/sub-tropics of south Florida things are a little different: The ocean is perfect swimming temperature; the community gardens are in their full glory; with the mosquitoes at bay, it’s perfect weather for hikes through the pine flatwoods, cypress swamps and dwindling scrub lands; what’s left of local citrus trees offer a fresh-squeezed daily immune-system boost; and our season of kicking ass against developers and venture capitalists who are trying to turn this amazing bioregion into a sprawling concrete playground for the global elite is just about to reach climax.

Come out of hibernation and back out onto the frontlines! It’s that time of the year again, when the Earth First! network gathers up to hash out crucial movement decisions & direction, party their brains into mush and then invigorate the hosting bioregion with some badass action(s). So, start making your travel plans & affinity group schemes, it’s time for the Earth First! Organizers’ Conference/Winter Rendezvous: Feb. 15th – 20th 2006 Palm Beach County, South Florida. The meetings will be the 15th-17th at the Everglades Youth Camp inside the J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area, which has full facilities (including cabin options, a swimming hole and, uh… alligators). Friday night will be the annual ‘Night To Howl!’ gathering of the Warrior Poets Society, so bring poems, songs and stories to share. The weekend will continue on a primitive campsite as the winter rendezvous and fiesta. Bring your workshops, music, and hiking gear and plan on sticking around, potentially, for a following week of actions.

The conference will include reports; evaluating strategy, tools & tactics; examining our visions & aspirations; where we’ve been, where we’re going; state repression review; anti-oppression check-in; and bioregional round-ups. We also hope to offer some extra attention this year to the question of solidarity beyond borders (national and cultural), and perhaps strategize a bit on an international level. We are issuing an invitation to activists outside the USA and are seeking translation assistance as part of this effort.

After the conference, protests are planned. In the wake of a monumental court victory against the Army Corps of Engineers, the battle against Scripps Florida Biotech Research Park is heating up to be one of the largest, broadest and most successful campaigns in this region’s eco-activist history. Massive land scandals, corporate biotech nightmare, bio-hazardous waste issues, bio-prospecting in the majority world, brutal animal research and an active construction site (still in operation as of this email, despite illegal permitting and more pending lawsuits) are all within a mile of our lovely camp in the swamp.

$25-50 donation requested. Bring basic camping gear, including your own kitchen utensils. Please notify the planning committee if you will be needing childcare or have any other special needs.

EF!OC 2006 committee: PO Box 961, Lake Worth, FL 33460 (561) 547-6686

Mutual support in the face of repression.

If we want to be effective as a movement, we need to be able to support each other in the face of repression. We need to be conscious that what we are doing might be harmful to ourselves, and could even be life threatening. This is not to scare people off: on the contrary. But, we need to face reality, deal with our fears and sort out our support if we don’t want to give repression the means to be effective.

While “post traumatic stress” is starting to be taken seriously in mainstream society (firefighters, ambulance crews, even the police now do debriefings after traumatic experiences, treatment is finally available on the NHS…), it is surprising that we, as activists, still think we can live through situations of police brutality, fear and powerlessness without showing any emotional response. And, as a matter of fact we don’t.

Reactions vary; everybody has their own ways of dealing with it. Degrees of reaction differ as well, up to the point where people drop out, disappear, stop being active, feel excluded because they feel scared or because they are suffering from post traumatic stress “disorder” *the term “disorder” is controversial. Reactions to traumatic experiences are not a disorder, but normal. We use it here to differentiate between post- traumatic stress reactions that heal in 4-6 weeks (PTS) and the condition where symptoms persist after that period (PTSD). Inside our movement a deeper understanding and acknowledgment of these processes can be lacking. Even after terrible incidents like the Diaz school in Genoa, not enough emotional support was set up for the victims. In the long-term many of them suffered more from the emotional consequences than from the physical injuries. It is crucial to understand that emotional wounds often continue to hurt and debilitate long after the physical wounds have healed, and that it is normal that people who did not get physically hurt can suffer psychologically from their experiences.

It makes things much worse not to feel supported. If the police treat us badly we are usually not surprised, but what can really be devastating is a lack of support from our mates afterwards. To feel let down can cause what is called secondary traumatisation and can be worse than the initial experience because it really shatters your fundamental assumptions. There is no need to be an “expert” in the healing of trauma, but there is a need for understanding and support.

It is not only police violence that causes trauma – statistics say 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men have been sexually abused at some time, thousands are involved in car accidents. Basically any situation where the natural reaction of fight or flight is blocked can cause trauma. It is important to remember that a lot of us have been going through some of that and still carry old traumas around while being exposed to new ones…

The police and prison “services” specialise in deliberately creating traumatising conditions, especially aimed at breaking resistance. Beatings, arrests, isolation custody, violation of rights, threats, lies… Their attempt is focused on creating fear, on getting inside our heads and stopping us from taking action again. We feel that inside our movement this “internal censorship” has really not been addressed and talked about. What stops us from getting where we want to get? Sometimes real obstacles – and lots of times, our fear. Their strategy is a psychological one – they beat one of us up and a hundred get scared and feel blocked. And maybe the one who got beaten up never goes back on the streets. This is how repression works. And this is why we need to start talking about what we are going to do about it.

The powers of repression are in their hands – the more effective we are in our struggle, the harder the repression – but it is in our hands how we respond to it. What we are going to do with our fear, what we are going to do about our pain, how do we support each other through all this and how do we show our solidarity. And how do we, as activists, start to model better ways of being, start to create a world where we can be strong but also vulnerable, where acknowledging our need for support is respected rather than pathologised, where fighters also take care of themselves and of each other.

Trauma work is part of resistance.

Activist-Trauma Support was started in 2005 in order to provide support especially during and after the G8 in Scotland. Previous experiences have shown that while self-organised medical support for victims of police violence was quite effective, there was a serious lack of assistance on a psychological level.

Working during the G8

For some, the idea for ATS was born from experiences from the Aubonne Bridge Action against the G8 in Evian 2003 (www.aubonnebridge.net). In Aubonne one person was seriously physically injured – and got lots of support. However several others suffered from various degrees of psychological trauma but did not get the support they needed. This was when we realized the pressing need for organised awareness raising, information and support.

In preparation for Gleneagles a 6-day training was organised with a professional trainer from a charity focused on trauma care called ASSIST (www.traumatic-stress.freeserve.co.uk). Most of these participants, plus some new people afterwards, formed the Activist Trauma Support for the G8 in Scotland. As far as we know it was the first time active trauma support has been taken on board for a big mobilisation. It was new ground to step on since no experience could be called upon from previous times and we spent a lot of time in advance trying to figure out what would be needed and useful. In the end the group which was offering emotional first aid was split between the campsite in Stirling, where a big recovery dome was set up, and Edinburgh in the Forest Café, on the ground floor of the Indymedia Centre, where the missing persons helpline and prisoner/friends support were also organised from. Both groups ran a 24hr phone helpline.

The recovery dome saw a steady flow of people coming to find somebody to talk about what they where going through, to get a massage (which also often ended up fulfilling the same purpose), to find a quiet place to cry, to retreat or to just calm down with a cup of tea and a blanket. Some people came once, some several times. It seemed that our presence in itself was known by quite a lot of the people there and it gave them some level of comfort even if they did not use the facilities – rather like the assurance when you know there is a medical first aid tent. Situated in a quiet corner of the eco-village, the recovery dome made up part of a healing area that contributed a bit of space and calm on the edge of some very frenetic activity.

At the office in Edinburgh, phone support and personal support took place, but turned out to be much less needed than at the campsite. So we started focusing on avoidance of trauma – doing prisoner support (sending cards, money, organising visits) and helping their friends out (making phones available to call families, lawyers, police stations, embassies…). This was not originally intended to be part of our work but turned out to be very useful. We also think it proved effective in blurring the distinction between “trauma support” (which sounds quite dramatic and off-putting), prisoner support and “general welfare”. We want to normalise and destigmatise trauma, but we recognise there is a long way to go.

We also realised that the first thing people need after distressing experiences is to see their friends, and a lot of the times in such situations it can be hard to find them, which can be very upsetting in itself. That is why we had also set up a missing persons helpline, which was run in close connection to the legal team. This also served to deblock their phoneline from people calling to find out about their mates.

Furthermore we organis
ed a secret “safe space” some miles away from any action for people who really needed to get out of the area. It fortunately proved not to be necessary this time (at least we hope this is true).

In terms of education we had set up www.activist-trauma.net, printed and distributed flyers about what we offered and what to do after instances of brutality, as well as a 6-page briefing about PTS”D”. Fliers also gave information and advice to friends and family of people in distress, on ways to offer support, and help prevent PTS”D” from developing. We also did a few workshops, but should have done more and advertised them better.

The long-term support on phone, email and in person after the G8 was less than expected, (not sure if it was not needed or if people felt reluctant to use it or if we did not do sufficient outreach), but the hits on our webpage after the G8 were really high. We have started setting up a public contact base for support, accessible through the webpage, where people who need help can find people who offer to help in different ways.

Experiences, lessons learnt and conclusions.

After a month we had an internal weekend with the aims of debriefing and looking into group dynamics, and then evaluating our work in order to draw lessons for other people who might want to do this work.*

The general consensus was that all of us enjoyed doing the work: it felt useful, appreciated and it is rewarding to feel that somebody actually feels better after talking to you.

Internal group dynamics are often complicated and this is especially true if people have been traumatised in the past, as all of the people in the working group had in some way or other. Summits are stressful situations at the best of times, they “trigger” people’s memories and remind them of previous traumatic situations. Additional factors were that a lot of the people did not really know each other beforehand and had very different personal and professional backgrounds and attitudes.

We concluded it would be better for a future trauma support group to really try and get to know each other beforehand and put effort into trust building and group bonding, since we need to be able to draw strength from the group rather than having to deal with internal conflict. It might have been a good idea to have an external supervisor on site who was independent of the group and could provide support for the supporters and group facilitation if necessary.

From the beginning we had made it clear amongst ourselves that we were offering emotional first aid and not therapy or deep counselling, since a campsite with police at the gate is not the right space for that, and therapy is a longer term project anyway. It turned out that it is not so easy to draw the line and opinions differ with different theoretical orientations. For any future work we think it would be important to have an in-depth exploration of this topic beforehand and to agree on some ground rules.

We found out that trauma support is very narrowly focused and naturally ended up doing other mental health work. It is difficult to draw the line and we recognise the need for broader self-organised mental health support in our movements, but at the same time due to limited resources we could only focus mainly on trauma. It also became clear that trauma work in itself during big mobilisations can’t be reduced to police brutality, because the repressive environment triggers all kinds of old trauma like childhood sexual abuse, rape and other previous experiences of brutality. It is important when doing emotional first aid to keep in mind that the person you are talking to might be carrying all kinds of old trauma with them. Also, different people need different things, so it is important to be prepared to be able to adapt to people’s specific needs and ways of coping.

There is a definite need for general welfare work – cups of tea, massages, a quiet space and blankets can make an enormous difference, and also in terms of preventing burn out. The impact of lack of sleep turned out to be widely underestimated.

It felt useful to blur general welfare and trauma support, especially since a lot of people feel uneasy about going to some kind of “trauma tent” (it would, by the way, be interesting to look at what different reasons stop people from coming). How to make trauma support “mentally” accessible for as many people as possible is a longer discussion. Co-operation with prisoner support and legal teams, co-operation with general welfare services, co-operation with medics, there are a lot of links where people can step in. In the end it is important to raise awareness about the topic and to make an effort to destigmatise it by integrating and normalising it, and making support easy to approach.

We feel we succeeded in putting the topic on the agenda. Hopefully it will become an intrinsic aspect of activist work, similar to legal and medical support. However it may take a long time to change the culture in our movements to a really supportive one, where we are not ashamed of what we feel and can be sure to be respected and supported in what we are going through. We hope this is a first step and it will be as normal to seek trauma support as going to the medics and that one day the stigma will be overcome – hopefully not only in terms of traumatic stress, but also in wider mental health.

It is not quite clear yet in which ways this work will be continued. However a few of us intend to continue this work, at least with work on the webpage and providing email/phone/personal support and information and maybe getting involved in other actions and mobilisations. If you are interested in this work, please get in touch. www.activist-trauma.net

Other useful websites:

Healing activist trauma in the States

Punk began as a reaction to mainstream culture; defining itself not just by its fast, discordant music, but also by its politics. Punk rockers oppose dominant, capitalist mainstream lifestyles. Bands like Discharge, The Germs, Millions of Dead Cops, and Crass, took a stand against the status quo, not just with their shocking names, but with their lifestyles as well. Bands and punk rock fans alike, often went to great lengths to show their opposition to mainstream music and lifestyles. From starting squats in abandoned buildings to putting together benefit shows against animal testing in laboratories, they believed in the tenet “do it yourself,” or DIY. Besides making music, many punks were involved in promoting equality for all people, and doing so in the face of big business.

Since the first mainstream American feminist movements, in the 1960s and 1970s, pornography has been a subject of contention between people who view any kind of pornography as another form of capitalism and patriarchy working to keep women trapped in exploitative relationships, and people who believe that erotic performance can be utilized as a tool to encourage a healthy enjoyment of sex in the face of oppressive mainstream cultural views of sex and sexuality. Regardless of what views you take on the issue of porn, it is an undeniable fact that pornography makes a lot of money, and that the largest pornography business are run by men who are more interested in making money than in changing our society’s perceptions of sex and power. According to one report, Americans spend around $10 billion a year on the (legal) sex industry. What happens when punk rock aesthetic meets up with pornography’s money machine on the internet?

Part of a new kind of internet porn claims to have brought porn and punk rock together at last. Sites like Suicide Girls, Burning Angel and SuperCult profess to combine mainstream visual erotica with subculture looks and ideas. How successfully they do this, however, is a question that remains in the forefront of many people’s minds. What’s empowering about a new aesthetic in porn? Is it possible to broaden mainstream standards of beauty, and would punk porn help? Can punk porn maintain any of its radical ideals or is it just a niche market?

Porn on the internet reaches all the markets of porn viewers, from people who look at Playboy to “hardcore” porn buffs. Many social activists and other feminists believe that porn is “not so much about sex per se as about male power exerted against females.” The creators of “alternative” porn sites say that they are reclaiming porn for women, using punk rock DIY ethics. They say that by providing a space for women who are pierced or tattooed to make porn, they are encouraging the societal acceptance of kinds of beauty that are not seen in mainstream porn. But in a world where you can find any kind of porn you want on the internet, from “all redheads” to “biker girls” to “latina ass,” are photos of naked, tattooed girls so subversive? These proprietors are exploiting a lifestyle without making anyone feel uncomfortable about the political implications of punk.

A few of the sites like Suicide Girls and Burning Angel are run by women, which is unusual in the world of internet porn. The creators claim that their sites celebrate female sexual freedom. In an interview Spooky, one of the founders of Suicide Girls, stated that “These girls are not being paid to play the part in member’s fantasies, they are being paid to be themselves.” Under the premise of letting the viewer “really” get to know each model, the girls write entries about their fantasies, their favorite foods, and what music they like to listen to, some models even keep a daily online journal. This seemingly “subversive” personalization of their porn profiles actually started in mainstream porn as a way to develop the girl next door fantasy. By providing “true” information about a model, the viewer will feel more connected to the model, and then pay for more images of her. And, by giving the model the impression of empowered autonomy, the site owners are able to pay less per model than in mainstream porn. This pretext of intimacy isn’t subversive—it’s good marketing.

Embracing at least part of the DIY idea, many of these sites don’t employ professional photographers. Rather, they encourage the girls to take pictures themselves and then upload them to their profile page. While the models get to pick what sort of photos they want shown, it really just lowers overhead and increases profit. And, like all pay per view porn sites, punk porn offers “teaser” pictures for free, encouraging the viewer to pay with a credit card to see full nude shots. While models on Suicide Girls and other sites have some creative say in their photos, they do not get paid as much as models for other sites. Instead, a mystique had been built around these “punk porn stars.” There are Suicide Girls and Burning Angel parties held frequently in major cities around the US, and each profile has a place where viewers can rate the model. It may seem that punk pornography must be liberating to the models who, since they don’t make much money off of it, must do it for the love of posing naked. However, I don’t think that this is actually the case. In my encounters with models, both in real life and on their websites, the models and owners of the sites did not seem to get involved as a reaction to dominant porn, or as a way of turning the ideals of beauty and feminity on their heads.

Punk Porn sites claim that they are presenting images of women who are nontraditionally beautiful. Sadly, there is little truth to the claim. The sites are all run similarly, using a screening process to find and approve models that fit into some beauty standard. Even if not all the models on SuperCult are blonde with DD cups, they all fit into the “normal” category of body types. On all these sites, I have not seen one obese woman, only a few women who were discernibly not white, and no women with visible physical disabilities. If, by showing women with a few tattoos, the creators of these sites believe that they are really blowing open mainstream beauty ideals, they should probably reevaluate. If they want a captive audience who will pay for pretty young women who look alternative, they’re doing it right. There’s also another problem. Defining beauty by a market, means that one can only be beautiful if the market agrees. It’s just not possible to sell social change, because the problem of capitalism persists.

Regardless of the spin that owners put on their punk porn sites, it’s still work that women do to pay the rent or get through med school or whatever, and there are still tons of men fantasizing about women they’ll never sleep with.

Since the advent of corporate “punk” tours like the Warped Tour, and shops like Hot Topic, the “punk” aesthetic has really taken off in mainstream fashion and music. With pop singers like Avril Lavigne and Ashlee Simpson showing how sexy and non-threatening punk-looking girls can be, it is easy to see how they have made punk rock look appealing to the very people it is actually revolting against. Rather than providing a site that is truly DIY and really does show all sorts of naked punks, these websites have simply adopted the aesthetics of punk, running a corporate machine underneath. Suicide Girls recently joined forces with Playboy. And, while at first they claim they were receiving many letters about how unattractive their models were, because they were so “alternative” looking, the Playboy.com members page now features a “Suicide Girl of the Week.” Websites like Suicide Girls, Burning Angel and SuperCult may provide a specific kind of aesthetic to the viewers, just as “hot asian chicks” websites or “young white trash” magazines do, but they are not actually punk. They might present images of models with tattoos or piercings, but the sites themselves do not have anything to do with the social concerns that punk rock often embodies

Using ironic, radical and humorous analysis in the tradition of Michael Moore, author/psychologist Morgan Two Fires Kazembe takes the reader on a no holds barred journey through class and race in America—past, present and future. Combining in-depth scholarship, free verse and satirical vignettes, “The Sorcerer’s Trick” demonstrates how age-old power relations, self-deception and hidden everyday contradictions keep social control alive and well in our society. Kazembé invites the reader to look at power struggle from a new perspective, one that is spiritual as well as critical, in order to challenge the so-called “Sorcerer’s Trick”. Kazembe’s style is highly reminiscent of the politically charged, subversive comic books of famed Mexican author, Rius (“AB Che”, “Imperialism for Beginners”, etc). My Latin American soul brothers and sisters have been using gallows humor (literally) for decades to reach out to the masses about some very unpleasant political, economic and human rights truths. American Scholars, on the other hand, including African American scholars, tend to be more uptight and earnest when addressing social ills. This is why “Sorcerer’s Trick” is so refreshing. Kazembe looks at topics such as police brutality and the widening rich-poor divide in ways that are compelling as well as wacky and entertaining. Like Rius, he irreverently uses cut and paste pictures from unexpected sources ranging actual slave sales announcements from the early 1800’s to “buppy” oriented business journals. My favorite is Kazembe’s use of an old sepia photograph of a white missionary reading to a group of ragged black children to introduce his critique of Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” public education policy.

As an educator, I highly recommend “The Sorcerer’s Trick” as an introductory book for undergraduate African American, political and cultural studies courses. It is a creative alternative to the stuffy, verbose, ethnic studies literature that’s out there today. My eighteen year old students may, unfortunately, nod out when reading intellectual giants such as Cornell West. In contrast, the “Sorcerer’s Trick” is, by far, a better attention-grabber and discussion starter for the hiphop, MTV crowd.

Morgan Two Fires Kazembe hails from a small farming town in Alabama. A Viet-Nam era veteran, Dr. Kazembe has tapped into the relationship that violence and power have in impeding human potential. He has been a community psychologist and cultural/youth services leader in some of the nation’s most volatile communities for nearly three decades. He’s also a performance artist and his stage work (songs, spoken word, etc.) combine the poignant with the zany, just like his book. I caught one of his shows recently at a Salsa joint in Oakland. In a Moorish costume, surrounded by Congolese drummers and fire-twirling Algerian belly dancers, Kazembe’s spoken word performance was truly unique. I would describe it as Pan-African Dadaism with plenty of meaning and depth. The same characteristics that I found when reading “The Sorcerer’s Trick: A Weapon of Mass Deception”. “The Sorcerer’s Trick” is published out of a small Bay Area company called Crying Lion Corporation.

Infoshops and community spaces are the physical manifestation of communities of resistance — folks coming together to lay the foundations for a new social structure. Since last issue, I’ve had the opportunity to visit infoshops and community spaces in Portland, Oregon and Louisville, Kentucky, as well as talk to numerous folks at Infoshops everywhere while distributing the 2006 Slingshot Organizer. These visits and conversations are so inspiring — there are so many folks doing amazing projects everywhere.

In Louisville, I saw the Brick House center. They have recently purchased a huge, rundown building that they’re in the process of fixing up. It hosts a largish, well organized library, a smaller zine area, a kids play/arts and crafts area, an art gallery, a public access internet room, an event space for shows, a meeting room, a huge free store, and a bicycle workshop. They also host WXBH, a group that has received an FCC license to build Louisville’s first low power FM community radio station — they are currently trying to raise $70,000 to build the transmitter.

Keeping track of the comings and goings of infoshops and radical community spaces around the country gives me a sense of hope for the future. The past few months has seen the opening of the greatest number of new spaces in several years. Vibrant communities are able to create infoshops and ultimately, vibrant communities can use them as tools to extend the struggle beyond a difficult-to-contact friendship network and into a powerful force for change. If you’re in any of these places, check out and support these spaces!

Iron Rail Bookstore re-opens in New Orleans, LA

Even a hurricane can’t blow them down! Iron Rail Bookstore reopened in November — they think their library was the first library to re-open in the city! Visit them from 1:00 pm to 7:00 pm everyday. 511 Marigny St. (@ Decatur St., New Orleans, LA 70117, 504-944-0366.

Aboveground Zine Library reopens – New Orleans, LA

They lost some zines and have a new address but they’re back up and running — zine donations are always welcome. Send ‘em to: Aboveground Zine Library, 107 E. Lakeshore Dr., Carriere, MS 39426. www.geocities.com/abovegroundlibrary

People’s Free Space – Portland, Maine

Who says all Portland projects are in Oregon. PFS opened in September after over three years of preparation as a community space and infoshop. They have a lending library, kids space, free room, offices, computers, kitchen, books and zines for sale and a common room for workshops, performances, meetings and events. Food Not Bombs, Portland Tenants Union and GE Free Maine all work out of the space, and other community groups such as the Portland Victory Gardens Project and the Winter Cache Project meet and hold events there. The Frida Bus, the People’s Free Space’s mobile veggie oil powered community space is parked alongside the building. A Free School is based at the People’s Free Space and offers regular workshops. Visit at 144 Cumberland Ave. Portland, ME 04101, 207-822-9869, www.peoplesfreespace.org

Free Speech Zone – Salt Lake City, UT

They’re a “progressive retail store” with a free literature/reading area that sells books, locally made items, posters, cards, art, bumper stickers, pins and sweatshop free t-shirts. They have free movies on Saturday nights and have 2 high schools doing monthly open mic nights. They host meetings for the IWW, Pom Poms Not Bomb Bombs, the Green Party, People for Peace and Justice of Utah, the Shundahai Network and the Utah Libertarian party. 2144 south 1100 east #130 Salt Lake City Utah 84106 801-487-2295 www.freespeech-zone.com

Social Justice Center Infoshop – Albany, NY

Check out the new Infoshop in Albany that replaces the closed Ironweed Infoshop. Open 11 am to 7 pm Saturdays with events at other times. 33 Central Avenue, Albany, NY 12210, 518/434-4037 albanyinfoshop@riseup.net

The Hive – Flagstaff, AZ

They’re a community space run by the Flagstaff Indigo Movement, a low-income youth-advocacy group, on the verge of opening an infoshop radical library at the existing space. The Hive already offers classes ranging from circus practice to martial arts to self-defense, bike-repair, yoga, and an after-school art program for grade-school kids. The space also serves as a meeting-place for local activists, a gallery for local artists, a kitchen and serving-space for Food Not Bombs, and houses a bi-weekly poetry slam and community garden tools. The soon to open infoshop is looking for donations of books and zines especially on: women’s studies, queer and transgender studies, people of color/interracial studies, issues of environmental racism & environmental justice and alternative medicine. Visit 319 S. San Francisco St., Flagstaff, AZ 86001.

Alternative Arts Center / Sweet Candy Zine Library – Philadelphia, PA

They opened in January to provide resources for creativity and also a kid friendly space. They have arts and crafts hours for kids, a zine library, and host events plus have tons of resources: a copy machine, one inch button maker, electric typewriter, cut & paste supplies and more! 1508 S 4th St, Philadelpia, PA 215-531-3155 www.eyecandyzine.com

Lancaster Avenue Autonomous Space (LAVA) – Philadelphia

They are a community center that provides shared space for meetings and meals and a home for collectively owned resources for media, arts, construction, and community activism. They host ACT-UP, Philly Independent Media Center, the Defenestrator (anarchist newspaper), a library, copier, computer lab, Food Not Bombs, and a radio station, plus events. 4134 Lancaster Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19143 215.387.6155 www.defenestrator.org/lava/

DryRiver Radical Resource Center – Tucson, AZ

A new infoshop with a free store, computer access, radical video series and Spanish classes. Open 2-8pm M-F and 10-4pm sat and sun. 657 W St. Marys Tucson, AZ 85705 – no phone yet – dryriver.org

Haymarket Books – Calgary, Canada

A radical book shop – they hope to open a cafe soon as well. Open Wednesday-Sunday, 11am – 6pm. 1014 Macleod Trail SE (northbound) Calgary, AB T2G 2M7 (403) 234-0260

33 1/3 Books – Los Angeles, CA

They are a worker owned art gallery, book and zine shop that also sells handmade and/or non-sweat shop clothes. Open noon – 9 everyday. 1200 N. Alvarado St., Los Angeles, CA 90026, 213-483-3500.

Sandpaper Books – Los Angeles

A radical bookstore has taken over the building left vacant when radical community center Flor y Canto closed in LA recently. Check them at 3706 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90065.

The Wire – Athens, OH

They’ve been open for 2 years as an all volunteer-run and supported non-profit space featuring: Athens’ Bike Co-op, an alternative lending library, Internet access, an art space, meeting and workshop space. Open Wed – Sun 2 pm-8 pm at 21 Kern St. Athens, OH 45701, 740 589-5111, athenswire.org

Spartacus Books re-opens after fire – Vancouver, BC, Canada

After their 20+ year-old store burned down in April, 2004, they have re-opened! Check them out on the 2nd Floor, 319 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC (Coast Salish Terr.), Canada.

Northland Poster Collective – Minneapolis, MN

They’ve been a tool for artistic organizing for 26 years – check ‘em out at: 1613 E. Lake Street (PO Box 7096), Minneapolis, MN 55407, 800.627.3082

Gaian Mind – Long Beach, CA

They’re an eco-punx co-op space. Check ‘em out. 620 Pacific Ave., Long Beach, CA 90802, 562-552-9930, www.gaian-mind.org

Our Community Bikes – Vancouver, Canada

They promote do it yourself bike repair and bicycle empowerment and provide tools and repair instruction. They also have a regular repair shop. Open 11-6 every day at 3283 Main Street (at 17th) Vancouver, BC, V5V 3M6 Canada. (604) 879-2453 pedalpower.org/ocb.

We’ve received word of the follo
wing places to check out in Los Angeles, Seattle & Portland:

Bicycle Kitchen, 706 Heliotrope, Los Angeles, CA 90029, 323.NO.CARRO (323.662.2776).

Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, 6120 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90044, (323) 759-6063.

Zine Archive and Publishing Project, in the Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122.

School and Community Reuse Action Project, 3901A N Williams, Portland, OR 97227, (503) 294-0769.

Community Cycling Center, 1700 NE Alberta Street, Portland, OR 97211, 503/288.8864.

A traveler recently pointed out that our listings of contacts in Mexico in the Organizer was lacking and suggested these contacts . . .

Junax – San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas

A hostel for volunteers with communal food sharing that is the office for Chiapas indymedia. #17 Ejercito Nacional.

Frente Zapatista and the Maquiladora Worker Information Center – Tijuana, Mexico

A contact in Tijuana: 32B Calle Dolores. www.cittac.org

Centro De Medioa Libres – Mexico City

34a Actopan, entre monterrey y medellin, col. Roma Sur, metros centro medico y chilpancingo, http://vientos.info/

San Diego, Calif tour

The folks in San Diego, Calif. have compiled a tour of places to go if you go to San Diego – check this out and let us know what you think: /docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/SanDiegoRadicalPlaces

Places that are Gone

We have word that the following spots are gone or at least that we no longer have correct addresses for them — let us know if you have any details:

Breakdown Collective in Denver, CO.

The Phoenix Anarchist Coalition in Arizona.

We’ve had mail returned from the PO Box of the Autonomous People’s Project in Louisville – we’re not sure if they’re gone or just lost their PO Box.

Green Heart collective in Collingswood, NJ has closed.

Corrections to the 2006 Organizer

The address for the Alternative Press Center in Baltimore, MD should be 1443 Gorsuch Ave., not 1441, Baltimore MD 21218, 410.243.2471.

The listing for the Mosaic in Grand Rapids, MI should actually be a listing for Sabo’s Infoshop. The correct phone # is 616-881-5263.

The address for the Solidarity Radical Center in Lawrence, KS is wrong — it should be 1119 Massachusetts, not 119.

It’s Left Bank books in Seattle!

The address for Red Emma’s books in Baltimore is St. Paul St., not Paul St.

Brighter Days Infoshop – Detroit, MI have moved – the new address is 13160 Klinger St., Detroit, MI 48212.

The Phoenix Anarchist Coalition post office box has moved – the new address is PO Box 3438, Tempe, AZ 85280-3438