Category: Organizer Essays

Standing up against oppression is righteous, but risky, behavior. It’s hard work, both physically and emotionally. A much too large percentage of activists burn out and disappear from their communities because the frustrations and injuries from fighting an uphill battle, of which we may never ourselves reap the rewards, can be demoralizing and traumatic. Sharing our feelings about the difficulties of working on the frontlines is a crucial form of solidarity and friendship.

CRISIS RECOVERY

Society provides few options for people in crisis other than mental hospitals, religion, and psychiatric drugs. The value of freedom, love, and community do not end when you’re in crisis. In fact, they can save your life. The key is empowerment—What do you feel really helps? Examples:

-A mutual support group is simply peers listening to and helping peers as equals—validating, if not “endorsing” feelings. You can learn to form one yourself. Or ask community resource organizations for lists of ongoing groups. Shop around: some groups push the mainstream, disempowering, medication-based mental health system. Though in a pinch, finding any group may be helpful for validation of your situation if you find yourself without any support.

-Natural nutritional and herbal approaches include vitamins, St John’s Wort, etc. Eat healthy and/or consult an herbalist.

-Practicing meditation or spiritual disciplines may help you relax. However, joining a cult is not therapeutic, so take care not to have your vulnerability exploited by a seemingly perfectly nice bunch of people who promise to rescue you.

-Try to remember to breathe.

-Ecopsychology is realizing that nature and wilderness are our greatest healers. Spend some time outside the city to get centered and get away from pollution, which is in itself mind-altering.

-Exercise, dance, biking, and physical movement often prove helpful for depression, etc.

-Art, writing a journal, making a zine, playing music, singing, and other forms of personal expression are often safe ways to break the silence with others, and even yourself, about inner pain.

-Acupuncture, massage, and other bod work can be a way for others to give your whole self some gentle attention.

-Respite: In other words, focus off the crisis and onto what you find joyful for a while, until you can gather more resources.

-Don’t neglect your basic human needs: sleep, eating, shelter, fresh air, etc.

-Keep in mind that some current emotional crises may be caused by traumas from the past, which may need to be emotionally and consciously processed in order not to keep recurring.

-Find a counselor who actually supports your self-determination. Ask lots of questions, especially about confidentiality, if someone else—such as your parents, boss, or governmental program—is paying for your therapy.

-There is no shame in using psychiatric drugs if you know that they work for you.

-Many communities have 24/7 crisis hotlines or crisis centers. You can call 800-SUICIDE if you’re thinking about killing yourself or 800 646-HOPE to reach a local rape crisis line for survivors of sexual violence.

-Socail change: Actually address the stressful factors in your environment. Revolution can heal. If you have a loved one in crisis, consider asking them if you and/or their counselor can hold an emergency gathering potluck to weave together their mutual support network of trusted friends—and find out what they truly need at this crucial time. However, don’t act over their heads.

CRISIS PREVENTION

Everyone will eventually have a crisis. For example, if you love deeply, you may one day grieve deeply. The questions is “are you prepared for a crisis?” It is a good idea to develop your network of support, now. Modern society isolates. Some day you may need a shoulder you can trust to weep on.

EVADE THE BRAIN POLICE

If you find yourself threatened with psychiatric coercion, it’s a good time to get rea calm, real fast. Authorities—shrinks, doctors, cops, schools—tend to provoke, and then diagnose your “reactions” of fear, despair, and anger. So when they provoke, act even more calm. Know your rights, get a lawyer, and find real help soon.

 

The Official History of the World gets written by those in power to stifle change by making the power structure appear inevitable and natural. But history is filled with examples of people who rejected the system of private ownership and power and built alternatives based on cooperation, sharing, and communal land ownership. The Diggers movement in England is an early—and thus remarkable—example of collective action that inspires free thinkers to this day. Its memory is preserved largely because of the eloquent pamphlets it published.

English Diggers

In April 1649, as food prices reached an all-time high, unemployed laborers and landless peasants began to dig up common land and plant vegetables on Saint George’s Hill, near Surrey, England. Gerrd Winstanley and friend invited “all to come in and help them, and promise them meat, drink, and clothes.” They decided to pull down fences and property boundaries and invite others to come and work with them. The Diggers—because they dug up the land—envisioned that if the landless people of England formed self-supporting communes, the land-owning classes would become pointless. The elite would be forced to join the communes or starve, as there wouldn’t be anyone left to work their fields or pay rent to them for use of their property.

When the local landowners caught wind of what was going on, they first sent troops and when they failed to remove the Diggers, they organized gangs to attack them. Many Diggers were beaten and a communal house was set on fire. After the landowners won a court case to evict the Diggers, they left St George’s Hill to avoid attack from the army. Within 2 years, the movement was totally dispersed.

Winstanley argued that private property, but especially land as the source of all wealth, “is the cause of all wars, bloodshed, theft, and enslaving laws that hold the people under miserie.” He believed that if the diggers could cultivate the commons and wastelands, the example would be so infectious that all the poor of England would join the Diggers.

The Digger pamphlets present no plan for administrative or governmental policy. Winstanley assumed that the example of small groups working in occupied land in brother and sister-hood would sweep all before it and convert England and eventually the world. The problems of self-defense and internal disruption were answered with total pacifism before which, he hoped, power would simply dissolve. The violent suppression of the Diggers by both mob and authority forced Winstanley to consider the question of power anew. Was his utopia a workable policy? To this day, radicals, socialists, and anarchists all claim Winstanley as an ancestor.

Modern Diggers

In the 1960s, modern Diggers in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, California and New York promoted a vision of society free from private property and all forms of buying and selling. The modern Diggers combined street theater, anarcho-direct action, and art happenings in their agenda of creating a Free City. Their most famous activities revolved around distributing Free Food every day in the park—an obvious precursor to Food Not Bombs—and distributing “surplus energy” at a series of Free Srores where everything was free for the taking. The Free Store was where “reality came to change its wardrobe.” Soldiers from Vietnam, who had gone A.W.O.L. would head to the Free Store, entre in full military uniform, and leave looking like any other hippie on the street, often carrying a new ID as well. Through their underground movement, the Diggers created the first Free Medical Clinic.

Check out Ringolevio by Emmett Grogan/ Planet Drum Foundation founded by former Digger Peter Berg. Leon Rosselson set the English Diggers original words to music. Bands Chumbawumba and Billy Bragg also have versions of the songs.

 

Nonfiction

The Betrayal of Liliuokalini: The Last Queen of Hawaii—Helena G. Allen

Outlaw Woman—Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz

My Disillusionment in Russia—Emma Goldman

Hammer and Hoe—Robin D.G. Kelly

Comrade Rock Star—Reggie Nedelson

Dam Nation: Dispatcher from the Water Underground—Cleo Wolfenstein and Laura Allen

Scum Manifesto– Valerie Solanis

The Organizer’s Manual—The OM Collective

Nobody Passes—ed. Matt Bernstein Sycamore

The Monster at the Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu—Mike Davis

The Revolution Field Manual for Changing Your World—ed. Heather Zydek

American Hardcore: A Tribal History—Steven Blush

Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation’s Capitol—Mark Jenkins

Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq—Steven Kinzer

Betrayal: The Assassination of Ding Ochoa—Linda Diebel

Whipping Girl—Julia Serrano

The Working Poor: The Invisible America—David K. Shipler

Death of a Rebel—Marc Elliot

Freedom! The Story of my Second Life—Malika Ofkir

101 Ways to Avoid Suicide—Kate Bornstein

How Shall I Live My Life—Derrick Jensen

Making Punk a Threat Again—Profane Existence (ed)

Horizontalism—Marina Sitrin

Bolshevik Myth—Alexander Berkman

Madame Mao—Anche Minh

Chomsky on Anarchism—Noam Chomsky

Villains of All Nations—Markus Rediker

 

Fiction

Years of Rice, Years of Salt—Kim Stanley Robinson

Geek Mafia—John Rechy

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress- Robert Heinlien

Man’s Fate—Andre Malraux

Midnight in the Century—Victor Serge

Let’s Face It—Kirk Douglas

Cool for You—Eileen Myles

A Pickpocket—Timothy J.G. Foyle

Red Carnation—Vera Morozkova

A Scanner Darkly—Phillip K. Dick

Neuromancer—William Gibson

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—J.K. Rowling

Woman on the Edge of Time—Marge Piercy

 

Zines

Fag School

Absolutely Zippo

Give me Back (D.C.)

Support (CA)

Dead Tree Review (CT)

Gutter Flower (CA)

Trust (Germany)

GreenZine (NY)

Some Hope and Some Despair (TX)

The People’s Army (AZ)

Burn Collector (IL)

Soy Not Oi

 

Poetry

Landscapes from my Country—Nazim Hikmet

Frontlines—Jack Hirschman

The Gift—Hafiz

Sing a Battle Song: The Revolutionary Poetry, Statements, and Communiques of the Weather Underground 1970-1974—eds Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, Jeff Jones

A Bridge Called My Back—eds. Gloria Anzaldua and Cherrie Moraga.

Vinaigrette Salad Dressing—serves 4

-1/2 c. virgin olive oil

-1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

-1 Tbsp. mustard, mustard powder, or ground mustard seed

-1 Tbsp. molasses

-pinch of thyme, oregano, dill, salt, and pepper

-several cloves of garlic peeled and crushed

-optional Tbsp. of citrus—lemon, lime, or orange.

Mix ingredients in small jar with fork or whisk until mustard and molasses are dissolved. Ideally, let stir for at least 30 minutes to allow garlic oil to seep into mixture. Great for salads, marinades, or dipping sauces. And of course, it always tastes better dumpstered, and organic!

 

Vegan Chocolate Cake

-½ lb. silken tofu

-3/4 c. oil

-1 Tbsp potato flour

-1 ¾ c. water

-1 ¾ c. sugar

-1 ½ tsp. sugar

-1 ½ tsp. vanilla

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1 c. unsweetened cocoa

-3 ¼ c. unbleached flour

-2 tsp. baking soda

In a food processor, blend oil, 1 cup of the water, tofu, and potato flour until smooth. Then, in a large bowl, combine contents of food processor, the remaining water, sugar, vanilla, salt, and cocoa. Add flour and baking soda and mix until smooth. Grease and powder with cocoa a 9×13 inch pan or two 9-inch cake pans. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Test with a toothpick in the center. It it comes out clean, the cake is done.

 

Vegan Death by Chocolate Pie

-2 c. chocolate chips

-1 Tbsp. soy milk

-1 tsp. vanilla

-Two 12 oz. packages of silken tofu.

For crust:

-1 ½ c. pecans or walnuts

-8 pitted dates

-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

-1/4 tsp cinnamon

-2 Tbsp water

Crust: Blend the nuts in a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until it all sticks together. Maybe add more water. Spoon into a pie pan and shape it flat and crust-like. You can bake the crust if you want for one hour at 200 degrees and make it crispy.

Filling: Put the chocolate chips and soymilk in a saucepan and melt them on medium heat, stirring until smooth. Put the chocolate sauce in a food processor with the tofu and vanilla and blend until whipped smooth and creamy. Add more soymilk if needed. Pour the pie stuff into the crust and chill in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

 

Apocalypse Now- Emergency Preparedness Tips

For all of us who yearn for a different reality, remembering the old Chinese curse, “May you get hat you want and live in interesting times,” could be handy. How many of us can live, even for a short time, without the crutches of capitalist technology, whether after an earthquake, hurricane, fascist takeover, or insurrection? Here are some thoughts on what you could stash to make life a bit easier in the face of large-scale catastrophes, a DIY Apocalypse Survival Kit. This list assumes California Bay Area weather, so adjust to your local weather extremes*

In your med kit:

-gloves

-1” medical tape

-4×4 sterile gauze pads

-assorted bandaids

-tweezers

-dental floss (for stitches and tourniquets)

-disinfectant (bactine, peroxide, or high proof liquor—which is also good for fire or sedation)

-painkillers of choice

-Yunnan paiyou (Chinese herb to stop bleeding)

-burn salve and skin salves

-menstrual pads (they can be used like gauze)

-condoms

-herbal or homeopathic remedies

In a pack (prep bag):

-compass (learn to use it!)

-multitool/pocket knife

-lighters or strike-anywhere matches

-goggles

-extra layer of clothes

-sturdy belt

-headlamp

-batteries

-camera—to document injury or police brutality

-sewing kit/safety pins

-duct tape or packing tape

-sharpie and paper

-high calories food (peanut butter! Chocolate!)

-drinking water

-sunscreen and chapstick

-toothbrush

 

For your bike satchels:

-repair/patch kit

-cord/bungee, rope, etc.

-carabineers

-water filter or iodine

-preserved food, including some kind of comfort food (dried mangoes, pudding cups) to ease depression, especially with young kids who may refuse to eat during traumatic circumstances.

-wild food guide

-wilderness survival guide

-pot, spoon, and good knife

-salt and spices

-mini camp stove and fuel or tin snips for rocket stove

-emergency blanket

-camping gear

-a tarp, for shade or rain relief

-extra shoes/boots and socks

-thermal insulation—long johns and pantyhose

-cash in waterlight container

-appropriate means of self-defense

-radio and two-way radio

-toilet paper (until you can do without)

-maps—at least local counties, topographical is helpful too.

This is a somewhat slow but natural process—with tasty and delectable results. First, fill up a canning jar with herbs that you have gathered or bought. If you are wildcrafting, make sure you give your herbs a day to dry out in the sun (in a brown paper bag)—the water from fresh herbs can make the oil go rancid. If buying them, get the dried stuff. Next, fill the herb-packed jar with oil (extra-virgin olive oil, grapeseed, and sunflower are good). Don’t leave room for air, as this may spoil the infusion. Cap the jar and put it on a sunny windowsill for 3-12 weeks, agitate daily if possible. When ready, strain through cheesecloth and Voila! Infused oil can be used for:

-Massage oil (as is or cut with more oil)

-Salve (melt 1 part wax to 3 parts infused oil over a double boiler—right before pouring, add a few drops of a complimentary essential oil, pout into a container and you have a simple, all-purpose salve!)

-Cut half the infused oil and replace with coconut oil to turn salve into lip balm..

-Delicious infused cooking oil—for this you do not want to initially fill the jar with herbs just put in a handful or so—you don’t want the flavor to be overwhelming.

Some good herbal combinations are:

-Lavender, rosemary, sage, and mint are all excellent for massage oils and salves. You can often find them growing wild or in yards.

-Rosemary and sage also make good cooking oils.

-For a clarifying salve/oil, try mint, lemon verbena, and clary sage.

-For a relaxing salve/oil, try chamomile, lavender, and maybe rose petals.

You can supplement or eliminate western medicine for many illnesses and conditions. Be sure to use herbs from a good source, wild craft responsibility or grow your own!

For poison oak/ivy: Labrador tea, jewel weed, lobelia, mugwort, solomon’s seal, sumac, sweet fern, witch hazel, ocean water, or baking soda. Apply poultice or wash to affected area.

Calmatives: Balm, yellow bed straw, belladonna*, camomille, dill, fragrant valiant*, jasmine, marjoram, motherwort, neveroot, lady’s slipper, Norway spruce.

Insomnia: Marjoram, saffron, St John’s wort, primrose, hops, lavender, lime flowers, sage, skullcap, valerian.

For detox: Chewing cabbage leaves helps with too much alcohol; snowberry tea helps after poisoning; seaweed for heavy metals.

Blood purifiers: Red clover, CA horkelia, yarrow, mayweed, yellow skunk cabbage, dandelion, hyssop, bitterroot, burdock, cardoon, yellow dock, Mormon tea, ocotillo, w. dogwood, yerba santa, Oregon graperoot, CA wild rose, thimbleberry alderleaf buckthorn, sitka spruce, red alder, bird’s foot fern.

Antiseptics: yerba mansa root, garlic, tansy*, plantain, juniper bark, black sage, common elderberry*, bearberry, pinyon pitch, willow bark, sweet gum, bracken fern.

Menstrual cramps: Water plantain, shepherd’s purse, cannabis, lemon balm, hairy angelica root*, mtn valerian, burdock, chaparral, w. white clematis.

Headaches: Mugwort, kola tree, yerba mate, lavender, peppermint, thistle, fennel, rosemary, sage, primrose, fragrant valerian* black elder, lily of the valley*, willow, wintergreen, winter savory

*These herbs should be used with caution. Consult an herbalist guide before using herbs.

How to take herbs

Infusion: brew a tea with leaves (20 min to 8 hrs) or flowers (5-10 min). This is good for systemic conditions.

Tincture: soak herbs in clear, strong alcohol for 4-6 weeks. Take orally, about 3 eye-dropperfuls a dose. Best for bitter herbs and those not water-soluble.

Poultice: chew or mash herbs with water and apply topically.

Compress: apply a cloth soaked with infusion topically.

Food is medicine too! You can add simple things to your diet for endocrine and immune health. Try: dandelion (all parts), garlic, ginger, plantain, nettles (cooked), and seaweeds.

We used Peterson’s W. Medicinal Plants and Herbs and John Lust’s The Herb Book for most of our references. Also check Susan Weed’s Healing Wise. 

Make & Model	User Opinion	Durability	Special Features	Lube
Planned Parenthood: Lolli	Yes!	Fantastic	—	check
Durex: Performax Lubricated	Wow	Fantastic	Numbing	Check
Trojan Enz: Lubricated	Yes!	Fantastic	—	Check
Class Act: Ultra Thin and Sensitive	Wow	Fantastic	—	Check
Durex: High Sensation Lubricated	Sure	Durable	Ribbed	Check
Planned Parenthood: Assorted	Eh…	Nothing too rough	Thin	Check
LifeStyles: Ultrasensitive Spermicide	Wow	Fantastic	Thin	Spermicidal
Trojan: Shared Pleasure Warm Sensations Lubricant	Yes!	Durable	—	Warming
Trojan: Shared Sensation with Spermicidal Lubricant	Wow	Fantastic	Thick(er) and ribbed	Spermicidal
Inspiral: Lubricant	Yes!	Durable	Thick(er)	check

 

Slingshot’s Experimentation Process: Each member of the collective took the task of testing condoms to heart, and conducted their own deep research. Special thanks to the many participants, without whom this research would have been a lot more dull. To those we thanked in person, to some whose names we didn’t catch, and to those generous others whose faces we never actually saw in the dark room: your dedication to this scientific endeavor was greatly appreciated… most of the time.

User rating guide: The collective relied on a highly specific grading system. Ratings ranged from “wow” to “yes!” to “sure” to “eh” to “shit” at the worst. (Un?)fortunately, we didn’t fuck with any “shit.”

(A Brief Introduction to Emergency Contraception, a.k.a the morning-after pill)***

First: EC is not an abortion and CANNOT induce one if you are already pregnant.

What it is: EC is 2 hormone pills (different brands may have different hormone makeup) taken in 12 hours of one another to prevent pregnancy. The sooner the first pill is taken, the higher the effectiveness of EC, and although it is most effective if started within 3 days after vagina/penis intercourse, it may be taken up to 120 hours later.

How it works: The hormone in EC works in one of three ways depending on how soon after intercourse you take it: 1) by stopping ovaries from releasing eggs; 2) by thickening the cervical mucous; 3) by preventing a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus.

Availability: Unfortunately, in some states you still need a Rx to get EC at the local pharmacy. Let this not deter you if you need it! Make an appointment with your doctor or local clinic ASAP. Planned Parenthood generally provides EC on a sliding scale basis, and you can stock up on EC in case. To find out about availability in your area, call 1.888.NOT.2.LATE

Safety Note: The hormone in EC is also a hormone in some birth control pills, it is only in greater potency in EC. For this reason, if it is not safe for you to use birth control pills, you probably should not take EC.

***A reader pointed put that if a person with a uterus taking EC weighs more than 160 pounds, there is a high chance the EC will not work. See:

In an insane world, it is hard to stay sane. Every day we are faced with issues that test our ability to keep level. If you feel or find yourself overwhelmed with the daily duty of living, or prevent getting to that point, try these tips.

Body

A healthy body contributes to a healthy mind!

Food: One can’t expect to be at one’s best if one doesn’t eat well. Everything in moderation is the key. Steering clear of foods high in cholesterol and salt, eating more beans, rice, and fresh veggies can help your body stay in balance. Eating a whole-foods, plant-based diet can prevent most common illnesses. Diet also directly affects energy levels and moods, the healthier you eat, the better you feel. Drinking lots of water is essential in maintaining energy, flushing out toxins, and preventing headaches related to dehydration.

Sleep: Sleep is essential for mental wellbeing. The average person should get between 6 and 8 hours each night, but everyone is different. There are accounts of people only needing a couple of hours of sleep a night! If you aren’t getting enough, try to plan some mid-day naps if possible, even 20 minutes does wonders (then the midnight dumpstering won’t leave you fatigued and grouchy). If you are having sleeping problems in general, check out our herb guide.

Mind

To survive in this world, we need to be able to take our minds back.

Meditation: Meditation can clear the mind of useless crap that often finds its way into our brains and mentally exhaust us. Setting up group meditation can allow trading of ideas and techniques. Solidarity meditation can help you with everyday stress and anxiety.

Create: Learning to express yourself in creative ways can help much of your problems by allowing yourself to see them by bringing them to the surface. Take up an instrument, cook, garden, build, paint, or carry a writing or sketching pad with you. Allow your everyday life to become an expression of self!

Panic Attacks

Given the amount of things we are forced to deal with everyday, it is easy to become overwhelmed and stressed. These are some tips on how to deal with panic attacks. Use as a person having a panic attack or a friend helping.

-Breathe! Keep your breathing steady, exhale twice as long as you inhale. Count your breaths. This will calm your breathings and keep you from hyperventilating.

-Remove yourself from crowded areas. If you are with a friend, take them with you. If not, it’s okay to do this alone.

-Come back to your body by having your friend hold you, or hold yourself. Sit somewhere soft and remember to breathe, rocking back and forth, until you come back to your body. Walking around also helps to put your body and breath back in rhythm.

-If alone, call friends until you reach someone. Tell them what you are feeling and what is going on. This will give you support from someone you trust.

-Don’t fight it. Letting the feeling come will be helpful. Fighting it will just create more stress and anxiety, the ebb and flow of emotions is natural.

Accepting yourself

The best thing to do is accept yourself with your problems. We are taught to hold back and act “normal.” It is totally natural to cry or get angry. When we learn about each other and our emotions, we become connected in ways that are unmatched by anything our society has ever seen. Making real honest emotional connection with others, ourselves, and our communities gives us the strength to fight the system.

Note: This is not meant to be a guide for people with serious mental illness. If that is the case, these suggestions most likely will not be enough. If you are dealing with someone who suffers a serious mental illness, we encourage you to find help, which is respectful and appropriate, whether social, psychological, or a combination.