130 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
130 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
LET'S GET ORGANIZED!
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Dear Friends and comrades:
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Recently I completed a coast-to-coast speaking tour to promote my
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newly reprinted book Anarchism and the Black Revolution, and also to raise
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funds for the legal defense in the Chattanooga 8 racist frame-up case. I
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spoke in 25 different cities to thousands of persons, and gave over 90
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separate presentations. The tour not only allowed me to go to new places
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and meet many friends and comrades, it also allowed me to size upthe North
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American Anarchist (and anti-authoritarian) movement, the struggle around
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political prisoners, and the state of the Black movement today. I would
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like to give you my assessment of where we are, and what I think can be
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done to make changes.
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The Anarchist and other anti-authoritarian forces are currently in
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"ghettos" which are almost all-white, all youth-oriented, all middle-class,
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and generally disconnected from the surrounding communities (many of which
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are majority African or Hispanic). This cannot be allowed to go on if
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anti-authoritarian politics are to become a real force in North American
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social life. We must become more ethnically diverse, more action-oriented,
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and more community based--if we are serious about a struggle for a social
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revolution on this continent. My idea is for the creation of an
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Anti-Authoritarian Network of Community Organizers (AANCO), a "united
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front" of all those Anarchist forces who think we must build a broader,
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more militant movement, which includes "ordinary" people and deals with the
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revolution of everyday life. We need a movement of more than "punks",
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college youth, or even like-minded Anarcho-activist types in another narrow
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"federation".
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AANCO is a worker/student/youth alliance; a direct action community based
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organization to fight the crippling of capitalism: economic exploitation,
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unemployment, homelessness, poverty, police brutality, racism and other
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ills of a system in decline. We want to build a movement of thousands--and
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ultimately millions--of persons to resist this corrupt system and fight for
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a better life, which can only come with a new society.
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We believe the old radical Left and syndicalist ideals of the "industrial
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working class" grouped into large work sites serving as a revolutionary
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class vanguard is outdated, and that the structure of capitalism has
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produced a new class of "super-poor" persons who are marginalized and
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divorced from any hope of gainful employment under this system. AANCO
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believes that because of structural unemployment, caused by automation,
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corporate downsizing, de-industrialization and a host of other factors, the
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primary site of struggle has now shifted from the workplace to the
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community. In fact, we believe that it is in the cities themselves where we
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can build a movement to overthrow capital. But while we fight back against
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the capitalist state, we must build a new counter-culture and new community
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institutions.
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We also believe poverty has become "racial-ized" in this country, with
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millions of Black and other people of color bearing the brunt of the
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current capitalist depression, and now constituting the majority of the new
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poor and homeless. Because we recognize that this poverty is no "accident"
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and does not hit everyone equally, but is rather a class and race
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phenomenon, we realize that we need a Poor Peoples' Survival Movement which
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unites the poor of all races, but especially the non-white communities in a
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fightback movement. In that sense this movement would "fight racism", while
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understanding that fighting racism is more than counter-mobilizations
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against the Klan or Nazis, because white supremacy is more than a fascist
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vanguard. All the institutions of capitalism are racist, and white
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supremacy is an intrinsic part of the ideological and socio-economic
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foundations of this system. So we have to fight to destroy the system
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itself in order to truly destroy racism. White people must help fight for
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the rights of people of color--on the job, on the campuses, and in the
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community, and not passively allow the "white power" state to destroy them
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with government "anti-crime" programs, "weed and seed", "commmunity
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policing" and other repressive initiatives. The state has always depended
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on the white population to be accomplices to its criminal activities, AANCO
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says NO!
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The Poor People's Survival Movement would be a program started by AANCO,
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(which is primarily a group of Anarchists and anti-racist activists), and
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supported by the Federation of Black Community Partisans, Roots of
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Resistance, and a number of local groups in the communities, on college
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campuses, in prisons, in workplaces and other institutions all over N.
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America. PPSM is a direct action movement of the poor, which will take over
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abandoned housing for homeless persons, engage in mass urban squatting,
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sit-ins at welfare offices and government buildings, and other acts of
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civil disobedience. However, although all of these examples are
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non-violent, this is not a pacifist organization; we expect to see food
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riots, street fighting, general strikes and ultimately social revolution
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break out. We support all of this as leading to our freedom.
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The most important objective of our work now is designed to build
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revolutionary dual power institutions in the community to counter
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capitalist state power and begin to constitute an infrastructure for
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Anarchism and freedom. Whether we call it a "workers council", "peoples'
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assembly", "community-economic workshop or other neighborhood
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self-governing structure, these local institutions could unite into
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national and international federations to destroy capitalism and the
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institution of the nation-state. The local groups would be autonomous, but
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united in free association on a larger scale. This idea of the self
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sufficient "eco-city" and the bioregional federation is no pipe dream of
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mine; many are starting to realize that it can be built under today's
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conditions. In fact, I believe that we must start building a commune now
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which exists in the belly of the living capitalist beast, that covers the
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U.S., Northern and Latin America, and stretches to fit the rest of the
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world. This intercommunalism is the way forward.
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So, where do we start? I think we should begin now in a realistic way in
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our own communities to break out of the Anarchist ghetto, and establish a
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social revolutionary movement which cannot be ignored and cannot be
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resisted. A movement which can become a real force in people's lives. Let
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us make it happen. Please join the Anti-Authoritarian Network of Community
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Organizers, and help us build the Poor Peoples' Survival Network. If you or
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your organization would be interested in working with us, please send $10
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for an individual membership or $20 for an organization to the address
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listed below.
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I think it is important that I maintain as high a profile as possible in
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order to push the more militant politics, and to serve as a pole of
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attraction for those who want to engage in a more serious effort than the
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Anarchist youth counter-cultural "Punk" scene. So I also intend to continue
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my speaking tour in 1994-95, in order to make new contacts with those
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Anarchists/anti-authoritarians that I have not met and also to spread the
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ideas of a federation of community organizers. I will be conducting a
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number of workshops on anti-racist politics and community organizing, for
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booking information please call the voice mail # below.
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In solidarity,
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Lorenzo Komboa Ervin
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AANCO
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145 Park Drive
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Decatur, GA 30030
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(404) 717-4074 (voice mail)
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