Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Reports from the First Annual Los Angeles Anarchist Bookfair

First Annual Los Angeles Anarchist Bookfair: A Beginning Marker of Resistence
by Rockero Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008 at 3:40 AM
rockero420@yahoo.com

Saturday, December 13, 2008 LOS ANGELES - The organizers of the first annual Los Angeles Anarchist Bookfair sent out a call for "dreamers, fighters, organizers, and rebels to come, meet, strategize, learn from each other, get books, attend workshops, participate, and join the movement." And despite the state's efforts to squelch our efforts, come they did--more than 700 people, mostly from the greater Los Angeles area, although some came from as far as San Diego, the Bay Area, Oregon, New York, and even Canada, to participate in this herstory-making event.

First Annual Los Ang...
012.jpg, image/jpeg, 640x239

Plans for this bookfair have been in the works for more than a year, but organizing really started heating up in about September, when an open invitation was made to anyone interested in helping to organize the event. One of the plans hatched--for a benefit concert to help defray the costs of travel for invited speakers--was mercilessly raided by an LAPD squadron on the pretense that they were looking for a shoplifter. The cops violently entered the venue without a warrant and demanded that we prove that we had permission to be there. They targeted some of the main organizers for arrest, outrageously holding them for three days on bogus charges of "resisting or delaying a police officer." (See LAIMC articles "LAPD suppresses radical art space" by tu_kuñ(A)'o and "Police Raid of Anarchist Event," attributed to johnaimani, for more detailed reports.)

But this Saturday we were able to transcend the harassment to convoke the community, share ideas, feed each other, challenge one another to grow in our skills, and strategize about how to create a better world, starting right here in Los Angeles.

Vendors began arriving at the Southern California Library before ten to begin setting their tables up around the perimeter of the main room, but the day truly began at about eleven with a ceremony by Danza Cuauhtémoc, who sanctified the space through dance. They reminded us all that the land upon which we were standing was once and always will be indigenous. With this consciousness, people eagerly began lining up to make their five-dollar entrance donation and begin looking at the books, zines, and pamphlets and start attending the talks and workshops.

I went to the workshop on Marxist economics, the financial crisis, and the current anarchist uprisings in Greece and found it to be the perfect way to start the day. We sat on the floor until the room was full, and then crowded around the open door. Although it was a space where the words of older men dominated, many people participated in the discussion. John Imani began with an explanation of the crisis that was meticulously-reasoned and solidly grounded in history and the present, and urged action from all revolutionaries. He enjoined us to "participate in the class struggle, articulate and experiment with models of non-hierarchical institution building so as to replace the hierarchical institutions of capitalism, and study Marx’s economics." The facilitator then asked a man with close ties to Greece to explain the actions of the autonomist youth there and why they receive so much support from mainstream Greek society. Then a member of Modesto Anarcho reported on responses to mass foreclosures in California's Central Valley, squatting, and his organization's efforts to support squatters. We discussed the sit-in at Republic Doors and Windows in Chicago, the current state of the Left, questioned where to go from here, and attempted to answer that question.

Some examples:

"What we need to think of is a society based on the common ownership of all, not some, not the major means, all, the means of wealth production and distribution."

"One of the main things that we need is alternatives, ans this is a good example, the Zapatista movement. They're having these proposals about how to be owners of their own work, so I belong to a collective, it's called Colectivo Tonantzín, and we're passing out that word. Just an example, coffee is just one thing, that we could work with like that, but we can do it with the other products: clothes, corn..."

"We've been dependent on this artificial system we've been stuck in for many many years. We just have to remember who we are as human beings, and communities will be the ones who decide what they need."

"Individuals have to look within themselves and see how much of the debris of the larger culture they're willing to jettison. You can't carry around the weight of the present culture with its privileges, depending on which part of the world you happened to have had the fortune or misfortune of being born in and then talk about wanting to bring about social change unless you're going to be willing to give up something that may be required of you to make that change possible. It has to start with the individual and their commitment to make their own lives reflect the change they avow."

While I was listening to the talk on economics, other people were upstairs at a talk on the militarization of the US-Mexico border with José Palafox and Budge, and yet another group was in the main room discussing local histories, including the history of our hosting facility of the SoCal Library and urban Zapatismo as practiced in LA.

During the next hour, the main room was filled with spectators eager to learn about Latin American movements. Pedro spoke about Brazilian anarchism, quickly giving an overview of the political history of the entire South American continent, and then Sirena went into detail about the lived experiences of Argentinian anarchists. Finally, Sara spoke on Bolivian and Chilean anarchism, especially that of the womens' groups. The panelists entertained questions, including one on anarcho-syndicalism in Argentina ("The anarchists were the ones who, of course, would radicalize the whole movement when it started to get co-opted by the liberal tendency that was interested mostly in going toward the elections,") and the extent to which the administration of Evo Morales has genuinely benefited the Bolivian people, "So to put Evo in power, sure, it can pass a lot of social improvements, but then they started questioning themselves: How much power can we really build, if only people can understand that this can get weaker at the top as we move stronger at the bottom."

During the talk on Latin American movements, some members of the guerrilla chapter of CopWatch-LA screened their documentary "We're Still Here, We Never Left," on the police brutality in MacArthur Park last May Day. They also gave a workshop on how to start a CopWatch, for those wanting to do so in their own areas. By this time people were starting to get pretty hungry, and were overjoyed by the arrival of Food not Bombs, who provided vegan lunch. Unfortunately, attendance was so high that it ran out. Fortunately, a compañero who is a vegan chef donated a hundred tamales and a pot of Oaxacan mole. Those who were still hungry gladly made donations to get their hands on them.

Following the talk on Latin America, the Anarchist/Autonomous/Angry people of color (APOC) met in the reading room, gently asking that their white allies respect the POC-only space. I went upstairs for the open-source software/indymedia workshop, where we talked about the importance of both institutions and shared the skills and software that facilitate the dissemination of media access. Outside in the garden, a compañera was leading a dating game that acknowledged that gender is not a simple dichotomy.

The next hour featured one of the most highly-anticipated panels: ABCs of Anarchism and Anarchist Tendencies. Tendencies represented included autonomism, anarcha-feminism, anarcho-syndicalism, anarcho-punk, anarcho-communism, and green anarchism, whose exponent, John Zerzan, had flown in from Oregon to sit on the panel. This panel, too, entertained questions and listened to comments from the audience. One of Zerzan's comments called many of the pro-labor tendencies into question when he asked, in response to excitement about reclamation of factories, "What if, rather than being part of the solution, factories are actually the problem?"

Meanwhile, Harjit Singh Gill spoke on nationalism in India's Punjab, and three other compañeros lead a discussion on "creating anarchist think tanks."

The workshops scheduled for the four o'clock hour, which by this time had been pushed to 4:45, included "Queer and trans communities of color," led by volunteers from Q-Team. While not a self-identified anarchist group, Q-Team does a lot of positive work for and with youth in the community, especially on decolonization, and makes use of queer theory, which is itself quite revolutionary. However, rather than speaking on specific topics, the facilitators sought to open a space where dialogue could take place and as many people as possible could speak. They began by rearranging the chairs in the main room into a large circle. Topics of discussion included the recent efforts to oppose the homophobic proposition 8, gay marriage, and whether or not the struggle for marriage is or should be a priority among the queer and trans people of color community. One member of Q-Team mentioned that one strategy they have found to be successful was helping people reconnect with their spirituality, which raised the ire of some anti-religion fundamentalists. The issue of religion diverted the discussion from its productive path. Two individuals in particular, both of whom appeared to be white and who did not identify as queer during the discussion, talked about the need to "bring atheism to communities of color," going on to blame those communities for the passage of prop 8. Many people in the circle were offended and felt the need to respond, which led to a debate between the two antagonizers and the rest of the crowd. Before we realized it, the hour was nearly up and we realized we had spent a bit too long giving those two people a platform to voice their beliefs and we had not given very many other people the chance to talk, especially on other things we might have liked to discuss. But we consoled ourselves with the reminder that the conversations in which we were engaging that day were but the beginnings of a larger dialogue among ourselves and with the larger society.

While the Q-Team discussion was going on, Klee Benally, Michael Paul Hill, and Angela Mooney led a conversation on indigenous rights and self-determination. While, like Q-Team, not all the leaders of that discussion identified as anarchists, they were definitely seeking to restore autonomy to their communities, and shared how participants could show solidarity.

Upstairs, Lawrence Reyes from the Puerto Rican Alliance discussed some of the history of the Boricua independence movement, as well as giving an update on the status of five political prisoners/prisoners of war held in US jails.

Outdoors, a graduate of the Center for Non Violent Education and Parenting gave a talk on how to be a parent without being an authoritarian, a topic of keen interest for radical parents.

The next panel in the main room created a very positive buzz among the crowd. Four compañeras gathered at the front. Two of them led a highly-interactive discussion on anarcha-feminism. One member of the audience intoned, "for me, anarcha-feminism is taking up that struggle to address that very first, that very foundational hierarchical relationship between men and women." Liz summed up her thoughts, "Anarcha-feminism, its an inherent part of anarchism. If you're not an anracha-feminist, you're not a fucking anarchist." One of their goals of the anarcha-feminists, which is rooted in a need for community, is the creation of an anarcha-feminist women's group. So far, it has a web presence at anarchala@googlegroups.com. "We're actually trying to start some sort of a critical movement in Los Angeles that has to do with issues that are important to anarcha-feminism." For the next part of the panel, Shannon spoke on the oft-overlooked political aspects of the riot grrl movement, which is often seen only as a 90s-era musical genre. And finally, Pati García spoke about ways for women to reclaim their bodies and their health. As time grew short, the panelists invited those interested in continuing the interaction upstairs, which would provide a more intimate space and adequate time to delve deeper into the topics brought up.

While the women led the panel in the main room, Shahid Buttar spoke on FBI surveillance and intelligence gathering and Ron Gochez from the Unión del Barrio and Frente Contra las Redadas gave a "know your rights" workshop that focussed on the rights of immigrants, particularly the undocumented.

Upstairs, Amitis Motevalli led an art workshop on collage and stencil-making. Satisfied artists carried radical stencils as they exited, armed to fight the revolution through art.

As the main room cleared out to make room for the "Black Panthers and Anarchism" panel, the women's circle regrouped upstairs among the remaining artists. Ashanti Alston, the New York-based former Black Panther and former political prisoner who is now active with the abolitionist Jericho Coalition, was one of the main attractions. Other panelists included Roland Freeman, who stood in for his brother Elder Freeman, and Wayne Pharr, both original members of the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Members of LA's Black Rider Liberation Party, as well as KPFK host and Pan-Africanist Dedon Kamathi, also sat in on the panel.

The last panel of the day was "Anarchist People of Color in Practice," in which representatives from mostly Los Angeles-based organizations discussed their activities. Omar Ramirez spoke about his research on the history of Chican@ anarchism, which added greatly to the discussion by connecting what we were doing there that day to struggles dating back to the Flores-Magón brothers' pre-Mexican Revolutionary anarcho-syndicalist organizing with the Partido Liberal Mexicano and the Industrial Workers of the World in Los Angeles.

While the APOC in practice panel was going on, Pitzer College professor Dana Ward, who also is the main force behind the Anarchy Archives, gave his talk. "Alchemy in Clarens: Reclus, Kropotkin, and the origins of Anarcho-Communism" began by placing the anarchist movement into historical perspective. "Anarchism arose in Europe in the 19th century in response to the rise of capitalism and the modern state." He went on to characterize Reclus as the "quintessential anarchist" of the key ten-year period between the fall of the Paris Commune and the formal establishment of Anarcho-communism and as the key architect of the movement. He also went into Reclus' ideas, particularly those concerning the necessity of the collectivization not only of production, but also of consumption, an idea that was rooted in Reclus' work as a social geographer.

By the end of the APOC in practice panel and Dana Ward's talk, it was already nine o'clock. Needing some time to clean up and tie up loose ends before the library's closure, we were forced to forgo the popular assembly with which we had hoped to end. People milled about, making last minute purchases, getting phone numbers and e-mail addresses from newfound comrades, and making plans for subsequent gatherings and actions.

Photos:

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2008/12/222978.php


Videos:

Videos from the Anarchist Bookfair
by Organic Raw Tofu Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008 at 3:03 PM

More videos coming soon....
Interview with Ralf L.A. Anarchist Bookfair Commity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HADP67Oxrhc


Ashanti Alston : Anarchist Black Panther
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44-bcCOsQMA

Interview with Neddel Callejo about the L.A. Anarchist Bookfair
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe4fs3cOKDI

Interview with Klee Benally about the L.A. Anarchist Bookfair
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U3NXO3o-hA

Bilal Ali : Black Panther Party at Los Angeles Anarchist Bookfair
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0JlYhDfEAg


http://www.revolutionbythebook.akpress.org/la-anarchist-bookfair-reportback-with-photos/

LA Anarchist Bookfair Reportback (with photos)!

By AK Press | December 15, 2008

AK Press had a presence at the First Annual Los Angeles Anarchist Bookfair held last weekend at the venerable Southern California Library in South Central LA. The event was a huge success, thanks to the hard work of the bookfair’s tireless organizers, attendees ready to dialogue and learn, and a spirit of resistance that seems to grow stronger everyday.

The following photos (all by Chuck Morse) will give you a feel for the event.

ABOVE: The crowded scene outside the library between workshops. Attendance at the event greatly exceeded the organizers expectations. It was packed! There were easily 600 to 700 people circulating at any given time.

ABOVE: A discussion in the Library’s courtyard.

ABOVE: People chatting between workshops in the Library’s “Reading Room.”

ABOVE: AK’s busy table!

ABOVE: A view of some of the other presses and publishers tabling at the event.

ABOVE: Participatory discussion during the “Queer and Trans Communities of Color” session.

ABOVE: Session organizers introducing the “Anarcha-Feminism/Women’s Health/Riot Grrl” session.

ABOVE: The “Black Panthers and Anarchism” session.

ABOVE: Ashanti Alston, “The Anarchist Panther,” speaks during the “Black Panthers and Anarchism” session.

Fuck the Haters!

Don't hate the rebel, hate the struggle!

East L.A. Undersiege: Justice for Salvador Zepeda

Tuesday, ELALopezMaravilla

11/20/08

URGENT CALL!!!! "EAST L.A. UNDERSIEGE" "WE DEMAND THE SHERIFFS TO STAND DOWN"

18 year old salvador zepeda, was gunned down and tortured

4 houses away from his home

To the east not even 3 blocks away the CHP Station to the north less then 4 blocks

Central Station of the Great Empire Sheriffs Dept.

A small community stands alone surrounded by freeways and main streets eastern

And floral. As you drive by and blink you would miss it

Predominately Chicano Latino families.

The chilling story of a young man in his early

Thriving years of life are gone. Loved by many, known as a young man that was seen as a happy Go lucky kid, had no priors of violence.

I stop and wonder why was he killed so brutally

What could he have done? As the palabra went out into the streets and the community.

..."The neighborhood is hot, worse then a fire cracker". Don't go there!

The stories got worse as I attempted to find out who is this young man who are his

Parents and worse of all I felt in my gut a great injustice being committed. I wasted no

Time and began’ to call my sources many eager to find out and assist.

Nearly 2 weeks went by

I finally received some good leads and decided to go in myself..............

It was true and much more.

I saw the flowers and the love of a community standing in mourning for this young man. As I parked those standing near moved quickly and began walking away,

I called out and they kept moving fast,

I knew this was not a natural way to perceive someone asking them to come. So I followed them and said I want to help you, I am not your enemy here is my card I need to speak to the family.

Immediately after they opened up I was asked to come in.

I Felt the spirit of the young man and others about, but a peace that I had finally found

The place I had been looking for.

A beautiful family the room filled with young women and children, sad

And in question, their eyes red filled with tears mourning for their lost.

The mother I could see was strong and in pain full of questions and desperate

For answers. Others were not certain if I was a spy

Or if in fact I could assist. The stories that came to my ears were confirmed,

And horrifying

This community is under siege

And not by another gang. Nor is this place in another country of war this is here in the USA Califas. EAST LOS ANGELES

A small community in an unincorporated place.

The face of the children in fear, the women concerned and nearly paralyzed, fumed with anger of Injustice.

One young lady stated, " They Come Every Day with their helicopters and sweep the streets beat on our young People, we are all traumatized".

The children once would say hello to the police are now in fear and you could see they

Are confused and do not trust them".

The East Los Angeles Sheriff Dept is holding this community hostage.

An unarmed young man had been harassed by one sheriff in particular,

Witness’s state that the young man was

Eventually gunned down, tortured and beat this young man Salvador Zepeda... eyewitness testify that 16 people were

Arrested as of today, on trumped up charges. Some cannot be located.......

This is an Urgent Call For Help" those of us that know of someone pls.

I need you to help us Help Them..... There have been continued sweeps,

Harassment, beatings and arrests to date.

Sheriffs continue to drive by and mock the death of the young man.

There is fear in the small streets

Of East Los Angeles. Not Iraq!!Our back yards.

TIME IS OF THE ECCENCE......

Please contact me: aperez552003@yahoo.com

562 472-8394

Amanda,
Just phoned me minutes ago to run this tragedy of Salvador Zepeda down to me.
She explained to me what the people told her which seems to be a different story from what the paper states.
I am overwhelmed with anger and grief.
I would like to turn this anger into a positive energy and assist these people.
I am including those of you I think can be of assistance in one way or another.
We need to help these people organize.
We have the skills and combined we have the necessary tools and contacts.
1. Get list of murders by Los Angeles Sheriff department
2. Set up a meeting with all community members
a. Compile witness statements
b. Make list of demands
3. Get record of sheriffs who were involved in shooting
4. Contact ACLU
5. Contact Sher riff Baca and set up meeting
6. Contact Molina and set up meeting
7. Organize a town hall meeting

Sincerely,
Gina DeBaca
-Mother For Justice-


1 killed, 1 hurt in shootings in L.A. County




http://www.latimes.com/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=3188440

On Sunday, deputies shoot, kill a man who pulled a handgun on them in East L.A. On Saturday, police shoot, wound a man during an altercation at a South L.A. liquor store.
By Yvonne Villarreal
December 1, 2008
Three unrelated shootings involving officers occurred in Los Angeles County over the weekend, leaving one man dead and another seriously injured, authorities said today.

A man, identified by the Los Angeles County coroner's office as 18-year-old Salvador Zepeda Alarcon,was killed today in the 800 block of Humphreys Avenue, near Folsom Street in East Los Angeles after L.A. County Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of shots fired, said Sheriff's Deputy Oscar Butao.

The officers were traveling west on Folsom Street when they saw the man running east. Deputies got out of their vehicle and ordered Alarcon to stop, Butao said, but he ignored their instructions, drew a handgun from his waistband and pointed it at the officers.

The deputies fired several rounds at the man's chest, Butao said. Alarcon was pronounced dead at the scene, Butao said.

In a separate incident Saturday night, LAPD gang officers in South Los Angeles pulled over two males outside a liquor store at 98th and Main streets. After the stop, the officers followed the men inside the store, where an altercation ensued, said Los Angeles Police Officer Norma Eisenman.

One of the officers fired his weapon, striking one of the men, who was taken to a nearby hospital and is in stable condition, Eisenman said. One of the men had a handgun. Both men were arrested.

The officers were not injured. Police did not release the name of the officer who fired his weapon.

In an unrelated incident Saturday night in San Pedro, two patrol officers saw two men walking near 3rd Street and Grand Avenue. One of the men appeared to be carrying a rifle partly concealed under a garment, LAPD Lt. Jim Cummings said. As officers approached, the men fled, and police pursued them.

The man suspected of carrying the weapon stopped, turned around and pointed it at the officers, Cummings said. Officers fired but did not hit the man, he said. The man dropped a rifle. He was arrested and is being charged with attempted murder of a police officer, Cummings said. The second man is still at large. Police did not identify either man.

The two officers were not injured in the incident. Further details were not immediately available, police said.

Villarreal is a Times staff writer.

yvonne.villarreal@latimes.com

Thursday, December 11, 2008

LA Anarchist Bookfair: Statement of Purpose and Speaker Schedule and Bios

The 1st Annual Los Angeles Anarchist Bookfair
December 13, 2008 from 11am - 9pm
at the Southern California Library
6120 S. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90044
www.anarchistbookfa ir.com

There will be translation from English to Spanish.


We thank you all for taking part in this collaborative effort to create an alternative space in which to socialize & strategize, especially in the face of recent repression. The Los Angeles Anarchist Bookfair is the next step in our city's establishment of a radical presence in Southern California. Organized by mainly Anarchists of color, the bookfair collective structured this event with the intention to make visible our shared histories and cultures of resistance. Organizing the bookfair has meant going beyond our neighborhoods and networks in our outreach so as to develope a popular regional resistance movement that actively challenges the violent, oppressive, and destructive systems of the state and capitalism. We hope that by opening a space that is respectful of all anarchist tendencies, we will aid in the creation of a collective vision of an anarchist alternative to authoritarian party-politics and organizations. The Anarchist Bookfair is a beginning marker of resistance, not an end.


--Anarchist Bookfair Collective 2008

Photobucket
http://i120. photobucket. com/albums/ o193/copwatchla/ bookfair1front. jpg


Photobucket

http://i120. photobucket. com/albums/ o193/copwatchla/ Flyerfront. jpg


1ST ANNUAL LOS ANGELES ANARCHIST BOOK FAIR WORKSHOPS/PANELS


11:00PM
(Main Room)
Welcome / Danza Cuauhtémoc


12:00PM
(Main Room)
Local Histories
“Southern California Library and South Central Los Ángeles" by SCL Staff
The Southern California Library is a people's library dedicated to documenting and preserving the histories of communities in struggle for justice and using our collections to address the challenges of the present so that all people have the ability, resources, and freedom to make their own histories.
http://www.socallib .org

“Urban Zapatismo” by Sirena Pellarolo
silvia.pellarolo@ csun.edu
Sirena Pellarolo is an activist-scholar, published poet and playwright and educator born in Argentina. Sirena works with the Eastside Cafe, El Sereno, an autonomous space in Northeast Los Ángeles, inspired by the Zapatista example of autonomy, horizontality and self-determination. She is currently walking the politics of resistance and creation with autonomous movements of the Americas (Chiapas, Los Ángeles, Argentina) from an observing participant perspective.

“Los Ángeles Anarchisms” by Hector and others

(Reading Room)
Anarchism & Economics
“Anarchism & Marxist Economics” by John Imani
Bio: A long time organizer, in the 1960s John helped organize a student strike at LACC with the Black Student Union. He is also a playwrite and journalist. He's a community organizer, identifies as an anarcho-communist, anti-authoritarian marxist and is currently a member of the Revolutionary Autonomous Communities, collaborating with the free food program on Sundays in Los Angeles' Mcarthur Park.

“Economic Crisis: Working Class Responses” by Gui Ford & Modesto Anarcho
Bio: "Modesto Anarcho" is a journal produced by the Direct Action Anti-Authoritarians (DAAA) Collective, based out of Modesto, California in the Central Valley. http://www.geocitie s.com/anarcho209 /

(Upstairs)
Militarizing the Border
“Contesting the Militarization of the Mexico-U.S. border” By Jose Palafox & Budge.
jose@akpress. org
Bio: Born in Tijuana, raised in San Diego. Jose has been involved in many DIY-political punk bands, currently working on a new music project, Baader Brains. His political work, writing & documentary film has focused on issues of migration, specifically relating to the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border and the social movements along the California and Arizona border region. Jose has taught Chican@/Latin@ Studies and Sociology at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, Stanford, Mills College and U of San Francisco. He has been published in Social Justice, Covert Action Quarterly, ColorLines, Z Magazine, Borderlines, Shades of Power, Left Turn, and Maximum RocknRoll. He currently works in publishing at AK Press in Oakland, California. http://www.revoluti onbythebook. akpress.org/ jose-palafox/
Burridge@usc. edu
Bio: Budge is a Ph.D candidate from Australia, now at the University of Southern California in the Department of Geography. He is studying direct action grassroots social movements in the Mexico-U.S. borderlands surrounding undocumented migration, and has been involved with No More Deaths/No Más Muertes and the No Border Network, as well as anti-immigration raid organizing in Los Ángeles.

(Garden)
Sustainable Architecture and Super Adobe
By Cal-Earth Apprentices. Ulises Ramirez
Ulises helped organize and establish the North East LA chapter of Food not Bombs in 2006. He is a core site apprentice at the Cal-Earth Institute of Earth, Art and Architecture and one of the organizers of the Los Ángeles Anarchist Bookfair.
http://www.calearth .org



1:00PM
(Main Room)
Latin American Radical Movements
“Expresiones Ácratas: Bolivian and Chilean examples” by Sara Ramírez Galindo.
SaraRGalindo@ gmail.com
Bio: Born in Puebla, Mexico, raised in Compton, California. Sara’s been active/organizing for about 10 years with community organizations, cultural centers, student groups, and anarchist collectives- including Casa del Pueblo, Mujeres Libres (Los Ángeles), APOC, and currenty with Amanecer: For a Popular Anarchism. Academically, she contributes to the study of Latin American Autonomous & Anarchist Social Movements- focusing on womyn, youth & people of color; art, muralism & performance in politics; and affection-based politics.

“Anarchism in Brazil: Past & Present” by Pedro de Sa.
PedroFlamengo@ gmail.com
Bio: Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Have been involved with anarchist organizing, publications and groups in Brazil since 1997. in 2001 migrated to the U.S. Was involved with community college student organizing, the IWW and anarchist groups in the Bay, like APOC and Furious Five. Is currently a rank-and-filer member of the ILWU, working in a warehouse, and a member of Amanecer: For a Popular Anarchism.

“Mexico’s Ediciones Antorcha” by Vlad.
sandpaperbooks@ gmail.com

Sirena Pellarolo
silvia.pellarolo@ csun.edu
Sirena Pellarolo is an activist-scholar, published poet and playwright and educator born in Argentina. Sirena works with the Eastside Cafe, El Sereno, an autonomous space in Northeast Los Ángeles, inspired by the Zapatista example of autonomy, horizontality and self-determination. She is currently walking the politics of resistance and creation with autonomous movements of the Americas (Chiapas, Los Ángeles, Argentina) from an observing participant perspective.

(Reading Room)
How to Create a Cop Watch Patrol Unit/ Film Screening: "Todavia Estamos Aqui, Nunca Nos Fuimos. We're Still Here, We Never Left"
By Cop Watch LA Guerrilla Chapter and the Revolutionary Autonomous Communities
Bio: Cop Watch Los Ángeles Guerrilla Chapter states, "We're made up of individuals from different hoods, looking to build a base in our own communities while we help create a mass movement to stop police terrorism against our peoples."
Bio: The Revolutionary Autonomous Communities, "We are a revolutionary federation of community councils and liberated spaces based in occupied communities made up of oppressed people of color. We are a horizontal organization building self-sustainability and creating the structure, strategy, and program for change through direct participatory forms of organizing and a decision-making process based on consensus."

(Upstairs)
Self- Defense
By Tim Santos

(Garden)
Experiences of the Asian Hardcore
By Moritsugu "Mo" Nishida
Bio: Mo is a “Social Chemist,” Activist & Community Leader. He was one of the many Japanese-Americans that were sent to the concentration camps during WW2. He has been an active organizer in the Asian community and with Lil’ Tokyo 4 Peace, Asians for Jericho and Mumia.


2:00PM
(Main Room)
Food Not Bombs – Los Ángeles / Animal Liberation Press

(Reading Room)
APOC caucus
[An Anarchist People Of Color- only space]

(Upstairs)
Creating Your Own Media / Open Source Software
By IndyMedia-Los Ángeles' John Kawakami / Josh Haglund & Nick
Bio: John Kawakami is a computer programmer and participant in IMC. He is presently learning composting and photography. He lives in South San Gabriel.
Josh has been involved with the Food not Bombs movement for over eight years, and continues to host Los Ángeles FNB at his residence in Silver Lake.
Nick is originally an LA Food-not-Bomber, but moved to Berkeley a year ago to attend Cal, where he is involved in Berkeley CopWatch.

(Garden)
Games/Dating Game
NancyX

(Out Front)
Lunch—By Food not Bombs


3:00PM
(Main Room)
ABCs of Anarchism / Anarchist Tendencies Panel

“Autonomism” by Revolutionary Autonomous Communities


“Anarcha-Feminism” by Liz Lopez

Bio: Liz helped organize the 1st Los Ángeles Really Really Free Market this year. She is a long-time member of LA Food not Bombs and one of the organizers for the Anarchist bookfair.


“Anarcho-Syndicalism” by Richard Modiano from IWW

rmodiano@ca. rr.com

bio: I've been a rank and file member of the Industrial Workers of the World since 1974 when I joined the New York City General Membership Branch. I worked at a furniture factory in Barcelona Spain in 1977-78 and joined the Confederacion Nationalista de Trabajadores/ Federacion Anarquista Iberica (CNT/AIT) that was re-constituted after the end of the Franco dictatorship. Presently I work building maintainance and belong to the IWW General Membership Branch.

“Anarcho-Punk” by William Faith
www.myspace. com/animamundi
Bio: Will forms part of the Los Ángeles anarcho punk collective Anima Mundi, Latin for “World Spirit.” Anima Mundi uses music as a primary medium to educate, challenge, question, expose, support, connect and inspire. Any profits generated by their work are channeled back into the different organizations they support, ranging from animal rights, vegetarianism, women’s issues as well as Permaculture.

"Anarcho-Communism" by Adam Welch
Bio: Adam Welch is born and raised in San Jose in the Bay Area and has been involved in social movement organizing for over 10 years in community struggles, at his community college student and with worker struggles through the IWW as well as others. He is 27 and lives with his partner and soon to be daughter/son.

“Green Anarchism” by John Zerzan
Bio:As a US-based anarchist and leading primitivist philosopher, Zerzan's works criticize agricultural civilization as inherently oppressive, and advocate drawing upon the ways of life of prehistoric humans as an inspiration for what a free society should look like.

(Reading Room)
Creating Anarchist Think Tanks
By Vlad
sandpaperbooks@ gmail.com

(Upstairs)
Rethinking National Liberation-Punjab as Case Analysis
By Harjit Singh Gill
harjitgill@gmail. com
Bio: Harjit Singh Gill is a graduate student in the field of social work in Oakland, CA. His workshop will discuss a historically neglected struggle for national liberation amongst the people of Punjab. Anarchism has traditionally had a weakness in analysis related to national liberation, but Gill hopes that through a re-evaluation of this case example, we can refine our approach and join in solidarity with oppressed people everywhere.

(Garden)
Chess Tournament For Anarchists
By D’Angelo


4:00PM
(Main Room)
Queer and Trans Communities of Color
“Trans & Queer Youth of Color” by Q-Team
Bio: Qteam is a queer and trans youth of color collective of individuals with complex identities rooted in various traditionally marginalized and oppressed communities in Los Ángeles. Qteam's founding members include youth who identify as immigrants, refugees, poor and working class, womyn (born and self identified), differently abled, and spiritual. Qteam exists to challenge and resist the many interlocking systems of oppressions through multi-issue, grassroots organizing. Qteam is committed to building and sustaining safe physical and political spaces for the empowerment of young people by advancing and supporting their natural leadership abilities through education and the promotion of wellness, self-care, love, respect and self-determination.

Lylliam Posadas & Manush
lylliam.posadas@ gmail.com
beautifuk678@ gmail.com
Lyl just returened from Ghana Africa, where she studied cultural anthropology as an undergraduate student at UCLA. Before going to Africa, Lyl volunteered at LA Food not Bombs and was an internet radio host for Kill Radio.

(Reading Room)
Indigenous Resistance & Self Determination

"Indigenous Resistance and Self Determination: A discussion and planning session on current Indigenous struggles, cultural survival, sacred places & sacred burial sites"
By Angela Mooney, Michael Paul Hill & Klee Benally and other presenters*

* Please note: Out of respect for the fact that this workshop is being held on Tongva lands, there will be space during the workshop for Indigenous peoples from Tribal Nations with traditional lands in the Los Ángeles area to speak about the issues facing their communities
Bio: Angela Mooney-D'arcy (Acjachemen Nation) from the United Coalition to Protect Panhe, a grassroots coalition of Native American Acjachemen people.
Bio: Michael Paul Hill is from the Chiricahua Apache Alliance, working as an Anti US/MX Border Wall and Indigenous Sovereignty and Human Rights Advocate at the national and international level. Michael is currently addressing militarization of the border by working with the Lipan Apache Women's Defense to stop the LA (A) Bookfair Workshop Presenters - Google Docsconstruction of a wall on Indigenous Peoples lands and territories.
Bio: Klee Benally (Dine') from Indigenous Action Media, Save the Peaks Coalition and the Taala Hooghan Infoshop, an indigenous-establis hed volunteer-run collective dedicated to creatively confronting and overcoming social and environmental injustices in Flagstaff, Arizona and surrounding areas. Contact: indig enous actio n@ gmail .com

(Upstairs)
Puerto Rican Liberation Update
By Lawrence Reyes
Bio: Lawrence Reyes participates with the Puerto Rican Alliance, an international organization seeking the complete de-colonization of Puerto Rico, self-determination and the release of all Puerto Rican political prisoners and all political prisoners.

(Garden)
Non-Violent Anti-Authoritarian Parenting
Ariel graduated student of the Center for Non Violent Education and Parenting
CNVEP does not use the word nonviolent in reaction to violence, but as a word that honors the connection with a child that respects the core dignity of the child as a full and complete human being. Therefore, the right relationship to have with a child is one that is built on respect and kindness towards the core feelings and needs of the child.



5:00PM
(Main Room)
Anarcha-Feminism/ Women’s Health / Riot Grrl
"Anarcha-Feminism" by Brigid Flaherty & Liz Lopez
Bio: Brigid is a professional activist in that she is employed by the Pushback Network to work for social change. For over 6 years, Brigid has worked to empower and support women and girls, gay and lesbian youth, and people living with HIV/AIDS. Brigid helped organize the 1st Los Ángeles Really Really Free Market this year.
Bio: Liz helped organize the 1st Los Ángeles Really Really Free Market this year. She is a long-time member of LA Food not Bombs and one of the organizers for the Anarchist bookfair.

“Riot Grrl” by Shannon

“Panochas Poderosas: Sexual Empowerment and Precise Anatomic Self-Awareness Workshop"
By Pati Garcia. Website: www.myspace. com/djpandulce and e-mail pandulce@gmail. com
Bio: Pati Garcia is a first generation Peruvian-Mexican Chicana of the San Gabriel Valley. Bodyworker trained in Shiatsu, Cranio-Sacral, Pregnancy, Women's Sacred Anatomy, and birth Doula, Pati brings people to a deeper understanding of self, therefore evolutionizing individuals' awareness and well-being. She's also a women's consciousness raising workshop leader and women's sacred anatomy teacher including self-examination guidance. Her passion is to provide accurate information so a woman can make informed decisions about her body. She provides non-judgemental natural healing support pre and post pregnancy and/or abortion for any woman who needs it.

Dannie Drake

(Reading Room)
Security, Rights, Surveillance & Intelligence Gathering
“Rights at the Borders and FBI Surveillance & Intelligence Gathering “ by Shahid Buttar from Muslim Advocates
shadid@muslimadvoca tes.org
Bio: Shahid Buttar is a civil rights lawyer, hip-hop MC, independent columnist, grassroots community organizer, singer and poet. Professionally, he directs a program combating racial & religious profiling at a non-profit legal advocacy and educational organization representing the American Muslim community. He also leads a U.S.-based organization supporting the Pakistani lawyers movement.

Ron Gochez
Bio: Ron is a Social Justice Educator/Community Organizer with Union Del Barrio- Los Ángeles and Frente Contra las Redadas- South Central

Activist Attorneys

(Upstairs)
Art & Resistance: Stencils, Puppets, and Presentation
"Subverting dominant media through collage" By Amitis Motevalli
Bio: Amitis Motevalli was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to the US in 1977. Motevalli states, “Being an immigrant in the US shows in my work a duality of culture, both natural and learned. In all of my work, I create a dialogue that critiques dominant views of oppressed people and culture in general”. Her work in art education is with youth who share a similar duality in vision. Motevalli has been active in creating social change with her students on issues of civil rights within the class through pedagogy or working with students and community to organize around issues that effect their quality of life and access to education.

Mauricio and Sergio

6:00PM
(Main Room)
Black Panthers and Anarchism
By Ashanti Alston, Shareef Abdullah, Roland Freeman, Wayne Pharr & Black Riders Liberation Party
Bio: Ashanti Alston Omowall is an "the @narchist Panther" activist, speaker, and writer, and former member of the Black Panther Party.
Bio: Shareef Abdullah http://diyzine. com/radioshareef .html
Bio: Interview with Roland Freeman http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=gOeBS-QIi8E
Bio: Interview with Wayne Pharr http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=m6mivp29Taw
Bio: Interview with Black Rider Liberation Party http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=ESpofM5Fj4E&feature=related

(Reading Room)
Creating Healthy Relationships
By Christine

(Upstairs)
Reserved for last-minute needs


7:00PM
(Main Room)
Anarchist People Of Color in Practice
This discussion will start with short presentations from indigenous/people of color members of the organizing collective of the Los Angeles Anarchist Bookfair. Members from Revolutionary Autonomous Communities, Amancer, LA Food Not Bombs, Apex Union and others, will give a short presentation on the work that they're doing.

Panelists:
Omar Ramirez on Xicanx Anarchism
Bio: Omar Ramírez was born in East Los Ángeles, California in 1974. He grew up learning to document the contemporary Chicanx experience through several mediums (print/photography/ paint/film) . As an undergraduate student at California State University Northridge (CSUN), Ramírez became active through Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlán (M.E.Ch.A) and founded the ¿Y QUÉ? newsletter in 2003. Ramírez completed his 2008 M.A. thesis in Chicana and Chicano Studies entitled “Black Flag, Red Heart: A Study of Chicana and Chicano Anarchy.”
Victoria Gutierrez works with AK Press, and is part of Accion Zapatista, Radio Zapatista, Black Hole Collective and SouthWest APOC, for her bio you can ask her.
Ashanti Alston Co-Chair of Jericho, part of New York APOC, and member of Critical Resistance
Klee Benally (Dine') from Indigenous Action Media, Save the Peaks Coalition and the Taala Hooghan Infoshop, an indigenous-establis hed volunteer-run collective dedicated to creatively confronting and overcoming social and environmental injustices in Flagstaff, Arizona and surrounding areas.


(Reading Room)
Ending Coalitions, Building Communities / Human Rights Day
By Michael Novick & the Jericho Coalition
antiracistaction_ la@yahoo. com
Bio: Novick is a long-time anti-racist activist. He is editor of "Turning the Tide: Journal of Anti-Racist Action, Research & Education."
Michael participates in the Campaign for Community Control of Police in Los Ángeles.

(Upstairs)
Classical Anarchism
"Alchemy in Clarens: Reclus and Kropotkin & the origins of Anarcho-Communism"
By Dana Ward from Anarchy Archives.
dward@dwardmac. pitzer.edu
http://dwardmac. pitzer.edu/ dward
Bio: I am Professor of Political Studies at Pitzer College. My primary fields are political psychology and American politics. I am also responsible for Anarchy Archives, an online research center on the history and theory of anarchism

(Out Front)
Dinner — By Food not Bombs


8:00PM
(Main Room)
Popular Assembly

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Todo lo que hacemos es una amenaza para el sistema

El domingo 11/16/08 el dúo de hip-hop conocido como X-Vandals (MC Not4Prophet de RICANSTRUCTION y DJ Johnny Juice de Public Enemy) estaba programado para hacer un show para recaudir fondos para RAC (Comunidades Autónomas Revolucionarias) una organización anarquista raíces de tierra haciendo trabajo en las comunidades en que trabajan y viven ..

El show iba a ser para recaudar fondos para una Feria de Libro Anarquista que RAC estaba organizando ...

El LAPD tenía otros planes .... haga clic en el enlace para la continuación de la historia ...

http://www.youtube. com / ver? v = p7WaTPGhPLA

vagabond

vagabond@ricanstruc tion.net

www.x-vandals. com

www.myspace. com/xvandalsbori cuas

Todo lo que hacemos es una amenaza para el sistema

Cuenta de la redada de la policía el domingo 16 de noviembre, 2008

por Joaquin Cienfuegos

"Es una guerra entre bloques de la ciudad y policías". Psycho Realm

Me dejaron salir el martes 18 de noviembre después de pasar unos 3 días en custodia policial por "resistir / obstruir a la policía". En primer lugar, quiero comenzar por pedir disculpas porque me siento como que la policía nos agarraró desprevenidos el domingo 16 de noviembre, y yo personalmente podría haber estado más preparado o no haberme puesto a mí mismo en ese tipo de situación. Esta represión política se hizo clara para mí cuando los oficiales que nos detuvieron le estaban haciendo bromas al "comandante de guardia" acerca de cómo habían "cerrado una fiesta anarquista".

El evento fue para recaudar fondos para la primera Feria del Libro Anarquista de Los Angeles (www.anarchistbookfair.com), para la Fundacion de defenso de Comunidades Autónomas Revolucionarias, y para apoyar a un grupo itinerante de hip hop revolucionario de Nueva York llamados los X-Vandals, que se celebró en un almacén alquilado colectivamente a artistas de Los Angeles. Parte del problema es que este espacio está aislado en una parte industrial de la ciudad sin tráfico, por lo que se les hizo fácil a la policía rodearnos allí. Sus intenciones fueron claras, que querían cerrar el evento, y de acuerdo con varios relatos, que parecía que tenían objetivos específicos para detener. Su principal excusa fue que algunos jóvenes supuestamente robaron cerveza de una tienda, pero también les pedian a las personas que mostraran pruebas de que no estaban "invadiendo propiedad privada”. También se les dijo que tenían que entrar porque "olían algo".

La policía había estado patrullando y vigilando el evento. La gente dice que pensó que podrían haber habido policías secretos allí. Yo estaba caminando para afuera paraa hablar con algunos de los artistas que necesitan direcciones y yo estaba esperando algunos equipos de sonido. Adentro había un DJ tocando hip hop, pero ni siquiera había comenzado el show. La policía llegó y me pidieron que fuera a hablar con ellos. Habian personas afuera que estaban entrando al show. La policía pidió hablar con la persona encargada del evento, yo caminé hacia adentro para encontrar a alguien que hablara con ellos. Le estaba diciendo a alguien que encontraran a una de las personas encargadas del espacio cuando la policía pateo la puerta abierta y dijo que me fuera adonde ellos, entonces me agarron y me tiraron hacia afuera. Trataron de empujar mi cabeza en algunas barras de acero mientras que me esposaban, pero mantuve mi cabeza hacia atrás, para que no me aplastaran la cabeza. En este momento habian más de 10 coches de policía llenando la calle 6, y un helicóptero rodeando el almacén, que incluyó más de 15 policías (oficiales de más alto rango también).

Alguien les habló a la policía por detrás de la puerta. Algunas personas pegaron sus cámaras a la puerta para filmar mi arresto y detención injusta. Mientras que los oficiales Cervantes y Cho me gritaban y metian sus manos en mis bolsillos, yo les dije que no daba mi consentimiento a que registraran mis bolsillos. Cho (39259) me dijo que no tenía una opción, y que no necesitan una orden para entrar al almacén, que estabamos invadiendo propiedad privada. Sacaron sus armas y agarraron a uno de mis compañeros que estaba grabando, y continuaron a tratar de empujar la puerta para entrar al almacén. Ellos me dijieron que estaba siendo detenido por 148 (A) (1) Resistir PC / Obstrucción de una investigación policial. Uno de los oficiales que me detuvo, Cervantes se se molestó porque yo les deje saber que estaban entrando sin permiso y me dijo que yo no conocía la ley, y me empujó en un coche de policía.

Los miembros del Black Riders Liberation Party salieron de adentro, junto con otras personas que sólo querían salir de la escena, y le dijo a la policía que no hicieron nada y que querían irse para sus casas. La policía luego les pusieron esposas a los camaradas Nadia y Kambui y comenzaron a poner a todos los que estaban adentro contra la pared. También descubrió a dos personas en el techo del almacén y los detuvieron a ellos también, junto con Nadia, Kambui, Ulises de Los Angeles Food Not Bombs, quien intentó hablar con la policía sobre el espacio, y un joven que fue identificado por supuestamente robar cerveza de una tienda de liquor.

Nos llevaron a la División Central en la calle 6 y la calle Wall en el centro de LA, donde nos ingresaron, y luego nos llevaron a Parker Center. Los artistas blancos los sacaron esa misma noche. Mi mayor preocupación fue por los Riders que yo sentí que fueron apuntados porque los querían meter de vuelta en el sistema para que fueran encerrados por más tiempo por lo que están organizando. Salieron libres bajo fianza y en espera de su juicio el 8 de diciembre en la Corte de Bouchet St. Nuestros cargos se reducieron a infracciones (equivalentes a un ticket) por "perturbar la paz." Cuando hablé con el defensor público me dijo que la policía no tenía un caso y el informe de la policía no tenía sentido y estaba lleno de defectos y mentiras. Alegamos “No Contest”, para ser puestos en libertad ese mismo día, y las multas se renunciaron por tiempo servido. Lo que me molesto fue la pérdida de tiempo, y me sentí mal por todas las personas que fueron detenidas el domingo también. Voy a repetir lo que le dije a los puercos Cervantes y Cho, "esto no a terminado".

En la cárcel hablamos con muchas personas y sin duda tuvo un efecto sobre las personas en custodia. Les deciamos a toda la gente con quien hablamos de que estábamos allí por nuestra política y que eramos revolucionarios. Muchas personas se sorprendieron por la verdadera unidad Negra y Latina y la solidaridad, pero también se inspiraron en el trabajo que se está haciendo en la comunidad, y querían apoyar a algunos de los programas comunitarios en Los Ángeles. Yo diría que el 99% de las personas en custodia eran personas de color, y consideró que estaban allí a causa de la injusticia del sistema. Tenemos que seguir luchando frente a esos ataques a nuestro pueblo y nuestras comunidades.

El show antes de la redada fue una rara mezcla de personas, que también creo que es una razón por la cual se cerró. Habían punks, hip hop heads, revolucionarios, artistas, y otros. El ataque policial sirve como una experiencia de aprendizaje para mí. Todo lo que hacemos es una amenaza para la policía y al estado entero, así que si no tomamos en serio a nuestros enemigos, entonces vamos a sufrir derrotas constantemente. Tenemos que saber cuándo retirarnos estratégicamente y tener protocolos en efecto para lo que hacer frente a la represión estatal. Tenemos que entender que la razón por la que nos están atacando a nosotros es porque nos toman en serio. También querían asustar a los jóvenes que estaban allí, para que no vayan a otros eventos políticos. Es nuestra responsabilidad dejar a los jóvenes y otros miembros de la comunidad saber la gravedad de estos acontecimientos,y defender a nuestro pueblo.

Esto no nos va a parar, ni a intimidar. Vamos a seguir luchando, y ser estratégicos en todo momento.

Como siempre, en lucha,

Joaquin Cienfuegos

(RAC, CWLA-GC)

Poder a través de la gente!

Redada de la policía de un evento anarquista

por m y johnaimani lunes, noviembre 17, 2008 en 5:35 PM

Joaquín Cienfuegos, un miembro de RAC y Copwatch LA Guerrilla chapter fue atacado por la policía y lo retiraron del espacio. Cuando la gente en el interior del espacio escuchó lo que estaba sucediendo en frente fueron a observar y documentar lo que estaba pasando. Joaquín le preguntó por qué lo estaban deteniendo y le dijieron que "Cállate" y "hagas lo que se te dice". Lo esposaron y lo registraron sin su permiso. Mientras lo estaban registrando, Joaquín declaró en voz alta y clara que no daba su consentimiento para la búsqueda y, una vez más, pidió que por favor le dijieran por qué estaba siendo detenido.

Mientras yo estaba en la puerta observando pude ver que la calle estaba bloqueada y habian alrededor de 12 coches de policía en la calle 6 y alrededor de 30 o más Diputados / Depupuercos. Mientras estabamos tratando de agarrar cámaras para documentar lo que estaba pasando la policía apresuró la puerta de nuevo y 4 agentes de la policía me sacaron para afuera. Ellos me empujaron contra la pared y me hicieron poner mis manos en mi cabeza y me registraron. Le pregunté al oficial la razón por la que me detuvieron y dijo, "se había cometido un crimen a pocas cuadras y que iban a llevar a la víctima a identificar a la persona".

Cuando me estaban sacando, la gente adentro empujaron la puerta cerrada para evitar la prisa de la policía en la propiedad. Ellos comenzaron a patear la puerta y gritarle a la gente adentro para que salieran. Ni una sola vez anunciaron a sí mismos como el Departamento de Policía o por qué estaban allí o para dejar a la gente saber que querían que la gente saliera del show. Los agentes de policía que se encontraban afuera haciendo bromas, "¿Hueles eso? Creo que es mota, deberiamos entrar y averiguar", y "Esto una fiesta ilegal o show o ¿qué es lo que se llama?". Fue evidente que no pudieron elegir una razón por la que estaban tratando de entrar al espacio y inventaron lo que quisieron.

Después de que me habían registrado, una mujer policia vino y pregunté una vez más la razón por la que me detuvieron. Dijo que se trataba de una reunión ilegal y que querían averiguarlo todo. Los policias fueron caminando por todo el frente en forma muy confuso y les tuvieron que decir otros oficiales que se salieran del camino. Pude ver las sombras de los agentes detrás de mí y de Joaquín, ellos manteniendo sus manos sobre sus armas mientras nos esposaron con nuestras manos detrás de nuestras espaldas.

Después de que la policía no le hizo caso al propietario del espacio cuando pidio que presentaran una orden de registro o sino que se alejaran de la propiedad privada, los compañeros de Los Black Riders que estaban allí, en parte, tocar para el show se salieron del edificio y fueron inmediatamente detenidos los camradas Nadia y Kambui y fueron esposados y el resto de los Black Riders los pusieron que voltiaran frente a la pared. La policía se metio para adentro y sacaron a todos. Nos tenian en frente del espacio y, luego me hicieron caminar por el bloque mientras pusieron a todos contra la pared. Retiraron a más de 60 personas del espacio y los tenían con sus manos detras de sus espalda mirando frente a la pared. Separaron las mujeres de los hombres y comenzaron a registrar a todos.

Un agente de policía que me estaba registrando me preguntó por mi ID. Dijeron que iban a comprobar por mis warrants o cualquier anterior. Él sacó mi ID y sacó una tarjeta que comenzó a llenar con todos mis datos personales. Le pregunté para que era la tarjeta, pero no me dio una respuesta. Mi ID, me lo devolvió pero la tarjeta con mi información se quedo con ellos.

Después de registraciones en todos las pertenencias pusieron en linea a todos los hombres y mujeres y dijo que este iba a ser una lineup y que iban a traer la víctima del delito para identificar al autor. Cuando se le preguntó qué delito se había cometido un oficial le dijo a otro hermano que habían cometido un delito a pocas cuadras de distancia, robaron cerveza de una tienda de licor. Cuando se le preguntó por qué tantos policias por un robo de cerveza el policial dijo: "Que no sabia", que sólo consideraban que quien cometió el crimen estaba dentro del espacio.

Un helicóptero de la policía iba en círculos y hizo el anuncio después de que todos habian salido de que eran el LAPD. Dos personas de Food Not Bombs que se encontraban adentro los sacaron y los esposaron.

Un coche de policía con 2 oficiales en la parte delantera y una mujer en el asiento de atrás paso lentamente. Los agentes procedieron a decirle a la gente que miraran a la luz y no miraran dentro del coche. Todos dijeron que no podían mirar la luz porque les dolian los ojos, pero los agentes siguieron desde el interior a brillar la luz en los ojos de la gente. Mientras esto estaba pasando, los oficiales siguieron haciendo bromas acerca de "tiempo doble" y las maneras de vestir de diferentes personas. Para un oficical en particular, lamentó que su amigo rookie, no tuvo que trabajar esa noche porque “le hubiera encantado haber sido parte de esto!" Mientras el coche de policía hizo su camino por la calle se detuvieron y señalaron a un joven. Fue inmediatamente arrestado. Salio lentamente y siguió apuntando la luz en el rostro de las personas. Me quitaron mis esposas pero no me permitieron irme. Me hicieron permanecer contra la pared con mis manos detrás de mi espalda.

Después un oficial de policía de algún otro coche venía con un pedazo de papel y se refirió a Nadia y a Kambui del Black Rider Liberation Party y dijo que los estaban deteniendo por "148" - interferir con un agente de policía. Cuando la gente preguntaba por qué fueron detenidos o señalados los agentes de policía les decian que se callaran. Los esposaron y retiraron todas sus pertenencias y las pusieron en bolsas de plástico. Luego los colocaron en el asiento trasero de un coche de policía.

Otro agente de policía llegó y anuncio que la fiesta había terminado y que la gente se tenia que ir para la casa. Algunos personas todavía teniansu equipo o otros cosas adentro y hicieron una línea y un official los acompaño para ir a traer sus pertenencias. Mientras estaba adentro me di cuenta de que el dinero de la recaudación de fondos no estaba allí y de acuerdo con la gente que estaba adentro, el dinero estaba allí antes de que la policía entrara para sacar a todos. Sacamos todo el equipo de los grupos y esperamos a que alguien viniera a cerrar el espacio. Ellos continuaron hostigando a la gente y trataron de intimidar a muchos de los jóvenes que se fueran y aprendieran su lección. Aparte del jóven que fue arrestado por supuestamente robar cerveza, todos fueron arrestado por interferir con un agente de policía cuando todo lo que hicieron fue preguntar la razón por la que fueron detenidos.

Los agentes fueron felicitandose a sí mismos y riendose de todos. Muchos de los policias se quedaban viendo a muchas de las hermanas que estaban allí y haciendo chistes sexistas sobre que él preferia estar en casa con su esposa que allí. Luego procedió a hacer un gesto con su mano a 2 hermanas que se encontraban cerca. Nadie menos los puercos se estaban divertiendo por los chistes de estos puercos, pero siguió hablando mierda y deciendole a la gente que saliera. La mayoría de los oficiales salieron sonrientes y mirando a la gente en los intentos de instigar algun incidente para hacer más detenciones.

Cuando se fue el ultimo oficial, bajo su ventana.y dijo "Lo sentimos que tuvimos que cerrar su fiesta, pero ustedes tienen que mantener a los jóvenes en check y no deben dejar que anden robando cerveza. Si no hubieran robado la cerveza no hubieramos cancelado su show."

Todos estabamos enojados por este comportamiento agitador que se utilizó como excusa para entrar a propiedad privada y redar a una reunión pacífica. La policía buscaba cualquier excusa para cerrar el show.

Joaquín está detenido actualmente por un delito menor. No lo han llevado a la cárcel y todavía está en poder de la División Central. Él probablemente se va a los tribunales mañana o el miércoles. Por favor circulen esta información. Ayuden a Joaquín y el Black Riders Liberation Party y Food Not Bombs para sacar libres a estas personas.

Este es un informe rápido tratando de incluir algunos de los detalles importantes como sea posible, pero estoy seguro de que podría haber pasado por otros detalles importantes de esa noche que otras personas que también pueden compartir y tal vez voy a tratar de escribir más sobre la noche pasada más tarde.

Liberen a todos los presos políticos. Organizen organizen organizen.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Sister Somayah Joins the Ancestors

Sister Somayah, songstress's, former Black Panther, and healer passed unto the ancestors Friday, November 28, 2008. For further info. called Brother Akile at 323-799-8409.
bilal ali


Dearest Friend of my Sister "peaches',

My heart is at once heavy for the movement's loss and grateful to our merciful God of Abraham that she is at last free from the pain she bore for all the oppressed people of the world.


From my first conversation with her in autumn of 1993, when I was an intern at the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics in Washington, DC working with Robert Randall, I knew she was different. She called in tears to say that folks at the Sickle-Cell conference had laughed at her when she first started speaking about the hemp oil's use for sickle-cell pain. She said she was embarrassed and broken-hearted -- to the point she almost left. We talked for a while. I don't recall what I said to her, probably just some "hang in there" type platitude. I barely knew what sickle-cell was, just that only black people get it. Well "hang in there" she did, and a day or so later she was back on the phone with me. Scott you are never gonna guess what happened. "Over night, one of the conferees had an attack, had no narcotics, those folks started lookin' for me. The never found me but one of the folks in the hotel had a bottle of Hemp Oil I gave 'em. this gal used it, they pain went away, and do you know when I arrived in the dining room for breakfast the next morning, well you'd thought I was Winnie Mandela -- before the soccer team. You hear me Bubba.
"

I heard her alright. I heard a women on a mission, a women of steely determination, who knew the righteousness of her cause, and was not going to let anybody dissuade her. Oh yes, Lord, Somayah was different.


I remember her first visit to to the original "cannabis club" out in Santa Monica in 1995, "I am gettin' me one of these" . . . . and her Birthday party that same year, when she served us Ginj-a-juana tea and her and her friends taught us white-boys some of the old Black Panther songs, "Johnnie get your gun, get you gun, get your gun, piggy's on the run, on the run, on the run . . . .


Well we definitely weren't in Kansas anymore.


I remember three of us went. We hadn't been in Los Angeles very long, so we put on our nicest jeans and some polo shirts and a little spritz of nice cologne. I'm telling you, we were West Hollywood on parade . . .one guy Gilberet even wore white Levis and penny loafers. We were having a great time -- had us a little loop on -- from the Ginj-a-juana, when all the sudden one of musicians turns to me and says quite matter-of-factly, "we're glad you could come, but you gotta go now." Well I thought we'd done something wrong or said something inapproariate or something. He said no everything's cool, you just gotta get out of this neighborhood dressed like that, before it gets any later.


I also remember the look of utter and complete joy when she opened the box and first laid eyes on this seed squishing machine we got for her from Germany or Belgium or some such place, so she could make hemp oil for her Crescent Alliance . . . . and riding overnight on the LACRC charter buses to San Francisco and then Sacramento to protest with her -- always with her Autoharp singing "Jah Herb.
"

I remember testifying at her trial for "Jah plants". . . convincing her in the cafeteria that if she really was growing those plants for Crescent Alliance -- which she was -- then that's what she should testify to -- regardless of what her attorney was telling her -- and then driving her to Parker Center, an hour after her acquittal, to pick up four boxes of, albeit, moldy plants -- but damn it -- they were HER moldy plants, and she was takin' 'em home come hell or high times. She WAS something.


There WERE times, to be sure, when the good Sister and I tangled. You never had to worry about Somayah NOT tellling you exactly what she had on her mind. She read my beads more than once . . . . for being too cautious . . . . too elitist . . . too WEHO-centric . . . too insular . . . . too tall. And if she had you in her sights, she couldn't be bought for any price.


Like that seed squishing machine? When it finally arrived -- from wherever it came from, Mirron and I had to go pick it up, so we set a time with Somayah that we'd be by her house with it, not knowing it would take four hours to spring the damn thing from customs. Now this was before cell phones mind you.


So we arrive at her house, drag this beast of a machine out of the car, up to the front door -- it must've weighed a thousand pounds -- we knock on the door. No response. We knock again, no answer. I'm lookin' through the screen door, and she's just sittin' there on the couch. So I knock again, "Somayah." Finally she gets up ever so poised, strolls to the front door, opens it an says "Can I help you." Not a hint of recognition that she knows us. "Somayah.
" "What can I do for you?"

After spending like five grand on this thing, go through this grueling bureaucratic miasma at the airport with customs, schlepp it over to her house, haul it up to the door, and she say "what can I do for you? "Well you can start by getting this half-ton hunk of steel off my foot is what you can do for me." "Next time get here on time, she says." But that was Somayah.


But, no matter how mad she might get, fussin' and fumin', she always came from a place of love, and care, and concern -- without rancor, without hate, without condescension. She'd just smile at you with those little baby teeth she had, and then skin and filet you like a catfish, just pattin' you on the head the whole time. The Sister was something, alright.


I remember shortly after 9-11, when George Bush and John Aschcroft, with nothing better to do -- like tell the truth -- sent the DEA into the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center -- an undid undo in six hours what it had taken us six years to build. We had a gathering at the my church to discuss our next steps. And they closed us down.


After much consideration and soul searching -- and five years of open, honest, transparent, and charitable operations -- and one year completely free of street products -- and some 900 people to provide for, we had concluded that we COULD not and WOULD not be driven back into the shadows, to buy overpriced, poor quality cannabis that we could NOT vouch for the safety of. We knew by that time that I and two other officers of the CoOp would be federally prosecuted and we didn't want anyone else to go down with -- a specific threat the US Attorney had made. So at this meeting I was trying to soften the blow of decision, and I apologized apologized for not being able to everyTHING to everyBODY. I knew that for all intents and purposes I was out of the medical marijuana game for good. It was pretty much over for me.


Well Somayah came to that gathering, sat stoically and patiently, listening attentively to each person, until everyone else who had something to say had spoken, then slowly rose to her feet and said,

"My brother in the struggle, words cannot express the full measure of the love and respect I have for you. You have been there for us for five years, and I am forever on your debt, but if you think that I am going to sit here for one minute, as the REASON that AIDS patients in this town are no longer going to be able to get their medicine, you have lost a damned screw. I do NOT need YOU to protect me from the man. I need YOU to do the right thing for YOU. Oh, and by the way, while we're on the subject of YOU, my little brother, for the record, don't you ever apologize for who you are, or how God made you, or what he has called you to do in this world. If you're going to apologize, apologize to God, for all the times you denied his creation in you, and tried to be anything other than the beautiful human being you are. You just be the best you, you can be -- and let all the rest of us do the same.
"

Somayah was one of a kind. No doubt about it.


In the words of the song "For Good," from the hit show Wicked, I'd say to Somayah:

I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn.
And we are led
to those who help us most to grow, if we let them and we help them in return.
Well, I don't know if that's true, but
I know I'm who I am today because I knew you.


It well may be, that we will never meet again in this lifetime, so let me say before we part, "So much of me is made of what I learned from you, that you'll always be with me like a handprint on my heart. And now, whatever way our stories end I know you've re-written mine by being my friend.


Who can say if I've been changed for the better? But because I knew you, I have been changed for good.


Yep, Somayah had a way about her. They just don't make 'em like her anymore. I'm gonna miss her.


And boy oh boy, does the Good Lord have his hands full now.


grace and peace,
Scott Imler



+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Reverend Scott T.
Imler, Pastor
Crescent Heights United Methodist Church
1296 N. Fairfax Ave.

West Hollywood, CA 90046
323-656-5336 (office)
323-848-9522 (home)
323-572-5221 (cell)
pastorscott.chumc@gmail .
com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Monday, December 1, 2008

Los Angeles Anarchist Bookfair Organizers on KPFK

From: Feria del libro anarquista
Date: Dec 6, 2008 8:24 PM


Ulises, Sara, and Joaquin were interviewed on Indymedia on Air on KPFK:

http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/mp3/kpfk_081201_150223indymed.mp3

And then Joaquín and Colleen were on FSRN on Friday.

http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/mp3/kpfk_081205_183223fsrn.mp3

Check them out!