Who Are the Anarchists?: Why Resistance Is Coming from Below

It\'s Going Downvia   IT’S GOING DOWN  … Anarchist Movement untitled

America is in the throes of crisis. Polling as the least popular starting President in history, Donald Trump has taken the reins and intends to force his agenda on the world by brute force. Alongside him, outright white supremacists are coming out of the woodwork, convinced that their time has arrived.

Who are the Anarchists? from subMedia.tv on Vimeo.

 Millions who once counted on the Democratic Party are losing faith in the entire political system. Can anything be done to halt the rise of tyranny? Continue reading “Who Are the Anarchists?: Why Resistance Is Coming from Below”

DEFEND La Chispa CSO.. LAW made for the RICH .. SOLIDARITY for the REBELS

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main report by by Sergi Bertran and Sonia Perez at La Directa.  … translated summary by The Free  ..en català abaix

….We are on the outskirts of Lleida city (in Lleida province). This area has undergone a major change in recent years… where there were small family orchards and country houses today they have built fast food chains, department stores, hotels and luxury villas. The companies and new owners of the land have been moving out the locals, buying up their land at high prices…

After a lengthy legal process  against four ex-occupiers the vibrant, active, self-managed SPARK project among the orchards of Lleida is condemned to be evicted  by capitalist speculation.  ”The Court Sentence against La Chispa condemns the people judged to  3 months / fine at the rate of 5 euros a day. The ruling also agreed to the eviction of all persons who are in the CSO Chispa and that the speculative company (UA sl) be reimbursed for ‘damage to property’. We want to make clear that this house. if not for for being squatted for nine years, would have already collapsed due to the state of abandonment; and that the only intention is to demolish the house to speculate on the price of the ground”. Continue reading “DEFEND La Chispa CSO.. LAW made for the RICH .. SOLIDARITY for the REBELS”

I Was A Teenage Anarchist And Now I’m A Mid-Thirties Anarchist

Fifteen years ago today, on February 2nd, 2002, I became an anarchist. I was nineteen, living in NYC, and I attended the World Economic Forum protests. I knew the anarchists by reputation only — they wore all black and they smashed things. They were going to wear masks in defiance of NYC’s anti-mask laws. I wanted to know why, so I approached a man with his face obscured by a black bandanna.

“What’s anarchism?” I asked.300px-black_bloc_at_rnc_running

“Well, we hate capitalism and the state.” He was very forthcoming, which I appreciated.

“What do you all do about it?”

“We build up alternative institutions without hierarchy while attacking and interfering with the existing, oppressive ones we despise.”

“Oh,” I said. I pondered this for a moment, but honestly only a moment. “Do you have an extra mask?”

He did, and he gave it to me. Simple as that, I became an anarchist. Continue reading “I Was A Teenage Anarchist And Now I’m A Mid-Thirties Anarchist”

We Deny free speech to Nazis who try to Destroy it for Everyone

Freedom against the freedom of speech

With the expansion of neo-fascist and neo-nazi groups in the shadows of ever more racist, xenophobic and sexist “traditional” conservative right-wing political parties, confusion over the significance of the liberal freedom of speech can paralyse radical political criticism and action.  We share below a timely analysis from CrimethInc on the limits of free dialogue when politics must be conceived of as war, as a conflict between ways of life.

We are Not in a Dialogue:

We need Not Just Free Speech……….. but Freedom Itself

antifaschistische-aktion-women-s-t-shirtMaybe you missed this, but you’re not in a dialogue. Your views are beside the point. Argue all you want—your adversaries are glad to see you waste your breath. Better yet if you protest: they’d rather you carry a sign than do more. They’ll keep you talking as long as they can, just to tire you out—to buy time.

They intend to force their agenda on you. That’s what all the guns are for, what the police and drones and surveillance cameras are for, what the FBI and CIA and NSA are for, what all those laws and courts and executive orders are for. It’s what their church is for, what those racist memes are for, what online harassment and bullying are for. It’s what gay bashings and church burnings are for. Continue reading “We Deny free speech to Nazis who try to Destroy it for Everyone”

6 Ways to Foil FACE CONTROL now Coming to your Barrio

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Facial Recognition tech already exists and is rapidly spreading worldwide. CCTV cameras are already ubiquitous and just need to be hooked up to programs that instantly analyse and compare with millions of database photos often harvested from social media.What can your face say about you?

ced31a0c8dcded1733c077746b0f60b0Face recognition technology can pick our ID from hundreds of millions and link to all aspects of our lives

Another step in total social control and personal marketing.. But there are lots of fun ways to block, deceive, avoid or simply smash this fabulous technology.. below we list a few..

The state of New York has privately asked surveillance companies to pitch a vast camera system that would scan and identify people who drive in and out of New York City, according to a December memo obtained by Vocativ. As big brother tactics continue to creep quietly into Americans’ everyday lives, here are six ways to dodge biometric verification

New York City wouldn’t be the first in the U.S. to have a network of facial recognition cameras for law enforcement. In 2013, for instance, the Los Angeles Police Department admitted it had deployed 16 cameras equipped with face recognition software, designed to search for particular suspects.

 

6 Ways to Dodge FACE CONTROL

Here are some things you can do, and keep in mind to help lower your signature: Continue reading “6 Ways to Foil FACE CONTROL now Coming to your Barrio”

Anarchist prisoner Umut Firat now over 50 days on Hunger Strike in Turkey

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A diumenge, de gener 29, 2017  http://kurdiscat.blogspot.com. en español abajo
The anarchist prisoner Umut Firat (imprisoned for 23 years) has passed Day 50 of his hunger strike. Recently, Unut was transferred to prison number 4 Yenisakran, type T (according to the security levels of the Turkish prison system) in Izmir itself. (see address below).

Body searches at the hands of regime guards, and prison conditions are some of his grounds for protest. The demands of the prisoners, the repression and torture suffered daily, are ignored.Image result for devrimci anarsist, Umut Firat

Conditions of detention in Turkey, especially since the failed coup, have worsened significantly. Prisoners sleep in groups of 19 in cells that fit 14, are forced to sleep on blood-stained beds, only two visits of 45 minutes are allowed every month….

You can try to Send Umut a card  HERE

Umut Firat Suvariogullari,
İZMIR 4 NOLU T TIPI KAPALI CEZA İNFAZ KURUMU, Aliağa Ceza İnfaz Kurumları Kampüsü, Bahçedere Köyü No:63 Yenişakran / Aliağa / İZMİR. Izmir Yenisakran 4,  Turkiye

prison details Continue reading “Anarchist prisoner Umut Firat now over 50 days on Hunger Strike in Turkey”

We’ve Occupied an Abandoned Hotel ..La Bruna.. for a Self-run Social Center


bruna
A little less than a month that a group of villagers decided to squat the property owned by Industrial SA Roigé to make a self-managed space, which opened on  Saturday 28 January       by Xavier Puig

it’s the 6th ofJanuary afternoon and in Calella,  a seaside town near barcelona, , there are hardly any cars or people on the street. When temperatures drop, tourism vanishes and the streets are dead….The abandoned Hotel Gaviota at some point had  3 stars but for more than ten years  it’s been semi abandoned. On one of the walls a sign announces that  on Saturday 28 January it transforms into the Autonomous Social Center LA BRUNA !!.

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see also> KAN BICI RURAL SQUAT CENTER STILL SURVIVES… JUST

 A little less than a month ago a group of villagers decided to occupy this space owned by Industrial Roigé SA to make “an alternative space and really set apart from the institutional context in the village of Calella, “says Lola, one of the project participants. The work of adapting the space does not stop at any moment.

Canvas cloth, bottles and iron occupy what is seems to have been a bar. As they explain, the first objective is to rehabilitate the first of the four floors and make it accessible for people with reduced mobility.

The idea of inclusivity is the most stressed , says Lola: “we want to have a place also with animals. We talked a lot about the issue of children, because many of us are in the world of entertainment and we believe it is important to have a space where kids can participate and  parents have a place where they can go with them. ” Within this vision, we also emphasize that this is a  non smoking vegan space._mg_1898-650x433

 

The outdoor patio is the point of contact with the street and the neighbors and for now, they say, the relationship is good, “in fact, the neighbor next door is the daughter of the family who built the the hotel has a pretty good relationship. ”  explains Lola, who stresses the desire to maintain good ties with the neighborhood.

More important still is giving care and the emotional component “has been treated very early on in  the Sunday assemblies so that we all we feel comfortable when making decisions, “La Bruna is  more than a political project separate from the personal, it has become a personal and political project where we feel comfortable. ”

translated from Radio Calella and La Directa with thanks


see also

squat-lleidachispaLa Chispa! (The Spark): Rural Occupied Social Center resists Capitalist Speculation Eviction https://thefreeonline.wordpress.com/2016/12/31/la-chispa-resist…ulation-eviction/


original en català

 La Bruna: un hotel okupat al cor de la Calella turística

Fa poc menys d’un mes que un grup de veïnes del poble va decidir okupar l’immoble, propietat d’Industrial Roige SA, per fer-hi un espai autogestionat, que s’inaugura demà dissabte 28 de gener
Dissabte 28 de gener s’inaugura el centre social autogestionat La Bruna
per Xavier Puig….     Són les sis d’una tarda de gener i al carrer Diputació de Calella, a l’Alt Maresme, amb prou feines hi ha algun cotxe despistat. Lluny queda el tragí estiuenc de pells vermelles i xancletes amb mitjons que omple aquest carrer, xamfrà amb la Riera de Calella, fa anys convertida en ressort turístic de discoteques, bars, hotels i llums de colors. Quan baixen les temperatures, el turisme, l’activitat predilecta del poble -fins i tot hi té un museu dedicat- s’apaga i amb ella bona part dels carrers queden morts.

Hotel Amaika, quatre estrelles, silenci;

Hotel Les Palmeres, quatre estrelles, silenci; Hotel Marítim, tres estrelles, silenci; Hotel Terramar, tres estrelles, silenci; Hotel Gaviota, en algun moment havia tingut unes estrelles que fa més de deu anys que han caigut, remor darrere la tanca. En un dels murs del darrere, un cartell anuncia que dissabte 28 de gener s’inaugura el centre social autogestionat La Bruna.

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L’Hotel Gaviota, havia tingut unes estrelles però fa més de deu anys que han caigut / Xavier Puig

 

Fa poc menys d’un mes que un grup de veïnes del poble va decidir okupar aquest espai, propietat d’Industiral Roige SA, per fer-hi “un espai alternatiu i realment autogestionat al marge de l’espai institucional dins el context poble i en concret el context Calella”, explica Lola, una de les participants del projecte. Les tasques d’adaptació de l’espai no s’aturen en cap moment; cal que tot estigui a punt pel primer acte del primer espai d’aquestes característiques al municipi.

“Treballem sense referents ni història. Fer que la gent es tregui els estereotips tan pesats com els que suposa una okupa i construïbles dins el seu imaginari d’una manera diferent, integrada dins la realitat local, és potser el més difícil”, relata Lola. Després de l’okupació no han tingut gaires problemes amb la policia ni la propietat, més enllà de la denúncia de rigor per part d’aquesta i la identificació, per part dels Mossos d’Esquadra i la Policia Local d’una noia que estava participant de les jornades de treball, asseguren.

Ella mateixa reconeix que, tot i que en principi aquest edifici atrotinat de balcons de fusta, parets blanques i esporàdiques rajoles de ceràmica, no era la prioritat, “és genial que sigui un hotel perquè té un pes simbòlic molt important a Calella. Pesa molt dins les vides de totes, d’un costat, per l’odi als guiris i al que representen, i de l’altre, perquè totes acabem treballant precàriament en aquest engranatge”.

La Bruna serà un espai sense fum i vegà / La Bruna

 

Sacs de ciment i eines s’amunteguen entre jardineres i el que en algun moment havia estat una font de pedra. Lones de tela, garrafes i ferros ocupen el que s’intueix com una barra de bar. Segons expliquen, el primer objectiu és rehabilitar la primera de les quatre plantes i fer que l’espai sigui accessible per a persones amb mobilitat reduïda.

La idea d’inclusivitat és de les que més remarca Lola: “En general volem que hi tinguin cabuda, també les animals. Hem parlat molt del tema de les nenes, perquè moltes estem al món del lleure i creiem que és important que tinguin un espai on poder participar i també que els pares i mares tinguin un lloc on hi puguin anar amb elles”. Dins aquesta visió, també remarquen que aquest és un espai sense fum i vegà.

Que La Bruna porti nom de noia no és en va, tampoc. Un dels eixos que travessa l’espai és l’abordatge del gènere des d’una perspectiva feminista. “La majoria de la gent que va formar part de l’okupació som dones i el paper d’aquestes dins l’espai ens sembla molt important. Tenim totes molta consciència del nostre cos i de què significa el rol de gènere sobre nosaltres com a ties que som”, exposa Lola.

El pati exterior és el punt de contacte amb el carrer i les veïnes de la zona amb les que, per ara, diuen, la relació és bona: “de fet, la veïna del costat és la filla de la família que va construir l’hotel i la relació és bastant bona”. Així ho explica Lola, que reivindica la voluntat de mantenir bons vincles amb el veïnat.

Més importància encara diuen donar a les cures i al component emocional que “s’ha tractat molt des del principi a les assemblees dels diumenges perquè totes ens sentíssim còmodes a l’hora de prendre decisions” i recalca que era molt important per a elles “sentir que la Bruna era alguna cosa més que un projecte polític separat d’allò personal, que era aquest projecte personal i polític que desitjàvem i on sentir-nos a gust”.

tfrom Radio Calella and La Directa with thanks