Archive
BK/NY – Friday, June 17th – Democracy or Freedom?
WHAT: Anarchist Discussion with CrimethInc. ex-Workers’ Collective
WHEN: 8pm, Friday, June 17th, 2016
WHERE: The Base – 1302 Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11221 (directions below)
NOTE: The Base is on the ground floor, is wheelchair accessible, and has a gender neutral toilet.
COST: Free
We are starting a very full weekend with a discussion of the distinction between anarchy and democracy, freedom and oppression. Central to this weekend is the party/fundraiser organized by our buddy Daniel McGowan. He is fresh off paper, no longer under supervised release, and as free as any of us can be. Of course Daniel couldn’t simply celebrate, so he’s organized the party into a benefit for his imprisoned co-defendants. Get all the details by clicking here. To end the weekend, we will be tabling at the 2016 Punk Island— a free, DIY, all day punk festival on Governor’s Island. Now back to how we are kicking it off…
What’s the difference between democracy and anarchy? In an election year, the failings of the political system are obvious enough. But is the problem too little democracy, or too much?
From the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to David Graeber and Noam Chomsky, nearly everyone claims to be democratic. In this provocative presentation, we will discuss what ties all these different understandings of democracy together and what sets anarchism apart. Reviewing how the movement of the squares, Occupy, Nuit Debout, and other recent upheavals have been shaped by democratic rhetoric and practices, we’ll discuss other ways to understand what we are doing together when we make decisions.
This discussion builds on a series exploring the anarchist critique of democracy, recently published by CrimethInc. To make this a more developed discussion, consider reading the following:
http://www.crimethinc.com/blog/2016/03/16/series-the-anarchist-critique-of-democracy
http://crimethinc.com/texts/r/democracy
BK/NY – Saturday, June 11th – Sacco and Vanzetti Film Screening in Solidarity with Anarchist and Eco Prisoners
WHAT: International Day of Solidarity with Anarchist and Eco Prisoners
WHEN: 8pm, Saturday, June 11th, 2016
WHERE: The Base – 1302 Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11221 (directions below)
NOTE: The Base is on the ground floor, is wheelchair accessible, and has a gender neutral toilet.
COST: Free, but we will pass the hat as a fundraiser for prisoners.
Join The Base and NYC ABC here in New York as a part of the celebration of resistance. We will be hearkening back to the history of anarchism and repression in the US, by screening an excellent documentary about anarchist revolutionaries Sacco and Vanzetti who were notoriously railroaded by the US state. The Italian heritage and anarchist political leanings of these two men spurred on the witch hunt against them, so that even though no evidence could be found, newspapers ran headlines such as ‘Hang Them Anyway!’
Sacco and Vanzetti, just like Luigi Galliani, were all anarchist victims of the first Red Scare, which set the stage for the continual anti-communist rhetoric and policy that still influences the US state to this day. From the Palmer Raids to the Green Scare, anarchists have fought against the repressive appendages of the state; and on this day of solidarity we want to celebrate the thrust towards liberation and the rebellious actions of anarchist prison rebels internationally.
We’d like to celebrate the anarchist revolutionaries in the past who we draw inspiration from, and who’s traditions we are carrying to the present. From the insurgent heart of Kuwasi Balagoon or Nestor Makhno, or the oratory of Emma Goldman, or the zeal of Johann Most, we recognize the tradition we are espousing and understand the necessity of struggle.
Today we see the same passion from comrades in Revolutionary Struggle in Greece, the anarchist prisoners in Chile and Spain, the daily war going on in Alabama prisons with Michael Kimble, or the growth of a new International Brigades with anarchist fighters on the frontline in Rojava. In these struggles our traditions continue and we will struggle until the trappings of capitalist society and world of states crumbles.
In this struggle prison is always potentially around the corner. As Alfredo Bonanno warned us, you’re not doing your actions right if you don’t go to prison occasionally. Prison is not to be taken lightly. It is the threat of ultimate oppression and a reality that is all too real for revolutionaries. The anarchists serving prison sentences for their contributions deserve our complete engagement in the struggle.
As the call for this day has stated, “In the weeks since we put out our text for this year, anarchists in Chile, the Czech Republic, Spain, Poland, Azerbaijan, and elsewhere have faced repression by the state for their refusal to submit to this world of exploitation and hierarchy. For us, this only makes more clear the importance of solidarity. If we hope for our comrades to not fall into the oblivion of prison, we must manifest daily, and in every way, our complicity with their struggles.”
More at june11.org
BK/NY – Saturday, February 27th – The Spaces Between
WHAT: The Spaces Between
WHEN: 7:00pm, Saturday, February 27th, 2016
WHERE: The Base – 1302 Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11221 (directions below)
NOTE: The Base is on the ground floor, is wheelchair accessible, and has a gender neutral toilet.
COST: FreeAll too often anarchists in the United States look to places like Oakland or New York for cues of how to get it done, though most of us don’t live in those cities.
This tour features friends from Denver, Colorado and Richmond, Virginia coming to talk about what it looks like for anarchists outside cities with longstanding institutional left bases. We think there is a lot to learn from the less glamorous towns and small cities where anarchists continue fighting in spite of it all. Sharing our experiences of building, failing, rebuilding, fucking it up and sometimes winning, we hope to strike up conversations with friends. Let’s talk community defense work, anti-police struggles, combating gentrification warfare, how not to let the liberals get us down and more.
BK/NY – September 16th – The Promise Of Anarchism: An International Panel Discussion
WHAT: To Change Everything
WHEN: 7:00pm, Wednesday, September 16th
WHERE: The Base – 1302 Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11221 (directions below)
NOTE: The Base is on the ground floor, is wheelchair accessible, and has a gender neutral toilet.
COST: Free
Climate change, economic crisis, unrest from Baltimore to Brazil: the prevailing order is unsustainable in every way. Today even the most entrenched authorities admit that it is necessary to change everything. But all the solutions they offer rely on the same structures that produced this mess in the first place. How do we change everything?
This panel brings together organizers from Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the US to discuss what anarchist ideas and strategies have to offer in the 21st century. Comparing experiences in the social movements and uprisings of the past decade, they will explore questions about reform, democracy, and self-determination. Read more…
BK/NY – Friday, April 17 – To Change Everything: An Anarchist Appeal
WHAT: Discussion On Anarchy, International and Local WHEN: 8pm sharp, Friday, April 17th, 2015 WHERE: The Base – 1302 Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11221 (directions below) NOTE: The Base is on the ground floor, is wheelchair accessible, and has a gender neutral toilet. COST: FREE Just one night before the 2015 NYC Anarchist Book Fair, NYC ABC is hosting an event to encourage anarchy in our city. It’s happening at Brooklyn’s only anarchist social center– The Base. Today, even the entrenched representatives of the status quo admit that it is necessary to change everything. But the best they can come up with is to appeal to the same authorities and values that caused these problems in the first place. What will it take to make a clean break? In this discussion, a participant in the CrimethInc. Collective will explore the most provocative themes in their international multimedia outreach project To Change Everything, tying them into struggles taking place around the world and in New York City today. Please join us for a lively conversation! Read more…
NYC – Tuesday, July 8th – Letter-writing to Alvaro Luna Hernández
WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, July 8th, 2014
WHERE: CAGE – 83A Hester Street (UPSTAIRS) New York, New York 10002 (directions below)
COST: Free
NYC ABC has been very fortunate lately. We’ve been invited to table at some great events and have hosted talks by close comrades. This kind of community building really gives us the momentum to work on our core projects, including the upcoming every-other-week letter-writing dinners.
This week we are focusing on Alvaro Luna Hernández. Alvaro Luna Hernández is a Chicano-Mexicano political prisoner sentenced to 50 years in prison for aggravated assault on a cop when he disarmed a sheriff attempting to shoot him.
Deeply effected by witnessing the murder of one of his friends by a known racist cop (yes, it’s redundant), Alvaro dedicated his life to fighting police brutality, especially as it was manifest against the Chicano community. From 1976 through 1990, Alvaro was falsely accused of murder (and after public outcry eventually released) and severely beaten by police, all the result of his work to end police brutality in Houston, Texas.
In 1996, Brewster County Sheriff Jack McDaniel came to Alvaro’s house, allegedly to arrest him for robbery (side note: the robbery charge was summarily dismissed). The cop didn’t have an arrest warrant and when Alvaro, unarmed, questioned the cop’s abuse of power, the cop pulled his gun. Before he could shoot, Alvaro disarmed the cop without injuring him, and fled.
Upon his capture, Alvaro was found guilty and sentenced to an unbelievable 50 years in prison. Since his imprisonment, he has been denied access to library materials, faced increasing censorship of his mail, and had to deal with retaliation from prison staff over his filing of grievances.
If for some bizarre reason you can’t make it to dinner, please write to Alvaro from home. His address is:
Alvaro Luna Hernández #255735
James V Allred Unit
2101 FM 369 North
Iowa Park, Texas 76367
For more information, visit freealvaronow.blogspot.com
BK/NY – Friday, June 20th – Black Flags and Windmills: Creating power from below
WHAT: scott crow: Black Flags and Windmills
WHEN: 8:00pm, Friday, June 20th
WHERE: The Base – 1302 Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11221 (directions below)
COST: Free, but donations are appreciated.
On Friday, June 20th, NYC ABC is excited to host our comrade scott crow and the discussion of, among other things, his book, Black Flags and Windmills.
scott’s visual and engaging presentation is drawn from his book and illustrates, through stories, analysis, and diverse political movement histories, how individuals and communities can create collective liberation to change their own worlds by creating power from below. It covers how the ideas, philosophies and practices of anarchism have grown, shaping and influencing modern political movements and tendencies from the post-Seattle alternative globalization movements to the Common Ground Collective after Hurricane Katrina, the Occupy uprisings, environmental and animal rights movements, and beyond. It also covers the rise of the surveillance state and the implications of political activism being labeled “terrorism.” The presentation– equal parts personal story, radical history, and organizing philosophies, asks questions about how we engage in social change, the real and perceived challenges presented by the state and power, and dares us to rethink how we engage in creating sustainable and liberatory futures.
scott will have copies of his book, Black Flags and Windmills, on hand for sale. For more information, check out scottcrow.org
BK/NY – Tuesday, April 29th – May Day Pizza Party + Card-Writing for Anarchist Political Prisoners
WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, April 29th, 2014
WHERE: The Base – 1302 Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11221 (directions below)
COST: Free
NOTE: This week, letter-writing will be in Brooklyn, at our favorite anarchist space– The Base. For more information, visit thebasebk.org.
You’ve probably been working too many hours a week to even notice the full-blown war being waged against you by the ruling class. It is real and it is continuing. And of course there is another war– the war against folks imprisoned for their political beliefs and actions. And here’s where we bridge the two. This week, NYC ABC will be hosting our seventh annual May Day card-writing night. We will be sending greeting cards to anarchist political prisoners and there’s an easy (too easy? POSSIBLY!) way for you to help. Just come by, eat some food, sign some cards, maybe meet folks you don’t already know, and show some base level solidarity with those behind bars.
If there’s absolutely no way you can come eat a ton of pizza and sign a lot of May Day cards, but still want to support political prisoners, please consider sending some books from their wish lists.
NYC – Tuesday, March 4th – Letter-Writing Dinner For NATO 3
WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, March 4th, 2014
WHERE: CAGE – 83A Hester Street (UPSTAIRS) New York, New York 10002 (directions below)
COST: Free
Obligatory reference to the horrendous Northeast weather. Also, there is no such thing as global warming…It seems in the last couple of years, the feds have decided to stop going after seasoned activists and started to implement a strategy of entrapping young activists. From many of the Muslim entrapment cases to Eric McDavid‘s case to the Cleveland 4, the federal (and some state) governments have thrown informants and undercover cops at activists all over the country–a point made cogently in this article by CrimethInc. We feel the need to call bullshit on these made-up, fake terrorism cases that exist to justify the expenditures made by the state before major meetings of warmongers like NATO.
In that vein, three young Occupy activists were hounded, cajoled, and entrapped by two undercover cops (named “Mo” & “Gloves.” How clever!) during the months leading up to the anti-NATO summit in Chicago back in 2012. The three men, dubbed the NATO 3— Brent Betterly, Jared Chase and Brian Jacob Church, were indicted on all sorts of state terrorism charges that had never been tested, we think, to justify the mass expenditures and repression of dissent that took place at this mass mobilization.
While a jury acquitted the men of the serious terrorism charges, they were found guilty of charges related to arson and mob action and are facing up to 30 years in prison at sentencing. In short, they continue to need our support and solidarity through the end of their sentences and beyond.
This Tuesday, come join NYC ABC for a night of letter writing to lend solidarity and support to these three activists and find out more about this case and others. We will be serving a free, tasty, vegan dinner and as usual, supplying the pens, envelopes, postage, paper and anything else you need to scribe your missive. We will also be giving updates and announcements on other political prisoners, local events and issues.
In the unlikely event that there is a better use of your Tuesday night, but you still want to support the prisoners (or want to send these three a book) you can write to them at:
Brent Betterly #2012-0519001
Cook County Department of Corrections
Post Office Box 089002
Chicago, Illinois 60608
Jared Chase #2012-0519003
Cook County Department of Corrections
Post Office Box 089002
Chicago, Illinois 60608
Brian Church #2012-0519002
Cook County Department of Corrections
Post Office Box 089002
Chicago, Illinois 60608
For more information and updates, go to:
freethenato3.wordpress.com
Read more…