Date: Wed, 09 Aug 2000 09:59:14 -0400 From: Chuck0 <chuck-AT-tao.ca> Subject: Anarchists vow to hold peaceful gathering in LA This is a good example of what anarchists can accomplish when we have our shit together. It's really encouraging to see that the West Coast anarchists put together this press conference, which sets the table to make the cops look bad if they raid the conference. -Chuck0 =============== Anarchists vow to hold peaceful gathering in LA By Lynda Gorov, Globe Staff, 8/9/2000 LOS ANGELES - Two in T-shirts, two in ties, one in a sleeveless blouse, the anarchists prepared to call the session to order yesterday. First, though, they had to lay down the law: cell phones off, no questions out of turn, stick to the subject. Oh, and don't forget the sign-in sheet. As one of the speakers, a teenager using the pseudonym Panda, explained before politely stepping to the side, ''If people are afraid of anarchy, it's only because they don't understand it.'' But their news conference, complete with a podium and plenty of TV cameras, provided no better understanding of what the group would do during the Democratic National Convention next week. Instead, the speakers, on summer break from college, swore only that their own gathering, the North American Anarchist Conference, which starts Friday, would be peaceful. For three days, hundreds, maybe even a thousand, anarchists from across America and Canada are to meet in Los Angeles. The topics to be discussed - education, poverty, human rights - would sound mundane were it not for some catchy titles such as ''Mutant Becomings'' and ''Racist Mascots.'' Also on the calendar: ''Pacifism as a Pathology.'' The agenda has city leaders and police concerned, since more than a few of the anarchist attendees are expected to stick around for the big convention. After all, one anarchist group took credit for much of the property damage caused last year in downtown Seattle by young people protesting World Trade Organization meetings. And the Web site of at least one anarchist organization is encouraging its brethren to arrive ready to rumble. But the August Collective, as the dozen or so hosts of the upcoming conference call themselves, insisted they would have none of that, at least not inside the as-yet unidentified location where they will convene. These anarchists, well-mannered and well-spoken, said they have even gone so far as to ask attendees to refrain from discussing specific strategies to be used during the Democratic National Convention. ''Our conference is legal and legitimate, and any police repression will be purely because of our political beliefs,'' said Anne Kelly, a physics student. Later, she added, ''No one has anything to fear from us.'' But by ''us,'' the five members of the August Collective who spoke at the news conference at Patriotic Hall appeared to mean only their conference. After stressing that local police and politicians have misrepresented the movement's beliefs and practices, 21-year-old Jeff Hendricks backpedaled a bit. ''It's not our position to tell other anarchists what to do,'' said Hendricks, who is studying to be a teacher. Said Brendan Crill, 27, who is working toward his PhD in physics: ''I've been so busy with our conference, I haven't even thought about what I'll do during the DNC. But it is a big opportunity, with the spotlight on LA.'' To keep anarchists out of that spotlight, Crill and the others said, Los Angeles police and federal law enforcement officials have been monitoring their activities and harassing them at times. Still, they said, they intend to spread their message. In a statement, the group defined anarchy as a ''minimization of hierarchy and authority over our lives'' and a ''maximization of personal freedom.'' But there is no official dogma in the growing anarchist community. Some anarchists, for example, do not consider property damage to be a form of violence. ''Anarchy is a very rich political theory. People don't just do these things without thinking about them,'' Kelly explained to the crowd, which was largely unfamiliar with the movement until masked young people hit Seattle's streets. Members of the August Collective, however, would not say what they thought of the potential for trouble during the Democratic National Convention. But they don't want to be made scapegoats for anarchists or other protesters, either. That's why they went door to door to talk with business owners in the area where they will gather. Kelly said the group promised no protests during the anarchist conference. << Chuck0 >> This was the year *everything* changed. -- Commander Ivanova, 2261 Mid-Atlantic Infoshop -> http://www.infoshop.org/ Alternative Press Review -> http://www.altpr.org/ Practical Anarchy Online -> http://www.practicalanarchy.org/ Homepage -> http://flag.blackened.net/chuck0/home/ "A society is a healthy society only to the degree that it exhibits anarchistic traits." - Jens Bjørneboe
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