Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 20:44:12 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jamal Hannah <jah-AT-iww.org>
Subject: Re: First Black Bloc Recruiting Poster Ready for the Street!


Ernesto, i think that well thought-out rationalizations, as you have just
done, are just that: rationalizations. But they do not change the fact
that the "Ghandi is dead" poster was stupid, racist, and steryotyped, nor
does it change the fact that calling the black bloc "marines" is a
somewhat wrong-headed way to think about anarchists and anarchism.

 - JAmal

On Tue, 1 Aug 2000, Ernesto Aguilar wrote:

> All,
> 
> I'm writing to comment on the recent brouhaha over Mike Flugennock's 
> poster, which has been posted to various places and thus opening the door 
> to comment. As a disclaimer, I'm a former anarchist, although my work in 
> the anti-authoritarian struggle in collectives (the somewhat remembered 
> Black Fist Collective in Texas), public forums, with ABC (the U.S. 
> Federation and the stalled ABC Network, which never took off after a NYC 
> conference in the early '90s) and other formations has given me some 
> insight on the aboveground and clandestine movement. I've witnessed  myopic 
> political vision in the past and this seems to be a revisit of such.
> 
> Being a person of color myself and one who worked actively against racism 
> through various fronts and struggles, I'd like to think I'm somewhat 
> attuned to seeing racist imagery when it rears its head. The problem so 
> many on the anti-racist movement's side fall into is trying to contrast 
> their disagreements with extremes. I personally dispute the image of Gandhi 
> in Flugennock's art as racist (public figures are regularly caricatured... 
> if civil rights leader Jesse Jackson is portrayed with distended features 
> typical of caricatures, that doesn't equal racism simply because we 
> disagree, nor does that fly in this case), but to go after an artist with 
> Howard Stern comments and shots his work is "stupid" are ridiculous and 
> discredit some otherwise valid points. Disagreement and constructive 
> criticism and self-criticism are powerful tools, but when they're used to 
> attack and demonize fellow comrades, I think we're headed down a road we 
> probably would be best avoiding.
> 
> The images of people like Gandhi have been seized upon by the left and are 
> regularly used to bludgeon the revolutionary movement as violent, dangerous 
> and inherently evil -- like it not, in need to "demystification" or not, 
> that's the case. Were the actual people more revolutionary than the sum of 
> a quote or a poster? Certainly. Were those people courageous in their 
> struggles and to be learned from? Absolutely. Does that mean they're off 
> limits when much of their work supports the nonviolent position and is used 
> as a weapon against the revolutionary movement? Not a chance. That, in my 
> view, is the intention of these visuals. True enough that pacifist leaders 
> aren't the problem, but as with anyone identified with a movement, they 
> become synonymous with an idea and a lightning rod for commentary. Is that 
> right or wrong? Whatever the case, that's reality and to pretend that 
> dynamic doesn't exist is foolish. It can change, but it still exists.
> 
> Frequently we're brought back to MLK in this writing, as if the offense of 
> African people is somehow taboo or that each is somehow enamored of the 
> late civil rights leader. The writer asks: "how would a 'martin luther king 
> is dead' poster go over, even among radical, non-pacifist blacks," which 
> begs the question. MLK was regarded by Malcolm and others as a sellout on 
> many levels. That's not intellectual or nice either, but that's reality. 
> King's position, who he was, who we think he was and what he did does not 
> put him above criticism. Period. Nor should who Gandhi was or who we think 
> him to be put him above comment. Does being hard, even brutal, with a 
> critique mean you're alienating people of color? Not at all. In fact, many 
> of us are pretty fed up with "We Shall Overcome," and brutal honesty in the 
> days of codewords and "meritocracy" is long overdue.
> 
> Obviously, the writer has inferred much about Gandhi are the use of his 
> image, and chooses to make a much-needed critique. We could get into 
> overlong debates about tactics and objectives, whether Gandhi's fate would 
> have been different had his politics been different, or whatever 
> speculation you care to name. There's a need for that, but again, we get 
> into this contrasting of disagreements with extremes as a cheap means of 
> shoring up support for a muddled position. Hence comments like "frat-boy 
> mentality and sense of humor" get passed off to make it seem like the 
> artist is attempting to appeal to "frat boys" -- hardly a force in the 
> anarchist movement, although many in the struggle are white -- when that's 
> far from fact. Rather than attempt to understand the causes for such dark 
> criticism -- in many cases, the anger and disillusionment of people who see 
> the futility of nonviolence and the browbeating by so-called 
> revolutionaries in defending the corpses of the 'martyrs' -- it's reduced 
> to white kids and frat boys because Flugennock's art doesn't meet the 
> writer's "fun, biting, uncompromising, intelligent" critique standards. Nice.
> 
> Finally, I find the rant and backtracking over the reference to anarchists 
> as "movement marines" amusing. Has anyone heard the term hyperbole? The 
> statement was made at a victorious time when the efforts of anarchists were 
> being celebrated, and clearly the 'marine' usage has nothing to do with the 
> U.S. Marines -- something the author surely knows -- but on the cadre's 
> enthusiasm. Similarly, one should read a bit more critically to see 
> "recruiting posters" wanting "A Few Good Anarchists".are intended as purely 
> tongue and cheek and without a doubt NOT reflective on the repressive role 
> U.S. Marines have played globally. Self-critical is one thing. 
> Grandstanding is quite another.
> 
> Private responses welcomed and appreciated.
> 
> Sincremante,
> Ernesto Aguilar
> Sexto Sol 
>