US, First of May Anarchist Alliance: Social Struggle in the Coming Period: An Outlook and Action Statement to Guide Our Participation

 US, First of May Anarchist Alliance: Social Struggle in the
Coming Period: An Outlook and Action Statement to Guide Our
Participation (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)

The following points represent a brief statement of priorities, an outline of some of the 
perspectives our organization has decided on to help guide our thinking and actions in the
coming period. We do not want to overstate where our organization is at in our analysis 
and organizing, nor are these points a substitute for the hard discussions our 
organization still must have. These points developed out of reviews and discussions of the 
nature of the current period, the continuing wave of social protest domestically and 
abroad, and how we as a small and specific group of anarchist revolutionaries can 
participate in and help build those movements for dignity, justice and freedom. ---- 1. 
Our starting point in both our perspective and in our current work is the importance of 
organizing for the social self-defense of the working-class and oppressed communities. 
Working class defense organizations are the best vehicle for combatting the system of 
white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism and the state, and must be central to how we 
participate in social struggles in our communities. They may take many forms, from small, 
local collectives and projects to mass formations. What they share in common is the 
determination and the capacity to fight back.

People and the earth are under attack from multiple directions, and in both isolated and 
structural forms:

Austerity - low wages, social cuts, restricting unions, the assault on urban public school 
systems;
Displacement - foreclosures and gentrification, corporate encroachment on Native and farm 
land;
Racist Repression and Criminalization - police brutality, mass imprisonment, a militarized 
border and record deportations;
Backlash - attacks on reproductive freedom, rape culture, violence aimed at queer and 
transfolk, fascist, fundamentalist, and far-right movements;
Empire - An unending "war on terror", high-tech militarization & surveillance, economic 
blackmail and proxy occupations;
Climate change and ecological devastation brought on by industrial capitalism that 
threatens life on earth;
And on and on and on . . .

M1's instinctual immersion in and building of working-class defense organizations ranging 
from eviction defense & tenants organizing to stewards councils & IWW organizing 
committees to antifa work, prison organizing and radical alternatives to 12-step programs 
have placed us shoulder to shoulder with those who have begun to question things and fight 
back.

These defense organizations are an essential foundation for developing the 
self-organization and strategy, rooted in the experience of the working-class and 
oppressed communities, both for immediate fights for survival and revolutionary overthrow 
of capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy and the state.

2. The current period has seen a renewal of popular opposition to police murder, white 
supremacy and racist reaction. These struggles have used mass action, disruption, physical 
occupation and at times dramatic direct action tactics, inspiring the emergence of new 
social movements, most notably the Black Lives Matter movement.

White supremacy has always been a key pillar of the system of rule here in the U.S., and 
despite the moves towards more integrated repressive forces, more representative political
class, and a superficial official multi-culturalism, this society remains deeply defined 
by its racism.

In all the work we do, M1 will organize to combat white supremacy, whether from the 
structural framework of capitalism and the state, against any right-wing or fascist 
movement, or within the social movements that we participate. As anarchists, we recognize
that it is not possible to overthrow capitalism, patriarchy and the state without 
confronting white supremacy. By the same token, racism itself cannot be completely 
dismantled until capitalism and patriarchy are also destroyed and the state is abolished.

We do not arbitrarily elevate the struggle against white supremacy above those that combat 
patriarchy, capitalism, and the state; they comprise a complete framework for 
authoritarian rule and oppression. But we acknowledge that an important insurgent culture
is developing today that centers on a shared opposition to white supremacy, while actively 
attending to the role of other forms of oppression. We are informed by this reality and it 
remains a crucial guide for our engagement with working class defense organizations.

3. The national elections of 2016 are on the horizon and it is guaranteed that the build 
up toward them will disrupt many of the movements and grass-roots campaigns we participate 
in. As in previous cycles, many liberal and left activists, the mainstream unions and 
other organizations will abandon important struggles in favor of phone-banking and door 
knocking for Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton or whoever else might overtake them and win 
the Democratic Party nomination. Others will support the supposedly more radical 
alternative of Green or socialist candidates. Many will attempt to coerce others to join 
them in this electoral circus.We want to make it clear that revolutionary and anarchist 
movements must counterpose alternative approaches to the elections and bourgeois politics 
in general, including in their left, Libertarian and "progressive" forms. Building working 
class defense organizations that are fully autonomous from and hostile to the electoral 
process and the Democratic Party apparatus is essential to limiting the damage in the 
coming months. M1 will continue to promote a politics and program that is centered on 
keeping the struggles in the streets, schools and workplaces (including prisons) - where 
our real power lies.

4. Working class defense organizations must fight against the continuous gravitational 
pull of the non-profit system in the US, where money and resources flow to groups and 
projects that accept the limits of reformism. An anarchist and revolutionary program must 
reject this model; we can't build effective revolutionary and working class solutions if 
we are funded by the bosses and government and are organized in ways that replicate their 
hierarchy.Non-profits can sometimes employ direct action and other militant tactics, 
pushing up against the boundaries of business and government. Thus they can present their 
work as progressive and even radical. But the central logic of non-profits is that they 
are, in the end, the loyal opposition within the framework of capitalism and the state, 
committed to reform but not to revolution. Whether they are partisan or politically 
independent, non-profits tied to "movement organizing" serve to contain and re-direct 
momentum from broader social struggles. They create deceptive alliances that obscure class 
contradictions and the actual antagonistic relationships between Power and the grassroots.
The bureaucracy of the mainstream unions and civil rights groups play a similar role. A 
central aspect of First of May's politics is that anarchist militants must be partisans of 
the working classes and oppressed, working within the class as equals on the grassroots 
level. Thinking of non-profits as vehicles for insurgent and revolutionary class and 
social struggle is a political dead end. We need to raise this objection clearly within 
our mass work.

5. Even with an understanding that the ruling class is international and that the working 
class is global, and that what happens in other parts of the world can quickly impact 
circumstances here, it has been easy for First of May to have a narrowly pragmatic 
concentration on the Midwest region and only the movements and organizations we belong to. 
We now seek to develop a broader international analysis and links with the like-minded 
around the globe.The events in Kurdistan, Ukraine, Greece and elsewhere point to the need 
to understand revolutionary dynamics there and the real obstacles both external and 
internal to their development. M1 has created an International Committee for the first 
time to carry out international correspondence, coordinate our solidarity efforts, and 
provoke critical discussion.

In conclusion, while the points outlined here are helping to guide our current organizing, 
they are a small part of the conversations we want to have with allies, co-workers, 
neighbors and the broader movements of struggle we see ourselves a part of. We want to 
connect with others who identify with revolutionary and liberatory visions, especially 
anti-authoritarian and anarchist ideas and programs for action. We intend to dialogue, 
organize and build with all who believe in the need for mass, revolutionary action of this 
character and substance.

Tags: First of May Anarchist Alliance, struggle

Posted in Uncategorized by Red X on October 28th, 2015 at 12:01 am.

http://m1aa.org/?p=1057