[This report on Black Rose/Rosa Negra's (BRRN) 11th national Convention
comes to us by way of a member in our Durham, NC Local. Editing supportprovided by BRRN's External Education Committee (EEC)] - Fall 2025
marked the 11th national Convention of Black Rose Anarchist Federation /
Federación Anarquista Rosa Negra (BRRN). This year's festivities were
hosted in Boston, MA over the weekend of October 9th - 11th. Dozens of
BRRN delegates and members, as well as observers from allied
organizations, gathered to discuss our work over the last year and how
lessons extracted from our experiences should translate to changes in
our analysis and strategy for intervening in the present. Our Convention
is the highest decision making body of our Federation, a period we
reserve each year for considering, debating, and voting on proposals
that would make changes to our analysis, strategy, and organizational
structure.
Day 1
Following opening remarks from BRRN's First Secretary, the Day 1 of our
2025 Convention began with international greetings. Every year our
sibling organizations from around the world send us words of support and
solidarity, much like we do for them during their own conventions and
congresses. Below is not an exhaustive list of our sibling
organizations, but illustrate the scope of BRRN's political ties across
the globe. Alongside BRRN, many of these organizations belong to the
International Coordination of Organized Anarchism (ICOA), a new
formation that emerged out of the old Anarkismo international network.
These words of solidarity across borders are an important reminder that
we are not isolated, but rather that we are a part of a worldwide
tradition and movement on the path to liberation and libertarian
socialism. This year we received spirited greetings from:
Construcción Anarquista Federal Argentina (Argentina)
Federación Anarquista Uruguaya (Uruguay)
Federación Anarquista Santiago (Chile)
Coordenação Anarquista Brasileira (Brazil)
Têkosîna Anarsîst (Northeast Syria/Rojava)
Anarchist Group in Sudan (Sudan)
HEDRA Organización Anarquista (Spain)
EMBAT Organització Llibertària de Catalunya (Catalonia)
Die Plattform (Germany)
Anarchist Yondae (South Korea)
Anarchist Communist Federation (Australia)
LiZA (Spain)
Union Communiste Libertaire (France & Belgium)
Midada (Switzerland)
After breaking for lunch we had our first internal discussion panel on
"The F Word: Making Sense of MAGA and Naming the Moment." During this
plenary session members discussed and debated both the accuracy and
strategic utility of referring to Trump and the MAGA movement as
"fascist." Some of the questions posed to delegates and members
included: How accurate is this characterization? How is MAGA similar or
dissimilar from previous authoritarian and fascist movements? What kind
of traditional anti-facist tactics are useful in this moment and which
ones need to be updated in our current times? Members discussed how
these national political questions have been impacting our local
organizing efforts and how our tactics may have shifted over this past
year to combat an emboldened ICE, the erosion of bodily autonomy for
women and LGBTQ people, and other attacks on the broader working class.
Day 1 came to a close with a members-only social and art build. Because
members and delegates travel from all over the country to attend our
organization's annual Convention, it's often the only time in the year
where comrades living as far apart as Boston and San Francisco are in
the same room together. Building a strong, living organizational culture
is as crucial as developing an accurate analysis or effective organizing
strategy.
Day 2
The second day of our 11th convention began with another open panel
discussion on the topic of "Revolutionary Feminism From Below", led by
women militants involved in labor and tenant organizing. Members leading
this panel centered on several questions reflecting the current
political moment. Are the mass organizations in which we are embedded
effectively engaged in struggles around bodily autonomy? If not, how can
we develop transversal campaigns in these mass organizations where
bodily autonomy does not appear as an immediate or obvious issue? What
structured efforts can BRRN undertake to consistently develop the
confidence and skills of women and gender non-conforming militants? How
does social reproductive work factor into the tenant and housing
organizations? How do we make both political and mass organizing more
accessible to parents?
The discussion looked at how patriarchal social relations are often
reproduced in everyday life, and thus are present in our organizing.
Deep relationship building is necessary and consciously altering our own
social relations; interpersonally, in our political organizations, and
in the mass organizations where we are carrying out social insertion.
Following the panel and breakouts on revolutionary feminism, we came
next to our annual discussion on updating the Federation's national
Conjunctural Analysis and Limited Term Strategy. Responding to internal
reflection and critique of the process we carried out at our 2024
Convention, this year we experimented with a new approach. This time we
engaged in a process that emphasizes discussion and debate during a
month-long pre-Convention period, rather than during the limited time
afforded during the weekend-long Convention alone.
Deliberation on our Limited Term Strategy was also more focused, as each
committee within the organization came prepared with a draft of their
own committee-specific Limited Term Strategy for the coming year. In
this way, members outside of each committee are enabled to provide
outside feedback on how the committee is orienting itself to accomplish
its tasks. There were reports and analytical discussions around the
Labor Committee, the Tenant & Territorial Committee, the External
Education Committee, the International Relations Committee, the Internal
Education and Development Committee, and the Internal Communications
Committee.
Following a lunch break, debate and voting began in earnest on the dozen
proposals submitted for consideration this year. As mentioned in the
introduction to this report, our national Convention is reserved for
discussing and debating proposals that will affect the entire
federation. This includes amendments to our core organizational
documents, structure, and proposals to take on Federation-wide initiatives.
Committees, Locals, or any 5 members in good standing can sponsor a
Convention proposal. These proposals are submitted months in advance of
Convention and released to the organization's general membership for
discussion and debate. Locals then elect a delegate to deliver their
votes, feedback, and amendments. While some proposals pass outright,
others require amendments to pass. During the Convention, proposal
sponsors accept or deny amendments proposed by delegates. Proposals
amended and passed on the floor of the Convention are then submitted for
a national referendum at a later date, during which any amended
proposals are ratified or rejected by BRRN's general membership.
While sometimes drawn out, this process reflects BRRN's commitment to
genuine, bottom-up democracy. Proposals within the organization
originate with the membership and the decision to adopt or reject them
can only be made by the membership.
We wound down the Convention's second day with a panel discussion and
social, both open to the public. The panel focused on organizing in the
face of repression, a topic selected for its all-too-real relevance to
our present moment. Panelists included a BRRN member engaged in tenant
organizing in Chicago, a dedicated organizer with a local Muslim
organization involved in a variety of campaigns against the US backed
genocide in Gaza, and a lifelong movement organizer from El Salvador.
The event took place in both English and Spanish, with simultaneous
interpretation via headsets. After the presentation portion of the event
concluded, questions were posed to the audience who were encouraged to
form breakout groups. Groups discussed lessons learned from the
panelists, what our own organizing projects look like in the current
moment, and how our efforts can stay focused in the deluge of crises
that define the conjuncture. This portion of the event naturally bled
into the party portion of the night, with food and drinks provided by
BRRN. We capped the evening by bashing an ICE officer shaped piñata.
Kids, of course, got the first crack at it.
Day 3
The final day of our 2025 Convention continued the voting and debate on
the remaining Convention proposals, as well as the election of members
to national officer posts. Discussions on this final day were much more
lively as the Convention body was tasked with considering competing
proposals. Amendments to the proposals, caucus discussion breakouts,
delegates following up with members who weren't present, and votes
shifting based on how the language and debate developed all followed. As
a new member, it was exciting to see this level of active direct
democracy and spirited debate within our organization. It speaks to the
level of trust between militants and the dedication that BRRN members
bring to the work we do within the Federation and in our local
organizing efforts.
With votes and discussion on proposals and officer elections complete,
business on the third day of Black Rose/Rosa Negra's 2025 national
Convention started to wind down. As the Convention chair brought the
official proceedings to a close, members and delegates began saying
their goodbyes. While we'll all see each other in some capacity during
our national level committee work throughout the year, Convention
represents an all-too-rare opportunity for so many of us to be in the
same place, at the same time. Dozens of moments throughout this short
weekend served as reminders that our revolutionary project is a living,
vital thing-something that cannot be sustained without the support and
clarity that a revolutionary political organization, our political home,
offers.
https://www.blackrosefed.org/report-2025-convention/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten