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Building a nation
Anarchist People of Color Conference 2003 in
Detroit
By Ernesto Aguilar
Between 130-150 people of color came together Oct. 3-5, 2003, at Wayne
State University in Detroit, Michigan, USA, for the first Anarchist
People of Color conference. The event was empowering, enriching and
liberating for so many of us waiting for an event like this.
Broadly defined, an anarchist person of color is an individual from
a cultural or racial minority group within a national territory who
identifies as an anti-authoritarian or anarchist. Martin Sostre is one
of the best-known people of color in contemporary history to articulate
anarchist politics, as was Kuwasi Balagoon. Aside from these, major
anti-authoritarian figures of color have been scarce.
Today, our movement is unique and decentralized. It is hard to estimate
how many people call themselves anarchist people of color. Defining
our politics and goals has been equally difficult. Some of us come to
radical politics from deeply cultural backgrounds. Others were politicized
in white-led subcultures and movements and are embracing their ethnic
identities. There were many political tendencies represented.
When this conference was proposed last year, there were doubts such
an event would draw as many as we did. After all, with the exception
of the Anarchist People of Color email list and two or three collectives,
the presence of people of color within the anarchist movement is hard
to quantify. The event was the first of its kind in North America and,
possibly, the world. At no time in contemporary history had a people
of color conference come together organized around the idea of anarchism
as a movement and a means of unity. The impact on each person cannot
be underestimated.
The event opened October 3 with positive vibes and enthusiasm. We welcomed
attendees from, among other areas, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City,
Philly, DC, Portland, many Texas cities, Kansas City, Phoenix, Seattle,
Baltimore, North Carolina, Kansas, Brazil, Mexico and Canada. We registered
about 75 people in the course of two hours of the conference opening.
Racially, our attendees seemed to come from many backgrounds. People
of African descent seemed to be most largely represented, followed by
Arabs, South Asians, people indigenous to North America (Native Americans
as well as Mexicanos, Puerto Ricans, Central Americans, et al.) and
people whose backgrounds crossed all areas of the Asian Diaspora. Typically,
anarchist conferences are predominantly middle class folks who are part
of a punk subculture. Here, we had our share of punks, but also a majority
of regular folks and others.
A conscious and, in some circles, controversial, decision was made early
to solely allow attendance of people of color, and ask whites to not
attend. The reasons for doing this — including the futility of
holding a people of color conference that whites could potentially dominate
in attendance and change the course of, even if unintentionally —
seemed obvious. Ultimately, it turned out to be the right call. Many
people said they finally felt free to express their thoughts and share
experiences with other people of color, and not worry about being isolated
from them. The nature of dialogues seemed to change considerably.
Workshops began on Saturday. The morning plenary session allowed attendees
the chance to introduce themselves and talk about their work. Virtually
all the pre-registrants noted they were interested in connecting with
others, and our wonderful Detroit hosts ensured that time was there
for informal discussions.
Conference attendees were relied on as our volunteers. Prior to the
discussion, some in the conference organizing had decided white allies
would help with conference tasks. However, it was later decided to ask
attendees to volunteer instead. The message of whites patrolling an
area of people of color, as well, was a little surreal. To be fair,
many white allies came out in support of the conference. However, in
this case, we wanted to depend on ourselves for basics like registration
and security, and did. Ultimately, this sent a strong message and people
gravitated to fill conference needs.
Threats of violence aimed at conference attendees (issued in places
like the racist Stormfront message board) never happened, thankfully.
Many attendees said the women’s-only workshop was really an empowering
experience, where women had the opportunity to open up about various
issues specifically pertaining to women of color. In fact, an extra
session and two listserves came out of the original workshop.
Gabriel from San Antonio reportedly did a great presentation on the
issue of fighting police on the attack against youth cruising. It was
a little challenging because the cruising phenomenon is somewhat removed
from the punk subculture. Getting people to understand the significance
of police repression in this way opened up broader discussions of class.
In the halls, there was occasional discussion of conflicts that prompted
Lorenzo Komboa Ervin to withdraw from the conference. However, the event
itself was free of drama. Most of the expressions were of regret over
the bickering before the event, and relief that these things had not
broken the spirit of the conference.
The basis of the conflict was two proposals, the APOC Network proposal
and the APOC United Front proposal, and how they were to be heard. Network
authors, who said most conference pre-registrants had not expressed
an interest in building an APOC group, requested their proposal be discussed
in a workshop running concurrent with others, so those not interested
in group-building could join other workshops. United Front authors argued
that discussing a proposal any place else but a plenary was undemocratic.
United Front advocates also called for a vote on all proposals, whereas
the Network authors said they intended their discussion to be a dialogue
and not necessarily a vote.
The ensuing debate prompted four BANCO members to issue a statement,
“Stop Character Assassination and Sectarianism in the APOC Movement.”
The statement condemned the Network proposal and its authors, along
with various parties assisting with the conference. On Oct. 3, Komboa
emailed to say he would not attend the APOC conference due to the recent
conflicts.
Ironically, no proposal was even heard at all. The Network proposal
workshop was later changed to a “Building an APOC Movement”
by its authors, who later cited the need to build upon dialogues over
the weekend, rather than found a group out of the conference.
On Saturday night, we filled Harmonie Garden Middle Eastern restaurant.
APOCs were standing and eating because the spot had no chairs left.
One cat said he had never had dinner with South Asian anarchists, but
just broke bread with six at the same table. A woman later said she
had never known other Arabs were anarchists, but met four in the hall.
On the message board notes scribbled down on butcher paper called out
things like “Desis meet at 7,” “Latinos meet here later”
and “help me start an APOC group.” Intense sessions on Palestine
and race theory, along with deep discussions on how a group should work,
were important, but the real thing coming out of discussions was the
realization that we were not alone. That may not sound political to
some, but the feeling is indescribable when you are a person of color
in a room and everyone feels what you feel on some level.
We have all been that lone person of color at a conference, feeling
isolated. We have all been angered by careless remarks, exclusionary
theory and practice, and disrespect of our history as a people’s
history. The reality of needing something for us has always been there,
but Oct. 3-5, 2003 made it live.
Workshops on Sunday got a late start, but we caught up. Word was the
Critical Race Theory workshop got heated, but that attendees made great
points. People loved Greg Lewis’ karate workshops.
What really came out of the conference in Detroit? For the first time,
this movement shined beyond the names and faces people know, and showed
our strength and unity. Youth stepped up and took center stage as organizers
and speakers. Veterans imparted their knowledge, but did not dominate
proceedings. We got to talk about the issues affecting our communities,
and how we can make our work more reflective of the anarchist ideal.
A common thread in terms of vision seemed to be the idea that the label
we called ourselves was far less important than the theory and practice
that were part of our struggles. During many workshops, attendees stressed
that more emphasis in the white-led anarchist movement was on capital-A
anarchism rather than developing projects that exemplified the ideals
we talk about. People expressed wanting to see work that went beyond
activism, but that served needs and worked with the community where
it was at.
A theme that seemed to come up in Sunday workshops, and indeed all weekend,
bears repeating. One issue overlooked by many movements is knowing your
history. This goes beyond academic history, but about the history of
one’s own city and the role people of color played in building
it. This too is political, and must be addressed.
Out of the “Building an APOC Movement” workshop, networks
were established to facilitate regional conferences. Portland organizers,
in particular, said they wanted to hold a regional APOC gathering in
the Northwestern U.S. There was unanimous agreement that this conference
would happen again in 2004. In all, 2003’s APOC conference was
a productive and powerful event.
Source: www.illegalvoices.org
Spontaneous Combustion
By Rebecca Sulock
Oct. 15 (AGR)— Asheville hosts plenty of performance art.
Asheville publishes a profusion of comics and zines. Asheville listens
to the background buzz of electronic music near-constantly. Asheville
is full of angry babies. Yet rarely do these elements share the same
space during the same evening. The resulting amalgamation is Spontaneous
Combustion, an art event that will ignite the ACRC on Saturday, Oct.
25.
Many of the artists and performers live in Greenville, SC, and don’t
bring their business up into the mountains very often. “We grew
up together. Our parents all went to the same churches,” says Andrew
Davis (“Mr. Undead” on his business card), who creates Clockout
Comics. “We dropped out together,” he says, not in reference
to high school.
In addition to publishing his zines, Davis sculpts (he holds an MFA
from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania), paints, sings (he toured
with the Arco Flute Foundation, who have opened for Will Oldham), invents
alter egos for himself, and bakes bread babies out of dough. Minus the
babies, all of his talents will be on display for Spontaneous Combustion.
“I was behind this inebriated old man at a gas station in Rock
Hill, SC,” says Davis, “and he turned around and said ‘I’m
so hot, sometimes I set myself on fire,’ and that was sort of where
the idea for this show came from.”
Much of Davis’ work centers on the concept of humans as angry babies,
powerless to change “the experiences that make you who you are
that have already happened.” His various involvements are necessary:
“I’m carving out a place for myself in the world before it
carves me out to fit it.”
At the event next Saturday night, Roy Dankman Jr., provider of plastic
tubing for underground dwellers, will give an inspirational speech,
before or after, or possibly during, a performance by the pop-punk band
the Widdershins. Michael Gowan will be responsible for “electronic
ambience,” all of this against a backdrop of zine-related art.
“We’re going to really try to fill the space,” says Davis,
adding that several free zines will be distributed, including THE2NDHAND,
a placemat-sized publication based out of Chicago.
In addition, “The first 100 people in the door will get a balloon,”
says Davis, though when pressed, admits said balloon will be black and
will not float, although it will be tied to a string. Davis also promises
hot-air balloon rides, which will leave audience members “happier
than an angry kitten on the tit of a nuclear explosion.” Presumably,
this means very happy.
Additional information on this event is available at www.jchriscampbell.com
and www.the2ndhand.com
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