Recently, people from around the country met in Phoenix, Arizona to discuss
the creation of an organization around the "Bring the Ruckus" draft
proposal that was distributed nearly two years ago
(http://www.illegalvoices.org/ruckus). The meeting drew folks from places
like Atlanta, Los Angeles, Portland, Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts.
The purpose of the meeting was to lay the groundwork for a new
revolutionary formation.
Over the past year, Bring the Ruckus (BTR) has built its current membership
through discussion and debate over the draft proposal as well as through a
"Fight the Power, Build the Power" speaking tour in the spring of 2002,
which included Washington D.C. and the West Coast. Through developing
interest via face-to-face interactions, we have managed to slowly build a
presence in the cities represented at the meeting.
The meeting took place on November 9-10, 2002. The first day was committed
to political discussion and the second day to building the organization.
The meeting was made up of mostly men, though people of color and women
were represented. There were several people from Phoenix, but
representatives or entire collectives were present from various cities as well.
The political discussion encompassed everything from our individual
politics and political work to our analysis of the world. Topics of
discussion included the function of whiteness/race in American society
today and its relation to class, settlerism/colonialism compared to the
race traitor analysis, feminism/women's liberation, and
intersectionality/avoiding laundry list approaches to oppression. We also
discussed the significance of the creation of several new federation-type
organizations around the country as well as the anti-globalization and
anti-war movements.
The second day's discussions addressed the formation of an organization. It
began with the participants confirming their political unity based on the
previous day's discussions and figuring out where that discussion would
lead us in regards to building the organization. Based on the first day's
discussion, we established six criteria for political work within this new
organization-in-formation. These criteria are:
· It must address systems that attack working class people of color
By strategically focusing not only on the working class but also on people
of color within this class, we ensure that our work is focused on those
most impacted.
· It must be consistent with a feminist praxis
Our politics must include a gender analysis and our practice must
consistently challenge systems of patriarchy both in society and within the
organization.
· It must attack white supremacy
Undermining the system of white privilege challenges one of the greatest
barriers to revolutionary consciousness among the working class.
· It must have the potential to build a dual power
Our work must challenge state power or prefigure a challenge to state
power, it must pose a revolutionary or potentially revolutionary challenge
to that power, and it must prefigure a new society in some small way
· It must have the potential to further the development of
revolutionary consciousness among the working class
We will measure success by the impact on consciousnesses on the people we
work with. We will work for the greatest amount of awareness of
capitalism's contradictions among the greatest number of people.
· It should stretch the boundaries of political organizing
Rather than rely exclusively on the strategies and tactics of the past, we
will encourage creative methods of resistance.
When discussing our political work, we found that a clear majority of us
were doing work around police, prison and immigration issues. Further, we
also agreed that these issues most closely fit the six criteria. We
therefore agreed to focus on anti-police and anti-prison work, with the
understanding that a) locals are free to develop their own strategies and
ways of doing this work according to local conditions, as long as it's
consistent with the six criteria; b) other kinds of work that fall outside
of these two areas but meet the six criteria are also welcome; and c) these
areas and the specific work we're doing within them are all subject to
critique at the upcoming national meeting.
Once common criteria and work was hashed out, a basic structure for the
group was agreed upon. It includes a coordinating committee, locals, and
various work groups responsible for organizing the next meeting, putting
together another tour, and editing the discussion bulletin. Once the
committees were formed, the role of each was defined and their
accountability to the larger group established. We then filled the
committees with volunteers, except for the coordinating committee, which
was nominated and chosen by the entire group. There was some concern as to
what the committee should look like in terms of gender and race. We agreed
that in filling these positions we would not let ourselves be bound by
stringent requirements based on identity because that would be unfair to
some members, forcing them into a particular role because they happened to
be a woman, of color, etc. We did agree that as the organization grew we
will have to make sure that various identities are represented and not
overlooked.
While BTR is no doubt a "revolutionary political
organization-in-formation," this meeting was a strong beginning. We left
Phoenix with political unity, a structure and a purpose (and a commitment
to coming up with a new name in the future!). We committed to continue
engaging in study and debate in order to expand our analysis and reflect on
the intersection between practice and theory. Other goals include creating
new locals, organizing a national meeting and a speaking tour, and to
create a new document to reflect developing politics. Within the next year,
we seek to accomplish all of the goals and projects we have laid out before
us as a result of this meeting and to officially found this new
organization in the fall of 2003.
If you are interested in becoming part of BTR or want more information,
please visit our website at http://www.illegalvoices.org/ruckus
Link: http://www.illegalvoices.org/ruckus
http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=03/01/05/7396324
90 odd comments follow.