Today is the first of daily thread I will be making, focusing on how we can adapt to increase effectiveness and decrease cost. Day 1: bloc strategy at the nightly DA's. TLDR: we cant easily sustain the current strat & should take advantage of the pigs' defensive position. #blmpdx
When we take a night off, they cannot actually rest. They have to be ready for if there is a secret action. If they declare an unlawful assembly, all riot geared up, and people scatter into the neighborhood streets (or move as one block), they have to stay prepared/chase further.
When they beat and shoot us, on the other side of the scale is the satisfaction and thrill they get from the violence. It is probably why none of them have quit despite clearly being miserable. Do not get me wrong- I am not advocating for softening out tactics.
BUT, if people do not need two days to recover from running and hiding and being brutalized, you can actually organize during the day. We are past the point where you can be JUST showing up to the nightly actions. We must be introducing resistance in every part of your life.
There are many (hypothetical) possibilities. Invest in spray paint. Carry tire-slashing supplies and keep an eye out for parked cop cars. Talk to your neighbors and make your area hostile to pigs. Banner drop with your friends. Any spicy DA is safest as a secret w/i your AG.
At nightly DA's, people NEED to be talking. 20, 30 minutes before things kick off, there can be dialogue about the location dynamics and the strat for the night. Folks can offer tips or warnings about where is risky or common traps.
We can still have DA's that involve holding our ground, shield walls, and the ~spicy stuff. But they have the money, force and numbers. We MUST be smart. We MUST resist the temptation to go all out, all the time. As long as they're waiting for the next big move, we're winning.
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@brianorwhatevr I have a long answer for that! I'll let you know when I'm done. Most antiracist workshops include tools and building blocks for getting started. The grassroots way is finding a white person who is further along that you can reach out to whenever you notice yourself reacting.
@brianorwhatevr There is plenty of research to be done, but the main thing to remember that whiteness is a preservation tool for white supremacy. Defensiveness, reacting to discomfort with fear or willful ignorance, dichotomies/absolutes (good or bad, right or wrong, this or that)...
@brianorwhatevr These are things that allow you to ignore reality and maintain the facade of law and order, capitalism, etc - which in the United States all serve white supremacy. To fall into the binary, white men typically enforce whiteness through rational and aggression, white women...
The weekend isn't over til it's over, but given the peak of the threat has passed, I have some contributions that I hope folks consider as we take lessons from the past few days. The first is I appreciate how at no point did internal disputes interfere with antifascist response.
This thread will be updated throughout the day. First: to hold myself accountable for tolerating antiblackness. As someone who knew a fair bit of the planning information for JUICE's event and personally saw a plethora of red flags, I paid less attention to those who agreed.
As others have said, while there were plenty of PoC in every camp, there were many white people who were stepping out of their lane. There are also a fair number of white people who, rather than raising safety concerns, were badmouthing and condemning the organizers.
In shocking news, Black people are people and if you want to be in community w/ us you can't treat us like we are all-knowing, infallible entities that you should listen to without thought. That's deification and dehumanizing. It is clear many of yall are on step 1 of antiracism.
Many Black Portlanders are capitalists, or arent abolitionists. We SUPPORT their work but if their efforts arent in line w/ our goals, that's important to talk about. If youre only as far as "listen to Black ppl" w/o the nuances (like when Black ppl disagree) you aren't there yet
If you're Black and feeding into this... you should stop. We deserve respect, the first outreach of collaboration, and to be listened to. And, when we're wrong, we deserve feedback. If we seek Black liberation, it cant happen w/o mutual liberation. All of our fates are tied.
My advice for Saturday, thread: These are my personal conclusions considering risk assessment & other dynamics. There are five "things" this Saturday that people have the opportunity of doing: staying in, the Vanport event, Peninsula park event, counterprotesting, & obstruction.
1. Staying home. In a perfect world, everyone would have a safe place to stay inside, have adequate warning, and the alt-right would be cruising through a ghost town. Still, my earnest stance: if you don't know exactly how your presence will keep others safe, stay at home.
I keep saying it b/c risk of rolling the dice is too fucking high. This is the first major confrontation since we've had a body count. Someone in that crowd will be prepared to commit a mass murder. Yeah, they're cowards - they're also on a flat chunk of land with no buildings.
I know people are really stressed about this Saturday & what the goal is. There are a lot of things being done that aren't mine to share, but of the people I have spoken to (mutual aid, various event-holders, bloc members), the goals of the 26th have been essentially unanimous.
The first priority is to affirm that Black Lives Matter and uplift our dedication to Black liberation in spite of the hate movement that gathers and threatens the city. We cannot stop the alt-right rally from happening. But we can declare that we will not tolerate their bigotry.
Emphasizing community safety: We know without counter-protesters, the alt-right will attack anyone. The solution, however, isn't taking the bait. It's community awareness & intervening in events of violence. A non-confrontational presence affirming: you are not welcome here.
COMMUNITY FORUM ALERT! There has been significant concern about the lack of discipline, plan, & safety involved w/ counter-protests. The best way I know to address these concerns is to open up the conversation. This evening is the first open convo for refining our approach.
Disinformation will be clarified, ideas for harm mitigation proposed, and people not looped in w/ established coordinators/organizations can be part of the conversation. This is an informal "forum" for lack of better phrase. Other than that, idk what info is helpful. Ask your Qs!
Disclaimers: time and location were chosen within a pretty truncated process, but the information has been carefully considered. If you see a potential issue with the time/locale, I encourage feedback. Otherwise, i hope to see you this evening!