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Tag: Occupy Wall Street

Nonviolent Activism And Police: Nonviolent Activism Means Never Working With The Cops
A helmeted and armored riot cop from the California Highway Patrol grimaces menacingly as he brandishes his nightstick. Oakland protest for Freddie Gray, May 1, 2015. (Flickr / Thomas Hawk, CC-BY-NC license)
January 25, 2018
Kit
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Nonviolent Activism And Police: Nonviolent Activism Means Never Working With The Cops

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

The recent first anniversary of Donald Trump’s inauguration got me thinking about nonviolent activism and police.

My thoughts brought me back to 2011. Occupy Wall Street was a nonviolent movement, but when we started collaborating with other movements and activist groups, we quickly learned that one definition of nonviolence rarely matched another.

It seems simple on the surface: nonviolence means not physically attacking another person. Beyond that, things quickly break down. Is swearing at another person a form of verbal violence? Does a nonviolent person run from the police or does “nonviolent civil disobedience” mean staying to face the charges for whatever laws you might have broken? Is destruction of property also a form of violence, or is it another type of action which should be evaluated separately?

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The 8K Words Holiday Giveaway: Kit’s Gonzo Insiders Get A Book By Scott Crow & Stickers!
A bored looking, beardless "Santa Claus" in hippie sunglasses is tangled in Christmas lights, standing by a spotlight. (Pixabay / KlausHausmann, public domain)
October 26, 2017
Kit
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The 8K Words Holiday Giveaway: Kit’s Gonzo Insiders Get A Book By Scott Crow & Stickers!

Posted in Archive, and Journalism

Don’t say I never give you anything.

My friend, the anarchist author scott crow, recently approached me to let me know that he has copies of his books to give away, and I realized this would be a perfect holiday gift for my Gonzo Insiders.

Anyone who signs up on my Patreon as a Gonzo Insider (or at one of the higher levels) before December 1st will get free copy of “Emergency  Hearts, Molotov Dreams: A scott crow Reader.”

This 2016 collection brings together fascinating interviews about a range of topics that are more current than ever, including anarchy, cooperatives, police brutality, prisons, animal liberation, environmental justice, surveillance and political movements. Also included is my conversation with scott, originally published at Firedoglake, where we discussed the rise and fall of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the lessons that can be learned by future movements.

Read moreThe 8K Words Holiday Giveaway: Kit’s Gonzo Insiders Get A Book By Scott Crow & Stickers!
What Are The Antifa Doing After Harvey? (#GonzoNotes)
Common Ground station in New Orleans Lower 9th Ward. Towers of Claiborne Avenue Bridge over Industrial Canal visible at left. 2005. (Wikimedia Commons / Infrogmation, CC license)
August 29, 2017
Kit
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What Are The Antifa Doing After Harvey? (#GonzoNotes)

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, Gonzo Notes, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

Recently I heard from a reporter writing an article for a major mainstream newspaper who wanted to talk with antifascists. After checking out his Twitter, I decided to give him a shot. 

We spent about an hour talking about my work with Oh Shit! What Now? an antifascist anticapitalist educational collective that’s hosted everything from computer security classes to discussions of education reform. I stressed the everyday nature of real antifascist organizing, and emphasized that all of us are involved in other social justice causes. 

When the article came out — actually an opinion piece, it turned out — it was a horrorshow of predictable hot takes about antifa that ignored nearly everything I told him, and most of the other constructive work being done by antifascists around the country. 

Read moreWhat Are The Antifa Doing After Harvey? (#GonzoNotes)
Diversity Of Tactics Keeps Your Enemies Off Balance (Gonzo Notes)
A clown in a red wig, painted white face and exaggerated painted black lips, wearing an orange turtleneck, speaks into a bullhorn at a protest on behalf of migrant workers. London, February 20, 2017. (Flickr / Darren Johnson / iDJ Photography, CC NC ND license)
July 10, 2017
Kit
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Diversity Of Tactics Keeps Your Enemies Off Balance (Gonzo Notes)

Posted in Creative Commons, Gonzo Notes, and Occupy Wall Street

September 17, 2012: the financial district was in chaos.

On the morning of the one year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement, marking the day that tents first went up in Zuccotti Park, activists flooded Wall Street for hours.

Some held birthday parties in bank lobbies until the police came. Others took the furniture out of buildings and threw it in the street. One group I knew blocked traffic with a makeshift donut stand, offering dumpster-dived pastries and coffee to the NYPD.

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Stay And Fight Fascism Where You Are (Gonzo Notes)
"Queer Dance Freakout" for Trans equality at the Texas Governor's Mansion, February 23, 2017. (Kit O'Connell, CC license)
March 1, 2017
Kit
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Stay And Fight Fascism Where You Are (Gonzo Notes)

Posted in Creative Commons, Gonzo Notes, Journalism, MintPress News, and Occupy Wall Street

I wrote the last issue of Gonzo Notes, about creating resilience to both man-made and natural disasters, with a specific comrade in mind.

Just hours after the newsletter hit inboxes, I found out my comrade Liam Shea had died.

His death was devastating and unexpected to all his friends and allies, but most of all to his partner Luna. His loss robbed the world of a powerful activist; an old-school nazi-punching punk; someone who had, time and again, put himself at risk for the needs of others, to the point that he tattooed his knuckles with Y.N.W.A. (You’ll Never Walk Alone).

Read moreStay And Fight Fascism Where You Are (Gonzo Notes)
How To Survive Hurricane Donald (Gonzo Notes 05)
Volunteers wearing Occupy Sandy safety vests work out of a pickup truck bed. July 18, 2013. (Flickr / Not An Alternative, CC NC license)
February 10, 2017
Kit
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How To Survive Hurricane Donald (Gonzo Notes 05)

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, Gonzo Notes, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

Resilient communities are more resistant.

Strong communities survive and strong communities resist.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, radical activists and community organizers created Common Ground Relief to step in where the government and traditional NGOs like the Red Cross failed. They organized both the immediate needs of the community, like food and rebuilding, while also enabling long term political organizing. Today, the Common Ground Health Clinic still remains in New Orleans, offering “solidarity not charity.”

Occupy Sandy was a more recent, well known response to disaster. With their skills honed by Occupy Wall Street, activists created an ambitious network of neighborhood relief centers offering supplies of all kinds and connecting people with builders and other volunteers after Hurricane Sandy.

Read moreHow To Survive Hurricane Donald (Gonzo Notes 05)