ACTIVATE is an anarchist and anti-authoritarian group organizing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Check out our points of unity for what we believe and what we're fighting for.
Just a quick reminder that no matter who you vote for, corporations win:
Of course, this video is a parody and cannot convey a complete analysis of the elections or provide a comprehensive critique of electoral politics as a strategy for social change. We encourage anyone viewing the video to consult a piece ACTIVATE wrote earlier this year on the role of elections.
Tuesday marked the seventh year of the United States’ war against Afghanistan, yet the war is rarely discussed in the media, among folks living in the United States, or the antiwar movement. Similarly, it is a war that both major party presidential candidates not only support, but want to escalate.
ACTIVATE has prepared the following pamphlet on the war to raise Afghanistan as an issue again and to remind people that moving troops out of Iraq and putting them in Afghanistan is no solution. We will be distributing these around town in the coming month and encourage you all to do the same.
Download the Pamphlet
Tell McCain/Palin…
FUND HUMAN NEEDS, NOT WAR!
Wed, 09/17 5:15pm
Monument Park (corner of Fulton and Division)
Our schools are crumbling, many of us can’t afford healthcare, our homes are being foreclosed, food costs are rising… yet the illegal occupation of Iraq continues to receive an almost unlimited amount of government funding.
When McCain and Palin speak at GRCC, let’s protest to demand an immediate end to the Iraq War (no time tables, no contractors, and no “residual forces”) and the prioritizing of human needs over war.
Help Spread the Word:
After organizing against the Republican National Convention for over a year, the Grand Rapids group ACTIVATE has spent the last several days in the Twin Cities actively disrupting the convention. On Monday, the first day of the convention, the actions against the RNC greatly overshadowed the theatrics of the convention itself, demonstrating that the resistance has been successful so far.
ACTIVATE is now calling on people to contact officials in Minneapolis to demand rights for prisoners arrested during the Republican National Convention immediately. According to the group Cold Snap Legal Collective over 300 people have been arrested as of Wednesday, many receiving felony charges. Many prisoners have not been able to meet with lawyers, guards have beaten several prisoners, some have been denied medical attention, and others have been put in 23-hour lock down. In addition, trans-gendered prisoners’ rights are not being taken into consideration. It is important that as many people as possible contact the following officials and ask that they meet the demands listed below.
* St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman (651.266.8510)
* Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher (651.266.9333)
* County Chief Judge Gearin (651.266.8266)
* Head of Ramsey County Jail Captain Ryan O’Neal (651.266.9350) (main #) extension 1
And demand the following:
* Immediate medical attention as needed for ALL arrestees;
* That the prisoners who haven’t given their names (Jane, John, and Jesse Does) have access to group meetings with a lawyer;
* Ensure trans folks have access to phones, attorneys, and are held in their gender group of choice;
* Dismissal of all charges; and
* Release of all minors.
On August 2, radicals from Michigan and Ohio gathered in Grand Rapids, Michigan to further plan, coordinate, and discuss the upcoming protests against the Republican National Convention (RNC).
What follows is a brief report back from the Grand Rapids faction of Unconventional Michigan…
PLANNING
At this stage in the game, planning is not as far along as what folks in Grand Rapids were hoping for before the consulta. While people remained very committed to going to the RNC and acting within Sector 5 (claimed by the Midwest Cluster), groups were not developed enough to discuss claiming a specific portion of the sector or coordinating between affinity groups. Despite this, the consulta included a review of maps, particulars of Sector 5, and a brainstorming of possible locations for strategic actions. Groups and individuals in attendance were strongly urged to contact the Midwest Cluster, Bash Back!, or the Snowswarm folks to plug into those actions and to facilitate greater coordination and to maximize the effectiveness of the blockades.
We also want to include a gentle reminder to folks planning to the attend the RNC protests to pick an action and connect with a group organizing in a specific sector. There are many to chose from, but time is running short.
MESSAGING
There was an interesting discussion about messaging and how radicals can use the RNC to advance our politics. While we were clearly not ready to come to consensus on an Unconventional Michigan message, the discussion was worthwhile and at some points inspiring as we shared our reasons for working towards shutting down the RNC. Many folks shared thoughts about the lack of legitimacy of the so-called “representative democracy,” the need for urgent action, and the hope that the RNC organizing will continue to inspire an upswing in radical organizing.
AFTER THE RNC
Some of the more productive discussions of the day centered on discussions about where we–as radicals in the Michigan area and beyond–go after the RNC. With two months before the elections, there will be ample time and opportunity for continued outreach around the failings of representative democracy and electoral politics. Moreover, with so much energy being focused on the RNC, we hope to see this energy shift onto other projects.
Among the specific ideas discussed at the consulta is the possibility of a meet-up in the Twin Cities (for the third or fourth day of the RNC) to assess both how the blockading went, how the organizing as a whole went, and where we as radicals can go from there. This idea is still being developed, but people from Unconventional Michigan are actively pursuing it. Second, there was considerable interest in a regional (Ohio, Michigan, etc) gathering to facilitate greater networking in the region–especially in terms of bringing out folks that may not have been interested in the anti-RNC organizing. The exact date is still being planned, but it will be in October in Toledo.
Love and Rage,
The Grand Rapids Faction of Unconventional Michigan
http://uamichigan.wordpress.com
August 2
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Planning to attend the upcoming protests against the Republican National
Convention (RNC) in the Twin Cities? Wondering how you will fit into the
plans for shutting down the convention? Wondering about logistics?
Unconventional Michigan is hosting a planning meeting for folks who are
going to be attending the protests. It will be an opportunity to meet
radicals across Michigan to discuss how we can work together to shut down
the RNC and articulate a radical vision for the future.
TO ATTEND, RSVP TO UAMICHIGAN@RISEUP.NET
MORE ON THE PROTESTS: HTTP://UAMICHIGAN.WORDPRESS.COM
Note: For a report back on an earlier statewide gathering in Michigan, see:
http://uamichigan.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/unconventional-michigan-consulta-report-back/
July 17 - 4:45pm
Veterans Park (corner of Fulton & Sheldon)
Join us, ACTIVATE (Grand Rapids SDS) for a ride next Thursday to protest the US occupation of Iraq and to show that we don’t need to rely on oil that is both destroying the planet and motivating the slaughter of thousands of Iraqi civilians. Along the way, we’ll make stops at places connected to the war and global warming.
Bring your friends. Tell everyone. Trust us, you don’t want to miss this.
Help Promote the Ride:
Come to Wilcox Park on July 12th to learn different Skills and Tactics needed for any Demonstration or protest
Schedule
* 12:00 PM - Vegan potluck in the Park - Bring a dish to pass for a pre-workshop lunch
* 1:00 - Protest 101 - Learn the basics of how to organize a protest!
* 1:45 - Creative Protest - Radical Cheerleading, street theater, & more!
* 2:30 - Health And Safety - What to wear, bring, and how to stay safe at a demonstration
* 3:15 - Legal - How to deal with law enforcement
* 4:00 - Black Blocs - Find out what a black bloc is and different black bloc tactics
* 4:45 - Lockdowns and Blockades - How to stop business as usual using different techniques
ACTIVATE (Grand Rapids SDS) has endorsed a call to action urging chapters affiliated with Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) to participate in direct actions aimed at disrupting the Democratic National Convention (DNC) this summer in Denver.
From the call:
If we, as a radical movement, are going to attempt to pressure the Democratic Party candidates, the time to do so is before they are elected. We can’t roll over and wait until they are in office. But on the other hand, if we, as a radical movement, seek to utilize direct action to bypass the mechanisms and apparatus of the State, opting in stead to actively (re)create and establish viable, sustainable, decentralized, localized, horizontal, and participatory modes of communal self-governance, we must also challenge the Democrats, sending the message that in pressuring them, we are in no way endorsing or legitimizing their power, authority, or rule. In fact, we seek to abolish it, as well as all other coercive mechanisms of the State. If we think a movement can exist out of electoral politics, then we must reclaim the mantel of dissent. With these things in mind, we have several questions for the Democrats, as well as for ourselves:
* If voters gave control of Congress to Democrats in 2006–rather explicitly (and belatedly) due to dissatisfaction with the Iraq war–why is the United States still in Iraq?
* Why is it that none of the presidential candidates (Democratic Party or otherwise) pay any attention to polls of people in the country the U.S. has made such a mess of, in which overwhelming proportions of the people simply want the U.S. out, now?
* How are any of the elites in the U.S. political mainstream demonstrating any respect for “democracy” when they ignore the opinions not only of their own constituents but of the people who are most directly affected? Who, of these elites, can we acquit of war crimes? And how, if we offer support to any of these elites, do we escape complicity with these war crimes ourselves?
* By resisting (or refusing to participate in) the limiting mechanisms of the electoral process, do we, through inaction, effectively condone war crimes by failing to do everything we can to stop them? Or is it that by refusing to engage in concerted direct action (and failing to recognize that the political mechanisms of the State are both ineffectual and illegitimate), we, through inaction, are effectively complicit in war crimes by failing to do everything we can to stop them?
Across the country, groups have been talking–and talking seriously–about disrupting the DNC by means of direct action. The DNC–like the RNC–is shaping up to be an event that we won’t want to miss. But unlike the RNC, the DNC gives us the additional opportunity of saying NO to the narrow (two party monopoly) options provided by the State. We feel that the DNC is equally as important as the RNC, as neither party represents the people. We also feel that if there is no radical presence at the DNC, radicals at the RNC appear to be supporting the Democrats, when in fact we oppose the whole system. In the face of the last eight years, let us not forget the prior eight year Democratic presidency of Bill Clinton, which brought us NAFTA, 500,000 dead Iraqis, welfare reform, militarization of the US-Mexico border, etc.
ACTIVATE (Grand Rapids SDS) will be giving a presentation on the upcoming protests at the Republican National Convention (RNC) taking place in late summer at the Bloom Collective on June 18. The presentation will use images and footage to detail the history of mass protests in North America, provide information on strategies and tactics that will be used to protest the convention, and provide information on how you or your group can get involved.
June 18 - 7pm
The Bloom Collective (1134 Wealthy St SE)
