Solid #2
Jun 182014
Jun 072014
translated from Italian by act for freedom now!
Greetings, comrades!
I’m writing this letter driven by a strong need to communicate with the comrades outside. I’m convinced of the importance of being updated on all the episodes of struggle against what we normally call ‘the enemy’, that is the State and capital, from their miserable institutions to their fascist methods of control.
Anti-prison struggle is important and it is precisely for this reason that I feel the need to talk about my situation as an anarchist prisoner, while making it clear a priori that I have never tried to pass myself off as a victim because of what I’m going through, because as I have said (or written) in the past: I don’t believe in nor do I accept concepts of guilt or innocence in relation to the crimes I’m accused of, and I consider myself an anarchist with his insurrectional and revolutionary projectuality, an anarchist kidnapped by the State (and not the ‘victim’ of a kidnapping, as I read in a communiqué), and the reason why I want to talk about my condition in prison is only to publicly denounce some aspects of the way this disgusting institution functions. ‘If you don’t see it, it doesn’t exist’, and within my limited possibilities, to make my denunciation under censorship is part of my anti-prison struggle.
About a month ago (mid-March), while I was still detained in a temporary cell, the first foul deed took place. At around 7pm I was with a cellmate, then all of a sudden a shady guy, whom I certainly didn’t know, came over and started provoking me by insulting me and barging into me; a common event in prison is to beat one another up when one’s ‘reputation’ (which I think it’s a curse) is at stake, but due to the harsh words and the stress of imprisonment I fell into the trap.
After an exchange of blows, two guards appeared as if by magic (it is rare that police turn up in the corridor of the cells) and caught us fighting. Normally they tend to calm tempers with slaps and punches in order to subdue those engaged in a fight, and so they did with me and the massive guy I was fighting with (it’s great impotence not being able to defend oneself against these fucking shit cops because one ends up facing another trial for assaulting the bitch authority), and I thought it would end there, but it was not to be.
After humiliating us in front of the other prisoners present, they pushed us up the stairs; all of a sudden I no longer saw my initial aggressor, and I was the only one being taken away. So far I haven’t heard anything about him. When we got into an office, they beat me again; I couldn’t take any more and started shouting insults at them, ready to pass to physical insult, but they didn’t give me the chance because they were hitting me so hard.
I don’t remember how we got there, but I was taken into a dark room. Before we got there they stripped me and gave me a bottle of water, then they beat me again (I will never forget them) and left me there.
It was a cold night, they had taken all my clothes away, the floor was wet, I had been badly beaten all over my body and the room was completely dark. You can imagine what a night that was…
I was scared, angry and felt helpless. Allow me to call it physical and psychological torture.
I had never been afraid of the dark till that night; about 10 hours looking (and not seeing) all around and waiting for something to happen, till dawn broke and I was taken out of there. Obviously by other jailers.
I was taken to the cell and warned not to say anything about what had happened, and when I was in the cell I chose not to speak to anyone, not because of their warning but because I was still in shock.
By chance, that very day I was transferred to the extermination centre called Reclusorio Oriente, and during the night I entered the C.O.C. (Centre of Observation and Classification), whose 150 prisoners had been welcomed with the usual ‘psychological terror’.
I was expecting some other surprise at the C.O.C. Almost immediately we were called for the well-known ‘fajina’, which is cleaning the building, or allegedly so, in fact it is a pretext for extortion. In giving us directions, they said ‘al chile’ (an expression used a lot here). Who is going to go against it and pay $ 2,500 pesos not to do the fajina? This so that each one would take their responsibilities and pay up; some accepted their request. But some of us decided to face the fajina. I remember them saying: ‘you’d better pay, guerriero, you need money, don’t do anything stupid, otherwise we’ll have them beat you up.’
On that first day I did the fajina, which is an almost inhuman ‘exercise’ aimed at breaking your body so that you are forced to pay, a gorilla behind you all the time demanding that you be quick and hitting you if you don’t comply. This happens twice a day, about 3 hours of torture.
The next day they said again: ‘the best punches are for you’. After half an hour of fajina, while I was doing a sort of ‘carritos’, keeling down and cleaning the floor with a wet cloth at high speed, I fell then I was pulled up from the back of my trousers.
I have some problems with my back, so I can’t move fast. The pain was too much and I remember turning round to see my aggressor (a prisoner sheep who works for those of the fajina) and I wanted to retaliate, but again I couldn’t fight back because only two days had passed since the beating in the dark room, and with my back pain that was not the case.
As I had to restrain myself I went to the one in charge of the fajina, who said ‘if you can’t make it, then pay up’. That’s how I fell into this extortion.
I had to call someone who paid in $ 2,000 pesos for me. While I was speaking with this person I couldn’t help crying because of my feeling of impotence and the pain, but I never gave them the pleasure doing it during these disgusting fajina.
I’ll stop for a moment to point out that in spite of everything I don’t consider myself a victim. Insulted, yes, because they tried to trample on my dignity.
As a ‘coincidence’, two weeks later my mother was refused a visit, the only visit I got, on the pretext of some identification problems at the C.O.C.
The bastards ‘search’ you and steal money and phone cards. I didn’t have any money but they took my phone card along with my diary with my telephone numbers. I was in isolation for these two weeks, a strange isolation. I could only make one telephone call to ask for money …
I never thought of complaining to the ‘authorities’ of the institution, given that they are all part of the same gang of snakes in total complicity. Even less did I consider appealing to ‘human rights’ because their rights are a convenience I don’t believe in.
As for the question of extortion, I want to clarify: when I say extortion I mean pressure exercised by someone on someone else in order to obtain results, even against your will, which for a given reason is beyond your control; I don’t mean ‘extortion’ in the sense of someone wanting money from you and you give in out of fear of being beaten.
And a person very dear to me once said: ‘cya, don’t give them any money’, as if I had a choice or it was for a different kind of extortion. That’s not what he meant, but I understand some people can get that idea.
As far as concerns extortion in this context, prison and anti-prison struggle, I say that here they make you pay for anything, in reality for everything and this seems strange to me and it worries me that nobody says anything. And I know that what I’m saying here doesn’t change anything, but I don’t intend to be one of this flock of sheep.
They make you pay for using the toilet (the cell toilet is not enough for all the prisoners locked up in a small cell), for using tap water, which is much needed in the cells, drafting a request list (believe me, only for getting your list through), going to court, seeing your lawyer, cashing your cheque, and apart from the use of the table, for going downstairs on visiting day, getting out of the cell (they call it desapando); in the common cells they seize the locks, to be able to go from the cell to the dormitory, they charge (entrance, kitchen and common cell), for stuff like brooms, soap, bins, cloths and I don’t know what else.
This is a business!
And be careful! If you refuse to pay you come up against a heavy hand.
I can’t avoid mentioning the lay people, who, like the white lice, bedbugs and cockroaches, are part of the prison! They hit hard.
Another aspect I don’t like, actually no one does, is overcrowding.
Arrivals and the common cells are very small, at least in my experience when I arrived in a tiny cell about 3 x 2,5 metres, we were about 23 prisoners when I was taken to the temporary cell we were about 23 prisoners, and in the common cell there were 17 of us.
It’s very uncomfortable and also dangerous for your health the way you sleep, if you sleep, particularly for the new ones, they sleep on planks placed over the toilet.
Overcrowding in Mexican jails is worrying, at least I can see that at Oriente.
And even if there are so many of us, nothing ever happens. Here the methods of domestication are remarkable, as in the case of religion, it’s unbelievable how many people say ‘maybe we are here by the will of God, this is a sign and we must respect his will’; they sing and pray and hope to get out soon.
When they know I’m an atheist and I think they seem ignorant and blinded by dogma, they keep away from me or start asking all kinds of questions, but that’s another story.
Another way of keeping prisoners passive is drugs. I’ve always thought that each one is free to choose how to live their own life, to take or not take drugs, and which drugs, but I’ve also maintained that their use is often a barrier that prevents the individual from carrying on his revolutionary goals, deviating him into a lethargic state of artificial happiness; especially with so-called heavy drugs. This along with everything else.
Prison denigrates the prisoner, humiliates him, tramples him and tries to kill his dignity, turning him into human waste without any will, servile and obedient; assigning the role of ‘sheep or snitch’ to those who are faithful to the system, crushing, isolating and punishing those who don’t follow its idiotic rules and disobey its terroristic practices.
So I declare myself an anarchist prisoner in struggle against prison. We look power in the face from inside and push to preserve our identity as people who feel a love for freedom, our dignity and to defend what we are, it is necessary to liberate our wildest impulses and in the face of such humiliation it becomes necessary to go right to the most destructive of our being.
I consider myself a free person, also inside prison, and so it will be even while they try to destroy my individuality; their methods of control and domination will never succeed in piercing my black heart, as long there is the solidarity of free comrades towards prisoners in the clutches of whatever prison, whatever extermination centre and every institute of subordination.
Prison tactics of terror and fear cannot stop this hurricane of creative passion, constructive passion and destructive passion, this liberatory project; and even if confronting its authority leads to a result of greater repression, here no one falters, no one takes a step back against the hated enemy.
The prison system wants us to believe that its violence against us is something normal, it wants us to get used to it and think this is what prison must be; personally I don’t let myself be domesticated, I don’t fear retaliations, I’m not one of those who claim they are enemies of the State and at the same time try to make their lives ‘normal’ and smooth, this doesn’t convince me. I’m not one of those who turns the other cheek when they are struck, I am not like those who are waiting for ‘conditions to be right to act’, no!
On the contrary I think that their violence must be sent back twice over, an eye for an eye, to their violence our antagonistic violence, acting without waiting for the times to be ripe because often this happens too late, responding to a flame with a raging fire.
I haven’t finished writing everything, but…
Down with the prison walls!
Fire to the prisons!
For anarchy!
Carlos ‘Chivo’, Oriente prison.
May 302014
translation from Spanish taken from Contra Info
On the morning of May 16th, comrades Amélie and Fallon were notified that they would be taken to the Reclusorio Sur (Mexico City’s Southern Penitentiary) to testify on new charges under federal order.
At around 8am, both were transferred to the court, where they met comrade Carlos.
After waiting almost all morning, they were finally informed that an arrest warrant was executed for the offense of damage to others’ property, in the form of “arson in a building with some person inside.” The three comrades did not make a statement, and once the hearing was over, they were brought back to the prisons where they’re being held since February 2014 (Carlos to the Reclusorio Oriente, Amélie and Fallon to Santa Martha), after having spent 40 days in federal custody through the arraignment procedure.
This means that from now on the comrades are facing two criminal proceedings; one under local jurisdiction for the offenses of attacks to public peace and aggravated damages (attack on a Nissan dealership), for which they have no right to bail, and a federal process for the offense of damage to others’ property (attack on the Secretariat of Communications and Transport).
The comrades are well, and were able to mention that they were not beaten during the transfer.
The next hearing of the local proceeding is set for May 19th, while the federal hearing’s date will be determined this coming Sunday (18/5).
Once again we call for solidarity with comrades Amélie, Fallon and Carlos, who are kidnapped by the Mexican State since January 5th (5e).
The State/Capital is the only terrorist!
Neither guilty nor innocent!
Freedom for all!
You may write to the anarchist prisoners to the following addresses:
Amélie Trudeau / Fallon Rouiller
Centro Femenil de Reinserción Social Santa Martha Acatitla
Calzada Ermita, Iztapalapa No 4037, Colonia Santa Martha Acatitla
Delegación Iztapalapa, C.P. 09560, Ciudad de México, D.F.
México
Carlos López Marín
Reclusorio Preventivo Oriente
Calle Reforma #50, Col. San Lorenzo Tezonco
Delegación Iztapalapa, C.P. 09800, Ciudad de México, D.F.
México
May 242014
From abajolosmuros, translated by Act for freedom now!
Daydreaming
Today while waiting for roll call by my jailer I set to enjoy a bar of dark chocolate.
As the puppet-screw carried out his routine I closed my eyes and began to daydream; I was able to go out for a moment from this reality and imagined myself light and free, strong and determined, my chest filled with love and desire for a new world organized differently, functional for all regardless of gender or the geographic area where we happened to be born and where a barrier of concrete or wire does not interfere with human brotherhood or restrict free movement of individuals from one place to another. A world of people autonomous and free, horizontally, who do not relate competitively but according to basic and fundamental principles such as mutual aid and solidarity.
I imagined a place where a smile is worth more than a fucking chance of “progress” (advance of the few and receding of many)where individuals are all able to take control of their lives and have the ability to organize with their equals to form social bonds without power structures.
I imagined a world where I can walk hand in hand with my little daughter without fear of her being stolen by the police or violated as a result of a programme of ‘social peace’ by some petty politician. A place where everyone would roar with laughter at the very thought of being coerced and manipulated by any authority imposed by a handful of beings with certain “airs” of class superiority. I opened my eyes somewhat nauseated by the chocolate, to hear the voice of the duty screw calling my name and I quickly came back to reality, to that repulsive apparatus of exclusion and isolation called jail. And then I thought that to have the possibility of making this beautiful utopia become reality it is not enough to desire it, think it and write it, but to act, here and now, starting from myself and not wait for the ‘right’ moment …start the destruction.
With much affection for the comrades of CNA, Mexico, for their 10 years of struggle.
¡Viva la Anarquía!
May 242014
Greetings, comrades!
I’m writing this letter driven by a strong need to communicate with the comrades outside. I’m convinced of the importance of being updated on all the episodes of struggle against what we normally call ‘the enemy’, that is the State and capital, from their miserable institutions to their fascist methods of control.
Anti-prison struggle is important and it is precisely for this reason that I feel the need to talk about my situation as an anarchist prisoner, while making it clear a priori that I have never tried to pass myself off as a victim because of what I’m going through, because as I have said (or written) in the past: I don’t believe in nor do I accept concepts of guilt or innocence in relation to the crimes I’m accused of, and I consider myself an anarchist with his insurrectional and revolutionary projectuality, an anarchist kidnapped by the State (and not the ‘victim’ of a kidnapping, as I read in a communiqué), and the reason why I want to talk about my condition in prison is only to publicly denounce some aspects of the way this disgusting institution functions. ‘If you don’t see it, it doesn’t exist’, and within my limited possibilities, to make my denunciation under censorship is part of my anti-prison struggle.
About a month ago (mid-March), while I was still detained in a temporary cell, the first foul deed took place. At around 7pm I was with a cellmate, then all of a sudden a shady guy, whom I certainly didn’t know, came over and started provoking me by insulting me and barging into me; a common event in prison is to beat one another up when one’s ‘reputation’ (which I think it’s a curse) is at stake, but due to the harsh words and the stress of imprisonment I fell into the trap.
After an exchange of blows, two guards appeared as if by magic (it is rare that police turn up in the corridor of the cells) and caught us fighting. Normally they tend to calm tempers with slaps and punches in order to subdue those engaged in a fight, and so they did with me and the massive guy I was fighting with (it’s great impotence not being able to defend oneself against these fucking shit cops because one ends up facing another trial for assaulting the bitch authority), and I thought it would end there, but it was not to be.
After humiliating us in front of the other prisoners present, they pushed us up the stairs; all of a sudden I no longer saw my initial aggressor, and I was the only one being taken away. So far I haven’t heard anything about him. When we got into an office, they beat me again; I couldn’t take any more and started shouting insults at them, ready to pass to physical insult, but they didn’t give me the chance because they were hitting me so hard.
I don’t remember how we got there, but I was taken into a dark room. Before we got there they stripped me and gave me a bottle of water, then they beat me again (I will never forget them) and left me there.
It was a cold night, they had taken all my clothes away, the floor was wet, I had been badly beaten all over my body and the room was completely dark. You can imagine what a night that was…
I was scared, angry and felt helpless. Allow me to call it physical and psychological torture.
I had never been afraid of the dark till that night; about 10 hours looking (and not seeing) all around and waiting for something to happen, till dawn broke and I was taken out of there. Obviously by other jailers.
I was taken to the cell and warned not to say anything about what had happened, and when I was in the cell I chose not to speak to anyone, not because of their warning but because I was still in shock.
By chance, that very day I was transferred to the extermination centre called Reclusorio Oriente, and during the night I entered the C.O.C. (Centre of Observation and Classification), whose 150 prisoners had been welcomed with the usual ‘psychological terror’.
I was expecting some other surprise at the C.O.C. Almost immediately we were called for the well-known ‘fajina’, which is cleaning the building, or allegedly so, in fact it is a pretext for extortion. In giving us directions, they said ‘al chile’ (an expression used a lot here). Who is going to go against it and pay $ 2,500 pesos not to do the fajina? This so that each one would take their responsibilities and pay up; some accepted their request. But some of us decided to face the fajina. I remember them saying: ‘you’d better pay, guerriero, you need money, don’t do anything stupid, otherwise we’ll have them beat you up.’
On that first day I did the fajina, which is an almost inhuman ‘exercise’ aimed at breaking your body so that you are forced to pay, a gorilla behind you all the time demanding that you be quick and hitting you if you don’t comply. This happens twice a day, about 3 hours of torture.
The next day they said again: ‘the best punches are for you’. After half an hour of fajina, while I was doing a sort of ‘carritos’, keeling down and cleaning the floor with a wet cloth at high speed, I fell then I was pulled up from the back of my trousers.
I have some problems with my back, so I can’t move fast. The pain was too much and I remember turning round to see my aggressor (a prisoner sheep who works for those of the fajina) and I wanted to retaliate, but again I couldn’t fight back because only two days had passed since the beating in the dark room, and with my back pain that was not the case.
As I had to restrain myself I went to the one in charge of the fajina, who said ‘if you can’t make it, then pay up’. That’s how I fell into this extortion.
I had to call someone who paid in $ 2,000 pesos for me. While I was speaking with this person I couldn’t help crying because of my feeling of impotence and the pain, but I never gave them the pleasure doing it during these disgusting fajina.
I’ll stop for a moment to point out that in spite of everything I don’t consider myself a victim. Insulted, yes, because they tried to trample on my dignity.
As a ‘coincidence’, two weeks later my mother was refused a visit, the only visit I got, on the pretext of some identification problems at the C.O.C.
The bastards ‘search’ you and steal money and phone cards. I didn’t have any money but they took my phone card along with my diary with my telephone numbers. I was in isolation for these two weeks, a strange isolation. I could only make one telephone call to ask for money …
I never thought of complaining to the ‘authorities’ of the institution, given that they are all part of the same gang of snakes in total complicity. Even less did I consider appealing to ‘human rights’ because their rights are a convenience I don’t believe in.
As for the question of extortion, I want to clarify: when I say extortion I mean pressure exercised by someone on someone else in order to obtain results, even against your will, which for a given reason is beyond your control; I don’t mean ‘extortion’ in the sense of someone wanting money from you and you give in out of fear of being beaten.
And a person very dear to me once said: ‘cya, don’t give them any money’, as if I had a choice or it was for a different kind of extortion. That’s not what he meant, but I understand some people can get that idea.
As far as concerns extortion in this context, prison and anti-prison struggle, I say that here they make you pay for anything, in reality for everything and this seems strange to me and it worries me that nobody says anything. And I know that what I’m saying here doesn’t change anything, but I don’t intend to be one of this flock of sheep.
They make you pay for using the toilet (the cell toilet is not enough for all the prisoners locked up in a small cell), for using tap water, which is much needed in the cells, drafting a request list (believe me, only for getting your list through), going to court, seeing your lawyer, cashing your cheque, and apart from the use of the table, for going downstairs on visiting day, getting out of the cell (they call it desapando); in the common cells they seize the locks, to be able to go from the cell to the dormitory, they charge (entrance, kitchen and common cell), for stuff like brooms, soap, bins, cloths and I don’t know what else.
This is a business!
And be careful! If you refuse to pay you come up against a heavy hand.
I can’t avoid mentioning the lay people, who, like the white lice, bedbugs and cockroaches, are part of the prison! They hit hard.
Another aspect I don’t like, actually no one does, is overcrowding. Arrivals and the common cells are very small, at least in my experience when I arrived in a tiny cell about 3 x 2,5 metres, we were about 23 prisoners when I was taken to the temporary cell we were about 23 prisoners, and in the common cell there were 17 of us.
It’s very uncomfortable and also dangerous for your health the way you sleep, if you sleep, particularly for the new ones, they sleep on planks placed over the toilet.
Overcrowding in Mexican jails is worrying, at least I can see that at Oriente.
And even if there are so many of us, nothing ever happens. Here the methods of domestication are remarkable, as in the case of religion, it’s unbelievable how many people say ‘maybe we are here by the will of God, this is a sign and we must respect his will’; they sing and pray and hope to get out soon.
When they know I’m an atheist and I think they seem ignorant and blinded by dogma, they keep away from me or start asking all kinds of questions, but that’s another story.
Another way of keeping prisoners passive is drugs. I’ve always thought that each one is free to choose how to live their own life, to take or not take drugs, and which drugs, but I’ve also maintained that their use is often a barrier that prevents the individual from carrying on his revolutionary goals, deviating him into a lethargic state of artificial happiness; especially with so-called heavy drugs. This along with everything else.
Prison denigrates the prisoner, humiliates him, tramples him and tries to kill his dignity, turning him into human waste without any will, servile and obedient; assigning the role of ‘sheep or snitch’ to those who are faithful to the system, crushing, isolating and punishing those who don’t follow its idiotic rules and disobey its terroristic practices.
So I declare myself an anarchist prisoner in struggle against prison. We look power in the face from inside and push to preserve our identity as people who feel a love for freedom, our dignity and to defend what we are, it is necessary to liberate our wildest impulses and in the face of such humiliation it becomes necessary to go right to the most destructive of our being.
I consider myself a free person, also inside prison, and so it will be even while they try to destroy my individuality; their methods of control and domination will never succeed in piercing my black heart, as long there is the solidarity of free comrades towards prisoners in the clutches of whatever prison, whatever extermination centre and every institute of subordination.
Prison tactics of terror and fear cannot stop this hurricane of creative passion, constructive passion and destructive passion, this liberatory project; and even if confronting its authority leads to a result of greater repression, here no one falters, no one takes a step back against the hated enemy.
The prison system wants us to believe that its violence against us is something normal, it wants us to get used to it and think this is what prison must be; personally I don’t let myself be domesticated, I don’t fear retaliations, I’m not one of those who claim they are enemies of the State and at the same time try to make their lives ‘normal’ and smooth, this doesn’t convince me. I’m not one of those who turns the other cheek when they are struck, I am not like those who are waiting for ‘conditions to be right to act’, no!
On the contrary I think that their violence must be sent back twice over, an eye for an eye, to their violence our antagonistic violence, acting without waiting for the times to be ripe because often this happens too late, responding to a flame with a raging fire.
I haven’t finished writing everything, but…
Down with the prison walls!
Fire to the prisons!
For anarchy!
Carlos ‘Chivo’,
Oriente prison.
ps. While the man strutted and he was a god, an ‘ idiot came upon him. The techniques were elevated to the supreme rank, and a time ispallate on the throne threw chains on their minds that they had created.”Edgar Allan Poe
[Translated from Italian by act for freedom now]
May 132014
May 122014
Updates on the situation of Amelie, Carlos, and Fallon can be found on SabotageMedia (En/Fr/Esp), and Fuego a las Carcelas (Esp), and Cruz Negra Anarquista Mexico (Esp)
(…) Perhaps the words of Fallon, Amélie, and Carlos will inspire you to build friendships based on trust and affinity, to have each others’ backs, and to translate your own rage against the world of prisons and police and borders into actions. As Carlos “El Chivo” wrote, “I know that anarchist solidarity is strong like an oak tree, and that always goes farther than simple words.” And as anarchists everywhere never cease to remind us: it’s easy to attack.
Somewhere between Mexico City and Montréal, March 2014.
Letters from Insurgent Comrades Imprisoned in Mexico
English | Size: Letter (8.5×11″) | Format: PDF
Cartas de companeros anarquistas apresados en Mexico
Spanish | Size: Letter (8.5×11″) | Format: PDF
May 122014
Dear comrades,
Why do you insist on organizing within or in parallel of larger demos, or given symbolic dates? Moments when not only do you know the attacks from police will come because the whole repressive apparatus will be organized, coordinated, deployed and empowered by their laws and technology, but where you will also be reminded to watch your backs for the hostile masses in the street (have you not seen yet, the masses ready to trample you under their fear?), the whole amalgam of leftists who want to maintain and manage domination alternatively, the snitches, and the paciflics* as we call them in Montreal, already setting yourself up in a kettle between cops and citizens, more so than on a normal day.
And isn’t it exactly this you seek when you speak of confrontation? Would it not be to confront and break with normality, the normality of wake, work, shit, sleep, crossed with a few fetichized days of protest? Would it not be to transcend the regularizing militant calendar of our expected moments of action? Comrades, the element of surprise is still a fierce ally.
Or is it more of a group therapy you search? To be with others, to comfort yourselves as you are not alone, and “to focus more on care, support, emotional openness”. If so then you can revel in the demo as it is nothing more than that, a group therapy within this mass alienation we call society.
We hope that you care and support each other everyday. We hope that everyday you become stronger in your embrace with loved ones, those whose hands you grasp, trusting them with your life. The demo is as much a place to find people who will care for you as is a nightclub.
Comrades, we would like to think that you too have the blazing desire, not to take the streets back, but to make them unusable. The streets are not ours, they never were and never will be, and we do not want them to be, they are part of this world of concrete and cement which keeps us locked up, keeps us from having our feet in the earth, and to see beyond. Any day, anywhere there are streets, a few loved ones suffice to find the cracks in the street from where to pull out pieces to throw back to those it belongs to.
Comrades, we wish to embrace, our fists grasping the streets burning with desire, any rotten day of misery that domination forces upon us.
*“paci” for pacifist and “flics” for cops. Used to name those hostile to, who attack, and/or try to arrest others that use confrontational tactics.
*********
Dear comrades in the streets
We organized an autonomous contingent for the Montreal COBP demo on March 15th this year. More than 40 of us met up nearby to the main demo, and had our own small demo that went for around half an hour. The police were not expecting us, and we were neither attacked nor kettled before we decided to disperse ourselves. We wrote a flyer explaining why we had organized the contingent, and encouraging others to do the same for the upcoming May 1st anti-capitalist demo. We planned to hand out this flyer to people who had gathered for the main demo, but the kettles began before we arrived. We hope things can go differently next time. No justice, no peace, see you in the streets!
The flyer:
Dear comrades in the streets,
This year for March 15th we have self-organized into an autonomous contingent within the larger demo. We would like to explain why we have done this, and encourage you to do the same for future demos, especially May 1st.
We initiated this contingent because we want to experiment with methods of more collective, organized participation in demos. We want to communicate more with each other before the demo, while it is going on, and afterwards. We want to have more capacity to take care of one another and to protect ourselves from the attacks by the police that we know will come.
If we want to engage with confrontational demos, we must organize ourselves and relate to one another in ways that allow us to work through the trauma and fear that grow out of our encounters with the police. We must figure out what it looks like in practice to focus more on care, support, emotional openness and reflexivity in our mobilization and organizing for confrontational demos. We think contingents might be a way to do this.
By forming into contingents outside of the main meetup location for the demo, such as in our neighborhoods, we decentralize the demo formation process and make it harder for the police to disrupt us before we have even started. By decentralizing some of the decision-making capacities of the demo into autonomously organized contingents, we make it harder to disperse the demo.
Finally, and most importantly, by organizing to support one another, we hope to provide a basis for more people to feel able to participate in confrontational demos, and more confidence for all of us to be combative in all the ways that we know are necessary.
We started this contingent by calling up our friends who we thought might want to go to this demo with us. We met up a few times and talked a whole lot. Think that sounds fun? We encourage everyone to find their friends and neighbors and organize contingents for May 1st!
May 122014
taken from anarchistbookfair.ca
SCHEDULE: FESTIVAL OF ANARCHY EVENTS
a) MAY 1, 6pm: Anti-Capitalist MayDay
b) MAY 1, 8pm: Screening: Wal-Town The Film
c) MAY 1: MayDay Street Dance Party
d) MAY 3, 12-6pm: Post-Mayday Care Day
e) MAY 3-31: Occuprint Exhibition at Ste-Emilie
f) MAY 4, 12-5pm: À qui la ville? Montreal Organizing Assembly against Gentrification
g) MAY 8, 6pm: Radical Film Night
h) MAY 10, 11am: Mothers Against Borders Brunch
i) MAY 15, 7pm: Book Launch: Le Cirque Diabolique
j) MAY 15, 7:30pm: Surrealism in Cinema #1
k) MAY 18, 1pm: Anti-Civilization Day
l) MAY 22, 6pm: Defending the Land: Indigenous Resistance to Extraction
m) MAY 22, 9pm: ANARCHIST CABARET
n) MAY 23, 5-9pm: OPENING OF ART & ANARCHY
o) MAY 24-25, 10am-5pm: MONTREAL ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR
p) MAY 23, 8pm: Glamarchist Lookfair: Queer Dance Party
q) MAY 24, 6pm: DIRA Anarchist Library BBQ
r) MAY 24, 6-10pm: Annual Anarchist People of Colour (APOC) Potluck
s) MAY 26, 6:30pm: Race politics beyond the official white/black paradigm
t) MAY 27, 9pm: Breakfast for Anarchists Book Launch
u) MAY 29-JUNE 1: Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal: Session on the Canadian Mining Industry
v) JUNE 1-15: Anti-Deportation Days
w) JUNE 2-3: Montreal International Theatre Festival
x) JUNE 5, 6-8pm: Anarchist theatre of the Belle Époque
y) JUNE 7, 2pm: Demonstration: Stop Deportations! Status For All!
z) MAY & JUNE: Trauma Support Group: Supporting Each Other When There Is No “Post” Trauma
More detailed information below.
((( a )))
Anti-Capitalist MayDay
May 1st, 2014, 6pm SHARP
Parc des Faubourgs, corner of de Lorimier and Ontario (métro Papineau ou Frontenac)
Capitalism destroys our lives, let’s destroy capitalism!
Organized by the Anti-Capitalist Convergence
info: www.clac-montreal.net
—–
((( b )))
Screening: Wal-Town The Film
Thursday, May 1, 8pm
JA de Seve Cinema, 1400 de Maisonneuve West (métro Guy-Concordia)
Join us for the 10 year anniversary of the Wal-Town project & to mark May Day with a
film about resisting labour exploitation at Wal-Mart.
Presented by Cinema Politica and the Concordia Documentary Centre
info: www.cinemapolitica.org/screening/concordia/wal-town-film
—–
((( c )))
MayDay Street Dance Party
Thursday, May 1
(It’s word of mouth so ask your buds and tell only your buds!)
(The time and place from last year had changed!)
Bring your masks – Get dressed up!
info: http://vimeo.com/92102995 & www.facebook.com/events/494109324049097
—–
((( d ))))
Post-Mayday Care Day
Saturday, May 3, 12-6pm
Sainte Emilie Skillshare, 3942 Rue Sainte Emilie
Music-Food-Drinks-Group Support-Quiet Space
info: http://steemilieskillshare.org
—–
((( e )))
Occuprint Exhibition at Ste-Emilie
May 3 to May 31, opening hours: www.facebook.com/SteEmilieSkillshare/info
Ste-Emilie Skillshare, 3942 rue Ste. Emilie, occupied Kanienkehaka territory
A presentation of posters designed and printed by members of the Occuprint
collective and archive in Brooklyn, NY during the first year of the Occupy movement.
info: http://steemilieskillshare.org/
—–
((( f )))
À qui la ville? Montreal Organizing Assembly against Gentrification
Sunday, May 4, 12pm-5pm
CEDA, 2515, rue Delisle (métro Lionel-Groulx)
Workshop and discussion on possible strategies to confront gentrification.
Organized by À qui la ville.
Info: www.aquilaville.net
—–
((( g )))
Radical Film Night
Thursday, May 8, 6pm
L’Alizé, 900, rue Ontario est (métro Berri-UQAM)
From the combative streets of Madrid to self managed farms in Quebec, to indigenous blockades in New Brunswick, radical media makers focus in on the hotspots of resistance and flip the mainstream media narrative on its head.
Co-presented by Submedia.tv and Medi@ Libre
info: www.submedia.tv or www.grip-uqam.org/M@L
—–
((( h )))
Mothers Against Borders Brunch
Saturday, May 10, 11am
Lorne Centre, 2390 Ryde St. (métro Charlevoix)
On the eve of Mothers’ Day, the Justice for Ivonne Committee is hosting a brunch to celebrate the struggle of Ivonne Hernandez and other courageous mothers who have crossed and defied borders for their children.
Organized by the Justice for Ivonne Committee
info: www.justicepourivonne.org
—–
((( i )))
Book Launch: Le Cirque Diabolique
Thursday, May 15, 7pm
Bar Populaire, 6584, boul. St-Laurent (métro Beaubien)
Organized by les Éditions Bruno Massé and Sabotart
info: www.brunomasse.com
—–
((( j )))
Surrealism in Cinema #1
Thursday, May 15, 7:30pm
DIRA, 2035 St-Laurent, between Sherbrooke and Ontario (métro St-Laurent)
A monthly series about surrealism and film.
info: potlatch@cheerful.com
—–
((( k )))
Anti-Civilization Day
Sunday, May 18, 1pm
La Déferle, 1407, rue Valois
Workshops, speakers, films screening and the launch of La Mauvaise Herbe
info: layla.miltsov.org, anarchieverte.ch40s.net/la-mauvaise-herbe or contrelacivilisation.anarkhia.org
—–
((( l )))
Defending the Land: Indigenous Resistance to Extraction
Thursday, May 22, 6pm
Native Friendship Centre of Montreal, 2001 Boul. Saint Laurent (métro St-Laurent)
Free community meal and presentation by Mel Bazil (indigenous Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en organizer, sovereigntist, and anarchist). This event is a part of the Under The Weather: Climate Change Research and Justice Lecture Series at CKUT 90.3 FM, in collaboration with the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair, Climate Justice Montreal, QPIRG Concordia, the Anti-Colonial Solidarity Collective, Solidarity Across Borders and No One Is Illegal Montreal.
info: info: undertheweather.ckut.ca
—–
((( m )))
Anarchist Cabaret
Thursday, May 22; doors at 8:30pm; show at 9:30pm
at L’Alizé, 900 rue Ontario East (métro Berri-UQAM)
On stage: ShowMe * Stella Jetté * Gumboots performance * Viva Bertaga * fire performance by Bobette * Caytee Lush (www.whatthefuckamidoinghere.com)
$5 or pay-what-you-can – accessible to wheelchairs
info: www.anarchistbookfair.ca/anarchistcabaret2014
—–
((( n )))
Opening/Vernissage of Art & Anarchy
Friday, May 23, from 5pm until 9pm
At the Centre d’éducation populaire de la Petite-Bourgogne et de St-Henri (CEDA)
3rd floor, 2515 rue Delisle (métro Lionel-Groulx)
Music – Food & Snacks – Performances. Meet the contributing artists and get a first look at this year’s Art & Anarchy exhibition.
info: www.anarchistbookfair.ca/art-anarchy-openingvernissage-may-23
—–
((( o )))
Montreal Anarchist Bookfair 2014
Two days: Saturday, May 24 & Sunday, May 25
10am-5pm on both days
Centre Culturel Georges-Vanier (CCGV), 2450 rue Workman & Centre d’éducation populaire de la Petite-Bourgogne et de St-Henri (CEDA), 2515 rue Delisle
A short walk from Lionel-Groulx metro.
No gods, no masters, no bosses, no borders.
FREE. Welcome to all!
For anarchists, and people curious about anarchism.
-> Participants from all over Quebec and North America, booksellers and vendors, workshops, films, discussions, kids activities, art exhibits and more!
-> Part of the month-long Festival of Anarchy held throughout May & June 2014 at venues and locations all over the island of Montreal
-> Workshops & Presentations: www.anarchistbookfair.ca/workshops-and-presentations-2014
info: www.anarchistbookfair.ca
—–
((( p )))
Glamarchist Lookfair
Friday May 23rd, doors at 8pm
Il Motore, 179 Jean-Talon Ouest (métro Parc ou de Castelnau)
Queer Between the Covers presents the annual fundraiser / queer dance party /
show. Bands! DJs! Glamarchy Forever! New night, same jam.
info: www.queerbetweenthecovers.org
—–
((( q )))
DIRA Anarchist Library BBQ
Saturday, May 24, 6pm
DIRA Anarchist Library (backyard), 2035 St-Laurent, between Sherbrooke & Ontario (métro St-Laurent)
DIRA’s annual post-Anarchist Bookfair BBQ, this year with a Eric Duhaime piñata.
info: bibliodira.org
—–
((( r )))
Annual Anarchist People of Colour (APOC) Potluck
Saturday, May 24, 6pm-10pm
Ste-Emilie Skillshare, 3942 rue Ste-Emilie
A closed potluck for anarchists who self-identify as POC (people of colour), Indigenous,
racialized persons, black, brown, and/or non-white, or those interested in learning
more about anarchy/anarchism. Our hope is to create a safe space to discuss
anarchist issues and ideas as they apply to our lives and experience, as well as
talk about our experience as racialized people in the anarchist scene.
info: http://steemilieskillshare.org/
—–
((( s )))
Learning from an unimportant minority: Race politics beyond the official white/black paradigm
Monday, May 26, 6:30pm
QPIRG Concordia, 1500 de Maisonneuve West, suite 204 (métro Guy-Concordia)
Race is all around us, as one of the main structures of capitalist society. Yet, how we talk about it and even how we think about it is tightly policed. Everything about race is artificially distorted as a White/Black paradigm. Instead, we need to understand the imposed racial reality from many different angles of radical vision. A presentation by J. Sakai.
info: www.kersplebedeb.com
—–
((( t )))
Breakfast for Anarchists Book Launch
Tuesday, May 27, 9pm
Casa del popolo, 4873 boulevard St-Laurent
Book launch with author Norman Nawrocki and his band Crocodile. Free.
info: sabotart@riseup.net
—–
((( u )))
Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal: Session on the Canadian Mining Industry
May 29 to June 1st
CEDA, 2515, rue Delisle (métro Lionel-Groulx)
A large coalition of organizations from Quebec, Canada and overseas is working to create a session of the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) on the Canadian Mining Industry for 2014-2016. The question we are asking is: why are today’s extractive industries a major cause of human rights abuses and environmental damages?
info: www.tppcanada.org
—–
((( v )))
Anti-Deportation Days: Two weeks of events, activities and actions demanding Status For All!
June 1-15
Montreal
This year, the Status For All coalition is coordinating two weeks of activities in opposition to deportations, detentions and double punishment, and in support of a Solidarity City and the regularization of all non-status migrants. Anti-Deportation Days is organized and coordinated by the Status For All Coalition (comprised of Mexicians United for Regularization, Solidarity Across Borders and No One Is Illegal-Montreal, with the support of Dignidad Migrante and the Immigrant Workers Center).
info: www.StatusForAll.org
—–
((( w )))
Montreal International Theatre Festival
June 2 & 3, 7:30pm
La Sala Rossa, 4848 boulevard St-Laurent
The world’s biggest and only international anarchist theatre festival. Two nights of amazing theatre, totally inexpensive.
info: www.anarchistetheatrefestival.com
—–
((( x )))
Anarchist theatre of the Belle Époque and pacifist women during the 1st World War
Thursday, June 5, 6-8pm
Bar Populaire, 6584, boulevard St-Laurent
The Montreal International Theatre Festival and the La Balancelle theatre troupe present an evening on anarchist theatre during the Belle Époque and pacifist women during the 1st World War.
info: www.anarchistetheatrefestival.com
—–
((( y )))
Demonstration: Stop Deportations! Status For All!
Saturday, June 7, 2pm
Gathering/Starting Point: Bethune Square
(Guy & DeMaisonneuve West, métro Guy-Concordia)
We march together to demand an end to deportations and detentions, and we denounce the double punishment of migrants with criminal records. We demand Status for All, and organize for a “Solidarity City” for all residents of Montreal. Organized by the Status For All Coalition (Mexicans United for Regularization, Solidarity Across Borders and No One Is Illegal, with the support of Dignidad Migrante and the Immigrant Workers Center).
Info: www.StatusForAll.org
—–
((( z )))
Trauma Support Group: Supporting Each Other When There Is No “Post” Trauma
May & June
Weekly Meetings TBA based on preferred time
Co-facilitated by Parneet, a radical counselling therapist, and Noah, an atypical
support worker & workshop nerd, this group is designed to support those who have
faced – and continue to face – police/state oppression and other forms of trauma.
info: radicalsafespaces@gmail.com
—–
THE FESTIVAL OF ANARCHY – MAY 1st – JUNE 15th, 2014 – MONTREAL
info: www.anarchistbookfair.ca
May 122014
This space is born from the need for hosting and spreading our passed and future publications, but also to support propaganda initiatives which we feel affinity to.
You will find here the irregularly published Inflammable in which we compile different texts, reports, analyses, communiques, letters, etc. circulating mostly in Montreal and surrounding areas. In the distro section you will also find publications from other projects in the area which we will share to help spread widely.
We invite you to send us your publications, if we like them we’ll add them to our distro.
We’re currently working on the third Inflammable.