A-Infos (en) [Friends of NEFAC] New revolutionary organization gets off the ground

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> From: "Geert L Dhondt" <geert@econs.umass.edu>
BUILD THE POWER
New Revolutionary Organization Gets Off the Ground
by Kris Roehling and Heather Ajani

Recently, people from around the country met in Phoenix, Arizona
to discuss the creation of an organization around the ³Bring the
Ruckus² 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/womenıs 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 dayıs discussions and
figuring out where that discussion would lead us in regards to
building the organization.  Based on the first dayıs 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 capitalismıs 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 itıs 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 weıre 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


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