Book Review: Anti-Capitalist Road Trip

From CounterPunch by Ron Jacobs

It seems so long ago, but the movement against global capitalism that featured mass protests against meetings of capital’s biggest criminals and powerbrokers (usually one and the same) had center stage a mere twenty-five years ago. For those who participated, it was an exhilarating time filled with confrontation, conversation, debate and determination represented by the decision of so many to risk prison and injury.

Epilogue on the Movement against Capitalist Globalization

From CrimethInc.

22 Years after N30—What It Can Teach Us Today

Twenty-two years ago today, anarchists and other protesters successfully blockaded and shut down the summit of the World Trade Organization in Seattle. This was the dramatic debut of what journalists dubbed the “anti-globalization movement”—in fact, a global movement against neoliberal capitalism. Over the past few years, we have observed the twenty-year anniversaries of several of the high points of this movement. Today, we reflect on its origins and what it can teach contemporary movements.

Only Anarchists Are Pretty

From C4SS by Logan Marie Glitterbomb

An Anarchist Guide to Fashion Part 2: Dressing for Anonymity

Whether you’re at a protest, engaging in direct action of questionable legality, or just trying to avoid detection in everyday life by police, fascists, or surveillance systems such as facial recognition technology, there are numerous reasons for anarchists to be concerned with maintaining anonymity, and the way one dresses can be one of the most important factors.

In Defense of Black Bloc at NYC Protests

via AMW

On the Breonna Taylor March

While the language of “No Bad Protesters” and “No Peace police” is common amongst abolitionists, anti-fascists, and anarchists, many within the broader Black Lives Matter movement were shocked to see the Black Bloc. One protester accused the Black Bloc of being outside agitators and inciting violence. Another questioned why the Black Bloc insisted on thoroughly disguising their identity.

Welcome to the Frontlines: Beyond Violence and Nonviolence

From Chuang

Over the past two weeks, the US has seen some of the largest, most militant protests and riots in decades. The now nationwide movement began in Minneapolis following the police murder of George Floyd. The anger that followed led to mass demonstrations, confrontations with the police, arson and looting, mourning and rebellion that spread across the country within a matter of hours. The Minneapolis Third Precinct station house, where the murderers had worked, was burned to the ground, and police cars were set aflame from New York to LA in the most widespread damage to the punitive edifices of the US state seen in this century, fueled by decades of anger at racist policing and the ceaseless stream of police murders of Black people. Now, even the reform-oriented electoral left is seriously discussing a softened version of police abolition on a national level, re-imagined as “defunding,” and the Minneapolis City Council has pledged to “disband” the city’s police department. Not long ago, such a demand would have been considered utopian.

Summer in Smoke

The frontlines are organized anonymously. People pay cash for SIM cards to register temporary phone numbers on encrypted messaging apps like Telegram, where individuals sign up for tasks like building barricades or disabling traffic lights. In contrast to black blocs in America, where affinity groups are based around trusted friendship networks, nobody on the frontlines in Hong Kong knows each other outside the protests.

“Stand Against Amazon and Gentrification” An Unofficial Reportback and Analysis

From Puget Sound Anarchists

On November 23rd a black bloc of about 20 anti-capitalists gathered at Westlake park from there marched on the Amazon Spheres. The following is personal account and analysis from the perspective of an anarchist outside of the core groups that called for the action.

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