[g8-sheffield] Re: g8-sheffield Digest, Vol 4, Issue 19
IAN WALLACE
ian.wallace15 at btopenworld.com
Thu Jun 9 18:39:40 BST 2005
"I asked a revolutionary Bolshevik once, "If the vanguard gets power, and
we don't like it and want to go and protest, where will we hire the
coaches from? Will the government be supplying them?" He replied, "ah
well, you see - there'll be no need to protest any more." "
Attempting to reduce this debate to flippant quotes from possibly flippant individuals contributes nothing.
Lets get serious about this.
Ian
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: Oppenly Classist.. (Dan)
2. Re: Oppenly Classist.. (fabian)
3. Re: Oppenly Classist.. (zerosevenfour two)
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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 15:32:40 +0100
From: Dan
Subject: Re: [g8-sheffield] Oppenly Classist..
To: zerosevenfour two
Cc: g8-sheffield at lists.aktivix.org
Message-ID: <42A85308.3010806 at aktivix.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Sorry, rant coming up.
Class war? Eh? Which classes? What is the working class, exactly? It
seems to me the rest of the world, apart from maybe you and a few
others, have managed to notice that the gradations of human societies
are about as easy to stick into 'working class - middle class' as your
average eco-system...
Am I working class? I work. Sometimes. Are you? You're on state
benefits. Do you need four middle class grandparents to be middle class
maybe? (After all, that was how the Nazis worked out if you were too
Jewish to survive...)
And is there anything common between a British office worker and someone
in and Export Processing Zone in South East Asia? How does calling them
both working class help change the world? Maybe you're hoping someone
will cast the scales from their eyes with their damascan
class-consciousness revelations, and they'll discover the Matrix-like
reality of capitalism, and that in reality they're all one fraternal
global proletariat... wait on, dude.
And what about the local people who run computer firms or steel works,
or Beanies, or New Roots, or Sheffield Co-op Development Group, or
Wrigleys Solicitors, or CDI co-operatives who run co-op housing, or
Sheffield Homes who don't? Could we maybe need something more nuanced
than 'middle class - working class' there, do you think? How do they
compare to the companies trading in Coltan, or selling arms, or hiring
out private armies and 'interrogation contractors' in Iraq?
Ah, they're probably all equally evil. Probably all should be first
against the wall - Beanies co-op workers next to the Arms Dealers.
... or the (almost completely middle class) Intermediate Technology
Development Group, who are working hard to give Africans back their own
means of production? Yeah - let's have a war with them too! (Coz war
means people being killed, in case anyone's forgot. That's people,
flesh and blood as you, not eggs - we're not making omelettes, here.)
Can all of them be stuck into two categories - one side good, the other
evil? Christ - it's like listening to George Bush, or possibly George
Lucas. You're either with us, or you're with the petit bourgeoisie.
Setting up your own business or co-op? That way the dark side lies,
yeeees...
I look forward to the day when the revolution comes, and we want to go
and protest in London about something.
Dan
----
zerosevenfour two wrote:
>
>
> yes dan class is a means to subdegate all of humanity and take us from
> our mother this earth.. however if simply say that class is there to
> subdegate we ignore the very real plight and fight of that class the
> working class. i have no intrest in what or why the g8 are in
> sheffield. the reson i can not leave this alone to my own cost and the
> very cost to friendships is because of my love for the working class.
> it will the working class who the police will use there new found
> confidance and powers upon. it will then become part of folk law how
> the middle class was so midley pissed upon. but part of histstory how
> the powers of section 14 and so fourth was further used to fuck over
> the working class. therfor this for me is an issue of class and
> becomes a class war..
>
> mozaz.
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Winks & nudges are here - download MSN Messenger 7.0 today!
> http://messenger.msn.co.uk
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 15:44:54 +0200
From: fabian
Subject: Re: [g8-sheffield] Oppenly Classist..
To: "zerosevenfour two"
Cc: g8-sheffield at lists.aktivix.org
Message-ID:
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class is regarded a highly outdated political concept by most of the
contemporary radical left, read Empire/Multitude by
Hardt/Negri...class-war as a dichotomic concept of good versus evil is
structurally equivalent to Bushs politics, just as modern and
misleading. Lets move beyond modern politics and change the world
without taking power (Halladay)
class appears to be still a significant cultural marker in the UK
(which is also a monarchy and who cares?), but hey, is classwar hoddies
against suits, golfing vs. football, is it merely fashion? From my
perspective: It certainly is.
F.
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 15:10:11 +0000
From: "zerosevenfour two"
Subject: Re: [g8-sheffield] Oppenly Classist..
To: fab at in-no.org
Cc: g8-sheffield at lists.aktivix.org
Message-ID:
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
The organisational structure of the army of a revolutionary movement
infomation for insurrection Information gleaned from 20 Years on the Move
John Africa's Revolution
The MOVE Organization surfaced in Philadelphia during the early 1970's.
Characterized by dreadlock hair, the adopted surname "Africa", a principled
unity, and an uncompromising commitment to their belief, members practiced
the teachings of MOVE founder John Africa.
"MOVE's work is to stop industry from poisoning the air, the water, the
soil, and to put an end to the enslavement of life - people, animals, any
form of life. the purpose of John Africa's revolution is to show people
through John Africa's teaching, the truth - that this system is the cause of
all their problems (alcoholism, drug addiction, unemployment, wife abuse,
child pornography, every problem in the world) and to set the example of
revolution for people to follow when they realize how they've been
oppressed, repressed, duped, tricked by this system, this government and see
the need to rid themselves of this cancerous system as MOVE does."
-- MOVE statement
During the early 1970's MOVE was based in the Powelton Village section of
West Philadelphia (309 N. 33rd St.). Members had a preference for hard
physical work and were constantly chopping firewood, running dogs, shoveling
snow or sweeping the street. MOVE ran a popular car wash at this location,
helped homeless people find places to live, assisted the elderly with home
repairs, intervened in violence between local gangs and college
fraternities, and helped incarcerated offenders meet parole requirements
through a rehabilitation program. After adopting MOVE's way of natural
living, many individuals overcame past problems of drug addiction, physical
disabilities, infertility and alcoholism. MOVE welcomed dissenting views as
an opportunity to showcase their belief and sharpen their oratory skills
which they knew would be tested in their revolutionary struggle. MOVE
presented their views at public forums and lectures of noted authorities
including Dick Gregory, Alan Watts, Jane Fonda, Julian Bond, Richie Havens,
Walter Mondale, Roy Wilkins, Buckminster Fuller, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
Caesar Chavez and Russell Means, and none could refute John Africa's
teachings. By 1974 MOVE was appearing in public with increasing frequency.
"If our profanity offends you, look around you and see how destructively
society is profaning itself. It is the rape of the land, the pollution of
the environment, the betrayal and suffering of the masses by corrupt
government that is the real obscenity."
-- MOVE statement
The mainstream media began a long history of distorted MOVE coverage using
misquotes, unverified rumors and biased stories. While those who actually
met MOVE members could see the remarkable strength and health they
exhibited, dehumanizing news accounts perpetrated the falsehood that members
never bathed and were diseased.
Frank Rizzo, Police Commissioner from 1967-71 was the key figure in
Philadelphia government and built his career on opposing black efforts to
challenge the status quo. In 1967 Rizzo's first major action as Commissioner
had been to halt a peaceful demonstration of some 3500 Black high school
students asking for educational reforms and Black Studies programs by
unleashing hordes of cops who charged with no provocation and chased
students for blocks. Many were beaten. He ran the city with a prominent and
heavy-handed police force that had a national reputation for brutality.
MOVE launched demonstration after demonstration aimed at focusing attention
on police abuses. Community groups across the City sought MOVE's help in
setting up demonstrations in their own neighborhoods. As a result of this
activism, the police began a concerted campaign of harassment against MOVE,
breaking up demonstrations by arresting MOVE members on disorderly conduct
charges or violations of whatever local ordinance could be made to apply. On
May 18, 1974, Leesing and Janet Africa, both pregnant at the time, were so
brutally beaten by Rizzo's police that they both had miscarriages. By 1975,
clashes between MOVE and the police reached increasingly brutal proportions,
with frequent beatings, arrests and jail stays. On April 29, 1975, Alberta
Africa, pregnant at the time, was held spread-eagle by four officers and
repeatedly kicked in the stomach and vagina by a matron named Robinson,
suffering a miscarriage as a result. Despite police violence against MOVE
many MOVE mothers did bear children, including Sue Africa, in spite of
several police beatings throughout her pregnancy, had a son, Tomassa, on
Aug. 4, 1975 (Tomassa was later murdered by the city on May 13, 1985).
Janine Africa's baby, Life Africa, was born March 8, 1976 but murdered by
the police less than a month later, when his mother was grabbed by a cop,
thrown to the ground with 3 week old Life Africa in her arms and stomped
until she was nearly unconscious. The baby's skull was crushed. Police
denied that the baby existed because there was no birth certificate.
MOVE took on the courts and eventually overwhelmed them, acting as their own
attorneys in hundreds of trials and hearings. On November 5, 1976, Rhonda
Africa was arrested and brutalized. Nearly 9 months pregnant, Rhonda went
into premature labor the next day, giving birth to a bruised and injured
baby that soon died. (Rhonda herself was later murdered by the City on May
13, 1985.)
On May 20, 1977, MOVE staged a major demonstration demanding the release of
their political prisoners and an end to the violent harassment by the City.
To keep an increasingly brutal police force at bay, MOVE appeared outside
their house with firearms.
"We told the cops there wasn't gonna be anymore undercover deaths. This time
they better be prepared to murder us in full public view, cause if they came
at us with fists, we were gonna come back with fists. If they came with
clubs, we'd come back with clubs, and if they came with guns, we'd use guns,
too. We don't believe in death-dealing guns, we believe in life. But we knew
the cops wouldn't be so quick to attack us if they had to face the same
stuff they dished out so casually on unarmed defenseless folk."
-- MOVE
To force MOVE members out of their Powelton Village headquarters, Rizzo got
court approval to starve them out. On March 16, 1978, the police set up a
blockade around the house and shut off water lines. Those inside included
pregnant women, nursing babies, children and animals Police arrested anyone
who tried to break through the barricades, though some attempts to get food
and water to MOVE were successful. During this time MOVE lost the farm they
had paying on in Virginia. The blockade lasted almost two months and on
April 16, 1978, thousands marched around City Hall protesting the City's
action.
The City tried to negotiate a settlement. MOVE knew officials could not be
trusted but entered into an agreement to expose the City's deceit. Terms of
the settlement were publicized May 3, 1978 before MOVE had given final
approval. MOVE then told mediators why those in the house could not be
legally arrested. When newly installed D.A. Ed Rendell confirmed that the
arrest warrants were indeed void as per Rule 1100. Terms were finalized
after MOVE had a 90-day deadline for vacating the house deleted from the
agreement. To obscure legal improprieties, a gag provision was included to
prevent MOVE from talking to the media. Police were allowed to arrest,
arraign and release on bail pending appeal, each wanted member in the house.
Police searched the house for weapons and found only inoperative ones. The
city agreed to dispose of all other pending MOVE cases within 4-6 weeks.
On August 2, 1978, Judge DiBona ruled that MOVE had violated the unagreed-to
90-day deadline and the D.A.'s office then solicited MOVE arrest warrants
for not vacating the house. The fact that Rendell's office could not legally
practice law at a civil proceeding went unpublicized and the media was
instrumental in perpetuating the myth that MOVE had agreed to a 90-day time
limit. The City was so bent on framing and hunting down MOVE members the
DiBona signed bench warrants authorizing police to bring before him
practically every known MOVE adult, though over half of them were not in the
house and couldn't possibly have violated an order to vacate it.
On August 5, Philadelphia authorities, in collaboration with Virginia
police, staged a midnight raid on the Richmond home of two MOVE women and 14
children, arresting Gail and Rhonda Africa at gunpoint and returning them to
Philadelphia. The legal justification was Gail and Rhonda's alleged failure
to leave a house that they weren't within a hundred miles of.
In the early morning hours of August 8, hundreds of police and firemen
surrounded MOVE headquarters. Using heavy construction equipment they tore
down the barricades and knocked out the windows. With guns drawn, over 20
officers entered the first floor of the house, only to find that MOVE had
taken refuge in the basement. Fire hoses and deluge guns were then turned
on, flooding the basement with water. MOVE adults were forced to hold
children and animals in their arms to keep them from drowning. Suddenly
gunshots rang out and immediately bullets filled the air as police
throughout the area opened fire. Officer James Ramp was struck and killed by
a single bullet. Three other policemen and firemen were wounded. MOVE never
fired any shots and no MOVE members were arrested with any weapons. 12
adults were arrested, all suffering physical abuse at the hands of the
police, and 11 children had been in the house. As news cameras recorded the
event, officers Joseph Zagame, Charles Geist, Terrance Mulvihill and
Lawrence D'Ulisse severely beat MOVE member Delbert Africa while taking him
into custody. Without provocation, Zagame smashed Delbert in the face with a
police helmet as D'Ulisse connected with a blow from the butt of a shotgun.
This knocked Delbert to the ground and he was then dragged by his hair
across the street where the other officers set upon him, savagely kicking
him in the head, kidneys and groin.
An afternoon conference was held at City Hall during which Police
Commissioner Joseph O'Neill said Officer Ramp was killed by a shot in the
back. Moments later a typed police press release was distributed stating
that Ramp was shot in the chest. Rizzo displayed a table of firearms and
claimed they were taken from the MOVE house. Some reporters noted the
seemingly new condition of the weapons; others wondered what these guns were
doing in the mayor's office rather than impounded in the police crime lab as
evidence. No MOVE fingerprints were found on any of these weapons. Although
destroying evidence of a crime is illegal, police bulldozed and leveled the
house as soon as MOVE members were taken away. No efforts were made to
preserve the crime scene, inscribe chalk marks, or measure ballistic angles.
MOVE told Judge Merna Marshall that the destruction of the house prevented
them from proving that it was impossible for any MOVE member to have shot
officer Ramp. The Fred Hampton case in Illinois was cited, where the
preservation of the crime scene enabled the estates of Fred Hampton and Mark
Clark to prove that all offensive fire came from the police. Judge Marshall
denied MOVE's petition and held them over for trial. Three defendants were
tried separately and those who disavowed MOVE were released. MOVE protested
that they were being held strictly because they were MOVE members rather
than on any evidence that they had anything to do with the death of James
Ramp. After refusing to disavow MOVE, Consuewella Dotson was later tried and
sentenced to 10-20 years. Even though the MOVE members were in the basement
when the gunfire occurred and only one bullet struck Ramp, Judge Malmed
pronounced the remaining nine defendants guilty of the murder and sentenced
each one to 30-100 years. On a radio talk show the next day, a caller (Mumia
Abu- Jamal) asked Malmed, "Who shot James Ramp?", he replied, "I have no
idea."
The police assaults and court hearings continued for several years, and one
of the few media people to accurately report on MOVE and make a serious
effort to understand the organization was Mumia Abu-Jamal, a highly regarded
Philadelphia journalist and president of the Association of Black
Journalists. Throughout the 1978 confrontation and resulting trials, Mumia
continued to produce in-depth coverage of MOVE issues, often against the
directives of his employers. On December 9, 1981, Mumia was found shot
through the chest and badly wounded on a downtown Philadelphia street.
Nearby lay a police officer, dead from gunshot wounds. During his subsequent
arrest and treatment in a hospital, Mumia was abused and beaten by police.
Mumia maintained his innocence and conducted his own defense until Judge
Albert Sabo ruled he was being disruptive and ordered a court-appointed
lawyer to take over the case. Mumia then refused to participate and the
events at the crime scene were never fully determined. A jury found him
guilty of first degree murder and gave him the death penalty. There has been
an international call for the release of Mumia from what is regarded as an
unjust sentence based on his association with MOVE.
The primary activity of MOVE now became securing the release of innocent
members facing not only 30-100 years in prison, but the wrath of a
vindictive prison system and its abusive guards. Several members went on
hunger strikes to obtain the basic rights other inmates received. In post
trial motions, court-appointed lawyers neglected to raise the illegality of
the arrest warrants from the 1978 confrontation. Judge Edward Bradley
admitted there were inconsistencies but declined to take any action. D.A. Ed
Rendell outright refused to meet with MOVE and Councilman Lucien Blackwell
and City Council Chairman Joseph Coleman were non-committal. Starting in
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