[g8-sheffield] Re: g8-sheffield Digest, Vol 4, Issue 19
Dan
dan at aktivix.org
Fri Jun 10 02:14:41 BST 2005
Hia,
I was being serious. I'll ask you, and you can give a different answer:
when the revolution arrives, and the vanguard of the proletariat are in
power, and we want to go and protest against x, who do we hire coaches from?
Perhaps you'll give a different answer to the flippant quote (the
individual was far from flippant; someone I had a lot of respect for) -
but your answer will be illuminating nevertheless. At least for me.
peace,
Dan
----
IAN WALLACE wrote:
> "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
>
> */g8-sheffield-request at lists.aktivix.org/* wrote:
>
> Send g8-sheffield mailing list submissions to
> g8-sheffield at lists.aktivix.org
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> http://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/g8-sheffield
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> g8-sheffield-request at lists.aktivix.org
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
> g8-sheffield-owner at lists.aktivix.org
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of g8-sheffield digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Oppenly Classist.. (Dan)
> 2. Re: Oppenly Classist.. (fabian)
> 3. Re: Oppenly Classist.. (zerosevenfour two)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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:
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
>
>
> 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
>
> === message truncated ===
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>_______________________________________________
>http://www.sheffield.dissent.org.uk/
>http://wiki.sheffieldsocialforum.org.uk/G8
>g8-sheffield mailing list
>g8-sheffield at lists.aktivix.org
>http://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/g8-sheffield
>
>
More information about the g8-sheffield
mailing list