[Marxism] Anarchists and the Oakland rebellion

[dean tuckerman <deanosor@xxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/01/12/18562228.php

East Bay | Police State and Prisons | Racial Justice

Oakland on Fire: Anarchists, Solidarity, and New Possibilities in the  
Oakland Rebellion
by Kara N. Tina
Monday Jan 12th, 2009 12:39 PM
originally published on Counterpunch.org


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oakland_010709744_1.jpg

"I'm sorry my car was burned but the issue is very upsetting."
-Ken Epstein, assistant editor of the Oakland Post, who was finishing  
an article about Grant's death, watched from the 12th story of his  
office at 14th and Franklin streets as his 2002 Honda CR-V  
disintegrated in a roar of flames (Oakland Tribune)

The murder of Oscar Grant by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police  
officer Johannes Mehserle early New Year's morning sent a wave of  
grief throughout the Bay Area and reminded all that racism and police  
violence continue to be endemic components of US society. During the  
following days, that pain transformed into overflowing anger as  
multiple videos of the execution recorded by witnesses emerged on the  
internet and in the media. One week later on January 7, over a  
thousand people from diverse communities across Oakland and the Bay  
Area gathered to show their anger and be in the presence of others  
feeling similar grief. This hastily planned rally shut down the  
Fruitvale BART station where the shooting took place as speaker after  
speaker addressed the crowd. Without any plan or organization, the  
vast majority of those who patiently listened to speakers for over  
two hours took the demonstration into the streets with a spirited  
march that made its way towards downtown as the sun set.

As the march reached the Lake Merritt BART station and headquarters  
of BART police downtown, clashes immediately broke out leaving one  
police cruiser destroyed alongside a burning dumpster. Marchers  
dispersed down side streets to the sounds of police weapons  
discharging and the sting of tear gas in the air. The following hours  
witnessed waves of rioting and demonstrations throughout downtown  
Oakland that even forced Mayor Ron Dellums to come out into the  
streets and promise the opening of a homicide investigation in a  
failed attempt to subdue the angry crowds. Hundreds of businesses and  
cars were damaged or destroyed and dumpsters were left burning. The  
next day, a BART board of directors meeting was filled beyond  
capacity and overwhelmed with community members expressing indignant  
rage, clearly feeling validated and empowered to speak up by the  
previous night's rebellion.

In the days since the unrest, rumors have begun to circulate that  
anarchists hijacked the otherwise peaceful event and were responsible  
for unleashing the 'violence'. A cover story in the San Francisco  
Chronicle two days after the rioting quoted an organizer of the  
Fruitvale rally as saying that he was led to tears when his work was  
"destroyed by a group of anarchists." This dangerous and misleading  
narrative obscures what actually transpired and why, on that evening,  
the streets of Oakland unleashed such a powerful show of resistance  
and solidarity that gave many an empowered glimpse of radical new  
possibilities.

It is true that anarchists were present from start to finish on  
Wednesday. Counter to some generalizations that assume all anarchists  
are white, those who were there on Wednesday come from diverse  
backgrounds. They participated in a wide variety of ways; from  
spreading the word about the rally beforehand in order to have a  
large turnout, to spending hours painting banners and signs, to  
engaging in militant street actions, to being rounded up and at times  
beaten and arrested. Anarchists are among the over 100 community  
members who now face charges ranging from misdemeanor rioting to  
different felonies.

African-American youth made up the majority of those involved in the  
actions along with sizable numbers of anarchists as well as other  
youth of color and activist folk who were all there side by side.  
During the rioting, there was a sense of unity in the air and a  
defiant mood of solidarity among all who faced off against the  
police. Anarchists tend to show up at all demonstrations prepared to  
act should the situation escalate, and this case was no different.  
Yet it is simply incorrect to suggest that there was some conspiracy  
of anarchists from the 'outside' who were able to manipulate the  
helpless youth of Oakland as part of their sinister agenda. This is a  
paternalistic and disempowering misreading of what was unquestionably  
a spontaneous outpouring of rage, led by youth of color, creating an  
extremely empowering moment for participants in the streets. There,  
temporary alliances were made as those who were motivated to act in  
the moment experienced a unique cross-pollination that cut across the  
inhibiting social boundaries of everyday life.

The allegations of an anarchist takeover are destructively  
misleading. At best they come from ignorance and at worse they  
represent a flawed and divisive ideology of social change which  
embodies paternalistic and racist assumptions about those involved in  
the actions. To scapegoat anarchists for what transpired, robs from  
marginalized and oppressed youth of color the agency they possess and  
the power to resist which they demonstrated that evening. It also  
ignores the remarkable diversity and unique solidarity in the streets  
that created an liberating experience far beyond any rally or march.

There were some moments during which individual anarchists attempted  
to influence the course of events, but these instances still do not  
fit into the narrative that the corporate media and some organizers  
have tried to tell. At one point a group of black youth smashing the  
windows of a locally owned business were encouraged to target large  
corporations and banks instead of 'mom and pop' shops. They proceeded  
to do just that. Anarchists also un-arrested youth, and encouraged  
people to push dumpsters and other objects into the streets to  
prevent the police from advancing, a tactic that was quickly picked  
up and utilized. Other examples of this type of interchange involved  
anarchists encouraging youth participating in the riots to wear  
bandanas over their faces, change clothes during calm moments and  
other tactics to help avoid arrest or identification. Without  
question, the exchange went both ways as anarchists took away  
valuable lessons in mobility, evasion, and more as they worked  
together with the youth throughout the night.

None of this, however, suggests that anarchists had some sort of  
control or single handedly determined the events that transpired. The  
rage and energy that transformed downtown Oakland into a momentary  
battlefield came from those who are most directly affected by the  
racist police state regime. No one group had any control over what  
unfolded. It was a spontaneous rebellion that sprang organically from  
the streets of Oakland and in retrospect anarchists played an  
important yet relatively minor role.

The property destruction and rage that burned throughout downtown  
Oakland was at times undirected and ended up damaging many small  
businesses and cars along with corporate targets such as Sears and  
McDonald's. However, some of the most powerful moments that parralled  
the destruction were confrontations with police and sponatenous high  
energy gatherings of people in the street who refused to be  
dispersed. It was during these moments that chanting would again  
erupt from the crowd reminding all who were present that the direct  
political demands of justice for Oscar Grant and active resistance to  
the racist police state system in the United States were the  
motivations of all who took to the streets that evening.

It's important to also remember that not one person was assaulted  
during the actions and there were no reports of fights or scuffles  
amongst the groups of youth who resisted police and destroyed  
property into the night. In this sense, the rebellion was not  
violent. It is disturbing to watch as fellow organizers and members  
of our communities have uncritically adopted the rhetoric of the  
right in their confused denunciation of mass property destruction as  
'violence'.

On the other hand the Oakland Police Department, who everyday harass,  
intimidate and beat Oakland's youth, was unleashing its very real  
violence that night. Police opened fire on crowds with different  
types of less lethal projectiles and in some cases shot tear gas  
canisters directly into people's bodies. A Berkeley High teacher had  
his face bashed during arrest and spent the night in the hospital  
before being taken back downtown for booking. A man taking pictures  
was attacked by police and his bike helmet was cracked as he was  
beaten. During the mass arrest at the end of the night, 80 people  
were forced by police to lay on their stomachs at 20th and Broadway,  
including a very pregnant woman who was screaming in pain.

What manifested during the Oakland rebellion was a moment of  
interchange and revolutionary transformation that rarely happens  
within the rituals of left organizing in the Bay Area. Between white  
"community organizers" overtaken by guilt into an impotent politics  
of servitude, professional activists worried about annual reports and  
grant cycles, and vanguardist marxist sects continually looking to  
use the next demonstration as a recruiting drive, many radicals find  
themselves in a desert devoid of revolutionary activity and thought.  
Within this barren landscape, it is rare to find new possibilities  
for radical social change while combatting racism and the constant  
oppression of capitalism. Resisting the police shoulder to shoulder,  
destroying property (albeit with different emphasis), helping one  
another evade arrest, exchanging tactics and gestures of solidarity  
across racial barriers pushes the desire for a multi-racial  
revolutionary movement years ahead, more than any speaker at a rally  
ever could.

Anarchists are very accustomed to accusations of spoiling carefully  
managed demonstrations, and in some cases this is true and necessary.  
The Oakland rebellion was a different story. Those who are truly  
committed to revolutionary change in this country need to appreciate  
the significance of what unfolded in the streets that night and move  
forward without falling into the usual sectarian traps.

---------------------------------

This analysis was written collaboratively by a group of anarchists  
based out of Oakland who together were present at all moments during  
the rebellion.


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