A-Infos (en) US, Milwaukee Anarchist Year in Review for 2006

A year end summary on the activities of area groups The Cream City 
Collectives (CCC), The Milwaukee Anarchist Black Cross (MKE ABC), 
Milwaukee Anti-Racist Action (MKE ARA), The Burnt Bookmobile Collective 
(BBMC), as well as other projects from Milwaukee anarchists. ----The 
Cream City Collectives (CCC) ---- The CCC has been open since early 
September and had been meeting for more than a year before it got a 
space. The collectives involved so far are the matilde anneke infoshop 
collective, the printmaking collective, a loose association of 
individuals who organize gallery showings, and the umbrella collective 
which is everyone coming together and working out the details of how the 
space runs and stays open. The space offers free films (now twice per 
month), free information in the form of literature, art galleries, 
events, books and things like books, clothes, patches, pins and other 
things to pay for rent and expand the overall project. The opening and 
existence of this space (with all of it’s shortcomings) is a good 
indicator of a growing and more mature and organized radical community.

The objective is to be a resource rather than a business. It’s hard to 
get used the idea of paying rent and thinking about money in an 
anti-capitalist project. Until people will no longer have to worry about 
rent and the constant fundraising through keggers (a problem in itself 
for a number of reasons), bake sales and so on, they will hardly have 
time to do as much of what the space exists for. It would be easier to 
not worry about money if there were more people coming in and seeing 
value in the space enough to support it financially, but people may not 
see value in the space if it does not offer the resources and empowering 
sense of community that it purports to. It needs to depend on a radical 
community to be sustainable, but that community does not exist (yet).

It should be seen as much as an experiment in an attempt at living our 
politics, by creating a space to relate to one another 
non-hierarchically. We cannot break all our conditioning or escape our 
socio economic context just by changing our worldview. Images, labels 
and words are not enough to destroy this society and make way for a new 
one. We must live the politics of the society (or the lack thereof) we 
esteem to. To fail at this is to accept defeat and prevent more than the 
dream of a worthwhile future from existing.

Nothing like this space has existed in Milwaukee since the Italian 
anarchist run “Dramatic Lovers Social drama Study Group” before the 
1910s. There is the Peace Action Center, which is still run by the old 
guard of authoritarian 1960s activism, but unlike them we must esteem 
not to be limited to identity, ideology or a paternalistic and expert 
division of an activist outlook.

The CCC could use a lot more help and more involvement from those who 
are already loosely involved. The more people that can be involved in 
collective decision making the easier it will be on people who are 
taking a lot of the load of keeping the space open. The more 
decentralized decision-making becomes the better as well.

The Milwaukee Anarchist Black Cross (MKE ABC)

There was a table at the Crimethinc. convergence this summer in Winona 
Minnesota that had information about political prisoners and prison 
abolition with materials available to write letters to prisoners. People 
realized how easy it was to offer the minimal amount of support and 
combat the isolation that prison imposes on people through a lack of 
connection to the outside by spending a bunch of time writing letters at 
the table. The least we could do would be to set up an ABC in Milwaukee 
to support people who live our ideals most intensely and are caught 
doing it. The most we could do would be to destroy prisons and the 
societies that produce them (being the end goal of ABC).

The Milwaukee ABC met about every Thursday at 7pm with potlucks and a 
number of people showing up. Starting in 2007 the ABC will start meeting 
at the Cream City Collectives at the same time and day, but every other 
week instead of every week. This will hopefully allow for the space of 
more people and will be more open to the public in general (compared to 
being in someone’s home) and it should go well with the “burn all 
prisons” banner that is hanging on the wall.

We run the risk of doing the states work of pacifying opposition if we 
only of react to repression by making people aware of it, rather than 
combating it. It’s up to us to decide what that means for our given 
situation. Cultures that not only support the repressed but ones that 
resist and end the existence of what represses need to be fostered 
(insurrectionary cultures of resistance).

Milwaukee Anti-Racist Action (MKE ARA)

The ARA in Milwaukee formed this summer in response to and climaxed with 
National Socialist Movement (NSM) rally in Madison. Other things that it 
has done are; the Labor Day march with the IWW, anti-retaliator skins 
organizing, and distributing information.

There is plenty or racism that needs combating in a number of different 
ways, but MKE ARA has been primarily focused on Anti-fascist organizing 
and information gathering. Being that radicals and anti-racists are 
targets of fascist attacks organizing is as much about our own physical 
safety as it is about fighting fascism out of principle alone. The 
seriousness of this kind of organizing has had a sobering effect on a 
number of the people involved and has allowed people to learn better 
security culture, more intelligent tactics/planning and for some much 
needed networking between different cities and states in the Midwest 
(mainly Madison and Chicago).

The Burnt Bookmobile Collective (BBMC)

The bookmobile has now existed for about three years now and could be 
argued to be a significant contributing factor in furthering the growth 
of an anti-authoritarian and anarchist radical community in Milwaukee. 
It has brought many angry and bored individuals out or isolation from 
one another and helped people articulate that anger. The bookmobile has 
distributed 1000 plus books, and given out thousands of free pamphlets, 
all at shows, bloc parties, at universities, radical events and 
sometimes on the side of street.

Other events and projects of 2006
-May Day
-March 18th anti-war protest
-Oaxaca Solidarity
-Anti Green scare organizing (solidarity organizing)
-Tons of fundraising (CCC, ARA and ABC)
-Road trip to the national conference on organized resistance and the 
Crimethinc convergence
-Anarchist soccer
-Discussion groups
-Vegan potlucks
-Direct action trainings
-Fun
-Depression counseling
-Immigrant solidarity
-Anti-police/police brutality organizing (in response to Jude verdict)
-Milwaukee’s Indymedia Collective

Planned and prospective projects
-Legal aid defense
-Milwaukee anarchist zine

All of these projects could use a lot more help. People are more than 
welcome to participate in whatever ways they’re comfortable with and are 
encouraged not to limit themselves to these projects or in general.

If you’re interested in hearing more about upcoming events or getting 
involved join this listserve;

mkeanarchy@lists.riseup.net 
<http://www.infoshop.org/inews/mkeanarchy@lists.riseup.net>
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