A-Infos (en) US, Report from Unconventional Action Carolinas Consulta, May 12-13

On May 12th and 13th, a faction of Unconventional Action hosted a Carolinas 
Consulta in Chapel Hill, NC, as a way for anarchists and anti-authoritarians 
from across the Carolinas to develop strategies for resistance against the 
Democratic and Republican National Conventions in 2008. Here we present the 
results of those discussions. --- This was also intended to deepen the broader 
personal and political networks of solidarity and mutual aid across the 
Carolinas and to share news and feedback about local struggles.
It may seem strange to organize a gathering primarily focused on mobilizations 
so far in advance. We believe it is important for anarchists to be developing 
our own strategy for the conventions right now: both so that we are not forced 
to act within a framework of authoritarian and/or reformist-led permitted 
marches, and so as to spark a new dialogue that brings the failures of 
capitalism and electoral politics to the forefront of public debate. By 
strategizing, coordinating, and organizing early on, we can seize the 
initiative and create a situation conducive to accessible, participatory direct 
action.

This cannot be a closed-door process. We believe a good strategy enables a wide 
range of groups with different skill-sets to coordinate and integrate a range 
of tactics, in a way that respects and encourages the autonomous 
decision-making of those groups. Past experience has taught us that it is 
unrealistic to expect hundreds of people from different parts of the country to 
be able to develop an effective strategy at a last-minute spokescouncil held 
two days before we hope to shut down an entire city center. Ideally, affinity 
groups across the country should know exactly what their roles will be many 
months in advance, so they will come mentally, physically, and tactically 
prepared to fulfill them.

Although a strategy must be publicly determined and widely known, tactically, 
individuals and groups of friends decide what roles they will play within it, 
and only they need to know the specifics of what they take on.

Here we present summaries of some of the presentations and discussions that 
took place, along with two of the strategy proposals that came out of the 
consulta. These are the result of our discussions and info-sharing, as well as 
contact with local organizers in Denver and the Twin Cities. They by no means 
represent all of the discussions that went on at the consulta or all of the 
wishes of those who participated; that would take a much more detailed report. 
This is meant to open further dialogue, not to be the last word on the matter. 
It is our hope that others will develop their own amendments and 
counter-proposals and bring them to the pRe-NC in Minneapolis this September, 
where a final strategy can be consensed upon and made available across the 
country. Even then, such a strategy is not binding upon anyone, of course—it 
simply offers an opportunity for people to plug into something bigger than 
themselves.

Goals for the Protests
distilled from brainstorming early in the consulta

To be inspirational, energizing, inclusive, and relevant to everyday life
To remind people of the government’s failures and manifest a viable alternative 
to the two-party system
To organize actions with a clear message, that are self-replicating—i.e., that 
offer a model that can be repeated in other contexts
To create sustainable structures and momentum that continue beyond the protests
To shut down the cities, delay and disrupt the conventions and media coverage 
To deter cities from wanting to host the conventions in the future
To respect and work with local people and movements on their issues and concern
To support community projects and local organizations in the host cities
To provide awesome medical and legal care for everyone involved
To focus on the themes of “No War, No Warming” and “No Borders”
To offer space for a range of tactics to provide opportunities for all 
varieties of activists
To use the media to our advantage

Denver

From August 25th through 28th, the Democratic National Convention will take 
place in Denver, CO. Currently, the city of Denver is planning on spending $50 
million just on security. The convention will be happening at the Pepsi Center, 
and the nearby Auraria Campus has been rented out in its entirety—presumably 
for large events and to house some of the delegates. However, the fancy hotels 
in Denver are located closer to the financial district; they include the Four 
Seasons, the Adams Mark, the Marriott, and the Brown Palace. For traffic to 
move through the city, Speer, Colfax, and Broadway are the main routes through 
the city center, as well as access to I-25. As of now, all of the places of 
note are within about a two-mile radius, unless delegates stay at even fancier 
hotels in the surrounding areas.
The Denver-based organization, Recreate68, has already started organizing 
against the DNC. They are calling for “Days of Resistance”—four days of themed 
protests (themes, not yet announced)—and a “Festival of Democracy”—four days of 
free music, food, and skill-sharing—to coincide with the convention. Although 
locations have not yet been decided, the Civic Center Park and the City of 
Cuernavaca Park are likely gathering places for rallies and demonstrations.

We talked about having a coordinated day of action, themed “Denver’s Day Off,” 
to shut down the city on the first day of our mobilization. This could include 
multiple marches (coming from the north and southeast) converging to support 
blockades around the Pepsi Center and the Auraria Campus. It was emphasized 
that the major day of direct action should be planned for the beginning of our 
mobilization, based on the lessons of earlier demonstrations; when direct 
action occurs at the beginning of a mobilization, it sets the tone for the rest 
of it, but when it occurs at the end, it is usually isolated and unsuccessful. 
Also, it is important to remember that because the DNC and the RNC are so 
temporally close together, that what we do at the DNC will affect the RNC.

Some further specific proposals included a big critical mass, a reclaim the 
streets, a march against police brutality (on account of Denver’s history of 
police violence), and coordinated actions targeting corporations that support 
or benefit from the financial infrastructure of the DNC. There was also 
interest in squatting actions and redistribution of resources to locals in 
Denver, as well as general discussion of how to establish positive connections 
with local communities.

The Twin Cities

From September 1st through 4th, the Republican National Convention will be 
hosted in St. Paul and Minneapolis, MN. It is currently estimated that 100,000 
protesters will be present along with 45,000 politicians and their lackeys. RNC 
Welcoming Committee, a group of Twin Cities-based anarchists, has already been 
organizing for many months, mainly with a focus on logistics and 
infrastructure-building. While the primary RNC events will take place inside a 
perimeter fence in downtown St. Paul, 10,000 of the 45,000 delegates will be 
staying in Minneapolis along with the capitalist media, and the Minneapolis 
Convention Center has been rented out for large events. These two cities are 
about 12 miles apart, separated by a wide river spanned by 5 bridges and 
connected primarily by Interstate 94. For these and other reasons, many believe 
that the RNC presents strategic vulnerabilities unique to any trade summit or 
party convention of recent years.

Points of interest in Minneapolis include the Minneapolis Convention Center, in 
downtown, which will host “the delegate experience,” a week-long event; the 
Minneapolis Hilton, which is located just northeast of the Convention Center at 
1001 Marquette St. and will be the headquarters of the capitalist media 
throughout the week; and the on/off ramps of I-94, located just southeast of 
the Convention Center. This is the only nearby access to I-94, which is the 
primary route delegates are likely to take back and forth between St. Paul and 
Minneapolis. There are five bridges between the Twin Cities that delegates 
might use, the main being Cappelan Memorial Bridge, on which I-94 runs.

Because we currently know very little about “the delegate experience” or other 
events in Minneapolis, our strategy discussions centered mainly around possible 
blockade sites between the cities such as these bridges, I-94 on- and off-ramps 
(which are narrower), and key intersections surrounding the main RNC site in 
downtown St. Paul. That site is the Excel Energy Center, which, along with the 
Saint Paul Hotel, will be surrounded by an unknown length of security fence. 
Projected perimeter fence scenarios can be found on the RNC Welcoming 
Committee’s website, but in no projected case will the fence contain the key 
intersections on Kellogg Blvd. and University Ave., the two downtown I-94 off- 
and on-ramps, or the large 8 by 8 block financial district to the East, 
adjacent to the Saint Paul Hotel. We also know that a local anti-war group is 
planning a permitted march on Sept. 1st and RNC Welcoming Committee folks are 
communicating with them.

One possible strategy for the Twin Cities involves multiple, simultaneous 
actions on the first day. This could mean 20-30 blockades on key intersections 
around downtown St. Paul, with a special focus on the narrow on and off ramps 
of I-94; these could be organized according to a variety of tactics and 
preferred levels of confrontation. Further blockades could occur simultaneously 
at key locations on routes between the two cities. Finally, a large critical 
mass bike ride could descend from Minneapolis to St. Paul on I-94, just in time 
for rush hour traffic. This strategy was popular because it is simple and easy 
to comprehend, deals with one of the major problems of past mass mobilizations 
(where consecutive rather than simultaneous actions proved easy for police to 
isolate, disperse, or prevent), and provides opportunities for a wide range of 
people with different approaches and different levels of tactical experience to 
work together. In our discussions we thought it might make sense for militants 
to be concentrated in the tighter areas of downtown St. Paul, while civil 
disobedience such as lock-downs could be used to block wider routes in between 
the cities. However, this strategy is not dependent on such a situation, and 
allows for affinity groups to decide autonomously how best to blockade their 
specific targets.

We also discussed the possibility of a direct approach to the security fence, 
deciding that approaching from the East would make the most sense given that 
the Saint Paul Hotel borders the fence on that side, and that would allow for a 
march through the financial district. Also discussed but not factored into a 
formal proposal was a night-time “anti-ball.” One final note: we did not name 
many specific locations for blockades—not because they do not exist, but 
because until other strategy proposals emerge and more outreach is done we want 
this proposal to remain flexible and open.

Next…

Along with discussing strategy ideas for the conventions, we also started 
forming groups to research the infrastructure of the conventions, to develop 
internet communication, to write and compile resources for a multi-media 
DNC/RNC 2008 workshops kit, to publish propaganda, and to create educational 
and inspirational travelling roadshows to prepare folks for the conventions.

The Carolinas Consulta was organized in part to encourage other regions to do 
the same, because we believe that the process by which we coordinate strategy 
proposals and organizing can result in anarchist networks and infrastructure 
that will last long after the Democratic and Republican Parties are dead and 
gone. These networks and infrastructure are at least as important as shutting 
down the conventions. To that end, we encourage others to organize consultas in 
their regions, to publish and distribute materials about the conventions, and 
to initiate dialogues with other groups and individuals.

What’s next? Once the strategy discussions have reached a certain point, it 
will be time for smaller groups to think tactically—to figure out what they are 
capable of and interested in doing. It will also be important to put on direct 
action trainings, medic trainings, and legal workshops, and to produce outreach 
materials. Finally, fundraising will be important: for local organizing groups 
and legal funds, for transportation costs, and for expenses such as maintaining 
convergence centers in the host cities.

unconventional_action@mountainrebel.net (website soon to come)
recreate68.org
pReNC@riseup.net
nornc.org
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