A-Infos (en) US, Boston, Anarchist journal - BAAM* #16 - Reports and Reviews

Update from the Boston ABC ---- Boston Anarchist Black Cross regularly supports hundreds of 
prisoners by sending out literature, fulfilling research requests and maintaining penpal 
correspondences. ---- We keep up a $20/month contribution to Jericho Boston's commissary fund, 
which goes toward meeting the material needs of political prisoners. We tabled at the Boston Zine 
Fair and distributed a great deal of prison abolitionist literature. We got out the word about 
Jericho's 10/10 march in NYC to free political prisoners and sent down about 10 people. Most of our 
collective turned out for a prison abolition strategy session hosted by Jericho Boston and Rising 
Tide Boston. We have turned out in support of City Life/Vida Urbana's eviction blockades, which 
have a 7-2 record in preventing the eviction of families.

In collaboration with other Anarchist Black
Cross chapters, we collect entries for, pro-
duce and distribute a publication called
Prison Action News, which is composed of
submissions from prisoners detailing their
efforts to fight back against oppressive con-
ditions. The next issue is set to be released
January 1. As part of our legal defense
work, we send out money to comrades in
need and bail our comrades out when situ-
ations arise. Recently we have contributed
to the defense funds for the Revolutionary
Autonomous Communities in Los Ange-
les, whose November 8th benefit show
was raided and its attendants arrested and
badly mistreated by police. We also con-
tributed to the defense fund for Iraq Veter-
ans Against the War, 10 of whose members
and 5 of whose supporters were arrested
October 15th, with a police horse smash-
ing the face of Sgt. Nick Morgan. We are
pleased to report that charges against the
Hempstead 15 have since been dropped,
but Nick Morgan's face is still smashed and
his medical bills are outrageous. We had
a Halloween benefit show to replenish our
legal defense fund, but we are perpetually
seeking more monetary resources.
    If you want to support the prisoner sup-
port and legal defense work of Boston An-
archist Black Cross, you can send concealed
cash or blank checks to: Boston ABC
    PO Box 230182, Boston, MA 02123

       Reportbacks From the NEAN Assemblies By Cady

The Seventh General Assembly of the Northeast
Anarchist Network was held in Providence, Rhode
Island on the 29th and 30th of November. The Fourth
Assembly of the New England Subregion
was held on the 13th and 14th of December
in Portland, Maine. At a glance, it seemed
that upwards of sixty people attended the
assembly in Rhode Island, with about a doz-
en braving the weather to meet in Portland.
    At the General Assembly, key discus-
sions about the fu-
ture and purpose of
NEAN took place.
On the first day, a
survivors caucus
was formed where
it was agreed that
NEAN would at-
tempt to put into
place a mediation
process and a sex-
ual assault policy
in order to combat
sexual assault in
our own communi-
ties, especially at
NEAN assemblies
and events. NEAN
also agreed to work
harder to make its
website, www.ne-
anarchist.net, and
its meetings more
accessible to dis-
abled and sight-impaired people who can-
not read or cannot read quickly. Members
of NEAN who had attended the RNC dem-
onstrations were present and spoke about
their experiences to an audience who were
eager to learn about infrastructure-building
and tactics for large decentralized protest
events.
    On the second day of the General Assem-
bly, the network had a good, long talk about
criticisms within anarchist practice and the
network in general, at which it was decided
that agendas would be put together as much
as possible in advance by the hosting group
with suggestions from other organizations
and individuals in the Network. The hope
is that this will save valuable time in future
meetings. The staff of the Nor'easter met at
the Assembly in a breakout session as well.
    Camilo Viveiros came to present a work-
shop in which he explained to a younger
generation of anarchists the difference be-
tween activism and organizing, positing
that activism is agitation for the politics
which we personally believe will lead to
liberation, while organizing is the process
of helping people empower themselves in
a given community. According to Viveiros,
organizing, though more consistent with
anarchist beliefs about allowing people to
make their own decisions regarding self-
liberation, may sometimes lead to work-
ing within explicitly hierarchical power
structures. Rather than throw a tantrum
over the fact that people in whose ad-
vancement we are interested don't want
to be exactly like us or share our politics,
Viveiros hinted that a truly anarchist ap-
proach is to allow people the self-deter-
mination necessary to decide to use and
work with and found organizations that we
as anarchists might not necessarily like.
    The Subregional Assembly used the sug-
gestion from the regional assembly and put
into place a process for constructing the
entire agenda ahead of time. This worked
extremely well for moving things along,
even though the people at the meeting did
not stick rigidly to the originally-planned
agenda. The first day was extremely pro-
ductive, with lengthy talk of Greek solidar-
ity actions and planning, as well as infor-
mation-sharing so that we could all be up
to date on the situation in Greece. People
with laptops played videos from the streets
and read about the popular assemblies be-
ing held in occupied schools, during which
the attendees were in high spirits. Dialogue
surrounding the immense popularity of
anarchy abroad led smoothly into a brain-
storm session about how we could possibly
increase the popularity of anarchy at home.
BAAM members led a conversation about
not just outreach in general but about hold-
ing specific outreach days in order to attracting
anarchists.

The second day of the Subregional Assembly
involved a talk from a Blackbird Legal Collective
member about the STOPMAX campaign in Maine,
in which Boston anarchists signed on to the effort to
help Blackbird get signatures for their
petition. When the speaker was finished, skillshares
began. Skillshares included a cunt-demystifying
workshop and a self-defense work-shop. After these
two workshops, most of the attendees had
to leave to go home, but the planned bike
repair workshop did lead to the printing
and handing out of a detailed chart of bike
parts for Subregional attendees to go home
and study.
   As always, these assemblies can't take
place without the help of local organizers
and NEAN members, Food Not Bombs, the
people in hosting towns who help by open-
ing their homes to travelers, and the NEAN
members who attend, regardless of weather
or transportation problems, to the best of
their ability. While it might be early to give
ourselves a big pat on the back, a heartfelt
thank you to your host, your ride, and the
people who fed you is a great idea.


With pictures: http://boston.indymedia.org/usermedia/application/1/206465_Baam16_Complete.pdf
=======================================================
* A General Anarchist Union in the Boston Area
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