A-Infos (en) US, Platform and Constitution For Rochester Red and Black

Platform ---- Capitalism ---- Fundamentally, we oppose capitalism and all forms of 
exploitation.  Capitalism is an imposed socially constructed system, not a product of 
human nature.  It is founded on exploitation, which extracts profits from the labor of the 
workers.   This creates an uneven class system, where lower classes continue to be the 
source of profit for those on top.  Through this an entire matrix of inequality is 
initiated, creating divisions and hierarchies between people based on race, sex, gender 
orientation, and an array of other elements of identity.  These inequalities are inherent 
to capitalism’s drive to create competition between people rather than cooperation, and 
therefore perpetuate inequality.

Capitalism drives all elements of social and natural life into a form of commodity: 
resources, nature, individuals and even the basic experiences of life.  In an economic 
sense, capitalism’s brutal class system requires institutionalized poverty at the bottom. 
 This is perpetuated with a series of myths, such as the idea that capitalism is a 
natural form of human evolution and the concept of the necessary nature of meritocracy, 
which says that the wealth people own comes from their own merit.

The State

Class society requires a mechanism to protect the interests of the minority that control 
wealth and power.  That mechanism is the state.  The state is not a neutral instrument 
that the working class can take control of for its own interest. The state holds a 
monopoly on “legitimate” violence within society, meant to ensure “order” despite 
injustice and inequality.  Whether dictatorships, “representational democracies”, or state 
communism, all states act as defenders of that inequality. When American capitalists have 
interests that extend beyond theUSborders, the state creates the illusion of a national 
interest to create the legitimacy necessary to wage war. These wars are clearly in service 
of the interests of the capitalist class and are ultimately not in the interest of the 
working classes of either land.  The tool by which the state maintains its control either 
at home or abroad is coercion.

In an effort to preserve their legitimacy, and as a result of class struggle, some states 
maintain programs with important positive social impact like Social Security and Medicare. 
 These programs are ultimately unsustainable, as they are counter to the interests of the 
capitalists that the state actually represents.  Therefore these programs are distorted 
and weakened over time to ensure that business interests are satisfied.  To organize a 
revolutionary society, we must have popular and democratic institutions that replace the 
positive functions of the state.  We believe in community self-management of society and 
the economy rather than state and capitalist control.

Anarchist Communism

In place of the present capitalist system we seek to establish a society of free 
producers, where the now-oppressed masses make all the fundamental decisions of social 
life directly through organizations of their own choice with which they identify 
themselves completely and can exert control. This means a society run through popular, 
democratic institutions, where all are able to participate in the decisions that affect 
their lives.  A free society, we contend, can only be based on the notion of “from each 
according to their abilities, to each according to their need,” since only under 
conditions of social and economic equality can freedom – real freedom – truly develop. 
Likewise, a society based on the ideas of liberty, equality and solidarity is the only 
social arrangement where both the individual and collective elements of society can be 
recognized and cherished without one subsuming the other- where all human potential that 
is restrained by the present economic and social order can be allowed to flourish. Such a 
society we call Anarchist Communism.

Class Struggle

While we hope for a future where all of humanity is united and working towards common 
goals of justice and fulfillment for all, we recognize that there are currently many 
barriers to that future. Humanity is not one big happy family. We are divided primarily 
into two conflicting classes, a working class that survives by selling its time and labor, 
and a capitalist class that profits from the exploitation of the working class. While a 
parasitic capitalist class lives in luxury through its exploitation of the masses of 
people, a unified humanity remains impossible.

In the process of building a class that can only survive through selling its time and 
labor, capitalism locks some people out of the work force. Some are held in near permanent 
unemployment and others, like housewives, help to contribute to society’s wealth but 
aren’t paid for it. Others, like farm workers in theUnited States, are not considered 
workers legally. This is absurd, since the industrial and business nature of agriculture 
today makes farm workers – just like housewives and the unemployed – an integral part of 
the working class.

Not everyone who is in a class knows that they are in the class. There is frequently a 
difference between the class that people perceive themselves to be in and the class that 
they actually are in objectively. In theUnited States, huge numbers of people believe 
themselves to be part of the middle class. In terms of the relationship that they hold to 
power and wealth, these same people are almost always a part of the working class, but for 
a variety of reasons have begun to identify as a “middle class” that sees itself as 
separate from the working class. When we choose to identify as separate classes, we 
ultimately weaken the ability of the broad working class to resist the deterioration of 
their standard of living.

Different sectors of the working class are made to believe that their interests are 
contrary to each other. Nothing can be further from the truth. When one sector of workers 
faces a loss, a ripple effect will ultimately impact others as the standard of living that 
the capitalist class is expected to provide the working class declines. This is also true 
when workers win. If wages and benefits in one sector rise, other businesses are forced to 
raise their wages and benefits to compete and attract workers.

We organize to build working class unity through struggle and build a united working class 
movement for the abolition of classes altogether. Because the working class creates all 
wealth in the world, they not only have a right to that wealth, but also have the power to 
stop the production of all wealth in the world. This ultimately means that the working 
class has the power to rid itself of the ruling class which survives on the profits 
created by the working class.

In the short term, this means that the working class has the power through direct action 
and class struggle to create immediate change. In a struggle for universal health care, 
there is great power in an organized body of health care workers refusing to deny 
services. In a struggle against the privatization of public utilities, there is great 
power in organized utility workers refusing to turn off people’s power. In the struggle 
against war, there is great power in dock workers refusing to ship arms. Ultimately it is 
within the grasp of the unified working class to bring the capitalist system of inequality 
and exploitation to a grinding halt through mass class struggle.

Role of the Anarchist Organization

In spite of its commitment to revolutionary values, anarchism has often played only a 
minor role in the history of revolutions worldwide. Its internal disconnection and lack of 
coordination have reduced its impact. To remedy this situation, we seek to create an 
anarchist organization that can bring local anarchists together to develop our ideas and 
theories which can then be brought back into the social movements of which we are a part. 
It is these social movements, not the anarchist organization, which are the revolutionary 
actors. The role of the anarchist organization is to draw from the ideas and experiences 
gained from those social movements and to offer our own ideas to them. We reject Leninist 
vanguardism and the idea of attempting to capture the leadership of social movements in 
order to force our beliefs on those involved. Where social movements do not exist, the 
role of organized anarchists should be to catalyze them and attempt to move them in a more 
radical militant direction.

Direct Action

Direct action simply means to act directly for yourself rather than having an intermediate 
perform the task for you, such as in the representative state. This will ultimately mean 
the expropriation of the current capitalist forms of property and government, and 
restructuring and redistributing resources based on the direct decision making of the 
people.  In the present moment, direct action can take the form of boycotting, civil 
disobedience, disruption of ecological destruction, eviction blockades, university or 
workplace occupations and active resistance to unjust policy. We believe that direct 
action is the most potent force for social change as it bypasses institutional barriers 
and allows participants to take active control over their lives and communities, which 
genuinely empowers people and foreshadows the way in which a positive society will 
function. In this way we are opposed to electoral politics in principle as they maintain 
convention and class domination and do not inhabit the spirit of direct democracy.

Our position on direct action does not mean that we will not take on other tactics, or be 
accountable to other groups with whom we are working, but it does mean that we believe 
direct action is the most effective form of action and fundamental to the transformation 
of society and those involved.

Patriarchy and Queer Liberation

We reject patriarchy: the system of male domination, heteronormity, and gender oppression. 
Through our rejection of patriarchy we also reject the gender binary as well as any 
biological or social basis for sexism. We intend to fight sexism both when it takes 
economic and non-economic form, such as through familial roles, rape culture, and unwaged 
labor such as childcare. Systems of hierarchy reinforced through capitalism and the state 
make gender liberation impossible, and therefore we see issues of patriarchy as taking 
part in a larger system of socio-economic oppression. Both institutions require strict 
adherence to prescribed roles and inequality within those roles, and they include set 
gender, sexual, and behavioral norms.

Through this we challenge heteronormity and the assumption of standardized expressions of 
sexuality and gender, and support the free development of people’s identity and 
relationships. Both queer and women’s oppression are part of the same system of male 
dominance, and as such we oppose the oppression of queer and transsexual people.

Anti-Racism

We know that race is a biological fiction for which there is no scientific basis, but that 
racist oppression is a social reality. American racism is not just made up of racist 
attitudes of individuals, but also of massive systemic and institutional forces that 
reinforce and reproduce the oppression of workers of color.

We know that white privilege is real and that it benefits so-called white workers relative 
to workers of color in ways both big and small, but because these privileges divide white 
workers against workers of color (critically damaging the ability of the whole working 
class to struggle for justice) it is contrary to the interest of white workers to defend 
these privileges and in the interest of the entire working class to dismantle them.

We believe that in order to fight for justice and win revolution the working class must be 
truly united. In order to really unite and not just brush aside the issues that divide the 
large and multiracial working class, it is crucial that we build deep and genuine 
anti-racism within the class. We also believe that the single best way to do this is to 
grow real solidarity over the course of common struggle. We utterly reject the idea that 
people are inherently racist, and we believe that just as racism is socially learned, it 
can be socially unlearned. Within our organizations, we should be actively working to 
break down the barriers that racism has created.

As anarchists, we encourage all people to fight their oppression in ways they think best, 
but we also specifically seek to build multiracial mass movements of the working class 
because we think that only such movements are truly capable of winning. We reject the idea 
that racism can be destroyed by a cross-class alliance of all people of color. Racism can 
best be smashed by an anti-racist working class revolution.

Ability, Disability and Ableism

We oppose hierarchies and judgments of human worth based upon differences in physical or 
mental ability, structure or functioning.  We reject the idea of a single “ideal” type of 
human, and oppose and condemn the ideas of eugenics and social Darwinism.  Everyone has 
the right to be accepted and understood on their own terms, and should not have to live 
with the labels imposed externally by others.

As capitalism only values those who can help create a profit, those who cannot help make a 
profit due to physical or mental differences often are stigmatized, locked out of the 
workforce, impoverished, denied care and made homeless.  We seek an Anarchist-Communist 
society where everyone is fully materially supported and free to contribute to society in 
their own way.

In relation to mental ability, we support the idea of mental diversity, and strongly 
suspect that many individuals diagnosed with “mental illnesses” are simply labeled such 
because an authoritarian society is unable to tolerate diversity.  However, we also 
recognize that many of these differences can clearly cause significant impairment of life 
functioning and are experienced as illness, and we support full availability of mental 
health services (including early childhood intervention) free of charge.  These services 
should be able to be provided without causing fear of stigma, which stems from the 
implicit hierarchical models of ability and disability embedded in our culture.  To the 
extent that individuals or groups feel that the labels implicit in mental health treatment 
are dehumanizing, disempowering, and disrespectful of their autonomy, then the mental 
health profession serves as an instrument of social control rather than as healing.  We 
seek a society in which those with special needs are cared for in a manner which respects 
their dignity.

As “disability” and “ability” are often designations which can change depending on social 
context, we strive to make Rochester Red and Black and the other organizations with which 
we work maximally accessible for all people.  We work to avoid ableist language which 
privileges those with certain kinds of health and ability by implicitly putting down those 
who are different.

Nationalism

We oppose all forms of nationalism, which we define as movements based on a common 
identity advocating separatism, supremacy, or the formation of a nation or nation-state 
that enforces that identity on the population.  This can take the form of ethnic, 
religious, or cultural separatism, whether used in terms of modern governmental bodies or 
alternative groupings of peoples.  We do support the necessity of the full expression of 
the multiplicity of cultural identity, and believe that this richness is inherent to 
diversity internationally.  We do not support national liberation movements that identify 
with the nation state or employ class collaboration, but instead support 
self-determination for oppressed peoples, the defeat of imperialism, freedom from 
oppression for people on occupied lands, and solidarity between the international working 
class.  Through this we support the elimination of all political borders, amnesty for 
“illegal” peoples residing in countries that do not recognize their legal status, and an 
internationalist tendency that sees the importance for working class unity across the 
globe without divisions based on national identity.

Ecology

Our view on the environment is biocentrism:  the idea that our natural world is more than 
just itemized resource extraction and that it has the right and necessity to exist on its 
own.  Humanity should not attempt to dominate the environment, as the industrial 
capitalist mode of production dictates, and it is not simply for our utility. Capitalism 
alienates us from the natural world and how our institutions are actively destroying it. 
This remains a crisis of capitalism, where its principles of perpetual growth cannot be in 
line with sustainability and a connection to the Earth.  Just as with poverty and war, 
capitalism requires environmental devastation to function.  Within this system of 
environmental attack, working class populations, indigenous groups, and people of color 
experience a greater immediate impact from this catastrophe because of their forced 
marginalization.  We understand that social transformation is crucial for moving toward a 
true ecological balance, and this cannot be regulated purely toward any type of lifestyle 
changes, technological innovation, or broad attacks on technology.

Federalism

We are committed to the organizational principles of federalism in that we support the 
free association of individuals and organizations, as well as the balance between autonomy 
and unity.  This freedom to associate between individuals and groups will also mean the 
freedom to disassociate at will, allowing communities and organizations to understand 
their own needs and meet these according to their own character.  This is different than 
organizations that use centralism, where a centralized groups dictates for a range of 
regional organization ideology and practices.  We see this as unable to meet the needs of 
the community or represent the diversity that those communities may hold, and therefore 
centralism takes on authoritarian modes that we identify with statist politics.   Instead 
we support direct democracy and decentralism in an effort to keep people as directly 
involved in the decision making process both in the organization and the larger 
socio-political landscape.  Through this we work with other groups and federations through 
commonalities, yet reserve our own distinctive group dynamic.

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

Constitution

Constitution For Rochester Red and Black

Membership

1.      Members are those who 1) agree to the Principles of Unity (Platform), 2) pay 
regular dues, and 3) actively participate in the work of the organization.

a.       Rights of Members:

i.      Each Member has the right to equal voice and vote within the organization.

ii.      Each Member has the right to minority opinions, provided that they do not work to 
subvert the organization.

iii.      Each Member has the right to make Proposals, including Amendments.

iv.      Each Member has the right to form caucuses, factions, or other friendly 
associations within the organization.

b.      Expectations of Membership:

i.      Each Member is expected to actively participate in the work of the organization 
and to be accountable to the rest of the organization.

ii.      Each Member is expected to pay income contingent dues equal to:

$5-18 per month for those who make under $2,000 per month.

$18-27 per month for those who make between $2,000 and $3,000 per month

$27-50 per month for those who make over $3,500 per month

Fund raising activities may occasionally be organized as well, and members are welcome to 
make additional financial contributions to the organization at any time.

iii.      Each Member is expected to operate honestly and in good faith both within the 
organization and in broader struggle.

iv.      Each Member is expected to work to continually develop themselves as an agent of 
struggle through skill-based training, movement education, and critical reflection upon 
experiences.

v.      Each Member will minimally attend 9 of 12 monthly General Assemblies and 6 of 12 
monthly Educational Events.  This is not meant as a draconian measure to enforce party 
discipline (and the membership certainly reserves the right to make allowances for special 
cases- in a truly democratic organization nothing is set permanently in stone).  However, 
in order to function as an organization which can have quorum for votes (also an essential 
feature of a democratic organization), we must know that we can rely on our members to be 
present at meetings.

2.      Supporters are those who 1) agree to the Principles of Unity and 2) pay some dues.

a.       Rights of Supporters:

i.      Each Supporter has the right to equal voice within the organization.

ii.      Each Supporter has the right to minority opinions, provided that they do not work 
to subvert the organization.

iii.      Each Supporter has the right to make Proposals, including Amendments.

iv.      Each Supporter has the right to make inquiries of the organization.

v.      Each Supporter has the right to vote on major alterations to the organization’s 
Principles of Unity, Constitution, or Bylaws.

b.      Expectations of Supporters:

i.      Each Supporter is expected to contribute financially to the organization.

ii.      Each Supporter is expected to operate honestly and in good faith both within the 
organization and in broader struggle.

iii.      Each Supporter is generally expected to participate in educational programs of 
the organization.

3.      Becoming a Member

a.       Applicant must state their intention to become a member. At this point they will 
be considered a Trial Member. Trial Members will have the Expectations of Members (except 
dues) and the Rights of Supporters.

b.      At the next business meeting after candidacy is announced, current Members may 
vote to grant Membership or not, a 75% majority being needed to grant membership.

c.       If Membership is not granted, Applicant has the right to hear objections, to 
address them, and to request a second vote.

4.      Expelling a Member

a.       Charges/Grounds for expulsion:

i.      A member’s politics or behavior is incompatible with the Principles of Unity.

ii.      A member has knowingly subverted the work of the organization.

iii.      Significant failure to fulfill the Expectations of Membership.

b.      Rights of the Charged:

i.      If a Member’s expulsion is proposed, said Member has the right to know the 
Charge(s) and by whom their expulsion was proposed.

ii.      No member may be expelled in absentia or without notification.

iii.      The Charged will retain the full Rights and Expectations of Membership until 
expulsion is complete.

c.       Process:  Once Expulsion is proposed, the Charged has the right to argue against 
their expulsion, but must abstain from the vote. A 50%+1 majority of ALL Members 
(excluding the Charged) is needed for expulsion.

General Decision-Making Processes

1.      Quorum: 50%+1 of all Members.

2.      Process: After a Proposal is introduced, Members and Supporters will have the 
opportunity to voice any initial questions, thoughts, or concerns with the proposal. This 
will be followed by open discussion/debate including the proposal of amendments. The 
discussion should seek to address all possible concerns or objections before moving on, 
our first best choice always being unanimity. If an impasse is reached, a member may 
suggest putting the proposal to a vote. If 50%+1 of present members agree to move to a 
vote, then a 2/3 majority vote is needed for the proposal to pass.

3.      Amendments can be added to a proposal by a 50%+1 vote or by finding no objections.

4.      In-meeting process decisions such as tabling, prioritizing, or setting a time for 
an agenda item, if contested, will decided by a 50%+1 vote.

5.      Major Alterations to the Principles of Unity, Constitution, or Bylaws require a 
75% majority of ALL members to pass. If 50%+1 of Supporters oppose the Alteration(s), then 
a unanimous vote of ALL members is required to pass.

Elected Delegates

Secretary: The secretary is tasked with keeping up communications for the organization, 
ensuring that meetings are well-organized, and helping to orient new members to the 
workings of the organization.
Treasurer: The treasurer is tasked with accounting for the income and expenditures of the 
organization, collecting and keeping record of membership dues, and keeping track of 
membership.
Elections:  Delegates are elected through the regular decision-making process.
Recall:  Delegates may also be recalled through the regular decision-making process for 
any reason.
Term:  The regular term for a position is six months. No one person may hold the same 
position for more than two years consecutively.
Committees:

Education: The education committee is tasked with maintaining a regular program of 
internal education for organization membership.  This educational programming should 
consist of a mix of theoretical, practical organizing, and current events issues.
Newsletter:  The newsletter committee is tasked with the creation and distribution of a 
monthly organizational newsletter that will address an anarchist perspective on the 
current political atmosphere, as well as updates about ongoing organizing efforts.
Meetings:

General Assembly:  The first Thursday of each month will be the decision making and 
business meeting of the organization.  All organizational proposals are to be brought, in 
writing, to this meeting.
Educational Meeting: The third Thursday of each month will be an educational discussion, 
to focus on theoretical, practical organizing, or current event issues.  These discussions 
can be public or member-only, as decided by the General Assembly.
Emergency Meetings:  Emergency meetings can be called by the Secretary or Treasurer with 
at least 24 hours notice.  Voting at this meeting still requires quorum.
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
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