A-Infos (en) US, Movement US, A General Anarchist Union in the Boston Area: BAAM #36 August 2010

The BAAM newsletter enters its fourth year. Help our monthly publication survive by 
donating an article or maybe some money. Contact baam.newsletter (at) gmail.com for more 
info. http://boston.indymedia.org/usermedia/application/8/211193_baam36final.pdf -- In 
this issue: ---- Reportbacks from G20 in Toronto and NEAN Assembly in Boston. --- Flash 
Mobs: Hipster Fetish or Guerilla Street Theater page "Flash or Not to Flash". ----  The 
history of BAAM part One: Boston Anarchists Against Militarism page 8 --- News Flashes, 
Government Restarting TALON Database Page ---- The G20 and Kkkanada ---- Her Name Meant 
Hope -- See also: --- http://baamboston.orghttp://neanarchist.org --- The BAAM Newsletter
is the monthly publication of the Boston Anti-Authoritarian Movement, a general union of 
Boston anarchists. Our publication aims to spread anti-authoritarian ideas and practices, 
and to report on the social struggles of workers, tenants, students, radicals, and others 
resisting the repression of the state, bosses, landlords and banks.

BAAM Subscriptions In striving to make our publication sustainable, we are offering yearly 
subscriptions, sent to your door for the sliding scale cost of $12-15. We also provide 
free email subscriptions. Email Jake at Trenchesfullofpoets@riseup.net for more 
information, or send checks (leaving “pay to the order of” field blank) or well-concealed 
cash to: BAAM c/o Boston ABC, PO Box 230182, Boston, MA, 02123 Issue Editors James Herod, 
Jeff Reinhardt, Dave, Geoff Carens Issue Designers Jake Carman, Jeff Reinhardt, Dave
Submissions We accept submissions for our paper! Email articles, photos, events, letters, 
etc to baam.newsletter@gmail.com Cover Photo by Esther Moline

Letter from the Editor: Our Third Birthday and a A New Direction

It’s time to break out the champagne (or
a 40 oz or a root beer) because the BAAM
Newsletter is now entering its fourth year as a
regular publication. We’ve come a long way
from our first four-page issue (with hardly
any pictures) to the current twelve pages with
more articles, more upcoming events, and
(when we can fit them) more pictures.
But before we go too crazy patting our-
selves on the back, it’s important to note what
is taking place both within the movement
and in our world. The world is certainly not
a better place since 2007. We have witnessed
horrific human and “natural” catastrophes:
the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile; the BP oil
spill; the polluting of aquifers from hydro-
fracking for natural gas; huge fires in Siberia
from increasingly brutal heatwaves; melting
ice caps; a recession that has culminated in
massive budget cuts to social services; a fail-
ing housing market that is leaving families
without shelter; increasing rates of unem-
ployment, poverty, and hunger throughout
the world; a seemingly endless occupation of
Afghanistan by US troops resulting in count-
less deaths; a relentlessly violent occupation
of Palestine by Israel, which now openly at-
tacks all forms of aid going to Palestinians;
continuing repression of indigenous groups
across the globe and of activists and organiz-
ers who ally themselves with them as well as
with other radical causes. And the list goes
on…
This can all be very overwhelming. It is
getting harder and harder to wake up every
morning and continue our daily lives knowing
what is happening to our planet, the animals
on it, and our fellow humans. As radicals and
revolutionaries we find ourselves further mar-
ginalized by the centralized corporate media,
which turns a deaf ear to us. We are living our
lives day to day, struggling to survive within
and without capitalism—trying to find cracks
in the system to explore our own dreams and
passions—and trying to make a change. Yet it
seems with every small step in the right direc-
tion, the world as a whole has taken two steps
backwards. It is remarkably frustrating.
BAAM as an organization has felt this
stress. It comes out in our meetings, in our
interpersonal relationships, and the media
we produce. We’ve seen shrinking member-
ship and an overall decline in activity this
past year. This newsletter, our podcast, and
our meetings on the first Tuesday of every
month are the strongest surviving projects of
BAAM.

So the time has come for a change. A pro-
posal was made at the July BAAM meeting
for a new way of doing business, and a new
direction for BAAM and the anarchist com-
munity in Boston. While the proposal is still
being discussed and revised by the current or-
ganizers in BAAM, I feel it would be advan-
tageous to alert our readers about hat changes
might be taking place.
First, the proposal states that the first Tues-
day of the month will no longer be called
the BAAM business meeting (which it has
been for several years) but rather a general
anarchist assembly (working title) in Boston.
It will be a space for anarchists and anti-au-
thoritarians doing work on all sorts of proj-
ects to come together and share ideas, make
announcements, and seek help with projects
during a scheduled break-out session, where
each collective/organization present can talk
to members of other groups to figure out ways
to work together.
The individuals who show up at these as-
semblies do not need to have prior connection
to BAAM or any of its projects. Furthermore,
as a general rule, the assembly will be most-
ly about bringing organizers from different
projects together, but as of now will not be
a decision-making body. It is an open-door
invitation to all radicals, horizontalists, anar-
chists, and curious-folks to get involved in a
wide variety of projects currently going on in
the city, and to find ways to shake up the sys-
tem more and create positive change in our
communities.
The existing BAAM will begin to focus
more on creative alternative media. Many of
the current members of the group work on the
newsletter, or the Another World is Possible
podcast, or Boston Indymedia. It is time to
step up the productions of radical media and
propaganda. We are considering taking the
acronym BAAM and making it Boston Anti-
Authoritarian Media.
There is still much work to be done on this
proposal. Your input would be appreciated.
Feel free to email the newsletter at baam.
newsletter@gmail.com to suggest things to
us.
So once again, BAAM is entering a transi-
tional period. We want to do better. We want
to counter the apocalyptic mood with a grow-
ing anarchist movement, seeking sustainable,
positive change in our communities. We want
equality and for all voices to be heard. We
hope you will join us.
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
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