A-Infos (en) US, Anarchist People of Color Conference - Daily Updates Start Friday [personal conflicts already on line*]

[Ernesto Aguilar <may19x@yahoo.com>]

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Last month, the Anarchist People of Color website's front page switched to
a weblog format, as a means of sharing news and information relevant to
anarchist people of color and others. With October 3-5's Anarchist People
of Color conference starting, daily updates on the conference will be
posted for those there in spirit. Visit www.illegalvoices.org/apoc/ to keep
posted.
------
[]Coppied by Ed. from:
Anarchist People of Color website http://www.illegalvoices.org/apoc/

Thursday, October 02, 2003
more from the cointelpro follies
Headed to Detroit today. Blog updates from the conference should
start tomorrow.


As expected the piece referenced below has been passed around.
It made the distinguished ainfos http://www.ainfos.ca/ainfos20737.html
(which seems to have approved it solely on a name basis)* and a few lists.
But you heard it first on the APOC blog! <smile>
This article, two days before the conference, is solely intended to
deflect attention from the real work we've gotta get done. No one
disputes the contributions of past generations. But we all need to
recognize the real priorities... and they're not this nonsense. This
conference should be about unity and struggle, respecting our
disagreements and finding common ground. I hope the rant
circulating doesn't dissuade people from attending. One angry
person is no indication of the positive vibe so many of us have
coming into this. Hope to see y'all there.
posted by ernesto @ 6:31 AM
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
'many of us, by the way we act, we even lost our minds...'
As this is probably going to circulate in various places, including
the conference, I wanted to address upfront Lorenzo Komboa
Ervin's recent condemnation (a group he is involved with,
BANCO, is listed as the issuer, but the writing style makes it
obvious). It is an attempt to deflect some real issues, and I
expected a better condemnation, frankly. There are so many
misleading comments and outright falsehoods that it's hard to
know where to start.

I thought about whether it was worth addressing Lorenzo's
criticisms publicly. With the many tasks ahead of us, I don't see a
lot of worth in responding to such silliness. I've decided to
respond for two reasons: a.) most of Lorenzo's targets never
respond publicly, and his public posturing is taken as gospel, and
b.) perhaps my comments can serve as a warning to
well-intentioned folks who may unwittingly support people like
Lorenzo.

As context, I've known Lorenzo Komboa Ervin for over ten years,
I edited his soon-to-be-published book and considered him a
comrade for many years. I certainly respect that he served time 20
years ago as a political prisoner. I also respect him for his
writings, and reported history as a Black Panther. Still, I have no
illusions about Lorenzo as a person and an activist. The article he
wrote should shed a lot of light on the man himself. My reply is
here.
posted by ernesto @ 7:55 AM
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
beware ye cadre of...
Are You a White Activist Ally (WAA)? Find Out!

Copyright Kil Ja Kim

The issue of people of color needing allies takes up too much
space in political work. Maybe we are discriminating against
white activists by not taking seriously enough how white activists
need allies too! Well, some might wonder how people of color can
be better allies to white activists, white people and white
supremacy. Here's a ten-point list (although not in any particular
order) you can check to make sure you are being a good person of
color ally to white people.

Are you a White Activist Ally (WAA)?

1. Your girlfriend is a white woman who wears a crinkly skirt, a
tank top and sandals (even in the winter), and has at least two of
the following: dreadlocks, nose ring, tattoo with Asian characters,
plays drums, or chopsticks in her hair.

2. You get offended when your white friend, partner, lover,
spouse, etc., can't march in the people of color contingent.

3. You have the "sensible person of color personality": when a
person of color in the meeting critiques a white participant's
racism, you nod your head, pause, look reflective, then say to that
person of color, "I agree with you that racism is a problem, BUT
this does not mean that white people cannot be good allies...blah
blah blah..." or, "We need to focus on the real enemy" or "It's
about class..."

4. Your partner, lover, spouse, etc., is a white person raised in an
Asian country.

5. The white person with dreadlocks in the room is your best
friend or mentee and always comes to people of color spaces with
you. Or your shadow becomes the white activist (with any hair
style) that you have decided to take "under your wing."

6. You question why your white friend, partner, lover, spouse, etc.,
cannot be part of the drumming circle or a member of the
drumming troupe. You call the other members racist when they
protest white people participating. Some of the other members
start to question their own integrity and reflect on if they are
really being fair to whites.

7. You spend funds to have a white anti-racist present at your
events.

8. You perform poetry or performance pieces about how people of
color are racist towards the white part of you and therefore don't
recognize your "whole self."

9. You recognize the humanity in white people by making it a point
to let others know that your partner, lover, spouse, etc., is
"half-white."

10. You tell people of color that we are too "anti-white" and that
we are doing the same thing to white people as "what's been done
to us." (as if that is possible)
posted by ernesto @ 11:37 AM
Monday, September 29, 2003
support for alvaro
Mexicano Prisoner of War and former community organizer
Alvaro Luna Hernandez is appealing for support. Money Orders
must be made payable to "INMATE TRUST FUND", and if you
like, to Alvaro Hernandez, L.,#255735, can be added on at the
bottom right corner. Mail to: Texas Department of Criminal
Justice Inmate Trust Fund, P.O. Box 60, Huntsville, Texas
77342-0060. Alvaro worked on various freedom campaigns and is
serving a 50-year bid for disarming a pig. He's an old friend and
ally and needs your support.

Also, research indicates the need for more people of color to
donate organs and bone marrow. While a match can happen
anywhere, those of ethnic groups tend to match other people of
color more often. One article notes, "Ethnic minorities … often
have a general distrust of the medical profession and sometimes
feel that doctors do not do all they can to save a family member's
life." Perhaps the most notorious example was the Tuskegee
Syphilis Study in Macon, Ala. Adequate treatment was withheld,
and more than 100 men died in that 40-year study that ended in
1972.
posted by ernesto @ 5:21 AM
Sunday, September 28, 2003
reflections
As we close in on the last few days until the Anarchist People of
Color conference, I realize how far we've come, and how painfully
far we need to go. I am hopeful about the event, but it's been
challenging to say the least.

One of the most curious debates to emerge outside the
conference was the request for a people of color-only event.
Having a people of color conference without ever specifying it --
and where the majority showing up wouldn't be people of color if
we didn't ask -- seemed like a no-brainer. Wrong.

Internally... well, that's another story. Catch up with me at the
event and we'll talk.
posted by ernesto @ 5:15 PM

[Ed. note: The said post was distributed as it was barely... but
still within the a-infos collective editing policy of guide lines
to the editors.... Just like this post with Erneso notice and texts
- both were nearly delated because the personal criticism in them
brought the red light warning flashes... Ernesto who was for a while
a member in the a-infos collective not long years ago for few
months surely know better.....]




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