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Title: Notes from the Rockford Rebellion
Author: Anonymous
Date: August 21, 2020
Language: en
Topics: Black Anarchism, analysis, reportback, midwest, police, white supremacy, decolonization, abolitionism
Source: Retrieved on 7th October 2020 from https://itsgoingdown.org/notes-from-the-rockford/

Anonymous

Notes from the Rockford Rebellion

“Just put a rag on ya face when you ride

you don’t want them sattelites to take ya picture”

– Dead Prez, D.O.W.N. (2004)

“They building up the East Side and investin’ too,

While the entire West Side is left destitute”

– Judah The LyricalRev, Rockford Files (2006)

“They try to tell us to believe in the government,

But even when Barack is president, niggas had to sell rocks”

– Vic Mensa, No More Tear Drops (2020)

Intro

This is a revolutionary anarchist perspective from Rockford, Illinois

and the conditions here. Smaller cities are often not focused upon

enough when it comes to revolutionary analysis. There is a real lack of

radical memory and analysis in this area. However, many of the dynamics

described in this piece are evident in other cities. It may be helpful

for people in other cities. The hope is that this document is turned

into a zine and distributed among the participants in the movement here.

This reflection is meant to be document of some thoughts on the

rebellion and what will be required to advance the revolutionary

struggle against racial capitalism in Rockford further.

The black revolt here is justified and understandable. Rockford’s black

population is probably about 22 percent of the entire population of the

city. Rockford is a declining industrial center. In a report released in

June of 2020, Rockford was rated the 8^(th) worst city in America to be

black. The black poverty rate in Rockford is 37 percent. In the past ten

years, there have been a number of police shootings by the RPD and Metro

Enforcement. There have also been a number of deaths inside of the

Winnebago County Jail. There is much to be angry about in this city.

Black organizations acting as mouthpieces for the pigs and the city have

claimed that the rioters were white and from “out of town.” Despite

this, the most militant forces against the police were predominantly

black youth and black folks who had come up from the Fairgrounds

projects as the march approached the precinct.

The perspective of this piece comes from a New Afrikan anarchist

perspective. The description of New Afrikan is to honor the legacy of

revolutionary anarchist Kuwasi Balagoon and to set the anarchist

politics described apart from white anarchism. There is a lot of

demonization of anarchism by the State right now and many black

misleaders are attempting to act as if anarchism is only for white

people. It is not. New Afrikan comes from the Republic of New Afrika, a

black revolutionary nationalist formation that continues to fight for

black self-determination. The author situates New Afrikan anarchism

within the Black radical tradition similar to black anarchists such as

Kuwasi Balagoon, Ashanti Alston, Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, and the

Anarkatas. The State is anti-black so we as New Afrikan anarchists must

oppose and destroy the State.

The goal of the document is to spread light on the movement in Rockford

and what it will require moving forwards. However, the author is just

one participant and does not hold any or all of the answers. These

thoughts are the product of a variety of conversations among black

anarchists and revolutionaries from the area.

The Uprising

On May 30^(th), there was a march in solidarity with uprising that was

taking place in Minneapolis and across the country at that moment. It

was one of the largest marches in Rockford history. Thousands took to

the streets unpermitted. Due to the pandemic, many were masked up in

addition to organizers telling folks to utilize tactics of masking up.

The chants and banners were very militant. A lot of “fuck the police”

and abolitionist messaging through chants and banners was present. This

initial mood set the tone for the rest of the march. The group marched

to District 1 Station on West State. Whatever the organizers had

planned, black autonomous action took the forefront. Anti-police

graffiti was thrown up on the police signs, fireworks were shot off,

people began to destroy the RPD district 1 sign, and eventually throwing

rocks and bottles at the pigs. The attacks on Capital and the police are

revolutionary action. The clashes with the police began shortly after

these actions were taken near District 1. The clashes lasted late into

the night. Looting began all over the city soon after. There were

attempts by young rebels to burn down buildings on the East Side. The

looting lasted for two days.

These organizations are opportunistically taking advantage of the

rebellion to advance their own agendas, as black middle organizations

tend to do.

Dozens of people have been arrested and are facing charges for their

participation in uprising on May 30^(th). This moment must be understood

as the revolutionary surge within the city. The protests are continuing

although they range in militancy and class character. They have never

reached the height of May 30^(th). Many within the Rockford community

have condemned the actions of black youth and others, as “outside

agitators” even though most of the arrests were people from the city of

Rockford. It is clear they are frightened of revolt and revolution.

Black organizations acting as mouthpieces for the pigs and the city have

claimed that the rioters were white and from “out of town.” Despite

this, the most militant forces against the police were predominantly

black youth and black folks who had come up from the Fairgrounds

projects as the march approached the precinct. Black people do not need

white people to take revolutionary action. Furthermore, if the march had

not ended in an uprising, it is unlikely the subsequent demonstrations

and teach-ins, which have been ongoing from over two months, would be

happening.

On Counter-Revolution

The counter-revolutionary tendencies within the black community are

strong. Many of these so-called organizations for black empowerment or

anti-racism are clearly linked to the racist city government. Groups

like 100Strong, the NAACP and others came out the next day with white

city leaders to “condemn the looting.” Some of these groups even helped

to clean and fix up the police station the day after the rebellion.

These groups do not represent black power, they represent deference to

the white power structure. They utilize language and aesthetics of black

power such as the clenched fist but they are clearly very much tied to a

politics of respectability. They must be opposed at every moment.

Revolutionaries must not have any respect for organizations or

individuals who sell Black Lives Matters t-shirts or Black Panther hats

while in the same moment host cookouts and take photos with the pigs.

Black people do not need white people to take revolutionary action.

The United Way has been particularly opportunistic in how it has used

“Black Lives Matter” in its youth programming while also working

explicitly with the police. These organizations are opportunistically

taking advantage of the rebellion to advance their own agendas, as black

middle-class organizations tend to do. This follows along a longer

history of co-optation and social movement repression in Rockford. This

is partially why there was never a sustained Black Lives Matter moment

in this city between the years of 2014 to 2016 other than a few

so-called peaceful protests that worked with the police. The co-optation

in the current moment is clear as the city creates “Listening Sessions”

with the intent of co-opting the revolutionary actions of black youth

during the uprising on May 30^(th) and distracting from the

revolutionary demands of the local black radical organizers. Groups like

the NAACP and other black liberal organizations (such as the local

preachers) have allied themselves with the white establishment and the

police. This is unsurprising as revolutionaries understand that the

class struggle cannot be separated from the struggle for black

liberation and vice versa.

The opportunist black leadership and local “activists” seek to improve

their own conditions while forsaking the black lead multiracial

rebellion that occurred on May 30^(th). The white establishment and the

black mis-leadership class have rejected even the reformist demands such

as the resignation of the police chief or firing officers responsible

for brutality on May 30^(th) while the District Attorney Marilyn

Hite-Ross charges black youth with felonies for holding water bottles in

their hands. Counter-revolutionary cop-collaborationist organizations

such as Rockford Youth Action and Empowerment have set up to distract

from the abolitionist demands.

The white establishment and the black mis-leadership class have rejected

even the reformist demands such as the resignation of the police chief

or firing officers responsible for brutality on May 30^(th) while the

District Attorney Marilyn Hite-Ross charges black youth with felonies

for holding water bottles in their hands.

To combat this, radicals must actively name these groups as

counter-revolutionaries and eject them from our spaces. There must be

political education showing how liberal opportunism destroyed black

movements in the 1960s. The demonstrators have done a good job at not

cooperating with these organizations. Clearly there is a lack of

knowledge here as well; anti-police rebellions exist in the long

tradition of black struggle against slavery and racism. Condemning the

looting when the United States and white society was built upon the

looting of indigenous land, Africa and African people shows the

ignorance and class allegiances of these so-called black leaders.

Looting is reparations! Without the rebellion, these so-called black

leaders wouldn’t even be talking about police brutality in the

community. Condemn the police, not the looting. There are no good cops

and there are no bad protestors. Of course, the experiences of New

Afrikan militants or anarchists who took part in the rebellion in a

variety of ways were erased. To loot and revolt is a politic. Political

education is deeply important right now in order to combat the lies of

the black mis-leadership class in Rockford.

On Tactics

Tactically, it is very clear from this action that it is possible to

have sustained militancy in this area. People just need to be better

organized and prepared. Most of the radicals who turned up on May

30^(th) did not anticipate actual revolt. Thus, radicals lagged behind

many of the black and brown youth who pulled up with plans of action.

The marches subsequent to May 30^(th) have not been full-on revolt.

There was only a day or two of true rebellion here in Rockford.

Despite this, there are some tactics that revolutionaries pushed that

have had an affect on the character of demonstrations in the following

two months. The normalization of full masks and black bloc has been very

essential. This has become normalized at demonstrations making it very

hard for the city or liberals to decry individuals as “agitators” or

“anarchists.” However, black bloc should not be the only tactic people

utilize when it comes to concealing one’s identity. People should

experiment with other types of disguises in situations where black bloc

may draw more attention from the police than needed. Black bloc has a

tendency, especially within white anarchist circles to be festishized.

There must be an emphasis on black bloc as a tactic rather than an

identity or signifier of radical politics. The punk bloc or partial bloc

has been an issue in Rockford. People do not seem to understand that the

goal of bloc is too completely mask any identifying characteristics.

There needs to be better development of street tactics and deepening of

the existing ones. For instance, banners were used to conceal people’s

actions from cameras at the first demo. This particular tactic could be

used more especially for folks who need to do a clothing change out of

black bloc. The use of bike crews to block traffic, accompany the

marches, and scouting. The bikes were even used to block fascists who

tried to ram the marches. The street medic collective which formed is

deeply important. Hopefully, these autonomous crews will continue to

function even after the uprising. There is a good amount of support

based infrastructure at these protests.

However, for things to grow there must be more autonomous collectives

especially to build capacity for action, de-arrest people, and to defend

ourselves against police attacks. The aversion to addressing these

concerns is a big problem in regards to keeping the momentum going.

Anarchists have failed for the most part to even take low level actions

such as doing street art or pulling temporary barricades into the

street. The black and brown youth at the action on May 30^(th) were far

more militant than the revolutionaries on the street. This is partially

due to a lot of peace policing rhetoric as well as inexperience with

street tactics locally. The most escalation we do see is typically with

militants yelling at police. If things on the streets are going to grow

past simply protest, energy must be redirected. The militant de-arrests

and night marches are encouraging developments. In short, militant

resistance needs to grow to keep people safe.

Anarchists and radicals in Rockford need to also become more adverse to

cameras and media. Recently, participants have made the media more

uncomfortable after a protestor was targeted by the police, which is an

important development. Many of the photographers are actively aligned

with the city and represent a threat to protesters if they are allowed

to remain embedded within demonstrations. On a similar note,

revolutionaries and anarchists should be taking decentralized action

that is not traceable on social media. There needs to be more under the

radar actions that are not announced over social media so they cannot be

repressed.

There has been some fear locally about the levels of repression

especially since Rockford is not a city with good radical legal

infrastructure that has made people reluctant to escalate against the

State and Capital. Militants need to be building more support for groups

like the Winnebago Community Bond Fund, which helped bail protestors out

on the first night.

Furthermore, it would be really excellent if radicals could find a few

lawyers in this are willing to do pro-bono work on criminal cases. Legal

support is going to be deeply important in the coming years.

Revolutionaries cannot sustain a movement without deep amounts of

infrastructure. There is a deep need for serious armed security as well.

In marches subsequent to May 30^(th), there were guns pulled on

demonstrators. Those demonstrations were on the white side of town on

the East Side. There may be a need for armed self-defense as a

precaution if demonstrators return to Forest City Plaza. Generally

though, there is a large fascist presence in the white suburban and

rural areas. In other cities, white supremacists are very willing to

murder demonstrators. It is only a matter of time before they try that

here so those of us who can be armed, should be. However, this will be

difficult, because there is no open carry in Illinois.

New Afrikan anarchists want the end of this anti-black world. No mayor

or politician will ever grant that to us. It can only be granted through

the actions taken with our own hands.

Subsequent from May 30^(th), there has been a failure by the organizers

and participants to build and grow, which has lead to diminished

turnout. However, the sit-in outside of the jail and the noise

demonstration on July 4^(th) which both took place at night have taken

the most revolutionary character with militants taking autonomous action

to throw up street art and burn flags. Night marches may be tactically

more advantageous when it comes to escalating things as the most

militant actions have taken place at night. Protestors recently did a

noise demonstration late at night outside of the Mayor’s house on July

25^(th) in solidarity with Portland and to push the demand of dropping

charges of people arrested on May 30^(th). This was a particularly

effective tactic. Although the West Side and Downtown has many sites of

State power (City Hall, District 1, and Winnebago County Jail), the East

side is where all of the Capital in the city is.

The decentralization of the protests has also aided in the city being

unable to pinpoint a leader in order to stop the protests from

continuing. The police in this city do not have experience handling

protest so anarchists and rebels must seize on this opportunity to

employ decentralized and varied tactics. People should continue to form

affinity groups and autonomous collectives rather than listening to

protest leaders. Many of the militants involved in organizing protests

have been averse to meeting with politicians. This should continue.

There is no point in meeting with bourgeois politicians at all

regardless of whether or not they will meet demands. In a revolutionary

view, there is no demand that the city can grant that should drive

people out of the streets. New Afrikan anarchists want the end of this

anti-black world. No mayor or politician will ever grant that to us. It

can only be granted through the actions taken with our own hands.

Due to how car-oriented and spread out this city is, integration of cars

into demonstrations and subsequent uprisings will be essential for

keeping people safe. There was some integration of cars with autonomous

individuals driving around and looting. Some of the marches were very

long and there were rightly many concerns about accessibility for folks

who could not walk for miles. We need to integrate cars into longer

marches or develop routes that are more accessible. Part of this is

developing more concrete plans of action that extend beyond simply

disruption. These tactics have been effective with the targeting of the

mayor and the jail in night marches called for by Rockford Youth

Abolitionists as mentioned previously.

On Revolutionary Organization, Ideology and Strategy

The major challenge that Rockford as a city is facing is the lack of

black revolutionary organization. There are no organizations in this

city with an analysis similar to the Black Panther Party or the Black

Autonomy Federation. However, there are groups and individuals which

front as if they are coming from that tradition. Building organizations

engaged in political education and mutual aid is the most important

thing to do coming out of this moment. Organization is not synonymous

with hierarchical, Statist, authoritarian, or oppressive forms of

organization. Revolutionaries must be willing to build decentralized

organization that can take on the State in every capacity. The few

collectives and informal networks that exist in Rockford have provided

an essential base to keep the protest movement going.

One group, the May 30^(th) Alliance has done demonstrations outside of

Rockford City Market, which has lead to it closing. This tactic has been

particularly effective. The crowds at these demonstrations have been

smaller but the vibes have still been very disruptive and abolitionist.

The City Market is an event that began in 2010. It has been a part of

the effort by city leaders to gentrify downtown to make it more

attractive to businesses, white professionals and white people from out

of town. The choice to target City Market in a sustained fashion is very

effective. It is clearly upsetting the white power structure. On July

31^(st) and August 1^(st), there were more arrests albeit these arrests

occurred due to protestors blocking East State Street and due to clashes

between “Blue Lives Matter” demonstrators on August 1^(st) aided by the

police. The “non-violent” nature of these arrests has lead to more

supportive from mostly white professionals to provide legal and

financial support.

Revolutionaries in Rockford need to be engaging in political education

and deepening our own mutual aid/community defense networks as the

economic crisis continues to deepen.

There is no reason for demonstrators to put themselves on a platter for

State repression as some protest leaders have indicated. It is not the

1960s in a small Alabama town. The non-violence of the 1960s did not

exist in a vacuum. They can fill these jails up and they have been

charging demonstrators with felonies. Demonstrators should try to avoid

arrest at all costs. There will be more revolt in the next few months as

a result of anger around elections and continued economic insecurity, we

do not want our people to be tied up in charges when that happens.

Revolutionaries in Rockford need to be engaging in political education

and deepening our own mutual aid/community defense networks as the

economic crisis continues to deepen. There were a few teach-ins in early

June which were very successful in building relationships and bonds. In

terms of political education, focusing upon deepening a local analysis

of racial capitalism as it relates to the police and the prisons is

going to be very essential in our city. The protests here although they

are very abolitionist in their rhetoric and character do not seem to

have fully developed class-consciousness. There has been no explicit

critique of capitalism by these organizations. There needs to be deep

development of political education around the tactics utilized by

radicals and security culture. Both of these elements seem to be deeply

lacking in the current moment which has made repression of the State

more effective as participants are not doing enough to guard themselves

and one another from repression.

Revolutionaries and anarchists must form our own affinity groups so

protest leaders or organizations with large Facebook followings do not

dictate our actions or tactics. Decentralize our action. There are a lot

of people here calling for defunding and abolition of the police however

it does not seem that abolition has translated into the day to day

practice of many protestors. Recently, the zine If You See Something, Do

Something: 12 Things to Do Instead of Calling the Police, has been

distributed locally at events. This is good. There must be more

education developed locally on creating our own abolitionist networks to

deal with harm without the police. Much of the rhetoric online is still

very carceral and Statist such as the calls to report and work with the

police to track down racists. Too many protestors have been talking to

the police at demonstrations despite claiming to be abolitionist.

Talking to pigs does not keep us safe. Rockford must build cultures of

non-cooperation.

The May 30^(th) Alliance organization despite some of the more

disruptive actions does not seem to be truly invested in a revolutionary

strategy. Some of the members actively talk or negotiate with the police

at actions for “safety” purposes. This is really discouraging behavior

from a group that claims an abolitionist perspective. The organization

is not actively counter-revolutionary but rather many of the people

involved seem to be still going through political transformation. If the

group is truly invested in tactical non-violence, they should be

creating workshops to train folks in NVDA tactics. There is a real lack

of training in that regard locally. Much of the rhetoric of that group

and their supporters is similar to the Black Lives Matter movement back

in 2014 to 2016. It is frustrating because the issue is that Rockford

never experienced a Black Lives Matter moment, so many of the proposals

and actions taken in this city feel 4 or 5 years behind. The use of “die

ins,” the “we are not our ancestors,” and so-called “revolutionary”

non-violence are all in play here. The issue is that we must move past

the Black Lives Matter moment. Voting some candidates out next year is

not the same as insurrection or true revolution. Despite this, the broad

acceptance of abolitionist frameworks to some degree is encouraging.

On the Class and Racial Character

Racially, the demonstrations have been black lead but multi-racial in

their composition. Black abolitionist organization has been key to

advancing the movement. There has been an attempt to cast the protests

as white-lead. This is very wrong. A revolutionary movement must center

black people and black struggle. Specifically, the most marginalized

black people must be centered. Black trans people and black women must

be at the center of our movements. That has been a struggle here with

the lack of black queer radical formations. There has not been enough

emphasis on the particular oppression of black women and black queer

people in the educational sessions or rallies. The cis-hetero black male

leadership whether radical or liberal has been more averse to escalation

against the State and Capital than the participants who were not from

that background.

This struggle has clearly defined the lines of the class and political

struggle in Rockford. Fundamentally in this moment, the black working

class revolted for a day against the black mis-leadership class or black

middle class aided by a group of multi-racial radicals with black

leadership. The sustained protests afterwards have continued to shake up

the city although it is unclear whether or not the leaders of these

protests are “rebels for reform” or revolutionaries as Robert L Allen

describes in his book Black Awakening in Capitalist America. As

mentioned previously, the calls for reform may be important to further

radicalize but revolutionaries must oppose reform as the end goal.

There has also been a large amount of participation from white working

class people and youth. The first demonstration had a lot of involvement

from the Latino community in Rockford, however the failure of organizers

to link the anti-black violence of the police to the violence of ICE

against the Latino community has depressed turnout a bit. There needs to

be more alliance building. Generally though, there have been a good

number of Latino militants involved. Perhaps a black and brown unity

march through the south east side would be a good way to build

relationships in the future.

There is not a political base for the abolitionists yet. It must be

built.

In terms of class character, the first day many black folks from the

hood came out. The protests continued to have some mass character but at

this point, the marches consist of predominantly the same group of

traditionally political or activist types (this group ranges from

radical to liberal in orientation). This was definitely because of the

pivot towards non-violence after the first demonstration. It is clear

that this move alienated many working class people as well as some

anarchist militants. The cross section of support of the demonstrations

is truly interesting. At this point in the struggle, the demonstrations

have become predominantly white in racial makeup. This isn’t necessarily

a bad thing but it points to the lack of connection between the black

protest leadership and the black working class. There is not a political

base for the abolitionists yet. It must be built.

Conclusion

A revolutionary movement in Rockford must emerge through mutual aid and

political education alongside revolt, which is the work that some of the

groups in the city have been undertaking. Revolutionaries must be

cynical about the possibilities for any type of reform. However, the

failures to achieve actual reform in this area will only push the

revolutionary consciousness further so perhaps making demands such as

“defund the police” and then have those things fail to materialize will

force people to understand the need for revolution and complete social

transformation. Reactionary politicians and reactionary police who are

supported by an armed base of reactionary supporters control the County.

The only way forward in my view towards actual abolition will demand

revolutionary action. That necessitates that we build structures and

affinity to revolt against the State in the next moment. Finally, as

abolitionists, we need to start deepening our resistance to Winnebago

County Jail through building and strengthening systems of support for

people locked up. Prisoners make up one of the most revolutionary

segments of our society and the lack of attention to the conditions in

Winnebago County Jail in the midst protests has been a problem.

There is no one way forward. Resistance will look different from region

to region. That is an idea that many radicals do not understand yet. At

the same moment, revolutionaries have to remain principled to our values

as anarchists committed to black liberation and decolonization.