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Title: Against Managers of Revolt Author: Noche Date: 2020 Language: en Topics: protest, management, revolt, mediation, self-organization, organization Source: https://puraacracia.club/2020/09/28/against-managers-of-revolt/
On Wed. September 23^(rd) 2020 I stepped out with some friends to a
march / protest in Los Angeles in response to the verdict reached by a
grand jury regarding the police murder of Breonna Taylor. Like many of
such marches which occur soon after an enraging event, the march had no
initial clear leadership or organization behind it. This is something
which I prefer since it allows for more self-initiative, spontaneity and
creativity for those who come out to express their rage to this
anti-Black world. We mostly milled in a small park until the march
started, being led by some people in a pickup truck and megaphones.
There emerged a clear pre-emptive leadership during the march.
“Slow down!”
“Keep it tight!”
“Frontline to the front!”
These are some of the commands stated by individuals who never
introduced themselves, nor described what they were attempting to do.
And because of the nature of street actions and the need for a relative
anonymity, it is hard to stop and be like:
“Yo. Who the fuck are you? What are you trying to do? And why should we
listen to you?“
Now I have not been at every street action over the summer, but my
assumption is that a dynamic has coalesced around some of these
individuals but on that night me and my friends grew quickly annoyed
with such commands and with the idea that we should listen to these
self-appointed leaders.
As an anarchist I bristle at self-appointed authority especially at a
protest which is essentially against policing. At a certain point we
just actively ignored these self-appointed leaders. Early on it felt
like we were marching to just march and that for these leaders this was
enough. There was no real conflictuality. When the self-appointed
leaders directed us right past a wide-open freeway on-ramp we began to
realize that there was something off. They were not only leaders, they
were managers.
I remember some statements by Black marchers that night: “Yo we ain’t
done shit but march!” / “This ain’t doing shit but getting some
exercise.”
They sum up my thoughts on that night. Eventually my friends decided to
leave when we saw this was to be just a boisterous parade. I carried on
so that I could get back to my ride. The march headed back to the LAPD
HQ and at that point I knew it was time for me to head on home too. The
only upside was the ability to throw up some tags (but which were
largely buffed the next day).
---
I am not against self-organization in a march so that we can keep each
other safe and have an idea of what we’re doing, but when these leaders
largely lead a rather non-conflictual march then we have to re-evaluate
what happened. The next day someone in a truck drove through a march in
Hollywood, hitting two marchers. We need to have lookouts and find ways
to keep our street activity safe not only from the cops but also
extra-legal vigilantes who have no problems turning their vehicles into
weapons but we also need to have space so that people can express their
anger as they wish.
What these days on the streets should instill in us is the capacity to
take our actions (and our lives) into our own hands away from
specialized leadership and simply following what someone else tells us
to do. Passivity is already the beat of our daily lives, why shouldn’t
our street actions switch it up? I am not content to post a photo of a
march, no matter how small or large on social media to say I was there.
I want to directly affect the functioning of the city. As someone yelled
out at the march, “this ain’t a fuckin’ game!”
Against the managers at work and in the streets.