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by some abolitionists
Within the general context of The MovementTM, abolition --- whether through "Defund OPD," policy campaigns, transformative justice, and policing alternatives --- has become inescapable within Oakland's left-progressive-liberal continuum. "We Take Care of Us" is the slogan of the moment. A feel-good, aspirational assertion that masks a much more complex and ambivalent reality on the ground. In the current conjuncture, AbolitionTM signals a number of competing, contradictory discourses of community safety, empowerment, self-determination, and abstract "justice," that leaves little room for non-reformist, autonomous, anti-capitalist, or anti-state struggles. Beyond paying lip service to the legacies of the Panthers, this is an abolition that is too often evacuated of its origins in the Black Liberation struggle, of maroonage, urban uprisings, and prison rebellions. An abolition that is unable or unwilling to engage with the practical, proto-abolitionist anti-political self-activity of Black and "brown" proletarian youth --- the "Great Sideshow Army" --- rebelling against the conditions of their existence through organized car-caravan looting across the Bay. These undercurrents remain illegible to those "abolitionists" with their eyes focused on "building power."
At the time of this writing, the groundswell of popular momentum following the 2020 George Floyd Rebellion has largely dissipated or been channeled into ongoing policy proposals, failed Defund campaigns, electoral nonsense, a constellation of mutual aid projects of varying levels of success, and developing community-based service programs. There is valuable and important work happening, but that work exists within the general context of a reinvigorated non-profit industrial complex (NPIC) and NPIC-adjacent movement ecosystem still dependent on rich people's money, indelibly shaped by funding from the likes of the Tides Foundation, Blue Heart, The William T. Grant Foundation, Arch Community Fund, BLM Global Network Foundation, and many others. Much has been written about the impact of foundation funding on "radical" social movements, so we won't rehearse that here.1 But it has been interesting to see how a self-appointed "grassroots" Black (and "brown') leadership and the nebulously defined weaponized abstraction of CommunityTM are regularly mobilized in ways that further mystify their entrenchment in the same systems they purport to be working to abolish. This is by no means a new phenomenon with this particular milieu, which has consistently employed strategies of cooptation and demobilization such as during the 2009 Oscar Grant Rebellion,2 Occupy Oakland, and the George Floyd Rebellion. Additionally, the media spectacle surrounding such "organizing" and subsequent efforts to replicate this work in other geographies serves to further marginalize and invisiblize locally-rooted autonomous organizing.
In June 2021 the ostensibly 'coalition-led' Defund OPD Campaign --- kicked off several years prior by the Anti-Police Terror Project, but reinvigorated in the wake of the 2020 rebellion --- celebrated their big 'win,' with $18 million from the Oakland Police Department reallocated to the police-friendly Department of Violence Prevention, who in turn dispersed the money to various community organizations to support in grassroots non-police violence prevention programming. Interestingly, once that money dropped, at the Behest of APTPs 'leadership,' the 'coalition' went on a hiatus, one that they still haven't returned from. Whether this is due to funding, the concerted post-2020 'law-and-order' reaction, capacity/morale, or the structural limits of fighting to 'defund' the police through policy, lobbying, and speaking at city council meetings, the celebration of this 'win' falls flat, even by their own metrics, as OPD's budget continues to rise.
With a new 'progressive' Mayor and District Attorney in office, for many in the NPIC movement milieu the current moment signals a turning point, an opportunity for us to get the much needed reforms our communities 'need.' As our esteemed comrades might argue: while we recognize the limits of our elected officials, at least now we have people "on the inside" who we can "hold accountable."
At best this position is shaped by hopeful naivete and some faith in the system's redemption. At worst this is a strategic maneuver by politicians-in-waiting, whose proximity to state power can serve as a means for access to evermore funding, resources, and political influence. And all the while, a growing increasingly emboldened right wing 'law-and-order' reaction3 bubbles beneath the surface, ready for the right opening. The twinned manifestations of the Party of Order in a moment of compounding crisis, each with its own agenda, vying for control.
What follows is a reportback on the APTP-organized "Justice for Tyre Nichols" Emergency March and Rally held on Sunday January 19, 2023 from some homies who were in attendance, as well as scattered thoughts and analysis for 'fellow travelers' on tactics, strategies, and potential ways to move given our current terrain of struggle. Our critiques should not be read as disingenuous, or vindictive cheap shots, targeting particular groups for petty reasons. This is not our interest or intention; we leave that to those that play the game of politics. Rather we hope to illustrate a more general analysis of the 'terrain of struggle' here in the Town through engaging with specific, concrete moments that we find particularly instructive. Tl;dr: 1) Abolitionist practice must support proletarian self-activity and foster the conditions for escalation and open revolt against the state and capital --- and this happens on multiple scales; 2) NPIC 'movement organizations' are structurally incapable of doing this, and indeed are compelled to act against self-activity by quelling or redirecting potentially conflictual energies; and 3) They achieve this in part by claiming to represent a whole 'community' or 'identity,' delegitimizing those who take approaches not compatible with theirs.
What is shared here comes from conversations with homies, comrades, and acquaintances deeply involved in local struggles. We offer this incomplete, imperfect analysis to provide context for our current moment, to continue thinking rigorously and seriously about how we can act as abolitionists, anarchists, and communists, and rebels. We hope others will engage with this, critique us, draw additional connections, and share your own experiences and analysis, alongside the urgent work of meeting each other, building our networks, and taking action (ideally offline).
January 29th, 2023 --- A frigid evening in downtown Oakland, throngs of people assembled on Broadway, on the block between 12th and 13th in front of Oscar Grant Plaza, blocking the street. We assembled in front of a wood-paneled truck adorned with large speakers and boldly colored banners, the command center for the rally organizers. Around 5:45 the rally program kicked off, and the diverse crowd had swelled to perhaps over 500. The rally was much as you would expect; speaker after speaker --- mostly 'organizers' and 'community leaders' from non-profit organizations like the Ella Baker Center, Urban Peace Movement, and Communities United for Youth Restorative Justice, as well as family members who lost loved ones to police violence. Like any good media spectacle, the photographers and journalists rolled deep; everywhere you looked there was a camera. As these things go, the pseudo- abolitionist canned talking points and rhetoric espoused by speakers dampened some of the crowd's furtive energy, with the Cat Brooks show ft. APTP & Friends posturing radical and remixing the same shit we have heard dozens of times before.
Naturally, they warmly invited the newly elected District Attorney, Pamela Price up to the truck to speak, described by Cat brooks as a 'revolutionary.' Aside from our honorable leader, Cat Brooks, Price spoke for the longest, much to the delight of our white progressive 'accomplices.' We were urged to hold her accountable, support her, and be grateful that someone in The MovementTM was in office to represent our interests. Still, scattered boo's and shouts of Free Them All! You're the Pig Too! disrupted this glowing reception, if only for a brief moment.
This was the first significant blow to the momentum of the march --- the absurdly long and performative phase of speeches and press ops that opened it up. This was not a smart move on anyone's part, unless the goal (as we suspect) was to diminish any potential for conflictuality from the jump. Even the more radical assertions read as performative, to the point of being almost silly --- some of the organizers on stage were even fully 'bloc-ed up' shouting rah-rah-rah chants: Shut it down! Fuck the Police! We Take Care of Us! Stop Fucking With Us! On the other hand, the less charismatic chant leaders struggled through clunky chants they very clearly were unfamiliar with. Ultimately, this whole show served to tire out any potential troublemakers, giving OPD even more time to position itself to direct the course of any potential action.
As the sun set, the march began to move very slowly down Broadway, led by the truck blocking both sides of the street. Spirits began to pick up despite the cold; the feeling of solidarity and collectivity was --- dare we say --- infectious. There was a lot of anger and energy amongst the crowd again, despite over an hour of standstill listening to speech after speech after speech.
While we were given orders to 'self-organize' ourselves, the rally's managers urged that "families, children, and elders" were to be in the front behind directly the truck, followed by Black and 'brown' community members (again who and what 'community' refers to here was left unstated) and 'allies and accomplices' in the back.
What being allies and accomplices actually entailed was left unsaid, but implicitly it meant enforcing order and following orders; to allegeldy protect the more vulnerable marchers.
The march itself was tailed by a contingent of fancy black SUV's and motorized vehicles --- the Community Ready Corps security team. Our benevolent protest caretakers. We were instructed that if the security team tells us to do something then we need to understand that they have our best interests in mind and follow suit. It's for our own good. Trust us, we're the professionals here. The community. The real stakeholders. The legitimate leaders. Get in line, you are here to make us look good for the media.
How generous of them.
Our contingent continued down Broadway "at the community's pace," set by the organizers to be painfully slow. It seemed that energy was building as we moved past the banks, hotels, and fancy businesses. The media circus continued, as photographers scrambled along the sides for the perfect shot. "This is what the news will be talking about tomorrow," our fearless organizers proclaimed!
The march eventually climaxed in front of the OPD headquarters and positive 'abolitionist' imagery and slogans, as well as remembrances for Tyre Nichols and other victims of police violence, were projected on the side of the mostly empty building. Evidently this was the highlight of the march, if we are to trust local news media's representation of the evening. Very few police officers were present near the mostly empty building, but the peacocking continued. Speech after speech parroting the same tired and inflated rhetoric. "When we call you will we see you in the streets??" Again underscoring ongoing policy work --- the graveyard of social movements --- to take policing out of traffic stops. Organizing gets the goods, proclaimed the champions of Defund OPD. When we fight, we win!
In line with APTP's strategic orientation, branding was paramount. A key chant: APTP (Fuck the Police!)
As the speeches began to suck the energy out of the crowd, as the possibility of anything more than more symbolism foreclosed, throngs of attendees began to drift back up Broadway and numbers began to dwindle down to about 150–200. An explicit move to defuse momentum? As our audacious activist friends projected uplifting and empowering anti-policing imagery, a group of around a dozen or so people (presumptuously labeled agent provocateurs) dressed in black --- gasp --- had the audacity to break down the stupid fucking orange barricades that had been set up in the front on 7th street. And on closer look --- may have even been Black and brown youth??
Absolutely unacceptable. Again highlighting the presence of "families" and "elders" in the march and the need for safety, the misguided miscreants were ordered to stand down, to take that shit elsewhere. This was a respectful, orderly mobilization, and any threats to Order would not be tolerated. For Oakland's former would-be-mayor, the self-appointed sole legitimate spokesperson for Black Oakland, the fearless 'abolitionist' leader of The Movement,TM her word is law. And like the Law itself, it is backed up by an implicit (or explicit) threat of organized force in the form of the security team.
Addressing the potential troublemakers, the ones who came 'for the wrong reasons,' it strong statement against the outside agitators, who were almost sure to be white and not from Oakland. That's the only explanation for this behavior, right? Cat warned they should keep their activities away from the good, peaceful protestors, that they better not be targeting any BIPOC businesses. or else we will be having a much more serious conversation. "Shut it Down!" chants be damned --- any 'violent' activity threatening corporate or police property and surveillance/banking technology was made coeval with threatening 'vulnerable peoples' safety, isolating and shining a spotlight on the "white" wreckers. Business must continue as usual. This is a respectful march remember?
The consequences were left unstated but likely involved our militarized movement protectors. On cue, CRC shined their high beams on the crowd so as to dissuade any more potential hooligans, as she began to set the agenda for a peaceful, conciliatory return march. How dare you.
Tensions remained high as APTP organizers sought to reassert their rightful role as protest leaders, and highlighter-vest clad marshals distributed themselves throughout the crowd. Despite their best efforts, as the march snaked down 7th Street, small groups of militants began taking action without the direction of protest leaders. (Allegedly) the first major buildings that were tagged were markers of gentrification and capital, as well as (alleged) property damage to dozens of parking meters --- technologies of the predatory state --- and a Wells Fargo ATM. Incendiary slogans appeared on walls and windows alike: "RIP Tyre," "BLM," circle-A's, "ACAB," and Fuck 12." How disrespectful!
Protest marshals meekly attempted to intervene and reason with them: We are going to ask that you stop doing that. The organizers don't want this and we need to listen to them. Don't they understand we're doing something important here??
Emboldened white progressives --- apparently the social base for APTP --- leaned into their self-appointed roles as enforcers, and sought to set the situation right. Several of these 'accomplices' attempted to chastise these masked vandals, and arguments and light skirmishes broke out along the perimeters of the march. It seemed that the consensus was not as complete as the organizers presumed --- as some attendees, even appearing to be from 'the community' actually encouraged these criminal elements: don't stop, keep it going! Even as our supportive liberal comrades got in their faces --- even pushing --- asking why are you doing that? How dare they interrupt this historic march!
In response to this breakdown of norms, a particularly emboldened NPR-listening yuppie --- supported by scattered white-guilt tripping gentrifier transplants sporting 'radical aesthetics' --- shouted: Just because you're loud doesn't mean you're right! An apt statement, given that the loudest voices there were on a truck with amplified sound struggling to remain in control of their controlled opposition.
Much to the chagrin and confusion of the organizers and respectable protesters, even the much esteemed University of California Office of the President building didn't escape this carnival of petty vandalism, perhaps pointing towards the close relationship between campus and city policing. This was too far. Something had to be done.
The organizers cut the music and Cat Brooks hopped on the mic: How dare you disrespect us uplifting Black life --- take that shit down the street! Yeah ya'll think you're incognito. Keep it up and find the fuck out.
And just like that, the area became too hot for the bad actors to continue. Order was restored.
We keep us safe!
There are a few core myths about the Justice for Tyre Nichols march in Oakland, organized by the Anti-Police Terror Project, that are currently circulating on social media:
Question: what is the material basis of this type of reformist counterinsurgency? i.e. ongoing funding streams; careers in the non-profit sector; consolidation of power away from autonomous direct action and community self-determination
These myths are important to unpack because the dominant narratives that is circulating about the march is on the one hand problematically celebratory --- the fabrication of the crowd's desire for "peaceful protest" --- which in turn serves to erasure a spirit of conflictuality that was clearly expressed by many in the crowd.
On the other hand, a further investigation into the nature of APTP's program of reformist counterinsurgency is needed.