by Adam Rothstein Recently, the Portland Occupier published an article entitled “Nonviolence Still Wins the Public,” that included a historical list of non-violent protests, intending to highlight how the peacefulness of protesters, especially in the face of violent persecution, won the day for various social movements. This was a very selective history that borders on…
Tag: strategy
Nonviolence Still Wins the Public—and Major Changes
Czech dissident/president, Václav Havel (1936-2012), after nonviolent ouster of Soviets by Barbara G. Ellis In mid-December, a man died who for years worked for a nonviolent overthrow of Soviet control over Czechoslovakia that finally happened in 1989. He was Václav Havel, playwright, leading dissident against Soviet domination, and long-time political prisoner. He was the “voice…
Protest and Movement: What This Means for Occupy
by David “Däv” O’Bryant Protest and Movement: Distinctions Political protest, whether with an aim toward raising social consciousness within the broad public or with that of challenging authority in the hopes of pressuring power to concede to demand, sometimes (though by no means always) occurs within the framework of a wider protest movement. Unlike specific…
Will Occupy Spring Forward Or Melt Down?
By Shamus Cooke A healthy debate has finally gripped the Occupy Movement: there is now a discussion over strategy. Most Occupiers have learned that raw enthusiasm alone cannot bring victory to a social movement; ideas matter too. Action divorced from strategy equals wasted energy, divisiveness, diversions and unnecessary mistakes. Not all tactics push the movement…
Black Bloc: Occupy the Black Bloc!
Editor’s Note: This Tuesday, Feb. 21st, come to the basement at St. Francis at 7PM for a community discussion on the black bloc and the future of Occupy Portland tactics. Had enough of discussions about Black Bloc? No? Good! Because we’re running a three-day series on Black Bloc tactics. Click the Black Bloc Series tag…
Black Bloc: A Brief History
Had enough of discussions about Black Bloc? No? Good! Because we’re running a three-day series on Black Bloc tactics. Click the Black Bloc Series tag to read the other articles, delving into the controversy currently sparking throughout the Occupy movement and beyond. by Adam Rothstein Slowly but surely, the message is getting out that Black…
Anarchism
by Lester Macgurdy Since Karl Marx’ immense intelligence and noteworthy contributions to the field of Political Economy redefined the working man’s struggle against Capital and made him the pre-eminent anti-capitalist thinker in the 19th Century, anti-capitalist leftism, including Anarchism, has been marching to the beat of his drum. Obscured beneath Marx’s dialectic Materialism lay forgotten…
On the History of a Burned American Flag
This author and this website do not advocate any specific act of violence or crime against property. This essay was crafted and published as solely a piece of rhetoric, and it ought to be interpreted as nothing else. by Adam Rothstein On the night of January 28th, protesters from Occupy Oakland entered Oakland’s City Hall,…
How Does Non-Violence Work?
by Lester Macgurdy I’ve made a point to ask Cccupy Portland members this titular question and most of the time the person asked had no idea. On the other hand, regardless of what was usually a complete lack of understanding, a great reliance and support of non-violence was still professed. This is the “I know…
Scan This
by Lester Macgurdy I hate committee meetings. I always have the same recurring fantasy when stuck in another of these seemingly endless rant fests: a kindly infiltrator sneaks up behind me and pumps a round of double-aught buck into the back of my melon. I picture my head exploding like a piñata filled with raspberry…
