On May 3, Talib Kweli, one of my favorite Hip-Hop artists, tweeted, “We have to stop being so close minded when we don't agree with one or two things. Focus on what we agree on & mobilize around that.”
We’re all in this to win. Even though we all focus our energies on different causes, we’re infinitely more powerful when we realize our enemies are few and that we are many. And by reconciling our differences with one another and choosing unity over division, we can be an unstoppable force. I realized this while marching with a Black Bloc during May Day in Chicago last week.
A year ago or so I wrote an article called, “Cut it Out: An Open Letter to Black Bloc Anarchists.” It was written in response to the black bloc’s beatdown at the hands of Chicago police overshadowing the main story of last year’s NATO protests, when decorated war veterans threw their medals away in a somber and heartfelt ceremony.
The premise of the article was that it’s unproductive for one group of activists to feel they’re the only revolutionaries in the crowd and make it their duty to aggravate tension between police and protesters, as that unfairly changes the narrative from one of peace to one of conflict. While I stand by the comments I made about the need for nonviolence, I’ll admit I was wrong in my general feelings toward anarchists who practice Black Bloc tactics. I was especially wrong in going after people who share the same enemies I do simply because I disagreed with their tactics.
The Black Bloc I marched with during May Day 2013 was a group of several dozen young people, younger and older, of all colors, simply looking out for one another and the marchers in their immediate vicinity. A group of street medics took notice of people who had sunburned skin and tended to them, while others carried backpacks full of water bottles and passed them out during the march to their thirsty comrades.
While the occasional taunt was directed at police officers in earshot, nobody was aggressive or destructive in their words or actions. And whenever things got tense, the Black Bloc ran toward the conflict and immediately worked to de-escalate it. I made several new friends and will likely march with them again next time there’s an action in Chicago.
Even though the dominant message of May Day 2013 was immigration reform, the chants I heard also protested austerity, corporate greed, political corruption, and, of course, smashing the fascist capitalist state. Along with the Black Bloc anarchists I marched with, there were Occupy Chicago protesters, union members, DREAMers, gay rights groups, anti-war activists, communists, socialists, food justice advocates, racial justice organizations, private prison protesters, and other social justice warriors.
We all learned each others’ chants, mingled from group to group, and hung out before and after the march. The march consisted of at least 5,000 people, if not 10,000, but there was no one group that provided the majority of the march. Rather, the May Day march in Chicago was a giant cacophony of organizations and activists all coming together as one. And it was beautiful. Even though the May Day protests in Seattle were marred with violence between police and marchers, Seattle’s anarchist community is helping small business owners replace their smashed windows.
The unions need the anarchists for raw energy, revolutionary message and power in the streets. The anarchists need the unions for the funding of important events and actions, and for organizing infrastructure. The established Social Security/Medicare advocates need the radical anti-austerity activists as much as one needs the other. The environmental warriors need the immigration reformers. The women's health activists need the anti-gun violence activists. The animal rights advocates need the food justice activists. Democrats need the Greens to keep them honest, and the Greens need the Democrats to help them advance their issues when Republicans won’t. So on and so forth.
We're all convinced that our one cause is the most important one that needs to be addressed first and foremost, and that we alone have the vision and the strategy and the plan that everyone else should follow to best save the world. Truth is, we all need each other, because nothing that needs doing will be done unless we do it together. And we won't be able to do it together as long as we have our bayonets pointed at our comrades instead of at the evildoers.
As activists, it's time for us to come together, set aside our individual squabbles with one another, and agree on a general set of principles for a better world and work toward accomplishing that goal.
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