October 22nd March Against Police Brutality
October 22nd March Against Police Brutality The October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation has been mobilizing every year since 1996 for a National Day of Protest on October 22nd, bringing together those under the gun and those not under the gun as a powerful voice to expose […]
An Open Letter to Occupy Regarding the Controversy Over “Demands” and the Movement’s Way Forward
The following article was written by anarchist political prisoner Sean Swain in response to an article in Rolling Stone “Why Occupy Needs to Start Making Demands.” To write to Sean, see his address below. A recent article in Rolling Stone presented a picture of Occupy divided over the issue of “demands.” According to the […]
Non-violence Must be Anti-Police
The following is a letter to the editor published in the Summer 2012 edition of The RoundTable, a publication of the St. Louis Catholic Worker Community. Dear Roundtable, I appreciated the latest issue about the occupation movement. It seems to me that the Roundtable offers a practice of concrete analysis of current social movements and […]
Chicago Solidarity Demonstration In St. Louis Ends With Arrests After Police Scuffle
On the evening of May 24th, 30 to 40 people converge to voice their anger against the brutal repression of Anti-NATO protesters by the Chicago Police Department. Protesters from around the world met in Chicago the weekend of May 19, to confront the NATO summit. During this three demonstrators were arrested for an alleged terrorism […]
An Open Letter to the Occupy Movement–Part 2 by Anarchist Political Prisoner Sean Swain
Prisoners are people who occupy prisons and nothing more, arriving here by virtue of a government process. We are constantly indoctrinated to believe that prisoners are people who have committed crimes, who deserve what they get (whatever that is), who are qualitatively different from law-abiding citizens. This is much the same message that the German […]
Occupy the Class War – Perspectives from Iowa City on the Rhetoric of Occupy
Written and published by Smooth Spaces in January of 2012: [A text I wrote to thinking through the rhetoric of Occupy and the effects it has on the class analysis within the movement. Written with help and support from a group I’m involved with, Wild Rose Collective, where the text was originally published.] It would seem […]
The Noose Is Up! – Reflections on OMW from Farmington, MO
Another account of Occupy the Midwest. This time from Written Word, Spoken Word (written on March 20): The Noose Is Up! “What we call real estate—the solid ground to build a house on—is the broad foundation on which nearly all the guilt of this world rests.” —The House of the Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne By now everyone […]
Site of Police Violence and Home of Mayor’s Aide Vandalized
It would appear that in response to Thursday night’s eviction and police violence, Compton Hill Reservoir Park has been covered in graffiti. The home of Eddie Roth, who headed the eviction Thursday night as well as last Fall, was also vandalized with paint. Roth says it is the second time his home has been attacked […]
A personal account of the eviction of Occupy the Midwest
“Hey, would you help me unfurl this banner?” So I found myself holding a corner of a massive banner, the size of a billboard that read “Police State.” The moment that my friend asked me this question I knew that the attempt to hold the park had failed. What occurred thirty minutes prior – a […]
Police evict and severely beat protesters occupying Compton Hill Reservoir Park
Last night close to 150 people from the occupy movement – ourselves, our friends, and comrades – took over Compton Hill Reservoir Park. Met with overwhelming police force intent on evicting the camp, protesters marched into the streets. Where they were met with batons, pepper spray and fists… at least 15 were arrested and three […]