A parchment to those in Oakland

The day after the first night of rioting. BART trains are filled with police and BART headquarters in Oakland to ensure calm during the agency's board of directors meeting, where many African-American community leaders expressed outrage over the killing of Grant. All vacation or days off for police are postponed and all police have been on call. The community leaders may rhetorically speak of justice for Grant, but the justice they speak of will be the cop getting away with murder and this entire apparatus distilling the rage into a pacifist bliss. Again back to the normalcy of daily life. This entire situation has a larger context. That of civilization, capital, class, work, school, submission, domination and the exploitation of daily life. The mechanisms of control - the police - are spreading everywhere throughout the city. On trains, in the streets and in the air. As a response to this state of emergency. The tightening on surveillance and the free movement of bodies.

These community leaders have been portrayed as the vehicle for the rage expressed during these nights.

Reverend Dion Evans denounces the rioters by saying "He is going to be held responsibly by the people of this community we will see to it before he leaves here today. No one has the right to co-opt the minds of our young people to send them in the streets to do disorderly and dishonest conduct." The community this leader talks about is that of a hierarchical and exploitative community. Where the relations we share are of commodities in a world of commodities. A community based on capital and its rulers. In an attempt to quail the rage and push each other against one another. The corporate media which is another vehicle for the distillment of rage. Interviews local business owners (of the Lake Merritt area of Oakland. Which is largerly commerical and residential area) saying that most of them are women and people of color. This is a push of pacifism towards the rioters and to pit people against each other. A dichotomy of us and them. But if one looks at many of the targets attacked on the first day. It was not a violence of mob-mentality. When a Sears, McDonalds, Palapas Taco Bar, I.B.'s and cars of Oakland city where destroyed as well as cars of the bourgeoisie set aflame. This clearly shows a strategic direction of attack and a class analysis carried out into action. Media was also attacked, understandably so. Because during these riots the media will hand over photos of riots to the police. Doing the job for the police and the media is no better.

Anarchist in this area should hopefully delve into strategic dialogue about these actions and events (look at Greece). Specifically with the attacks on smaller business. Though it is not really know whether it was anarchists attacking these business's or not. A degree of hypothesis considering the recent focus on insurrectionary text and ideas. The dialogue proposed would be to either keep the riots in the next few days going or to find a strategic focus for the next rupture in the social fabric.
As the riots enter a second night. As well as an attack on a police station in Berkeley across the street from the the Ashby BART station. Lets keep the rage going let it not die down and that many more fires will be set aflame. In echoing solidarity with Alex, Oscar, Jose and the countless others murdered by the police.
For a complete destruction of this world.
Some anarchists from afar.

Yeah, but you guys fucked up

Yeah, but you guys fucked up the barber shops, a braid salon, a nonprofit that helps the elderly, and a family-run convenience store. I wanna be on your side so bad, and I share the critique of capitalism, but this comment shows how young anarchists are way too OK with demonstrating in communities you're not even from just to prove you're right rather than working WITH the people you claim to be liberating.

If you really believe in your critique of capital, and you really want to see change, then examine your own racial privilege first and any possible repercussions of your actions. Anarchists shouldn't be compounding the racialized oppression.

Fire and smashed shit should be premeditated and strategic, not just because you feel like fucking shit up and can stretch anarchist criticism to ideologically cover your ass. All capital may be capital, but it sure as hell ain't equal capital. Like it or not, stores like the ones in my neighborhood serve a community function in addition to their capitalist function. If you ignore that fact, you're just being an asshole.

The Ashby station action, in contrast, is a smart move.

-From 14th and Alice, Oakland

The fact is, as I have been

The fact is, as I have been trying to repeat in as many places as possible, that the majority of those breaking windows in downtown Oakland on Wednesday night were neither anarchists (or other activists) nor white. The anger and fury of regular people is what was unleashed through the execution. If they choose to destroy random store windows, so what? It's not like that even begins to approach the value of human life. When people get angry, they tend to break stuff. When the real revolutionary shit hits the fan, your bourgeois (pro-property) morality will eventually paralyze you and make you cringe when we burn the banks and city hall.

Really? Capital has a

Really? Capital has a hierarchy? I thought it was a social relation. Tell me, does the proletarians have anymore access to the commodities in this convenience store than in a so-called "Big capital" store?

Anyway, the part of the community that smashed that store up doesnt seem to agree with you about the purpose of that store. Sorry to inform you.

Quote: "The rioting, of

Quote:

"The rioting, of course, has not been without criticism from within “the movement.” A discourse has emerged, or rather resurfaced, surrounding the appropriate targets of insurrectionary rage and attack. As one commentator on Infoshop News, responding to another commentator who denounced the property destruction, put it:

Trying to prevent people from expressing their rage, however inappropriate the targets, is part and parcel of being an activist. Activists are politicians-in-training, specialists in organizing other people’s discontent. Part of organizing other people is telling them which windows are off-limits for their bricks. Remember those Global Exchange politicians who protected Niketown in Seattle? Same shit here. One of the best things I saw on TV was a guy who watched his car going up in flames. He put it into the context of police abuse, never losing sight of how outraged members of the black community are, and refusing to relativize his property loss. Good for him. There was also some petit-bourgeois store-owner complaining about his front window, whining that he is also against police brutality. Fuck him. If revolution is going to be real, the whole system that keeps police around to protect commodity relations must be abolished. From Niketown to Thriftown, it all has to come down."

Capital surrounds us

Capital surrounds us wherever we go and wherever we are. The target is everywhere, its as ubiquitous as the air that we breathe. The small petite bourgeoisie shops of the downtown black business owners were just as legitimate targets as Men's Wearhouse,Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Sear's. Burning cars, and demolishing small businesses is as important as cutting out the legs of the big giant corporations. If we want to live in a new world we must burn the ships behind us.

gray mouser

Hey if any unpopular damage

Hey if any unpopular damage was done then it most probably was agent-provocateurs. Fucking cop-pigs wearing black-hoodies in other words. That said I think all anarchs should limit their targets to big chains and banks and etc. And if any anarchs do attack small business then they should be shunned.
We are not the fucking Kymer Rouge people! We are much better than that. This is about taking down the state power first - the most powerful state first imho. later for capitalism.

i get your point to a degree

i get your point to a degree but small buissness are not sacred nor are they allies (a small buissness owning individual might be, anything is possible, but not small buissnesses as such because all buissness represents property and capitalism). so, no, anyone who attacks a small buissness should not necessarily be shunned, only people who we each think attack or do whatever in a stupid or "evil" way should be shunned by those of us who feel this way about those people (enough with the across the board shunning, by the way!). come on, i mean it is not as if mom and pop stores never exploit people. best targets? far from it. but harmless? no. finally, there is not "first and later" and that is my point: the enemy is always whatever is depriving you of control of your own life, all enemies are equally important save for strategic reasons, and even if you are talking about larger strategy that also contains tactics.

-lord rambler

Why are you cringing

Why are you cringing moralists not paying attention????

THE WINDOW BREAKING OF SMALL BUSINESSES WAS NOT DONE BY ANARCHISTS OR ACTIVISTS, BUT BY REGULAR BLACK PEOPLE!!!!!!!

Save your bullshit whining about alienating the small bourgeoise for your politician pals who seem to give a shit. Don't come from outside the affected community and tell us what targets are legitimate to us.

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