Welcome to the September 2008 Friendly Fire Newsletter!
[please forward widely]

Greetings once again from The Friendly Fire Collective! It's hard to believe it's already September and Summer's winding down. Sorry for the delay in getting out this month's newsletter, but the past month has been a little crazy, to say the least.

We're fresh back from the D/RNC, and as you'll notice this month we've focused primarily on this subject. But before we discuss what we're featuring on that matter we'd like to highlight a couple other items we're thrilled to present to you all.

First, as it's back-to-school time, we thought it fitting to sit down with our friend Darwin BondGraham to pick his brain a bit (you'll see why). This interview addresses the development of the modern university, its corporatization and militarization, as well as some thoughts on movements of resistance from within its confines. Darwin provides some great insight on these matters. We definitely encourage you to check this out, especially if you're a student or otherwise involved in the academic realm. You can find it below.

On another note, we have a great article donated to us by Elliot Liu called "Underground Revisited." It explores the dynamic between underground and above-ground radical activity within social movements. We're excited to be able to get this out and encourage you to read some other writing from Elliot at www.linesblog.com.

Last month we got a great response from our first poster in our new "Bay Area Radical History" series and we're happy to present our second on the subject of the Mission Anti-Gentrification Campaign.

As we mentioned before, our concentration this month is definitely on the conventions and the counter actions. We've got three videos for you--one by Big Noise Films covering the Iraq Veterans Against the War march on the DNC, and another, some kind of funny mainstream news coverage of the "mayhem" caused by protesters at the RNC. We're also republishing an article written before the conventions by Team Colors, a critical look at the organizing against the D/RNC and what they saw was missing. All that can be found below.

From within Friendly Fire we haven't had much of a chance to write our thoughts down on paper as of yet. Some members of FF do have plans to team up with friends of ours to put together a collection of writings on the D/RNC that we hope will be ready for next month's newsletter, so you can expect to see something from us soon. In the meantime we've got a short article written by David Zlutnick offering a brief overview of the state's intimidation tactics at the conventions. Many of you have probably heard of the police response to the RNC Welcoming Committee in St. Paul and the subsequent terrorist charges filed against the RNC 8. To get a better idea of who the RNCWC is you can check out their "Unmasking," a press conference where the organizers presented themselves to the media, at this link here. We've also added another Poster to our Bay Area Radical History Project, which can be found below as well.

We do take the repression against the RNCWC very seriously and hope those of you reading this do as well. This could have some very strong repurcussions for our movement(s) if this sort of precedent gets set. FF members will be helping to set up some benefits for legal defense funds in the coming month (TBA) so keep an eye out for those if you're here in the Bay Area. This upcoming Tuesday, Sept. 16th there will be a report-back from the conventions at Station 40 (see calendar below for details) so please attend if you're interested. In the meantime to make donations to the legal fund you can visit nornc.org and click on one of the "Donate" buttons to offer a financial contribution.

Okay then. Sorry for the long intro. As always we hope you enjoy this month's newsletter. Remember to tell your friends about us and help get the word out! Talk to you soon. Keep on keepin on.

--The Friendly Fire Collective
www.friendlyfirecollective.info


-------------------Friendly Fire Original Content-----------------------

"We Are All the RNC Welcoming Committee" by David Zlutnick of the Friendly Fire Collective
http://friendlyfirecollective.info/articles/57/we-are-all-the-rnc-welcoming-committee

A short overview of the police repression used against protesters at the D/RNC, focusing on the larger threat presented by the terrorist charges being faced by members of the RNC Welcoming Committee and other legal challenges.


"The University is Unsustainable: An Interview with Darwin BondGraham" by David Zlutnick of the Friendly Fire Collective
http://friendlyfirecollective.info/articles/58/the-university-is-unsustainable

Darwin BondGrahm is a writer, historian, ethnographer, and a graduate student in the Sociology Department at UC Santa Barbara. His research engages histories of poverty, racism, and militarism, aiming to further organizing against war and the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex (MIAC), and against racist economic policies that harm the working class. This interview addresses the development of the modern university, its corporatization and militarization, as well as some thoughts on movements of resistance from within its confines.

----------------------------------Suggested Reading----------------------------------

"Underground Revisited" by Elliot Liu
http://friendlyfirecollective.info/articles/55/the-underground-revisited

In this article, Elliot Liu examines the relationship between above-ground organizations and underground guerilla groups in the major social-upheavals of the 1960s/70s and contemplates how these forces could play themselves out in a contemporary context.


"Gathering Storms: A Team Colors Statement on the Upcoming 2008 Conventions Protests" by Team Colors
http://friendlyfirecollective.info/articles/56/gathering-storms-a-team-colors-statement-on-the-upcoming-2008-conventions-protests


In this article, the writing collective 'Team Colors' speaks about the organizing leading up to both conventions and takes a sober look at the anticapitalist movement and what they see as the divide betwen summit protests and movement building.


----------------------------------Video----------------------------------

"IVAW March at the DNC"
http://friendlyfirecollective.info/articles/53/ivaw-march-at-the-dnc

Protests against the Democratic National Convention continued Wednesday as members of Iraq Veterans Against the War led an unpermitted march to the Pepsi Center to call on Barack Obama to back an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

"Corporate News Coverage of the RNC"
http://friendlyfirecollective.info/articles/54/corporate-news-coverage-of-the-rnc

A local news channel covers the events of September 1st in St. Paul.


----------------------------------Friendly Fire Graphics----------------------------------

*Mission District Anti-Displacement Movement - Bay Area Radical History #2*
Jpeg for Web Viewing
Pdf for Printing (large file)



---------------------------------Bay Area Calendar-----------------------------------

D/RNC Reportback
Tuesday, September 16th
at Station 40, 3030b 16th Street, Mission District, San Francisco

Activists from the Bay Area will be giving a report-back on their experiences and thoughts on the convention protests in Denver and St. Paul.


------------------------------

Staughton Lynd speaks at CITY LIGHTS BOOKSTORE 261 Columbus Avenue at Broadway, North Beach, San Francisco
Sunday, September 21, 2008, 5 pm

Celebrating the release of
Wobblies & Zapatistas:
Conversations on Anarchism, Marxism and Radical History
co-authored by Staughton Lynd and Andrej Grubacic.
&
a new edition of Labor Law For The Rank & Filer
both titles published by PM Press


-------------------------------


Tariq Ali: Pakistan, Afghanistan, and American Power
Friday September 26, 8-10 pm
First Congregational Church of Berkeley
2345 Channing Way, Berkeley

Tariq Ali's new book, The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power, deals with the current crisis engulfing Pakistan, including the daily battles on the Afghan border, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the abrupt resignation of Musharraf, and the rapidly changing turmoil of the only Islamic state with nuclear weapons. Pakistan is also the likely hideout of Osama bin-Laden. He'll be giving a talk in Berkeley at the above time and place.


------------------------------


Critical Resistance 10 - September 26th-28th
(for more info go to www.criticalresistance.org)

In September 1998, thousands gathered in Berkeley, California, for conference that founded Critical Resistance's movement to abolish the prison industrial complex (PIC). Each participant, with their own experiences of oppression and resistance, watched as diverse struggles were unified: by humanity, hope, and the shared vision of a different world.To celebrate 10 years of Critical Resistance, thousands will converge once more, September 26-28, 2008, in Oakland, California, for CR10, a 10th Anniversary Celebration and Strategy Session. Through workshops, skill shares, performances, action, reflection and celebration, CR10 aims to reunite our voices, reinvigorate our collective refusal to be silenced and strengthen our collective will to build a world without walls.


-------------------------------

*CRITICAL MASS!!!*
Bicycle! Bicycle! Get on your bikes and ride!
Date: Friday September 26th (and the last Friday of every month!)
Time: Gather at 5:30pm, leave at 6:00pm
Location: Justin Herman Plaza, San Francisco, CA

Check back at friendlyfirecollective.info for more additions to the calendar as the month goes on.

------------------------------

To be added to our low-traffic mailing list, send an e-mail to friendlyfirecollective@gmail.com
--------------------------------------