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Call For Ya Basta! Bloc for the A20 Mobilizations

by Captain Apples! (captainapples [at] hushmail.com)
A call for a Ya Basta! Bloc at the April 20th mobilizations in San Francisco against imperialist war, and neoliberal economics.
If anything has become clear since September, it is that the world is in a downward
spiral of violence and hatred, violence perpetrated from every angle, for every cause,
and increasingly infringing on the lives of innocent and marginalized peoples the
world over.

Here in the United States (and in North America as a whole), the right wing has seized on the fear
and uncertainty of millions in this moment, and used it as an opportunity to push through an
unprecedented agenda it has been compiling for the last several decades (but which until now had
been met with stiff public resistance). This has ranged everywhere from increased militarization and
hawkish violent aggression in strategic regions around the world, to the repression and gutting of
civil protections and privacy here in the United States, to an increased assault on environmental
protections and workers’ rights (in the name of national security and neo-liberal economics).

Throughout this period, the media has remained silent, refusing to cover (or at the very least
analyze) these developments and outright ignoring and censoring the millions of voices of dissent.
All of the numbers have been manipulated in favor of those in power, with the ultimate aim of
creating an atmosphere of marginalization and fear for those who would challenge the status quo,
resulting in the exclusion of voices of dissent and an outright cooperation and complicity with the
administration’s and the right-wing’s agenda.

In the streets, as well, we have witnessed an increasing silencing and repression of our voices.
From Ottawa to New York City, the police have employed drastic measures to control our
movement in protest and ensure that our voices remain as isolated as possible, through
overwhelming police presence to pre-emptive arrest to the collusion with organizing groups to
establish and maintain boundaries on our free speech and our ability to mobilize to and to protest
wherever we please. This is not just a violation of our civil and human rights to free assembly,
movement, and speech, it is a deliberate exclusion of our voices from the public dialogue.

We are not just being ignored, we are being silenced.

As we in the United States of America scramble to redefine ourselves and come to terms with
recent developments and our newfound feelings of vulnerability, we have watched complicitly as our
government has perpetrated some of the worst forms of aggression imaginable around the world,
overthrowing governments, supporting ethnic cleansing, and carpet bombing entire nations in the
interests of economic gain in a so-called “war on terror”.

We must no longer sit and watch. We must refuse to be silent any longer.

From Argentina to Afghanistan to Mexico to Palestine to Venezuela, peoples’ voices the world over
are crying out “ya basta! - enough is enough!”. They are crying out to be included. They are crying
out for our recognition of their struggles, of their pain, their loss, and their humanity. They are crying
out for an end to violence, for a change.

In our movements for social change and social justice, it has become increasingly clear (especially
after the World Economic Forum protests in New York City) that we need to redefine ourselves,
redefine our tactics, redefine our message, and renew our vitality and urgency as we determine
ways to join the chorus of voices around the world demanding a change. While it is important to
support a diversity of tactics, it has also become clear that the actions we choose which once
seemed original and presented a new form of urgency have increasingly slipped into pre-determined
roles with one group playing the “creativity”(puppets, etc), one group playing the “nonviolent”
marchers, one group playing the black blocs and direct-actionistas, and one group playing the cops.
The falling into of roles with pre-designed actions and scripts is ultimately precisely what we are
opposing. The time has come for a new form of protest, a new form of action. A form of action in
which we refuse to accept others’ definitions of ourselves (i.e. the media and the cops), refuse to fall
into the trap of choosing between “nonviolent” and “violent” methods of activism, tear apart and blend
together the existing rules governing our behavior, and refuse to be silenced.

By acting autonomously, by acting anonymously, we do not attempt to hide ourselves, but rather
we state unequivocally that we do not act for ourselves, but for all marginalized and silenced voices
in society. We do not claim or attempt to represent these peoples, but rather state
uncompromisingly that these peoples can and will no longer be ignored. We will no longer sit by and
allow ourselves to be ignored. We are ourselves, yet through our anonymity we present the
possibility that we could be anyone (or everyone!), or we could be no one. But by hiding our faces,
we gain a basic recognition.

The time has come for the widespread implementation of Ya Basta! style tactics in North America.
This does not necessarily imply the adoption of the politics of the Ya Basta! movement, but rather
the tactics and protective methods of the white overalls movement in Europe. This means a refusal
to allow ourselves to fall victim to the violence of the state and the violence of the police through
protecting ourselves and drilling ourselves in street strategy, tactics, and solidarity. This means
breaking through the pre-established roles of “violence” and “nonviolence” by stating that while we
will not commit violence against others, we will refuse to allow violence against ourselves or even
further-marginalized peoples (by putting ourselves in the very front of action, thus protecting those
more vulnerable than ourselves). This means refusing to accept others’ definitions of ourselves and
refusing to be silenced (by insisting upon our rights to free movement and speech, and by refusing
to allow the police to curb these rights). We do not act with the intention of intimidation or harm
towards others, but we refuse these things for ourselves as well. We will take what is ours: human
dignity, freedom, participation in the decisions that shape our lives, and free movement in our
environments (namely, the streets!).

This is a call to refuse any longer to be silenced, refuse to accept others’ definitions of ourselves,
and refuse any longer to fall victims to terror (either that of the state or of rogue individuals).

At a protest near you, on the streets, in your hometowns, in, and Washington, DC, and San Francisco
as we begin to find our voices again, wear protection, demand your rights, be clear, and destroy the
boundaries that separate, marginalize, and control us. We have nothing to hide; rather, we refuse to
hide any longer. We refuse to be ignored, to be marginalized.

As the world continues to spiral deeper into violence, hatred, and chaos, THE TIME IS NOW TO
ACT!

YA BASTA! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
by Davey
How very eloquent and moving that was! I am with you. We must not let fascism win. See you on the streets!!
by blackie

Let's fuck some shit up!
by SC W-H-S
http://www.indybay.org/news/2002/04/120362.php#122135

Then decide what to do.

Pull quote:

"Even the most clever, most creative, most successful tactics are counter productive if they fail to support sound strategic goals. As strategy must dictate tactics, so must politics dictate strategy. Politics must come first, always. "
just commenting on the person who said "let's fuck shit up". That's the kind of energy that started this whole mess on the planet in the first place. there is a deifference between the Ya Basta movement and "let's fuck shit up" ignorant mentality.
go with concious intention
by obl

maybe for your white liberal ass.
bring down the helter skelter!
by dfd
Okay, we should "fuckshitup," but metaphoricly speaking!

Please, raise hell by being vocal, not violent!

Remember, if any video of this event gets posted on this website, people all over the world will be watching, so please set the example!!!

peace
by jdjf
bunch of late teen and 20 something year olds thinkin they got the whole world figured out HA
by obl
Yeah, it just gives you a boner, doesn't it?
Are you a priest?

Anyhow, sorry for the aggro posts, but I've been listening to Ice Cube and Rage Against the Machine and I got excited. Now I'm going to swallow some acne meds, call my girlfriend, jump on my skateboard and go off on some mafackas.
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