Press Statement by Friends of Kirsten Brydum

PRESS STATEMENT BY FRIENDS OF KIRSTEN BRYDUM
who was murdered in New Orleans on September 27, 2008 at the age of 25

Additional Resources:

Family’s Memorial Page, with links to Kirsten’s own, recent writings:

http://kirstenbrydum.virtual-memorials.com/main.php?action=view&mem_id=14816&page_no=1

(Note: Please do not publish link in order avoid posting of nasty comments which could be read by family)



San Francisco Chronicle article, “S.F. Activist Slain…”, 10/3/08:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/02/BA1413AB64.DTL

Facts:
On September 27th, 2008, while traveling through New Orleans, our beloved friend Kirsten Brydum was murdered, shot multiple times in the head. “Kirsten was an accomplished community organizer. She touched countless people through myriad acts of kindness,” said her friend Ben Rosenfeld (contact above). Among her many projects, Kirsten gave us:

the Really Really Free Market, a bazaar of free goods and services predicated, in her words, on “anarchist economics” of cooperative exchange
(see http://kirstenbrydum.virtual-memorials.com/main.php?action=view&mem_id=14816&page_no=4); and

Access Café, an all-volunteer, nomadic restaurant serving food on a donation basis (see http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/05/09/18498101.php); and

the Collective Autonomy Network, a set of principles aimed, in Kirsten’s words at “collectivizing our energy and resources” in order to gain “autonomy from forces of oppression [and] self-sufficiency through cooperation.” (See same link above re Really Really Free Market)

Kirsten Was Courageous:
“Right now I’m rolling into New Orleans,” Kirsten wrote in her last dispatch to friends. “I really don’t know what to expect. An old friend of a new friend offered to pick me up from the station and get me to the house of another friend of a friend. The sun is setting on the bayou-licked lands and I am truly fortunate.” (See http://kirstenbrydum.virtual-memorials.com/main.php?action=view&mem_id=14816&page_no=9)

“Kirsten dedicated herself to fighting the very social ills of poverty, racism, and systemic violence which helped cause her death,” said her friend, Tyson Ayers. “She was not naïve, she was streetwise and aware. Don’t fault her for refusing to be paralyzed by fear, which only reinforces the gross idea that violence against women is an immutable risk in society, and therefore a woman’s responsibility to avoid it instead of our collective responsibility to counteract it.”

In an open letter posted on the family’s memorial site, Kirsten’s partner John Viola called upon her in death to help him find the line between “righteous anger” and hatred. “There should be no room left in this world for hatred,” he wrote. “That is what took you from us and it will not bring you back. Now more then ever I know that we need to put more love into the world and that you can not fight hatred with hatred.” (See http://kirstenbrydum.virtual-memorials.com/main.php?action=reflections&mem_id=14816&ref_page=10)

We are all part of the solution:
“We are grateful to Detective Long and the NOPD for their hard work in pursuing the sociopath who murdered Kirsten, while at the same time safeguarding the civil rights and dignity of all” said friend and family attorney Ben Rosenfeld.

As Kirsten’s friends, we also recognize, in honor of her own work, that her death is not only the result of one person’s brutality, but of festering poverty, racism, and injustice. We consider it part of our responsibility to help persuade our elected officials, police, media, and one another in our communities to address not only the final acts but the root causes of violence in society.

Our Immediate Communal Response:
To support one another and improve safety, we are calling on activist communities around the country to do and teach the following:

walk or ride in twos (or better yet, in groups);

create and circulate get-home-safe name-lists so people who feel vulnerable can call on escorts, any time, day or night;

host fully accessible self-defense workshops;

support local organizations working to eliminate violence against women through donations of money, materials, and time;

continue meeting to develop new ideas for eliminating violence against woman and for protecting one another; post ideas and calls for help on CollectiveAutonomy.net in order to pool our efforts.

Further Memorials Planned:
Kirsten’s friends and family are planning further celebrations of her life and works, including a Really Really Free Market memorial celebration in San Francisco’s Dolores Park Oct. 25, 2008, followed by a mural painting and dedication in nearby Clarion Alley (17th and Valencia Streets), and a fashion show on November 15, 2008 (date, time, and place TBA), which will raise money to curb violence against women.