Re: BA organizers conference (2) (fwd)
Lorenzo Ervin (komboa@rocketmail.com)
Wed, 22 Sep 1999 20:52:33 -0700 (PDT)
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 19:31:12 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Lorenzo Ervin <komboa@rocketmail.com>
> To: brc-news@lists.tao.ca, alaston@thenile.com,
amcgee@igc.org,
> sonnyboo2@worldnet.att.net
> Cc: blive@spercent.com, nlack-libertarians@tao.ca,
jah@iww.org,
> bro1947@aol.com, grassroots@tao.com,
bd982@scn.org, blacktht@pdnt.com,
> atrue1@afronet.com, webmaster@blackmind.com,
holywar@hotmail.com,
> ac6123@wayne.edu
> Subject: BA organizers conference (2)
>
> PRESS RELEASE
> (FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE)
>
>
> For information, contact:
>
> Lorenzo Komboa Ervin
> komboa@rocketmail.com
> (423) 622-7614
>
> Damon McGee
> banco@mindspring.com
> (770)972-3241
>
> "ANARCHIST METHOD" TO BE TAUGHT AT ATLANTA BLACK
> ORGANIZERS MEETING.
>
> The "Anarchist method" of community based organizing,
> first taught by Tom Knoche, a Camden, New Jersey
> based organizer, and later perfected by Lorenzo
> Komboa Ervin and James Mumm will be the basis of much
> of the instruction at the upcoming black organizer
> training workshops on September 25th, sponsored by
> the Black Autonomy Network of community Organizers
> (BANCO).
>
> Ervin is a co-founder of BANCO and co-host of an
> earlier gathering in Atlanta in Spring 1996, by a
> (now-defunct group) called the Anti-Authoritarian
> Network of Community Organizers, where the theory was
> first presented as an action program for organizers.
> Mumm, a Chicago-based organizer, was also present at
> that gathering, and came up with the idea of Active
> Resistance, a series of semi-annual organizer
> conferences held in Chicago, Toronto, Austin, and
> other cities since 1996. But the BANCO organizer
> gathering is the first one to be directed at
> inner-city Black neighborhods, and although they may
> share some basic theory, Ervin is quick to point out
> that BANCO is an independent radical organization.
>
> Ervin says very forcefully that"...it is the Black
> activist contribution to organizer history in the
> Civil Rights and Black Power eras, which is rarely
> taught by most organizer training centers, and yet it
> is those movements which most shaped and influenced
> present-day America." He says this is not just an
> oversight, rather... "a form of racist exclusion to
> obscure the dynamic role of Black organizers..." He
> says: "They pay eternal homage to guys like Saul
> Alinsky, who was opposed to groups like the Student
> Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the
> Black Panther Party, who both contributed a great
> deal to organizing practice and theory in the 1960's.
> The idea (of ignoring black contributions) is that
> Black people can do nothing for themselves and their
> communities, but must follow the benevolent lead of
> white radicals and liberal politicians in the federal
> government."
>
> Ervin says the "Anarchist method" (aka revolutionary
> direct action), which has been revised by BANCO to
> deal with the conditions in poor Black communities,
> puts the demands of the community first, rather than
> political leaders or elitist groups; it also places
> emphasis on building counter-institutions for dual
> power. He says grassroots organizing of this sort
> hasn't been seen since the 1960's, and is why the
> Left is so weak today..."they have no vision (except
> tunnel vision), and make no contact with poor working
> class communities except as exploitative government
> poverty pimps. There is a serious class problem here,
> most of these left radicals are almost purely middle
> class, college-trained intellectuals, who are saddled
> with the fatal disease of "analysis with paralysis."
>
> For those interested in attending the Atlanta Black
> organizers conference, things will get under way at
> 9:00 a.m., with breakfast and registration: ($5 for
> homeless/unemployed, $10 for others, and $20 for
> organization/churches). Training will cover the
> history of modern Black organizing, Nuts n' Bolts of
> organizing, workshops on police brutality,
> anti-poverty
> organizing, and other issues will also be held. For
> information to contact the Study Hall of the Emmaus
> House, 1010 Crew Street, SW, Atlanta at 659-1415.
>
>
> > Building a movement against racism and police
murder
> > to be discussed at Black Autonomy Organizers
> > conference in Atlanta on Saturday, September 25th.
> >
> > Black and poor people are being murdered from coast
> > to coast by racist police forces...with impunity
> > Something clearly needs to be done about this by
> > Black activists, but what? Let us tell you our
ideas,
> > and maybe we can work together to start to end
these
> > repressive attacks.
> >
> > Come and join us at- the Black Autonomy organizers
> > mini-conference in Atlanta, Georgia on September
25,
> > 1999 at the Study Hall of the Emmaus Hause, 1010
Crew
> > Street, S.W.
> >
> > For information, please call: Damon in Atlanta at
> > (423) 972-3421 or 972-5002; in Chattanooga
> > (TENN.)call Lorenzo Komboa Ervin at (423) 622-7614.
> > You can leave a message and we will get back to
you.
> > For best results e-mail us at
blanarcho@bellsouth.com
> > or Komboa@rocketmail.com
> >
> > Be seein ya in Atlanta.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
_________________________________________________________
> > DO YOU YAHOO!?
> > Get your free @yahoo.com address at
> http://mail.yahoo.com
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
_________________________________________________________
> DO YOU YAHOO!?
> Get your free @yahoo.com address at
http://mail.yahoo.com
>
>
>
_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com