Barricada February Out Now Excerpt from February issue of Barricada

Barricada February Now Available
Includes 8 Pages of Coverage and Photos from J20

The February issue of Barricada, the monthly magazine of the Barricada
Collective, is now available. The Barricada Collective is a non-sectarian
organization of anti-authoritarian revolutionaries, open to tendencies
ranging from simple anarchist, to anarcho-syndicalist, to autonomist, to
council-communist and everything in between. This month's issue includes...

News:
-Greek Anarchists Take Action in Solidarity with Turkish Hunger Strikers
-Opposing the Religious Right in Cleveland
-Organizing the Anti-Capitalist Mobilization for April, 2001 in Quebec City
-Putting the Heat on WEF in Switzerland
-Summary of Events of the RAAB at J20
-The Earth Liberation Front in Action

Commentary:
-Anarchism, Green Anarchism, and the Left
-Anarchism, Reformism, and Striggles of National Liberation
-A Reflection on the Actions of the RAAB at J20

Radical Culture:
-Spanish Civil War Poster Exhibit at Tufts University

Mobilization:
-Rally to Support the Chattanooga 3

Also still available is Barricada January, with news from around the world,
commentary on Mass Media and Revolution, and much more.

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Barricada
PO Box 73
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USA

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Revolutionary Greetings,
The Barricada Collective
Excerpt from February issue of Barricada
Analysis Follows Below Summary
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Over 600 people took part in the Revolutionary Anti-Authoritarian Bloc in Washington DC on Saturday, January 20th, inauguration day, marching for over one hour through the streets of Washington before embarking on a day of direct action against the state, including the smashing of a parade route checkpoint.

The impressive and energetic march, which attempted to re-create the German Autonome Antifa style of marching by organizing itself into tight lines of affinity groups and surrounding itself with banners reading, amongst others, “Class War...For a Classless, Stateless Society...Autonomous Resistance,” “Not Chaos, Not Violence...Freedom,” and “Whoever They Elect, We are Ungovernable,” initially headed towards the Presidential parade route. A police checkpoint was passed without incident and the RAAB then marched one block parallel to the parade route. However, given that there were still several hours until the parade began, it was decided to move on.

The RAAB then headed back in the direction of the initial starting point, but this time with the intention of exposing the role of the corporate media in sustaining the dictatorship of capital called “representative democracy.” To this end the RAAB headed to the central offices of the Washington Post. Once there several people decorated the front of the Post building with anarchist symbols and paint bombs, while the hundreds behind them chanted, “Fuck the Corporate Media.” This action was merely a warning to the Washington Post and all other media outlets that choose to defame social movements, anarchists and other revolutionaries in particular, and constantly show themselves to be the enemies of the people. Had it not been for the need to keep moving due to police presence and the dissuasive set-up of Washington’s wide streets, they would be lamenting a lot more than some graffiti. Next time they may not be so lucky.

It was however decided to move on as the bicycle scouts tracking police movements informed those handling communications for the bloc that police units were beginning to assemble and follow the bloc. In response to this people began to drag newspaper boxes and construction fences into the streets as they passed in order to halt the advance of the police.

At approximately 11 am a line of police managed to assemble in front of the bloc at 14th and I despite the efforts of the scouts. However, the bloc decided, possibly mistakenly (for analysis read The DC RAAB: Self Criticism and Self Congratulation), that it was not necessary at this point to engage the police as they could be avoided by simply heading up the intersecting street. Once arrived at the parallel street, 14th and K, the bloc was again stopped by a line of police and this time surrounded. A brief scuffle ensued during which an unsuccessful half-hearted attempt to break through the still quite thin police lines was made. Meanwhile, a group of about 60 entered an alley and attempted, again unsuccessfully, to maneuver a dumpster into the street in order to use it as a battering ram against the line of police. However, the dumpster proved to be too heavy and difficult to maneuver, never making it out of the alley.

The end result of this was that about 250 members of the bloc were encircled by police, while those who had managed to escape, either through the alley or by breaking through police lines (which about 30 managed to do) were dispersed around the surrounding area. Most people immediately began heading towards the first designated re-assembly point, the Navy memorial. However, word soon came in through the communications people that the International Action Center march, along with NOW and the Justice Action Movement, was headed in the direction of the trapped RAAB marchers. Finally, as word spread about the situation it was the police themselves that found themselves being slowly surrounded by demonstrators and unable to move those surrounded into the arrest busses already on the scene.

In the meantime those in the RAAB who had not been surrounded were able to re-assemble in the park across the street from the police corral, which was now five lines thick. In order to attempt to put more pressure on police to release the trapped demonstrators several charges against the police were carried out in order to take the street, block traffic, and further surround police. However, the police lines held and the furthest the bloc and allies made it was halfway across the street. In the meantime a RAAB member perched atop a streetlight set fire to an American flag and showed those trapped that they were not alone by raising the black flag. Police then tried to arrest him but he escaped by jumping into the crowd.

At approximately 12 pm police succumbed to the pressure of the thousands of protestors and released all the trapped RAAB members, as well as those who had joined them in solidarity. The RAAB then quickly re-assembled, now lower on numbers and banners, but no longer isolated and now as part of a larger march.

As the march progressed the bloc decided to not repeat the errors of the morning and better arm itself in case of a future confrontation with police. Therefore, when passing by a construction site members of the bloc took a large, and heavy, construction wagon and began filling it with cones, plastic barrels, and large wooden poles. In order to avoid having all this confiscated the wagon was placed in the middle of the bloc and surrounded by banners and people on all sides.

Several blocks later the march arrived at one of the controversial police checkpoints leading to the parade route. However, scouts informed the bloc that there was a weaker checkpoint only one block further down, so it was decided to head there. Once arrived members of the RAAB began asking the crowd assembled in front of the police barricade to move out of the way as it had been decided to show the police, in no uncertain terms, that the RAAB had no intentions of submitting itself to searches, or any other of the police’s wishes.

Once the road was cleared of all bystanders and only a metal barricade, some policemen, and some secret service agents stood between the RAAB and access to the parade route, the banner in the front was moved out of the way and the bloc charged. In once of the several inspiring moments of the day police and secret service scattered for their lives and the metal barricades of the state were toppled by the power and determination of the RAAB as hundreds of anarchists and revolutionaries, not 30 as the corporate press reported, as well as newly empowered and emboldened reformists, surged past the no longer existent checkpoint. However, in the rush to pass the checkpoint the bloc lost some of it’s compactness, leading to several individuals suffering close calls at the hands of plainclothes policemen and secret service agents, such as the individual seen being rescued thanks to the efforts of a barrel wielding RAAB member.

Once past the checkpoint and properly re-assembled the RAAB, now numbering approximately 200 and aided by a group of Revolutionary Communist Party Youth, found itself less than one block, one line of metal barricades, and one line of police, away from breaking into the parade route itself. Rest assured that had it not been for a quick thinking secret service agent who thrust his car in front of the wagon that had been used to destroy the checkpoint, the RAAB would have had no problems storming through the final line of defense and pouring into the parade route, thus forcing its cancellation and succeeding in its attempt to disrupt the ceremony of the ruling class and proving that, regardless of how many thousands of police are on hand to defend them, the ruling elite will never be safe.

Unfortunately, the sad fact is that the Secret Service agent did react quickly and manage to rob the bloc of a great weapon, not without losing a window and earning a nice dent however. Eventually the bloc, once again led by the “Whoever They Vote For, We Are Ungovernable” banner made it to the front of the crowd and found itself face to face with the final line of police guarding the parade route. A half-hearted attempt to charge through was made as people began kicking at the metal barricades. However, the snipers visible on virtually every rooftop and the concerns of many about getting shot took away from people’s conviction.

At this point the RAAB found itself in a rather odd position in that retreating was no longer an option, nor did it seem desirable given the sacrifices made to arrive so close to the parade, yet advancing no longer seemed possible (by now the final line of police had swelled to five). The group then assembled into a large circle in order to discuss what to do next. Eventually, after much discussion, it was decided that it would be best, given the large number of protestors in the area, to do one of the things which the bloc does best and try to build allegiances with other protestors and work them up by being as vocal as possible, while temporarily staying away from some of the more “radical” chants and searching for common ground. The RAAB thus spent the next hour or so milling around and chanting, with slogans such as “Whose Streets...Our Streets,” and “Bush Says Death Row...We Say Hell No,” among others.

Eventually though word came in that a group of 15 or so members of the bloc were at the Navy memorial where the NOW protestors where, and that they had expressed an interest in having the rest of the bloc join them. It was therefore decided to head in that direction. Once there the RAAB, emboldened by the presence and support of quite a few members of the Revolutionary Communist Party Youth and other protestors, began burning US flags to chants to “Yankee, Yankee Go Home.” The RAAB then turned its attention to the Navy Memorial Mast and began taking down all the flags on it as members of the black bloc and the RCP climbed on it waved the black flag and the red flag, respectively. Once all the flags had been taken down a black flag, a red and black flag, and an upside down US flag were hoisted. Seeing this the police responded by sending a squad into the crowd to defend the memorial. Once the police had penetrated the crowd they proceeded to surround the memorial, leaving two unfortunate RAAB members who did not get off in time stranded, one of which has now been dubbed “Super Anarchist” because of his apparent ability to fly (see cover). However, “Super Anarchist” did land, and fortunately safely into the midst of the black bloc who wrestled him away from the hands of the police.

Immediately after this all the protestors, many less radical elements included, banded together to surround the police and begin advancing on them. It was again an inspiring sight to behold the force of the people as the police retreated, looking terrified and tripping over themselves.

What followed was approximately an hour and a half of charges back and forth between the RAAB and different law enforcement agencies, ranging from plainclothes police, to shielded riot police, to secret service, as well as several members of the extreme-right who attempted to pepper spray members of the RAAB. One of the most violent battles came after plainclothes police charged into the crowd attempting to arrest several demonstrators, only to have the RAAB successfully unarrest them. However, despite the many unarrests, a constant during the day, the police did manage to arrest two people during the course of the events at the Navy Memorial.

During this time the presidential limousine went by, however it was going so fast that people barely had time to react before it had whizzed by. It was regardless met with a decent stream of rotten fruit, bottles, eggs, and rocks. This also came after the parade was forced to stop for several minutes before the secret service was convinced that it was safe for the President to drive by. Regardless, we can only hope that Mr. President saw the red and black flag flying high as he drove by, and let it be a warning to him of what to expect these next four years.

Once the parade had gone by it became evident that there was no real purpose to remaining on the spot, and, with the President gone and the crowds beginning to dwindle, it was becoming a safety threat to remain on the spot as it was only a matter of time before police’s attention became focused solely on the bloc. It was therefore decided to de-bloc and re-group at another location at 5 pm in order to discuss paying a visit to the inaugural balls. However, when the time came the bloc had dwindled, due to exhaustion, arrests, stragglers, people lost, and people having to leave, to just over 60. It was therefore decided to call it a day and go back to advancing the class struggle in our local communities and workplaces until the next large gathering in Quebec City in April.

All in all, the inauguration day bloc, which was definitely not without its mistakes and misjudgments (discussed in other article), can be considered a smashing success for anarchism, for a variety of reasons. A well organized and well publicized march of 600 strong was put together with only 2 months notice, the police were handed several important defeats, the bloc showed once again just how strong it is and how no matter how many police and how much scare propaganda we can always adjust, a lot of people were radicalized by the bloc and very supportive of its actions (even some Democrats), and a lot of important alliances were either built or strengthened.
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Despite the overwhelmingly positive response to the actions of the Revolutionary Anti-Authoritarian Bloc on inauguration day, from both bloc participants and other protestors, it is clear and undeniable that not everything went well. Therefore, in order to not fall into dangerous self-congratulation we at the Barricada Collective have decided to analyze as deeply and honestly as possible, regardless of who it may offend or please, what in our opinion went well and what didn’t, what we should try to repeat next time, what to avoid, and what to change. In order to make this as clear and concise as possible, we have decided to take the criticisms and congratulations on a point by point basis.

Why a Presence at the Presidential Inauguration?

When the call for an organized revolutionary anti-authoritarian contingent at the inauguration was first made public quite a few people were openly opposed to it, for a variety of reasons. However, the most commonly heard reasons were that a bloc without a particular target would be ineffective and pointless, and that anarchists or revolutionaries should not grace the presidential inauguration with their presence. Evidently, in both cases, we disagree.
It seems that because the black bloc in the last year has mainly served as a tool to achieve a certain goal, such as damage property in Seattle or attempt to shut down the IMF meeting in Washington, many people have begun to see it as merely a tool to attack precise targets. However, we see the black bloc as a lot more than just that. To us black blocs do not always have to be directed at a specific target. They can also be geared towards propaganda and simply to present an organized contingent at an event, such as Millions For Mumia for example.
Regardless of this, we believe that not only was there a clear target for inauguration day, or several for that matter, but there was every reason to be at the presidential inauguration.
To us the Presidential Inauguration represents everything that we oppose about the state and the dictatorship of capital otherwise known as “representative democracy.” Thus, by being there we were attacking the root of all we believe is wrong with our society, the state itself. However, we also wanted to draw the connection between the state and all those powers that help to preserve the current order. This is precisely why we decided to march on the Washington Post.
We also wanted to take the opportunity, given the large numbers of press, both corporate and independent, from all over the world that would be present to not only draw attention to everything we oppose about capitalism and statism, but also to highlight our alternatives to this system. In other words, the constructive aspect of anarchism. It is for this reason that we chose to lead with banners reading “Class War..For A Classless, Stateless Society,” and “Not Chaos, Not Violence...Freedom.” We also attempted to de-centralize as much as possible the propaganda efforts in order to maximize the amount of fliers, pamphlets, and other propaganda materials. However, we must recognize that one of the Barricada Collective’s worst mistakes was that we, literally, forgot to make the fliers. They were ready to go and a member of the Collective was on the way to making the photocopies but got sidetracked and never made it to the copy shop.
Regarding the clear target, well, nothing would have been better than to have shut down the ceremony of the ruling class. Many people thought it was suicidal and not within our means, but as anybody who was there saw, we weren’t far from succeeding.

The Call and the Two Months of Organizing

As has already been established, organizing for the RAAB got off to a rather turbulent start. The first point of conflict came when some people objected to the language of the call. This in our opinion was not a major concern, as if people disagreed with the call they were more than free to write one of their own, as that is the nature of a call. One, or more, groups writes it and others are free to endorse it or not.
A more important point of conflict arose in that several people objected to a Boston based group putting out a call for a demonstration in Washington without, as they believed, consulting local people. In fact Barricada did try to contact somebody in Washington several months before making the call public, but never received an answer as the mails were lost in cyberspace. This was quickly straightened out fortunately after the call was made public and we were put in contact with a group of very dedicated and serious Washington organizers who we worked with extensively and without whom a lot of what was accomplished would have been impossible.
Once this link was established the next two months were essentially a blur of outreach and logistical work, with us handling communications with other groups planning to attend, keeping people up to date as to what was happening, organizing the pre-march meeting, and essentially doing the most we could at a distance. Meanwhile, the people in Washington took care of the logistical aspect of the mobilization and made certain that everything necessary for a smooth bloc was provided for, such as communications, scouts, a meeting place, and everything else that goes with a mobilization of this sort.
All this being said though, and without for one second denying that having a local group put out and organize an event in a particular city is preferable and ideal, we do not necessarily believe that this always has to be the case. If a group wants to take on an initiative in a particular city that no local group feels the need for and is willing to accept the responsibility and organize in a serious and responsible manner to make it a success, taking into account everything that is needed for an initiative to succeed, why should they not? This turned out to not be an issue in organizing for the inauguration, but we feel it is something to keep in mind.

The Night Before: The Organizing Meeting

Unknown to many people, even many RAAB participants, an organizing meeting attended by over 100 people was held the night before in Washington to discuss issues relevant to the next day’s action.
Given the precedent of police infiltration at the bloc meetings in Cincinnati (which has not been confirmed but many suspect) and the high level of security around the Presidential Inauguration we devised a rather complex way of getting people to the organizing meeting in order to keep security as tight as possible. At one point we suspected it might even make it too complicated and a lot of people would miss the meeting because of this, however, the high turnout showed this not to have been an issue. People who were attending were also free to bring with them as many others as they wanted, provided they were people who they thought were completely trustworthy.
Once the scheduled time came the doors were promptly locked and the meeting, at which people were supposed to speak as freely as possible within the limits of reasonable safety, began. Anybody who was there can vouch for the fact that the start was slightly on the turbulent side as there was a lot to be covered, several points of disagreement, a lot of stress, and not much time to sort everything out. However, we had purposefully decided to make the meeting as last minute as possible in order to have as many RAAB participants as possible in the city and so that any particulars that came up would only have a few hours to be leaked if our security was breached.
Something that we can all congratulate ourselves on is the fact that everybody seemed to understand the importance of being punctual at the meeting and only two people arrived after the doors were locked.
The first hour of the meeting was devoted to discussing how best to assemble without allowing police to arrest people or break up the march before it even got started, given the lack of a permit. After much discussion back and forth it was decided to stick with the original plan but to try to be as punctual as possible in order to bloc up quickly. As was seen the next day, the discussion as to how best to assemble turned out to not be as important as we thought it was as police presence at the bloc assembly location was minimal. It is hard to believe, but to this point the only logical explanation that we can come up with for this, given that several police authorities stated that the RAAB was one of their principal security concerns, but it really does seem as though the police were somehow unaware that we had changed our meeting location. We say this because, while there was almost no police were the RAAB assembled, there was quite a bit, and in riot gear, at Freedom Plaza. It is hard to believe that such a display of force was for the IAC and other groups of that sort.
The meeting then went on to discuss other issues, such as regulations on banners and flagpoles, re-assembly points, jail solidarity, the relationship to JAM and other groups, etc. This brings us to some important mistakes that we, as organizers, have to take responsibility for.
The first is that we paid too much attention to the scare tactics of the police. We didn’t want them to have any excuse to pick people off or hassle them when they were on their own. Therefore, we advised people to stay away from anything at all that might be interpreted as a weapon, as well as urging them to avoid flagpoles thicker than three-quarters of an inch by three-quarters of an inch, which the police had promised to not allow past checkpoints. In reality what happened was that even though police at no time had any opportunities to give people trouble over these things, most people didn’t have them. We were therefore, despite our large numbers, vastly unprotected, as we didn’t even have a decent amount of flagpoles to work with. End result is that despite marching tight, we were easy to disperse as those in the front and on the sides were essentially punching bags for the police. It is essential that this mistake is not repeated in Quebec City this April and we are already working to ensure that the bloc is better prepared for next time.
The second important organizing error for which we have to take responsibility is what turned out to be a very poor choice of a re-assembly point. The first re-assembly point which we chose, the Navy memorial, turned out to be a great choice, and the third re-assembly point, the one latest in the day, at McPherson square, turned out to be unnecessary. However, our second re-assembly point choice, the Justice Department, turned out to be, quite simply, terrible. For some reason we thought that it would be good to have re-assembly points on both sides of the parade route. However, it turned out to be a 45 minute walk from where we were on the North side of the parade route to the Justice Department on the South side. Most people simply did not bother to go, and those who did found themselves virtually alone, and quite far from where the rest of the bloc was.
Despite these two, quite serious, errors of judgment on our part, the meeting in our opinion went quite smoothly given the amount of people present and all the issues that needed addressing in a span of just over two hours.

The beginning of the march was probably one of the most well put together aspects of the demonstration. People were punctual, the banners were unfurled at precisely 9:45 am as announced, and the march moved off the square at precisely 10 am, again, as announced. The idea of re-creating the German Antifa style of marching, while by no means wholly effective, was decent in our eyes for a first serious try. Rather than marching as one large mass, as most blocs in the past have in the US, people formed to a large extent into organized lines of affinity groups. This increases security for people and helps create an atmosphere of trust.
The banners down the sides also served to help keep people tight, yet, due to the lack of flagpoles down the sides, it turned out to be more of an illusion than anything else, as when police charged the banners fell and in several cases, people scattered. Therefore, while this was a step forward, for next time, poles on the banners (the stronger the better), helmets, and padding. For those concerned on how to find it cheap, used soccer, football, and or hockey equipment makes for great protection, as does, to a lesser extent, foam. Regarding helmets, construction helmets can usually be found at a reasonable price. Of course, next time being Quebec there is the issue of the border to deal with, so it is suggested to arrive early in Quebec and set about obtaining what you need once in Canada.
We strongly disagree with those who claim that the black bloc tactic is getting old and outdated. On the contrary, it is still in a growth stage in North America. The black blocs are getting larger and better organized at every important mobilization, and the time has now come to start focusing on how to protect ourselves adequately.
And, since we are growing and still making mistakes, not surprisingly several were made during the one-hour march through Washington. The first being that, in our efforts to build bridges with other activists we decided to head first to the IAC meeting point. However, this meant going through a narrow and crowded street. When passing by the IAC area quite a few black bloc stragglers were lost in the crowd.
The second, and probably one of the most significant, mistakes was the decision to not engage the police in direct confrontation when the first line of police formed in front of the bloc at 14 and I. Had the bloc charged the very thin police lines and advanced only one more block we would have arrived at the park and made it much more difficult for police to encircle us. However, seeing how we were very close to an intersecting street and it was still early in the day, we decided to try to avoid the confrontation. However, it was our detour that allowed police to re-group and gave them a second chance, which was all they needed, to trap approximately half of the bloc.
Had Voter March, NOW, the IAC, and all the others not happened to converge on the scene, chances are we would have been loaded into the arrest busses, marking the end of the day for many a participant of the black bloc. Which brings us to the next point to analyze.

The RAAB and Its Relationship to Other Protest Groups

One of the most difficult aspects of organizing the RAAB was trying to work with the Justice Action Movement. While we wholeheartedly agree that we do need to avoid isolating ourselves and build working relationships with other groups, we also need to draw the line somewhere. JAM definitely pushed us too far. First, they showed a complete lack of solidarity towards anybody who did not choose the same tactics as they did by releasing the typical “we will not engage in this, that, or the other” statement. This in itself is unfortunately not uncommon. However, JAM, which supposedly functions on consensus, was able to “achieve consensus” for this statement by purposefully bringing it up at a meeting where they knew that those who disagreed with the statement would be unable to attend.
Additionally, JAM decided to spread demonstrators out across the route in groups of 25 or less (as groups that size did not need permits to assemble). We feel this, had it happened, would not only have been a terrible waste of our large numbers, but would have put many people at risk, from police or from over-zealous right-wingers.
Furthermore, JAM demonstrated a complete lack of any sort of political character. This can be seen that the discussion on their list as to why they were protesting the inauguration yielded nothing, and they even welcomed Democrats who clearly stated that the only reason they would be protesting was because Gore did not win the election. Hardly a stance against the parties of the ruling class.
JAM also insisting on working closely with the police, to the extent of even paying to take a high ranking police officer to dinner. This cannot be interpreted as anything but an insult to the thousands of activists who have been beaten, jailed, and prosecuted over the last year. To further show their political naivety, they insisted on under-funding the legal collective, convinced that since they had been so kind to the police, there would be no reason to expect many arrests or trials.
Yet, it does not end there. The JAM list was also full of comments suggesting that protestors dress as patriotically as possible in order to show that they too were “proud Americans exercising their first amendment rights” as well as people reacting with horror at the suggestion that protestors dress in red in order to be more clearly seen as such. These types of attitudes seem to us to be hardly anything that anarchists and other revolutionaries should be tolerant of.
All this prompted Barricada to publicly distance itself from JAM, as honestly, we did not want our name associated with such a group. However, as the final demonstration of their lack of organization and naivety, based on some rumors that the inauguration would take place indoors JAM approached organizers of the RAAB, literally, the night before after having trashed, disrespected, and attempted to isolate the RAAB in order to ask that the RAAB act as support for direct actions that they would like to carry out. Not only was it terribly out of place for them, after realizing that their organizing was largely deficient, to ask the RAAB to drop all it had been working on in the last several months because they had a sudden change of mind, but since when are effective mass direct actions organized in less than 12 hours?!
Nobody will deny that we need to expand and build alliances with others, however, we need to be somewhat discerning when we do so in order to not become simply the shock troops of reformists. We should make it clear to those that use us at large events and then turn around and denounce us to the press that we will not tolerate that kind of behavior. We also have to be careful not to put our aspirations on the backburner simply to please reformers, and this was essentially what JAM was asking us to do when they came to us the night before the inauguration. So, in our opinion, the question was whether we really wanted to serve as the front line for people calling for reform, or whether we wanted to put our alternatives and our objectives on the table.
All that said, anybody who was in Washington on inauguration day saw that it was the solidarity of thousands of other protestors that saved the trapped participants of the RAAB from certain arrest. And by the same token it was the actions of the RAAB that allowed many to arrive at the parade route unsearched and unhindered, teaching everybody a valuable lesson in the importance of solidarity and mutual aid.

The Re-Assembled RAAB, the Charge on the Checkpoint and the Battles at the Navy Memorial

Once the RAAB was back on the move, this time as part of a larger march, it seemed to hit its stride, and from then on the day was mostly composed of victories.
The first significant victory in our eyes was the charge on the police checkpoint. In a spectacular show of force by the RAAB the checkpoint was completely destroyed, hundreds of RAAB participants poured through, hundreds of others cheered us on as we advanced, and the police and secret service were handed a humiliating defeat. Not only this, but no arrests had to be lamented at this point due to the heroic unarresting efforts of many RAAB participants.
However, we must admit that we were rather disappointed when the bloc decided that an attempt to charge the final line of police was not worthwhile, given what many people saw as the risk of being shot at by the snipers on the rooftops. In most cases the argument centered around not feeling that the President of the US was worth dying for. However, first of all we think that the concerns were a little exaggerated, as we have trouble believing that the forces of repression would dare to start shooting at such a large crowd with every television camera in the world watching. But, assuming they had, what better to expose the violence of the state than having the whole world see unarmed protestors being shot at from rooftops?!
Furthermore, what better way to disrupt the ceremony of the ruling class and express our rejection of the state and everything it represents than shutting down the inaugural parade?! And, we have seen in past mobilizations that other protestors, of which there were many where the RAAB was, are usually not willing to confront police with us, but when the bloc opens the path they usually follow, and we believe this would have been the case had the parade route been breached. Regardless, we decided to respect the desires of the bloc and go with what most people felt was best, which was to highlight the common ground between ourselves and the other protestors present.
Eventually however we moved on to the Navy Memorial where more of the day’s successes took place. Again, important alliances were strengthened, such as with NOW or with the Revolutionary Communist Party Youth Brigade who, despite the deep ideological differences, it has become evident we can always depend on in the streets (as was demonstrated in Philadelphia and inauguration day). Many other protestors were also radicalized as when the police were first surrounded and forced off the square many people who were clearly not with the RAAB or the RCP could be seen linking arms and helping out. Needless to say the raising of the black and red and black flags was a great inspirational victory for all and the many unarrests and successful battles with police were also very positive.

The DC RAAB: The Wrap-Up

All in all we believe that the inauguration day mobilization was, despite the difficulties and setbacks, a smashing success. Over 600 people were mobilized with only two months preparation, the secure meeting arrangement proved to be, while certainly not perfect, quite effective, anarchists and other protestors developed stronger ties and a good working relationship, a great example of the importance and effectiveness of mutual aid and solidarity was experienced first hand, several important blows were handed to the police and the secret service, and we showed that regardless of who is president, our struggle remains the same, and will only grow larger and stronger. Finally, important steps were taken towards creating better organized, better prepared, and stronger, blocs for future actions and, rest assured that at least we at Barricada will continue to work to re-create the very effective tactics of the Italian and German autonomes on the North American continent.
For now however it is back to our local communities and workplaces, back to taking back our lives every day, and to giving the enemy hell every night. See you all in Quebec!

The DC RAAB: The Thank Yous

There are a lot of people without whom this mobilization would not have been the success that we feel it was. First and foremost we would like to thank the organizers in Washington who worked with us and without whom we would have been flying blind. Secondly we would like to thank the long list of groups who came out and endorsed the RAAB call. These are Sabate Anarchist Collective (NEFAC), Agitate! (Baltimore), The Onward Collective (Gainesville), ABCF People of Color Caucus, Anarchist Black Cross Federation-Houston, Radio Sexto Sol (Houston), People Against Racist Terror, Anarchist Soccer League (New Brunswick), ABCF-Kent, Infoshop.org (Washington, DC), ARA Columbus, Brighter Days Collective (Lansing), Aron Pieman Kay/Global Pastry Uprising, Tenant's Voice (Kansas), Free Anarchist Collective (Detroit)
Grain RAGE (upper Midwest Resistance Against Genetic Engineering, Minneapolis), Anarchists Anonymous (Minneapolis), GAIA (Green Anarchists Insurrectionary Anonymous, Minneapolis), Active Transformation Newspaper Collective (Detroit/Lansing), Brian MacKenzie Center (Washington, DC), Stenka Razin Anarchist Group, and The Defenestrator. We would also like to thank http://www.infoshop.org for providing the RAAB with a webpage, all the people who acted as scouts, and finally of course, everybody who came out and helped to swell the ranks of the resistance.

arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)