downas

  • The occupation government of the united states currently “recognizes 574 American Indian tribes and Alaska Native entities” within the territories it claims to rule. This is an undercount, considering that there are many peoples who are only recognized by local regimes—or not at all. Among the unrecognized are the numerous African peoples whose cultures were devastated or destroyed by the transatlantic slave trade, a wave of atrocities whose chief benefactors founded the modern world. At no point in the past or present have these facts deterred the occupiers from voting in elections. Why, then, should anyone expect the fact of u.s. weapons used against indigenous peoples in Palestine to produce a “change of heart”?

  • Voters have no power over the actions of the yankee entity—which is not to say that if they did, they would use it to destroy european colonialism or any of its attendant nation-states. Rather than a means by which the colonists choose their leaders, it seems more accurate to consider voting as a ritual whose practitioners express their identification with the entity's culture and institutions.

  • Within the yankee entity, voter registrations and campaign donations are a matter of public record. It is possible—in some localities, quite easy—for a resident to legally obtain the given address of anyone who donated to an election campaign or is registered to vote. Refusing to participate is the only way to remain exempt.

Once again:

  • If slavery & genocide didn't stop any of the other elections, they sure as hell won't disrupt this one.

  • People don't vote because it changes anything, they vote because they have a stake in the system & don't wanna give it up.

  • You can't play the electoral game without snitching on yourself.

Here, then, are some parting words.

  • “do not bother stirring the emotions of Americans and trying to jerk their tears over us. What's more useful is to dismantle the idea of the United States in their minds as a prelude to making them understand our cause and our rights. Any effort that doesn't include this will be washed away as easily as sea foam.” – Bassel al-Araj (باسل الأعرج)

  • “Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them.” – Assata Olugbala Shakur (أساتا أولوغبالا شكور)

A popular mobilization against a government finance bill has escalated into open combat in Kenya's capital & largest city. Crowds drawn into the streets under the #RejectFinanceBill2024 banner built barricades & lit the governor's office, along with a section of the national parliament building, on fire; police & military forces continued to attack the revolt, disappearing influential figures supporting the movement & killing at least 5 people in a day (according to news reports from the last few hours). Predictably, the government is also throttling the internet to suppress the uprising.

Ever since “independence”, Kenya has been a neocolonial dictatorship, demonstrating subservience to the anglo colonial powers & lethal brutality to resistance movements across the political spectrum. Here we list a few resources to help others develop a deeper understanding.

  • The Elephant is a website covering Kenyan & East African politics from a critical & Pan-Africanist (but not necessarily anti-capitalist) perspective in english, with several recent pieces discussing “The Political Awakening of Kenya’s Gen Z”.
  • Wunyabari O. Maloba's book The Anatomy of Neo-Colonialism in Kenya: British Imperialism and Kenyatta, 1963–1978 gives a detailed account of how the Kenyan state was constructed to serve european interests with the close collaboration of native elites.
  • The “Mau Mau” uprising, an anti-colonial revolt against the british empire led by the Kenya Land & Freedom Army (KLFA) & suppressed by systematic torture, execution, & the placement of well over a mililon people in concentration camps, has historically played a large role in the political imaginary of Kenyan anticapitalists. (It has also been important to Black liberationists worldwide; el Hajj Malik el Shabazz, better known as Malcolm X, famously called for a “Mau Mau” in the u.s.) There's now a broad range of easily accessible literature on the movement in english, but primary materials – like KLFA documents, songs, & interviews with veterans of the struggle who continued to be marginalized after britian handed over power – were first collected & shared under highly repressive conditions by researchers like Maina wa Kĩnyattĩ.
  • Along with regular “security cooperation”, yankees & brits have maintained military bases in Kenya for decades, while both the NATO & BRICS blocs try to increase their capitalist dominance on the African continent through connections in Nairobi & Mombasa.
  • Forcibly imposed by british colonialism & upheld by pro-british & pro-yankee interests ever since, english is one of the official languages of government & widely spoken among urban Kenyan elites. (Kiswahili plays a similar role in the region & also has official status in Kenya & Tanzania.) The urban youth languages Sheng & Engsh are newer creoles native to Nairobi, understood across class lines. A broad range of indigenous languages predating european colonialism are frequently used informally but marginalized institutionally; prominent examples include Gĩgĩkũyũ, Dholuo, & Kikamba. It helps to keep linguistic politics in mind when considering the intended audience of any writer or speaker, as Kenya's most famous writer & ex-political prisoner Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is well known for.

There are those who would have us believe that the most important legacy of the police killing of George Floyd is a “civil rights movement”, a coalition aimed at progressive change within society & its institutions. On the other hand, there are those whose greatest inspiration was the crowds of people who, four years ago this week, were instead directly attacking the U.S. property regime & its defenders.

The reformist camp, with the assistance of mass media, has tried to emphasize “peaceful protests”. Their historical narratives ignore or downplay the scale of torched police cars, ransacked stores, besieged government buildings, & general uncontrollability. At times, they openly lie about those events; too often, the stories they tell go unchallenged.

Below is a collection of personal accounts of the uprising that swept the imperial core, permanently decommissioning a police station. While they don't necessarily share a common analysis, all of them come from people who entered the streets not as observers, but participants. They tell the truths liberal-progressive reformers don't want to acknowledge.

This collection cannot be & does not aim to be “complete”. Rather than the final word on what really happened, it should be used as a tool to carry anti-state struggles forward, pushback against U.S. efforts to memory hole the largest popular revolt within its borders in the 21st century. Maybe their gaps & unanswered questions will spur you to tell your own stories, anonymously or pseudonymously. Because there's so much more to be said & done...

Lastly & crucially, the Support Defendants & Prisoners From the George Floyd Uprisings website includes some personal stories of people incarcerated by the U.S. government's long counterinsurgency campaign.

Nada ha acabado. Todo continúa.

Mumia Abu-Jamal (موميا أبو جمال; 穆米亞·阿布-賈邁勒; Мумия Абу-Джамал), a Black liberationist imprisoned for decades on charges of killing a cop, spoke to students occupying the City College of New York as part of a wave of university occupations taking place initially within u.s. borders.

The first part of Mumia's phone call from prison was quickly transcribed by Sophie Hurwitz; since then, Prison Radio shared an audio recording with a fuller transcription, reproduced below. Some links have been added for context.

Brothers, sisters, comrades, friends. I greet you from the American system of mass incarceration. What we are involved in right now, I think, is something called mass education, and City College and Columbia and Emory and USC are all part of that process right now. That education is about the repression that Gaza is suffering under.

It is a wonderful thing that you have decided not to be silent, and decided to speak out against the repression that you see with your own eyes. So you are part of something massive, and you are part of something that is on the right side of history.

You are against a colonial settler regime that steals the land from the people who are indigenous to that area. And you are saying that this is wrong. I urge you to speak out against the terrorism that is afflicting Gaza with all of your might, all of your will and all of your strength. Do not bow to those who want you to be silent.

It is time right now, this day, this hour, this moment, to be heard. And to shake the earth so that the people of Gaza, the people of Rafah, the people of the West Bank, the people of Palestine can feel your solidarity with them. (Cheers from the crowd.)

I am a student of the late, great Frantz Fanon. And I read him every day and think about his ideas. And when I see what is happening in Gaza right now, I know that right now the people of Gaza are “the wretched of the earth”. They are fighting to be free from generations of occupation. So it is not enough, brothers and sisters, students, it is not enough to demand a ceasefire. How about this: Make your demand Cease Occupation! Cease Occupation! Cease Occupation! [Cheers. Students chant “Cease Occupation! Cease Occupation! Cease Occupation! Cease Occupation!”).

Let that be your battle cry because that is the call of history, of which all of you are a part. You are part of something magnanimous, magnificent, and soul changing, life changing, history changing. Do not let go of this moment. Make it bigger. Make it more massive. Make it more powerful. Make it echo up into the stars. I am thrilled by your work. I love you. I admire you. On the Move!

(“Cheers. On the Move! Thank you, Mumia! Cheers. Thank you, Mumia! Brick by brick, wall by wall, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal … Mumia! Brick by brick, wall by wall, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal. Mumia! Brick by brick, wall by wall, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal”)

Johanna Fernandez: Mumia! Hold on! Do we have a little more time?

Students: Yes, yes!

Johanna: I have a question for you, Mumia. How is the liberation of Palestine tied to the liberation of all of us and the human race? It starts with Palestine, but it grows bigger, to the whole system globally.”

Mumia Abu-Jamal: Think about this. This is a moment that was made possible because of the technology that exists in the pockets of millions of people, billions of people, all around the world. Your phones. Think about this. Think about what happened with a brother named George Floyd was being asphyxiated with a knee on his neck just a few years ago. It sparked an international movement that has not been seen in generations. What you are seeing now on your phones, not on your TVs, but on your phones, is a kind of unseen repression against an essentially powerless people, a people who’ve been behind the walls of Palestine for generations, who suffered 75 years of occupation. People who do not have the freedom to turn on their water or to repel air attacks by F18 (jet fighters). So, when you see that kind of repression, it magnifies what is happening and it moves you. Because if you do not have a heart, you would not be moved, but you have a heart. You are looking at that and it is moving you. It is moving your soul. So that is what connects us. Right? As human beings: oppression. The Koran says: “Oppression is worse than death” because oppression destroys the soul, the spirit, the hope of being human. So, keep on, keep it on!

[Cheers.]

Johanna: Thank you.

Mumia, Thank you Thank you all.

Johanna: I feel like we have a little more time. Does anyone have a question?

Johanna: What are you going to do when you get out?

Mumia: I am going to walk on my street in France.

Crowd: Beautiful

Crowd: So, I wanted to ask, looking at this crisis of journalism, you, Mumia as one of our most liberatory experts on journalism experts and practitioners, and revolutionaries, what do you have to say to the independent journalists of the University, the People’s University of Palestine.

Mumia Abu-Jamal: This is the moment for independent journalism because corporate journalism is falling short. You know, corporate journalism is kind of propaganda, right? It is a message for the powerful. Okay. It. not a message for the poor and the oppressed. Corporate journalists are selling soap. Independent journalists are speaking out because they are free. If I were a corporate journalist, I could not say anything, or if I did say what I was saying, I would be fired in a heartbeat. And that happened in the old days. I got fired from every station I ever worked at (laughs), because I refused to shut up and not say the thing, they did not want me to say.

Crowd: Thank you. We love you! We love you.

Mumia: Thank you brother.

Johanna: What do you say to those who framed you?

Mumia Abu-Jamal: Framing me has not stopped me. The beat goes on to quote Fred Hampton.

Crowd: What would you say to the 10,000 Palestinian prisoners, Mumia?

Mumia Abu-Jamal: That I am with you. That we are with you. And that all Palestinian political prisoners should be free. Most important: Palestine must be free.

If you're interested in translating the statement above, consider reaching out:

email username – dowwnas email domain – proton.me

Like change itself, crises are a constant for social life across planet Earth. Yet the past few months & years of newly prominent wars have brought particular crises into focus among opponents of the global status quo.

Anticapitalist reactions to these explosions have been diverse, contradictory, & occasionally confused. Without believing that dialogue can “solve” this condition, we remain convinced that an intentional & open conversation can at least clarify our alignments & enable opponents of the world-system to better act against it. Besides, people are already talking about these things.

We are calling for an intentional, public discussion around the following issues:

  • anarchy, abolitionism, internationalism & antinationalism;
  • inside/outside collaboration against jails & prisons;
  • squats, “land projects”, & [anti-]colonialism;
  • strengths & weaknesses of anti-border work in North America & Europe;
  • relations with liberal progressives, peace police, electoralists, & Marxists;
  • u.s-centrism, eurocentrism, & anglophone linguistic domination in radical spaces & networks;
  • pervasive apathy & ignorance regarding past & present struggles in Africa, the Caribbean, South Asia, the Pacific;
  • honest assessments of defeats/setbacks like Lützerath, U.S. summer 2020 (police funding increases), Egypt 2011-2015;
  • white supremacy, colonialism, & the disparate responses to [anti-]colonial wars in Palestine, Kurdistan, & Ukraine.

There have already been quite a few open critiques, arguments, & denouncements touching on the above subjects & no doubt there will be more. Our hope is that by encouraging others to lay out the context behind these “internal” conflicts, anticapitalists will find better ways to navigate their consequences & bring an end to the scourges of modern empires.

(If you're interested in having these discussions online, consider basing them off of social media, whether or not they're to be had publicly.)

a blog allows people to make or share posts online without the posts originating on a social media platform. this means that:

  • anyone online can find the post once it's made public
  • a social media account isn't necessary to access a public post
  • the post can't be removed at the source by a social media platform

if that sounds useful to you, here's how to create one for free.

fastest/fewest requirements: sign up for an open writefreely instance (explained below)

write.as is a blogging platform that's part of the fediverse – people can automatically get new posts if they follow from something like mastodon, or subscribe using rss. anyone can also view the blog by just going to its url (link).

a list of writefreely instances is here, & many of them allow you to sign up just by creating a username & password – no need for email or anything else. then you can start posting.

many writefreely instances either have no apparent rules or highly permissive rules, & some don't have a clear way to contact whoever runs it. this suggests it's less likely certain things will get taken down (judging by the amount of spam posted to them) but that's not a sure thing.

(an instance is like a server – each one may be run by a different person or persons, & can have different rules or norms. different fediverse instances can talk to each other, meaning you can post on one & have it be seen by someone on another.)

takes longer (days) but may be safer: create a noblogs or blackblogs

noblogs & blackblogs are platforms that are based on wordpress, one of the most common kinds of blogging software. however, they've been modified to be more useful for anticapitalists & anti-statists. they have many more features than writefreely does, as well as an explicit political orientation.

to sign up for either, you need an email address from within their networks. those listed here should work, except for disroot. the process of requesting & getting approval for a blog &/or email can take a few days.

the policies of noblogs & blackblogs make it clear that at times they may take down some content, & indeed they have. but if you're aligned with their goals, you may find them much less restrictive than platforms owned by entities like meta or elend musk.

want anonymous submissions?

you might have your own method of soliciting submissions that works for you, but if you don't, you can make an anonymous email address (like protonmail, or the ones linked in the section above) & put it on your blog. on writefreely, it may be easiest to go to 'customize' & put it in the signature; on noblogs or blackblogs, you can make a contact page with more detailed information. (if you're very interested in this topic, consider reading this zine.)

Genocide Joe has been a self-identified zionist & enthusiastic supporter of israeli colonialism for his entire political career, which has lasted over 50 years. Despite this, many prominent critics of the current u.s.-israeli war on the Palestinian population (& its allies in Yemen & Lebanon) not only voted for him in 2020, but publicly advocated for others do the same. With 2024 u.s. elections approaching, this article draws attention to 10 of these left liberals. (Doesn't feel fair? Look for updates on their 2024 positions as the year progresses.)

1. Noam Chomsky

Chomsky, one of the most famous left-wing public figures in the u.s empire & a self-identified “libertarian socialist”, made his pro-Biden stance clear in an April 2020 interview with Mehdi Hasan, followed by his co-authorship of a September 2020 open letter insisting that leftists who don't want to vote for Biden shut up & obey. This is consistent with the recent past; he supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 & Barack Obama in 2012.

2. Medea Benjamin

Well known for her “getting arrested on purpose” stunts with CODEPINK & recently pivoting to fake anti-imperialism, Benjamin signed the September 2020 letter mentioned in Noam Chomsky's entry above. Her organization actually congratulated Biden on his election victory before proceeding to politely suggest the u.s. State Department & Pentagon stop doing what they were made to do.
2024 update: Apparently finally having had enough, in September she tweeted her support for Jill Stein's presidential campaign.

3. Joshua Potash

Potash, who flipped viral tweets about protests or whatever into a Substack with over 14,000 followers, repeatedly made his commitment to the u.s. political system clear with straightforward arguments in favor of Genocide Joe.

4. Angela Davis

The 2023 article “Angela Davis is a radlib” covers her frequent alignment with Democrats over recent decades, including the 2020 election.
2024 update: at a French “Communist” Party festival in France, Davis encouraged her listeners to vote for Kamala Harris.

5. Aaron Maté

While Maté, as a host for The Grayzone, offers more cover for “multipolar” imperialists than some other names on this list, his argument that Genocide Joe is better for “the world's most vulnerable people”, when in fact many of them were killed because the two-party system's genocidal attacks on such people cannot be stopped at the ballot box, is equally uninspiring.

6. Naomi Klein

After campaigning for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primaries, the wealthy author & tenured professor (in klanada, it's worth noting!) nevertheless promoted an autumn 2020 campaign to bring pro-Bernie “revolutionaries” into Biden's camp.

7. Kelly M. Hayes

Hayes, an activist author & microcelebrity based in Chicago, published an August 2020 op-ed in Teen Vogue encouraging its audience to line up behind empire, even when it hurts.

8. adrienne maree brown

brown's Wikipedia page documents her long-running support for Democrats, which does not seem to conflict with her rather lucrative radical brand.

9. Cory Doctorow

Doctorow is best known as a science fiction author & internet commentator with leftist leanings. Like Naomi Klein, he didn't let his lack of a vote prevent him from telling other people they should vote Biden.

10. Marc Lamont Hill

Despite 2 decades of public support for the Green Party & having lost his job for saying “from the river to the sea”, Hill cast his first vote for the Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, insisting that the situation was really that critical.

If you live inside the united states of “amerika” & believe that you can & should help bring the empire to its end, there's much to learn from an earlier wave of aspiring revolutionary activity. Below are some of the organizations that were part of that wave, with brief descriptions intended as an introduction for those unfamiliar.

Black Liberation Army (BLA) Black nationalist & revolutionary socialist outgrowth of the much more famous Black Panther Party that was active for roughly a decade, around 1971-1981. Well-known BLA veterans who've shared some of their experiences include Dhoruba al-Mujahid bin Wahad, Russell Maroon Shoatz (RIP), Assata Shakur, Sekou Odinga (RIP), Jalil Muntaqim, Blood McCreary (RIP), Safiya Bukhari (RIP), Kuwasi Balagoon (RIP), Ashanti Alston, & Sundiata Acoli.

Ejército Popular Boricua (EPB) – Macheteros Puerto Rican independentistas, generally ignored by the u.s. mainland left despite their longevity. Founded in the 1970s & active primarily on the island, its leader Filiberto Ojeda Ríos was assassinated by the FBI in 2005.

Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN) A Puerto Rican/Boricua diaspora formation in the mainland u.s. which fought to support independence for the island. Well-known veterans include Guillermo Morales & Oscar López Rivera.

George Jackson Brigade Black & white revolutionaries who tried to challenge the reformism & anti-militant bias of the left in the pacific northwest. Their public statements, usually tied to other actions, were collected & contextualized in Creating a Movement with Teeth: A Documentary History of the George Jackson Brigade.

Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) A 1960s Black revolutionary organization, born from the student movement, that worked to radicalize the Black movement from within, influenced greatly by the contemporary examples of Mao Zedong & Robert F. Williams. One of its founders, Muhammad Ahmad, included an overview of the experience in We Will Return In The Whirlwind: Black Radical Organizations 1960-1975, while more recently a chapter in the insurrectionary anarchist book Movement for No Society analyzed their approach.

Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) Small revolutionary group based in california that famously kidnapped oligarch Patty Hearst. Highly dysfunctional & abusive internally.

United Freedom Front (UFF) An underground anti-imperialist organization which focused on solidarity efforts with international struggles, in particular against u.s.-backed dictatorships in apartheid Azania (south Africa) & central Abya Yala.

Weather Underground (WUO) A segment of the white student movement that took up militant anti-imperialism as a challenge to the rest of the white left. While they became somewhat [in]famous, most of its leaders returned to the liberal fold & are now Democrats. Some ex-members wrote a thorough critique.

The book False Nationalism, False Internationalism: Class Contradictions in the Armed Struggle provides a critical overview (from a marxist perspective) of this collective experience, written as it was coming to an end. Critical responses to this post, which necessarily leaves out much, are also encouraged. Such responses need not take the shape of written words.

no invite needed:

https://aangat.lahat.computer

https://www.autistici.org – you have to explain why you want an account

https://disroot.org (tor browser only: link) – signup usually available on weekdays

https://espiv.net (english here) (tor: link) – you have to explain why you want an account

https://systemausfall.org (english here) – if you don't have a vouch (explained below), you have to share something online that shows your politics

(a vouch is basically confirmation that you're 'legit' from someone who's already accepted)

invite or vouch needed:

https://riseup.net (tor: link) – you need an invite to join

https://aktivix.org – you need a vouch or mutual friends/compas to join

updated november 2024

no account needed for these sites:

anna's archive – https://annas-archive.org – https://annas-archive.li – https://annas-archive.se

library genesis (version 1) – https://libgen.gs – https://libgen.li

library genesis (version 2) – https://library.lol

free account needed for these sites:

(you can use a temporary/throwaway email address to register)

z-library – https://go-to-library.sk – http://loginzlib2vrak5zzpcocc3ouizykn6k5qecgj2tzlnab5wcbqhembyd.onion (tor browser only!)

مكتبة نور – https://www.noor-book.com