Download this new pamphlet as a pdf for reading by clicking here, or the printable version by clicking here. See the end of this post for helpful printing instructions.
Less than a year after the global justice movement dramatically announced its arrival in the U.S. by shutting down the World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle, thousands of activists from the global justice movement took the streets of Philadelphia for direct action against police brutality and the prison industrial complex on August 1, 2000, during the Republican National Convention. We called it R2K. SLAM members were instrumental in the planning and participation.
With “Where Was the Color in Seattle?” Elizabeth “Betita” Martinez challenged the emerging global justice movement to grow its roots deep. SLAM had some ideas for how to do that. Along with people of color and allies in Philadelphia, SLAM argued for R2K to focus on issues vital to communities of color in the U.S. (See “Activists of Color in the New Movement: Lessons from RNC Organizing” by Philadelphia activist Amadee Braxton, and the film A is for Anarchist, B is for Brown).
More than 400 activists were arrested during R2K, many in a raid on puppet-makers early August 1st. While in jail for up to 3 weeks, many activists were physically and sexually abused. Because police destroyed hundreds of puppets, including skeletons representing the loss of 138 people George W. Bush had executed as Texas governor, the corporate media told the world we had no message. But we also created a new independent media, with collective use of internet, camera, radio and writing skills, which became Philly IMC. And while in jail, organizers met with “general population” detainees and publicized a list of demands: no more waiting 2 or more years to go to court, no more beatings, prompt medical attention, and more.
I conducted these interviews in July 2010 with 6 people of color who participated in R2K as SLAM members. The views expressed here reflect a range of perspectives on direct action, strategy and tactics, racism in the movement, reaching beyond activist scenes, and direct democracy. Audio segments from these interviews are on this site, so you can hear these words in the voices of the people who said them. Click here to listen.
Please share the pamphlet with anyone who might be interested! I’m hoping that this can be a great resource for student activists and radicals of all stripes.
In Solidarity, Suzy Subways
Instructions for printing the pamphlet on your home printer:
1. Download the printable version here.
2. Use Legal size (8 1/2 x 14) paper. Make sure that the printer is not set to reduce, or “scale” the document. On my Mac in Preview, I go under “File” and click on “Page Setup,” then make sure “Scale” is set to 100%. I don’t think it’s much different for other computers and programs.
3. – In the printing options, select “Odd pages only.” Press print.
4. Half of the pamphlet will print. After it finishes printing, take the whole pile, flip it over, and insert it back into the printer. It usually has to be flipped over lengthwise, but you might want to make sure by using a test page.
5. In the printing options, select “Even pages only” and press print.
