Updated July 2008
1. What is your media policy?
Currently, the policy we have consensed on is one of “limited real-time engagement with the media.” This means that we
may send out press releases and update this FAQ;
may do real-time engagement with independently owned and operated media (e.g., Indymedia, community-based radio programs, newspapers that serve local communities). Even so, each request will be reviewed individually on a case-case basis.
will consider answering further questions submitted to rncwcmedia@riseup.net or rnc08media@riseup.net. These questions/possible answers will be brought to the full Welcoming Committee for discussion and approval at the first meeting following their submission.
DO NOT do on-the-spot interviews;
DO NOT answer new questions, give new answers, or agree to interviews without the approval of the full Welcoming Committee;
DO NOT allow members of the media, acting in that capacity, to sit in on our meetings.
Our group is in constant flux, and we expect our media policy to evolve with us and the context in which we are working.
2. Why the media policy?
Well, we’re very busy and frankly don’t have time to entertain every interview request - even if we wanted to. Since the capitalist press has historically been used as the mouthpiece for corporations and the state, we have decided to focus our efforts on “friendly” media such as Indymedia and community-based media. As anarchists and anti-authoritarians, we operate on group consensus which prohibits one person from talking for or on behalf of the larger group without expressed approval.
THE NCs…
3. Why the RNC? What are your goals? Is there a broader purpose to what you’re doing?
Because it’s coming here. Oh, and because as a political party which controls an enormous portion of state power, the Republicans are responsible for an enormous amount of the horror and devastation currently experienced by the world and its peoples. As for a broader purpose, we want not only to ‘protest’ something, but also to continue to build a culture of liberation, where all people can be free. Most people are appalled with what the government is doing, but their dissent stops with voting for the other guy, or with cynical disengagement from the political system. Our resistance is justified, and we want our resistance to be constructive and creative.
4.Why specifically would anarchists protest a largely symbolic convention?
The RNC is a dog-and-pony show designed to put a flashy veneer on this farce of democracy and promote their candidate over the other guy. It is important for us to smash away this facade and present alternative ways of organizing based on honest and fair participation in decision making, not just the symbolism of a once-every-two-years ballot.
5. Why this strategy? Why blockade?
At the first pReNC in August of 2007 groups and individuals from all over the country met to come up with an approach to the RNC. The RNC-WC is committed to helping make their dreams come true. Many liked the idea of blockading for different reasons.
The most “direct” way to oppose a dog-and-pony show is just to stop it. It’s worth recognizing that the RNC is a symbolic event- we all know who the nominee is, and the convention is just a chance for his party to gather and toast themselves at our expense. We will not allow any ruling party in this country to have a celebration after centuries of brutality and exploitation both here and abroad. We wish to both break the spell of the normative politic and demonstrate our rage over the brutality our world has faced.
6. What about the DNC?
We resist the politics of representation and support a vision of life where we run our own affairs, directly and without political parties. Therefore, we are also opposed to the DNC. But, the RNC happens to be coming to the Twin Cities. (See our anti-DNC Support Statement.)
7.Is there an overarching message you are trying to get out?
As an informational clearinghouse the RNC-WC is not arranging to put out a particular message. Rather, we are working to facilitate the diversity of messages that will be present. There are a lot of reasons not to like the RNC and we are doing our best to make sure the people behind those reasons have the resources they need.
8. What was the pReNC?
The pReNC, or Pre-RNC, was a national event that the Welcoming Committee held in September 2007, exactly one year in advance of the 2008 RNC. It was a weekend of workshops and skill shares culminating in a decentralized strategy session to help prepare for the 2008 RNC. We want people to know, and respect, our local culture and our cities the way we do. For people from other parts of the country, the pReNC served as a way of getting to know our cities. You can read more in the pReNC Report Back.
9. What was the pReNC 5.3?
The pReNC 5.3 was a one day, non-hierarchical spokes-council meeting at the beginning of May. Representatives of organized affinity groups from various parts of the nation met to share strategies for resistance to the RNC in September.
WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE BELIEVE…
10. What is meant by “Crash the Convention”?
Crash the convention is one half of the Welcoming Committee’s call to action - quite literally the action component of what we as a logistical organization are facilitating. Crashing the convention is open to interpretation - By crashing, we can set realistic goals that are incremental rather than setting up a dichotomous failure/success scenario by a call to “shut down” the convention. We refuse to confine our potential by imposing a single vision of what success will look like. Blockading is crashing the convention, as is radical street theater performed outside the Xcel. Carefully orchestrated acts of civil disobedience could easily constitute crashing the convention as could spontaneous acts of direct action.
11. What is “3S”?
Swarm, seize, stay is an updated description of our blockading strategy as consensed upon by those attending pReNC 5.3. While not qualitatively different than the original call to blockade, swarm, seize, stay is a helpful way to talk about this strategy and helps to envision what this might look like in the streets. People will move into/around Downtown St. Paul via *swarms* of varying sizes, from multiple directions, and with diverse tactical intentions. They will then *Seize*space through both hard (e.g., lockboxes) and soft (e.g. congestion), fixed and mobile, blockading methods. With different goals in mind and with different tactics being employed, folks will *Stay* engaged with the situation in downtown St. Paul as long as necessary.
12. Who are you? How do you operate? What do you do?
We are a group of Twin Cities residents facilitating resistance to the 2008 Republican National Convention. Fed up with our dysfunctional and oppressive social system, we are organizing for a world of justice, equality, and direct democracy. We all agree on our Points of Unity. We operate by consensus, and our activities are planned and executed collectively. As anarchists and anti-authoritarians, we’re very diverse. We’re often portrayed as mindlessly destructive but, in contrast to our critics, we recognize that the power for positive change lies directly in our hands, and not in the hands of an elite few.
13. By August of 2008, how many do you hope will have joined your cause?
We are not a cause, nor are we looking to recruit people purely for
spectacle. We are not a membership driven organization. Our goal is not to
pull people to a cause, but rather to support and coordinate a diversity
of causes. That being said, our networks reach thousands.
14. What is consensus?
It’s a collective decision-making process for groups of diverse or like-minded people. There are many different ways to practice consensus, but the main principle is always to avoid subjecting any member of the group to a collective decision they find repellent. If one blocks (or does not support the decision being made), it should be the responsibility of all group members to come to a collective compromise that respects all opinions voiced on the issue.
15. What is anarchism?
Short answer: Democracy without government.
Longer answer: The radical notion that people ought to be allowed to control their own lives, and not each other’s. There are lots of different varieties of anarchism, but all share this basic principle that people are the best masters of their lives. We believe that the notion that we must be protected from each other is an idea intended to keep people within our society divided and living in fear of one another so we will be easier to control.
One group’s vision of what anarchism really stands for can be found at the Anarchist FAQ, a useful tool for any journalist who wishes to appear to have a basic understanding of what he or she writes.
16. How would anarchism work on a large scale?
Generally, the point of anarchism is to reduce the scale of operations. Communities should have the resources and power to manage themselves, but not enough to control others. We don’t imagine one utopia replacing the current system (which isn’t working on a large scale, either) but, rather, innumerable communities adapting to their unique environments.
17. But that’s just chaos, isn’t it?
Only in the sense physics gives to the word: generative, creative, the basis of all life, a ‘hidden order.’
18. What would you do without, and don’t people need, cops and prisons?
The fact that a society needs to coerce its members into behaving and following the rules is a sign that things aren’t going so well. Real problem solving in communities doesn’t and can’t occur through authoritarian intervention. On the other hand, there are effective models of restorative justice that have been in practice for thousands of years.
19. Don’t people need money to motivate them?
We are all flawed, and we live in a system that exploits our imperfections and pits us against each other, making money necessary to motivate us towards action. Anarchism is about creating a world in which it is easier for people to be and do good. History and personal life-experience have demonstrated time and time again that people have a deep capacity for caring and empathy, and a strong tendency towards mutual aid. An historical example of mutual aid is the reaction to the crisis for the people of the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, during which ordinary people went out of their way to help others. Organizations such as FEMA and the Red Cross, with paid staff supposedly trained to respond to such a crisis, failed the residents of the gulf coast, while unpaid community groups, such as Common Ground, provided substantial relief.
20. How to you plan to work with other groups?
The Welcoming Committee is a coalitional group, with participant individuals rooted and working in a variety of communities. For us, our Points of Unity are our bottom line, however, to the extent that we can do so without compromising our core values, we’re willing to work with groups that don’t compleately share our Points of Unity.
There are several other anarchist/anti-authoritarian groups with which we are aligned and who we have collaborated with to create the Crash the Convention (link) and Swarm Seize Stay (link) calls. Many can be found here (link to endorsements).
We are also members of the “Protest RNC 2008” coalition and have endorsed the large Sept 1st march.
A recent result of our coalition work produced the “St. Paul Principles”, tactical and strategic principles which have been agreed to by a broad spectrum of groups planning to resist the 2008 RNC. The principles are:
1. Our solidarity will be based on respect for a diversity of tactics and the plans of other groups.
2. The actions and tactics used will be organized to maintain a separation of time or space.
3. Any debates or criticisms will stay internal to the movement, avoiding any public or media denunciations of fellow activists and events.
4. We oppose any state repression of dissent, including surveillance, infiltration, disruption and violence. We agree not to assist law enforcement actions against activists and others.
You can read more about the St. Paul Principles here (http://www.nornc.org/st-paul-principles/).
The Welcoming Committee expects to contribute to a broad base of resistance, but we don’t feel the need to control or direct everything that goes on in the lead up to, during, or after the RNC.
21. Do you intend to apply for a permit to protest?
The Welcoming Committee is NOT planning specific actions. The WC’s role is to serve as a clearinghouse for groups that have action plans. That said, we do not intend to allow the state to dictate the form of our resistance. Requiring permits simply to exercise one’s freedom of speech is a tactic used by the state in an attempt to create divisions by labeling some protesters “good” and others “bad.” The Welcoming Committee is in solidarity with all groups preparing to resist the RNC, whether they seek to obtain a permit or not.
22. How did you get the GOP Express plans?
The document in question, a scanned PDF of a print-out of a PowerPoint presentation called “GOP Express,” is one of many documents produced by the City of St. Paul in a lawsuit brought against them by groups planning an anti-war march for the first day of the Republican National Convention. The Welcoming Committee, an anarchist organizing body preparing for RNC protests, has positioned itself as a clearinghouse for convention-related information, and provides any and all relevant material through its website.
Why do you want to Recreate 68? What is your relationship to the 68 protests? What is your relationship to the WTO in Seattle?
We are not Chicago in 68 or Seattle in 99. While we may draw inspiration from actions of the past, it is important that we not hold them up to be unattainable “high water marks”. Rather they are battles with some elements of victory meant to be built on and surpassed.
23. How do you keep a reporter busy for hours?
See frequently asked question #39.
24. What about the Republicans right to free speech?
Rights imply a legitimate authority that grants them and can take them away. We believe social life needs to be cooperatively determined by its participants. The question is not what someone’s “right” is, but rather what is the socially responsible course.
Secondly, the Republicans aren’t just getting together to speak. They are hijacking resources from our local communities to further their irresponsible behaviors of murderous war and environmental devastation. That is not okay with us.
25. Wouldn’t you achieve more working within the system? How do you feel about Obama?
We would be the first to admit that Barak Obama is highly charismatic and very handsome. However, not even his remarkable good looks and devilish charm are enough to compensate for all the problems of our two party system. We do not have a preferred candidate. We do not believe that one man, woman or child should hold the lives of millions in his or her hand. We prefer to think that all of us should have a part in making decisions that affect our lives, not just one person, no matter how good looking they may be.
Time and again we have watched those around us invest tremendous energy in reforming and changing our bankrupt political system from the inside only to receive little or no return on the investment of their time and energy. The 2004 Kerry campaign is an excellent example. Millions of dollars and endless volunteer hours were put into an effort that eventually yielded nothing but bitter tears. Consequently, we are skeptical that efforts to change the system from within are worthwhile or effective. We choose to spend our time and energy attempting to affect change by building alternative systems that protect and sustain our communities, instead of modifying or placating a system that attempts to destroy them.
26. Won’t your actions backfire and drum up sympathy for the Republicans? Won’t your tactics drive people away?
For every person turned off by the site of mass actions in the street, for every individual frustrated by the blockades, there is at least one who is saying ‘it’s about time.’ Most people are unhappy with the current state of the world. Many of us are just trying to figure out what we can do to makes things better. The Crash the Convention efforts and Swarm, Seize, Stay strategy are examples of such attempts and we think the spirit of dissent and participation will actually resonate strongly with many people.
Moreover, we strongly believe that if a true movement is ever going to emerge, it will only emerge if all of us are honest in word and action about what we believe. Our actions in St. Paul are a reflection of the politics that we believe in. We deeply believe in systems of decision making that offer everyone a voice, work towards a livable and loving world and defend that world from those who would destroy it. It is not enough to believe these things, it is only by acting on them that we give our hopes any chance to take hold and multiply.
We acknowledge that not everyone will be on board for this. As radicals we understand that there are real and meaningful differences in what everyone believes and we do not downplay those differences or attempt to hide them behind a smokescreen suggesting we are all on the same page. Some people really do value property and order over justice and participation. Some people really do think that we should not have a say in our own lives. We believe something different. We believe in justice, autonomy and participation. And we believe that most people out there hold similar ideas deep inside. We think that everyone wants a say in how their lives are governed and we hope our example will give people inspiration to stand up for themselves.
27. Are you the vanguard? Will you lead us to revolution?
We are not acting as leaders but rather are acting as the dictates of our conscience compels. We do not desire to be silently revered. Rather we hope that you may become your own leader and act as your heart compels.
28. What are you gonna do after the revolution?
Grow a garden along a stream and make love until harvest…
THE QUESTIONS WE’RE TIRED OF ANSWERING
29. Isn’t anarchist organizing a contradiction in terms?
Nope. We’re not against organization. Few anarchist theories disallow organization. Many use the term “voluntary association” to describe an individual’s agency to determine their willingness and ability to work with any particular social contract (which they are also a part of creating/changing/adapting). We’re against hierarchy and coercion. We’re anarchists, we’re organizing, and you can’t prove we don’t exist. Deal with it.
30. (Insert question about rock throwing/smashing windows)
As the Welcoming Committee, we refuse to condemn the defense of individuals, communities, and the Earth. Most violence comes from the state. When you come to St. Paul in September, look around: we won’t be the ones with nightsticks, guns, and Tasers.
31. What’s your stance on violence and property destruction?
Destruction bad. Property bad. The concept of property is used to deprive people of the basic necessities of life. We live here, and want to live in beautiful, clean environments, just like you. We also believe we have a right to defend ourselves, and if the tools used to attack us include the tools of property, it’s not exempt.
32. But haven’t all of society’s gains been made by “non-violent” action?
First, while we support oppressed peoples defending themselves with whatever means appropriate, our blockading strategy does not call for violence.
Power will use whatever means are most effective to maintain control. The primary tool of state control is violence whether physical, economic, or psychological. The state will use violence when needed to put down dissent. The only check on state violence is the risk of losing sovereignty and with that facing greater dissent. When “non-violent” action has seemed to be successful it is not because the appeals of the masses tugged at the hearts of the men in power. Rather, it becomes clear to those in power that if they don’t deal with the more moderate protests the protesters will all become “extremists”, and more voices will rise in protest. So, ultimately those who are behaving in a more moderate fashion receive a space at the table in order to keep the “radicals” out and to prevent the radicalization of the moderates. So, even the moderates have the state’s fear of radical action backing up their arguments.
33. Are you planning confrontation with the police?
The RNC-Welcoming Committee is not planning actions let alone confrontations with the police. In the twin cities’ history of protest, it has always been the police that have instigated violent confrontation; we have no reason to believe the RNC will be any different. Unfortunately, this is the logical outcome when the police are given millions of tax dollars to upgrade their arsenals specifically for the RNC. To be sure, it is the police and not the protesters who will be armed with water cannons, tasers, percussion grenades, rubber bullets, helicopters, and tear gas this September.
34. Will Black Bloc, Inc. be at the RNC?
Black blocking is a tactic, not a group, association, or corporation. Black blockers dress alike in order to minimize the targeting of individuals. Insofar as they further our struggles for autonomy, peace, and liberation, we stand for black bloc tactics.
35. Why black?
Black ain’t the absence of color, it’s the combination of all of them. Also, it matches everything and doesn’t show dirt and grime.
36. Why do you try to hide your identities? What are you afraid of?
There are at least two good reasons for people to be wearing masks at the RNC actions. First, the presence of the mask allows people witnessing the action live or seeing it after through media to focus on what happened rather than on the identity of the people involved. We are not Stopping the RNC in order to score good karma points, or advance our activist credentials. We are here taking actions that present an alternative to a heartless, destructive system that we oppose. We want people to focus on those actions and what they mean rather than our names.
Second, the presence of masks helps all of us become a group and helps lower the risk or police violence targeting any one person at the protest or in the time following it. We are not so naïve as to believe that our actions will be without consequences. Masks present us with an opportunity to act on our politics and continue our work without having to constantly look over our shoulders for police reprisals.
37. Sure your tactics seem to make sense, but aren’t you worried about the way the media will spin it?
It is true that the media has been historically unfriendly to anarchist/anti-authoritarian causes. However, we are not basing our actions on possible media perspective. If we spent our time worrying that a few giant media conglomerates would think poorly of us we would never do anything to resist. We have attempted to maintain some control over our interactions with the media by consistently refusing requests by corporate media for interviews and explaining our actions through highly informative and extremely educational press releases. Also, all media outlets have equal access to our FAQs which have been reviewed and agreed upon in welcoming committee meetings. However, we understand that a large scale movement will not be built thanks to the support of major media outlets. There is even an outside chance that the revolution will not be televised. At the end of the day we are doing what we believe in. We will crash the Republican National Convention and the media can spin that however they want.
38. So you’re all white kids, from middle and upper-middle class backgrounds, right?
Nope. There is a mixture of class backgrounds in the RNC-WC; some of us are quite proud of our working-class families. Similarly, we’re not all kids — some of us have been active anarchists for more than 30 years.
We support and share a movement with the anti-authoritarian struggles of people of color around the world, and we learn from them. The Zapatistas in Chiapas; African-Americans trying to reclaim New Orleans against the wealthy interests who would steal it away from them; Argentinean workers who occupy and reopen abandoned factories as worker-run enterprises; striking teachers and their supporters in Oaxaca; the on-going struggle of MOVE members in Philadelphia – all inspire us and give us a lot to think about. While not always anarchist in name, these movements and others throughout history, across racial and geographic boundaries, manifest the principles we strive to enact. Like others, we work for a world in which ordinary people have more say in their own lives; where wealth is distributed equally; where democracy is not reduced to voting for the lesser of two evils every four years; where people are not bombed and robbed by their own governments; and where no one thinks that skin color says anything about the inherent worth of a person. Anti-racism is very much within our core philosophy.
At this time, the group consists primarily of people with white-skin privilege. We believe that we can, and certainly want to be, a strongly anti-racist group nonetheless. We intend to interact with communities of color in the same way that we intend to interact with all communities devastated by capitalism, imperialism and the state - with respect, empathy and solidarity. We have all been socialized into a racist system; racism exists everywhere in this society, even within radical circles, and we realize that claiming the title of “anarchist” doesn’t automatically change that. To be genuinely anti-authoritarian means to resist domination and subjugation through race as much as through class, gender, sexuality, or any of the identities and intersections thereof exploited by our oppressors as a means to divide our movement.
39. What’s the best way to occupy a reporter for hours on end?
See frequently asked question #23.
40. Are you all (angry young men from the suburbs/dirty dreadlocked hippies/college kids)?
No. (See: Points of Unity and #22)
41. Do you hate America?
If by America you mean the land that we share and the diversity of beings who inhabit the land, then we love America. If you mean the United States government, currently waging yet another murderous and unethical war, or American corporations, perpetuating worker and environmental exploitation, class divisions and poverty both here and abroad, then, yes.
42. Are you terrorists?
No. If terrorism is the use of fear and violence to compel obedience, then we are opposed to terrorism, since it is obviously the dominant tactic of the State. Police brutality, State warfare, the prison industrial complex, and the militarization of the world are all attempts to control us through the use of violence and the fear it creates. We’re against all of that.
Aren’t you just a front for… (Al-Qaida, the Democratic party, the Communist party, the Devil)?
No, we are not a sub-sect of any other organization. We are Twin Cities residents acting with one another in the way our hearts and minds compel us.
43. We know what you’re against, but what are you for?
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A world and relationships that support the health of all creatures and acknowledges the interdependence of all living things. (See FAQ #7, What is Anarchism?)