riots to rebellions

Scams and Side Hustles

2010-02-18T14:23:00.001-08:00

My latest idea is to transition to a blog about the many means of getting by. The economy has left me with a decent job that pays very little, I am just able to pay my bills and buy food without a dollar left to put into savings. Lately, I've been picking friends brains for ideas on lucrative side hustles. Most ideas that seem viable (meaning not requiring a whole lot of work) require a lot of risk, and are very illegal. I would never waste my time judging folks who are doing what they can to get by, in fact I believe I should be as supportive as possible as a means of solidarity with the masses scrapping by under this shit-system. So here I start the scam and side hustle blog.

(update) SCRATCH THAT IT'S BEEN DONE, KINDA - Scamplots -may need some tweaking...

PleaseRobMe website via the BBC

and the ATM skimmer

Some Favoite Videos For the Hell of It

2009-12-18T13:53:00.000-08:00

...also known as the death of a blog.

Food Throwing as Protest

2009-12-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

Gawker posted a great list of reasons throwing food is a legitimate form of protest. Their arguments include:

Throwing food at people has a long, messy history

A violent action without all that violence

It's democratic

Usually, the victim deserves it

It's hilarious

Honor Fred Hampton

2009-12-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

On the anniversary of his murder.
Read his "Power Anywhere there is People" speech

Almost Ready To Quit...

2009-10-18T17:11:00.000-07:00

de vaartkapoen, brussels

Closing in on a year of Riots to Rebellions, perhaps a transformation is in order

On the Anniversary of John Brown's Insurrection

2009-10-16T14:41:00.000-07:00

The true question is, Did John Brown draw his sword against slavery and thereby lose his life in vain? And to this I answer ten thousand times, No! No man fails, or can fail, who so grandly gives himself and all he has to a righteous cause. No man, who in his hour of extremest need, when on his way to meet an ignominious death, could so forget himself as to stop and kiss a little child, one of the hated race for whom he was about to die, could by any possibility fail. -Fredrick Douglass

Read more!

The Women Militants of Asgarda

2009-09-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

IN THE UKRAINE, A COUNTRY WHERE FEMALES ARE VICTIMS OF SEXUAL TRAFFICKING AND GENDER OPPRESSION, a new tribe of empowered women is emerging. Calling themselves the “Asgarda,” the women seek complete autonomy from men. Residing in the Carpathian Mountains, the tribe is comprised of 150 women of varying ages, primarily students, led by 30 year-old Katerina Tarnouska. Reviving the tribal traditions of the Scythian Amazons of ancient Greek mythology, the Asgarda train in martial arts, taught by former Soviet karate master, Volodymyr Stepanovytch, and learn life skills and sciences in order to become ideal women.

Read more and view the pictorial by Jenna Martin

A Kid that Tells on Another Kid is a Dead Kid

2009-09-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

It is the 30th Anniversary of the "greatest teen rebellion movie of all time", Over the Edge. The movie only lasted two weeks in the theater before it was pulled in fear it would incite riots. It stars a 14 year old Matt Dillon who, with his teen friends, attacks the confines of the planned suburban community, including police, teachers, their school, and of course, snitches. The film was loosely based on accounts from a town outside of San Francisco, where the youth rebelled against the bourgeois mediocrity and boredom they were facing.

Check out this Vice article interviewing many involved in the making of the film.

The Shoe Thrower Speaks Out

2009-09-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

Muntazer al-Zaidi, otherwise know as the "shoe thrower" is out of prison and speaking out, unrepentant.

The opportunity came, and I took it.

I took it out of loyalty to every drop of innocent blood that has been shed through the occupation or because of it, every scream of a bereaved mother, every moan of an orphan, the sorrow of a rape victim, the teardrop of an orphan.

I say to those who reproach me: do you know how many broken homes that shoe which I threw had entered? How many times it had trodden over the blood of innocent victims? Maybe that shoe was the appropriate response when all values were violated.

May this hero serve as an example, and may what he did and the reasons he did it never be forgotten.

Van Jones on rioting

2009-09-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

The right-wing politicos have been having strokes over this Obama appointed 'green jobs' adviser for his alleged participation in Rodney King protests and riots in San Francisco. A Fox news smear piece on Jones quotes him on the riots:

"Our moment had finally come! We were righteous, fired up, weren't takin' no more!" Jones wrote. "We were one thousand strong on Market Street, with the Bay Bridge shut down in rush hour traffic and the grounds around the state building swarming with angry mobs! Our rallying cry was for justice; our demand was that the System be changed!"
Jones continued, "Yes, the Great Revolutionary Moment had at long last come. And the time, clearly, was ours! So we stole stuff. Y'know, stole stuff. Radios, tennis shoes. Well, not everybody, of course."

Jones go on to make some valid points on the place of riots, that is, amongst a larger organized movement for social justice.

In his 2007 reflection on the aftermath of King's beating, Jones said he was among those who chanted "no justice, no peace" during the "understandable, unavoidable, even necessary" riots.
"These riots were not revolution; without revolutionary values and revolutionary organization, they were merely sharp outcroppings of the systemic chaos that social injustice breeds," Jones wrote. "But flashpoints of rage can never substitute for radical social vision or grassroots coordination."

I am happy to see a man like this in our government, let there be a 1000 more like him.

Riot Fun

2009-09-03T15:40:00.000-07:00

Tough financial times lead to...the smash and grab.

Anti-Pollution Riots In China

2009-09-02T09:49:00.001-07:00

The Cost of Capitalism...

"Up to 10,000 Chinese villagers have clashed with police in eastern China in the latest incident in a wave of social unrest caused by fears over industrial pollution.
The riot in the eastern coastal province of Fujian comes a week after two high-profile cases of lead poisoning involving more than 2,100 children raised public concerns over the environmental cost of China's headlong rush for economic growth.

Riot Art

2009-08-31T10:53:00.001-07:00

Riot - Stelios Faitakis

Riots Work! artist unknown

After the Riot - JJ Hines

Prison Riots Should Come As No Surprise

2009-08-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

Severe prison overcrowding, and general horrid conditions (such as locking human beings in cages for 20 hours a day) produces anti-social behavior, of course. Riots historically have been then only tactic to shed light on these conditions and produce change.

Prison riots in the last week include:

Chino, California

Mexico City, Mexico

Ashwell, England

Also see Riots to Rebellions past post on Prison Riots and Attica!

We Shall Over Strum

2009-08-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

Mr. Fish

A call for new tactics?

Obama Endorses the Brutalizing of Cops

2009-07-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

I can't help myself, it's very rare to hear a U.S. president celebrate a moment of violent rebellion against cops, or any manifestation of the state (has it ever happened before?...i'm thinking maybe the John Brown rebellion?). I am in no way deluded into thinking that Obama is even tacitly a supporter of liberatory riots, nor am I now hopeful that the man will lend his support to GLBTQ community in any real way.

I just think it's cute.

President Obama welcomed about 200 LGBT leaders from around the country, including three local activists, to the White House June 29 for a reception to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, during which the president reiterated his support for LGBT-rights issues.

Obama spoke to the crowd for about 15 minutes, encouraging LGBT and ally individuals to continue the fight that began in New York City 40 years ago the previous day, when hundreds of LGBT people fought back against a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, spurring what is considered the birth of the modern LGBT-rights movement.

Riot Art

2009-06-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

Sylvia Rivera, Stonewall Vet by. S. Tooley

Post 'White Night Riots' Poster

Stonewall Heroes

2009-06-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

Outhistory.org has released NYC police reports from June 28, 1969, the beginning of the Stonewall Riots. The records reveal new, exciting information about the spark that spurned the "gay revolution". Such gems include:

the vicious participation of women who "did shove and kick" police officers
a police officer "being bitten on the right wrist by a Stonewall rebel"
a resistor using a rolled up newspaper to strike a officer "in the left eye" causing the cop "to fall to ground sustaining a fractured left wrist”
Straight ally, and folk singer David Van Ronk assaulted an officer and was arrested as well

Let's give our highest adoration to the mighty Stonewall rioters on the 40 anniversary of the rebellion that flaunted to the world that queers too will strike back with demands for respect, justice and equality.

Iran is Burning

2009-06-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

On the election riots in Iran...

From Jewbonics: hundreds of thousands–perhaps millions–of Iranian Mousavi supporters are out in the street, agitating for reform. They are politicized. They think their votes weren’t counted. They know that they are banned from demonstrating. And they know that the Islamic Republic has authorized the use of live ammunition (there have already been civilian deaths, which may lead to further strengthening of the movement).

An energized populace in Iran, willing to defy illegitimate state edicts, can only lead to good, fraud or no fraud.

Iran isn't the only country rioting

" "

2009-06-09T14:06:00.000-07:00

People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.
James Baldwin

Water Riots

2009-06-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

Water riots occurred in Hargeisa, Somaliland for the fourth time this week because ordinary citizens feel helpless and hopeless as a result of finding no means to achieve their legitimate demands.

With the authorities showing lack of perspective planning and failure to deal with the incessant water problems letting parts of Hargeisa, the capital city, reel under severe water crisis, residents have resorted to staging agitations as the only ultimate weapon to get a solution.

The Fashionable Rioter

2009-06-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

Please allow me a moment to give props to the riotous fashionistas. Good fashion is a privilege, and perhaps a shallow pursuit being that global capitalism is strangling millions to death. But, one of this blogs' aims is to promote the riot aesthetic. So today we celebrate those who, despite their desperate situations, took a moment to look good--damn good.

Soweto, South Africa (update)

Paris 68'

Weatherman/Days of Rage

Mexican Revolution

Lawyers in Pakistan

G20

Paris?

* Pardon the over representation of men here, I had a hard time scavenging the diversity of riot pics that I know exists somewhere...

Blog post on Fashion and the Black Block and the place I harvested a few of these images, The Boulevardier (thanks)

Our Riot History: Streetcar War of San Francisco

2009-05-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

In 1907, shortly after the disastrous S.F. earthquake, streetcar workers went on strike against United Railroad (URR) demanding a eight hour workday and a salary hike. URR immediately brought in strikebreakers along with armed guards rather than negotiate with the strikers.

When URR attempted to run the streetcars staffed by strikebreakers, strikers and sympathisers threw stones and blocked the road. In response, armed strikebreakers began shooting into the crowd. Pitched battles where fought throughout the city with riotous masses pelting the cars with stones and bricks and the strikebreakers shooting back. At one point strikers took over an abandoned streetcar and sent it crashing into the barracks where the strikebreakers slept. By the end of the first day three where dead and over a dozen where wounded, mostly strikers and their sympathisers.

The battles and sabotage continued for nearly four months with many more casualties. In the end URR broke the strike, but the savage tactics of the company left the city bitter. In 1912 a popular movement for a publicly-owned streetcar line pushed URR out of S.F.

Read more, and with graphics

Tea Farmers Attack Police Station

2009-05-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of tea farmers attacked a police station in Yingde, China on Saturday after rumours spread that one man had been killed in custody for fighting for farmers' rights.

They attacked the station with stones, bricks and hoes, and set police vehicles on fire.

The riot was brought under control four and a half hours later. It's only one of a string of recent incidents where citizens have attacked police stations.

"The case should teach grassroots governments a lesson," said Xu Binbin, a lecturer of public administration with South China Normal University.
"This kind of violence is happening more and more at the grassroots level and grassroots governments should play a more effective role in dealing with complaints," he said.

Intimidated by Queer Riots

2009-05-20T15:32:00.000-07:00

S.F. mayor Gavin Newsom has asked the California supreme court to delay announcing its decision on proposition 8, legalizing gay marriage. Newsom is concerned that the ruling would fall on the anniversary of the White Night Riots (May 21st 1979), and could possibly demand a repeat performance if queer folks rights are trampled on once again. Newsom understands that queer anger, and anger by long oppressed folk needs to be respected. He knows San Francisco can not afford to have another 15 + police cruisers torched...but perhaps the gay community cannot afford not to torch them...it's not for me say.

I'm hoping the court does the right thing, the police cruisers will eventually have to burn regardless.

Riot Art

2009-05-19T15:00:00.001-07:00

Packard Jennings

Paris 68'

Emory Douglas

Our Riot History: The Whiskey Rebellion

2009-05-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

Today is the anniversary of the so called Whiskey Rebellion. Twenty years after the American Revolution, still idealistic Americans rebelled against the government and the unfair excise tax imposed upon them (as they believed was their right based on the newly formed constitution). The "revolutionary" in power, Alexander Hamilton, raised an army as big as the army raised for the Revolutionary War, which ultimately led to a vast increase in centralized control over the American economy, and society. read more

Whiskey rebellion flag

Workers Attack for Jobs

2009-05-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

Steel workers attacked ArcelorMittal's Luxembourg headquarters on Tuesday, setting off smoke bombs and trying to break through the

front door to protest temporary layoffs during the economic slump.

While the company held its annual shareholders' meeting, some among the 1,000 workers from Belgium and France hurled cobblestones and steel fencing at the building, which riot police lined up to protect.

One protestor broke into the building and between 20 and 30 others fought police at the entrance. Journalists were told to leave the ground floor and go out a back entrance as smoke filled the halls.

Crowds Attack Cops After Killing

2009-05-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

Crowds spontaneously attacked cops after they shot two young men in Austin. Read more

this news clip is mostly crap, start at the 3 minute mark

Documentary on the Greek Riots

2009-05-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

"don't tear gas us, we cry on our own"

Storming Heaven: Greek Insurrection 2008

thanks to beelzebuba

Arab Israeli's Riot

2009-04-24T09:18:00.000-07:00

400 residents of the town of Kfar Qassem came out to stop the demolition of a hothouse floor, tossing rocks and Molotov cocktails. Something tells me this riot runs deeper than a cement floor.

Our Riot History, Soweto, South Africa

2009-04-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

In 1976 the apartheid government of South Africa decided to start enforcing the teaching of Afrikaans to all South Africans rather than English or any of the native African languages. This proved to be the tipping point for the black students suffering under apartheid. One student told the World newspaper:

"Our parents are prepared to suffer under the white man's rule. They have been living for years under these laws and they have become immune to them. But we strongly refuse to swallow an education that is designed to make us slaves in the country of our birth."

After mass demonstrations were shut down, and protesters fired upon and killed by the government, the students resorted to rioting. Students attacked police and burned down government buildings, and the rebellion quickly spread across the country. These riots proved to be horribly deadly for the students, but their dedication and militancy pushed the South African revolution forward and was a major force in shutting down the apartheid government.
Read more and more still

Riot Art

2009-04-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

David Shrigley

Homestead Riot

D*face

Pro-Pirate, Anti-Imperialist

2009-04-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

The pirates of Somalia have taken to pirating as a means of survival and rebellion against imperialist nations who continue to use and strangle the African nation. One pirate's justifies his actions as a means to

“stop illegal fishing and dumping in our waters … We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea bandits [to be] those who illegally fish and dump in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas.”

The War on Pirates is a crock, I am a firm pirate supporter.
Death to imperialist sea vessels!

Read, You Are Being Lied To About Pirates for more.

Prison Riot in England

2009-04-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

Inmates tore apart the prison in which they live after a dispute with staff, government cost cutting and over crowding is being blamed.

The Thai Revolution Takes It Up A Notch

2009-04-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

Thai protesters have resorted to rioting soon after protesters shut down a major regional summit and the Thai Prime Minister declared a state of emergency. The massive popular protests to oust Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who took power by mean of military coup, has been growing with ferocity as the Prime Minister refuses to step down. As this post goes out the military has begun cracking down on the protests.

Watch as protesters attack the Prime Ministers car and read more!

Riots In Pakistan and Moldova

2009-04-09T10:53:00.001-07:00

Militant riots in Pakistan break out leaving a police officer dead after political dissidents found dead.

Anti-Communists riot against fraudulent elections storming the parliament building. Twitter blamed for the massive and spontaneous response.

NATO Riots

2009-04-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

30,000 protesters converged on the border of France and Germany to show their disdain for NATO and their collective policies. A bit of a riot broke out, commonly cited as being incited by the cops. Link

“Our message is jobs, not bombs, and welfare not warfare...The era of protest has returned.”

Video links

Sorry this posting is a bit late.

Why Riot? It Works!

2009-04-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

In "Riots Are A Class Act- And Often They Are the Only Alternative" Gary Younge deftly lays out the importance of the riot for those who have no voice. He cites the working class French, largely Arab, youth riots of 2005 and the governments' concessions to their attacks. "We need to respond strongly and quickly to the undeniable problems facing many inhabitants of the deprived neighbourhoods," said President Chirac, and out rolled programs, jobs, and a build up of academic assistance for the underprivileged.

And the reality is that none of this would have happened without riots. There was no petition these young people could have signed, no peaceful march they could have held, no letter they could have written to their MPs that would have produced these results.

Amid the charred chassis and broken glass there is a vital point of principle to salvage: in certain conditions rioting is not just justified but may also be necessary, and effective. From the poll tax demonstrations to Soweto, history is littered with such cases; what were the French and American revolutions but riots endowed by Enlightenment principles and then blessed by history?

Younge may disagree with me and my pro-middle class riot stance, he views rioting as a last resort for the voiceless, a point with which I strongly agree. I'd submit too, that the middle class has reason to join the riot-privileged. We have been patronized, greased and stroked with empty niceties by the leaders, none of which pretends to aim at a path toward a world free of domination, mass murder, poverty, exploitation, and vampiric greed that shatters human bonds and grossly distorts humanity. Not to mention the current manic squandering by banks, investors and governments of the middle's class' money. That is to say, it leaves me dry, discouraged, and angry, and our voice isn't yet being heeded.

Read more about the 2005 French Riots, and read Younge's article, it's a gem.

G20-London Happenings

2009-04-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

Indymedia - breaking news

G20 Protesters Smash Into Bank

London's Apocalyptic Protesters

Anti-Capitalists Attack Banker's Home

2009-03-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

"This is just the beginning"

Anti-capitalists today claimed responsibility for vandalising the home of disgraced former Royal Bank of Scotland boss Sir Fred Goodwin.

'We are angry that rich people like him are paying themselves a huge amount of money, and living in luxury, while ordinary people are made unemployed, destitute and homeles,' the protesters said in an e-mail sent to media organisations.

'This is a crime. Bank bosses should be jailed. This is just the beginning.'

Residents in the plush street admitted the attack was wrong but appeared to have little sympathy for Sir Fred.

One women called Deirdre said: 'Sympathy? Exactly the opposite. If I was him I would have refused to have all this money and I would be mortified at what had happened to the bank.

Link

Obvious members of the Thank a Bank Movement

*thanks to Boingboing for the heads-up

Rebellion in Israel

2009-03-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

Jewish extremists marched Tuesday through an Israeli-Arab town to demand residents show loyalty to Israel, setting off stone-throwing protests by Arab youths that police dispersed with stun grenades and tear gas. link

Riot Art

2009-03-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

Moscow Plague Riot

Sue Coe

Riot Glam
"oooo we're the kids of the underground
oh there's a riot in everyone
we're the kids of the underground
and we're loud as we tear 'em down"

Our Riot History: The Poll Tax Riots

2009-03-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

The riots and demonstrations against the introduction of the poll tax by Margret Thatcher is considered one of the most important historical moments in British history.

The Poll tax taxed individuals equally regardless of their income, and in 1990 the gap between rich and poor was past obscene. The rebellion against the poll tax immediately spread across the country.

The scale and intensity of the riot and sustained protests garnered great rewards:

They contributed to the fall of Prime Minister Thatcher
They highlighted the huge divide between rich and poor in England
Immediately led to the repeal of the Poll Tax

Riots Against the Commodification of Water

2009-03-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

"water is people, it's life, it's not for sale"

"we want to crush this forum which wants to take our water"

Protesters shook up the World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey by demanding answers to the quickly dwindling world supply of fresh/free water.

also this weekend:

Riots Force Change In Pakistan

Irish Nationalist Riot

Montreal Against Police Brutality

2009-03-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

The Collective Opposed to Police Brutality had their annual march in Montreal. It was soon broken up by the cops which ignited a riot. 220 arrests where made and scores of police vehicles and store windows smashed.

Thank A Bank...

2009-03-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

for the mess we are in, as the youth in Greece are doing. This is the next big thing, forget about "space surfing", tweed jackets, or Lady GaGa, get in on the Thank a Bank Movement!!!
How much and how often can we let them play us?

Students In Kenya Fight Back

2009-03-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Two human rights leaders have been killed by the authorities, and predictably, rebellions break out. Link

Riot police stand behind a tree to try and hide from stone-throwing students from Kenya University

Martinique Riot/Strike!

2009-03-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

Another French occupied Island rebels against the failing economy. Link

Swede's Riot Against Israel

2009-03-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

"We ... want to protest against the fact that there are this many police officers to protect the representatives of a repressive occupying force that massacred so many innocent people in Gaza," a demonstrator, who identified himself only as Jan, told AFP.

Link

Riot Art

2009-03-05T15:29:00.001-08:00

Srdjan Loncar

Newark Riot, photographer unknown.

Matchless

Our Riot History: The Battle of Algiers

2009-03-02T12:03:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen the film, watch it, this is critical! (Watch the victorious, riotous ending, (embedding has been disabled)). Watching this clip will not ruin it for you, the Algerians win of course!

Bone up on the Algerian Revolution against colonialism, a movement that inspired many of the radical movements in the U.S. and continues to inspire revolt, i.e. today's France. Also, a hugely important outcome of Algerian liberation is Fanon's, "The Wretched of the Earth". Much more on Fanon and his philosophy to come.

Riot Warning!

2009-02-26T14:36:00.000-08:00

Riots may lead to incarceration or death. The government is preparing themselves for battle, re-read this re-post from Tuesday. The 'stakes is high', plan accordingly...

but plan for action.

thanks to Uncle$cam for the reminder

"Summer of Rage" and the G20

2009-02-24T09:47:00.000-08:00

Police in Britain are preparing for recession riots this summer and aggressive protests against the meeting of the G20, which they are calling a "summer of rage". Well said.

...middle-class individuals who would never have considered joining demonstrations may now seek to vent their anger through protests this year.
...banks, particularly those that still pay large bonuses despite receiving billions in taxpayer money, had become "viable targets". So too had the headquarters of multinational companies and other financial institutions in the City which are being blamed for the financial crisis.
More
Also, check out the local response to the coming rebellion: Preparing the military to restore order.

Our Riot History: Watts

2009-02-23T21:32:00.001-08:00

The Watts riots where the first major black riot of the 60's. Sparked by rumor of police brutality, it opened the flood gates to decades of anger and longings for freedom. While most in the establishment saw Watts as the "dregs of society gone out of control", the participants and politically astute saw it as a political protest and tactical guerilla warfare.

What we don’t remember, what many of us never really considered, was that this was a mass political action that had no leaders, no apologists, no internal critics. The Watts riot was a spontaneous act of a people who had been oppressed, emasculated and impoverished for too long.

The riot was a rebellion, a naturally formed revolution, an unconscious expression of a people who had lived entire lives, many generations, in a state of enforced unconsciousness. It was about people who were poor and undereducated, people who had no motherland or mother tongue or even a history as far as most of them knew. (From "What We Forgot About Watts" below)

The result was too many dead and arrested, but also worldwide publicity to the problems of blacks in inner-cities, local empowerment and politicalization, and immediate local government action to address grievances.

Please read more:

What We Forgot About Watts

Here is a synopsis of the goings on.

White French guys chime in

The Watts Rebellion at 40

Also go see the documentary Crips and Bloods: Made in America. It has some great first hand accounts of the riot and commentary on its connections to modern day L.A.

Update: Guadeloupe

2009-02-20T09:17:00.000-08:00

With fear that the militant protests in Guadeloupe will spread, French President Sarkozy offers concessions to the rioters. The people of Guadeloupe and the French disenfranchised don't play. The threat of riots are real and not uncommon, and provoke a quick response from the government. We'll see if this gesture is taken as a significant step or petty nod. [read more]

Guadeloupe Rebellion against Neo Liberalism

2009-02-18T09:15:00.001-08:00

The Caribbean Island joins the growing fed up masses (read about these militant badasses), and their brothers and sisters in Paris march in solidarity with them. Lovely.

Recession Will Lead To Rioting!

2009-02-18T09:09:00.000-08:00

I didn't say it, this is from the mouth of former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, and while I couldn't care less about this man's opinion it is quite amusing. Zbigniew went on to add that America's rich people should start giving their money to America's poor, or else. Well done. [the link]

"Violent Extremism" in the Homeland

2009-02-16T23:24:00.000-08:00

The new Director of National Intelligence has recently stated that the U.S. economic crisis is a bigger threat to national security than Al Qaeda. A deepening financial collapse could trigger, he said, a return to the “violent extremism” of the 1920s and 1930s. [read more]

Ooh, the prospects!

Let us give thanks to those terrorists of yore, to all the workers that gave their lives for eight hours of labor, eight hours recreation, and eight hours of rest, for dignity, and a life worth living. May we make such radical strides when our time comes, and snatch so much more out of the hands of the power wielders...no, tear it out of their hands.

Laying it On the Line Worldwide

2009-02-16T16:15:00.000-08:00

German riot police pushes back left-wing protesters during a demonstration against a far-right march in Dresden

Anti-government protest in Madagascar have turned deadly as police opened fire on protesters killing scores

Protesters throw stones at riot police standing behind an armoured personnel carrier during a protest in Istanbul

Riot Art

2009-02-13T10:13:00.001-08:00

Have We Already Missed Our Chance?

2009-02-10T22:35:00.000-08:00

Our collective disdain at the sick and twisted mismanagement of our money by private banks, and the government has gone unheeded, we have not adequately displayed the anger and urgency of this moment. We have been so horrendously fucked with, and who amongst us has any confidence in this bailout? The fires manifested from our pain and sadness should of liquefied the steel supports of the banks responsible and our screams should have scared shitless the governmental powers into conceding some real change.

From Naked Capitalism (read the whole article):

The Obama Administration is as obviously and fully hostage to the interests of the financial services industry as the Bush crowd was. We have no new thinking, no willingness to take measures that are completely defensible (in fact not doing them takes some creative positioning) like wiping out shareholders at obviously dud banks (Citi is top of the list), forcing bondholder haircuts and/or equity swaps, replacing management, writing off and/or restructuring bad loans, and deciding whether and how to reorganize and restructure the company. Instead, the banks are now getting the AIG treatment: every demand is being met, no tough questions asked, no probing of the accounts (or more important, the accounting).

We should of been rioting a long time ago!!

BBC's the Oracle Predicts Riots and Beheadings!

2009-02-09T10:38:00.000-08:00

Outrage at the global financial crisis spreads while the swine who helped get us in this mess leisurely swim, oink and wank in the oceans of bailout money sent their way by the feds. The Oracle seriously ponder banker beheadings and pitchfork wielding rioters. Please! less talk, more rock.

Malcolm X on Rioting

2009-02-08T16:13:00.000-08:00

You’re trying to drive him into a ghetto and make him the victim of every kind of unjust condition imaginable. Then when he explodes, you want him to explode politely!

scratchboard art by William Schaff

Last summer, when the Blacks were rioting—the riots, actually they weren’t riots in the first place; they were reactions against police brutality.2 And when the Afro-Americans reacted against the brutal measures that were executed against them by the police, the press all over the world projected them as rioters. When the store windows were broken in the Black community, immediately it was made to appear that this was being done not by people who were reacting over civil rights violations, but they gave the impression that these were hoodlums, vagrants, criminals....

And when you see the Blacks react, since the people who do this aren’t there, they react against their property. The property is the only thing that’s there. And they destroy it. And you get the impression over here that because they are destroying the property where they live, that they are destroying their own property. No. They can’t get to the man, so they get at what he owns.

Read the entire speech here.

Prison Riots!

2009-02-04T15:41:00.000-08:00

The huge riots in a West Texas prison are a direct response from prisoners to poor medical care, this is not surprising as poor medical care in prison is a nation wide epidemic. People are dying in their cells from treatable ailments, communicable disease spreads like wildfire, mental illness created and exasperated by typical prison conditions. It's obscene people. I hope this action brings those folks some relief, already the local media is talking about prison medical care...

Overview of the Prison Health Crisis

Texas Prisons and Health Care

Health care crisis and women prisoners

AIDS crisis in prison

The prison riot has long been a tactical response to the severe oppression felt by the incarcerated, if you are not up on your history, please read about the Attica rebellion (wiki synopsis, and deeper, and video of Attica prisoners telling their story), it's an amazing and tragic piece of people's history, know it, spread it!

Greek Riots, Can't Stop, Won't Stop

2009-02-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

Farmers on tractors fought police in Athens demanding financial aid. Meanwhile, militants stepped it up a notch by attacking a police station.

Farmer driving a tractor into riot cops

Farmers throwing potatoes at riot cops

Roots of the explosion in Greece, a deeply embedded mistrust of power and a love of rebellion. Americans have this history too! Where is our anger?

Analysis from the middle-left

Analysis from the neo-situationalist left

And the Best Song On the Riot Goes To...

2009-01-31T17:57:00.000-08:00

My pal and I recently attempted to find the greatest song on rioting...nominations went to:

"White Riot" by the Clash, speaks to the romantic longings I enjoy at times.
"Street Fighting Man", Rolling Stones,
Atari Teenage Riot seems to constantly be screaming about rioting
Public Enemy's video for "Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos" has a pretty dope prison riot scene
Black Flag laments fighting cops in "Police Story"

The Dead Kennedys and Rancid both have less noteworthy songs on the subject, but the winner for best riot song has to go to:

Ice Cube with "We Had To Tear This Motherfucker Up" this tune brutally illustrates, as in your face as you can get, the anger spawned by racist police oppression, and the beat kicks dick to boot. Check it.

thanks to Nihar for his help on this and future posts ;)

Paris Is Burning Again...

2009-01-30T09:13:00.001-08:00

as it does every year, this time they join the rest of the world in displaying anger over wanton financial bullshit (neoliberalism).

News rag

Video

Riot Art

2009-01-27T21:08:00.001-08:00

Eley Kishimoto

Remembering Oscar Grant

If anyone knows where I can find the rest of this amazing series of office riot instructionals, I'd be sooo very amped for it.

Riots In The Age Of Twitter

2009-01-27T20:38:00.001-08:00

Here is another informative article from another mainstream rag on riots, this time from the Economist. The article reports on the recent success of tactical riots due to the use of the internet and cell phones, and seems to suggest that this is the most efficient means towards radical ends:

[The anti-globalization movement] has ignored the idea of spontaneous but networked protest, and instead focused on taking large crowds to set-piece events like summits. Such methods look outdated now. Governments are not the only things that networked “anarchy” threatens.

So, maybe I'm taking what I want out of this article for my own purposes, I'm okay with that.

Let Me Clarify (Redux)...

2009-01-25T11:49:00.000-08:00

The history of American riots and uprisings are overall horrifying and disgraceful. A quick glance at this list of riots in the States will show a overwhelming number of lynch mobs and drunken white orgies of racist, xenophobic violence. In addition, a good hand full of incidents of oppressed and marginalized folks striking back has resulted in decimated communities and even deeper poverty and marginalization.

So why champion the riot?

Scattered amongst those miserable riots are many that forced dramatic and radical change, the individuals involved justly fought back against imposed sub-human living and won (as seen in a couple of previous posts here). Furthermore, many of the "failed" riots that burned down entire blocks of the oppressed own neighborhoods, where part of an strong movement for social justice that benefited from these extreme and sad acts. With a keen sense of direction and analysis violent strikes against those things the oppressor values can be dramatically beneficial. The reactionary right has always, without reservation chose violence to achieve it's ends, I am not suggesting we mimic their ways, but to tactically use what works within a framework that suits those of us interested in social justice, as a means of defense and liberation. This is what I aim to argue and explore in this here blog. Just thought I'd let ya know.

*I'd be a ass if I didn't mention that I am well aware that it can verge into the vulgar, if not just stupid, when a white middle-class man promotes potentially dangerous tactics to the oppressed, the majority being low-income people of color. This is not my intension. I intend to step carefully, and with full consciousness of the privilege I have in writing such things. But this blog's main target are those of us with privilege, the tenuously safe and secure, with percolating anger at the constant recycling of injustice and the unchecked, unrepentant free-range vampires maintaining this obscenity. I will try to make arguments that we need to step it up, to support those that choose to fight back in a loud way, and to take those in power to task ourselves in ways that cannot be ignored. We must forever debate social justice tactics, and maintain an openness to those tactics that make us uncomfortable by putting us or 'them' at risk, particularly us with skin and class privilege. More on this to come...

Uncovering Our Riot History, The Compton Cafeteria Riots

2009-01-22T21:49:00.000-08:00

The Compton Cafeteria Riots in San Francisco were the first documented queer rebellion in the U.S. This story is amazing, and perfectly demonstrates how riots at the right moment have the potential for sweeping radical change. Not as massive, influence wise, as the Stonewall riots a few years later, nonetheless the Compton riots forced dramatic policy change throughout San Francisco.

For the short wiki synopsis

More amazing background told by the director of "Screaming Queens" a documentary about the Compton Riots

I love that the riot was precipitated by a group of militant street hustlers and queens call the Vanguard (whom I wish I could find more info on), a group partially organized by the local radical priests from Glide Memorial Church. Geez, the 60's had it going on, my friends.

Memorial plaque dedicated the the Riot at Taylor and Turk St.'s in S.F.
*Special thanks to Lizzielove for this post idea.

Riot Art

2009-01-20T22:46:00.000-08:00

Bloody Sunday (1938)

5 Reasons We Aren't Tossing Bricks, Yet

2009-01-17T11:40:00.000-08:00

This New York Times commentator quite blatantly mourns the lack of rioting in the U.S., and offers up some theories on why it isn't going down yet.

Free market advocates have been rendered impotent; why aren’t they up in arms that their belief system has been forever invalidated? Leftists watch as our elected leaders hand over the oversight function to the very companies that caused this mess; why aren’t they taking to the streets?

This article is a few months old and things have just gotten worse. I am a big fan of this man, but I feel like his analysis into our seeming jadedness to this mass economic pillage is a bit shallow. Let's get down to brass tacks, the middle class is still too comfortable to bite the hand that slaps, there is a also an aspect of learned helplessness that we have deviously been indoctrinated into, and the stigma of the riot runs deep. I'm gonna toss out there too that this stigma has more than a little bit to do with racism, but I'll address that later for sure.

Riots Everywhere As the Global Economy Stabs Workers

2009-01-16T11:12:00.001-08:00

and this is just in the last 24 hours...

Vilnius,
Lithuania
China
Bulgaria

Harvey Milk, the White Night Riots and Lesbians Against Police Violence

2009-01-14T19:20:00.000-08:00

This account of the white night riots of 1979 really enthralled me. The author Maggie Jochild offers up a first hand glimpse of radical queer activism in San Francisco, the amazing and frightening events leading up to, during, and the repercussions of, the riots in San Francisco, and a somewhat surprising, less than glowing remembrance of Harvey Milk. The link also includes amazing pictures, youtube video of the riot and the aggressive Gay/Lesbian Freedom Day Marches, and links to other accounts of the riot. Particularly interesting and infuriating is an account of the Elephant Walk police riots, brutal cop revenge for the white night riots. Exciting & sobering.

More Anti-Government Riots!

2009-01-14T09:36:00.000-08:00

In Bulgaria and Latvia

Economic hardship and neo-liberalism spreads rebellion, yes, as it should.

Farmers Riot in Nicaragua

2009-01-13T11:51:00.001-08:00

A farmer, using a slingshot, throws stones at riot police officers during a protest in San Benito, northern Nicaragua, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009. Hundreds of farmers blocked the Pan-American highway demanding a renegotiation of their debts with microfinance firms. Btw, microfiance loans are not progressive!

Riot Art

2009-01-12T11:23:00.000-08:00

Q: What steps should be taken to stop a slaughter?

2009-01-11T22:31:00.000-08:00

Riots break out in Europe and Pakistan against Israel's bloody attack on Gaza, mass protests worldwide.

Video

So far there are over over a thousand Palestinians dead, and many thousands wounded 13 Israeli's have been killed, all but three are military.

"The civilian population has no way to hide. The population density is so high you can not do attacks like this without knowing that you are attacking the civilians.

"Also, the injuries must come from extremely explosive devices. We suspect that Israel is using a new type of high explosive called Dime [dense inert metal explosive].
"We urge the world, stop the bombing of Gaza. Please stop it."

--Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor working at Shifa hospital in Gaza City

Police killings need always spark riots

2009-01-11T16:33:00.000-08:00

The anger displayed on Wednesday night should not come as a surprise. This the most horrible cop killing I have ever seen, a response of this nature is justified and arguably helpful as a means of achieving justice for Oscar Grant. [account of the killing]

Admittedly, riots are not always a useful tactic in social justice campaigns, but the manic maneuvers in which cops cover their tracks, and the general apathy of the white public around police brutality requires a huge noise to be made, and that's exactly what Oakland's youth did.

There has been a lot made of the fact that rioters broke windows of black-owned business as well as those owned by the city. While this is undeniably sad and regrettable, I would argue the blame should point back to the police who truly incited this riot through brutal murder. As a friend reminded me, sometimes thoughtfulness goes out the window in the fervor of a riot, anger and despair are not always conveniently contained (at least a couple accounts of the riot blame the riot cops for charging the peaceful protesters and pushing them into the street, where they started running and breaking windows). This posting at Racealicious and the many responses discusses the typical and important debate points on the topic.

A roundup of coverage of the riots

Watch the sickening video of the murder

Video and photos of the protest and riots