Black Flags and Windmills: Hope, Anarchy, and the Common Ground Collective
Language: English
Pages: 288
ISBN: 1604864532
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Tracing a life of radical activism and the emergence of a grassroots organization in the face of disaster, this chronicle describes scott crow's headlong rush into the political storm surrounding the catastrophic failure of the levee in New Orleans in 2005 and the subsequent failure of state and local government agencies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It recounts crow's efforts with others in the community to found Common Ground Collective, a grassroots relief organization that built medical clinics, set up food and water distribution, and created community gardens when local government agencies, FEMA, and the Red Cross were absent or ineffective. The members also stood alongside the beleaguered residents of New Orleans in resisting home demolitions, white militias, police brutality, and FEMA incompetence. This vivid, personal account maps the intersection of radical ideology with pragmatic action and chronicles a community's efforts to translate ideals into tangible results. This expanded second edition includes up-to-date interviews and discussions between crow and some of today’s most articulate and influential activists and organizers on topics ranging from grassroots disaster relief efforts, both economic and environmental; dealing with infiltration, interrogation, and surveillance from the federal government; and a new photo section that vividly portrays scott’s experiences as an anarchist, activist, and movement organizer in today’s world.
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So they had to protect themselves. Somewhere along the way, though, the mainstream and the Left distorted the complex history of the civil rights era into clear, quick and bloodless victories. Although I agree that the movement gained incredible ground with the tactics of noncooperation and nonviolence, the sanitized vision of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “revolution” that appears on postage stamps today simply never existed. It took what we now call a diversity of tactics to achieve the goals of.
Situation, be able to avoid these pitfalls? I told myselfyears ago that I would never be a part of an open collective without clear structures again, but this situation was already going to be challenging on that front. We didn’t have the luxury oftime to build broad consensus among ourselves or the affected communities, which can take years of good organizing and alliance-building to do. It was going to take experience to battle the unknowns in such a desperate and unforgiving situation.
Go before the storm. In addition to the doctor, there were nurses, street medics, massage therapists, therapists, and herbalists on hand. We provided vital services to people with ongoing health issues who weren’t getting their medications or hadn’t been able to check in with a doctor for weeks. The clinic also provided a place for people to relieve their emotional traumas with the help of others who listened and cared. In short, we provided free holistic health care to communities on the West.
Win, but sometimes you do. — Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird From East Dallas to Berlin to New Orleans, and all the places in between, I have seen glimpses of better futures. I have been transformed by all that I have seen and done. Common Ground Relief achieved so much for a small organization! We made thousands of lives in the Gulf better. Over five years later, these important events are fading from collective memory. We cannot let this happen. New Orleans and the larger Gulf Coast are.
Organized with help from groups around the country. What makes this effort different is that ‘the people’ in the community told us what they needed and we are organizing it. We will set up relief in the short term and empower them to continue with the projects after we are gone. Imagine for a minute … a scene like Chiapas, Mexico Jan 1, 1994. We are coming out of the jungle … not to fight, but to build power and support for our affected people without government help, indifference or.