‘Join the Movement’ for APOC : Miami IMC

illvox.org is excited to launch its new Join the Movement page, which compiles resources for those interested in getting active in the Anarchist People of Color movement.

The page is viewable at illvox.org/join/ and is the only web resource for those interested in forming APOC collectives, a list of APOC collectives and ways for supporters to help the APOC movement to grow.

The published page is an initial draft that compiles many of the resources currently available on illvox.org as well as adds new materials to the mix. Suggestions, additions and ideas are welcomed. Please pass the word about illvox.org/join/ for building new APOC collectives and more.

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What’s the Movement?

Anarchist People of Color (APOC) is a political tendency made up of collectives and individuals across the United States and elsewhere who discuss and organize around projects of importance to people and communities of color.

APOC came to visibility on February 20, 2001 with the founding by Ernesto Aguilar of an email list and website focused on APOC and various theorists and activists of color. Its purpose is to give radicals of color the tools to agitate among communities of color for anti-authoritarian solutions, and to give those who identified with anti-authoritarian political ideals a space of cultural acceptance and engagement.

APOC activists attracted about 150 attendees to a national APOC conference held in Detroit, Michigan in 2003. Articles on the conference are posted here, here and here. You can also check out APOC: A Brief Summary.

While there was no explicit inspiration for APOC, work by Black anarchists such as Kuwasi Balagoon and Martin Sostre, and especially Ashanti Alston and Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, has been cited as a precursor. In the early 1990s, organizing by the defunct collectives Black Autonomy International (formerly Black Autonomy and previously the Federation of Black Community Partisans) and Black Fist has also been referenced as part of the roots from which APOC was created.

Not only does APOC need you to join the movement, but we need organizers, artists, theorists, activists, performers and everyone to help build the movement from the bottom up.
Where We Stand

APOC is an autonomous set of politics. Recurring themes in APOC’s politics include, but are not limited to:

1. Grassroots organizing and agitating with/among communities of color around relevant issues.
2. Building a revolutionary autonomous politics inspired by people of color, with respect to our voices, experiences and perspectives.
3. Advocating global self-determination for people of color, including cultural respect in the context of anti-authoritarian ideals, and confrontation of white supremacy and white privilege.
4. Supporting creation of organizing and political space for people of color, including people of color-only spaces.
5. Demanding that political movements must sincerely and actively serve the needs of communities of color and impart anti-authoritarian politics in the process.

These principles have ignited a wide variety of organizing:

* Local collectives that fight to serve the needs of communities of color and inject autonomous politics and vision to organizing, as well as press multiracial political movements on matters of inclusion and anti-oppression activism.
* APOC Blocs at political demonstrations, such as the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas 2003 protests in Miami, organized to show the strength of united action by people of color.
* Community outreach activities, such as for Hurricane Katrina, geared at putting grassroots organizing by and for people of color to practice.
* Political education, film screenings, gatherings and other activities aimed at building solidarity and drawing out discussions about connections among oppressed people and internal colonies.
* Speakouts and open critique of racism in political movements, as well as exposing attempts to avoid accountability for white privilege and to detract from potentially legitimate concerns over bigotry.

APOC-allied activists of color work to change the collective conditions of people of color and upend the dynamics as we know it. APOC needs you.
How to Get Involved

Today people of color — Black, Brown and Third World revolutionaries all — are on the streets, speaking out and organizing for revolutionary change. Police brutality, the prison-industrial complex and imperial wars are just a few of the issues facing our communities, and more and more people of color have had enough. There are many ways to get active:

Find a Collective
Over the years, there have been initiatives at building an inter/national APOC network or federation. At this time, there is no such group, though there are many local APOC collectives, which define group politics autonomously.

* List of APOC Collectives, and Allied Groups Coming Soon!
* APOC E-mail List Information Open to people of color only.
* APOC Conference List Information

To add your collective to the list or announce the creation of a collective, please contact illvox.

Identify your Local Collective as an APOC Collective
If your people of color collective isn’t allied with APOC, now’s the time. If your existing collective wants to be listed as an APOC collective, contact illvox today.

Start a Local APOC Collective
Don’t see a collective in your city or neighborhood? Start one! Collectives are an inspiring way to build on our collective unity. Whether you call it APOC or something else doesn’t matter. A collective organized around common vision and politics can enrich your community in many ways.

The following collection of items on illvox is intended to help those interested in forming local APOC formations with basic as well as advanced organizing tools. If you want to suggest additional articles or links, please contact illvox.
A poster created at the 2003 APOC conference and mounted at the event.

* What is A Collective?
* The Six Panther Ps
* How to Start A Group
* Dues for Orgs (One Model)
* Anarchy Can’t Fight Alone
* Organizing Communities
* Stating Your Case
* Blocs, Black and Otherwise
* One Organizing Example: FUSE
* Sheep Dreams and Kitten Memes
* Effective Small Group Communication
* Anti-Oppression Principles & Practice
* Against Half-Assed Race and Class Theory and Practice
* Working Assumptions and Guidelines for Alliance-Building
* Struggling Forward: Organizing as a Building Block for Resistance
* Activists of Color in the New Movement: Lessons From RNC Organizing
* Linking Arms Without Getting Stepped On: An Anarchists in Coalitions Primer
* The Functioning of A Network: A ‘No Bullshit’ Policy Versus The Lethargy of Activism
* But We Don’t Have Leaders: Leadership Development and Anti-Authoritarian Organizing
* Looking to the Light of Freedom: Lessons from the Civil Rights Movement and Thoughts on Anarchist Organizing
* The End of Idealism: Honest Conversations about Race, Class, Self-Determination and Anarchist People of Color
* Autonomy and Participatory Democracy: An Ongoing Discussion on the Application of Zapatista Autonomy in the United States

Start or Join a Virtual Collective
Do you have technical, graphic design or other skills you could contribute to APOC collectives that need such help? Consider forming a virtual online collective of people of color organized to do such activities.

* List of Virtual Collectives Coming Soon!

Fundraise for APOC Projects
Start raising money now to support local APOC projects, to help APOC collectives, and to attend and help others in your area go to upcoming regional and national APOC conferences. House parties, music benefits, sales and community drives are good ways to spread the word and shore up money. Check illvox.org for regional and national event details.

Promote APOC, illvox and Other APOC Resources
Visit this site’s Downloads section for illvox and APOC materials to distribute in your community.

http://illvox.org/join/
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