march/april update from RNC welcoming committee

 

we apologize for the lack of an april fool's joke; the Twin Cities corporate media and police have been fulfilling the role of fool so well that we have nothing to add.

 

items for your perusal:

 

*pReNC 5.3: RSVP now!

*5.3 housing and ride boards are up

*we need bikes...

*...and your creative blockade ideas

*endorsing the st. paul principles and crash the convention strategy

*national tours reportback

*tasers for every protester?!

*our wishlist - donate your refund!

*upcoming regional appearances and events

 

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pReNC 5.3 and May Day festivities are coming up fast!

 

The pReNC 5.3 is the second national gathering for planning radical resistance to the 2008 Republican National Convention. It will take place on May 3rd in the Twin Cities.

 

This gathering will function as a spokescouncil, and is open to representatives from all groups familiar with the strategy and that have begun organizing how they will fit into it (not limited to anarchists), including support roles (medics, legal, food, etc). We are asking that groups send 1-3 spokespeople. All attending must RSVP to prenc@riseup.net by April 17th in order to register and be vouched for.

 

For the full pReNC 5.3 invite, visit: http://www.rncwelcomingcommittee.org/2008/03/31/prenc-53-were-now-taking-rsvps/

 

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HOUSING and ride board for 5.3 are up...

 

Coming to the Twin Cities for 5.3 and need a ride or a place to stay?  Or maybe you're already here and looking for a way to show solidarity.  We must've missed the memo that anarchists are against all organization, 'cause our ride and housing boards are up and running.

 

Check out the boards at: http://rncwc.informe.com

 

(if you tried to post earlier but were unable to, we're sorry for the glitch.  create a new account and post away!)

 

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BIKES: republicans hate 'em, we love 'em...

 

In addition to rides and housing, the RNC-WC intends to have several dozen bikes for pReNC participants to use throughout the weekend.  And of course we're planning for several hundred bikes during the RNC itself.  Do you have an unused bike or three that's been carrying out its own blockading strategy of your garage or basement?  If so, please contact us to arrange drop-off or pick-up.  We also hope the bikes can remain in the community, perhaps as part of a community bike-share program, long after the convention.

 

Thanks!

 

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BARRICADES, bike blocs, or boomboxes - it's all a blockade

 

Blockading the RNC is a way of organizing our diverse actions that allows individuals and groups to decide on their own plans, while also promoting a larger goal in which we are greater than the sum of our parts. A blockade is any action that works to stop or slow traffic. It could be occupying an intersection with a clown performance, linking arms or using lock boxes to block a bridge, marching through the busiest streets with thousands of protestors, dancing to a homemade soundsystem, filling the road with heaps of objects (like trash or stuffed animals), or doing Yoga, pretending to be dead, meditating, or praying in the middle of the road. Those blockading will make it impossible for the Republican Delegates to reach the convention center in St. Paul, denying the Republicans their spectacle and affirming the ability of the people to truly participate in politics.  But this will only be successful if we can work together in ways that we each find appropriate. 

 

No matter your political affiliation, we want you reclaiming space in the Twin Cities come September - it's time to up the ante! The organizing is in full swing and the strategy wants you. Are you ready?  We’re eager to talk to you about how your creative actions can be in solidarity with the blockading strategy.  

 

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ENDORSE the st. paul principles and crash the convention strategy...

 

More and more groups are signing on to the historic St. Paul Principles, helping build a unified front for RNC resistance.  Among others, the Campus Antiwar Network - UW Madison is encouraging all other CAN groups to support the principles, and locally, the Arise! collective in Minneapolis has signed on.  Read about the Principles here: http://www.rncwelcomingcommittee.org/st-paul-principles/

 

Groups far and wide are also endorsing the crash the convention blockading strategy.  A small sampling includes Asheville Rising Tide, CrimethInc Far East, the Northeast Anarchist Network, the People's Networking Convention Organizing Committee, Unconventional Denver, and ACTIVATE (Grand Rapids SDS) - read their endorsement and call to other chapters here:  http://www.activategr.org/organizing/rnc-dnc/sds-rnc-call/

 

Check out the strategy and all the endorsements at http://www.rncwelcomingcommittee.org/about/ and send along your endorsement to rnc08@riseup.net.

 

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TOURS: final reportback...

 

Despite 1 lockdown, 3 misdemeanor charges, 5 tickets and 1 "border incident,", the RNC Welcoming Committee's Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and West Coast tours completed 56 events in 27 states between January 22nd and March 10th, 2008.  After gas and tolls, we came out about $2,700 ahead.  All told, the tours were a big success. 

 

We had countless opportunities to meet and dialogue with radicals all over the country.  Many of them have already been pouring energy into anti-RNC organizing, and many more used our events to kick off those efforts.  We received invaluable input on the strategy, on the direction that anti-RNC organizing should take from here on out, and on the needs of existing organizing networks.  Further, it became clear to us that the national interest and momentum necessary for a successful execution of the strategy is out there, and that events such as the upcoming pReNC 5.3 and ongoing regional consultas throughout the country will play an integral role in transforming that energy into effective action at the RNC. 

 

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RNC-WC orders tasers for every protester...

 

(From March 13) The RNC Welcoming Committee (RNC-WC), an anarchist and anti-authoritarian organizing body based in the Twin Cities, announced today that it has ordered tasers for each of its members and friends. The announcement comes on the heels of last month’s St. Paul City Council approval of a St. Paul Police Department (SPPD) request for 234 tasers. Due to a unique corporate-anarchist confidentiality agreement, the exact number of tasers or documentable evidence of this new order will not be disclosed.

 

Both the SPPD and RNC-WC taser orders are scheduled to arrive before the September 1 so-called Republican National Convention (RNC) in St. Paul. However, “The RNC Welcoming Committee’s order of tasers has absolutely nothing to do with the upcoming Republican convention,” said Ann O’ Nymmity of the RNC-WC. “These deadly, yet humane, weapons are needed simply to protect the safety of members of our community on a day-to-day basis. The timing is purely a coincidence.”

 

Last month, St. Paul police spokesperson Tom Walsh made similar statements to the Associated Press, saying that in regards to the RNC, his department’s purchase is “in no way related [to the timing of the RNC in St. Paul]. It simply isn’t.”

 

read more, plus media reaction: http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20080314110446314

 

...JUST IN! some actual fan mail...

 

"I do hope the moment you point a tazer at a Minneapolis or Saint Paul police officer, he/she unholsters his/her firearm, points it directly at your pointy little head, and calmly pulls the trigger.

 

Hey, I guy can wish, right?"

 

[sincerely,

your biggest fan]

 

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MUTUAL AID in action...

 

We've got a long wishlist... and at the top of it is cash.

 

So here's a reminder that our callout to all of you tax refund-eligible people sick and tired of fueling this capitalist economy is still in effect.  For the rest of you, please check out our entire wishlist at: http://www.rncwelcomingcommittee.org/wishlist/

 

Send your cash, check, tasers (it's a joke, all you right-wing bloggers!) or fan mail to:

 

RNC - WC

PO Box 4514

St. Paul, MN 55104-9998

 

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UPCOMING APPEARANCES of the RNC-WC...

 

Enough internets - let's meet in person instead!  Here's a sampling of regional events we'll be presenting at in the next month.

 

Chicago, IL April 5-6th: Bash Back! Radical Trans and Queer Anti-RNC Convergence, see www.myspace.com/bashback

Madison, WI April 11-13th: Madison RNC Consulta, see www.myspace.com/madisonconsulta

Iowa City, IA April 18-20th: Campus Antiwar Network Midwest Regional Conference, see cbusimc.org/node/13390

Chicago, IL April 18th-20th: Finding Our Roots conference, see mayfirst.wordpress.com

 

If you're in Minnesota, our local tour is still being organized, but stay tuned for probable upcoming appearances at Hamline University and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, and Tent State at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.

 

...AND mark your radicalendars further out for....

 

Great Lakes Anarchist Gathering, June 6-8th, Toldeo OH

This is going to be an important event due to its proximity, both geographically and chronologically, to the Republican National Convention in September. With the GLAG taking place in June and the RNC in September, it will provide a three month window for those in attendance to take advantage of the skills learned and share any plans made with those unable to attend.  We'll be building on the progress made over the last year and a half in bringing the Midwest/Great Lakes region anarchist communities together and strengthening the Midwest Action Network. It will also be a good chance to make solidify MAN's plans for the upcoming RNC. For more info: http://midwest.azone.org/ typea@riseup.net

 

...ALSO look forward to: 

 

Seeds of Peace Action Camp, July 6-27, Northern Wisconsin

The Camp will be located at Anathoth Community Farm near the small town of Luck, Wisconsin. (anathothcommunityfarm.org) It will run from July 6-27, and is composed of two parts: a Direct Action Training Camp and a Wilderness First Responder certification course with an added Action Medical component.  Interested parties are invited to participate in one or both sections of the Camp.  For more info: http://seeds-of-peace-collective.org/ seedsofpeace@riseup.net

 

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love'n an ark key,

your friendly neighborhood anarchists at the rnc-wc | nornc.org | PO Box 4514, St. Paul MN, 55104-9998 | rnc08@riseup.net