2017: Capacity Expands, the State Responds, Full Steam Ahead

If 2016 was a year of marathon non-stop action, then 2017 was a rollercoaster ride of extremes, made up of equal parts horror and exhilaration. As 2017 began, we entered into a new terrain, unsure of what to expect. Would our doors be kicked in on January 21st? How fast would the Trump administration move to take action against migrant workers, Muslims, the poor, and political opponents? How would the wider Left respond, if at all, to both repression and attacks against political radicals, communities of color, the Earth, and the overall working-class and poor? Would the Center swing towards a more grassroots form of politics, or would it remain content to watch MSNBC and tweet about #TheResistance? But more importantly, would the masses of people who hated, rejected, and didn’t vote for either party join us in the streets, or would they instead remain on the sidelines either out of fear or passivity, waiting to see just how it would all pan out? At the end of the day, it was all of these things and more.

The Minneapolis publication Nightfall summed up the feelings many of us had as the year began:

Everyone agrees, the situation is bleak. The Democratic Party is scrambling for relevancy, desperate to redirect different struggles and campaigns into membership drives. Every leftist group sees an opportunity for a new organization to take the Democrats’ place; that this organization is always their own is surely just a coincidence. These false solutions only offer the certainty of defeat, of death. We see in autonomous self-organization the potential for something more than bare survival, something like life. Our lives belong to no vanguard, organizer, or leader—only to ourselves.

Campaigns like the Burgerville Workers Union showed the ability of such projects to grow and expand, even in the face of repression.

But despite the anxiety many of us had throughout 2017, there was also a feeling in the air of possibility. In other words, shit was fucking real. But beyond the burning limos and punched neo-Nazis, something more more than street clashes was brewing. Across the United States after the election, anarchists, autonomists, and anti-authoritarians organized assemblies in their neighborhoods and towns, bringing together thousands from Oakland to Brooklyn to Philadelphia to Durham to Hampton Roads – all to talk about the possibilities of resistance and new forms of life under Trump, with the expectation that everything from a new underground railroad to grassroots forms of healthcare would be needed.

Here at It’s Going Down, we heard reports that events, discussions, and assemblies were growing so large, that they had to be moved to new venues. Conferences were attended by new faces – the crowds multigenerational, angry, and ready. People began to talk, plan, and organize, as everything from mass roundups to fascist violence was expected just around the corner.

Mutual aid and dual power projects put our ideas into action across the country.

But a clear question remained: would 2017 push our movement onto a higher terrain of struggle, organization, capacity, and numbers than 2016 did? At the time, it seemed difficult to imagine going beyond what we had experienced in the year prior, as 2016 saw heated clashes with the police over continuous shootings, the enormous encampment and blockade at Standing Rock, a massive prison strike that ripped through the US carceral State, and the growth of an increasingly militant antifascist and anti-Trump street force. In 2017, would we be able to raise the bar, once again, and more importantly, what would it mean to do so? For many of us, the answer lay not just in terms of force, but in our ability to organize and build a base of support among the wider population.

As the year began, in many ways we had no idea what to expect, but regardless, we hit the ground running – and hard. From the militant blockades and marches which took place during Trump’s inauguration, the walkouts and demonstrations which happened across the country outside of DC over the next couple of days, to the viral punching of trust fund fuhrer Richard Spencer, soon both resistance and tear gas was in the air and suddenly we were on the front page of the New York Times and cemented into the minds of every right-wing troll and Centrist pundit as the principle boogeyman of the Trump age. There was no going back now. 

The mass defiance as seen in response to the Muslim Ban showed what is possible when people come together and start believing in their capacity to refuse.

As we wrote in February:

Across the political spectrum, at time when so many people are starting to take seriously punching Nazis, blockading airports, and rioting as a vehicle for both self-defense and as a means of collapsing the regime by creating a state of crisis, there is predictably by the State, the media, and the Left, condemnation of these tactics. Why? The answer is as easy as it is simple: for these are the tools that are at the disposal of all poor and working people. And to be able to demonize in the minds of millions not even ideas, groups, or organizations, but moreover tactics – this is the real goal of all apparatuses of control. To make evil and wrong what is possible for human beings to be able to accomplish with their very bodies en masse in offensive capacities that further their interests and in defensive ones that protect them. If a State can do this inside the minds of its subjects, it can do anything.

In just a few two weeks under Trump, things kicked into overdrive, as we saw the first large scale organic uprising in response to his policies, as tens of thousands converged in airports across the US and broke the law en masse, to resist the first iteration of the Muslim Ban. As CrimethInc. wrote, “this was the high point of mobilization against the Trump regime to date,” as Trump fired off a variety of executive orders that sought to outflank social movements while attacking broad sections of the population.

Meanwhile at UC Berkeley on February 1st, a black bloc of several hundred who when arriving on campus received ‘high fives’ from the several thousand other demonstrators, quickly shut down a speaking event by Alt-Lite troll, Milo Yiannopoulos. The next day, Trump defended his fellow Mercer beneficiary and attacked anarchists, while also threatening to defund UC Berkeley, over Twitter. History, as they say, was quickening. 

Building the capacity to stand up against repression was crucial this year.

At the same time as the streets were filling, we were reminded over and over again that suddenly we were in a different world, as the night of January 20th ended with a member of the Seattle IWW being shot at a Milo Yiannopoulos protest and in DC, over 200 people were arrested by police after being kettled. Suddenly, a “new normal” set in, where far-Right violence was allowed, encouraged, and sanctioned by the State, while autonomous and grassroots struggles was demonized, criminalized, and pinpointed for increased repression. In just the first few months of 2017 in the US and Canada, Mosques were bombed and worshippers inside of them were slaughtered, while Jewish cemeteries and synagogues were vandalized and threatened on a massive scale.

Anti-Klan mobilization in North Carolina.

In response, Trump floated the idea that these were “false flags” designed to make him look bad, while Trump appointees with ties to the far-Right, like Gorka, pushed the idea that “the Left” was really behind these actions. At the same time, the Trump administration removed far-Right groups off of the DHS radar, much to the applause of neo-Nazis and the Alt-Right, who viewed the move, rightfully so, as a green light to engage in violence against non-whites, Jews, and social movements. Later on a podcast with Richard Spencer and Mike Peinovich which was recorded before Unite the Right, Peinovich stated that Steve Bannon and Trump were giving them, “The space to destroy.”

But while the floodgates were opened for the far-Right, at the same time, all of the major autonomous social movements were coming under attack. Black Lives Matter was labeled “Black Identity Extremists,” politicians lobbied to criminalize Water Protectors as domestic terrorists, and the FBI stated that they were investigating “anarchist extremists” of an “Antifa type ideology,” as a variety of anti-protest laws were put forward to varying degrees of success. Meanwhile, from the pulpit of CPAC, Conservative talking heads and NRA bigwigs ranted about “professional anarchists” earning thousands a month to be paid to protest, and called on Trump’s base to defend the State against potential insurrection.

And respond they did, as Trump supporters across the US took to the streets soon after on March 4th and 25th. While support rallies for such a recently elected President were totally unheard of, what they did do is create the big tent necessary for mobilizing street support for Trump by building a coalition that welcomed the various factions of the far-Right including the Alt-Right, militias, and open neo-Nazis. This potent confederation grew, and on April 15th in Berkeley, CA, hundreds clashed with the day ending in the far-Right holding the streets, working hand in hand with the local police.

But as MAGA muppets soon discovered, anarchists, antifascists, and anti-capitalist groups more and more were organizing large counter-demonstrations that brought together impressive numbers from a variety of anti-authoritarian and autonomist groups, with a level of coordination, networking, and mutual aid not seen in many years. This reality played out in a variety locations, as a hundreds strong black bloc in Philadelphia shut down the March 25th MAGA march, masses of students chased out Richard Spencer’s entourage in Alabama in late April, across the US on June 10th, a wide variety of anarchist and antifascist groups out mobilized far-Right anti-Muslim groups, and on the streets of Charlottesville on August 12th, hundreds converged against the largest neo-Nazi rally in decades.

Without question, Unite the Right was a huge turning point for the various autonomous antiracist and anticapitalist movements. Both in terms that our side won the day, although we paid heavily for it, but moreover because we gained the respect of a large amount of the people that were both on the streets and beind their screens. As Cornel West famously stated on Democracy Now!, “If it were not for the anarchists and the antifascists,” the non-violent protesters would have been “crushed like cockroaches.” 

As one report submitted to It’s Going Down from a member of the clergy read:

I had to watch as neo-Nazis came charging in by the dozens and forcefully plowed toward the clergy blockade. A blanket of fear engulfed me as I watched my friend stand there not knowing if she would make it out of there alive. If antifa had not eventually stood between the clergy blockade and the neo-Nazis, my friends would have either been badly beaten or died. Antifa saved their lives.

I left Charlottesville the next day to return home. I drove home with an endless amount of questions swimming through my head, not knowing if I will ever receive answers. My theology was deeply challenged that day as I stood on that clergy line. I realized how deeply I am already part of the violence of white supremacy even if I committed to a nonviolent protest and even if I denounce the neo-Nazis. I wondered what it means to witness against white supremacy today as a white Christian in light of the rise of the Alt-Right. I wondered if this rise in Nazism requires a different response than what I would normally advocate.

Unite the Right was a huge turning point for all autonomous social movements in the United States.

Charlottesville and the brutal murder of Heather Heyer also unleashed a flood of action and resistance across the US and the world. By nightfall on August 12th, thousands were already marching and blocking freeways in cities across the world in solidarity. People also took the opportunity to physically bring down Confederate statues and monuments in their communities, and soon, tens of thousands of people had taken to the streets against the Alt-Right, as local governments rushed to take down Confederate monuments before the people themselves could topple them.

One submitted text from Atlanta captures the spirit of the times:

As the crisis we’re living through deepens, the center can’t hold. This is a situation of polarization. The alt-right may have seized the lime-light, but their nihilistic ideology is brittle, and can be shattered by a real positive vision, by a real historical force. Hand Wringing and finger pointing doesn’t matter. Now is the time for partisanship. Now is the time to lay the material foundations for a life in common, to put forward collective joy against the cynical death march of capitalism. The future belongs to the daring, and only to those who get organized.

While the right-wing and mainstream media played up sensational stories of ‘antifa’ violence, clashes between the Alt-Right and antifascists continued to bring out large numbers, especially as more and more people became convinced, in large part due to organizing and outreach, that the far-Right represented a serious threat.

Charlottesville broke the fucking back of the Alt-Right; a victory that we earned in blood, sweat, and hard work. Soon after Unite the Right, the Alt-Lite faction attempted to distance themselves as much as possible from the Alt-Right proper, while the militias gave stand down orders to not interfere with solidarity demonstrations happening in the wake of Heather Heyer’s murder. Soon after, the few Alt-Right rallies that were called for were either cancelled, or were drowned in a sea of massive resistance. Soon, even The Daily Stormer was saying antifascists were making it impossible to organize, and declared that the Alt-Right should return to the shadows.

In Boston, a handful of Alt-Right supporters led by Kyle “Based Stickman” Chapman, were surrounded by over 40,000 counter-demonstrators. Several weeks later, tens of thousands took to the streets of the bay area against two Alt-Right rallies, as labor unions organized support contingents and walked off the job in San Francisco. The next day, a black bloc of over 200 marched within the larger demonstration as the crowd cheered it on. “Welcome black bloc!,” came cries from the sound truck, as non-masked people cheered on those carrying anarchist flags and banners. Soon after, the bloc pushed into a park being occupied by police and the police eventually stood down, allowing the crowd to retake the park.

It wasn’t just all street clashes. Block parties and family friendly events were organized throughout 2017 by anarchists.

A month later in Gainesville, thousands likewise converged and successfully disrupted a talk by Unite the Right organizers Richard Spencer, Mike Peinovich, and Elliot Kline. Moreover, after the successful demonstration, supporters of Spencer that had been part of groups that were tasked with organizing the event, opened fire on a group of protesters and were arrested for attempted murder. This act only further cemented the public’s view of the Alt-Right as a group of murderers.

But while Charlottesville overshadowed much of 2017, there were also a multitude of other struggles that were breaking out at the same time. In North Dakota earlier this year, we watched as the Standing Rock encampment was raided after various tribal leaders had attempted to push out those still left, in an attempt to secure a legal victory. However, in the wake of the defeat at Standing Rock, a wide variety of pipeline battles began to grow, as tree sits, encampments, and blockades were organized across the US, despite an almost total media blackout.

Tree sits, blockades, and encampments against pipelines are growing across the US.

This activity is currently growing into 2018, as encampments, blockades, and campaigns are all being organized against a wide range of pipeline projects. Some campaigns have utilized tree sits, such as in Pennslvaynia, at Camp White Pine, and in Hudson Valley, New York. Others, are setting up on the land itself, networking with rural land owners, indigenous people, and environmental groups. Taking tactics and inspiration from Standing Rock, these struggles are growing at an impressive rate, while bringing into them a wide cross section of everyday people, often in conservative and rural areas, along with broad coalitions. In 2018, we need to double down on our support for these campaigns, and find ways of materially aiding them, even if we do not live close to a current blockade.

But while Water Protectors took to rivers and trees to blockade pipelines, the very threat they were seeking to stop: climate change, was about to come knocking at our door. In August and September, North America was hit with Hurricane Harvey and Irma, a set of super-storms that left many homeless and contributed to the deaths of collectively over 1,000 people. Anarchists and autonomist anti-capitalists were some of the first people on the scene, offering aid, building infrastructure, opening community centers, and taking part in post-disaster relief efforts. The end results of which anarchists should be proud of; as they represent not only the success of anti-authoritarian and autonomist models of organizing, but moreover the ability of our movement to organize in a real way to meet capitalist crisis head on.

Graffiti in solidarity anarchist prisoner, Marius Mason. Days of action on June 11th and beyond allowed people in communities across the US to come together and build support for political prisoners.

In Houston and across Texas, anarchists and autonomous anti-capitalists helped working class people to gut their homes and clean out mold. They gathered food and other supplies. They set up gardens, outdoor kitchen, and child care. In Florida, anarchists opened an autonomous space inside of a church, giving away clothes, water, and food, while providing a space for people to organize out of. They secured trucks, and ventured out into rural areas, getting supplies into poor communities largely of color, that had been left behind or ignored by the Red Cross.

Autonomous relief efforts in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico put autonomy into action and showed what we are capable of even in the midst of disaster.

Then in Puerto Rico, as Trump threw out paper towels and lied about the death toll, even in the face of State repression, anarchists and anti-authoritarians opened up community centers for mutual aid, a squat, and helped set up water treatment systems. As much of Puerto Rico is still without power and water, these projects remain ongoing, but the work that people have put in this year has been inspiring to say the least. With Mutual Aid Disaster Relief gearing up to organize a tour this year, we hope that these lessons can only grow and expand.

2017 was also marked as a year where people put in a massive amount of support work for J20 arrestees, Standing Rock defendants, and also those targeted by grand juries. Over the course of the year we saw both a speaking tour take place about resistance to grand juries at Standing Rock as well as two successful weeks of solidarity with Standing Rock and J20 defendants, called for in April and in July. These weeks of solidarity saw a wide variety of actions take place across the world, educated many new people about different cases, and raised thousands of dollars. By the time that the first J20 trial ended, it seems that we had done the impossible: raised awareness and support to a level that those found not guilty were seen as heroes in the face of the Trump regime – which of course, is true! 

Weeks of Solidarity for Standing Rock and J20 defendants raised awareness and funds needed to build support for those facing repression.

This is not to mention the day in and day out campaigns that many anarchists are working on, from food programs, to workplace organizing, to infrastructure projects. IWOC chapters organized successful call-in campaigns that resulted in victories on the inside, as a #PrisonStrike inspired rebellion spread to Brazil. In St. Louis, we saw the explosion of popular anger outside of a workhouse jail that resulted in air conditioning units being installed in the facility. Other abolitionist prison support projects and groups continued to take action, supporting both prison rebellions and hunger strikes. This continued organizing and activity shows that the momentum and relationships built over 2016 in the lead up to and following the massive #PrisonStrike have not been lost. As we prepare to support #OperationPUSH, these networks and relationships will be used again, as a new wave of prison activity is set to pop off.

Meanwhile, IWW campaigns at the Burgerville fast food chain continued to grow in the Pacific Northwest, as the union’s reach entered into more stores than ever, and public support grew. In the face of continued harassment from bosses and their goons, the Burgerville Workers Union remains strong, and continues to organize a variety of programs for both union members and rank-n-file workers. Meanwhile, the IWW fight in New York at a diner declared victory as 31 workers were hired back. Other labor struggles also were successful, as a wildcat strike at a Target store in Virginia ended in victory.

Organizations such as the General Defense Committee (GDC), Redneck Revolt, and the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement (RAM) all grew, and new spaces, such as an antifascist gym in Chicago were opened, while new media projects like Channel Zero, flourished, and old ones like subMedia.tv, reinvented themselves.

It appears @Mark__Bray tour is going well. pic.twitter.com/gnM6pzIr6d

— It's Going Down (@IGD_News) November 19, 2017

Lastly, anarchist activity captured headlines and the public’s imagination, from black blocers filling potholes in Portland, antifa pandamonium, to a commune built on train tracks which halted fracking sand in Olympia.

Meeting of the General Defense Committee (GDC) in Milwaukee. In some cities, the GDC has grown from a handful to over 100 people.

Even our enemies attempts to attack us in the media backfired, as after every horrific tragedy, from mass shooting to train accident, the conspiratorial lie-lords in the Alt-Lite dug themselves deeper into a hole with each new conspiracy theory. This was exemplified most strongly on November 4th, when an InfoWars hyped “antifa civil war” failed to materialize as a huge section of the country laughed at the stupidity of the far-Right.

Also, while we’ve only touched on 2017 in the United States, there is still the issue of what all went down in Canada and Mexico. In Canada, indigenous resistance to resource extraction continued, heated up, and expanded, as blockades, encampments, and campaigns grew. Anarchists remained a part of these struggles, while also as in the US, picked up the banner of antifascism as the far-Right grew in size and scale. Meanwhile in Mexico, battles in Native communities continued, fights over price increases exploded, and the fight for autonomy and land grew, even in the face of continued State repression.

Members of IWOC take part in a #MillionsforPrisoners event.

Lastly, the insurrectionary fires of Ferguson were still not extinguished in 2017, even under Trump. In Anaheim, people took to the streets in the face of a police officer attempting to shoot a youth. In St. Louis, for over one month people held the streets, chashing with cops and disrupting business as usual. In Atlanta, people fought back against the police after the murder of queer anarchist, Scout Schultz. Calls to take action against colonialism were answered by people across the US on Columbus Day, and acts of sabotage, direct action, and solidarity continued throughout the year.

2017 will be a year that we never forget, not only because it was the first year under Trump, but moreover, because of both the intensity of the conflict we faced as well as the degree in which the spotlight was thrust upon us. Looking back, here are a few themes and tensions we saw throughout the year.

This year forced us to look within, as we dealt with both repression and far-Right violence. 

We began this year with the knowledge that a comrade of ours had been shot at a protest in Seattle, and halfway through, watched as our friends went into battle with the Alt-Right in Charlottesville knowing that they may well die. In the end, one of them did. Throughout the year, we also sat with the knowledge that upwards of 200 people might be sent to prison for upwards of 80 years, simply for marching in a protest. Meanwhile, we’ve faced a barrage of threats, from right-wing trolls harassing infoshops and community centers and threatening violence, to being demonized in the mainstream media, while watching as wave after wave of repression hit us, from grand juries to the FBI investigating “Antifa type ideology.”

But in all of these instances, we learned lessons. There was a reason that the far-Right and Centerist media is always trying to attack us; they want to divorce our movement from a base of support. But by building strong relationships and connections within communities, organizations, and other formations, as well as building up our own media, we were able to begin to push back against these narratives and attacks.

St. Louis took to the streets for over a month against police murder and terror, utilizing a variety of tactics.

The threat of far-Right violence also changed us. We now organize events with security in mind, knowing that every event may be potentially disrupted like the Houston Anarchist Bookfair, and we all need to be prepared. While this has led to more work and stress on our end, it has also forced us to become more organized and disciplined, as well as think strategically about our activity and our ability to defend our movement.

As we enter into 2018, all of these factors are going to continue to play out. We’re going to have to prepare for and defend ourselves against far-Right violence, especially as the Alt-Right continues to splinter and gives up on the hope of reaching “the normies.” We also need to strengthen our connections and build our media capacity in the face of Center and Right slanders in the mainstream media, while also preparing to engage in anti-repression support for the long haul.

Mass antifascist mobilizations brought out tens of thousands this year, in massive shows of force against the Alt-Right.

While this seems exhausting – and it is, it is also an opportunity. Throughout American history, when the State has attempted to repress anarchists, the support and solidarity organized to defend them has made a huge difference while also advancing our ideas and networks in the process. As the J20 trial continues on into the new year, let’s keep that in mind as the State doubles down on painting social movements as violent threats to the public.

This year showed that we have the capacity to grow as well as the determination to keep showing up. But we need to work on buildilng connections with other autonomous social movements and struggles. 

Despite the degree of blood on the hands of the Right, currently the central ‘threat’ according to some within the US security State is autonomous social movements: Water protectors and the anti-pipeline movement, Black Lives Matter, anarchists, and antifascists.

But while the State has pushed to pass new laws aimed at all of these social movements and struggles, this reality should also be a reason for all of these various struggles and movements to come together, share resources, and enter into dialog. To paraphrase what Kyle “Based Stickman” Chapman said at a far-Right gathering in California once, what the Right (and the State) is truly afraid of is various autonomous social movements across racial lines, coming together.

In #Charlottesville clergy said we saved lives, while in Congress the FBI says we threaten them. 2017 has been a turbulent year, but together, we're building a movement that can weather the storm. pic.twitter.com/fgy22vf53R

— It's Going Down (@IGD_News) December 21, 2017

In that spirit, let’s do what we can to build bridges with other autonomous social struggles around us. With pipeline battles happening all over the US, prisoners getting organized on the inside, and autonomous community projects taking off, there’s no shortage of relationships to be build and connections to be made.

What resources and skills can we bring to the table? What knowledge and insight from past battles can we contribute? What tactics and strategies can we share with others? But moreover, we must also be willing to listen, to grow, to learn, and build with those around us. As the State clamps down, let’s all work to build strength, knowledge, capacity, and skills, collectively.

When things pop off, how can we respond to make sure these struggles aren’t fighting alone?

While we’ll remember 2017 as the year of J20, Charlottesville, and the Muslim Ban, it was also the year of sporadic freeway shutdowns and rowdy protests against ICE, of the Vaughn prison uprising, anti-police riots in Anaheim, and the over month long revolt in St. Louis. The question remains: why did the country explode after Charlottesville, but not in the wake of these other instances? Was it racial dynamics, the weakness of a trending hashtag, or just the roll of the dice? Even just looking at anarchist networks, where were the banner drops and wheat pasted posters, the noise demonstrations and solidarity actions, the info-nights and fundraisers, following all of these uprisings?

By and large, these moments caught us off guard. Even in the face of St. Louis, as the action went on for over a month, there was not an outpouring of solidarity rallies and mobilizations as we saw with the response after Charlottesville.

Anger boiled across the US at town hall meetings around health care and the proposed Tax Plan.

Moreover, where were the radical and autonomous interventions as anger was building during the angry town halls over healthcare or with the protests happening outside of the offices of politicians about the GOP tax plan?

As anarchists, we need to stop being taken off guard by these events. We know that society is constantly at risk of being ripped apart by the internal contradictions within it. This is why the State uses counter-insurgency to maintain the social peace, and we through our movement, attempt to give confidence to autonomous forces that seek to push for freedom and self-organization.

Marching against pipelines.

With this in mind, let’s plan for and have strategies in place for when things pop off. Let’s have conversations within our crews, networks, and organizations about how to respond to these occurrences. How do we answer a prison uprising, a rowdy protest in response to a new law, or to a growing sense of collective anger within the population? What are the campaigns of solidarity that we can organize? Who can we reach out to on the ground to begin a dialog about solidarity with those actively struggling? What are the actions we can take to expand various struggles? How can we spread news of these revolt to the wider public? As we go into 2018, let’s be thinking about these questions, and ready to respond with answers. While not every act of individual and collective defiance will spread, if we are able build a culture of solidarity and support, we can ensure that it can.

Getting Organized.

If there is one strong lesson of 2017 it’s this: the idea that one can simply author an anonymous post on the internet, arrive to an event with three friends late, and then hope that things not only happen, but also go well, is over. We face a barrage of threats, both from State and non-State actors. Moreover, the costs of failure and demoralization are much higher than before, as are the risks of becoming weak and disorganized.

“I’m not going for that shyt. There are a whole bunch of MFers not going that shyt.” #Shelbyville pic.twitter.com/9u8NdVpIlj

— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) October 28, 2017

On the other hand, when we organize before things go down, have a plan, and can assess our own capacity, good things happen. This goes both for formal organizations as well as informal crews and affinity groups. Moreover, when we network between various affinity groups, crews, and organizations, we often become more powerful.

Let’s create and maintain a culture based around fostering this power, regardless of what organization or crew we belong to. The better organized we are, the better organized we all are. The better networked and federated we are regionally, the better organized and networked we are nationally and internationally.

Moving from being simply reactive to starting to answer the crisis of capitalist civilization with action and building power. 

2017 by and large was a year of reacting. To the far-Right, to natural disasters, to Trump, and to his executive orders. We also shouldn’t feel bad about waging defensive struggles; it’s not like these things could, or should have been, avoided. Moreover, waging these campaigns and battles has given us a new set of skills, relationships, and confidence. But, as the new year begins, many people are starting to ask: how are we going to build up our own politics, programs, and strategies in 2018, and what that will they look like?

In many ways, to answer this question, we need to return to the start of the year, when many of us were holding conferences and assemblies, talking about just this question. While 2018 doesn’t need to be a year in which we return to these forms; organizing more assemblies and more conferences to ask the same question, we need to connect with that spirit that captivated the imaginations of so many at the start of last year.

Anarchists participate in rally in Flint, Michigan.

We must think about what it would mean to create a crisis of legitimacy for the State, by seeking to address the crisis of everyday life through action. Meaning, we must work to meet the needs of everyday poor and working-class people through our organizing and activity, and by doing so, seek to subvert both the legitimacy of the State as well as it’s ability to govern. As Peter Gelderloos wrote on IGD: 

In a nutshell, the combination of the self-organization of daily life with an uncompromising attack on power is the hardest to repress or recuperate. Rather than simply talking about what’s wrong with the current system or making broad suggestions for a better world, we need to put anarchy into practice by liberating our vital needs from the market and fulfilling them in communal ways. This will help us survive in struggle, support intergenerational communities of resistance, develop a greater theoretical maturity… and to paraphrase a Mapuche comrade, we can’t sabotage the State’s infrastructures if we depend on them.

How this activity plays out, from setting up free schools and day care centers, to free food programs, to building water treatment alternatives in cities where the State has given up, is up to us. The point is that we must begin to engage in this work; in building this autonomous infrastructure and the relationships which it needs to grow.

Furthermore, it is in engaging in this organizing, in this activity, that we can bring in new people to our movement and allow them to grow alongside us. Because if anything, this is where we as a movement often fail behind the Left. While we wait for the next big demonstration or event at the local infoshop, the Left is signing up members and having them plug into the latest campaign. Looking back at 2017, many of us just assumed that the next wave of troops were going to suddenly arrive, yet often had no way of both meeting those people and also engaging them with physical organizing projects that would allow relationships of trust to develop. Because of this, many membership organizations such as the GDC, Redneck Revolt, the IWW, and especially non-anarchist groups like the DSA, grew exponentially. In 2018, let’s think about ways to bring new people in, but moreover, about just what we would do with those numbers. 

2016 grew our capacity, while 2017 tested our resolve and determination. In 2018, let’s see how far our imaginations can take us.

2017 Timeline of Resistance

January 1st: Noise demonstrations happen outside of a variety of jails, prisons, and detention facilities.

January 5th: Red Warrior Society launches tour.

January 6th: “Preparing for the Trump Era” midwest tour beings, organized by CrimethInc.

Anarchists, antifascists, radical queers, and Wobblies mobilize in Whitefish, Montana against threats by the Daily Stormer to hold an armed march “against Jews.”

Early January: Protests continue in Florida against the Sabal Trail Pipeline. As eyes remain on Standing Rock, various anti-pipeline fights have erupted across the country. Anarchist prisoner Sean Swain goes on hunger strike. Anarchists organize large scale assemblies, skillshares, conferences, and community discussions to talk about what resistance to Trump in the current period could look like.

January 10th: Tampa Food Not Bombs faces repression for sharing food.

January 11th: Anti-gentrification actions in Denver.

Bloomington, IN on J20.

January 12th: Anti-Sabal Trail Pipeline banner hung.

Mid January: Anarchists, antifascists, Wobblies, and radical queer groups organize large mobilization against threats from the Daily Stormer to rally in Whitefish, Montana.

January 14th: Milo talk shut down in Davis, CA.

Anti-ICE banners dropped in New York area.

January 15th: Sabal Trail Pipeline protesters lock down on MLK day.

January 17th: Anti-ICE banners dropped in Long Island and Brooklyn.

January 19th: Alt-Right Deploraball disrupted and clashes break out.

A limo is set on fire during clashes with police in DC on J20.

January 20th: Protests, marches, and blockades break out in Washington DC, as walkouts, street marches, and more take place across the US. Richard Spencer is punched in Washington DC and Nathan Damigo is pepper sprayed in Berkeley, CA. The former’s socking would go on to become one of the most popular memes of the year and thrust anarchists, the black bloc, and antifascists into the national spotlight. Large antifascist black bloc disrupts Milo event in Seattle; a member of the IWW is shot by a Alt-Right Milo supporter. Far-Right trolls immediately after the shooting attempt to say that antifascists were responsible. In Olympia, bathrooms windows at a park are broken, in response to police locking them at night. Larger struggle erupts over keeping the bathrooms open.

January 22nd: Events and actions in solidarity with International Day of Action with Trans Prisoners take place.

January 25th: Protest against Milo in Boulder, CO.

Momma said knock you out.

January 26th: Olympia marches against transphobia. Antifascist poster wheatpasted in Olympia, and Denver.

January 28th: Thousands fill SeaTac airport against Muslim Ban, are attacked by police in some cases. See our roundup from the 28th here. March against Alt-Right ‘Atlanta Forum.’

January 29th: Thousands continue to occupy airports against the Muslim Ban across the United States. See roundup here.

A banner at an airport protest in response to the Muslim Ban.

Late January: Over 100 turn up to picket Burgerville store that had fired IWW organizer. Daily Stormer meetup disrupted in Rockford, Il.

January 31st: Anti-Milo rally in San Luis Obispo.

February 1st: Baker Center occupied at Ohio University. In Berkeley, thousands including a large black bloc shuts down a Milo speaking event at UC Berkeley, which leads to a large scale riot and clashes with far-Right trolls. Later, Milo’s bus is vandalized. Banners dropped in solidarity with Standing Rock defendants facing down grand jury in Olympia, and in Denver.

Milo Yiannopoulos speaking event in UC Berkeley comes to an abrupt end. Street celebrations follow.

February 2nd: Antifascist counter demonstration against Proud Boys.

Early February: Police in Philadelphia attempt to shut down antifascist speaking event at anarchist bookstore, but are not successful. Vaughn prison uprising takes place in Delaware, as prisoners cite conditions and Trump as their reason for launching rebellion.

Police amass at Vaughn prison in Delaware.

Early February: Asheville kids organize and participate in anti-Trump march.

February 8th: Chicago lockdown against DAPL in bank.

February 9th: Freeway blocked in LA against ICE raids.

Freeway onramp blocked in LA against ICE raids.

February 10th: Betsy DeVos physically blocked from entering DC school.

February 10th: ICE van blocked in Phoenix.

Mid-February: Rowdy protests, clashes with police, and street blockades in Austin, TX against ICE raids.

Breaking News #ICE Protest turned into brawl & lawlessness #Austin #Texas 2-12-2017 11pm #Rundberg #Lamar pic.twitter.com/ld6H6vDbb7

— Austin Scanner (@AustinScanner) February 12, 2017

February 14th: Connecticut lock down at bank against DAPL.

February 17th: Black bloc march in Tucson.

February 20th: Mass marches take place in Chicago against Trump. Anti-pipeline actions in Texas.

Black bloc marches in Tucson against ICE and police.

February 22nd: Anaheim erupts after a white police officer shot at a young Latino youth on his way home from school. Police move to evict Standing Rock. Occupation of Sabal Trail Pipeline site.

February 23: Anti-Trump festival held in Evansville, IN.

Late February: Water protectors cleared from Oceti and various Standing Rock encampments by massive police force.

Rioting breaks out in Anaheim, CA after a off-duty police officer almost kills a Latino youth in front of his home.

February 25th: Hundreds march on Burgerville to demand that they give into the IWW’s demands.

February 26th: St. Louis march against attack on queer and trans community. Police kill Water Protector who opened fired on Sabal Trail Pipeline in Florida.

February 28th: GDC organizes counter-demonstration against Identity Evropa in Minneapolis.

Out of the ashes of the Standing Rock camp, grew a phoenix of future anti-pipeline struggles against the black snake.

March 4th: Pro-Trump marches are met with resistance, as a new coalition is formed in the streets between independent Trumpists, the Alt-Right, militias, and the Alt-Lite. Clashes break out in a variety of cities, and Alt-Right and neo-Nazis appear at almost all pro-Trump events. Cities organizing counter demonstrations include Cleveland, Virginia Beach, New York, Lansing, Mar-A-Lago, Berkeley, DC, Olympia, and beyond. Social media roundup can be found here.

March 5th: Protest against KKK in Georgia.

March 6th: Berkeley student-workers walk off job and form union.

Anarchists counter MAGA march in Houston, TX.

Early March: Gender strike march brings out militant feminists and anarchists against ICE in San Francisco. Neo-Nazi stickers in Richmond, VA destroyed.

March 10th: Student walkout called against the Sabal Trail Pipeline.

March 11th: Demonstration outside of the home of Richard Spencer.

Gender Strike march in San Francisco rallies against ICE.

Mid March: Graffiti calling CHP “Nazi sympathizers” appears in Sacramento. Spreading of anti-DAPL sabotage actions. Liberal yard signs wheat pasted over in North Carolina.World goes gaga over Portland anarchists fixing potholes. Protest against deportation of family in New York. Anarchists in Tucson, Arizona participate in St. Patrick’s Day Parade, with anti-prison message. Trump golf course in LA is vandalized with anti-Trump slogans.

Images of anarchists filling potholes in Portland go viral. “Fix health care next!,” one internet commentator writes.

March 15th: Nashville antifascists organize counter-demonstration to Trump rally. Protest of Jeff Sessions in Richmond, VA.

March 17th: Banner dropped in Berkeley in solidarity with antifascists facing repression in Sacramento.

March 18th: Prisoners in Pittsburgh lauch one day strike. The next two nights, noise demonstrations are organized in solidarity, leading to clashes with police and several arrests. Anti-police block party organized in Durham. Antifascist demonstration in Texas against anti-Muslim rally. Denver rally against Turning Point USA. Anarchists in Berkeley hold info-demo, handing out hundreds of flyers while bloced up.

Anarchists organize float in St. Patrick’s parade, linking Irish liberation struggles with anti-prison and black liberation battles in the US. Zines are distributed to parade goers.

March 19th: Call in campaign to VFW hall is successful in shutting down neo-Nazi event.

March 21st: Antifascists begin outreach campaign alerting neighbors of Alt-Right neo-Nazi in Atlanta.

March 24th: IWW in the Twin Cities pickets in solidarity with CNT member.

Large black bloc in Philadelphia successfully shuts down “MAGA” march.

March 25th: Pro-Trump demonstrations are organized again, leading to more counter-demonstrations. Clashes break out in various cities. In Philadelphia, a massive black bloc shuts the march, while in Lansing, Michigan, antifascists also disrupt the event. In Milwaukee, Trump organizers don’t even bother to show up. In Sacramento, antifascists released information linking pro-Trump organizers to neo-Nazis, helping to create distance between the two groups. Other counter-demonstrations also took place in Houston, Omaha, Providence, in Oregon, and elsewhere.

Anarchists, antifascists, and Wobblies mobilize against Trump rally. MAGA train never leaves the station.

March 26th: Burgerville Workers Union of the IWW hold picket and carnival.

March 30th: Wobblies in Milwaukee participate in struggle to make school a sanctuary campus.

Shut down, vandalized, attacked, and literally chased out of every city it goes to, the anti-trans “Free Speech Bus” tour ends early and in failure.

Late March: Jeanette Vizguerra takes refuge in Denver church from deportation. Anti-trans bus attacked and vandalized at various stops; cuts tour short in face of growing resistance. Charles Murray talk disrupted. Neo-Nazi Craig Cobb’s house burned down in North Dakota. GDC rallies in the Twin Cities and in Seattle against Alt-Right, while in New York, thousands take the streets to remember Timothy Caughman, who was murdered by member of the Alt-Right in broad daylight. Encampment around Tacoma detention facility begins in support of hunger strike.

Weeks of solidarity with Standing Rock and J20 defendants inspire actions and benefit events across the US and the world.

March 31st: GDC organizes antifascist rally organized at University of Washington. Another GDC rally takes place in Minnesota.

April 1st: Black bloc provides security for counter-protest against “Spirit of America” far-Right rally which attracts neo-Nazis.

April 2nd: Antifascist rally in Vancouver, WA against pro-Trump militia event.

Early April: Week of Solidarity Against Repression is called, in solidarity with Standing Rock and J20 arrestees. Call-in campaign also takes place. Posters against repression pasted up in Denver.

April 3rd: Banners dropped in Michigan against pipeline Line 5. J20 defendant’s home raided by police in DC.

The IWW rallies for DC Whole Foods worker unjustly fired for union activity.

Early April: Richard Spencer flees as antifascists shut down an Alt-Right rally in DC. Posters and graffiti up against fascism grows in Lansing.

April 5th: Berkeley student-workers shut down Cafe.

“Pastel bloc” takes to the streets of Austin, TX.

Early April: Pastel bloc takes part in bigger march in Austin. Wells Fargo shut down in Connecticut to demand divestment from DAPL.

April 8th: Richard Spencer flees for blocks after antifascist rally confronts small Alt-Right protest.

April 10th: 100 detainees at Tacoma Detention Facility launch hunger strike. Spreads to multiple pods.

A banner in solidarity with Standing Rock hangs at the ZAD in France, as part of the first week of solidarity with social movements in the US facing repression.

April 11th: Protest against Charles Murray in Bloomington. Haymaker Gym announced.

April 12th: Channel Zero Network is announced.

April 14th: Detainees in Riverside, CA, launch hunger strike.

Bloody clashes take place in Berkeley, CA on April 15th.

Mid April: Banner drop in Minneapolis against US military action.

April 15th: Clashes between antifascists and Alt-Right, militias, and Trump supporters leads to bloody brawls and the far-Right declaring victory. Posters put up in solidarity jailhouse rebellion in Chicago.

April 18th: Alabama students send Richard Spencer and Matthew Heimbach running.

Late April: Antifascists poster campus in Turlock, CA, home of Identity Evropa leader.

April 20th: Neo-Nazis kicked out of Kentucky restaurant while celebrating Hitler’s birthday.

April 21st: Banner drop in memory of man killed by guards in Hudson Valley, New York. Vandals in Austin, Texas issue statement against frats.

An anonymous group vandalizes several frats in Austin, Texas, linking them with sexual assault and racism.

April 22nd: Anarchists do outreach on Earth Day in Buffalo, NY. Workers on UC Berkeley shut down campus.

April 23rd: DC antifascist counter-demonstration. Graffiti written in solidarity with French rebels in Minneapolis.

pic.twitter.com/RGVZJbUDBb

— UWU (@UWUatCal) April 22, 2017

April 24th: Banner dropped at Jill Stein event, “No Politician Will Lead us to Freedom!”

Late April: Solidarity banners across the world with Berkeley antifascists. 

April 27th: Earth First! roadshow tour kicks off.

New Orleans shows up to counter neo-Confederates in style.

Late April: Confederate regalia burned in New Orleans. 50 detainees launch hunger strike in the Tacoma Detention Facility.

April 28th: Protest against Ann Coulter in Modesto. Neo-Nazis show up to support.

April 29th: Mass antifascist rally in Pikeville, Kentucky against the Nationalist Front.

Antifascists and angry locals show up to run the Nationalist Front out of Pikeville, Kentucky.

April 30th: DC IWW holds rally outside of Whole Foods against wrongful termination. Posters put up in Kyle “Based Stickman” Chapman’s neighborhood.

May 1st: May Day actions happen across the US. Graffiti written in memory of James Marker in Bloomington.

Anarchists, autonomists, anti-authoritarians, and anti-capitalists take part in May Day actions, events, and marches around the world.

May 2nd: Neo-Confederate rally shut down. 

Early May: Angry town halls break out in shouting matches between people and politicians over plans to attack health care. Philly sends solidarity to rebels in France.

Philly sends love to France.

May 6th: Mass antifascist rally takes place at Minnesota state capitol. Anti-Klan mobilization in North Carolina.

May 7th: Mass demonstration against Alt-Right rally in support of Confederate statues.

May 10th: Anti-prison rally in Albany, NY.

Community in New Orleans celebrates the coming down of Confederate statues, as Alt-Right fights openly with each other.

May 13th: Residents of Charlottesville, VA chase off neo-Nazis who hold two rallies over the course of the day. Boston antifascist rally held. Anti-prison rally in Chicago.

May 15th: Rally against neo-Confederates.

Mid May: Confederate sign changed to “Herman Wallace” in New Orleans. Hunger strikes continue in Tacoma, WA detention facility, as protests and actions continue throughout the year. Virginia residents chase pipeline surveyors off.

Anti-Klan mobilization in Asheboro, NC.

May 20th: Neo-Nazis driven out of Charlottesville while attempting to hang out in the Downtown.

May 23rd: Anti-prison demo attacked by police in Atlanta.

May 24th: A World Without Police tour begins.

Memorial Day rally for James Marker, Water Protector and Veteran who was killed by the police in Florida.

May 25th: Folsom Prison hunger strike begins. Protest and march by antifascists at Cal Poly against Lauren Southern.

May 28th: Rally held in Las Vegas for person killed by the police. Clashes with MAGA trolls. Banners dropped at UC Berkeley in solidarity with Eric Clanton.

Banners dropped in solidarity with Eric Clanton at UC Berkeley. Clanton was arrested by Berkeley Police after a campaign organized by neo-Nazis on 4chan.

Late May: AT&T workers go out on strike across the US. On memorial day, demonstrations held by Water Protectors honoring the life of James Marker. Antifascist rally in Chicago against Proud Boys. Long term resistance camp to fracking set up in Ohio. Confederate statue removed in New Orleans.

Early June: Virginia residents disrupts pipeline survey teams. Blockade of Matthole forest.

June 2nd: Alt-Right trolls unsuccessfully attempt to disrupt Alex Reid Ross’s talk.

An anarchist and antifascist coalition in New York rallies on June 10th against anti-Muslim groups and militias.

June 4th: Militant demonstrations in Portland take place against far-Right rally. Solidarity demonstrations take place at Folsom Prison during a hunger strike.

June 5th: Utica IWW holds rally against man being threatened with deportation.

June 9th: Sabal Trail resistance continues, as police make several arrests.

Anarchists and antifascists take to the streets across the US, disrupting and shutting down anti-Muslim far-Right rallies.

June 10th: Anarchists and antifascists out mobilize far-Right anti-Muslim rallies across the US. In some cities, people are able to stop the rallies from taking place. Many rallies represent various crews and organizations coming together in solidarity. “No Justice, No Pride” action in NYC.

June 11th: Events held around the world in solidarity with long-term anarchist prisoners. Includes marches, rallies graffiti, and info tables. Full roundup here. Anarchists in Detroit take part in disruptions of ICE trucks.

June 13th: Haul No! tour begins.

June 15th: Clashes between antifascists and Patriot Prayer at Evergreen University break out. 

Mid June: In East Lansing, abolitionists converge on prison bigwig’s home for demonstration and march.

Abolitionists in East Lansing rally at home of prison official.

June 23rd: IWOC chapters in North Carolina hold picket.

June 25th: Antifascist and anarchist rally held in solidarity with J20 defendants. Pro Rojava banners put up in New Orleans.

Late June: Anarchists march as part of radical bloc in Philly PRIDE.

IWOC members picket in North Carolina.

Late June: Health care protesters arrested in DC. Resistance at Camp White Pine continues against pipeline construction. Alt-Lite trolls Jack Posobiec spreads false information that antifascists would vandalize Confederate graves at Gettysburg. Militia guy shows up – and shoots himself in the foot. International Day of Solidarity with anarchist prisoner Eric King takes place, with actions and events held in various cities. Anti-prison banner dropped in Pittsburgh.

July 3rd: Anti-Confederate rally in Hollywood, Florida. Proud Boys driven out of Boulder, Colorado.

Early July: Titled Scales Tour begins.

Anarchists march as part of radical bloc in Philly PRIDE.

July 5th: Portland noise demo outside of juvenile hall.

July 8th: Proud Boys and neo-Nazis shut down in New Haven.

July 9th: Charlottesville shuts down KKK rally, police attack community.

Militant demonstrations against an overheating jailhouse break out in St. Louis. They result in air conditioners being put into the facility.

Mid July: Hundreds rallied and clashed with police outside of jail in St. Louis were prisoners were suffering from intense heat. Demonstrations continue over preceding days. The demonstrations pushed the jail to buy air conditioners.

July 10th: Announced that American anarchist, Heval Demhat, has been killed in the struggle in Rojava. Graffiti in Minneapolis in solidarity with G20.

July 11th: Antifascist groups mobilize to support Mosque that was vandalized by neo-Nazis. Skaters and youth riot against police in San Francisco, after police slam one skater into the ground while going down hill.

June 15th: Women’s hunger strike kicks off in Tacoma Detention Facility.

June 16th: Thousands converge after police officer who murdered Philando Castile found not guilty.

Neo-Nazi leader Matthew Heimbach receives a shock, as around 30 antifascists greet him as he arrives in court to answer for assaulting an African-American woman at a Trump rally.

Mid July: Burgerville Workers Union holds picket. Protest and disruption over Mountain Valley Pipeline in Virginia.

July 17th: Banner drop of Eric Garner. Block party also held.

July 19th: Rally in solidarity with Rojava in Ann Arbor. Rally held in Louisville, Kentucky outside of courthouse against Matthew Heimbach. Anarchists participate in rally in Flint, Michigan. Banners dropped in Pittsburgh in solidarity with anarchist prisoners. RAM marks anniversary of the Rojava Revolution with salute to martyrs.

July 20th: 6 months after J20, another week of solidarity is called with J20 defenants. Banners are dropped, graffiti is put up, and informational booths are placed in various cities. Complete roundup here. High school students drop banner here.

July 21st: A Fire Inside tour kicks off, which looks back on the Prison Strike.

July 22nd: Nashville community mobilizes against neo-Nazi gym.

High school students drop banner in solidarity with J20 defendants.

July 22nd: Anarchists hold antifascist bloc party in Ann Arbor.

July 24th: Two people come forward and admit to carrying out campaign of sabotage to DAPL equipment.

July 25th: International day of action and solidarity with antifascist prisoners.

Late July: North Carolina community rallies to support Grand Jury resistor Katie Yow. Prison food strike breaks out in Wisconsin prisons. St. Louis community announces anti-police campaign. Antifascists kick out neo-Nazi at trans rally in Colorado Springs.

July 28th: Antifascists confront the American Renaissance Conference.

July 29th: New Orleans antifascists rally against Based Stickman and others.

Rally in solidarity with Katie Yow, grand jury resistor.

July 31st: Rally in North Carolina against grand jury.

Early August: General Defense Committee in Milwaukee launched successful campaign to get elevator fixed in apartment building.

August 5th: Milwaukee GDC members take part in 5K run at Sikh temple in remembrance of white nationalist shooting.

August 7th: Burgerville Workers Union holds mass picket.

August 11th: Noise demo takes place along with call-in campaign in Indiana outside of prison.

August 12th: Anarchists, antifascists, socialists, and community members clash with neo-Nazis, KKK members, and the Alt-Right in Charlottesville, VA. In the aftermath of the death of Heather Heyer, thousands pour into the streets across the US and beyond. Slutwalk march attacked in Chicago by police. Antifascists in Austin mobilize against neo-Confederates. After death of Heather Heyer, solidarity events are organized in Olympia, Oakland, and beyond.

Bloody clashes in Charlottesville end with the death of antifascist Heather Heyer at the hands of a neo-Nazi.

August 13th: Wobblies, anarchists, and antifascists mobilize march on Richard Spencer’s house while he cowers inside. Clashes with Patriot Prayer break out in Pacific Northwest. Solidarity demonstration also organized in Lansing, MI.

Mid August: Monterey rally in solidarity with Charlottesville. Tampa march in solidarity with Charlottesville. Worcester rally in solidarity with Charlottesville. Minneapolis march in solidarity with Charlottesville. New Haven rally in solidarity with Charlottesville. Atlanta takes to streets in solidarity with Charlottesville, attacks Confederate statues. Asheville solidarity rally with Charlottesville, attacks Confederate statues. Durham tears down Confederate statue. Murfreesboro solidarity rally with Charlottesville.

Mid August: Charlottesville solidarity rally in Denver. New Orleans holds burning tire vigil for Heather Heyer. St. Cloud, banner drop in solidarity with Charlottesville. Banner drop in Richmond, VA in solidarity with Charlottesville.

Atlanta brings down the old order.

Mid August: 40,000 show up to shut down Alt-Right rally led by Based Stickman. Clashes break out, despite the event being portrayed as ‘non-violent’ in the media. Rally against white supremacy in Dallas, TX. Charlottesville solidarity rally in Cleveland. Due to self-organized job actions by co-workers, neo-Nazi speaker at Unite the Right, Johnny Ramondetta, flees from his workplace in San Francisco.

Durham takes to the streets against the KKK.

Mid August: Charlottesville solidarity rally in Columbus. A massive way of action in solidarity with Charlottesville hits the United States, as Confederate statues and symbols are also torn down and attacked. Anarchists join protests against police killing in Troy, NY.

Lansing mobilizes for #MillionsforPrisoners.

August 18th: Upwards of a thousand take the streets against against the KKK in Durham. Abolitionists and anarchists in Lansing, MI take action in solidarity with #MillionsforPrisons. Members of IWOC and other abolitionist groups rally in DC against prison slavery and the 13th amendment. Another rally is held in San Jose, CA. People in Asheville, NC take down Confederate statue on their own.

August 21st: Banners dropped in solidarity with Charlottesville in Tempe, AZ.

Massive black bloc in Berkeley on August 28th.

Late August: Identity Evropa banner destroyed in Boone, NC. Encampment and struggle breaks out to remove “Silent Sam” statue in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Memorial march for Nathan Hose, a New Orleans J20 defendant who tragically took his own life on August 16th.

Late August: Autonomous relief efforts begin in the wake of Hurricane Harvey in Texas. Marchers take to the streets of New Orleans to remember Nathan Hose, who took his own life. Nathan was arrested on J20 in NOLA. IWW recycling workers in Berkeley walk off the job.

Looking through the tear gas in Phoenix at anti-Trump rally.

August 20th: Alt-Right confronted by massive antiracist crowd in Laguna Beach.

August 23rd: Indigenous militants and anarchists confront Trump rally in so-called Phoenix.

Late August: March in Gresham, Oregon in solidarity with Charlottesville is harassed by Proud Boys.

Fraternal Order of Police confronted in Nashville.

August 27th: Large antifascist mobilization shuts down Alt-Right rally in San Francisco. Strong presence of labor, some groups of workers walk off job and take part.

August 28th: Fraternal Order of Police confronted in Nashville. Mass antifascist mobilization in Berkeley shuts down Alt-Right rally, large black bloc pushes out the police from park.

August 29th: Coordinated banner drops against white supremacy.

Redneck Revolt takes part in disaster relief efforts in Houston, Texas.

Late August: Community rallies after death of Ricky Ard in Evansville, IN.

Early September: Walkouts and protests take against attacks on DACA. Autonomous relief efforts begin in the wake of Hurricane Irma in Florida and Puerto Rico. Banners dropped in Flagstaff after neo-Nazi vandalize occured.

Protesters take to streets against threats to DACA.

Early September: Banners dropped in Flagstaff after neo-Nazi vandalize occured. Berkeley high school students form human chain around their school to protect DACA students. Rally against rape culture on frat row in Minneapolis.

Rally outside of Target store support wildcat strike.

September 4th: Burgerville Workers Union launches strike on Labor Day.

September 6th: Riot breaks out in Kansas prison. March from Charlottesville to DC arrives at at the capitol. Brief occupation ends with police eviction.

Anti-colonial and antifascist banners dropped in Flagstaff in response to neo-Nazi attack.

September 7th: Graffiti written in solidarity with J20 arrestees and against gentrification.

Early September: Wildcat strike breaks out in Virginia at a Target store and wins its demands after several days. IWW rallies against far-Right anti-Muslims group.

GDC rallies against anti-Muslim group in Milwaukee.

Mid September: Riots, protests, and marches break out in St. Louis as police officer is let off without any charges in killing of African-American man. The demonstrations go on for over a month. Banner drop commemorating Attica and #PrisonStrike. Direct Action heads up against Line 3.

Juggalos and antifascists march on DC while pro-Trump rally fizzles.

September 10th: Antifascists confront Patriot Prayer rally, far-Right attendees attempt to run over counter-protesters.

September 15th: Antifa contingent marches at the Juggalo March; massively dwarfs the “Mother of All Rallies” pro-Trump event, which attracts various neo-Nazi groups that attended Unite the Right, such as AntiCom. Minneapolis students organize antifascist march. St. Louis revolt begins in response to the Stockley verdict. Over the next few nights, the Mayor’s house will be attacked, as well as various shopping district. Contingents of young African-American men seen armed and open carrying during the marches.

Open carry demonstrators march in St. Louis as news of the Stockley verdict inspires over a month of resistance.

September 16th: Scout Schultz is murdered by police in Atlanta, leading to a riot on campus. Resistance to Line 3 continues to heat up, as a blockade is established in Minnesota.

September 16th: Antiracists run neo-Confederates out of Richmond, VA. Scout Schultz is killed by police at Georgia Tech.

September 17th: Running Down the Walls events are held across the US.

Scout Schultz’s memory comes alive in Atlanta.

September 18th: Riot breaks out in Atlanta at George Tech against the police killing of Scout Schultz.

Mid September: Students at Cornell University occupy building. Neo-Nazi punched in Seattle goes viral. Anarchists and antifascists hold BBQ and block party in Madison.

Late September: Antiracist and antifascist coalition brings together hundreds, as Milo’s “Free Speech Week” implodes in Berkeley. Neo-Nazis attempt to disrupt Houston Anarchist Bookfair. Banner drops at Pitt in solidarity with Schout Schultz at George Teach also in Atlanta.

Neo-Nazis from Patriot Front attempt to unsuccessfully disrupt Houston Anarchist Bookfair.

Late September: Student hold disruptive event at Virginia Tech against neo-Nazi teaching assistant.

Early October: Posters honoring Scout Schultz pasted up in Minnesota. Anti-State STL puts out analysis of first month of St. Louis rebellion. Graffiti for Kara Wild.

Pipeline protesters in Minnesota flip the script – and some cars, against Line 3.

Early October: Community demonstrates outside home of Pittsburgh cop.

October 10th: Flyering campaign against neo-Nazi in Philadelphia.

Early October: Work strike begins at Holman Prison in Alabama.

Across the US, statues of Christopher Columbus and other symbols of colonialism are vandalized.

Early October: Resistance across the US against statues and symbols of Christopher Columbus. Ellen’s Famous Stardust Diner caves into the IWW campaign, as 31 employees that were fired are rehired. Banner drop for indigenous people’s week. Richard Spencer returns to Charlottesville for a 10 minute media photo op, as people in the community mobilize and hold a march through the town in response.

Mid October: Across the US, anti-Columbus Day actions take place. March held in NYC against rapist police.

Anarchists in New York take to the streets against rapist police. The march helps generate a spotlight on the department and ongoing instances of rape and sexual assault.

Mid October: Thousands disrupt Richard Spencer’s talk in Gainesville, Florida. Afterwards, several neo-Nazi attendees attempt to shoot at counter-protesters. SWAT raid against Mutual Aid Disaster Relief in Puerto Rico. Antifascists run out neo-Nazis after their plans for rallying on Lief Erikson day fall through. Statute is also vandalized.

Late October: Antifascist posters put up at Columbia university. Street marches against Line 3 in Minnesota. Protest mobilization against Lauren Southern in Minneapolis.

Blockade of Goose timber sale.

Late October: Blockade of Goose timber sale ongoing in Oregon. Marches and protests take place in Philadelphia in response to the meeting of Chiefs of Police. Massive antifascist rallies drown out neo-Nazi protests in Tennessee. “Gentrify in Hell” banner dropped from crane in Flagstaff.

Late October: Milwaukee GDC holds rally for abortion access.

October 31st: Rowdy marches and actions take place on Halloween.

GDC members organize rally to defend abortion access.

Early November: Actions against Line 3 shut down roads in Minneapolis. Portland students hold sit in. Anti-police graffiti in Philly. Hunger strikes break out in Indiana prisons and in Northern Oregon. Students hold rally at Virginia Tech against neo-Nazi teaching assistant. Student protests and sit-ins organized in Portland.

Squat in Chicago goes public in campaign to resist eviction.

Early November: IWW picket in front of Burgerville in Portland. Public campaign by squatters in Chicago begins. Banners remembering Haymarket Martyrs dropped in Tampa, Florida.

Mid November: Portland rally against neo-Nazis on anniversary of brutal racist murder. Eco action against timber sale in Indiana. J20 support rally held in Philadelphia.

Portland antifascists march to remember Mulugeta Sera.

Mid November: Atlanta action against gentrification. Austin school students walk out over teacher racism. Lock down in Minnesota in solidarity with fight against Line 3. Anti-pipeline actions in Minnesota shut down construction for a day.

November 18th: Antifascist rally against Alt-Right in Boston.

Car was stopped in a hammer time zone.

Mid November: Group of anonymous masked people vandalize police cars and sub-station in Philadelphia. Anarchists organize clothing drive in Modesto. Antifascist counter against anti-Muslim rally in Southern California. Florida students mobilize against neo-Nazi and KKK rally. Student occupation of the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh.

Tree sit at Camp White Pine in Pennsylvania.

Late November: Camp White Pine errects another structure, as campaign continues against pipeline. Indigenous and environmental protesters disrupt Snow Bowl. Streets blocked against fracking in Pennsylvania. Anti-pipeline actions continue across the country. Olympia Stand communue and blockade beings. #StopSpencer actions take place on the Michigan University campus.

The Olympia blockade becomes the Olympia Commune.

Late November: Actions against gentrifying businesses in Atlanta go viral in the media. Rally in DC in solidarity with J20 defendants at first trial kicks off. Solidarity graffiti written in Southern Oregon. Clashes with the Alt-Right and police break out against as Lucian Wintrich attempts to give a speech. In the face of a police clampdown, Atlanta Food Not Bombs holds a community gathering to feed even more people despite threats from police.

Pittsburgh students occupy the ‘Cathedral of Learning.’

Late November to Early December: Across Pacific Northwest, trains are stopped in solidarity with Olympia blockade.

November 29th: The Olympia Stand blockade is evicted by police. There are no arrests.

Atlanta Food Not Bombs serves hundreds in the face of attempts by the city to crack down on the program.

Early December: “Cops protect rape row” banners dropped in Minneapolis. Hunger strike ends in victory in Indiana prison. Banner dropped in Durham for those facing charges for taking down statue. Anti-Columbus banner dropped at Notre Dame. Neo-Nazis driven out away from pro-Palestine rally in Chicago. Rally and march against eviction of former Black Panther and community organizer, Auntie Frances. Anti-pipeline banners dropped in Richmond. Rally organized by Richard Spencer fizzles in DC after meeting antifascist opposition. Antifascists counter-mobilize against Alt-Right rallies attempting to hijack the death of Kate Steinle.

Antifascist mobilization in Austin, Texas.

Early December: Police car tires slashed in Asheville in rememberance of those killed by police.

Mid December: Banners dropped in Virginia against pipelines. Rally in Charlottesville against the grand jury.

Rally against the grand jury in Charlottesville, VA.

Mid December: Actions against Line 3 pipeline continue, with encampment being formed. In Tacoma, actions take place against LNG construction. Hudson Valley Earth First! begins tree sit to stop pipeline construction. Arkansas ‘racoons’ sabotage pipeline. Dreamers in DC launch hunger strike. Banners dropped in Durham. Hudson Valley Earth First! rally against pipeline. Tree sit remains ongoing. Banners dropped in Virginia against pipeline projects.

December 21st: First round of J20 defendants found not guilty on all counts. Solidarity rally follows afterward.

Former political prisoner Chelsea Manning holds a banner in DC after the end of the first J20 trial.

Late December: Antifascists and anarchists destroy Identity Evropa banners and rally in Charlotte against AntiCom, who never shows. Confederate statues continue to be vandalized. ATMs in Philadelphia vandalized in solidarity with Scout Schultz and others martyred anarchists. Indigenous activists in Northern California occupy building to stop it from being moved on top of Sacred Site.

Tempe anarchists put an Identity Evropa banner to the torch.

In Memory: We Will See You When We Storm Heaven

James Marker, Water Protector and Veteran in Florida who fired on Sabal Trail Pipeline during construction, was shot and killed by police on February 26th.

Heather Heyer, antifascist who was murdered by neo-Nazi during Unite the Right demonstration in Charlottesville, VA on August 12th.

Scout Schultz, queer anarchist killed by the police in Atlanta on September 16th.

Paolo Todd, (Kawa Amed), Native-American YPG fighter who was martyred during Operation Wrath of Euphrates on January 15th, fighting against Daesh (ISIS).

Robert Grodt (Heval Demhat), American anarchist killed in the battle to liberate Raqqa from Daesh (ISIS) control, martyred July 5th.

Nathan Hose, J20 defendant in New Orleans. Sadly took his own life on August 16th.

Nicholas Warden from Fort Stewart, Georgia, was martyred on July 6th in battle against Daesh (ISIS) in Raqqa. 

It’s Going Down

We made it – to the end of this review, and to the end of the year. The last 12 months has found us in amazing and terrifying times. In life and death struggles with armed fascists, to putting in water treatment equipment in storm ravaged towns. From walking the picket lines in Portland, to standing in occupied universities in Pittsburgh. From marching on May Day, to licking yet another stamp for that special prison pen pal. From pipeline encampments floating on the water, to tree sits blockading logging roads. We watched as people died in front of us, and we celebrated as our friends defeated life long prison sentences. And while we may have all laughed at Alex Jones, you’ve got to admit, there’s a bit of ‘Supersoldier’ within all of us.

If you want an image of the future, imagine the rich playing golf while the world fucking burns. pic.twitter.com/JFf6tr0uAx

— It's Going Down (@IGD_News) September 6, 2017

Looking back on everything that has happened, we are sure that like us, you are amazed by everything that took place this year. Here at IGD, we are happy to be part of documenting autonomous social movements and providing anarchist analysis, day in, and day out.

We ask that if you too find what we do of value, then please, become a monthly sustainer and help our project grow. Got some Bitcoin, throw down. Wanna smash the piggy bank and give us a one time donation, please do. Wanna buy a shirt or other swag, do that here. We want to keep growing, and we want to keep expanding. We’re honored to share the road ahead with you. Together, it’s taking us to some amazing and exhilarating places.

Other Roundups

CrimethInc.: Year End Review

DC Direct Action News: Year End Review

14 Months of Rebellion in the US

2017: Resistance Review