J20 Chukson: We Tried to Build a Commune

Submitted to It’s Going Down

On January 20th, inauguration day, on occupied Tohono O’odham land (Tucson AZ), a group of autonomous rebels, predominantly anarchists, attempted to blockade the railroad through downtown Tucson with the purpose of setting up an indefinite encampment from which to experiment and resist. There are many reasons we decided to set up the blockade, but for now we definitely want to give a shout out to those south of the border wall, fighting hard in Nogales, Sonora.

A 25 person black bloc began to move 75 pallets, a number of tarps, banners, food, a grill, tents and a literature table into a downtown intersection blocking both the street and the tracks. Police responded too quickly for us to deal with, and along with challenges with the physical terrain, we were unable to build the barricades wide enough or strong enough to control the space. Nevertheless the Union Pacific mainline and a major automobile throughway was blocked for an hour and a half.

The police deployed pepper spray remarkably quickly against the bloc and arrested one person after just a few minutes of action and we also failed in de-arresting our friend. At this time the main march route intersected with the blockade-attempt in progress and people were generally supportive of both the blockade and our injured and detained friend. Some people with bullhorns, though, insisted that this wasn’t what “we” wanted and that people should leave, which is a shame because the planning of this action had a lot of thought behind inviting people into a space without them feeling trapped there. Of course some people won’t be able to stay in a situation like that or necessarily want to, but it’s a bunk move to try & convince everyone else to ditch a captured comrade with pepper spray in their eyes, no?

At least one organizer sporting a Bernie Sanders cap asserted that the blockade action was putting “women and children” at risk, despite the participation of plenty of women and young rebels in the bloc. There were also some typical accusations of “hijacking” which, while never particularly well thought out, were especially baseless considering that we intentionally did our own thing in concert with other actions hoping for a meeting of intentions. But liberals are gonna liberal, so whatever. We will continue to find and build affinity where it actually exists.

Below is the text of a flier prepared for the action in English and Spanish. In the chaos of the conflict with the police, not many were distributed.

Needless to say, many participants are disappointed — that we couldn’t take and hold the space, build the commune, get our captured back from the enemy, or effectively entice more people into a rebellious and uncontrollable space. We still undertook an action of our own choosing and still blocked the veins of empire, even if briefly. A failure on our own terms was better than joining the liberal march.

We hope that this action honors and furthers the spirit of local indigenous and anarchist insurgencies. We also hope that our intentions resonate with some here that we have yet to meet.

To have aimed lower would feel worse, and we recognize that the global struggle against domination is centuries old. We will continue to learn to better take care of each other, to create liberatory spaces and to ever more fiercely resist all the forces arrayed against us and against freedom.

A heartfelt shoutout to those of you came through for the day to throw down, you know who you are.

We nurtured some relationships and we clarified others, what’s next?

– some anarchists in an attempted blockade

Flyer Text:

NO PRESIDENTS ON STOLEN LAND
January 20th, 2017 – Inauguration Day – Occupied Tohono O’odham Land

Today sets the tone for the next four years of resistance, and we want to start it right. Resistance outside of electoral politics during both the Bush and Obama administrations showed us that the most promise lies in the hands of those of struggling from below. Our resistance started before Trump, without collaboration with the police or politicians. The “Anyone But Bush” folks may have gotten what they wanted for a brief period, but we want more. All presidents, puppets that they are to the wealthy and powerful, engaged in a genocidal occupation, will continue to do the same. We must resist them all.

Trump has come to power on the message of hate and the escalation of an attack on disempowered people. He is a sexually assaulting, ableist, racist, sexist, capitalist pig who does not care about working people of any color or background. His proposed appointments to government office demonstrate that. His administration has already begun to strip away the first provisions of healthcare before even taking office.

Today we block the railroads which are the veins of the capitalist body. We want to make it impossible for them to govern us and impossible for the system to function smoothly. We hope also that those racists and rapists and so on who feel empowered by this turn of events might realize that they are up against organized and passionate network of people who are willing to defend each other. This is our contribution to today’s struggle.

We are in solidarity with the struggle in Mexico to destroy the walls that separate families. The suffering is not only caused by capitalist greed that increased the price of gas by 20%, but is also a result of 150,000 murders and 30,000 disappearances which have affected indigenous communities, women, migrants, environmental defenders, workers and students.

We are in solidarity with the struggle at Standing Rock and all struggles of Indigenous people, including those protecting Oak Flat from the combined greed of U.S. politicians and mining companies.

We stand against the Loop 202 expansion, which seeks to further displace Indigenous communities and desecrate sacred sites for the benefit of industry.

We resist Arizona’s ban against ethnic studies (HB2281) and “social justice” education programs (HB 2120), which seek to keep knowledge of people and history from the young.

We condemn the attempts to gentrify Chukson’s historically Black South Park community.

The Day of Solidarity with Trans Prisoners is on January 22nd and our hearts will be beating with the hearts of our gender rebels interned behind walls.

We will fight until Palestine is free, along with every other site of occupation, with no excuses for the cops, politicians, soldiers, and border guards who keep these occupations in place.

We gain ground when we fight back and build together as those who reject the entire political class and the world they enable. We’ve seen the fires spread from the uprisings against the police in Ferguson, Baltimore, Charlotte, and Milwaukee, to Standing Rock, to the protection networks set up among those of us without documents or homes.

These fires go back a long time in our recipes and our stories and our celebrations and our sacrifices, even the ones they don’t talk about.

Our best chances lie with ourselves and each other.

__________________________________

NO PRESIDENTES EN TIERRA OCUPADA

20 de Enero, 2017

El Día de la Inauguración Presidencial

Tierra Occupada TohonoO’odham

Este día marca el tono de los próximos cuatro años de resistencia y queremos empezar con el pie derecho. Durante las administraciones de Bush y de Obama, los movimientos que tuvieron lugar fuera de la política electoral nos enseñaron que la promesa de resistencia está en manos de quienes luchan desde abajo. Nuestra resistencia empezó antes de Trump, sin colaboración con la policía ni con los políticos. Aunque quienes gritaron “Cualquiera Menos Bush” obtuvieron lo que querían por un breve período, nostrxs queremos más. Todos los presidentes, los títeres de los ricos y los poderosos, están participando en una ocupación genocida y seguirán por el mismo camino.

Hay que oponernos a cada uno de ellos. Trump ha llegado al poder por medio de una plataforma de odio y de una intensificación del ataque contra los que menos poder tienen. Es un racista, un sexista, un agresor sexual y un cerdo capitalista a quien no le importa la gente de la clase obrera de cualquier raza. Ello se demuestra en los nombramientos para su gabinete presidencial. Ni siquiera ha empezado su mandato y su administración ya ha comenzado a tomar medidas para revocar la Ley del Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio.

Hoy bloqueamos las vías del ferrocarril porque sirven como las venas del cuerpo capitalista. Queremos que sea imposible que ellos nos gobiernen, imposible que el sistema funcione como es previsto. Esto es nuestra contribución a la lucha el día de hoy.

Expresamos nuestra solidaridad con la lucha en México para destruir los muros que separan a familias y a nuestras luchas. El descontento causado por la codicia capitalista no sólo es resultado del aumento de los precios de la gasolina hasta en un 20 por ciento, sino que es consecuencia de un pueblo herido en donde más de 150 mil personas han sido asesinadas y 30 mil más han sido desaparecidas, afectando a comunidades indígenas, mujeres, migrantes defensores ambientalistas, obreros o estudiantes.

Estamos en solidaridad con Standing Rock y con cada lucha indígena en cada tierra ocupada, incluyendo a quienes están protegiendo a Oak Flat de la codicia de los políticos y de las empresas mineras.

Tomamos una postura en contra del Loop 202, que aspira a desplazar aún más a las comunidades indígenas en beneficio de la industria.

Estamos en contra de la criminalización de los estudios étnicos (HB 2281) y programas educativos de justicia social (HB 2120), lo que privaría a que la gente aprenda sobre su cultura y su historia en Arizona.

Estamos en solidaridad con lxs presxs trans y con ellxs celebramos un día de solidaridad el 22 de enero.

Seguiremos luchando hasta que Palestina y cada sitio ocupado estén libres. No aceptaremos las excusas de la policía, lxs políticxs, los ejércitos, ni lxs agentes que vigilan las fronteras del mundo porque son ellxs quienes mantienen esas ocupaciones.

Avanzamos cuando nos defendemos y juntos construiremos una comunidad que rechace a la clase política en su totalidad y su realidad. Hemos visto la propagación del fuego, desde los alzamientos en Ferguson, Baltimore, Charlotte y Milwauke, hasta Standing Rock, hasta las redes de protección organizadas por aquellxs sin documentos o sin hogar.

Estos fuegos tienen una larga historia y dentrodecada unx denosotrxs hay una llama queardey seguirá ardiendohasta quetodxs sean libres.