Olympia, WA: Alfredo Bonanno Memorial

Report back originally published on Puget Sound Anarchists on memorial for Alfredo Bonanno in so-called Olympia, WA. For background, see this recent piece by CrimethInc.

On the morning of December 6th, 2023 Alfredo M. Bonanno passed away at the age of 86 in Trieste, Italy.

A long-time anarchist, Bonanno was an influential figure on insurrectionary anarchism both theoretically and in practice. With writings like Armed Joy and The Anarchist Tension, Bonanno’s work continues to influence anarchist praxis worldwide. But he was more than just a theorist, Bonanno put his words into actions on numerous occasions and was subsequently imprisoned for bank robbery two different times and was also imprisoned for the writing of Armed Joy.

Upon learning of his passing a group of friends gathered on the evening of December 12th, 2023 in St̕č̓as (so called Olympia, WA) to mourn, honor, and celebrate the life of Alfredo M. Bonanno.

At the historical site of the Olympia Stand Blockades (2016 and 2017) we stood in a circle and talked about the impact him and his writings had on our lives while we passed around bottles of expropriated Italian fancy wine and root beer. When we had all shared our stories we poured out the remainder of our drinks in Bonanno’s honor and proceeded to light up road flares and held banners reading, “Rest in Joy/Alfredo Bonanno/1937-2023” and “Hurry to attack capital before a new ideology makes it sacred to you… Hurry to play. Hurry to arm yourself” – Alfredo M. Bonanno,” a shortened version of one of our favorite quotes of his.

We take inspiration and solace knowing that he lived a long, joyous and rebellious life, a true testament that a life of anarchy and revolt doesn’t have to be short-lived or miserable.

REST IN JOY ALFREDO BONANNO!

– some anarchists