Seattle Call for Autonomous Action on #J20

Submitted to It’s Going Down

The idea is out there, and calls for a “general strike” have begun to surface throughout the political void. Socialists and Bernieites displeased with their own lack of political agency are grasping for a thing to do in this moment, to maintain relevance. But their thoughts on this day, on inauguration day, are merely an attempt to gain political power and further their campaigns. They are not concerned with the growing threats of poverty, fascism and white supremacy but in fact uphold this system based on those policies. And their calls for a “general strike” are misleading, what they are looking for is another chance to recruit, another soundbite for their political operatives.

What they don’t understand is that they can’t contain this, they can’t manage and direct the anger that has been building since before election night. It’s been boiling for 4, 30, 500 years and it will not fit their platforms and it will not look good or respectable. They will not want to put their name on it when the smoke clears on that day.

We are anarchists and anti-capitalists and those fed up with being managed; whether that be by the gentle slap of the democratic left or the hard hook of the right. This left/right dichotomy means little to us besides what methods we will use to fight an enemy bent on upholding structures that require our subservience and domination. In this moment, we are poised to face down both, pushed against the wall by a president with such openly white supremacist policies and an alt-right agenda that our generational memories can not fathom, and a left/socialist cadre attempting to harness the palpable anger to be used for their own political devices. In-between are the emboldened white supremacists, quietly organizing themselves in small towns and back rooms, drawing in the unaffiliated racists to their ranks. They have found a leader in trump and will use this moment, are using this moment, to create cover and complacency for their racist violence. Which, especially in the pacific northwest, is not a new phenomenon. Racist whites and open fascists have been terrorizing communities of color and queer communities since before this land was stolen to become the State it now is.

Amidst all of this liberals are calling for calm, for patience and for our “protests” to be staged in a clear and respectful way. We call bullshit. This not the time for calm, or for protest at all. This is the time to gather ourselves and advance on the things that keep us subjugated, on the racist institutions and the gentrifying businesses and structures, on the infrastructure not designed for us but for a powerful white elite. And on the people and policies that would defend those structures, the police; the prison guard; the judge, the boss and the landlord.

Capital moves in unconventional ways, and it does not and can not look like it did 100 years ago when the strike was a more common tactic. So we may not walk out of the factory on inauguration day, but this city is still full of points where capital flows, unabashed and uncaring for those it flows over. Lets first find each other, and then find those points and fuck them up.

This is a call for January 20th, inauguration day to be full of autonomous direct actions, and decentralized blockades and civil disobedience. This is a call to blockade the highways and the light rail; to shut down the banks and the ports; to keep the trucks and the trains from moving. This is a call for no business as usual on inauguration day.

Find your friends and accomplices, keep each other safe, do your thing and don’t get caught. The fight is never ending, and this will be a day where we can show our strength, but it is in no terms, the end.

A general strike has been called. Let’s give them one.