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Dec 11, 17
Filed under: Anarchist Movement, Announcement, Anti-fascist, Northeast
UTICA – At the last Utica IWW meeting, following discussions within the Utica activist community over the past two months, Wobblies agreed to launch an “Anti-Fascist Coffee Club” to create a space for collective education and discussion about the dangerous rise of fascism and we can do about it. Given the rise of the so-called alt right, neo-nazi, fascist and white supremacist groups, their use of violence and terrorism and their ability to enter mainstream politics with a growing following, we thought it would only make sense to launch an Anti-Fascist Coffee Club. Even in our own backyard, the KKK has once again started organizing publicly, fascists have threatened local activists, acts of violence against people pf color and others have increased and various alt right and fascist groups have gained more traction.
The good news however is that an antifascist movement continues to grow across the nation and around the world. Although this movement is often vilified and the reality of what antifascists do is distorted by the media and others, it continues to grow as a diverse and multifaceted movement. The Anti-Fascist Coffee Club will also serve as a space to learn more about this movement and discuss effective ways to curb the rising tide of fascism.
Educating ourselves about the history, ideology and current state of fascism in the US and around the world is only the first step to address this threat. The next, logically, is activism, community organizing and action.
We will first meet at the Tram in Utica on December 14, 2017 at 7:00pm (1105 Lincoln Ave). The Anti-Fascist Coffee Club is open to anyone who concerned with ideas of “education, organization and emancipation,” as the old IWW saying goes. People are encouraged to read “The 14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism” by Lawrence Britt for the first meeting. You can find the reading here but we will also have copies available during the meeting:
We are also buying discounted copies of Antifa: The Antifascist Handbook by Mark Bray for the reading group. Of course, this group will be democratically shaped by those who wish to intend and we are open to other suggestions for readings. It has also been suggested that future readings will cover social movements, revolutionary theory and anarchism.
