New Zine Announcement: The World Opens Up – Recalling the First Days of the 2020 George Floyd Uprising in Seattle

Announcing a new zine from 1312 Press on the first days of the George Floyd Uprising in so-called Seattle, WA.

As we approach the 4th anniversary of the beginning of the George Floyd Uprising, we wanted to mark the occasion by uploading online a zine we published for the 2023 Seattle Anarchist Bookfair. Nearly 100 copies were given out for free, and publishing digitally was de-prioritized. This zine is simply the print version of an online article published on Puget Sound Anarchists in October, 2020. The Afterword follows:

This collection of reflections was meant to have been put into zine format years ago when it was originally published online, but it seems more fitting that it finally emerges in material, real world print for the 2023 Seattle Anarchist Bookfair, the first since Covid-19 began attacking our communities. It feels strange now to re-read these reflections and remember what it was like to be in the streets, surrounded by liberals and militants alike, and having running street battles with the police. It’s easy to recall those days as if they were glorious, because we had some kind of purpose right in front of us. There was a way to cut through the alienation and isolation of capitalist society by simply leaving our houses and heading into the streets of Capitol Hill. But for many of us, these interactions were also incredibly frustrating. I particularly recall watching a white person yell at a Black man for attempting to break a window. When they were confronted by two people in black bloc for peace-policing, their response was, “I’m working with black leadership!”

The year-and-a-half that followed the days recounted in this zine were incredibly tumultuous. From June 9th to July 1st, the CHAZ/CHOP dominated Seattle news, culture, politics, and society at large. After the city cleared out the semi-autonomous zone on July 1st, several nationalists and Proud Boys attempted to march through the Capitol Hill neighborhood on July 4th, but were successfully pushed out by militant anti-fascists. Following the dissolution of the CHAZ/CHOP was perhaps the most exciting moments in militant anti-police street action Seattle has seen since the aftermath of the police murder of Native woodcarver John T. Williams in 2010. The “guest-house” in the center of Cal Anderson Park was successfully squatted and repurposed to provide shelter and electricity for Seattle’s houseless population, and served as an organizing hub for months of militant street demonstrations and direct action. A series of “Anti-ICE” demonstrations rocked the city streets for months on end, making sure businesses with financial ties to Amazon and the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild were physically attacked. It is without exaggeration to say that there were no open Starbucks storefronts in Seattle for the majority of 2020-2021 due to these demonstrations and their propensity to break windows, loot, and set fire. On July 25th, a mass protest snaked its way through Capitol Hill, downtown Seattle, the Central District, and back to Capitol Hill for the national day of solidarity with Portland, OR that had been called. The construction offices for the new youth jail in the Central District were utterly destroyed, and a fiercely violent street clash with Seattle Police occurred on the lawns of Seattle Central College.

There were so many dynamics at play in all of these events, and many of them have yet to be acknowledged and revealed. Several individuals have been sent to prison for their role in the uprising. Some of them have finished their sentences, while others have years left in high-security federal prison. Between the street battles to create the CHAZ, the CHAZ itself, and the months of militant street action that followed, there were glimpses into what a thoughtful, strategic and serious anti-police street movement in Seattle could really look like. The period of exception seems to have passed however, as storefronts are opened up and the streets are full of cars and people commuting to and from work. Questions abound. How do racism and authority function in our daily lives, not just as impositions from systems of power, but in our interpersonal relationships? There are many mechanisms at work that successfully rewinded the snap of reality that brought so many of us into the streets week in and week out. One day, we collectively defied the dirge of everyday life by coming together in attacking the police, ritualistically at times. One by one, we ended up going back home and attempting to return to what our lives looked like before the uprising. Many of us had emotional and physical wounds to heal, many of us are locked up in prison, some of us are trying to support them. Perhaps next time the lid blows off, we will rethink going home for the night.

Download and print PDF zine here.

photo: Screenshot, King 5 Seattle