(Photo Credit: PoorNewsNetwork)
Day 1 (Yelamu) San Francisco
"This is an order to evacuate…” The mechanical PoLice voice rang out - sailing through the morning air, through the medicine of the Danzantes drum, above the heads of a thousand bodies, colors, cultures and souls in resistance to hate, white supremacy,racism,violence and white terrorist threats descending on this occupied indigenous territory.
We were in stolen Ohlone/Lisjan Land (San Francisco) at a corner called (oddly enough) "Alamo Square", where the Alt-right/ White Terrorists who call themselves "Patriot Prayer" were supposed to meet for a rally. A rally/press conference which was canceled, which followed another rally which was planned for and then canceled at Crissy Field.
Con-fusion reigned. Fear of racist, amerikkklan violence threatened by terrified,ignorant racists. Which followed several other statements by poltricksters, PoLice, and anyone else involved.
Organizers from ALL Across the Bay Actually spoke to each other.
A beautiful process of coordination, which sadly and rarely ever happens in the movement world where so many folks are separated by the lie of the philanthro-pimps, grant guidelines, the structure of racism and classism, akademia and even the movement itself. In this fight against this weird, old but still very real hate, that lurks everyDAY in amerikkka, folks of conscious actually spoke to each other, came to each others meetings, shared each others plans, and planned a somewhat complex, but beautiful form of unity.
Frisco Resistance in Frisco (Stolen Ohlone/Lisjan Village of Yelamu)
Spear-headed by Amor for Alex organizer, poet and teacher Benjamin Bac Sierra, Frank Lara and Gloria La Riva from Answer, a gathering was called only two weeks prior to the planned rally of hate and white terror in Crissy Field. Walking alongside ILWU union organizers and held together by love and resistance and a refusal to ever back down, several hundred people came together to gather more people, who gathered more people who gathered more people.
BlackAugust 27th came to Alamo Square
Launched with the drum (Huetlhuetl) and the prayer of the Aztec danzantes who held space in the street for over an hour after all of us were evicted from the park at Alamo Square while Ben negotiated with the literally thousands of poLice who were descending on the huge crowd with billy clubs, helmets down. Never sure where the violence, the supposed klan and the terror was supposedly going to come from, we were relieved when Ben announced that one of the streets would be opened for the massive march to come through and gather.
Within 30 minutes we had over five thousand people stream onto Hayes and Steiner streets. A beautiful rally ensued. And then we marched to 24th and Mission streets. Poet Gina Madrid, Equipto, Union Organizers, SURJ, ILWU, Answer and so many more spoke, marched and dreamt powerful work.
People came together in Yelamu, as Ben Bac Sierra would say with, “Puro amor..”
The Patriot Prayer folks ended up holding a "press conference" put of an "undisclosed" motel room and later than day approximately 20 Patriot Prayer zealots ended up showing up to Crissy Field where more Frisco resistance warriors were there to meet and greet them.
Day 1 ended up without violence and only with sheer resistance.
Day 2 -Huchuin Ohlone/Lisjan Land (Berkeley)
Indigenous resistance from 1st nations folks led the powerful resistance of this day. All peoples came together - from all four corners - resisted white terror and 21st century kkkolonizers. The following two young women resistors narrate this powerful day of resistance...
Neo-Nazi's had officially left and people power on occupied Ohlone territory here in Berkeley have declared victory! We as people with not be silent when hate, racism, fascism, oppression and so forth try to come to our grounds! , 1st Nations Youth warrior
Isabella Zizi
Progressives, liberals, radicals, antifa, black bloc came out en masse with the directive of unity and solidarity. Throughout the day people who have previously condemned militant resistance were stepping forward to thank #Antifa, whose huge presence scared more than a small handful of Nazis from showing up. Speaker after speaker called to respect the diversity of tactics, acknowledging that the nonviolence of moderate folks relied on the militance of #Antifa.
The mass of families, religious folks, celebrities, community leaders who came out made the event feel safe and welcoming for people who may never have been to anything like this before, and made it possible for #Antifa to unmask safely without surveillance one the protest was ending.
This is the power that comes from leftists across the board working together. Thank you to EVERYONE who came out yesterday, and a special thank you to #Antifa who seems to be getting a bad rap, but who really kept us safe yesterday! organizer and resistor Lesley Haddock
And the energy of these two days of powerFUL resistance is all in this beautiful warrior Niccolette Portillo's poem
Post-Script-
In some strange way we have the Orange man to thank for the end of kkkolonizer days. His pure hate has forced us to lead with pure love- to overturn and destroy age-old, disgusting markers (statues) which glorify genocide, people who promote hate, His-Stories told only from the oppressors POV. And as painful and strange as this bizarre and beautiful weekend was- it is also pushed us truly into decolonization. Leading us into the seven generations where Mama Earth and her earth peoples rise up into truth, into leadership, into liberation. Ase, Ahoooo, Ometeotl...tiny