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Antwort in : /alt/activism/d Absender : sffnb@iww.org (x344150) Betreff : Food Not Bombs W. Regional Gathering and "Defencing UN Plaza" Datum : Mo 27.07.98, 23:14 (erhalten: 16.08.98) Groesse : 17223 Bytes ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
http://www.ainfos.ca/
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DATE: SUNDAY 26 JULY 1998 - 15:30 USA PACIFIC TIME ZONE
TO: A-INFOS
FROM: HUGH ( FNB - San Francisco ) sffnb@iww.org
MESSAGE: Please consider the two following stories for publication in your news service. The stories deal with the recent Food Not Bombs 14 July Bastille Day Action to Reclaim Public Space in San Francisco's United Nations Plaza and with the Food Not Bombs Western Regional Gathering of July 10 th to the 14 th. Please reply to confirm that you have received this e-mail and please let us know if you intend to publish any portions of these stories.
Please also note that there are photographs of the Food Not Bombs Bastille Day Action to Reclaim Public Space event which are available for publication. Please contact us if you wish to see them.
Thank you for your time and attention. Best wishes - Hugh.
Food Not Bombs - San Francisco
P.O. Box 40485
San Francisco, California 94140
USA
Phone: +1-650-985-7087
E-mail: sffnb@iww.org
Webpage: http://webcom.com/peace
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BUILDING MOVEMENT AND CELEBRATING RESISTANCE: THE FOOD NOT BOMBS WESTERN
REGIONAL GATHERING OF JULY 10TH TO JULY 14TH , 1998.
- Written by Chris Crass and Johnna Bossuot
The FNB (Food Not Bombs) Western Regional Gathering , which took place in the San Francisco Bay Area from July 10 to July 14, was an opportunity for FNB members to come together and share skills and experiences, discuss politics and organizing strategies, and to celebrate our common struggles and local activism for social justice. FNB groups share free vegetarian food in parks, plazas, commons and other public space in an effort to challenge economic inequality, poverty and militarism. While FNB groups distribute free vegetarian food, they also work on a wide varity of struggles such as saving the Headwaters Forest from clear-cut logging and preventing the construction of a nuclear waste dump in southern California's Ward Valley, to opposing police brutality. One of the objectives of the FNB Western Regional Gathering was to explore the ways that direct-action activism and radical politics shape the way that we share food and work in solidarity with each other.
The Gathering consisted of workshops, discussion groups, large group meetings, an Anarchist Cafe Night, beach parties, an activist video night, a day in People's Park in Berkeley, and a public protest and action to reclaim public space. The Gathering was attended by over 80 activists who came from FNB groups in Calgary and Vancouver - Canada, Boston, Chicago, Texas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Tampa and Clearwater - Florida, Prescott - Arizona, Olympia and Seattle - Washington, and from the California communities of Arcata, Berkeley, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Pomona, Riverside, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. An anti-poverty and labor activist from Japan also attended the Gathering.
The Gathering, which had been named " Organizing for Radical Change, " focused on the politics, tactics, strategies and direct experience of Food Not Bombs groups. With this focus, it was hoped that the Gathering would broaden the 'sense of the movement', develop the political analysis and organizational skills of local groups, and formulate strategies for local, national and international work. The Gathering was also an opportunity to learn about and celebrate the work that has been taking place in various locations around North America.
Adriana of FNB Los Angeles said that " the Gathering was really wonderful, in that I met a lot of incredible people and learned a lot from the workshops. " One of those workshops was entitled " City Harrassment, Permits and FNB Responses and Strategies of Resistance ", which Adriana co-facilitated, as FNB Los Angeles has been recently visited by the LAPD at their regular serving site which is across the street from a luxury hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Some of the other workshops and discussion groups that took place were " Resisting Anti-Poor People Campaigns ", " FNB Inter-Group Networking and Communications ", " Consensus Decision-Making Process and Facilitation " and " Class Politics and FNB : Gentrification and Resistance ".
Some of the other workshops focused on specific skills like cooking and activist video work. Tai Miller co-facilitated a workshop on composting and gardening which took place at the Potrero Del Sol community garden in San Francisco's Mission District. " If no one is going to give us dirt for free, we are going to have to make it for ourselves, " Miller said after instructing people on the finer points of turning kitchen scraps and rotting vegetables into nutrient-rich soil through composting, and then using it to grow one's own food.
There were also discussion groups that explored some of the issues facing activists in their day-to-day work. One of these was the Gender Caucus, which Katie Whitacker of FNB Pomona thought had a strong impact and was " glad we addressed some of the issues ( of gender relations and power dynamics ), because I feel that we usually don't discuss sexism deeply in the FNB and radical left movement. " The Caucus brought men and women in FNB together to talk about gender roles, group dynamics, sexism and power inequality. Another workshop entitled, " Critical Evaluation of the Movement ", took a look at communication barriers across race, class and gender and discussed obstacles created within, and by, activists groups which prevent effective organizing. Maura, who co-facilitated the workshop with Chris Burn, said that " I learned a lot and the workshop will lead to further exploration of these issues. " Maura said that she and Chris have already begun planning a series of discussion groups to take place in San Francisco Bay Area that will take a critical look at the movement with the intention of renewing radical organizing. ( Please contact Maura or Chris at <omaurao@yahoo.com> for additional information about the Critical Evaluation of the Movement discussion group. )
There were also workshops that focused on FNB and networking with the larger movement for social change. FoodFirst Information and Action Network (FIAN), an Oakland, California, based organization that deals with food policy and economic development issues from a critcial left perspective, presented a workshop on their " Economic Human Rights: The Time Has Come " Campaign. Terry Messman, editor of the " Street Spirit " newspaper, gave a presentation on " Social Justice Street Newspapers " and how FNB groups can help to build the alternative homeless advocacy press. There were also workshops about the situation in Chiapas, former Yugoslavia, and coalition building between FNB and the Industrial Workers of the World ( Food Not Bosses ), and " Building Revolutionary Movements " by Fire By The Night Organizing Committee.
" What I really liked about this Gathering was that people were talking about FNB as a revoluntionary movement, " said Sam of FNB Whittier, Calfornia. " It was exciting to see FNB maturing politically and beginning to see itself as part of the larger anti-authoritarian struggle. "
The Western Regional Gathering also hosted an Anarchist Cafe Night that served as both an opportunity to celebrate and to cover the expenses of the Gathering. Over 200 people came out for dinner, dessert, face-painting, artwork, deejays and dance music, and a * no-talent * show that featured musical acts, poetry and spoken word. Aimee Patton, who was master of ceremonies for the event, explained that by " calling it the 'no-talent' show, it took pressure off the people so they could just come up and show off their stuff, because it was an event where people could just have fun. " The event went late into the night, raised enough money to cover all expenses, and proved to be a postive way to build community.
The one activity that all FNB groups regularly participate in is serving free vegetarian meals. Organizers of the Gathering decided to hold two free noon-time meals at 16th and Mission Streets for the Gathering, in addition to the regular FNB San Francisco food serving schedule. The corner of 16th and Mission is in the heart of San Francisco's Mission District, which is a community that is being subjected to intense gentrification, police brutality and the forced removal of poor and homeless people. The Mission District is also currently being invaded by corporate chain-stores. The two additional noon-time meals served as an opportunity to reclaim public space and hold a free vegetarian picnic. There was plenty of food to share with the folks in the neighborhood and and dozens of people sat around the 16th and Mission BART Station Plaza while eating and hanging out. Along with the food were literature, FNB banners and announcements for up-coming protests. The gathering also increased our numbers at our weekly Saturday afternoon serving at Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro District. Gathering participants also enjoyed a meal and day in People's Park in Berkeley. FNB East Bay ( Berkeley/ Oakland ) prepared food and held workshops on cooking, using field kitchens and on the history of People's Park.
Jef Arson, one of the organizeers of the Gathering, was asked what he thought after it was over. He responded that, " Anytime one is involved in organizing a gathering like the Western Regional, you always have alot of expectations, hopes and fears about how things will turn out. I can honestly say that I was blown away by the people I met, the workshops I attended, and I was downright floored by the support, enthusiasm and participation in the action and demonstration to reclaim public space in United Nations Plaza ( please see the following article by Sadie Sabot ). Overall, I think the strongest impression I have of the Gathering is the sense of people feeling that they are a part of something much larger and more revoluntionary than previously imagined. I personally came away with a much greater appreciation of the things other folks in other cities are doing and how similar, and yet different, our struggles are. "
For more information about FNB, please contact us at:
FOOD NOT BOMBS, P.O. Box 40485, San Francisco, CA 94140
Phone: 1-650-985-7078
E-mail: sffnb@iww.org
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DEFENCING UNITED NATIONS PLAZA - By Sadie Sabot
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When the fences went up around the grassy area at United Nations Plaza in San Francisco last November, Food Not Bombs volunteers had a pretty good idea of what they were for. When a volunteer from Food Not Bombs called the DPW ( Department of Public Works ), those suspicions were confirmed. The fences, he was tolded , were put up to keep homeless people off of the grass.
The fencing-off of public space to keep " undersirables " out is nothing new, nor is it unique to San Francisco. FNB ( Food Not Bombs ) volunteers from all over North America spoke of their struggles around public space during last weekend's Western Regional FNB Gathering. Some towns put up fences ( San Francisco and Riverside, California ). Some towns pass anti-sitting or anti-panhandling laws ( Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz in California and Vancouver, BC, Canada ). Some towns create Business Improvement Districts and hire private security guards to patrol public space ( Sacramento and San Francisco ). FNB confronts these attacks on public access to public space with direct-action, by serving free vegetarian food and distributing literature in and around these spaces, and by speaking out and holding demonstrations.
July 14th saw one such protest, in San Francisco, involving FNB volunteers from as far away as Clearwater, Florida, and Calgary, Canada. Around noon, FNB brought some delicious food and the music of Marvin Gaye and Woody Guthrie into UN Plaza. The crowd was festive and the weather was perfect as FNB folks from all over hung out with the regular crowd at UN Plaza. Around One O'clock. in front of a huge banner that proclaimed " visibility is a human right, "speakers began to address the crowd. " What we really need from the community, " said Ronnie Eagles, from the Coalition On Homelessness, "... is some solutions. Solutions, not more fucking persecution ! "
Speakers from Chicago FNB and from the FNB groups in Riverside, San Jose and Whittier in California, adressed their local struggles with public space. There were also speakers from San Francisco Liberation Radio, who addressed the attacks on public access to the airwaves, and FoodFirst, speaking of the Campaign for Economic Human Rights. The last speaker was Johnna Bossuot of San Francisco FNB. She addressed the fact that access to most of san Francisco's parks is limited. "We know why these fences are going up, " she said. " Because certain people's rights, and well-being are reconized, respected and protected, and others' rights are not. This is not equality and there can be no equality while these fences are up. "
And then the fences came down. The fences were barricades of the type used by the police for crowd control, held together with plastic handcuffs and hose clamps. Some folks cut through the cuffs and clamps; others just used determination and strength. Within minutes, the grassy area nearest to where FNB customarily shares free food was dotted with people sitting and rolling in the grass, and celebrating. In honor of Woody Guthrie's birthday, a rousing, if off-key, version of " This Land Is Your Land " was sung. Then the folks realized that there were three other grassy areas at UN Plaza still behind fences. Midway through the dismantling of the next fence, the police arrived.
They were clearly confused, asking one protester, " What's going on here ? " When told that public space was being reclaimed, the officer appeared relieved and said, " oh, we thought it was a fight. " After much milling about the police began to try to put the fences back up. In response, the demonstrators sat upon a large section of the downed fence and began chanting, " food not bombs, homes not jails " and " your fences are offensive ."
At the end of the day, some thirty folks had been arrested and charged with refusing to leave the scene of a riot and resisting arrest, including Monica Berini, who said, " I took part in the demonstration because, aside from the larger social and political implications, this is personnal. I live near UN Plaza, I can see it from my window. It's the only grass in my neighborhood to sit on, and I did sit on it, a lot, and so did a lot of other people in the neighborhood. "
While no one was surprised that the police arrived to "protect" the public space, the force that they used was surprising. " Given the non-violent nature of the protest and of the demonstrators, the police were way over zealous in their use of intimidation, force and 'pain compliance' techniques, " said Jeff Larson, a FNB volunteer who was subjected to excessive and prolonged pain compliance holds. " In fact, several officers were taunting people, trying to provoke reactions, thus giving justification for more brutal actions on their part. " " It was intense, " said Camisha Reidt, another FNB volunteer " I wasn't prepared for the cops. They were so brutal. "
The post script to this event is that one week later, on July 22nd, the fences around the grassy areas at UN Plaza were taken down. " The green areas are for the people to look at, not necessarily to lay on, " said Jorge Alfaro of the Department of Public Works. "But we're going to see how people use the space. " When asked if there was any connections between the demonstration and the fences coming down, Alfaro repsonded, "Of course there was a connection. The demonstrators brought it to everyone's attention."
The struggle for free access to public space in San Francisco is far from over. But at least for now, one of San Francisco's grassy areas is again available for use by the homed and homeless alike. Remember ... direct-action gets the goods !
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