DC @ the RNC, 2 Years Later: Where are we now?

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September 4 · 7:00pm – 9:00pm
La Casa
3166 Mt. Pleasant St., NW
Washington, DC

September 1-4 2008, in the twilight of the Bush era, DC activists joined the thousands who converged on St. Paul, MN. Some went to protest the Republican National Convention, others went to shut it down. 2 years later, just ahead of the RNC8 conspiracy trial, we’re hosting a fishbowl discussion looking back at the action, the lead-up, and the aftermath. For people who participated and for anyone else who’s interested in reclaimi…ng people power in city streets, this is a conversation not to miss.

The Day 1 Swarm-Sieze-Stay action was the largest urban mass-action in years and the last significant attempt at a Seattle-style shut down to-date. Anarchists in the Midwest spent 2 years building for the action and organizing an incredible temporary infrastructure to support the action (including an emergency health clinic and medic dispatch, legal office, and mass food and housing operations).

For many, the RNC was a rallying point to strengthen networks and build capacity in the anarchist and anti-authoritarian movement. In DC and elsewhere, affinity groups gathered and the Unconventional Action network organized and trained for the action. Other groups prepared for peace marches, concerts, counter-conventions, and the Poor People’s March for Economic Human Rights.

Police repression came down hard with pre-emptive raids and brutality on the streets and in the jails escalating during the 4 days of action. As the state began to lay charges on protesters, a disturbing conspiracy of FBI-infiltrators and provocateurs was revealed. And the biggest conspiracy trial since the Chicago 8 (1968 DNC protesters) is just beginning.

Where are we now? What have we gained? What can we learn from all this? And where are we going from here? Come help figure it out Saturday, 7pm at La Casa, 3166 Mt. Pleasant St., NW. Refreshments and good people guaranteed.

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