SF Gathering in Remembrance of Kirsten Brydum

9.25.08


Oh, I'm starting to feel a little tired. I have less energy to get out and fill my days as completely as I can. Right now, I'm cozy on a porch in Asheville, North Carolina, a small town nestled into the Appalachian Mountains, and I'm quite content to take it easy in this sweet spot.

I did not have such a breezy time getting here though. To make a long story short, I got one of those too-good-to-be true rides from Craigslist. He decided mid-trek that he could no longer drive to North Carolina. Instead, he left me in downtown Indianapolis and drove off to New York City. This sudden change of plans came after a miserable day of riding with him, so I was actually relieved to be free. I did some quick thinking, called a back-up rideshare leaving the following day and found a surprisingly comfortable hostel for the night (with a little tech support from back home). All in all, I was delayed a day but the reward was found in traveling into the night, weaving through the looming shadow mountains with a feminist sociologist, a giant dog and a veggie oil Jetta. We had dazzling and deep conversations and by the time we rolled into this nook of town, we had developed quite a liking to one another.

Asheville is an anomaly in this part of the country. Whereas the rest of the Appalachian region's economy depends upon coal extraction and refinement, an obviously unsustainable practice for both the earth and for the miners, Asheville's economy thrives on tourism and the colleges in the area (also not sustainable, but in a less obvious way). The town is racially segregated and teaming with new babies, new-agey healer types, educated progressives and boutique-lined downtown boulevards. It supports a fledgling Local Exchange Trading System (LETS) as an alternative economy, yet local sentiment laments its lack of energy. The initiators of the project in Asheville have been consumed by the new worker-owned infoshop project, Firestorm Café & Books, but are on their way to revitalizing the local barter system.

Besides the community economics, I'm loosing my breath at scenery out here. I'm surrounded by the Smoky Mountains on all sides (guess where they get their name), luscious greenery and wild sunsets at this altitude.

When I last updated you, I was chasing a storm to St. Louis. I had heard nothing but frightful stories about both racism and crime in the city, but I wasn't deterred. My new friend, Sean, describes St. Louis as the crossroads between the Southern Bayou, the Midwest and the Wild West. I found it to be a friendly, though troubled, city that provided for me beyond my needs. Within hours of arriving, I had a place to stay, new friends, a loaner bike and an extensive St. Louis Collective Autonomy list in hand.

I was inspired by St. Louis and its housing possibilities. I stayed in a house that was purchased 10 years ago for $800. I met an urban farmer who is living rent-free along with the other farmers from New Roots with permission from the Latin American property owner. There are kids who are living in railway cabooses on an abandoned lot, now called Cement Land. There are abandoned and dilapidated buildings throughout the North side and more trees growing out of the cornerstones of buildings. There is a small but robust squatting movement specifically targeting a speculation mogul. I also saw a building completely fallen in on itself. A man riding by noticed me gawking and said that the fire department had just demolished it earlier that day.

Mark Bohner, a legend among the local subculture, has assisted in diverting at least 17 units of crumbling real estate commodities into co-ops, community non-profits and radical strongholds. Later in September he is hosting a discussion focusing on radical rehab, confronting sexism in construction areas, and minimizing participation in the mainstream economy while still meeting construction needs. He is also the founder of the Red Brick Land Trust, which takes properties permanently off the housing market and puts them under the community's protection.

I rode my borrowed bike around the industrial wasteland and found treasures along the Mississippi: the longest city-sponsored graffiti wall, a recycled glass recycling plant, warehouse ruins with signs of secret night lives. After a few days of this, I heard from someone in Kansas City so I hopped onto the Missouri Mule, the five-hour train line that trudges along the entire width of the state, connecting the eastern most point and the western most point of Missouri.

When I arrived in Kansas City, I instantly fell in love with a tight knit group of friends, travelers from across the prairie who had come together for the demonstrations in St. Paul. They welcomed me into their "family," fed me and offered me floor space alongside 6 others. It was crowded and wonderful. We had insightful political theory conversations and green versus red anarchy debates that persisted until morning. We passed a hurricane together on the porch, singing songs and laughing. We spent days inside the apartment, content with our secluded world. We took a "road trip" to Lawrence, Kansas (which was only a 40-minute drive) in a borrowed retro pink boat-van.

I was almost sweet talked into to going to Oklahoma City with those kids, but in the end I trained back to Chicago, to catch that deceit-filled ride out to North Carolina. It was a tough departure for all of us going our separate ways, but the calls of "I love you" as I walked away will stay with me longer than a photograph.

The prairie lands were exciting. Cheap enough that radicals could live without wage slaving, they also had deeper solidarity to each other as exiles from the rest of society and were more serious about revolutionary change.

Over the course of this letter, I have since left my porch. I managed to escape Asheville despite the ration on gasoline and the mile-long lines. Apparently, the entire Western North Carolina experienced a petrol shortage. Are other parts of the country also experiencing this? It was quite a sight to see: lines of cars idling for hours for only ten gallons, vacant stations with plastic bags over every pump, and fearful faces all around.

Yesterday I spent the day in Greensboro, North Carolina. I found my way to the community resource center, the Hive, and met a handful of friendly folk. They had their very own Food not Bombs kitchen that volunteers constructed from scratch, using donated materials, 1000 measly dollars and one day a week for six months. Later this month, they will host a Really Really Free Market inspired by Carrboro, North Carolina, the RRFM capital of the country. I met up with a woman who may be my favorite on this trip so far. Liz Seymour, a 50-something practical anarchist, eloquent speaker and writer who cares deeply about homeless rights, is behind the infoshop, Food not Bombs, her own housing collective and several other initiatives still to come.

Right now I'm rolling into New Orleans. I really don't know what to expect. An old friend of a new friend offered to pick me up from the station and get me to the house of another friend of a friend. I am overwhelmingly grateful to the strangers I have met along the way who have been willing to go out of their way to welcome me to their cities. The sun is setting on the bayou-licked lands and I am truly fortunate. I have rounded this beautiful Southeast corner on the Crescent line today and from now on I am westward bound.

Getting closer,
Kirsten

From the info presented here, Kirsten's death looks more like a hit job rather than a random act of murder. New Orleans is still a militarized
zone and it's quite possible she was targeted by hired guns.

An update on the police investigation would be welcomed by all of us
in the activist community. Thanks.

I used to live there. She was in the lower 9th ward-at least that is where they found her. I am sorry for your loss. I left there after another activist was murdered-Helen Hill. I would not rule out a hit job-maybe a way to scare off you SF agitators.
She seems like she was a nice person.

from TP

At about 8:30 a.m. today, an unidentified woman was shot in the 3000 block of Laussat Place in the 9th Ward, police said.

Officers in the 5th District responding to a call of shots fired found the woman laying on a sidewalk, and paramedics later pronounced her dead at the scene.

Gagliano said he didn't know the victim's name or age. She, too, had been shot in the head, he said.

Detective Rob Long is heading the investigation.

There are no suspects in either of Saturday's slayings, which pushed the city's 2008 murder tally to at least 145.

Kirsten entered this world on the 22nd of January, 1983 -- 10 months and 11 days after myself. From the moment we met, she was my best friend. Our fathers are brothers, but we were never just cousins. She was my soul's sister. My split apart. My muse. My angel. During the 25 years, 8 months, and 4 days I was privileged to know her, we were inseparable. No matter how much time passed between face-to-face visits, no matter how much space stretched between us, I could always close my eyes and melt that distance. I know it isn't futile to hope that I can still hold onto her embrace. I know her passion, and her strength, and her perfect, open heart will never be far from me or the others' whose lives she touched. I miss her smile. I miss her laugh. I miss the feeling of her hand in mine. I miss long walks. I miss home-cooked meals. I miss sitting cross-legged, sharing cup after cup of tea. I miss late-night, whispered secrets. I miss my very first friend. We're one goddess short on earth today. And every piece of me aches. I love you babyK.

Thank you, NOLA gal, for the update. It looks like the Crescent City is
being used as a training ground for domestic paramilitary groups and
operations, if indeed, activists are being targeted. Could be a 'Condor'
type of covert war being waged against U.S. leftists and their allies in
New Orleans.

Any future info on the murders of Kirsten and Helen would be appreciated by all in the activist community.

Please keep us posted.

She wasn't in the lower ninth. She was 6 or 8 blocks from where i used to live, in the st. roch. She was staying at my old house. It think the details of if she was on a bike and what bike she was on and why she was so far out where there really isnt anything to do are crucial to figuring out what happened.

As much as we would all like to think that the government is evil and everyone else is good, it is a very dangerous neighborhood. I could list a slew of similarly fucked up things that happen around there not by the government, that's the truth.

I think that things like this are an important time to really think about what we as radicals believe in in relation to crime and violence and the prison industrial complex. To be REALLY REALLY clear about it even when crime affects us directly in such ways. I am in no way suggesting that when crime affects the activist community in such a tragic way we should through away all notions of a prisonless society and turn vengeful. I do think however we shouldn't be afraid to call something what it is and recognize that it isn't just the government that hurts people. People hurt people sometimes, despite how much we as radicals try to help people, sometimes people hurt us. It's something that we need to recognize and have an idealogical response to and not just blame the obvious "bad guy" the government even when it doesn't make any sense.

Kirsten was the most sweetest girl in the whole world. She wasn't just my step-sister, I considered her my sister. She always made anyone, everyone feel welcome. She was always open hands with what ever happens, and willing to try anything. I will always love and cherish the moments that we spent together at our family gatherings. You will be loved and miss by all who's hearts you have touched.

I love you Big Sis!! oxoxox

We met Kirsten only briefly through her mother in Portland

She was a wonderful, vibrant, and spiritual individual full of life, and wonderful aspirations

We will never forget her energy

Ric. Bobby

Kirsten was one of those few people that make the world a livable place of vibrant colorful compassion and love. Anyone who had the amazing privilege to meet her knows very well that she was an astonishing example of how we should all live our lives, tirelessly involved in building a beautiful community which she was the living example of. While all fallen comrades and friends and loved ones are prone to iconization and martyrdom I think anyone who spent time with Kirsten will be well aware that the endless positive associations of her character are quite factual. In a world of greed and alienation she lived by example of honest sentimental trust and love, preserving the ideals of what humanity should actually be striving for rather than against.

I think this murder is quite obviously of an extremely dubious nature. There are too many coincidences to rule out some sort of third party involvement especially given the nature of our collapsing economy, the many Food Not Bombs raids and arrests in the past month, and the 700 arrests of harmless activists at RNC (including Amy Goodman). Kirsten was building a united anarchist front across the nation during her murder and I think it is extremely gullible and unintelligent to not pressure the investigators and have a deep analysis of the case. Many things point this away from simple "ghetto violence." The wounds to the head make absolutely no sense for a mugging or gang violence and the timing of the murder was simply perfectly placed so she couldn't finish her work uniting the left. Not to mention anyone who knows her at all can easily attest that she would be a very unlikely candidate for mugging or murder. As Chomsky said, the term "conspiracy theory" is used as a way of deterring institutional analysis. So use your brains people, and don't stop asking questions until you get the facts.

We all love you and miss you Kirsten and will fight for your justice and continue your struggles. You are a bright star that will live on in our hearts and propel the people's movement to new heights. We love you and know you are with us always.

Here's a video we did of Kristen during on of her Really Really Free Markets.
http://ryanishungry.com/2007/07/11/the-gift-economy-really-really-free-market-sf/

I would really like to find out more details on her death. I can't believe she was murdered.

Unfortunately the upper 9th ward is infamous for senseless murder like this. That's a pretty rough part of town to be caught in.

To S.F. Activist,

I grew up in the Bay Area and have lived in New Orleans for two years. I consider myself liberal, but I find it unbelievably ignorant that you would suggest that Ms. Brydum was targeted by hired guns, and possibly the government, because of her activism. Please explain how she posed a threat to anyone, especially the government. She seemed like a wonderful person, especially after reading comments from her family and friends and watching the video that someone posted to this list. I am deeply sorry for the loss of Ms. Brydum, and I hope that the work that she accomplished during her shortened life will continue to live on.

S.F. Activist, there have been 148 murder victims so far this year in New Orleans, 209 in 2007, and 161 in 2006, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Two of those victims were activists. Two of 518. Please open your mind. Not everything in the world is a vast government conspiracy. Feel free to e-mail me if you would like to continue this conversation.

Again, my condolences go to Ms. Brydum's family. I hope that we can find out why this happened, and I hope that her work in SF can be carried on.

FOR KIRSTEN AND HER FAMILY I EXPRESS DEEP SORROW AND SYMPATHY.
I ASK THE ACTIVIST COMM. (KIRSTENS FRIENDS FAR AND WIDE) TO PLEASE NOT JUMP TO ANY CONCLUSIONS. I KNOW MANY DONT TRUST OUR GOV. BUT THIS APPEARS TO BE VERY MUCH IN LINE WITH THE MANNER IN WHICH INNOCENT AND NOT INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE KILLED IN OUR CITY.
NEW ORLEANS AS IS WIDLEY KNOWN, CAN BE A DANGEROUS CITY, WITH POCKETS OF EXTREME VIOLENCE. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE AREAS. NOT FAR FROM THERE, MAYBE 20+ BLOCKS, SINCE KATRINA, HAS BEEN THE OUTPOST OF AN ACTIVIST COMMUNITY. (IM NOT SURE IF THEIR STILL ACTIVE) AND VARIOUS ORG. HAVE BEEN IN THE 'VICINITY' HELPING IN VARIOUS WAYS.
I PRAY THAT WE FIND WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR KIRSTENS DEATH AND BRING THEM TO JUSTICE FOR KIRSTEN AND HER FAMILY.

We are saddened and deeply ashamed that this foul city could not could not even provide a night's safe harbour for this good hearted young woman. I'm forced to plead to the rest of you, please do not let your ideology and wish to see good in people blind your mind and senses to the kind of world we are living in. Don't be a smarty pants. Learn to shoot. There is such a thing as evil just as sure Kirsten was good and it will not be stopped by anything short of the deadly force it exerts sent back its way.

To those who are "sure" that this was a senseless violent random act of murder in a bad neighborhood,

I'm not one to support all kinds of crazy conspiracy theories and I like to remain very practical and logical under all such circumstances. But there must be some accountability for the facts, which as I see are as follows:

1) the murder was a head shot several times over (very unlikely for a mugging/gang violence)
2) Kirsten was uniting the anarchist movement across the country which is *very* great threat to the government being this is the key to the movement as a whole (unification in struggle). If people don't know that they are being very ignorant of class consciousness and historical struggles against any oppressor (look at slave rebellions for an example)
3) knowing Kirsten it is extremely difficult to picture her provoking any sort of violence or mugging, if anything she is a master of diffusing these situations
4) this all happened within the same week of the stock market crash and $700 billion bailout plans, i.e. capitalism is heading for a collapse and so those that are in power are very afraid right now (just watch Bush's speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms_O5avYAOs)
4) this happened in the wake of another activist murder in the same week (or at least very close) who was actually saying she was being spied on before she died.
5) this is also in the same time period of a nation-wide raiding of Food Not Bombs and anarchist collectives all over the country (since before and after the RNC).

All of these later points are huge precedents to the movement. Now, I am not saying that it is an impossibility that it was simply a random act of violence, but I think it is very important and healthy to have these kinds of discussions and not to simply say "oh it was a very dangerous place and that's that." I think the topic is very much open for discussion and I would love to see people entertain it and not be afraid. If we know anything about our government's history we know that they have assassinated and tortured people before (I've actually heard members of the Black Panther Party in person describing their FBI/COINTELPRO incarceration and torture) and of course the deaths of Malcom X, Martin Luther King, J.F.K., Che Guevara, etc. etc. down the very long list are clear examples of how the movement has been deterred through assassinations and the same questions came up then as they do now. That's why I just ask that people look at the facts and have a discussion without jumping to conclusions.

I hope I don't offend anyone in speaking this way, I just want there to be an examination of the facts.

Kirsten Brydum gave me inspiration to live life fully in the moment and give immediacy to changing the world for the better. We had very big dreams grounded in the struggles of everyday reality to create a parallel universe in the here and now. Kirsten was killed while on a popular education tour across the country to listen, organize, network and participate in an alternative culture that gives and loves freely and provides for all. She was not content to wait for new candidates to be put in office or a paid position at a nonprofit. She was willing to do it now with few resources and so selflessly. Kirsten was an anarchist with a strong sprititual orientation and communitarian vision and practice. Her inspiration lives on in me and others. She is deeply missed.

I am an anarchist and activist who just met Kirsten, I didn't know her very well, but I came across with a very favorable impression of her. I'm really shocked and saddened by this senseless murder. I've talked to other folks who feel the same way.

I'm deeply offended at the insensitive clods who are posting here with their speculation about what happened to her. Could you people just shut up for a fucking week and give people a chance to deal with this tragedy? Do you really think that you are providing solidarity with this baseless speculation that can wait a few weeks before being aired?

To the friends and family of Kirsten who are reading this thread: most of the anarchists and activists who Kirsten got to know are not insensitive people who are quick to exploit this tragedy for some ideological agenda. I'm really sorry for what happened to Kirsten and apologize for the ugly, insensitive comments that you'll read here.

I live in New Orleans and having been posting on our local paper. Our city is sadly a very, very, violent place, where people are shot and murdered in ways that someone who watches to much court TV might assume only happens between passionate person with a serious motive, but honestly, if you don't live here, you can not imagine how bad violence is. We have led the country in murders three years running, per capitta. Last year we had 95 murders per 100,000 people which puts us in-between the favelas of Venezuela and Iraq. The area she was murdered in is not a place I would go in the night or day but the local thugs would use, she was in New Orleans drinking in the quarter, probably overcome by it (when I first moved here 8 years ago my first night I went and drank so much I could have easily been persuaded to go with someone and ended up in a similar position). Do you really think she is such a lynch pin of anarchist economics that she was murdered by the government for it. That is the kind of talk that turns average people off and just sounds like nutty conspiracies. She could have just angered the wrong brother, been seen as a easy picking for a tourist, it doesn't really take much here. Sadly the "culture" of NOLA is almost all drug gangs, murder, and ineptidude. This is very sad and my heart goes out other family and friends and the world she was working to encourage so much good for, but it almost cheapens what we deal with almost daily to tangent this into a very seriously stretched conspiracy by the fed.

This is not an either-or situation; it's not insensitive to wonder about motive, especially in this kind of context, as long as it doesn't become some kind of conspiracy free-for-all. As with Sali Grace's murder, it's important to be asking questions, while also creating space to grieve in whatever way is needed. I in no way mean this to be insensitive to the very real levels of violence in New Orleans, but if we don't respectfully ask questions and speak our hearts and minds, imho we're not truly honoring the dead. Make of that what you will.

BTW, I'm saying this as someone who knew Sali Grace - I'm doing my own fair share of grieving this week. If you disagree with me, that's fine, but please go easy, ok? ty.

First off let me say sorry to all the friends and family of Kirsten who are currently suffering. Unfortunately i've never met Kirsten, wish that her murder never happened.

However, this tragic incident needs to be placed in the context of the numerous accidents, suicides and other forms of seemingly random violence directed against the activist community throughout the U.S. and elsewhere..

People in the activist community have the right to discuss the possibility of something else besides random violence without being told to "shut up" (who invited Bill O'Reilly to this dialogue?). If you look at the CIA handbook, their choices of assassination methods are often mimicry of accidents and seemingly random violence. Of course it is easier to mimic random violence in regions where random violence in the expected norm, as the probability of it being random violence is thus easier to believe by the public!!

It is exceptionally difficult for anyone on the outside or even close companions of the victim to tell the difference between ACTUAL random violence and CIA MIMICRY of random violence, and thus the CIA continues to use this method with impunity, especially in the U.S. where outright assassinations are more difficult to pull off..

To suggest that the CIA would not target a good person like Kirsten shows profound ignorance of how our government operates, the CIA targets people precisely because they ARE GOOD people (and thus enemies of the wicked corporatist system)!!

All the skeptics who are convinced that is "must be random violence" need to study up on the CIA methods and tactics, especially the accidents, suicides and random violence mimicry..



The CIA training manual was recently declassified, and activists need to be aware of what methods the CIA uses against their targets. The line about accidents can also apply to random violence mimicry..

"2. Accidents.

For secret assassination, either simple or chase, the contrived accident is the most effective technique. When successfully executed, it causes little excitement and is only casually investigated."

CIA manual found @;
http://www.totse.com/en/politics/central_intelligence_agency/161745.html

Please be aware, safe and vigilant. If activists are having an impact, this could be part of the response from the government. Until there is proof of random violence, consider that other options exist. Do not be afraid, only watchful and careful..

It is sad, the death of one's friend/daughter/peer. But, probably not a government hit. People get killed here. Some nice young people come around. They wear ratty old clothes and think it will make muggers think they don't have money. They don't want to listen to the warnings. They hang out with other young people that are not from here either. They live in a wonderland of fantasy and sometimes refuse to look at the real world right before them. People get killed.

it is probably not in my best interest to be keeping up with these message boards, but i can't seem to occupy my mind with much else at this point. even as a grieving family member, i'm not here to chastise any one for speculating or asking questions. in fact, i urge every one to continue this discourse in whatever way you see fit -- kirsten, of all people, would have insisted upon it. you have all lost the most vivid, inspirational soul that may have ever come into your presence. but i have lost a woman who has been my best friend since the day she was born. if any one has any positive and uplifting stories to share about kirsten, please feel free to email me -- i need as much of her as i can get right now. thank you.

Hello all. I'm one of Kirsten's uncles; I'm sending this from Rhode Island. I just wanted to post a quick thank you to everyone who has taken the time to express their pain, sorrow and dismay at Kirsten's senseless murder. To say that we're devastated is of course well short of the mark but reading personal message from those who knew and loved her makes me smile through these tears.

Kirsten was a special girl; always was and always will be. We were blessed to have her for 25 years and whether by accident or fate I will always be grateful that she found her way out here to visit before departing forever.

I know there's some speculation out there that maybe this was more than just a random murder and wanted to address that briefly. The fact is that nobody really knows what happened. We very well may never know. It hurts beyond words to have to admit that, but there you have it. I know it's only human nature to try to find some meaning . . or someone to blame . . when a tragedy such as this strikes home but . . well, I'll just pass along what I think Kirsten would say: Don't rush to judgement.

The hardest thing in this world is to endure so senseless, so painful and so tragic a loss. But that's our charge. To pull together and find a way through this. To create some meaning from a brutal act of violence. It won't be easy but anything less would be a disservice to Kirsten . . who spent her short adult life making this world a little better place for the rest of us.

Thanks again,
Stephen

where is the funeral

my girlfriends name is jessica braasch and she is friends with her

any info would greatly be appreciated

Thank you all for your wonderful thoughts. They are a comfort to friends and family.
I am in the process of building a memorial site in Kirsten’s memory. Please visit and, if you choose, sign the guestbook. KirstenBrydum.virtual-memorials.com

Kirsten was my niece. When she was a baby, I changed her diaper in an apartment on Haight Street. Several years later, during summer vacation in Rhode Island, I drove her, along with her sister Erika and my daughter Caitlin, to soccer camp, and listened with delight as the three of them memorized every scene in "The Princess Bride." Day after day. They wore that tape out.

This sickens me, knowing she died for no reason; this wasn't a car accident, a natural catastrophe, an illness. This was an act perpetrated by someone with no regard for life, no conscience, the scum of the earth.

And as I read postings on this and other sites, I shake my head in disbelief. The rants would be funny if they weren’t so pathetic. Does anyone in their right mind actually believe this was a “hit job,” that the evil powers pulling strings behind the curtain of government are somehow implicated here? Oh yes, in the “vacuum left by Katrina,” the stars are aligned just so, making it child’s play to connect the dots. Voila! A direct link between Kirsten’s last frightened moments and the “Bush/Cheney/Paulson economicon…” And all of that after “holistic analysis,” of course.

What bullshit. New Orleans has a history of violent crime. When figuring in population levels, the city’s murder rate has, at times, dwarfed those of other cities like Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C. In the 1990’s, the murder rate rose, peaking at over 400 in ’94. Those numbers fell through the latter part of the decade, only to begin rising again in 2000. Bill Clinton occupied the Oval Orifice during those years. But I suppose that was in the neocon’s plan all along, wasn’t it?

New Orleans was a disaster long before Katrina hit. The city was mostly abandoned before the levees broke. Crime went up in cities like Houston, where the refugees fled. Now they’re coming back.

Bad things happen to good people. Lives are wasted every day. But because Kirsten was an activist, her death must be part of a larger conspiracy, isn’t that right? No, that’s fucked up. She was a beautiful soul trying to carve out a little piece of sunshine from the looming darkness and greed she saw all around her. Nobody took her life for that. There was no cause, no reason, no sense to any of it. We live in an age when you lose your life for owning an iPod, a pair of Michael Jordan basketball shoes. Whoever did this is sub-human, someone who wanted to rob, or rape. Pulling a trigger is easier when things don’t go your way. Killers are cowards. And they run rampant in New Orleans. We can only hope this piece of trash is found, dragged from his filthy corner of the universe, and put away.

I love you, Kirsten. You are free of this earth. But you will never die.

-John

It saddens me that people feel the need to jump on Kirsten's death as more proof in their government conspiracy. Please keep your agendas in check. This was a person with friends and family. Whether or not she was the victim of a "hit" or a victim of the larger system that creates impoverished violent inner cities is not going to bring her back.
Give her loved ones time to heal before pouring out facts on how this is connected to the current economic crisis etc etc etc.
Kirsten was never more than a familiar face to me, and I am sad that the opportunity for a friendship with someone like her is gone. I am so sorry for eveyone's loss.

Yall have obviously not spent much time in New Orleans.
'solidarity' does <i> not erase her status in that community as an outsider</i>, especially a privileged and white one.
I ache for her loss, and I feel sad that it had to be for nothing, but come on people. Honor her memory instead of tying to place the blame. This was not a government hitjob or some shit. She was an outsider in the wrong neighborhood.

Does anyone know what Kirsten's favorite song may have been (if there can be such things as favorites)??

I'd like to play it over and over and over again, really loud (and I bet others would too). I imagine it's exuberant, which would really help the healing.

i'm not able to write much right now but here is the information we have so far:

i love you all...
tyson


some information:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/30/18542023.php
http://kirstenbrydum.virtualmemorials.com


memorial service for Kirsten Brydum:

2:30pm Sat. Oct. 4
St. Bernadine Catholic Church
24410 Calvert St
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(818) 888-8200‎
stbernardine.org

catholic mass and ceremony
followed by a reception
at Kirsten's aunt's (Kathy Page) house
caravan leaving from the service

all are welcome and invited to attend

this is near LA so let's organize carpools/rideshares
email tyson [at] millionfishes.com
unless someone else can take the central organizing role


Kirsten's Altar:
located in the main window space of Million Fishes gallery
2501 bryant st @ 23rd st, sf, ca 94110

to add items on the altar:
knock on door if someone is there
leave in mail slot if no one answers
or send by mail to the address if you're out of town

Million Fishes
Attn: we love Kirsten!
2501 bryant st
san francisco, ca 94110


sf memorial service:
will be held the middle or end of next week
info will circulate as soon as we know the details


kirsten we love you celebration:
at the san francisco really really free market
sat. october 25th, noon-

please gift whatever services you can
and contact others who will gift as well

looking for: music, entertainment, art making, workshops, dance, etc., etc., etc.,
can we find some brass bands who would want to play?!


day of the dead ceremony:
details to follow


1st annual (untitled) festival by friends and community in spirited by kirsten:
january 22nd (her birthday)
more details to follow

new orleans fundraiser:
this saturday oct 4 in new orleans
anyone with info on this please add


as other stuff comes up we will post more

I heard that an angel walked this earth for awhile, walking with love, talking with a smile. Making every moment count, as if she always knew exactly what she was sent here to do. With talents and gifts she came to teach us, to help and uplift us... From her we could learn to give and to live without seeking anything in return...and as was her way , this angelic sprite left us one day, but not leaving without giving of her light. With so little time, she left so many with so much and will live forever in all she has touched.
Thank you Kirsten, your life has inspired me.

I heard that an angel walked this earth for awhile, walking with love, talking with a smile. Making every moment count, as if she always knew exactly what she was sent here to do. With talents and gifts she came to teach us, to help and uplift us... From her we could learn to give and to live without seeking anything in return...and as was her way , this angelic sprite left us one day, but not leaving without giving of her light. With so little time, she left so many with so much and will live forever in all she has touched. Thank you Kirsten, your life has inspired me.

I am a New Orleans native and wish to express to Kirsten's family and friends my deep sadness at your loss. Kirsten sounds like a wonderful person that I would have been honored to know and call a friend.

Kirsten was, as our friend Nate put it, a beacon of light in a darkening world. She was fearless. When we traveled to Boston (my first time on the East Coast) and I was having a hard time, she sat with me and read me poetry on the subway and in the Commons, opening my eyes to the beauty and wonder of the everyday world around us, as well as the true power of the written word. I remember seeing her eyes light up at the possibilities as we worked for hours on a flyer for one of the Really Really Free Markets, aligning the words and images just so. She was mad smart and talented, and truly dedicated to what she did (and she did so much). Her vision of spiritual activism resonated deeply with me, and will live on in the hearts of all those she touched.

After reading about your daughter, friend, niece etc, it makes me sick to say that I am born and raised in New Orleans. She sounds like a wonderful person who was doing God's work whether she knew it or not. I hope and pray we catch this animal who many will blame his actions on his upbringing or lack there of. Where do we draw the line and hold individuals accountable? With love and sincerity. D

I just heard about Kirsten's death this morning. She was a friend of a friend of mine - I may have met her in the webs that tie us together. Maybe not. It doesn't matter. I, we, all feel her loss.
Hold tight to each other, lovers and fighters all.

"1) the murder was a head shot several times over (very unlikely for a mugging/gang violence)"

- Ridiculous. People get shot in the head during gang violence routinely. This adds nothing to your "theory".

3) knowing Kirsten it is extremely difficult to picture her provoking any sort of violence or mugging, if anything she is a master of diffusing these situations

- You have obviously never lived in a serious urban environment and are probably posting from your mom's basement somewhere in the burbs. It doesn't take "provocation" to get shot in rough neighborhoods. Some gangs shoot innocent people as part of their inititiation into the gang. They just pick their target and go after them, no rhyme or reason. And being a white girl alone in a rough neighborhood she would be a target. There is no "diffusing the situation" when a gang has decided they want to mess with you. "Hey, man, I'm an activist promoting solidarity with the African-American community, chill out!" isn't going to get you very far with hardcore bangers.

So much to say
Cooked with her food not bombs Station 40
ate and hung out at acess cafe wearing pants from really really
cooked and chatted at seeds kitchen R.N.C. St. Paul Talked on Radio and on phone
so much to say.
Come cook with us today station 40 F.N.B after 300
So Sad her life was ahead of her. Most of mine behind
we connected
So long Kirsten
We love you

Dear Kristen,
may your travels in the next world continue with love
as your blessings will continue in ours.

I'm very sorry about Ms. Brydum's death; however, she should never have been alone, especially in that area (or any area for that matter). Contact should have been made with New Orleans natives prior to her arrival. The 9th has been romanticized and glorified by people who have no clue. It is now and always has been a dangerous, violent area. I'm a native with street smarts but would never consider hanging around any 9th Ward, St. Roch or Uptown neighborhoods alone.

Please accept my condolences on this tragic death of Kirsten Bryden. I would really like to send a message to all of you young idealists to PLEASE be careful when you make these discovery and message travels. I know you mean well and want to help the poor and bring them the message of anarchy, but, you must know that they don't care about you back. They really don't. All they care about is where their next hit will come from. PLEASE be careful. Kirsten was so young and it perplexes me and frightens me that her life ended in such a horrible, drug-infested part of New Orleans that is filled with abandoned homes where the streets are so horrible you can hardly drive a car down them. It's simply shocking. What on Earth was she doing in this block? These people couldn't care less about her message unless it came with a needle. To the friends and family, please accept my sympathies. Please take care of yourselves! Sincerely--Sean

Let's slow down here. Kirsten was FREE to go where she wanted. This is America. If we say where one should and shouldn't go, don't we lose our FREEDOM to a certain degree. Take our streets back don't keep running or esle the good people will all be in Alaska or Canada. FREEDOM is precious, Protect it. D

An Open Letter to kirsten brydum
From john viola
10/02/08

Hey love,

I am writing this letter to you now that you are gone (in body but not in spirit) to share with your family, friends, freaky people, and everybody who knew you or wanted to know you.

I miss you so much and with a level of hurt that i did not know was possible. So many of us- your people – are in that pain. I know that there will be another side of that, i know that someday i will come out of this seemingly endless well of grief. Your spirit is the guiding light out of that well. I know that you will not take offense if i tell you that i will need a bit of additional help.

One of the countless things that i love about you is that you are one ultracrafty wordsmith. A particular word you conjured for me is “interdependence”. We spent the fourth of July together, a day that i had previously despised. We walked up to Coit Tower. I was in jaded mode looking for shelter from the nationalism. I could tell that you were taming your typical exuberance to make space for that. At some point you obviously got tired of that and magically transitioned the moment by saying, “this is not independence day, this is interdependence day”. Then you told me about how you and some friends made it that way last year. For me, now everyday will be interdependence day.

So of course i know that you will not even be slightly offended that i need more than just you to heal this seemingly unhealable hurt. I want you to know that your community is coming together in such a beautiful way to deal with losing you and to carry your presence forward into the world. You would love to see it. We have been gathering and grieving and strategizing and scheming on what to do. There have been spontaneous wakes and alters. There have been meetings to continue all the really really free things going on. It embodies interdependence.

Far more than anything else what i want to say is thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! I want to shower you with gratitude. Thanks for every single blissful second you shared with me. Thanks for being unspeakably rad in every way. Thanks for being the most loving person i have ever met. Thanks for being as perfect as a person gets. Thanks for walking part of the way in this world with me. And thanks for rescuing my heart.

There is something i would like to say not for you but for everyone else. And i am sorry to put this out there because it is about your death which was the exact opposite of your beautiful life. I only want to think about you in life. But i would like to put this out there to invite others who are feeling the same to help me in dealing with these feelings. I desperately need your help too.

I know that what lies on the other side of this grief is anger, anger that i need to feel. There is such a thing as righteous anger. But the problem that i am having right now is that there is no line between anger and hatred and i am afraid this problem will get worse. There should be no room left in this world for hatred. That is what took you from us and will not bring you back. Now more then ever i know that we need to put more love into the world and that you can not fight hatred with hatred.

We need to find who took you from us not for revenge but so that they will never hurt another woman ever again.

I have an idea of how to transform this hatred into righteous anger and your spirit will help me. I know that what i have to do is to continue to struggle as we and so many of our folks have been struggling against male violence.

You totally know and have totally helped teach me and others that male violence is inextricably a part of other systems of violence and exploitation. I know that what i need to do is to deepen my commitment in that struggle not just in honor of your spirit but in honor of humanity. This is not merely politics it is much more simply about humanness and dignity.

In this i am thinking again of your wordsmith ways and another word that you conjured for me: “immediatism”. Which, as i understand it, means putting into practice the change you want to see in the world not for tomorrow but for today, right now, this very second.

You are so totally committed to fixing things in the world that are wrong. All kind of things that were wrong you sought to make right immediately. From little things (like when you stopped to make sure a lost baby squirrel was cared for by animal rescue) to the gigantic things (like confronting capitalism with really really free marketerism)- you have sought to change the world today with more grace and integrity than i can possibly put out into words.

Thank you for rescuing my heart with that spirit. And i promise to be the best person i possibly can be and to fix what i can in the world and to live life the way you would: to the fullest. I can’t promise to be good enough to do it with your immediatism, but as soon as i possibly can.

There is so much more that i want to say to you and to the rest of the folks reading this but i will leave it here for now. You already know what is in my heart.

I miss you, i miss you, i miss YOU!

heart,
jv

p.s. Sorry this letter is so serious and barely reflects our typical playful subversive missives. I think you will understand on account of the occasion. As soon as i can, i will send you more with laughter and levity to lift all of our spirits.

An Open letter In Memory of Kirsten Brydum

These are the facts as we currently know them:
· Kirsten Brydum was last seen leaving a dance club in New Orleans at 1:30 am on Saturday morning September 27th
· The doorman remembered her leaving alone on a bicycle
· At 8:30 am. police and paramedics respond to a call of shots fired
· The paramedics could not revive her and Kirsten was pronounced dead at the scene
· Kirsten could not be identified at the time (we surmise that her belongings were missing/stolen)


Dear Kirsten,

Written though tears on the train to your wake,

I am trying to write her a letter that I never got to give her when I saw her at the Poor Peoples march at the Republican National Convention. It made me so happy to see her there in the crowd smiling, dancing, shouting and chanting. "Stop the war, on the poor" we chanted together as the crowed from the Rage Against The Machine concert flowed into the poor peoples march. She was so vibrant and full of love, laughter and life. I don't know how you kill that. How do you shoot laughter in the head? I gave her a quick hug which made me less alone in the crowd. Seeing her reassured me that I had people who had my back in the streets. In that crowd of thousands on that Sept 2nd 2008, She was the one person who I knew would care for me, take risks with me. I knew with out a doubt that she would put her ass on the line to make sure was safe, to go with me to jail in the face of violent police attack and protect friends and loved ones with her body and song, like she did when I first met her and was arrested with her at the San Francisco Bio Tech and Anti-G8 protest in 2004.

Today we watch as the economy collapses and She is gone, She who had a vision of how the economy could run. And She who put in to practice. The way she told it was that The Really Really Free Market was a sharing that prefigured how the world could be. In that world Kirsten is alive today, in that other world she laughs and hugs us and brings us a fierce fire and dedication. I also want to remember her integrity and dedication. She lived her life as she spoke, when She said that there should be a better world where people took care of one another and gifts, not markets, not money but sharing and love should be the basis of our society she had the integrity to put her whole life on the line to make that real.

When we were in jail together She was fierce, resisting police violence, putting her body in the way, clasping on to friends to protect them as the riot police raided our cells and brought violence and pain compliance to separate us. She stayed consistent, creating a better world with all her actions and She kept doing it for almost half her tragically short life. She gave love support, laughter solidarity and a fierce fire to everyone she met.

With love greater then sorrow,
With love greater then loss,
Jonathan


P.S. Which addresses political context that is necessary to me to create meaning out of such madness, but may be controversial to some... or "How the government murdered my friend, and some poor fool pulled pulled the trigger." ... or " The violence of poverty is the poverty of our imagination"

"These were people who saw life as it is, yet died despairing. No glory, no brave last words, only their eyes, filled with confusion, questioning "Why?" I don't think they were wondering why they were dying, but why they had ever lived. When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? To surrender dreams - -this may be madness; to seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness! But maddest of all - -to see life as it is and not as it should be." - Man of la Mancha, Don Quixote.

So there are a few things I'm having a hard time making clear to myself. First that she really is dead. That the love and laughter and care is really gone out of this world, that there is a hole in the world. The second thing is that someone killed her. That someone brought this kind of harm to someone so humble, thoughtful, and committed. That the horrible unthinkable harm of tearing the life from her young body, blasting metal through her head. How can a world with flowers, sunshine and Humming birds allow Kirsten to be brutally murdered. In my first attempt to understand this horrible reality I tried to kill a hummingbird on a nearby bush. The sun, the flowers and the humming bird were so beautiful that I felt I had to kill the bird because it could not exist in a world where her beauty had been so cruelly crushed. Thankfully the pretty bird was fast, my eyes were filled with tears, the bush was covered in thorns and I failed miserably at blind vengance.

NOLA: here the economy explodes through women's skulls

Yet the harm done by placing bullets in her brain is less then the harm done by the crushing of her dreams and her visions. The hope that made her travel the country, that brought her to that tormented corner of New Orleans. The Ninth Ward, where she rode her bike from that fateful night, is not a poor ghetto, it is a deliberately impoverished neighborhood that government refuses to address because to do so would make corporations less able to make money off the backs of poor people and people of color. That a couple of days after her arrival her body crashed to the pavement with multiple bullets in the head is no accident, she died in conditions deliberately created to divide and intimidate the vast majority of the world and prevent us from creating the world that Kirsten envisioned and struggled to create.

"Humble yourself to Kirsten you got to listen what she know, we will rise each other up higher and higher. " -Sung together in a round between the 40 of us During our three days of Jail Solidarity in 2004.

Kirsten worked to solve the the root cause of the crashing economy and the violence of poverty in every breath she took, in how she lived her life. She worked for years on projects that pointed out the immorality, brutality, and genocidal basis in our current economic system and created a community with a simple and elegant solution, and though others may have put their time in to thinking through every argument for a more sustainable and participatory economy, Kirsten was practical and humble enough to simply made friends and fliers and go to the park on a sunny Saturday and put such a economy into practice every month. In her mind, in her dreams and every Saturday she saw people give goods back and forth with out money, capital or markets, with out barter, but out of the desire to meet there own needs and to care for others, an economy without the institutional greed of capitalism. She built an alternative to the violence of manufactured poverty, she with her breath, with her laughter, her intelligence, love, and with a community of people around the city, the country and the world. Now that the greed in our financial system has reached such crisis that it threatens and annoys the %2 of world population that control and create these economic conditions, that elite population that owns the industry, the banks, the corporations and the media, the way Kirsten lived her life and the ideas She fought and ultimately died for are even more visionary and critical for humans collective survival.

She was targeted for death because she was a women who was friendly, lovable and unafraid to stand up tall for a better world, humbly bridging people, movements and divisions. She was courageous enough to put herself body and her ideas on the line to prove that peace and cooperation can overcome the competition and violence that imprison humanity in our age.

"Solidarity forever, solidarity forever cause that's what keeps us strong." - Old union song we sang together during our three days of Jail Solidarity together

"This relentless need for something much deeper then revenge comes close to the truth of many lives, black and white: but revenge is not among the human possibilites. Revenge is a human dream. " -James Baldwin , "The Devil Finds Work"

Now that she has left her body on that frontline of the war against the earth and women, the war in which we are all combatants and survivors, her ideas and vision are up to us to carry on. I'm angry that I was given no choice in the matter, and she, who was better at these things then me has been torn from the arms of the living. But a task for those who remain with out her, a task for the living, is how we feel, heal, and understand our loss. How do I understand the great tensing of every muscle as i scream in pain, anger, loss, and desire for bloody vengeance? Although my first instinct, to smash all the hummingbirds and poke out the sun will not bring her back, neither will building up the Prison Industrial Complex to imprison 3 million more predominately poor and/or people of color. In this US of amnesia we have already locked up one in every hundred people and our streets are no safer. Putting more brown, black or poor bodies in cages does not and will not provide security, safety, healing or justice. Responding to such grievous harm with accountability and a healing balance that overturns the violence which took her from us is at the heart of true justice is one huge question left by her death.

Another question her murder leaves open is whether it was politically motivated or a random act of poverty induced violence. We can know until we get more information, But what ever the attackers motivations its important to remember what Journalist Kristin Bricker recently wrote in "Hasta Siempre Sally Grace: Another US Activist Murdered in Oaxaca" about the recent rape and murder of another powerful women (a friend of many who knew Kirsten) 20-year-old Marcella "Sally" Grace Eiler, who was fighting for social justice in Oaxaca. She wrote that "violence isn't just intended for the individuals who physically suffer a violent act." Random unsolved violence is meant to terrorize an entire population. " It sends a message to everyone: No one is safe. 

If they'd grabbed a priest, a bishop, a social leader, or an insurgent, everyone else would have been able to explain it away, "Well, he was an insurgent, and she was a leader. I'm neither. I'm safe." 

But when someone is killed randomly everyone is terrorized: travelers, locals, priest, leaders, rank and file, neighbors, activists, punks, journalists, women... No one is safe". Only a full impartial investigation will yield answers, but given the corruption in the NOLA police department and the hundreds of "normally" unsolved murders in New Orleans it may be difficult for that to happen. Personally I feel great anger, hate and want to destroy whoever pulled the trigger but I hope to find a way to honor Kirsten's dreams, her love and her values in a way that reflects her best self and focuses that hate at the elite who profit from the maintenance of such violent instability masquerading as order.

At her Wake last night the general agreement seemed to that any world that would allow kirsten to be brutally murdered was deeply messed up. We were depressed and drunk but the humor of the gallows is a humor needed for meaning in such a terrifying age and so we joked "I guess we will have to be as Kirsten would have wanted us to be and be pretty damm awesome just to laugh in the face of such a horrifying reality."

---------------
memorial information:


general information:
lots of comments in memory of her:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/30/18542023.php

A memorial site with her last writings:
http://kirstenbrydum.virtualmemorials.com

2007 video interview with Kirsten:
http://ryanishungry.com/2007/07/11/the-gift-economy-really-really-free-market-sf/

memorial service for Kirsten Brydum:

2:30pm Sat. Oct. 4
St. Bernadine Catholic Church
24410 Calvert St
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(818) 888-8200‎
stbernardine.org

catholic mass and ceremony
followed by a reception
at Kirsten's aunt's (Kathy Page) house
caravan leaving from the service

all are welcome and invited to attend

this is near LA so let's organize carpools/rideshares
email tyson [at] millionfishes.com
unless someone else can take the central organizing role


Kirsten's Altar:
located in the main window space of Million Fishes gallery
2501 bryant st @ 23rd st, sf, ca 94110

to add items on the altar:
knock on door if someone is there
leave in mail slot if no one answers
or send by mail to the address if you're out of town

Million Fishes
Attn: we love Kirsten!
2501 bryant st
san francisco, ca 94110

sf memorial service:
will be held the middle or end of next week
info will circulate as soon as we know the details


kirsten we love you celebration:
at the san francisco really really free market
sat. october 25th, noon-

please gift whatever services you can
and contact others who will gift as well

looking for: music, entertainment, art making, workshops, dance, etc., etc., etc.,
can we find some brass bands who would want to play?!

day of the dead ceremony:
details to follow

1st annual (untitled) festival by friends and community in spirited by kirsten:
january 22nd (her birthday)
more details to follow

new orleans fundraiser:
this saturday oct 4 in new orleans
anyone with info on this please add

I truely feel sorry for you people who are so ridiculous in your beliefs.Have you ever been to New Orleans?Well,I lived there and despite what you think there is more "Ghetto violence" than you could ever imagine in your life time.I feel as though some of you people live in some type of dream world,well,it is time to wake up.We have been faced with this all of our lives and we are so tired of people making lite of it such as this cruel death would be the goverment's doing.PLEASE I urge you to come to the New Orleans for ~ 2 weeks and witness how these villans live and what they do to others without blinking an eye, you will have a whole new outlook on life.If you have never been around this than you can never understand,these people do not care about you,furthermore they dislike you,you can not rehabilitate this behavior.I just wish that someone would have been able to explain this to Kirsten.

That is a heartwarmnig tribute, Jonathan, but, you young idealists don't understand....it's not worth it. This young lady is dead. I definitely believe in the idealists rights to believe as they believe. It is their right. But, is it worth death? Are all of you so arrogant to actually believe you are the first humans to walk the face of the Earth to think like you do? Do you really think that you believe something that is unique and has never been discussed amongst humans? You're not unique. It's been attempted and didn't work. That is why we have government and laws. Nothing is perfect. The government(s) you despise are direct creations from a society that formed from the basics you propose to go back to...believe as you believe, but, for crying out loud, do you have to place yourselves in the middle of terrible neighborhoods to sacrifice your lives? Stop it! Do and say what you want, but, at least, while you are young and are on the journey of discovery please protect yourselves. Please be careful. That's all I ask. I believe you have a right to live, but, while you are young, naive, and discovering life and sampling different thoughts and attitudes, all of you just try to keep yourself out of harms way. I do care.....Sean in New Orleans

Wow ,I don't know what to say,people like you truely do exist.Do you think these violent people have to be provoked in any way,she is caucasion, on a bike in the middle of the night,unfortunately she was a prime target.I will pray for the people who have this liberal mindset and mostly I will pray for the Brydum family,no familily should ever have to go through this.

Hello friends and loved ones. I have posted a few Craigslist Ads and created a yahoo e-mail account to assist folks in finding a ride to LA for Kirsten's Memorial.

(at)

2:30pm Sat. Oct. 4
St. Bernadine Catholic Church
24410 Calvert St
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(818) 888-8200‎
stbernardine.org

catholic mass and ceremony
followed by a reception
at Kirsten's aunt's (Kathy Page) house
caravan leaving from the service
_______________________________________________________________

Craigslist:

I have posted a few craigslist adds for folks to send ride offers to a yahoo account. Please access that account for responses:

[CRAIG'S LIST LINKS AND EMAIL ACCOUNT INFORMATION REMOVED BY AN EDITOR]

it's decentish, they did okay. i tried my best to express what kirsten would have wanted. i hope it helps.

love,
tyson

p.s. abigail was great, yeah?!


there was one other news story last night, i think ABC / channel 7?

there are also three other stories currently being worked on
if people are inclined to share stories with them here is the contact info:


ny times:
From: Adam Nossiter
To: tyson [at] millionfishes.com
Sent: Thursday, October 2, 2008 1:13:39 PM
Subject: New York Times - New Orleans

Tyson - very sorry about what happened to Kirsten. You were her friend, yes? I want to write about her in the New York Times. Can you send me a number where I can reach you? My number is below.

Thanks - Adam Nossiter

Adam Nossiter
National Correspondent
New York Times

New Orleans Bureau
2828 Coliseum St.
New Orleans, La. 70115
504 895 5220



times-picayune:
From: Brendan McCarthy
To: tyson [at] millionfishes.com
Sent: Wednesday, October 1, 2008 12:18:43 PM
Subject: kirsten byrdum

Hi,
My name is Brendan McCarthy, I'm a reporter with the Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans.

We are writing about the case of Kirsten. I saw your posting online at the indybay.org site. Would you or anyone who knows her be willing to talk about her?

Unfortunately, she was unidentified for many days and a full portrait of this young woman has yet to emerge.

Let me know what you think. Any suggestions on who to contact?

Thanks,

Brendan McCarthy
The Times-Picayune
(504) 826-3301





new orleans tv station:

From: "Edwards, Susan"
To: tyson [at] millionfishes.com
Sent: Thursday, October 2, 2008 9:10:50 AM
Subject: Kirsten Brydum

Tyson,
My name is Susan Edwards, I am a news reporter with WWL-TV in New Orleans, trying to follow up on the tragic death of your friend Kirsten Brydum.
I am interested in speaking to close family and friends about Kirsten to assist with the story we are doing today.
Right now the police here have NO leads...we are hoping we can continue to keep the case in the spotlight to assist.
Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Please feel free to call me or you can email me to my gmail account, which goes directly to my phone.

Best Regards,

Susan Edwards
Reporter, WWL-TV
504-529-6384 (office)
256-328-6192 (cell)
sedwards321 [at] gmail.com

What in the world is she doing out in NO alone at 1:30 AM? I'm male, 6'3" 220 lbs and lived in NO for 3 years and I made it a rule never to walk/bike the streets after dark alone as so many of my friends were mugged, raped, carjacked at night. You have to be constantly on alert in that city, even during the day. What is so weird is that this seemingly bright young woman didn't know what everyone else knows - that NO is lawless, especially after dark. I can't fathom that she wasn't forwarned by someone in SF who had been to NO. SF is not NO. That's akin to comparing Disney World to San Quentin.

No need to write falsehoods about New Orleans due to your anger, Tomas. The notion that New Orleans is out of control and lawless is ridiculous. I've lived here, along with a couple of dozen relatives my entire life---inside the City limits of New Orleans and none of us have been a victim of any crime. Well, I was pick-pocketed on Bourbon St. on Fat Tuesday in 1992. I remember that because I was young and then I was broke after that happened! New Orleans is one of America's gems and rivals San Francisco in beauty, culture, and uniqueness. Don't knock New Orleans because this young lady was driving a bicycle dead center of a crack neighborhood at 2:00 in the morning. That doesn't mean she was there for drugs and I'm not saying that, but, I am saying she was in the middle of the most dangerous section of New Orleans that is filled with abandoned homes. I walk my dog every night around 12:00 and even 2:00 on weekends in my neighborhood and the only people I usually come across say "Good evening," or "What's up?" or "How's it going." To portray this wonderful city as a lawless, out of control place is not only misleading, it's actually a flat-out non-truth. Peace....

From the Times -Picayune Friday Oct 3

http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-31/1223011410131460.xml&coll=1

If I can be of any service to Kirstens family please email or call [removed].

J

summer coll aut

7/28
Dear Friends,

I have been involved in several alternative economic projects over the past few years in San Francisco: the SF Really Really Free Market, the Dirty Dove Infoshop and, most recently, AccessCafe. The types of projects that inspire me are the ones that proactively create alternatives to existing modes of production, distribution and social exchange.

I am beginning to describe a movement called Collective Autonomy based on networks of cooperation, resource sharing, and direct democracy. Not only do we challenge existing structures, but we do so by demonstrating alternatives in action.

In August, I embark on the second half of the CollAut tour, an exploration of counter-institutions throughout the states: Food not Bombs, Really Really Free Markets, Infoshops, Local Currencies, Guerilla Gardens, Free Skools, Bike Kitchens, Pirate Radio Stations, Worker-owned Cooperatives. The purpose of the trip is to network with people and connect projects. In doing so, I hope to facilitate research and resource sharing as well as highlight the vast resistance rooted in an anarchist tradition: do-it-yourself.

This past April, a comrade and I traveled to the Pacific Northwest learning from the differences and similarities in local organizing. We visited a wide range of places, from eco-villages to tent cities to squats. Now I journey on to NYC, Chicago, Atlanta and many, many neighboring towns. If you have referrals, contacts and friends in these regions, please be in touch. I'm looking for information while I'm traveling so I can make face-to-face connections.

In solidarity,

Kirsten

can [at] riseup.net

http://www.collectiveautonomy.net



CollAutTour Update #1
...
kirsten



August 10, 2008



To friends and family,



I'm sending my greetings from several stops between Philadelphia and Providence. It's been grey and balmy all throughout the Northeast today. I got caught in a thunderstorm in Philadelphia today, but managed to escape with only slightly damp clothing. I'm tempted to say that I need a tougher challenge, but I'll bite my tongue. Crossing the Hudson as The City disappears behind us, the railside is greener than I could've imagined.



My trip is off to a fabulous start. I catapulted from San Francisco's Mission District to Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood nearly a week and a half ago. My time in New York was mostly dedicated to new love as I crossed paths with John mid-way through his transcontinental summer travels. We managed to meet each other for four days of romance and resistance in the humidity-rich City. John and I spent our time swimming in a post-apocalyptic Atlantic Ocean with urban ruins in the distance, appreciating a truly classic East Coast thunderstorm, sunset gazing atop an artist warehouse, nabbing cheap healthy eats, and critiquing the spring-break-leisure-class and consumer culture to the point of revulsion in Manhattan (and who exactly are the snobs?). We began to realize how small our world really is since everywhere we went we ran into someone from one of our pasts or someone who knows one of our really good friends. It is now being referred to as "Our ever-imploding world."



Other than that, I visited some old friends who'd moved to New York, namely Tobias, an old boyfriend of mine. We materialized some relationship closure over some home-brewed pu-er tea.



An observation (yet obvious since it's put out for all to see) about NYC is the incredible amount of trash generated by that city! Every night is trash night, and huge piles of black plastic bags line the streets. Even more unbelievable was the amount of useful things put right in with the trash. I found high quality gems that I surely would've scavenged if I wasn't trying to travel light. I want to do a public art piece going through New York City's trash and displaying all the useful trash like a street vendor, only all of this would be free. A thousand little free stores, that's what's called for.



I feel like I got to know the city and I think it is because I spent most of my time in Brooklyn, which seemed a bit more knowable. I danced to crazy live music in a cellar and played chess on the east bank, and of course visited and met as many Collective Autonomy places and people as possible.



Philadelphia worked out well. I found myself magnetically pulled to West Philly and found a small activist scene living in the cracks of a neglected and impoverished neighborhood. The scene was so small that I saw the same people over and over throughout my stay. I spent four full days there, along with my friends from the Bay, Marika and Asaf, on their own extended escapades. We borrowed bikes and rode all over town, visited the urban farm, danced at a benefit for Critical Resistance, cruised a free store/ vegan potluck barbeque/folk show in the basement/party and garnered some valuable history from a housing activist whose been in the area for more than 15 years. I saw an incredibly pertinent single-act play about the drama of our globalized food system in which a seemingly innocent tea party between two friends uncovers hidden socio-economic catastrophes: certain parts of the world are experiencing diminishing supplies, and wreckage of their culture, while others are receiving the exotic fruits from others' labor halfway across the globe.



As far as the Collective Autonomy aspect of my trip goes, I'll be sending more detailed updates on that soon. It looks like the website will have to come down for a couple of days before I can start uploading pictures, but I have been doing much investigating, documenting and participating in alternative economics throughout the Northeast. I'm also starting to work on a zine series - one for every city I travel through. I've been seeing the framework come together quite a bit. At a donation-based communal dinner in Brooklyn a new friend helped me have a revelation. Collective Autonomy is looking at how we are currently building alternatives to capitalist orientation within the five major institutions in society: Food, Housing, Health Care, Education and Market/Resource Exchange.



Now my train is nearly in Providence, Rhode Island where a friend is picking me up and showing me his latest project – building a community center out of an old building. I'll let you know how it goes, but I have a feeling it will be just what I'm looking for.

You're all in my thoughts.


Misses and Kisses,
Kirsten
http://www.collectiveautonomy.net


8/24
a belated update...
...
kirsten


Note: There was some delay in getting this out, but I didn't want to change it. I'm actually in Chicago now, thankfully, but this will be included in the forthcoming update.)



Hello again! You all feel much further away this time around even though, geographically, I'm closer than before. I'm updating you from a diner in Detroit. Not your typical classic Midwest diner, though. It is a dinner with vegetarian options and free wi-fi, surviving off the business of Wayne State University students. This was the go-to point for me this morning when I arrived in Detroit at 7:30 am, with no contacts or place to stay, after an overnight greyhound from Buffalo.



After spending the early hours of the morning wandering downtown (inspecting the peoplemover, consulting an expensive emergency map, and rolling thunder my heavy bag down long mysterious blocks), I arrived ready for coffee and breakfast to discover that the cafe doesn't open until 11 and, even with all my in-between adventures, I still made it by 9. This was the much-anticipated first moment of total estrangement. No friends, no place to go, and anywhere I go, I carry my house on my back. I spent a fair amount of time standing in one place or walking a half-block in one direction, changing my mind and returning to the same intersection of indecision.



Ultimately, I decided to walk the mile to my other lead, The Trumbullplex, and ask for housing. Known mostly for its theatre space, which has been hosting punk shows for decades, the Trumbullplex is also an anarchist-owned housing complex and collective. They said no problem to the first night and then sixty dollars a week if I want to stay longer. I felt fairly welcomed, despite the fact that they were gutting freshly slaughtered chickens when I arrived.



Now, I'm writing to you from Cass Café, in the afternoon, having seen pieces of a neighborhood gardening movement and having secured place to stay in Detroit.



The rest of the trip up 'til now hasn't been as rocky as Detroit. Since my last update I've been through Rhode Island, Boston, back to Brooklyn, and westward to Buffalo. My time in Rhode Island was near idyllic. My friend Mike and his girlfriend, Nina, were great hosts. Nina became a friend quickly and she seemed inspired by my project. Through conversations with them I was able to understand the underbelly economics of the city. They have gorgeous empty mills that seem to be opening up for more creative endeavors as the condo wave recedes, flourishing urban farms, lots of space, potential, and cheap rent.



I went from staying Mike's apartment with no electricity in Providence to my Uncle's resort-like spot in Jamestown, where the Atlantic Ocean is mere steps from his gorgeous deck. I visited the very cove of my childhood memories, reached the sand bar at Mackerel Cove and got caught in a surprise downpour that turned into yet another epic thunderstorm.



After trying to hitch a ride to upstate Maine (to the Beehive Collective's annual Black Fly Ball) only to find one two hours after it already left Providence, I decided to head to Boston instead. Boston is almost worth glossing over at this point. I did meet some people at the Northeast Anarchist Network meeting, but I was only there for a day so I didn't really get to dig in.



The benefit to going to Boston instead of Maine was being able to make it back to New York for the unofficial San Francisco convergence. Many a far-flung friend were caught on a rooftop in Brooklyn, drinking beer and telling tales of misadventures across the country.



Riding the rails has been enjoyable. The scenery that we traipse through is forever captivating, the solitude is of the comforting variety and my rail pass has been working, literally, like a charm. Another thunderstorm waited for me in Buffalo after a nine-hour ride. This thunderstorm also featured amazing lightening that struck and spread, illuminating up the entire sky in a burst of electricity. I still ignorantly believe that this phenomenon had something to do with being so close to Niagara Falls.



In Buffalo, I spent my time riding bikes around with my friend Hannah Potassium. She showed me the greener side of the Rustbelt city: rivers, lakes and gardens. We found a well-organized housing co-op with beautiful interiors and were invited to come back for dinner. At midnight, I hopped on a greyhound to Detroit not knowing where to go or what to do when I arrive, and you already know how that turned out.



It feels like The Quickening as I'm moving through more and more cities in fewer and fewer days. I have a moment to pause now (because I decided to stay in Detroit a day longer) but the future looks like a lot of hustle. But I'm also getting better at traveling as a lonesome stranger. Walking block after block with my pack, navigating public transportation, arranging couch-surfing situations, it is all becoming more fluid. From here, it's on to Chicago, then Milwaukee and Minneapolis.



Hope you are happy and enjoying the last bits of summer, wherever you may be.



Sending you love from four states,

Kirsten


8/31
#3, Approaching Occupied Territory
Comrades and Relatives,


I feel the need to update you before I voluntarily walk into the current police repression of the Twin Cities. I planned my trip to coincide with the Republican National Convention and the coinciding counter convention being planned by dissidents throughout the country. My plan while there is to continue to meet people interested in alternative economic practices, witness the most poignant demonstration in the States since the WTO shutdown in Seattle 1999, and to volunteer in the kitchen to feed thousands of people in the streets. I expect interrogation as soon as I walk off the bus.



But before tomorrow, lets go back to Detroit. I was seriously moved by the statistic I heard at the only café in town with some degree of margin-culture, the Avalon Bakery. Detroit was meant to accommodate 2 million people. The population today is around 80,000 and continues to decline. And it felt like the wasteland that those numbers describe. An early morning "traffic report" cut to a shot of barren highways. Public squares stood empty, their fountains presenting for no one. Trees grew out of disheveled warehouses. Weeds overtook vacant lots where abandoned homes had been bulldozed. And roofless houses, like a charred skeleton, littered the broken city.



Sure, there's some romanticizing of a place like this: a post-industrial workless wonderland free for the taking, ripe with opportunities to create a pirate utopia. But in reality, the scene was sad. Some people do still live in Detroit, and the few that I met from the activist scene were bitter and burned out. It's hard to create the world you wish to see when there are no resources, few comrades to inspire, and no spare energy. Instead, most turned to alcohol to blur the scene of their economy slowly disappearing.



On a much less gloomy note, an emerging gardening movement is starting to sweep Detroit, an effort that might revive the city. An organization called Detroit Agriculture Network umbrellas several smaller groups all providing the metropolitan area the tools and social resources necessary to transform those vacant lots into a local food system.



In the end, I organized Trumbullplex's zine library in hopes of jumpstarting their infoshop and free school and moved on to Chicago, a place on a seemingly permanent upswing. More on Chicago later.



Milwaukee boasts a small (yet happy) activist community sandwiched between the elites of the Eastside's Lakefront and the Westside ghetto. This area, called Riverwest, reminded me of West Philly and is similarly grounded in a few decades of counter-cultural living. Riverwest's vibrant Neighborhood Association laid its requests for more gardens, a food co-op, a local newspaper and a farmer's market, all of which it now has. In this little nook I found the food co-op, which not only supplied my refrigerator for two days but also served as a social nexus for a handful of neighbors.



So, now I'm short on time. This update is incomplete but I wanted to get it off before things pick up around here.



'Til next time, all my love.


Kirsten


9/9
#4, Processing Riot Police & Falling in Love with the No-Coast
Friends and Family,

The Midwest feels just fine to me despite the fact that the rain has
been following me today as I move from Madison through Milwaukee and
Chicago on my way to St. Louis.

Large protests, which took place alongside the 2nd largest deployment
of police force in this nation's history, stirred up the Republican
National Convention from the streets of downtown St. Paul last week.
The first day of the convention was nearly null whereas the streets of
St. Paul were alive with resistance; George Bush opted to speak by
telecast rather than fly into the Twin Cities, and nearly 700 people
were arrested over the course of four days.

The police presence was astounding. Swat teams from all over the
country, officers from 10 different agencies, National Guard soldiers
and countless surveillance cameras were brought in to defend the
Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Non-violent demonstrators
were met with teargas, concussion bombs, rubber bullets and mass
arrests. It was apparent that their strategy was intimidation, as
seen through their use of violence in the streets to the raids on
media and activist houses.

I had arranged to cook with the Minneapolis Food not Bombs chapter
throughout the week but the morning after I arrived, the Ramsey County
Police Department raided the cookhouse and arrested one. This caused
enough of a disturbance that the police were successful in railroading
a massive support effort.

While participating in noRNC demonstrations, I wrestled with a range
of conflicting emotions: exhilaration, frustration, rebellion,
trepidation, inspiration, helplessness and even sadness. Since we so
rarely witness conflict over the fundamental assumptions of
nation-state, this moment was evocative. It was about people taking
to the streets, enraged at a political system that continues to wreak
premeditated damage, disillusioned with the ineffectual permitted
marches and disposed to take direct action to challenge the status
quo.

There are many thoughts still coming, philosophies changing, and a
much longer analysis in progress. Let me know if you'd like to
receive it.

Ultimately, I made it out of the Twin Cities without being caught in a
mass arrest. I marched, I strategized with new friends and I made
vegan cupcakes for the harmony-soldiers in our house. I spent some
time in Minneapolis, a stark contrast to its estranged sister city.
It supports a nifty and resilient infoshop and two of the coolest
collectively-run cafés I've seen. In getting to know the
counter-culture of Minneapolis, I kind of fell in love with the
Midwest.

Marika and I hitched a ride to Madison, Wisconsin in an already full
car of protesting boys on their way to Chicago. We retreated to a
five-story lakefront castle cooperative. The 28-person collective was
kind enough to let us stay a few nights after we cooked them dinner
and went through the "crasher-meeting" process.

Madison reminded me a mix of the Riverwest area in Milwaukee with its
aged-confluence of social activism, the Frat row on Alder Street in
Eugene, Oregon and the noxious consumerism of Santa Barbara's Main
Street.

In Madison, I learned about their marginally used local currency from
one of the 60 initiators. The Madison Hours ("In Each Other We
Trust"), not only provide a framework for an internal and local barter
system, but also foster friendships between neighbors as they learn
about each other's skills. Additionally, the Hours are inherently
educational as they open space for a deeper understanding of the US
currency system and logistics of possible alternatives.

Throughout the weekend, I visited Madison's prized Farmer's Market,
drank herb tea by the lake, goofed around with Marika in our final
days for a time to come, and hung out with some local wingnuts at the
Food not Bombs in Peace Park.

Chicago (jumping back in time) was a fun time, especially following
the dark days of Detroit. I made friends with a collective squat
weary of being watched by the Eff Bee Eye. I scored a loaner-bike
from a sweet bike mechanic education project and used it to ride for
miles all over Chicago, including a 20-mile ride down to Hyde Park. I
caught up with a long-lost pal on a rooftop overlooking a train yard
and shared vegan French toast with familiar faces. Gaily, I attended
two dinners in a row. The first was a potluck hosted by a righteous
Just Seeds Art Collective member where the company was somehow even
more delicious than the food. Guests were interested in my work and I
didn't feel like a stranger for long. The following night I found the
Weiser House for dinner. This warehouse spot is like a giant version
of Station 40, complete with an abandoned 3rd floor, secret rooms, a
free store, an extensive Books-to-Prisoners library and a huge events
space. I helped make dinner and talked with folks about their
fledgling Free School project and the upcoming RNC.

In the day to day, I've been curling up on floors, eating couscous and
tahini out of my bag, wooing hosts with tea ceremonies, conquering
public transportation systems, washing my clothes in bathtubs,
thanking new friends for unexpected generosity and sometimes
daydreaming about a sweetheart in the Bay. I am gleaning so much
information and background on projects in every city I visit. It's
impossible to keep up, but this is a good sign. I've got plenty of
work to do. Now I'm rolling along to St. Louis where a friend of a
friend awaits to show me the way to all the counter-institutions I can
fit into my little red notebook.

Constant Love,
Kirsten

Sean,
Your post is absurd. Do you honestly believe New Orleans doesn't have a major problem with crime and guns? I've traveled all over the world and have lived in many big cities. I never hesitated to walk home at 4AM from a club in London, Paris or NYC but I'm not naive enough to have dared try it in that s-hole you call home. Would you walk home at 4AM alone in New Orleans Sean? Would you recommend that type of behavior to a visitor since your city is so safe? Where do you live that you can walk a dog at midnight without a gun? The only place I can fathom that would be relatively safe is Tulane's Uptown campus.

I lived in the Garden District from 1997-2000. This neighborhood, as you know, is quite nice. But, it is bordered by bad neighborhoods, as is most of that checkerboard city. On two seperate mornings, while on my way to WORK, I was assaulted by men that had just come out of bars. This was at 8AM. My next door neighbor and her boyfriend were carjacked, told to lie down in the street, had a gun held to their heads and the girl was sexually assualted IN THE STREET (on Camp). My other neighbor had their car jacked with their baby STILL IN IT. I worked at Commander's Palace and would run home 2 blocks at the end of my shift because we were targets for robberies. The staff just lived with the risk and nothing could be done about it.

New Orleans is dangerous. Either you are in denial or are just plain stupid.

Tomas,
You are ridiculous. We have our bad areas as anywhere, but, I have never been a victim of crime and I just recently turned 40...and I was born in Downtown New Orleans. We had almost 200 murders in New Orleans last year, which is really scary. All but 9 were between acquaintances or were drug related. I don't do drugs, so I guess that is why neither me or my friends get bothered by anyone. Nevertheless, you certainly are entitled to feel as you feel, but, I'm here to flat out tell others...you are overly dramatic and are wrong. We have issues, but, all places do. Spread the non-truths about New Orleans. That is your choice. In the end, the city is fine, we still are breaking records with visitors, and the city is coming back in ways no one could have imagined 3 years ago. Anybody could get killed in any city if they went to the worst neighborhood in that city at 2:00 in the morning.

we dont know that she willingly went to the place where her body was found and we might never.

as a new orleans resident, i find it very possible that kirsten got lost returning home to the bywater. the topography of this city is very repetitive. myself and many other cyclists i know were all effected by this when we first moved here-- you can be 2 miles or 2 blocks from where you need to be and never know the difference.
if she got on the other side of the canal, it is not unreasonable to believe that the way she should have been going would have seemed like the wrong direction.
just a theory.
feel free to respond to my email.
my sincere condolences to her family.

There are many deluded gatekeepers on the "left," who believe that just about everything is coincidence, whether it's 911, chemtrails or the death of a prominent activist. We need to pressure the authorities in New Orleans

There are many deluded gatekeepers on the "left," who believe that just about everything is coincidence, whether it's 911 or the death of a prominent activist. My personal intuition tells me that her death was a government hit job disguised as a "robbery gone bad." We need to pressure the authorities in New Orleans to a full investigation of the circumstances behind her death.

I didn't know Kirsten but I did volunteer work in the Upper Ninth in May. It's no where near Bywater where she was staying. This is not the kind of neighborhood you decide to go riding thru at night. I know this does not bring her back. But hopefully her family won't think she made a foolish decision that cost her her life. I don't have faith in the NOLA police and the locals won't talk. To the family - hire someone to investigate. Spread the word of the violence in NOLA. Demand action from the state of LA. Don't let her become just another number in NOLA's staggering murders.

Anyone that lives in NOLA knows that just because you were shot in the head, doesn't mean it was a hit. Many children are trained at a frighteningly young age how to kill. There are also many many young activists living in NOLA right now and they are not being targeted. Common Ground is in the lower ninth and I haven't heard of murders amongst the group.

It's often times the thing that happens to helps me the most in anytime.

Everything

Happens

For

A

Reason..

A smell of a rose can blow many candles

Perhaps anyone here is right, and the beauty of this world allows us that right.

No one is to say right and wrong and in all honesty only god, kristen, and the person(s) who did it will know//

May she always be remembered for the acts she completed and the memories so many have of her..

Let us learn from the lessons we take from one another and lets accept that we are here for nothing more then change and death.

God bless her and may she live in peace forever.Efar.

Welcome to America.
A very, very, dangerous nation, with a very, very, dangerous culture.

would those cynics and "realists" that have been spreading their heartless "condolences" please stop posting here? There are many people in pain at this loss that do not desire your rebukes and "real-world facts" about the "dangers" of New Orleans.

Guess what, people can be shot anywhere. Kirsten could have been shot in her own city at any time, especially where she lived. You can be diagnosed with cancer or killed in a car accident tomorrow. I've had young friends come into contact with such a fate as I'm sure many have. Life is unpredictable and the more you try to order it around with careful and tedious planning the more neurotic and meaningless it becomes.

The sad truth is that many people won't ever understand Kirsten or her way of life. The concept of risks and selfless sacrifice for a better world is alien to many people, especially apologists for capitalism and imperialism who promote a selfish ideology of egoist preservation through the exploitation of the world. Sadly this comment board is open to anyone, including such apologists that live in their completely isolated cells of "look-how-stupid-you-are-I'm-safer-than-you."

Kirsten devoted her life to creating alternatives to that corrupt and cynical mindset and put them into practice. The sad truth is that any and all critics of her "idealism" are unlikely candidates for any widespread interest in a tragic death because they (or you) haven't lived a life remotely worthy of hers. It does not take much obvious attention to show that debunking idealism is the same as accepting violence, horror, and cruelty. Such critics are the same apologists who accept mass genocide and war as "natural occurrences" that we can "do nothing about." These people are the very scum of the earth that live in enough prosperity (which is by the way created by the mass-scale exploitation of other people) to sit at home writing away on public comments to condemn those that are involved in the struggles for real change. You live in a fantasy of externalized self-hatred.

So please, stop adding to the pain of others with your prevailing "wisdom" on how to live a safe and healthy neurotic life. We all know how to do that and the intelligent ones among us figured out long ago that it wasn't worth doing.

(((I was encouraging Kirsten to write write write, so I suppose now it is my turn)))


Further, along living fervor
motors grow fancier.
I find fate emerging, and cradle terror as I tarry;
I gape at the apex of grandeur.

From solid domiciles, the vantage
keeps a tight selvage,
but the apogee apologizes to fretfully carry
a lady over the ledge.

In sudden torpor the tick
sets supine a rose, clipped,
as a tepid advance prevents finding her parity,
or worse, I worry the world is sick.

There irreversibly illumined
is outdoor's costume:
there is only nakedness and latency and life's barbarity.
Amongst her ardor, disorder blooms.

dear living
in the bursts of tears
between terrorizing silence
in the face of the violance inherit in poverty struck slums
is the chance of triggering
hidden dangers in forgotten dark corners in one's mind
still easier to externalize
rather than to try and overcome

some
visualize threatening thoughts emanating
from outlined caricatures of homeless bums
assuming that the hands that loot
are the same ones that hold guns
and easily imagine, that it probably WAS some 'nigger'
and it probably WAS, another random mugging or drug related crime
for others
those hands that mindlessly salute
pull a much more premeditated trigger
which, they figure
is swift, absolute and perfectly timed
to the national election and the economic decline

and whats a young activist girl doing
riding her bike through that horrible place
didnt she realize
her grace might woo her idealist friends
but it isnt enough to undo the scum of a whole society
why cant she be innocent and cutesy and dumb
why cant she stay tucked in at home
filling her mind with anxiety
or better yet, totally numb

get a clue
little girl
get a clue
dont you know
you might wake up the evil
that lurks in the shadows
it will swallow you whole
and when its done with you, it will come for the us all

and your life could have flurished
but now youv'e been tacked
to the endless death toll
in this city
and this country
and this whole god damned fucked up world
and what good is that?
it means nothing now
nothing at all

except
that statistics are false
in the way that they paint the world boring and dull
in the way that they empty the meaning
from things that by nature are so obviously fertile

so I beg you
dear living
dear breathing
think
before you choose to indulge in a world
that is obviously dark rotten and cold
that is swirling around
to the very bottom
of this toilet bowl of time
where the shit that has gone down
will join the shit that hit the fan

that world is false
that world decieves
behold
in the very essence of this
is the existing plethora of such awesome alternatives
and if she was here with us
to type it in herself
I know she will have pointed out the irony
possibly offer a few hollywood scripts straight off the shelf
she would have left it up to you
dear living
to decide for yourself
knowing fully well
you may insist to not listen still
so let it be known here
you have the choice
you have the power
but beware
that power
can kill

Random violence isn't always a certainty either, even if the neighborhood is dangerous on a daily basis. Many people on this comment board are entirely convinced that there is "NO WAY" that Kirsten's murder could have been a (CIA) government planned hit, and give their various reasons of disbelief;

"New Orleans 9th Ward is dangerous place. Random violence is an everyday fact of life here. Therefore Kirsten's murder MUST have been random violence, no other options exist."

Well, no kidding. That the 9th Ward is usually violent isn't up for debate. However, the CIA "random violence mimicry" assassinations would be more likely accepted as random violence if it is already in a violent place, no? Would a random act of violence (or CIA assassination mimic thereof) be more likely in Beverly Hills? Probably not.

"Kirsten is white. Therefore she is a more likely target in that (mostly poor and black) neighborhood."

That isn't true either. In fact, for the thugs and drug dealers of the 9th ward region (or any other ghetto), ANY time a "white" person is killed in their district there is significantly greater police presence in the area until the murder is solved, and this cuts into the profits of the dealers. Certain dealers would allow "whites" safe passage just to remain in business without police harrassment. So just being "white" in a lower income neighborhood doesn't increase risk of murder that much more than for anyone else. In fact, "whites" are usually safer in those regions because the dealers protect their clients. Not saying that she was there for that purpose, that is only the "usual" reason for "whites" to enter this place.

"Kirsten was a great activist, though not important enough to be the target of a government hit."

Sounds like some mixed messages here. On the one hand Kirsten had many friends in the activist community, started and worked with many successful projects that challenged capitalism (really free market), yet she wasn't that important? Look at all the people who posted their memories just here alone, and how many people showed up at her funeral! Stop underestimating yourselves by force feeding everyone "humble pie". Know when to be modest and polite and not overtly brag of your importance, yet do not deny this fact either! She may have been important enough for the government to decide to plan a hit that looked like a mugging, knowing that she was in a place where this mugging would be probable and not result in further investigation outside of "common street crime". Plenty of "left gatekeepers" feeding us our humble pie so that we'll never question anything beyond "wrong place, wrong time" as motive for her murder. The CIA must be pleased to have so many of their potential future targets doing their work of covering up a "random violence" murder for them. Bravo gatekeepers, the CIA hit team loves you!!

"Government hits do not occur in the U.S. That sort of planned violence only happens in third world nations."

Again, another myth. Think of Huey Newton, MLK, Malcolm X and many others. In recent times, think of Gary Webb (two bullet suicide deemed "highly unlikely" by county coroner, yet remained classified as suicide) and several other activists who either had "accidents" (Norma Jean on 101) or other unexplained suicides (Roger from AZ who suffocated himself in jail cell with plastic bag).

Not to say that activists are immune from accidents or suicides, though when the CIA handbook admits that they murder people in ways that mimic accidents, suicide or even random violence in places where violence is a normal activity, there should be further investigations into all of these murders.

Another question;

How is calling for further investigation of Kirsten's murder outside of "common street crime" insulting or upsetting to her true friends? Are we all that naive to think that activists in the U.S. are immune to government hit jobs?

I have had the privilege of meeting Kirsten's Godmother, and she shared with me today what a wonderful free, giving soul Kirsten was............I did not know her, only through the comments of a loving family member...........her loss cannot be measured, by anyone. it is a tragic assault to the senses to try and find some solace or understanding of such a cowardly, atrocious act. May dear, sweet, giving, loving Kirsten rest in peace, and may the sub-humans that chose to murder her be dealt with quickly and justly. Kristine

Sean: You really set up a straw-man argument, the way you present us 'young idealists' as behaving. Most of us make no claims to want anything original or unique--we want to have a peaceable, stable, sustainable, nurturing, healthy, and prosperous life for ourselves, and for everyone else, since it's pretty hard for one person to have those things when her neighbor lacks it.

Simply conceding to the way things are is a good way to keep that grim, heavy weight on your chest right where it is. The world will never get any better until we begin to build it, bit by bit, ourselves.

I'm so, so sorry to hear of the demise of one more bright, beautiful, powerful worker for a better world.

Quite a snapshot of this young, concerned, progressive woman trekking across our scarred country. I made trips across the US myself when I was her age, though I certainly wasn't as politically astute at that age. There's nothing in the world quite like America (or a truism).

But if other young people read this thread, please be careful. There's a lot of bad people out there - what made them bad is debatable, but they ended up bad. This girl had a lot to give, and she went wandering through a terrible neighborhood, where every time is dangerous, and they took everything from her.

A sad fucking thing.

"She was shot multiple times in the head..." http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=2008kirsten-brydum1. "Kirsten worked really hard for a lot of projects like Dirty Dove, that emphasized alternative economies or education" http://sfcompact.blogspot.com/2008/10/with-love-solidarity-and-deep-sadness.html. "Kirsten's death follows closely after news of the murder of another young activist, Marcella "Sali" Grace Eiler, in Oaxaca" http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/30/18542081.php?show_comments=1.

Hello people? Multiple shots to the head; that's called an execution! She was assassination, I'm not an idiot. That may have been from a hard core gangbanger or it could have been from something else ...

After all, take a look at the CIA handbook of assassinations:
http://www.totse.com/en/politics/central_intelligence_agency/161745.html

An earlier post wrote:
"1) the murder was a head shot several times over (very unlikely for a mugging/gang violence)
2) Kirsten was uniting the anarchist movement across the country which is *very* great threat to the government being this is the key to the movement as a whole (unification in struggle). If people don't know that they are being very ignorant of class consciousness and historical struggles against any oppressor (look at slave rebellions for an example)
3) knowing Kirsten it is extremely difficult to picture her provoking any sort of violence or mugging, if anything she is a master of diffusing these situations
4) this all happened within the same week of the stock market crash and $700 billion bailout plans, i.e. capitalism is heading for a collapse and so those that are in power are very afraid right now (just watch Bush's speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms_O5avYAOs)
4) this happened in the wake of another activist murder in the same week (or at least very close) who was actually saying she was being spied on before she died.
5) this is also in the same time period of a nation-wide raiding of Food Not Bombs and anarchist collectives all over the country (since before and after the RNC)" further discussion by activist Wednesday Oct 1st, 2008 10:31 AM at http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/30/18542081.php?show_comments=1.

"What in the world is she doing out in NO alone at 1:30 AM? ... What is so weird is that this seemingly bright young woman didn't know what everyone else knows - that NO is lawless, especially after dark". Why wasn't she warned? by Tomas Friday Oct 3rd, 2008 7:27 AM http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/30/18542081.php?show_comments=1. Yes, what got her to go out on the streets of New Orleans that night? It is a CIA tactic to get something of worth to get you to leave your home, your safety and venture out side to a location of their choice. I would be interested to know whether or not the police or any other detective decides to look further by investigating where she slept and her phone, mail, and email conversations. Someone got her to go outside that night ... for what reason!?!

National security agencies infiltration is not new, and they stepped up efforts after 9/11 of things such as Food Not Bombs (FNB) in the past attempting to link them with ALF and ELF movements. Again, what got her to go out that night, was it entrapment gone bad was it her helping someone who was being threatened a sort of exchange for one life for another hoax to get her to go out that night? Take a look at what I'm talking about:
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/elle_anna.pdf or go to: http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20080422122126313 here: http://veganxjen.livejournal.com/4471.html if you don't like downloading PDF's.

Not to mention, there are all the raids at both the Republican National Convention (RNC) and the Democratic National Convention (DNC). We've mostly heard about reporters being raided for no reason other then to suppress free press, aka free speech. As seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi1eluuDGss, but there's more ... tons of activists and of course anarchists spots were raided in fits of preemptive government rage against our movements. If you don't believe me check out the Permaculture bus "Permibus" that was impounded with very overall well organized combative response on our movements before the RNC even started. Go here for info: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNew5eEocbI.

Now ask me again not to be paranoid, to not ask for more evidence in our comrades death in New Orleans? She as all other deaths deserve an in depth investigation by all sides.

Maybe that movie "The International" soon to be out has a point:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/theinternational/

We are Anarchists after all, it wouldn't surprise me if Capitalists and Governments conspired all of our demise ... after all we are working on some hard core alternative economic systems ;-) and they must be working ... much love for our fallen comrade who got us this much closer to a new world in an old shell.

"How is calling for further investigation of Kirsten's murder outside of "common street crime" insulting or upsetting to her true friends? Are we all that naive to think that activists in the U.S. are immune to government hit jobs?" Random violence and CIA mimicry by only occurs in violent setting Wednesday Oct 8th, 2008 6:21 PM http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/30/18542081.php?show_comments=1.

After all, as Tyson who posted "letters from kirsten's trip" shows just how easily her preplanned trips and locations could have been tracked by any criminal with technological influences and/or knowledge, one of which could have been a government agency http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/30/18542081.php?show_comments=1.

Though, we must be careful. For one other tactic used against us is the one which instigates fear, such as rumors of government cover-ups and conspiracies such as assassinations on our fellow comrades such as Kirsten. Ask yourself before blaming the government or any agency, couldn't they have left no trace of the RNC raids if they wanted to. I mean they could have just had all of us "disappear" as well as all of our footage, but it was still leaked out. Ask yourself why? That is all.

Much love ::: fist of love and rage :::

This was an amazing person and the world is a little worse without her.

There hasnt been any local news for weeks on Kirstens death?

Continue to post on the Times-Picayune website

Email or call the paper, this needs to stay in the forefront of the news until the perpetrator is caught!

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/coroner_identifies_9th_ward_mu.html

a friend from school
The police detectives should be able to tell if she was
murdered where she was found or moved there.
Don't expect much out of the authorities in NO
remember this is a "chocolate city" as per mayor "Ray do nothing Nagin."

what a very sad, sad story, just would like to let you know, I m currently in sweden, and somehow
just happened to get into one of those fachist-right wing pages, and read that these terrible black people even kill those Obama-supporters, that are out to help them, when in actuality, it was one of their own, that appearently committed this heinous crime.
I just wish I knew the name of their
page, so that you could log into their blog, and tell them what really happened, when they use this
story erroneously in their propaganda. I ve read so many hateful, American home-pages now, about our candidate Brack Obama, from right-wing people and disgruntled republicans, and it makes me sick to read. and that he shouldn t even be an American,
we ve already voted from over here, on our candidate, and hope for a new and better America, with this fantastic man. I mostly
work myself with misstreated animals now, after having worked with humans before, but now I
find solace with the Peta, and saving aimals. After reading all these blogs, and reading all the hate, it just s so nice, just being able to go out and save, feed, neuter and spay unwanted cats and dogs, they give so much back, and are so happy for all the attention, that anyone cares for them and loves them. Sincerely Kelly Ann Makepeace

I was reading the Seattle P-I today when I came across the story of Kirsten Brydum's murder. It is sad that someone took the life of a young woman that only wanted a better world for all of us. It is such a noble and difficult task that she was undertaking but such a beautiful future it could bring.