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Indybay Feature

“Do It or Shut the Fuck Up”

by Ted E. Ruxpin
That blunt statement basically sums up this recently released zine by political prisoners Jeffrey ‘Free’ Leurs and Rob ‘Los Ricos’ Thaxton.
heartcheck_final_high_res_40.jpg
That blunt statement basically sums up this recently released zine by political prisoners Jeffrey ‘Free’ Leurs and Rob ‘Los Ricos’ Thaxton.

The core concept that unites the 11 essays that make up the zine also happens to be the publication’s name; Heartcheck. As the authors explain in the opening remarks, the slang term “heartcheck” was developed in prison and it means “to call someone out when you grow weary of listening to him run his neck or talk out of his ass.” Jeff and Rob choose to use this term to call out what they identify as a widespread problem plaguing resistance movements operating within Empire’s core; all talk and no action.

It’s not a new statement by any means, but within these essays, one can find an insightful articulation of these frustrations that many radicals and anarchists in this country share. Throughout the zine, there are continual references to 1999 and the hope that filled radical communities following the unprecedented disruption of the WTO summit in Seattle. It is clear that much of Heartcheck’s writing comes out of the frustration and disappointment that has accompanied the “movement of movements”’ stagnation in the past six years after the brilliance of November 30th, 1999.

The authors attempt to provide some examples of positive developments that should be replicated and built upon, such as the autonomous community uprisings in the Kabilya region of Algeria or the targeted organizing against specific corporate executives that formed the backbone of the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty campaign. However, other than discussing the need for action in a somewhat removed and abstracted sense, the zine also fails to paint a coherent picture of concrete steps our diverse movements can take to truly pose a serious threat to power. This ends up making the entire collection of essays on the frustrations with the failures of U.S. radicals a somewhat frustrating read in itself.

The one essay that clearly stands out in Heartcheck as a truly visionary and inspiring piece of writing is Jeff’s ‘Building a Foundation for Change’ in which he discusses the complex support structures and community networks that must be nurtured in order for an armed revolt to truly be successful. Within this piece, Jeff displays an impressive level of depth and maturity lacking in much of the rest of the zine. While there are definitely gems scattered throughout all the essays, this piece alone makes the publication a worthwhile read.
§Heartcheck
by Jeff Luers & Robert Thaxton
heartcheck.pdf_600_.jpg
Publisher: Free's Defense Fund
Format: Pamphlet
Released: Jun 6, 2005

"A new collection of writings on struggle, strategy, and fighting to win, from the anarchist prisoners Rob "Los Ricos" Thaxton and Jeffrey "Free" Luers. All monies benefit their defense campaigns."

A zine by Political Prisoners Jeffrey 'Free' Luers and Rob 'los Ricos' Thaxton.

Heartcheck is a 40-page zine with previously unpublished writings and artwork by political prisoners Jeff 'Free' Luers and Robert 'Los Ricos' Thaxton. (Rob was released in 2006)

--

* December 16, 2009 - Jeff was released from prison after serving 9.5 years!
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by Get a move on
"However, other than discussing the need for action in a somewhat removed and abstracted sense, the zine also fails to paint a coherent picture of concrete steps our diverse movements can take to truly pose a serious threat to power. This ends up making the entire collection of essays on the frustrations with the failures of U.S. radicals a somewhat frustrating read in itself."

It's not that frustrating when you consider that the basics (direct action, community building, etc.) are known by experienced activists, regardless of how little forward momentum there is going on.

Or to put it another way: when people already know how to run, why should you have to explain to them how to crawl?
by sounds like a Bill O'Reilly quote
Action that is ineffective or counterproductive could be worse than no action?

When people feel compelled to "just do it" or else "shut up", the results can be a series of setbacks that take time to dig out of..

After reading several communiques from Jeff Free, Rob los Ricos and other famous activists, i cannot help but wonder if the focus on action without dialogue is beneficial to the greater movement. Standing up to authority is important, though sometimes we are then making ourselves vulnerable to greater attack from a more powerful military/police state. Machismo in anarchist communities may desire to throw rocks at police, yet the outcome is greater oppression by an even larger force of machismo, US imperialism..

Martyrdom has never appealed to me. Am still in support of the release of Jeff, Rob, Mumia, MOVE 9 and many other political prisoners held captive by US imperialism, though i don't want to take their place behind bars..

We witnessed several mass peace convergences in cities throughout the US and world with few results. The Bush regime has indicated the opinions and facts of the world's people is irrelevant to their agenda. The only arguement in favor of the peace convergences is that it could be much worse for everyone if these and other actions have not occurred..

Maybe i am being selfish for enjoying my time in the sunshine and not wanting to risk my freedom by doing time in prison. Some may call me a coward, traitor or worse, yet name calling only indicates a lack of listening. Many people in the US may feel the same way about serving prison time, probably one of the main reasons more direct actions that involve arrests aren't happening..

Reality for most is the daily grind of obtaining food and shelter by either working or seeking handouts. More rare is the people who work the land for food or scavenge dumpsters for nutrients. Community building involves a way of obtaining nutrition and shelter without using currency and contributing to the corrupt system of US imperialism..

Am going to speak in favor of "stop, wait and think" before committing to any direct action that may involve arrest. The cost to the movement is another activist behind bars who isn't able to engage in community building besides within the prison system or limited communiques with the outside. It may be extremely frustrating for an activist who is incarcerated to see people on the outside doing nothing. It may be even more frustrating for activists to witness a steady loss of human potential due to incarceration..

Am not advocating inaction, though we need to really decide what actions are going to have an effect on the current regime and US imperialism overall. Wasting our energy in wild goose chase actions may only serve to increase the power of the US imperialist regime while draining the little energy we have left. Nobody wants to hear critisizm from a person who does nothing, yet a neutral observer can offer only advice from the outside perspective..

If anything now would be a time for greater outreach to the non-activist community and encourage some actions that don't involve arrest or a great sacrifice. If everyone can do a little, than individuals won't need to give up alot of their free time by being incarcerated. Distributing information in regions where there is a lack of alternative media can help slow the treads of the corporate propaganda tanks. Recognizing our somewhat selfish human nature is intergral to this, we can act in our own interest of self preservation once we realize a greater potential is possible without dependency on this capitalist system of corporate governance. "Why work for food/rent when you could have it for free?" is one example of a motivational question that may require physical proof to break through the cynical blinders covering the collective vision of the people..

Much love to Jeff Free, Rob los Ricos, MOVE 9 and other political prisoners, but i will continue to talk and act in a way that avoids any response by the police state. Will also continue to advocate and speak out in support of returning you your freedom from an unjust incarceration. Peace and non-violence are also in our self interest, we can and will actualize this through a diversity of tactics and actions..

luna moth
by Angela Parsons
>Maybe i am being selfish for enjoying my time in the sunshine and not wanting to risk my freedom by doing time in prison. Some may call me a coward, traitor or worse, yet name calling only indicates a lack of listening. Many people in the US may feel the same way about serving prison time, probably one of the main reasons more direct actions that involve arrests aren't happening.<

I don't think you're a coward -- and yes, many people aren't really thrilled about doing time. (I also think it's important to remember that both Jeff and Rob got ridculously harsh sentances for what they did, relative to sentancing overall in this country.)

Is it macho to want to resist? Overall, I'm not sure -- I mean, there are people who are definitely doing the macho thing, but that's far from the only reason that people do direct action.

Lastly, I'm personally more frustrated by people's lack of action on a community level, direct action or not, than a lack of being in the streets and, I don't know, use your imagination. Ya know?

In solidarity, much luv,

AP
by b
"It may be extremely frustrating for an activist who is incarcerated to see people on the outside doing nothing."
I bet it is a little frustrating. I'd be damn pissed. The only one that is caught and then after he's caught, the action comes to an end. Like everyone goes" Upps, guess I won't do that" Looks like the harsh sentencing worked. Millitant action was not a sucessful method after all.
by And then again
>Millitant action was not a sucessful method after all.

Sort of. I think at least some of the fear dates back to the protests in Miami a few years ago, where people got their first taste of what it's like when the cops hate your guts, and are willing to act on it.
by indication of fascist police state
What is considered a reasonable action of self defense in this age of global warming, smog, lung cancer, etc. is what Jeff Free did to show the destruction caused by SUVs and climate change. This several years before Katrina and now the recent hurricane that destroyed Guatemala. If only we would have listened and acted earlier. In a reasonable state the people in the know would have applauded Jeff's actions and began the process of implementing better public transit, increasing low emmission or hybrid vehicles, made bicycles more available and safer on the streets, etc in effort to alleviate climate change..

As if the state could ever be reasonable under a petrochemical tyrrany? The harsh sentence imposed on people like Jeff and Rob who stand against tyranny is an indication of a fascist state under the Bush regime. We are no longer free to express our opinions or act in ways to defend ourselves with Patriot Act and Homeland Security breathing down our collective necks..

After this oppressive regime is neutralized the real heroes like Jeff Free, Rob Los Ricos, Mumia, MOVE 9, and many other political prisoners of fascist police states may once again walk free in the sunshine. This is a day long coming but it will happen. We are in solidarity with a diversity of tactics to overthrow colonial oppression.

To sum up; Stop, Wait and Think!!

Most definitely DON"T GET CAUGHT!!

love and peace,

luna moth
by luna tick
You acolytes of the Global Warming religion really need to seek professional help.

And if petrochemicals are so bad, give up your computers, made with and powered by oil, (as well as these indy servers).
by brainstorm
...is that it's not just this government. This slogan "the people aren't the problem" is glad-handing bullshit. Mainstream American society is TOTALLY integral to the problem -- corrupt, selfish, delusional, completely wrapped up in their cookie-cutter little lives. 95% of these people look at Jeff Free and say "fuck yeah, they should just torch his ass on national TV to send a message to all these eco-TERRORISTS (**gasp** it's the T-woid!! SKWEEEEEEEM!!!!)"

Words and even direct action are never going to reach these people. The more extreme environmental action gets, the higher their goggle-eyed baby fears will mount, driving them into the big hairy protective arms of a government that's their mortal enemy. But they don't know this, you see, because they're insane. The psy-op masterminds, on the other hand, see everything very lucidly and they're loving it that you're talking this way. It's EXACTLY what they want. Better yet, start blowing up bridges and shit. This way they get to push domestic policy that much closer to open totalitarianism AND they get to go through every last name in their ELF / Earth First database and throw everybody into a torture dungeon in gitmo never to be seen again. Problem solved.

You have to tune your methods to predictable popular reaction, with winning people over always being the #1 priority. Every successful revolutionary front has known this. Look into the Sandinistas in Nicaragua or the Tupamaros in Uruguay. They started doing violent stuff only after a critical mass of people had come to realize that the government was a rabid snarling monster poised at their throats, and so they understood in turn the necessity of violent methods. Americans aren't there yet, and they have a fuck of a long way to go. This government-media complex has become so good at mass manipulation (Hitler and Stalin would just shake their heads in awe) that it's going to take something really incredible to break through this. Total economic melt-down for example.

I'm not saying nothing can be done, but escalating violence is NOT the answer, not yet. Right now making this country look bad in the eyes of the international public is a very potent weapon. We need to start thinking of what's happening here as another Vietnam war and exposing it in the way that war's horrors were exposed: focus on tragedy, both human and environmental; make the message "sexy" i.e. irresistible, compelling; gut-wrenching photos are still the absolute best -- the little naked Vietnamese girl running down the road; the monk burning himself to death in Hue; the Kent State massacre pic that is SOOOO moving, like a theatrical scene. To this day, everybody still remembers those.

This is a PR strategy basically, and anarchical grassroots stuff may not be the best way to go about it. Sorry. I like that stuff too. PR is the enemy's #1 weapon in this war. They have good strategic heads and they know what they're doing, THAT'S WHY THEY'RE WINNING. Take a lesson. We need to start putting out strong propaganda that grabs Joe Average by the throat and infects him with our sense of rage. High-impact PR is much more about QUALITY of information than quantity. Having everybody with a camera running around all over clearcuts and flooding the internet with 50 million pics is NOT a good strategy. The 50 million pics are only a starting point. You have to have people with good heads winnowing through this stuff. Similarly, you need good writers, good documentary film-makers, all of them passionate about the message. You need to start rebutting the namby-pamby "nature show" milked down bullshit with films just as slick that show that world being ERASED day by day with a full-on military assault, sacred beauty being replaced with death and horror FOREVER. This shit takes MONEY. Far too much of the environmental movement's cash flow is going into fuddy-duddy orgs like the Sierra Club. They're old, they're conservative, they're corrupt, they're heads are stuck in the 1970s -- in short they're done thinking in warrior terms about this stuff and they're just not going to bring the required blood'n'guts energy to this fight.

by Angela Parsons
>You have to tune your methods to predictable popular reaction, with winning people over always being the #1 priority. Every successful revolutionary front has known this. Look into the Sandinistas in Nicaragua or the Tupamaros in Uruguay. They started doing violent stuff only after a critical mass of people had come to realize that the government was a rabid snarling monster poised at their throats, and so they understood in turn the necessity of violent methods. Americans aren't there yet, and they have a fuck of a long way to go. This government-media complex has become so good at mass manipulation (Hitler and Stalin would just shake their heads in awe) that it's going to take something really incredible to break through this. Total economic melt-down for example.<

While I think that we need to do everything we can to support political prisoners (serious, for real,) I also am inclined to agree with you. We have our work cut out for us.

Further reading:

Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paolo Friere
Teaching to Transgress, bell hooks
Liberating Theory, Chomsky, Sklar, Albert, et. al.
by Angela Parsons
>don't get caught

Amen to that! One of the things that can be learned from Jeff and Rob's situation is that it's not the right time to be going too far -- a little patience can do a long way. Upping the ante at present is a good way to create more scapegoats.

What to do while we're waiting? Well, what I like to do is to talk with others and build.

Also, don't forget to read, to learn. Be willing to be humble, and to look in the mirror. Don't be afraid to call bullshit, or to have bullshit called on you.

There's more than one way to build a movement,

AP


by second vandalism increased sentence
The response to a question like this is that there were two seperate incidents of vandalism at the SUV dealership. The first vandalism that Jeff Free is accussed of amounted to small damages and only three vehicles vandalized. All three of these vehicles were easily repaired and later sold by the dealership with little financial loss..

The second vandalism incident occurred after Jeff Free was being held in custody for the first vandalism. This second vandalism was far more severe and resulted in over thirty SUVs being severly burned. Then a "ELF" communique claiming responsibility for the second vandalism mentioned Jeff Free as their "leader" and inspiration. Following this second attack Jeff Free was then accussed by the DA of being part of this greater conspiracy and his sentence increased to the extreme time he is now serving. The vandals of the second attack were never caught and their identity remains unknown. Without directly crying wolf i must mention the words "insurance scam" keep flashing in my head in red letters. Well, not really but it does cross my mind occasionally..

The point being that the minor damage of the first vandalism incident does not support the excess sentence Jeff is currently facing. Since he was in custody when the second incident occurred, he cannot be held responsible for the more severe damage of the second incident. There as much lack of proof that he inspired someone to do it equally as there is lack of proof that the SUV dealership torched itself to collect insurance money. However there is more incentive for the SUV dealer to torch itself than some other activists to target the same dealership twice. Blaming insurance scam fires on environmental activists is a new low for corporations..

luna moth
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