From SubRosa concerning May Day

I understand that SubRosa has been coming under attack by various reactionaries in SC, but instead of trying to commiserate with other business owners in downtown maybe, as a RADICAL space, you could attempt to release a statement distancing yourselves from what happened while at least putting forth an understanding of WHY something like that would have happened, especially considering the possibilities of pending repression. The above statement comes across as pretty cowardly.

None the less good luck to all in Santa Cruz,
Solidarity (amongst radicals not businesses) is Power!

Hey Jenny, can't you even make an attempt to distance yourselves from the violence downtown by saying you had nothing to do with it AND that you don't condone it?

Every new statement is further making it look like you guys really don't mean it.

sorry to sound crude but this comes off as a pretty wimpy statement.

the reality about being public anarchists is that you're going to take a LOT of the heat when others do actions on behalf of the same principles and beliefs you ascribe to, even if they are actions you completely disagree with or feel are immature.

These are the times in which you discover if you're really "down" or not. Sorry, but it's true.
They're also opportunities to speak publicly and openly with all eyes on you. It seems people are scared shitless, completely understandable, but have some courage!

At this point I feel really sorry for collective members (they know who they are) who feel shitty about statements like this.

they're anarchists. why would anarchists condemn an attack against capitalism? that would be ideologically incoherent. don't try to bully people into betraying their own beliefs with fear of violent reprisal from the state. that capitalists who rob us of our labor and our lives for their profit and the state that upholds and defends that robbery are the true purveyors of violence and mayhem in our lives.

also, it's pretty much meaningless to say that this coffee shop was involved in the vandalism. what does that even mean? business entities cannot be guilty of committing "crimes," under the law. only natural persons can commit "crimes" and i haven't heard any mention of any factual evidence or allegations against any individuals. until they come up with some actual evidence, against actual people, they need to leave subrosa alone. it's pretty obvious right now that the media, state, and capitalists are just using this as an excuse to persecute anarchists solely for their political beliefs.

UCSC's City On A Hill Press had a very editorial on the May Day event. And Subrosa, sorry but you many of you guys (Wes, Jen) have been acting horribly for a while now and you should be ashamed of yourselves.

We get 8 more officers, cameras downtown and help from the feds.....couldn't have done it better myself!!!

Thank you!!!!!

just more fuel for the fire. it's got to get worse before it can get better

I just wanted to say I appreciate what Subrosa, free skool, the bike church and other collective run entities have done for our community and I truly appreciate the work Wes and others have done. I hope your able to reopen without fear or threat.

Should I go over the end result of the Haymarket riot with you again.

Crushing of IH strike, deportation of massive numbers of immigrant workers, destruction of the internationalist labor unions...

Get this... In America, when it breaks, it stays broken.

That's because we're 'exceptional' (snicker)

you didnt mention that the Haymarket events gave birth to the enormous anarchist movement from the turn of the century until 1920 nd influenced anarchists from emma goldman to eugene debs to step up the fight against capitalism, fuck your defeatism...

Emma Goldman got shipped back to Russia at the time of the Palmer "Red Raids" and Eugene Debs was NEVER an Anarchist.

Fuck your lack of creativity in visualizing what property destruction means as a TACTIC.

You think Anarchists are who only folks who use it?

Right now, environmental activists are dumping dirt in the lobbies of Chase Manhattan branches and offices to represent the removal of 470 West Virgina mountaintops for coal http://auntieimperial.blogspot.com/2010/03/mountaintop-mining-there-are-now-470.html , and in previous times they dumped soot in the power company offices to pressure them to stop the use of coal, for cleaner air on the East Coast.

These acts are INSTANTLY identifiable as to their message.

Too bad smashing windows can be done by an 8 year old throwing a a wild pitch in neighborhood ball game and delivers no identifiable message whatsoever except the ability, as a chronological adult, to throw a temper tantrum, also like that 8 year old.

here

Your point being you can't stay on topic?

because when people lose everything and have nothing to lose, THEY LOSE IT!

No... They scapegoat.

Hope they find YOU!

auntie, your blog sucks, it doesn't make sense, you have little ground to say others are talking nonsense...X

Dear SubRosa Supporter:

I am writing to ask you to financially support SubRosa. This may seem like weird timing, but it is not. I hope you'll hear me out.

By now you probably have come to your own conclusions without the help of the Sentinel about the events of May Day and beyond. No, we didn't plan the event. No, we didn't coordinate the riot. No, the suspect arrested did not work or volunteer at SubRosa. No, we were not raided. No, our door was not kicked in by law enforcement. And no, we didn't call the cops to report it (?!).

We are a collective of people who have a wide variety of feelings and thoughts about May Day and other violence around town. No one person could possible speak for the SubRosa collective, let alone all the people who are students of the broad philosophy of anarchism.

In fact, that is precisely why we all volunteer our time to creating and maintaining SubRosa, to provide a community space to discuss and debate these important topics. We hope in the coming weeks you will drop by the space and satisfy your curiosity by challenging us with your questions about anarchism, violence, nonviolence, community solutions, crime, police, and so on. We've had hundreds of good (and difficult) conversations with people since May Day.

You may have noticed us closed a lot in the last three weeks. For safety reasons, we've tried to make sure there were at least two volunteers staffing every shift. And frankly, some staffers have been nervous about staffing at SubRosa with the threats of violence against us and against friends. We're not happy about being closed to the community, but it is important to us that staff feel safe.

While we strive to operate as much as possible outside the realm of commerce, we still need to pay our rent and our bills. We typically make our budget through a combination of donations for coffee, tea, books, and events, as well as private donations from individuals who support the space. Having our doors closed frequently in the last few weeks has negatively impacted our budget.

This has been a struggle for our survival. There are people in this town that are deeply threatened by the existence of a space that honors free speech, resistance, community, autonomy, and mutual support. There are structural forces stacked against the very idea of us doing it ourselves.

I'm asking you to show your support for SubRosa with a financial contribution. There are one-time and subscription donations available.

Please visit our support page at http://www.subrosaproject.org/p/support.html

Thank you. Your donation will help this space move beyond the events of the last few weeks and thrive.

Warmly,

Rachel
SubRosa Collective Member

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SubRosa Community Space
703 Pacific Ave
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831.426.5242