Direct Action Spokescouncil: Reclaiming King's Legacy in the Age of Trump

Reclaiming King's Legacy in the Age of Trump

The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States and his "law and order" agenda only serve to intensify the existing state-sponsored war on Black, Brown, Queer, Immigrant, Muslim and other marginalized lives in the United States.

For the third year in a row, Oakland's Anti Police-Terror Project* is calling for a Bay Area-wide spokescouncil to plan and coordinate actions for the upcoming Martin Luther King Day (1/16) right through to the inauguration of Donald Trump (1/20) (#HellNawGuration). A diverse coalition will engage in #120Hours of direct action, coalition building, and campaign launching against white supremacy. Let's carry forward and amplify the struggle, together!

Why Now?

Immediately following Trump's election, predictable calls have issued from within the political establishment, asking for "unity" and instructing people to "give Trump a chance." Simultaneously, a wave of hate crimes has targeted our communities, with emboldened Trump supporters attacking black and brown folk, Muslims, Jews, queers, and gender nonconforming people.

We don't expect politicians, local or national, republican or democrat, to protect us from the political agenda that Trump is advancing. We don't trust police to protect us from the violence that Trump and his supporters are just beginning to unleash. In fact, we know that from the beginning, police have always served as agents of repression in the service of capitalism, imperialism, and white supremacy.

Our movements on the Left must respond powerfully and our response must be grounded in our own vision. The time is now to build a movement that organizes toward a real multi-racial democracy that serves the interests of the majority and respects the will of the people. It is time to build mass alliances and independent political organizations that can meaningfully challenge the two-party system and corporate influence in the electoral process.

What We Are Calling For

APTP calls for a national week of direct action beginning on Martin Luther King day and culminating on Inauguration day. We intend to set a tone for the next four years of resistance: direct actions and street mobilizations to resist Trump's political agenda, and a banding together in our workplaces, schools, and communities to keep ourselves safe from Trump's violent supporters.

Before King's assassination, he began organizing the Poor People's Campaign designed to unify working people across the country. He spoke out forcefully against US imperialism abroad and the US war in Vietnam, in particular.

For 120 hours, we will show that we refuse to be governed by bigotry, we reject Donald Trump and his agenda, and we will resist the new fascistic "normal" by calling forth our collective people power to shut the system down.

Please discuss this callout with your friends, comrades, fellow workers, families, roommates, etc. See if you can pull together a crew of people who will be in close contact for the next few weeks, who are similar-minded and want to step up to organize or take part in actions. At least one of you should come to the spokescouncil meeting to share ideas and coordinate with the larger group.

Guidelines

Rather than prescribing specific actions or protests to be taken, APTP is proposing a spokescouncil framework for planning this week of action. We intend to provide a highly structured organizing space with clear tactical and messaging guidelines, that empowers participants to organize independently and in parallel. In this organizing model people organize themselves into smaller teams called "affinity groups" which plan their actions independently and securely, coordinating with the larger spokescouncil on timing, mass participation, and other support. We have used this organizing model on MLK weekend for the past two years to inspire a multitude of diverse actions and tactics and awaken the massive potential we have as a community engaging in direct action.

Meetings will be held Tuesday's at the Omni Commons** 4799 Shattuck Ave. Orientation*** is at 6:30 pm and the meeting begins at 7:00 pm.

Please save the following dates for spokescouncil meetings:

December:

— Tuesday Dec 13 (Alternate Location)

— Tuesday Dec 20 (OMNI Commons)

— Tuesday Dec 27 (OMNI Commons)

January

— Tuesday, Jan 3, 6:30-9pm TBD

— Sunday Jan 8, 5-8pm TBD

— Tuesday Jan 10, 6:30-9pm TBD

— Saturday Jan 14, 5-8pm TBD

— Tuesday Jan 17, 6:30-9pm TBD

— Thursday Jan 19, 6:30-9pm TBD

** The OMNI Commons meeting space is wheelchair accessible, and has a wheelchair accessible bathroom however the bathroom is not fully ADA compliant.
*** Before your first meeting, please make sure to attend an orientation!

Background information for this Spokescouncil:

• Callout for 2017
• Spokescouncil Agenda (Including Orientation)
• Action Guidelines and Principles (our agreements on tactics and conduct for participants).
• Spokescouncil Function and Security Culture
• What is a Spokescouncil (definitions)
• APTP's google calendar (will reflect plans announced at the spokescouncil or related to the week of action)
  

Questions, ideas, comments, or to get involved...
Email aptpspokescouncil@gmail.com

*The Anti Police-Terror Project is a project of the ONYX Organizing Committee in coalition with individuals and organizations like The Black Power Network, Workers World, the Oakland Justice Coalition, Community Ready Corps, Idriss Stelley Foundation and more.