The protests against the World Economic Forum will occur from January 30th through February 5th, 2002 in New York City. Also, join others in resisting the winter Olympics in Utah February 8th-24th (http://www.burntheolympics.org/). Picking Up Where We Left Off The North American Anti-Capitalist Struggle Must Advance It is now 2002 and it has been many months since the last large anti-capitalist protest in North America. Our situation was looking incredible for the late September protests against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. We had the many televised press conferences on C-SPAN, and we were coming back to D.C. learning from our past mistakes and successes. The mainstream media was already beginning to pre-hype the protests (or the potential for "violence" more specifically). As it got closer they had already decided to shorten the meeting time. I was helping organize people in the area interested in going (as were others all across the United States), and it looked like we were going to have the greatest number of people from this area to attend a major protest yet. I was gathering my gear, marking my maps, making my phonecalls and sending emails. It was going to be unbelievable. (It was in au as well,pre chogm,pr) Then one day we woke up or were at work or whatever, and our TV screens were filled with images of collapsing buildings, thousands died, thousands of others were running in terror, no one had a clue as to what the hell just happened. For the time it changed everything. As much as we wanted it not to, it severely affected the protests. It changed the focus of the protest (anti-war, anti-racist), the turnout, the tactical choices, the energy, and the attention we received. On the upside (or not), it also caused the IMF and World Bank to cancel that meeting. It has been nearly 4 months now since that day and the "war" has become increasingly futile. That "war," of course, is what has almost killed (no pun intended) the momentum of the anti-capitalist protests and overall resistance in the United States, not to mention thousands of innocent people. That movement or collection of movements has almost been hijacked by the liberal and (state) socialist left due to their stronghold over the anti-war movements. Anti-war protesters are more likely following the calls to action made by socialist parties or affiliated groups, or liberal groups, than calls (or lack thereof) made by anti-authoritarian collectives/groups. The authoritarian left has long sought to gain control over the anti-(corporate)-globalization movement and are in a position of greater power to do so when they use their power from the anti-war movement. This is why it is crucial that we make a presence in New York City (and subsequent gatherings) and show the so-called leaders (politicians and activists) that we have not been swept under the rug or converted to single-issue reformist struggles. We must show the state that we are not going to run and hide when it starts to hint at openly engaging in "war" against us. We must not forget why we are fighting. We must not forget the death of Carlo Guiliano (remember him? Genoa?) or hundreds and thousands of others who have needlessly lost their lives resisting conditions decided upon by the IMF, World Bank, WTO, NAFTA, and the leaders of the Northern industrial nations. We cannot let the state nor the authoritarian left (liberal and socialist) decide the fate of our struggle or how we choose to resist. And do not mistake this as another call for a "black bloc," but rather it is a call for anti-authoritarian resistance in all possible manifestations. _______________________________________________ infoshop-news mailing list infoshop-news@infoshop.org http://www.infoshop.org/mailman/listinfo/infosho