"Modesto Anarcho" #1 Out Now!

Modesto Anarcho is a new journal produced by the Direct Action Anti-Authoritarians (DAAA) Collective, based out of Modesto CA in the central valley. The goal of the journal is to document, analyze, and give spotlight to the autonomous social struggles in the area, as well as organizing work that the collective is engaging in. The journal is also meant to be tool of propaganda, to show young people and those interested in working on local projects what is going on in the city. We are looking to get the journal out to outside collectives, (especially those in California), as well as info shops, individuals, bookstores, and various other anarchist/anti-authoritarian groupings. Some of the articles have already been posted online, and more will be posted as time goes on. Also included in this post after the ordering information, is the introduction to the journal - enjoy!

Table of Contents:

Introduction - Moving intro into the journal! Printed under ordering info.
Re-Occupied Territory: Anarchist Thoughts While on Indigenous Land - Report back from indigenous gathering from an anarchist perspective. Looking at similarities of indigenism and anarchism, as well as the differences. Thoughts on how the two can learn from each other.
On the Wave of Police Brutality - Thoughts on the recent wave of police shootings and brutality in Modesto. Also some thoughts about what to do about it.
The Camp that Fought Back: Ceres Copwatch - A look at an Copwatch in Ceres CA, (right next to Modesto), in the wake of the Andres Raya shooting. Describes the self-organization of this struggle by the community, and the involvement of anarchists.
Cracks in the Border of Capital: May 1st and Beyond in Modesto - An in depth look at the actions and happenings around issues of immigration. Covers student walk outs and actions, May Day, autonomous actions, and responses to anti-immigrant xenophobes.
Solidarity is the Key to Workers Power - Text taken from Phoenix anarchists, such as Phoenix Insurgent. Talks about the need for white workers to destroy white privilege, and act in solidarity with their fellow workers.
Police Harassment of Food Not Bombs - On the recent attempted shutting down of Modesto Food not Bombs by the local police.
The Life and Times of the Bastallion Squat - A personal and (anti) political look at a massive squat that was recently torn down in the Modesto area, and the implications from some of those that lived there.
Fostering Liberation: Interview with EBAA - Interview with East Bay Animal Advocates, an animal liberation group out of the bay area. Discusses doing work against factory farming in the central valley, and the ecological and labor implications of industrial agriculture in the local area.
Contacts and Resources - Information and links to other local anarchists/anti-authoritarian groups.

Ordering Info

Copies of the Journal are $2 each, or for 10 or more $1 each.

To order, please send well concealed cash to:

DAAA
PO Box, 3027
Modesto CA, 95353

Welcome!
Modesto Anarcho is a project of the Direct Action Anti-Authoritarians (D.A.A.A.) Collective, based out of the central valley town of Modesto CA. The purpose of this journal is to reach out and create dialog and discussion on issues facing oppressed, working class, and young people in the local area. Through this project, we would like to give an autonomous, revolutionary, militant, and non-reformist look at local struggles and issues, and provide critique and analysis outside of the general leftist and liberal view points. This is the first issue, and in the future we hope to be putting out issues quarterly. For further updates on what’s happening in Modesto, please view our contact information. We are looking for local submissions, as well as letters, interviews, action reports, news, reviews, etc.

In existence since 2003, the D.A.A.A. Collective is an autonomous group of anti-authoritarians and anarchists, who are local youths, workers, and students. We have become fed up with the reformist activism in this city, and instead opt to engage in revolutionary struggle against capitalism, the state, and white supremacy. We also seek to give solidarity, and help to other working class and oppressed individuals, groups, and campaigns that are self-organizing in the local area. Class and community struggle happens all the time outside of the mainstream unions, political parties, non-profits, and we want to include ourselves in this ongoing autonomous struggle. We do not desire to be a “vanguard”, or “leaders” within this struggle however, but we do want to create dialog and move forward through action with our neighbors, co-workers, and fellow community members. We believe that the self-organization of oppressed and working people’s struggles holds not only the greatest revolutionary potential, but also can pave the way for the creation of new systems of social interaction; and thus, social revolution.

But while possible co-conspirators are everywhere, so is the state, capital, patriarchy, racism, hierarchal relationships, wage-slavery, and the things which make our lives miserable through the perpetuation of the class system. Their production of capital, is the animation of our alienation, boredom, and physical and mental slavery to the mechanics of private property and class society. But things don't have to be that way. Every street is still a battlefield, every pig remains an enemy, every shopping center a festering cancer of industrialism, and every city council an occupying force of domination. We urge those tired of the world dominated by capital, industry, and politics to hurry in attacking in new, interesting, and sexy ways. The anti-politics of class struggle seek to engage the oppressed, exploited, and alienated. Let sabotage and direct action be the new poetry. Let us write songs in the streets, tearing down the old world of coercion and lies, as we build a new one in it's place based on cooperation and trust. Workers councils, general assemblies, dual power, horizontal structures, economic sabotage, community organizing, consensus process, these are the new weapons. Let us begin to put faith in nothing but our own abilities to attack, destroy, and create alternatives to state and capital. Let us be careful with each other, so we can be more dangerous together.

Currently, the massive protests around the country on May 1st have brought back the words “general strike” to the lips of thousands, as people re-act to the realities of racist and class society. In Modesto, we were pleasantly surprised as over 10,000 people held the streets illegally in Modesto on May Day. Also locally, police continue harassment of anarchists, as well as their brutal handling of the local population, (both discussed in this issue). The class war is still on, racism still exists, and the state is still the servant of capital. We’ve got some big enemies, both here in our backyard, and across the world - we’d better get started in knowing our friends.