> If I were you Chuck, I would be reflecting upon why the WWP/IAC/ANSWER
> folk were able to adapt to the post/9-11 political climate
> while anarchists such as yourself were left adrift. You complain
> about WWP/IAC/ANSWER, and no doubt many of your criticisms
> of them are quite justified, and yet the bottom line is still
> that they were able to adapt to the post/9-11 world whereas
> you and your comrades could not. You, as an experienced
> organizer should be well aware that you have to be able
> to deal with the unexpected. Why is it, that the professional
> activists failed, why did the anarchists fail while the
> WWP types were able to carry on, when an unexpected
> event like 9-11 occured?
The anarchists and professional activists failed only if you are ignorant about what activists were doing at that time. As I've explained several times, the anarchists in the Anti-Capitalist Convergence met after 9-11 and decided to go ahead with a scaled-down antiwar protest on September 29, 2001. We went ahead with these plans despite the general attitude in American activism at the time that NO protests should be planned because of the general atmosphere in the USA at the time. The ACC went ahead with what turned out to be the first national protest against the war on the morning of September 29, 2001, several hours before ANSWER's protest (which attracted 7-10,000 participants). The ACC march was unpermitted and confrontational with the cops, which prompted quite a bit of police violence and intimidation.
There were several anarchists in the MGJ, including one professional organizer who helped kill off the protests. If there was any failure here, it was the failure of the big NGOs and big labor to have a backbone in the wake of 9-11 (see: http://www.sinkers.org/posters/newwar/liberalunitedfront.jpg). The decision to call of the protests was a wrong one, but it is an understandable reaction to a unique situation.
If you are one of those sheltered leftists who doesn't get out much, then it might look like ANSWER was boldly moving forward after 9-11 while other activists were sitting on their hands. Of course, the reality was much different. While the sectarians behind ANSWER were publicizing their so-called "coalition," other activists were busy organizing anti-war activism on the local levels well as continuing activism on other issues that had been happening before 9-11. ANSWER was formed in the days following 9-11 by top cadre associated with the IAC and WWP. ANSWER was initiated by authoritarians who has just spent the last two years disrupting groups in the anti-globalization movement after a failure to gain influence in that movement. The traditional peace movement did not rally behind ANSWER banner, in fact, their next move was to hold a national meeting on September 28 in Washington, DC. This meeting was held to kick-start the "new" peace movement and the post-9-11 anti-war opposition. This was not an ANSWER event, but it did bring many anti-war activists to town for the weekend of protests. In retrospect, it's a shame that nothing came out of this meeting to challenge ANSWER.
After September, the anarchists did not hang up our black hoodies. In November, the World Bank and IMF held their re-scheduled meetings in Canada, which were met by protests organized with the help of anarchists. In December of 2001, anarchists in the U.S. initiated a call for protests against the WEF meetings in New York in January 2002, which were nicely attended and became a statement that activism and dissent were alive and well in post-9-11 America. If anything, anarchist did everything but fail. We undertook an active campaign to establish that protest was not going to go away simply because people were displaying flags on their cars in solidarity with the victims of 9-11.
American anarchists went on to organize the People's Strike in 2002, which shut down downtown Washington, DC. We helped organize the anti-war protests on February 15 last year and our folks in San Francisco shut that city down when the war started. Many of us have even participated in ANSWER events. And I should also point out all the work being done by anarchists in local peace groups and anti-war coalitions.
So, contrary to what you say about "failure," anarchists and other activists have been very busy since 9-11. Now you know the rest of the story.
Chuck0
