Beer and Revolution is Back: Activism vs. Intervention with Crudo

by Jon Riley

Phoenix Class War Council's Beer and Revolution returns from a brief hiatus this Sunday. We are pleased to announce this month's installment of B&R will be hosted by our friend and comrade, Crudo, from the Modesto Anarcho Crew (MAC).

Our last B&R in September was a roundtable discussion on Borders & Movement, 30 people attended, including perspectives from CAROB (Central Arizona Radicals Opposing Borders) and the O'odham Solidarity Across Borders Collective. While we've been very busy, we are glad to know that anarchists and anti-authoritarians in the Valley enjoy participating in a political night, and we will try to continue scheduling a monthly night for speakers and discussion.

We find a lot of value in this event, especially as we look for fractures or fissures in our daily lives, and by making a traditionally non-political space (a bar) a temporary political space where liberatory ideas can be discussed openly. We hope projects like B&R inspire others to look for unconventional approaches to challenging the banality and misery of life in modern class society.

We also find inspiration in the projects of our insurrectional pals from California's central valley. The folks from MAC are busy as hell, giving it a go at building unconventional alliances amongst the discontented and marginalized, from hip hop shows against the recent gang injunctions, to supporting the efforts of the local needle exchange (a harm reduction effort for Modesto's poorer needle users that has seen it's members under attack by the police, please read more here), intervening in local struggles against education fee hikes and the nurses strike, publishing the quarterly Modesto Anarcho paper and Crudo's Vengeance journal and blog, and operating an impressive anarchist social center"Firehouse 51." With a higher poverty level than the rest of the state (which is itself a sinking ship these days), Modesto, and other Central Valley anarchists, have their work cut out for them.

Come out this Sunday for some delicious beers, or perhaps a soda or water for non-drinkers, and some great political discussion, critique, thought, and debate. We wouldn't have it any other way!

The November gathering of Beer & Revolution will once again be held this Sunday, November 8th at Boulders on Broadway in Tempe. The night begins at 8PM, and Crudo will begin his talk at 8:30, come out and have some tasty drinks, meet and mingle with other like minded people, and enjoy another great political social night. See you there!

Ward Churchill to Speak at Benefit for Traditional O’odham Resistance

Activist and scholar Ward Churchill will speak at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, 4831 W. 22nd Ave., on November 13, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. to benefit O’odham VOICE Against the Wall, which since 2003 has organized and advocated for the traditional O’odham leaders and elders of the O’odham communities in the southern territory of the United States and northern territory of Mexico.

Professor Churchill’s talk is part of the “Apartheid in America: Surviving Occupation in O’odham Lands” gathering, which features a concert by Resistant Culture, a punk rock/metal band from Southern California and Luke Romano, a radical folk musician based in Tucson. The event is dedicated to raising awareness of the connections between repressive border policies at home and abroad.

Ward Churchill is a prolific American Indian writer, a member of the Rainbow Coalition Council of Elders, and on the leadership council of the American Indian Movement of Colorado. In addition to his numerous works on indigenous history, he has written extensively on U.S. foreign policy and the repression of political dissent. Five of his more than 20 books have received human rights writing awards.

Former Chair of the Ethnic Studies Department, until July 2007 Ward Churchill was a tenured full Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Colorado/Boulder, where he received numerous awards for his teaching and service. In April 2009 a jury unanimously found that he had been fired by CU in retaliation for his observations on 9/11 and in violation of the First Amendment. Professor Churchill is currently litigating to have that verdict upheld.

Resistant Culture’s music is best described as tribal grind core -- weaving the indigenous flute, rattle, tribal drum, and chant into a backdrop of extreme punk and metal. Luke Romano's music has been described as acoustic, upbeat folky punk. The show will take place at Dry River, 740 N. Main (University and Main), November 13, at 10:00 p.m.

Both Professor Churchill’s talk and Resistant Culture’s concert will be broadcast live on Censored News Radio, and covered by its publisher, Brenda Norrell, who for almost 30 years has focused on Indian Country and the West.

Other sponsors of the event include the Dry River Radical Resource Center, the Earth First! Journal and Voices Against the Wall.

The event is open to the public. Donations of $10 to $20 are requested, but no one will be turned away. A delicious vegetarian meal will be served at 6:30 p.m.

Media Inquiries:
Ofelia Rivas, 520-349-5484, aliJegos@gmail.com
Dan Todd, 520-982-1835, langgore@hotmail.com
Additional Information: Solidarity Project; www.dryriver.org

Music:
Resistant Culture
Luke Romano