What's this channel for?

1. In the public channel, semi regular updates on news and upcoming events. The kinds of stuff I already post to the Facebook page and Twitter account.

2. The public discussion group is intended as somewhere newbies can post, ask questions, etc.

3. If/when there is interest, we could setup an invite only channel and private discussion group with access restricted to a vouch system.

Why a Telegram Channel?

1. At some point or another Facebook/Twitter/Google will kick all the anarchists and we'll be sitting around moaning that "maybe we shouldn't have relied on a set of platforms owned by a single massive corporation for all our comms!".

2. Some people actually have Telegram. I've setup RedBlackNotes accounts on platforms like Mastodon and Jami, but precious few people use them.

3. If state pressure forces us off Facebook etc, you can bet Discord and Slack will quickly follow suite. Telegram proudly hosts all sorts of reprehensible garbage 🙄.

Subscribe to the channel for announcements, updates, and new blog posts.

For all discussion, comments, questions, queries and objections: https://t.me/redblacknoteschat

I've submitted two workshop proposals to this years Students of Sustainability conference (Sydney, 12-17 Jan).

Blurbs as submitted:

Anarchism 101
This is a workshop on anarchism, what is wrong with the world, what a just world might look like, and how we can win it.

Anarchists are for a world without rulers and bosses of all sorts. We fight against the oppressive systems that are destroying the earth, and for a world in which the mass of people currently oppressed by capitalism take control and plan production to fulfill human need rather than private profit. We hope you will join us.

Anarchism 201: There is no parliamentary road to climate justice
This is a workshop about revolution, reformism, anarchism, and the climate crisis.

Why do anarchists reject parliamentary politics and instead call for revolution? What do anarchists mean by direct action? How do anarchists relate to the struggle for reforms today? Could Bernie Sanders (and like social-democrats) deliver action on climate? What does this all mean in the context of the climate crisis?

In this workshop we will discuss what it will take to achieve the fundamental changes in the social, political and economic organisation of society that we will need to address the climate crisis, and how we might avoid some of the pitfalls of the past.


If you are interested, head along to Students of Sustainability. Details about the conference at http://www.studentsofsustainability.org/

Important developments for anarchist organisation in Latin America

"After a series of meetings and instances, anarchist political organizations in Latin America have decided to relaunch the Latin American Anarchist Coordination (CALA)"

CALA will bring together anarchist-communist of the especifismo tradition. Anarchists in Australia could learn a lot from their examples.

https://anarkismo.net/article/31686

Anarchist spam from Kieran. You were added because you had Telegram and I had your number. Yes, I am utterly shameless. Love you all, Kieran.

New article by me: There is no parliamentary road to climate justice

Was written as an introduction to anarchism for people new to the climate movement. Discusses reformism, revolution, anarchism and the climate crisis.

Keen for all comments, feedback and questions!

http://www.redblacknotes.com/2020/01/27/there-is-no-parliamentary-road-to-climate-justice/

New article: Interpreting Marx’s Theory of the State and Opposition to Anarchism

http://www.redblacknotes.com/2020/04/21/interpreting-marxs-theory-of-the-state-and-opposition-to-anarchism/

New article: On the gendered impact of the COVID19 lockdown http://www.redblacknotes.com/2020/04/29/on-the-gendered-impact-of-the-covid19-lockdown/

New article: What do anarchists mean by federalism?
http://www.redblacknotes.com/2020/07/01/what-do-anarchists-mean-by-federalism/

New article: Anarchy in the Ukraine
http://www.redblacknotes.com/2020/07/16/anarchy-in-the-ukraine/

New article: Abraham Guillén, Between Bakunin and Marx: Anarchism, Socialism, and the Economics of Self-Management
http://www.redblacknotes.com/2020/08/10/abraham-guillen-between-bakunin-and-marx-anarchism-socialism-and-the-economics-of-self-management/

New article: Facebook announce crackdown against anarchists
http://www.redblacknotes.com/2020/08/20/facebook-announce-crackdown-against-anarchists/

OTD, 21 August, 1933, Goliardo Fiaschi was born in Carrara, Italy. A quarry labourer, Fiaschi joined the Italian resistance during WW2 aged just 13. After the war he became deeply involved in the Spanish resistance movement, suffering torture and two decades in prison for his role in the anti-fascist struggle.

You can read more on anarchist involvement in the Italian partisan resistance here:
https://libcom.org/history/red-years-black-years-anarchist-resistance-fascism-italy

OTD, 22 August, 1949, Ivan Morales Generalli was born in Bella Union, Uruguay. A humble worker, Generalli was a member of the Anarchist Federation of Uruguay. He would be martyred during the struggle against the dictatorship in 1974.

You can read more about the FAU here:
https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/n02wnq

You can read our introduction to Abraham Guillen, a theorist of anarchism connected to the FAU here: http://www.redblacknotes.com/2020/08/10/abraham-guillen-between-bakunin-and-marx-anarchism-socialism-and-the-economics-of-self-management/

You can read about the Trelew massacre here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19952796

OTD, 23 August in 1927, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed by the electric chair in Charlestown State Prison, Massachusetts. Sacco and Vanzetti were Italian migrants and anarchists, falsely accused of murder during a robbery they did not commit. Despite one of the largest solidarity campaigns in world history, the men were nonetheless executed simply for their conviction as anarchists.

Read Howard Zinns beautiful essay on Sacco and Vanzetti here:
https://libcom.org/history/sacco-vanzetti-howard-zinn

#OTD 25 August, 1918 the First Pan-Russian Conference of Anarcho-Syndicalists was held in Moscow, Russia.
More info and links: https://mastodon.social/web/statuses/104749013642290071

On this day, 28 August 1882, the Mexican anarchist, poet, journalist and insurgent Práxedis Guerrero was born, near León, Guanajuato.

Was a key activist of the Mexican Liberal Party post it's re-organisation by the anarchist-communist Ricardo Flores Magón.

After Magón's gaoling in 1907, Guerrero coordinated PLM activity up to and into the start of the Mexican Revolution.

Guerrero was killed leading a band of insurgents against the dictatorship in December 1910.

Introduction to a book by AK Press on Guerrero here: https://intlibecosoc.wordpress.com/archived-articles/i-am-action-praxedis-guerrero-1882-1910/

"Only the Chinese workers have the ability to defeat the “Communist” Party – and only they have the right to say what succeeds them."

https://www.redblacknotes.com/2020/09/01/no-war-on-china/

On this day, the 2nd of September, in 1872, the fifth congress of the International Workingmen’s Association began in the Hague, the Netherlands. This congress would mark the apex of the factional fighting between the centralists, who favoured a hierarchical International, and the libertarians, who favoured a federalist International.

Marx and the centralists successfully gerrymandered a majority and expelled Bakunin, Guillaume and the federalists, and thus marking the formal break between anarchism and Marxism.

Rest in Power David Graber, 1961-2020
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2020/09/04/david-graeber-1961-2020/