Red and Black Notes, alongside Garage Press and Distro, will be at the Incendium Radical Library zone fair next Sunday with a ra ge of stickers and zines. Come and say hi if you're about!
https://facebook.com/events/s/incendium-radical-library-and-/947386875970398/
https://facebook.com/events/s/incendium-radical-library-and-/947386875970398/
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Incendium Radical Library and Collective Zine Fair
Incedium Radical Library and Collective are excited to bring you our first zine fair!! A space to learn through stories and create networks of solidarity.
We are holding it this coming Sunday at the...
We are holding it this coming Sunday at the...
Lest we forget:
The soldiers, generations of the working class sent to their deaths in the name of imperialist war.
The victims of rape in all countries in all wars.
The refugees fleeing violence and persecution, only to be persecuted by our government.
The conscientious objectors and anti war activists who refuse to march to the drums of another rich man’s war.
The civilian victims who have died and are dying in all wars, and all who have suffered and hungered in the shadows of bloated military budgets.
The custodians of this land who have fought, and fight, and who survive.
“If blood be the price of all your wealth, good God we have paid our share.”
* * *
Zine available in print ready pdf format, image gallery, and plain text.
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/04/24/lest-we-forget/
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/04/24/lest-we-forget/
The soldiers, generations of the working class sent to their deaths in the name of imperialist war.
The victims of rape in all countries in all wars.
The refugees fleeing violence and persecution, only to be persecuted by our government.
The conscientious objectors and anti war activists who refuse to march to the drums of another rich man’s war.
The civilian victims who have died and are dying in all wars, and all who have suffered and hungered in the shadows of bloated military budgets.
The custodians of this land who have fought, and fight, and who survive.
“If blood be the price of all your wealth, good God we have paid our share.”
* * *
Zine available in print ready pdf format, image gallery, and plain text.
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/04/24/lest-we-forget/
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/04/24/lest-we-forget/
Red and Black Notes
Lest we forget…
“there was another kind of heroism besides that of the Anzacs — the heroism of men who were brave enough not to fight, who faced the full scorn of public opinion, and in many cases went to gaol bec…
New on the blog, article by the Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group:
"Anarchists and other activists in the United States should resist the calls to “put aside your petty differences and get behind the Democrats in November”. This is a recipe for disaster. "
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/06/30/secure-abortion-rights-with-direct-action-and-mutual-aid/
"Anarchists and other activists in the United States should resist the calls to “put aside your petty differences and get behind the Democrats in November”. This is a recipe for disaster. "
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/06/30/secure-abortion-rights-with-direct-action-and-mutual-aid/
Red and Black Notes
Secure abortion rights with direct action and mutual aid
First published in The Anvil: newsletter of the Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group, Vol 11, No 3. The US Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade (the decision that recognised the criminalis…
New on the blog, article by Tommy Lawson on Francesco Fantin
"Francesco Giovanni Fantin was an Italian anarchist who migrated to Australia in 1924. Less than twenty years later, in November 1942, he was murdered by a fellow detainee in Interment Camp 14A, Loveday, South Australia. Born in 1901 in the small town of San Vito in Northern Italy, Francesco Fantins life was exemplary of a number of migrant anarchists to Australia and their efforts to continue the anti-fascist and workers struggle abroad."
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/07/09/francesco-fantin-and-italian-anarchism-in-australia/
"Francesco Giovanni Fantin was an Italian anarchist who migrated to Australia in 1924. Less than twenty years later, in November 1942, he was murdered by a fellow detainee in Interment Camp 14A, Loveday, South Australia. Born in 1901 in the small town of San Vito in Northern Italy, Francesco Fantins life was exemplary of a number of migrant anarchists to Australia and their efforts to continue the anti-fascist and workers struggle abroad."
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/07/09/francesco-fantin-and-italian-anarchism-in-australia/
Red and Black Notes
Francesco Fantin and Italian anarchism in Australia
Francesco Giovanni Fantin was an Italian anarchist who migrated to Australia in 1924. Less than twenty years later, in November 1942, he was murdered by a fellow detainee in Interment Camp 14A, Lov…
New on the Blog, Matt Crossin tackles some of the nonsense that gets bundled up under the label "dual power"
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/07/18/anarchists-and-dual-power-situation-or-strategy/
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/07/18/anarchists-and-dual-power-situation-or-strategy/
Red and Black Notes
Anarchists and Dual Power: Situation or Strategy?
This is the first in a series of articles by Matt Crossin, ‘Critical Notes on Developments in the Anarchist Movement’. New articles in the series will be published in coming weeks. A st…
New on the blog, Tommy Lawson marks the 86th anniversary of the Spanish Revolution with a bit of forgotten history from the May Events
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/07/19/josep-rebull-the-poum-and-the-spanish-revolution/
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/07/19/josep-rebull-the-poum-and-the-spanish-revolution/
Red and Black Notes
Josep Rebull, the POUM and the Spanish Revolution
19th of July, 2022 marks 86 years since the Spanish Revolution. Every year that passes is a new chance to reflect upon the successes and failures of such a grand moment in history. When we study hi…
New on the blog, Matt Crossin tackles horizontalism
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/07/25/anarchists-and-neo-anarchists-horizontalism-and-autonomous-spaces/
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/07/25/anarchists-and-neo-anarchists-horizontalism-and-autonomous-spaces/
Red and Black Notes
Anarchists and Neo-anarchists: Horizontalism and Autonomous Spaces
This is the second in a series of articles by Matt Crossin, ‘Critical Notes on Developments in the Anarchist Movement’. New articles in the series will be published in coming weeks. It is not uncom…
New on the blog, Tommy Lawson on anarchist organisation.
Tommy writes:
"Last year I realised there was a lack of introductory literature on the basics of anarchist-communism; how our organisations function and the theories behind the way we organise. So I've attempted to write something that I hope comrades will find useful."
Hard copies will be available through Garage Press, PDF and plain text available on the website now.
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/07/30/foundational-concepts-of-the-specific-anarchist-organisation/
Tommy writes:
"Last year I realised there was a lack of introductory literature on the basics of anarchist-communism; how our organisations function and the theories behind the way we organise. So I've attempted to write something that I hope comrades will find useful."
Hard copies will be available through Garage Press, PDF and plain text available on the website now.
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/07/30/foundational-concepts-of-the-specific-anarchist-organisation/
Red and Black Notes
Foundational Concepts of the Specific Anarchist Organisation
Foundational Concepts of the Specific Anarchist Organisation is a new pamphlet by Tommy Lawson. In this pamphlet Lawson introduces the basic theoretical concepts that inform Anarchist-Communists an…
New on the blog, Matt Crossin tackles insurrectionism.
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/08/04/anarchists-and-insurrection-organisation-class-struggle-and-riots/
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/08/04/anarchists-and-insurrection-organisation-class-struggle-and-riots/
Red and Black Notes
Anarchists and Insurrection: Organisation, Class Struggle, and Riots
This is the third in a series of articles by Matt Crossin, ‘Critical Notes on Developments in the Anarchist Movement’. New articles in the series will be published in coming weeks. The ‘classical’ …
"There are some who now consider themselves anarchists who tell us, ‘Yes, anarchy is our goal, but we are nowhere near achieving it and have to think about winning desperately needed reforms. That means campaigning for politicians, even running for office ourselves, so that laws can be passed in the interest of the working class.’
There are several problems with this. "
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/08/13/anarchists-and-parliamentarianism-elections-and-social-change/
There are several problems with this. "
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/08/13/anarchists-and-parliamentarianism-elections-and-social-change/
Red and Black Notes
Anarchists and Parliamentarianism: Elections and Social Change
This is the final article in a series of articles by Matt Crossin, ‘Critical Notes on Developments in the Anarchist Movement’. [This article in other languages: Deutsch] There are some who now cons…
New on the blog: Tommy reviews Ted Reese's book on Grossman.
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/10/17/review-ted-reeses-the-end-of-capitalism-the-thought-of-henryk-grossman/
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/10/17/review-ted-reeses-the-end-of-capitalism-the-thought-of-henryk-grossman/
Red and Black Notes
REVIEW: Ted Reese’s ‘The End of Capitalism: The Thought of Henryk Grossman’
Ted Reese’s ‘The End of Capitalism: The Thought of Henryk Grossman’ sets out to introduce the ideas and life of Henryk Grossman, an important if somewhat little known Marxist economist. …
On 100 years of the IWA
"December 2022 marks the centenary of the International Workers Association (IWA). Founded by a range of ‘syndicalist’ unions as an alternative to the Communist International, the IWA once organised millions of workers. Syndicalist unions had been leading organisations in social revolts across Latin America and Europe. The Confederación Nacional Trabajadore (CNT) in particular was the leading organisation of the Spanish revolution where the limits of anarcho-syndicalism were put to the test.
Many material and political factors played into the rapid rise, and fall, of revolutionary syndicalism. Today, the IWA still exists, but is but a shell of its former self. The IWA and the history of syndicalism however remain important points of reference for the workers movement."
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/12/28/a-century-of-the-international-workers-association-iwa-1922-2022/
"December 2022 marks the centenary of the International Workers Association (IWA). Founded by a range of ‘syndicalist’ unions as an alternative to the Communist International, the IWA once organised millions of workers. Syndicalist unions had been leading organisations in social revolts across Latin America and Europe. The Confederación Nacional Trabajadore (CNT) in particular was the leading organisation of the Spanish revolution where the limits of anarcho-syndicalism were put to the test.
Many material and political factors played into the rapid rise, and fall, of revolutionary syndicalism. Today, the IWA still exists, but is but a shell of its former self. The IWA and the history of syndicalism however remain important points of reference for the workers movement."
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2022/12/28/a-century-of-the-international-workers-association-iwa-1922-2022/
Red and Black Notes
A Century of the International Workers Association (IWA) 1922-2022
“The myth of Nin or Durruti is of no use to us at all, whereas their shortcomings and mistakes are useful, because they teach us something. The myths of yesterday are the chains of today; to reveal…
Recent articles on Red and Black Notes
Anarcho-Syndicalism and Dual Organisation
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/02/07/anarcho-syndicalism-and-dual-organisation/
Some comments on a recent article regarding operaismo and “autonomism”
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/03/29/some-comments-on-a-recent-article-regarding-operaismo-and-autonomism-steve-wright/
In defence of paper sales
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/04/05/in-defence-of-paper-sales/
Iraq and afterwards — 20 years on
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/05/18/iraq-and-afterwards-20-years-on/
Anarcho-Syndicalism and Dual Organisation
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/02/07/anarcho-syndicalism-and-dual-organisation/
Some comments on a recent article regarding operaismo and “autonomism”
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/03/29/some-comments-on-a-recent-article-regarding-operaismo-and-autonomism-steve-wright/
In defence of paper sales
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/04/05/in-defence-of-paper-sales/
Iraq and afterwards — 20 years on
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/05/18/iraq-and-afterwards-20-years-on/
Red and Black Notes
Anarcho-Syndicalism and Dual Organisation
How should anarchists, concerned with rebuilding a fighting movement of the working class, organise today? As anarchists, we recognise that our fight against the bosses isn’t made through elections…
New article from the Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/07/16/ukraine-no-war-but-the-class-war/
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/07/16/ukraine-no-war-but-the-class-war/
Red and Black Notes
UKRAINE: No war but the class war
First published as ‘The Ukraine War’, in The Anvil Vol 12 No 3. After the fall of the USSR in 1991, Ukraine became independent. The United States promised Russia that NATO would not exp…
Responding to David Glanz of Solidarity (AU) on Spain and Anarchism.
And really, responding to the same lazy talking points that the descendants of the Socialist Workers Party (UK) have been trotting out for decades.
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/07/23/fictitious-splits-over-the-spanish-revolution/
And really, responding to the same lazy talking points that the descendants of the Socialist Workers Party (UK) have been trotting out for decades.
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/07/23/fictitious-splits-over-the-spanish-revolution/
Red and Black Notes
Fictitious splits over the Spanish Revolution
David Glanz, a member of the Trotskyist organisation Solidarity, recently gave a talk on the Spanish Revolution, offering it as evidence of the ‘failure of anarchism’. The talk is reasonably repres…
New stickers up at Garage Press: https://garagepressdistro.bigcartel.com/product/anti-transphobia-action-sticker-10pk
Garage Press and Distro
"Anti-Transphobia Action", sticker 10pk
"Anti-Transphobia Action" 60mm circle. Vinyl sticker, die cut. Standard order is a 10 pack of stickers. Use the options drop down to...
The Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group has issued the following statement on the situation in Palestine
https://melbacg.au/statement-on-gaza/
The Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group extends its solidarity to the Palestinian resistance against Israeli apartheid.
Contrary to statements made by Israel’s apologists, the attacks by Hamas militants in Southern Israel were not ‘unprovoked’. Palestinians have been provoked, ethnically cleansed, imprisoned, tortured, murdered, and subjected to daily humiliations for decades.
Where the attacks by Hamas (a thoroughly reactionary organisation) have targeted civilians, we totally reject them. The majority of the working class in Israel is certainly complicit in apartheid, and we don’t expect Jewish-worker solidarity with Palestinians to be a significant force in the near future. It remains the case, however, that such a development will ultimately be necessary, and that this is not encouraged by unjustifiable attacks on civilian Israeli workers. It is also important to recognise that the crimes of Hamas, though real, are merely a pale echo of Israel’s. The graveyards of Gaza overflow with the civilian victims of Israeli violence.
Armed resistance against the Israeli State, and the fascism it fosters, is another story. The people of Gaza — inhabitants of the world’s largest open air prison — have every right (whatever one thinks of the strategy) to break free of the hell the apartheid regime has imposed. Gazans are being poisoned by their water supply, economically strangled, and are subjected to routine bombardment. No war was launched by Hamas — war is the everyday reality for the Palestinian people.
The response by the far-right government in Israel will almost certainly be more savage than anything we have seen in the past two decades of ‘special operations’. There is a real danger of the military committing a monstrous act and presenting the world with a fait accompli .Moreover, the fascist movement in Israel increasingly speaks in terms of outright genocide — a final solution to the Palestinian problem.
To take their enormous courage and translate it into a defeat for the apartheid regime, the workers of Palestine have to act independently of their self-appointed leaders. The explosion of self-organisation and popular participation demonstrated in the First Intifada must be repeated.
Meanwhile, the workers of Israel must take up a position of No War But Class War. The settler colonial mentality, class collaboration, and fascism must be defeated. The apartheid State must collapse. Realistically, this will not occur without meaningful international working class solidarity. This will require struggle against the various dictatorships in the region, as well as a movement in the United States to end the vital support that sustains the status quo. Though the importance of Australia’s support for Israel isn’t comparable to that of the US, we must also have the same fight here.
The formation of a single binational State would not address the root causes of State conflict, racist nationalism, and exploitation. Only a movement of the entire class, united against bosses and politicians, both Arab and Jewish, can eliminate these poisons, and free every human being who currently resides Between the River and the Sea, in the land of Palestine.
DOWN WITH APARTHEID
NO WAR BUT CLASS WAR
https://melbacg.au/statement-on-gaza/
The Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group extends its solidarity to the Palestinian resistance against Israeli apartheid.
Contrary to statements made by Israel’s apologists, the attacks by Hamas militants in Southern Israel were not ‘unprovoked’. Palestinians have been provoked, ethnically cleansed, imprisoned, tortured, murdered, and subjected to daily humiliations for decades.
Where the attacks by Hamas (a thoroughly reactionary organisation) have targeted civilians, we totally reject them. The majority of the working class in Israel is certainly complicit in apartheid, and we don’t expect Jewish-worker solidarity with Palestinians to be a significant force in the near future. It remains the case, however, that such a development will ultimately be necessary, and that this is not encouraged by unjustifiable attacks on civilian Israeli workers. It is also important to recognise that the crimes of Hamas, though real, are merely a pale echo of Israel’s. The graveyards of Gaza overflow with the civilian victims of Israeli violence.
Armed resistance against the Israeli State, and the fascism it fosters, is another story. The people of Gaza — inhabitants of the world’s largest open air prison — have every right (whatever one thinks of the strategy) to break free of the hell the apartheid regime has imposed. Gazans are being poisoned by their water supply, economically strangled, and are subjected to routine bombardment. No war was launched by Hamas — war is the everyday reality for the Palestinian people.
The response by the far-right government in Israel will almost certainly be more savage than anything we have seen in the past two decades of ‘special operations’. There is a real danger of the military committing a monstrous act and presenting the world with a fait accompli .Moreover, the fascist movement in Israel increasingly speaks in terms of outright genocide — a final solution to the Palestinian problem.
To take their enormous courage and translate it into a defeat for the apartheid regime, the workers of Palestine have to act independently of their self-appointed leaders. The explosion of self-organisation and popular participation demonstrated in the First Intifada must be repeated.
Meanwhile, the workers of Israel must take up a position of No War But Class War. The settler colonial mentality, class collaboration, and fascism must be defeated. The apartheid State must collapse. Realistically, this will not occur without meaningful international working class solidarity. This will require struggle against the various dictatorships in the region, as well as a movement in the United States to end the vital support that sustains the status quo. Though the importance of Australia’s support for Israel isn’t comparable to that of the US, we must also have the same fight here.
The formation of a single binational State would not address the root causes of State conflict, racist nationalism, and exploitation. Only a movement of the entire class, united against bosses and politicians, both Arab and Jewish, can eliminate these poisons, and free every human being who currently resides Between the River and the Sea, in the land of Palestine.
DOWN WITH APARTHEID
NO WAR BUT CLASS WAR
New on the blog:
Juan Verala Luz reviews Anarchist Popular Power: Dissident Labor and Armed Struggle in Uruguay 1956-1976.
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/10/09/lessons-in-struggle-from-uruguayan-anarchists/
Juan Verala Luz reviews Anarchist Popular Power: Dissident Labor and Armed Struggle in Uruguay 1956-1976.
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/10/09/lessons-in-struggle-from-uruguayan-anarchists/
Red and Black Notes
Lessons in Struggle from Uruguayan Anarchists
Juan Verala Luz reviews Anarchist Popular Power: Dissident Labor and Armed Struggle in Uruguay 1956-1976. This review began as opening remarks at a recent book launch for Anarchist Popular Pow…
Also, Join Red & Black Notes and Troy Kokinis, author of Anarchist Popular Power: Dissident Labour and Armed Struggle in Uruguay,
on 22nd October at 3pm AEST for an online book talk!
Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83718001382#success
on 22nd October at 3pm AEST for an online book talk!
Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83718001382#success
Zoom Video
Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting
Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution…
New on the blog, "Palestine, platitudes and silence"
Tony Lawson speaks up on anarchists staying silent.
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/11/16/palestine-platitudes-and-silence/
Tony Lawson speaks up on anarchists staying silent.
https://www.redblacknotes.com/2023/11/16/palestine-platitudes-and-silence/
Red and Black Notes
Palestine, platitudes and silence
‘In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.’ Martin Luther King Jr. It is no secret that the history of Palestinian resistance is deeply intertw…