#we can be so caught up in the politics of being trans (usually as yr only minority group)

[butchlifeguard]

the she/theys vs he/theys and wlw vs mlm posts are symptoms of a larger problem within the queer community 👍

[academicchaos]

Call to Action Speech

How many of you are irritated that the electoral and popular votes don’t match up this year?

The American voting system as it has been created has stripped the American citizen of their actual voice. The electoral college decides the President of the United States, not the popular vote, a rule that has been present in the Constitution since the inception of this government. As a result, many people feel disenfranchised from the system and grow apathetic instead of finding ways to take other action. The issue is that government has infiltrated every aspect of our lives, including our bedrooms and bathrooms, and so it feels that in order to accomplish any task, one must act within the system in place.

However, the system in place does not always work for all members of society. The vast majority of those in control are straight, white, men. This American culture is born of genocide, rape, and slavery. More than that, as detailed by Toni Morrison for the New Yorker, American cultural identity is rooted in skin color and how one carries the ideology of whiteness. As fear of loss of control sets in, those in power act without fear of punishment as they persecute those who are different.

Government, laws, and legislation exist to criminalize the “other”.

Anarchy offers another solution. 

What exactly is Anarchy? Many people simply think of it as absolute chaos due to the lack of government. In actuality, Anarchy is a socio-political philosophy that, according to the Salem Press Encyclopedia, advocates for the abolition of coercive and controlling forms of government that put emphasis on private property in favor of a form of willful participation in society with a preservation of individual freedoms. Now, the issue often appears when people ask how Anarchy could possibly come into effect.

Change comes when direct action is taken.

Look to the failure of the legal system when four white police officers were acquitted of the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles in 1992. According to All Things Considered on NPR, this verdict was met with 5 days of a city on fire, over 50 people dead, and $1 billion in property damage.

Property damage usually catches the attention of those in power; in a capitalist government, money always talks. In the years following the riots, police chiefs were fired and the administration revamped. While LAPD brutality has decreased in the 20 years since these riots, there is still a failure of the system in that police brutality across the country is still rampant. 

The point here, is that rioting did enact change, but because it was still within the framework of organized government, the change was not able to penetrate the entirety of American culture.

And how could we expect it to? In response to the protests of Trump’s election, a journalist from Al-Jazeera News Network asks what it is the protesters hope to accomplish. “Do they imagine that any arm of government has the authority to quash the results and start over?” The general tone of her article is overwhelmingly condescending and I respond that, no, there is no functional limb of this flailing creature that we call our government, that can fix what it has birthed. And neither the right nor left arm is willing to relinquish power to the masses.

Too often has the left, in terms of our binary political spectrum, been in favor of non-violence as a method of resistance. Turning the other cheek does not work when the enemy stands with assault rifles, tear gas, and police batons. We’ve seen the current images of Ferguson and Baltimore bearing a disturbing resemblance to the Palestinian border. 

Historically, look to the Stonewall Riots of 1969, during which violence was an effective method of resistance for those far outside of the conservative value spectrum. For people who fall under the queer umbrella, Stonewall shifted the way in which gay men, lesbians, and trans people fought for the right to exist and be acknowledged as human beings. According to eyewitnesses who were in New York during the riots, including renowned feminist author Rita Mae Brown, the Stonewall Inn, a queer bar that allowed same-sex couples to dance together and didn’t count the number of “gender-appropriate” garments, was raided under the guise of busting the Mob. This ruse was revealed when police officers began to abuse lesbian patrons outside of the bar. The crowd turned on the police officers, who cowardly barricaded themselves within the bar. Back and forth, the fighting began to see who would win the fight for the bar, for the upper hand. This battle continued in the streets for 6 more days.

The beauty of the Stonewall Inn Riots is that they sparked action. That night in 1969 gave birth to coalitions such as the Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activist Alliance. Today gay marriage has been legalized and trans people are able to come out of the shadows. As stated in the Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide, the roots of LGBTQ actvisim and rights can be traced back to that fateful night which sparked civil and violent unrest.

This snapshot of history, is a prime example of how actions outside those sanctioned by the state, can shift public opinion, policy, and the general well-being of those who had formerly been deemed ill.

With the course of history seeming doomed to repeat itself, wolves in the hen house no longer disguising themselves, the question comes, what action can you take, will you take, when the time comes to defend yr right to live, to walk down to street without the state imposing its will upon yr very body?

A useful framework for how to take violent action and still remain ethically responsible can be found in the Harry Potter Series. Are most of y’all familiar with the premise that Voldemort and the Death-Eaters believe that pure-bloods are the only valid wizards and that everyone else must be eliminated and bow down to their demands? The Dark Lord and his followers share the attributes of Nazis and Fascists. When met with this challenge, Harry and his friends joined forces with the persecuted, the minorities, met in secret, spoke truth to power, and most importantly, as illustrated in the final battle, learned to protect themselves from deadly force. In the fashion of Dumbledore’s Army and the Order of the Phoenix, we must also ready ourselves for the battle that is not such a stretch of the imagination as white supremacists are now considered to be alt-right.

Looking again to Harry Potter, a wizard or witch would be caught literally dead without a wand. Harry and his allies never used the worst of the Dark Arts, but they learned how to repel those spells which would have killed them in an instant. Back in our dismal reality, those who rail against imaginary enemies trying to take their guns away, are willing to unload bullets, then cry that they were afraid for their lives from an unarmed Black teenager. The time has come for those who refuse to be oppressed, to take up arms in self-defense. If guns aren’t yr weapon of choice, look towards archery, sword work, and knife work. 

The very first step any of us can take is to get in shape. That can be as easy as working out in yr home. My favorite method: going hard with free weights to blasting music. If you do nothing else to understand the necessity of violent action as demonstrated in LA, in New York, re-read books 5 through 7 of JK Rowling’s harrowing series. Or watch the films. 

I ask you to prepare yrselves and to be willing to destroy what must be dusted away and remade in an image as motley as the crew of the world. 

Works Cited

Anonymous. "Haymarket Massacre." Terrorism: Essential Primary Sources, edited by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, Gale, 2006, pp. 9-11. Global Issues in Context, <cmclibraries.coloradomtn.edu/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3456600018/GIC?u=colo90289&xid=58ce8c11.>  Accessed 6 Dec. 2016.

Bauer, Edgar. "Edgar Bauer Promotes Anarchy." Terrorism: Essential Primary Sources, edited by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, Gale, 2006, pp. 4-7. Global Issues in Context, <cmclibraries.coloradomtn.edu/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3456600016/GIC?u=colo90289&xid=f56a2a8a.>  Accessed 7 Dec. 2016.

"Colleagues Recall L.A. Riots Unfolding Like 'A Movie'" NPR. Morning Edition, 13 Apr. 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2016. http://www.npr.org/2012/04/13/150509967/colleagues-recall-l-a-riots-unfolding-like-a-movie.

Kahn, Carrie. "After Riots, Scandal Sparked Reform in LAPD." NPR. All Things Considered, 25 Apr. 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2016. <www.npr.org/2012/04/25/151354376/after-riots-scandal-sparked-reform>.

Lasky, Jack. "Anarchy." Salem Press Encyclopedia (2016): Research Starters. Web. 6 Dec. 2016.

Picano, Felice. "The Remains Of The Night: Six Observers: Felice Picano Talks With Eyewitnesses To The Stonewall Riots." The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide 4 (2015): 29. Academic OneFile. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

"Riots rock America's democratic foundations." Gulf News [United Arab Emirates], 14 Nov. 2016. Global Issues in Context, <cmclibraries.coloradomtn.edu/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A470637235/GIC?u=colo90289&xid=90aa5ebd.> Accessed 7 Dec. 2016.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter Series. Vancouver: Raincoast, 1999. Print

TKEW // written 12.12.2016 // edited 08.14.2017