2018 Workshops – 2023 NYC Anarchist Book Fair

2018 Workshops

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11:00am-12:00pm

#PopUp: Self-defense Workshop (Gym)
Palm Heels for the people! Don’t get that joke? No worries! Come by this FREE Pop Up workshop to learn some introductory skills that will keep you feeling safe. We’ll be covering the basics: stretching, conditioning, technique, and theory, with the hope that participants will leave with some super useful foundations that will aid them in the day-to-day. Mix that in with some sweat and some movement, and you’ll have an accessible and confidence-boosting good time for all. Whether you are a beginner, or someone with experience, come work it out with us!
#POPGym is a new project, working towards opening a physical space in Brooklyn that offers free self-defense, fitness, and skill share classes 7 days a week. As we continue planning, we invite you to come by any of our events this summer! For any questions, comments, or inquiries for future workshops for you or your organizations, email us at #popup

Militant Strategy Workshop (Garden Room)
Talk/panel/discussion. “Let’s change the world. I’d like to change the world. I think many of us would like to change the world. As Anarchists we would like to end Capitalism, end authoritative government, and build a fairer society. But can we make real progress toward achieving these objectives? How? Is it possible? Should we even try? Will throwing newspaper boxes into the street or breaking windows accomplish those goals? Not likely. Unless our energies are focused through a well thought-out strategy they will scatter and diffuse—and accomplish nothing. This workshop will examine the nature of strategy. We will examine how some Anarchists fall into strategies that do not help further the goals of Anarchism, we will also explore how Anarchists can develop successful strategies.” Presenter bios: Walter has been thinking about “revolutionary” strategy since the Vietnam era, when he was a teenager. Years later, he organized many of the early demos against the Iraq invasion. Walter has been involved with the Anarchist Book Fair since its inception, as a working group of NYMAA. Johnathan Lerner dropped out of Antioch College and became a full-time activist on the staff of Students for a Democratic Society, the principal organization of the New Left. He was a founding member of the militant Weatherman faction, which took over SDS in 1969, and editor of its newspaper, Fire! Lerner remained a member of the Weather Underground while it carried out a campaign of bombings and until its demise, in 1976.

12:10pm-1:10pm

Immigration and Mutual Aid, Coalitions, and Strategies (Gym)
Benjamin Shepard, of CUNY, will moderate the panel. Presenters: Rise and Resist (Judson Memorial Church) and New York Immigration Coalition. The New Sanctuary Coalition has been organizing mutual efforts; the National Immigration Law Center brought lawsuits over the Muslim Ban and DACA; and Rise and Resist is unrolling an education pressure campaign to abolish ICE. Come hear organizers these groups discuss strategies for addressing the attacks on immigrants coming from far and wide. Look at what these groups are doing and what kinds of challenges they face. Tim Lunceford and Donna Gould of the Rise and Resist Immigration Working Group; Geoff Kagan Trenchard, Anti Violence Project and New Sanctuary Legal Clinic; Jackie Vimo the National Immigration Law Center, a national organization.

Spontaneous Combustion: The Eros Effect and Global Revolution (Garden Room)
Spontaneous Combustion book launch and discussion with editor AK Thompson. Why, at given historical moments, do rebellions erupt simultaneously around the world? Drawing on the insights of Herbert Marcuse, George Katsiaficas claimed that such eruptions were manifestations of “the eros effect.” By emphasizing the erotic dimensions of global revolt in this way, Katsiaficas foregrounded the importance of spontaneity, joy, and interrelation to the process of revolutionary transformation. In the new edited collection Spontaneous Combustion, contributors explore the promise of the eros effect through elaborations, case studies, and critical rejoinders. Join editor AK Thompson to discuss the possibilities of Spontaneous Combustion and the erotic dimensions of global revolt.

Pinkwashed Anarchy? (Child Care Room)
Mirna Haider, CUNY law student affiliated with TARAB and Indeira, will lead a workshop on Pinkwashing, a tactic used in Israel and the West to “claim its forwardness while using LGBTQ Arabs and Muslim Arabs to work within their oppressive structural systems of occupation, militarization, and spying on their community members.”

1:20pm-2:20pm

Solidarity with the Syrian Revolution (Gym)
Panelists: Bill Weinberg, writer and radio host with interests in solidarity struggles; Amina A, writer, from Syria Solidarity NYC and Shiyam Galyon from Books Not Bombs. Eclipsed from the headlines by ruthless armed actors, the secular progressive civil opposition that started the Syrian Revolution in 2011 continues to exist. In some areas of Syria, it continues to be the real power on the ground, in self-governing municipalities run on an anarchist-influenced model of council-based popular democracy. In opposing imperialist designs on Syria (U.S. and Russian alike), our first responsibility is to build vigorous solidarity with this civil opposition.

The Guerrilla Struggle and the Rojava Revolution (Garden Room)
The democratic confederalist project of Rojava has presented a new revolutionary paradigm based on council based organization and feminism. What has become the largest non-state revolution, incorporating 4.5 million people, began as a guerrilla movement, inaugurated in a small village in Turkey by a handful of revolutionaries. This year we witnessed the valiant defense of Afrin’s egalitarian life as thousands of revolutionaries took up arms against Turkey’s invasion. The YPG/YPJ has now shifted their strategy to a clandestine guerrilla operation against the Turkish occupiers. This is not a new technique for these forces. The history behind the success of the Rojava Revolution began 40 years ago as a guerrilla struggle. In this workshop, we will talk about the origins of this struggle, how these forces positioned themselves prior to the Arab spring, the ideological shift behind the revolution, and how these forces became the robust organization that have defeated ISIS and today protect the communal life of millions. This workshop is presented with respect to all those who have given their lives over the years, and a special acknowledgement for the martyrs of Afrin.

Cybersecurity Workshop (Office)
Let’s talk security! It can be so hard, but join the folx at the Cypurr Collective (a cybersecurity education group) for a workshop on how to talk about Threat Modeling, safety and security with your group or community! This will be an activist geared and interactive presentation, featuring discussions, games and maybe a couple cat memes. Get your OpSec up with the CyPurr Collective!

Freeganisim in New York City: Philosophy and Practice (Child Care Room)
Talk/panel/skillshare presenters: NYC Freegans Janet Kalish, Frederick Phillips, Wei Tang and our David Emanuel will encourage and show participants how to thrive on and share the bounty. They will discuss the theory and practice of modern freeganism including strategies and tactics for engaging the world as much as possible without using money (e.g. dumpster diving, guerrilla gardening, composting, recycling, reusing, repurposing, mutual aid, intentional community, free markets, right to repair, DIY, sharing, etc.). Freeganism is about creating community and empowering each other to deprogram ourselves so we can resist the cults of personality, corporations, consumerism, growth and hierarchy. The best way to do this is to reach out to as many people as possible to strengthen existing relationships while forging new ones.

2:30pm-3:30pm

Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement: The Struggle Ahead (Gym)
The RAM project, now about one year in, is a project committed to the abolition of prisons and slavery while situated in the anarchist context of abolition of the state and capital. The project has made a lot of strides. In this workshop we will discuss the growth of RAM as a political organization, the projects that are functioning, and the projects that are coming. We will also talk about abolitionist organizing nationally and the struggle ahead.

Body Politics: Invisible Disability, Pain, and Gender (Garden Room)
This panel deals with the body, invisibility, gender, the cyborg, debility and pain, through a feminist and queer gaze. Calling for creating avenues of empathy and inclusion. In this technocapitalist era, when human value is measured by its relative utility in the globalized consumer culture, certain disabled people have become invisible and excluded from accessibility in mainstream society as well as in the activist radical realm. Not all disabilities are visible: “You don’t look sick” is an ableist perception, which we have to struggle against. Debilitating pain, fatigue and loss of functionality can leave sick people isolated. “75 percent of patients with autoimmune diseases are women and in some diseases is as high as 90 percent. Since the 1950s, rates of autoimmune diseases have doubled or tripled, and like the hysteria of olden days has everything to do with gender and of whose stories we believe.” What can we do to build solidarity networks so we can support each other working towards inclusion, destroying the notion of human worth tied to productivity? “Inclusion becomes meaningful only if disability is recognized as providing modes of living that are alternatives to governing norms of productivity.” How can noncapitalist bodies, pain, and functional disability create a new identity, instead of remaining hidden? Panelists includes Elektra KB, a Latina multidisciplinary conceptual artist, activist, and academic; Cyree Jarelle Johnson, a poet, writer, and editor; and Angie Woody, the director of Overdose Prevention at New York Harm Reduction Educators and Washington Heights Corner Project.

New York Action Medical Discussion and Workshop (Office)
New York Action Medical is an organization of street medics based in New York City. We provide first aid and medical support for actions, as well as trainings so that people and groups can autonomously provide their own care. We would like to let people know who we are, what we are available to do, and how people can reach us. We can also teach short workshops on different kinds of protest health and safety issues. Scheduled panelists are Miriam Rocek, Elliot Anderson, Melani Ortega, and perhaps others. https://www.facebook.com/NYCactionmedical/

Jewish Anarchist History (Child Care Room)
L who works with Lower Manhattan Food Not Bombs, writes a blog and zines with particular interest in the history of anarchism. Throughout history, Jewish people have been demonized by both sides of the political spectrum. By both the right and left we have been picked out as a common target. There are also misconceptions that all Jewish people support Israel’s actions, and I would like to give a brief history of anti-Zionist actions by Jews. Also, many prominent Anarchists (and other leftists) have been Jewish including: Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman, Kafka, and more. Talk/panel.

3:40pm-4:40pm

Shaping Family Through a Trans and Nonbinary Perspective: An Exploration (Gym)
Being trans/non-binary isn’t necessarily synonym with breaking the norm. Many trans and nonbinary folks navigate the world in ways that can uphold patriarchal, heteronormative family settings. In this workshop/group discussion, we will explore some of the ways in which trans and nonbinary folks can disrupt traditional configurations of family. This workshop will explore the themes of chosen family, polyamory, communal living, decolonial identity, animality, etc, which are ways in which we can challenge capitalism and white supremacy. In other words, values and practices that align with anarchism.

The New York City Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW): Lessons from Ongoing Campaigns (Garden Room)
The NYC branch of the IWW has three ongoing organizing campaigns: at bakeries, restaurants, and prisons. All three involve different kinds of workers, employ different organizing techniques, and have seen different levels of success. This diversity has taught us a number of lessons, which we think could aid other organizing efforts throughout New York. We would like to share these lessons through a panel staffed primarily by the workers in their respective struggles or, in cases where those workers are not at liberty to attend, by IWW delegates on their behalf. Ten-minute descriptions of the IWW and each campaign would be followed by questions from the audience. Not only are all of the organizations and campaigns based in New York, but they are organized horizontally, with the workers themselves directing the course of their struggles. Just a few of the topics that the panel will touch on are: anarchist history, prisoner support, active solidarity, immigrant justice, and strategies for pushing forward a radical agenda in mainstream politics.

A Presentation of the New Greek/U.S. Imprint DIPLI (Office)
ΔΙΠΛΗ [DIPLI] is a Common Notions imprint on social cannibalism. ΔΙΠΛΗ [DIPLI (/dip’li/): literally: double (from Greek)]: The double telephone line is the way prisoners from different prisons communicate. Two to five prisoners from different prisons call the same telephone number at an arranged time. The owner of that telephone number, living outside prison, connects them together. Social cannibalism is the situation in which people, individually or in small groups, oppress and exploit others in their immediate social environment and within the limits of their daily action. The most powerful ones attack directly the weakest with any manifestation of domination, authority or influence; the lowest level of individualism and of a fragmented society. To publish on social cannibalism is to account for both the previous cycle of struggle in Greece—the defeat of the anti-memorandum mobilizations (2010/12)—and the global capitalist restructuring today. Talk.

Birds Are Anarchists: Complex Systems of Decentralization (Child Care Room)
Dr. Jesus Marugán-Lobón is an anarchist and a paleobiologist from the Universidad autónoma, Madrid. From the early nineties of the past century there has been a growing fascination with complex systems, and ideas about decentralization and self-organization have spread through culture across almost all the domains of life. Today, more and more people are using decentralized models to understand the world, because almost everywhere you look, there is decentralization; organization without organizers. Paradoxically, however, even as the influence of decentralized ideas keep growing, the fact is that, ultimately, there is a deep-seated resistance to accept such ideas. Namely, when people see complex systems behavior and organization, of whatever the sort, the tendency always is to interpret (and assume) that there is centralized control, an orchestrating leader that, in fact, gives organization a purpose. Simulations of birds flocking will be used as a metaphor to show what these notions of decentralization and emergent order mean, and why we think that they are important to see the world from a different perspective.

4:50pm-5:50pm

Antifa: Winning the War Against the Alt-Right (Gym)
Empowered by Donald Trump’s rise, the spread of the deadly fascist alt-right has been one of the biggest national stories of the Trump era. Antifa raised almost as much controversy with its assertive, militant response. A year and a half later, however, it’s clear that Antifa’s tactics worked and that it’s played a key role in countering the racist, xenophobic, queer-baiting new fascists. But the fight is not over. What are the tools of success? What works and what doesn’t? Three panelists explain: Daryle Lamont Jenkins, of the Philadelphia-based anti-white-supremacist group One People’s Project; Sage, an anti-fascist organizer in NYC, etc.; and Ash J., a journalist and Brooklyn native who live-tweets protests from @AshAgony!

The ABCs of Squatting (Garden Room)
Workshop presenters: Frank Morales, political activist, and Bill Di Paola from Time’s Up and the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space would like an hour and a half for a workshop and PowerPoint slideshow. Housing advocates will share skills and insight in to squatting. The one-and-a-half hour session will include a slide presentation and Q&A on tools, building systems and the nuts and bolts of squatting. “The ABCs of Squatting” ties in to the of themes of the anarchist book fair by addressing people’s need for community related low cost housing through DIY ideology.

Emotions Armed: Building Resiliency to Trauma in Radicals and the Anarchist Community (Office)
The Jane Addams Collective—an anarchist mental health collective comprising professional mental health workers, peers and activists—presents workshops on radical alternatives to traditional therapy.

Neighborhood Organizing for Popular Power: From Brazil to NYC. Drawing Connections and Learning Lessons (Child Care Room)
Panel from Black Rose/Rosa Negra. Presenters: Michael Forest, from Black Rose and Queens Anti-Gentrification Project; Kaique Pimentel, active militant in MOB, former militant MPL; Hugo Souza, COMPA militant on leave, formerly active in MPL and MOB. In recent years anarchists, socialists and other activists have been looking toward local neighborhood organizing via the creation of neighborhood assemblies, rapid response networks, cop watches, and tenants unions, among others. Each of these activities, in isolation, can certainly have a powerful effect in winning demands and providing defense for poor and working class people, particularly people of color. When there becomes an organized effort, however, to implement a series of neighborhood programs, and these programs are rooted in the everyday lives of the community members, the prospect of popular power becomes tangible. In the United States it is difficult to imaging what popular power looks and feels like since so much of our work and strategy is consumed or derailed by the non-profit industrial complex or opportunist politicians. There is hope, though, in looking towards other parts of the globe, that we can and should fight, not just in the workplace, but in our neighborhood, where we eat and sleep, for popular democratic control over what occurs there.

6:00pm-7:00pm

As Black as Resistance (Gym)
A book talk. Presenters: Zoé Samudzi and William C. Anderson, are co-authors of the book As Black as Resistance: Finding the Conditions for Liberation (AK Press, 2018) and the Roar article “The Anarchism of Blackness.” The authors make the case for a new program of self-defense and transformative politics for Black Americans, one rooted in an anarchistic framework that the authors liken to the Black experience itself. This book argues against compromise and negotiation with intolerance. It is a manifesto for everyone who is ready to continue progressing toward liberation. It will be released June 5, 2018 by AK Press.

Transversal Disruption Organizing for #DCShutdownNov (Office)
Community Events Strategist; Zen Alejandro will Present a Talk, Workshop / Q&A in English & Spanglish. He is here in Solidarity to Amplify Transversal Disruption within Several Industries in Alignment with the Upcoming Non Violent Direct Action #DCShutdownNov—A Proposed Solutions Override for the Trump Military Parade. We are Celebrating 100 Years Since the End of World War One. Anarchists around the Planet have the Ability & Experience to Divert Impending Chaos while Catalyzing Co-Evolution within Robotic Autonomization. Space-Edge Culture has the Vision of Fostering IntraPlanetary Habitation LifeStyles to properly acquire Lunar/Martian resources essential for Future Earth Wellness. 929-288-6999 ()