4/18/05

Wow, things have been crazy lately. Since March 19th we've been in communication with a new group in town called the Free People's Movement (http://www.freepeoplesmovement.org). They're a really great group of people with some very ambitious ideas. They're largely influenced by Che Guavera-type socialism, but also are dedicated to direct democracy and anti-authoritarianism. They have some fresh new ideas and we're totally looking forward to working with them in the future. In other news, we're currently looking into opening an infoshop, which is essentially a space for anti-authoritarian projects and events. We want a store front to operate out of, and we're pretty sure we could swing it, so, that's a very exciting idea. If you have any ideas let us know what's up. Furthermore, we're gonna be holding a benefit for David Segal in the somewhat near future. We just got an update from his support team, and we more or less have a green light to start raking it in for his legal defense. See below for more info. Let us know if that's something you're interested in helping out with. Finally, we're very much looking forward to the Outgrowing Capitalism gathering at the end of May that's being put together by our Food Not Bombs comrades. We'd like to do a workshop of some sort, probably just on anarchist organizing 101. That's always a good topic. Onward! m(A)tt

3/23/05
This past Saturday, the big state wide antiwar protest in Hartford was lovely. I want to share some thoughts on the organizing effort and the rally itself.
First off, the big, big plus to this demo was the outreach that was done. This was not just another "peace is patriotic" whites and stripes fest in the predomonantly people of color city of Hartford. Canvassing was huge, and I commend everybody who, unlike me, had no phobia of going door to door. I did it as a job once, and that was the last time I'll ever do it, personally.
I'm usually highly critical of peaceful, permitted protests, but that's probably because none of the ones I've been to before have been like this (except for the Poor People's March at the RNC). Big mobilizations like this are good for getting people activated and into the streets, and more importantly, into the meetings (which until now have been whiter than the weather has been lately). Now, I probably would have opted to organizing a series of direct action trainings, rather than having one big protest like 3/19, but that's me, and I still hope to do that. Which was the right course of action? For now, I don't know. But it was a great course, nonetheless. But regardless, I still think that our next move should NOT be to have more protests like this. I think we should take the energy and power that was stirred up in the lead-up to the protest to really give people a creative and powerful outlet for their passion. Direct action trainings are a must, and I'm working on it. But it would be a lot easier if more people were on board with this. Lord knows I'm not great at coordinating things, so this is gonna take longer since I'm the one doing it. But enough bitching.
I for one recognize the importance for safety at demonstrations such as this. However, if the protest wasn't such a great one as it was, with diversity, democratic organizing and excitement, you can bet I wouldn't have had any problem doing direct action. At boring ANSWER demos with oppressive marshals every five feet, and no one present who's not privileged enough to bail themselves out, they're practically begging you to pull something fun and militant.
This was a permitted protest done right. It was diverse, well promoted, openly and inclusively organized, and the marshals promised to behave themselves, which is not the norm elsewhere in the US. As one comrade put it recently, they sometimes treat protesters worse than cops.
I think the counter-recruitment effort has been fantastic, though I think Bush is doing a lot of the work for our movement. For the second month in a row, recruitment goals have not been met (hurrah!). Nonetheless, I think if this initiative grows and thrives, we can seriously put a dent into the war machine (and prepare for the draft), not to mention increase the youth participation within the general movement.
Finally, it's also important to remember that counter-recruitment, street protests, and direct action are but three corner-stones on the foundation of a quadrilateral structure (wow, I remembered something from high school math). The fourth is organizing bases of resistance that are militant, democratic and revolutionary that address bread and butter issues, as well as far-off issues like the war and colonialism. These bases are on the one hand probably the most potent anti-war forces we could ever hope for, but they would also ensure a long-lasting movement for peace, justice and an alternative to both the Evil Empire and the Rotten Republic.
The CLASH Collective is working for such a movement locally to work with the movement globally to change the world without taking power. We envision a whole local movement of Wobblies (http://iww.org), tenants unions, neighborhood assemblies, tons of alternative media (including a bigger and better IMC/Undercurrent), and of course tons of affinity groups to turn up the heat, just to name a few manifestations. The list can (and must! AND DOES!!!) go on and on.
These are our humble goals, and we're not some kind of vanguard handing down mandates for all you little worker bees to fulfill. We want dialogue, and this is our contribution to it.

For a world without Presidents!
m(A)tt, CLASH

3/16/05
Another wonderful meeting tonight. Good amount accomplished, and happy to say we had two more new great people tonight (and not cops!).
So, we decided on a banner for 3/19, some content/artwork for the zine, and we consensed to endorse the Peoples' Global Action Hallmarks (see the About page). But mostly we just hung out and talked. It's good to talk among comrades when you don't have much of an opportunity to on a regular basis.
We also talked a little bit about some future projects like perhaps organizing the homeless or having a summer North East Mutual Aid gathering(see http://clevelandfoodnotbombs.org/nema for more info).
It's nice to have a collective - something to call our own.
Love and Solidarity,
m(A)tt, CLASH Collective

3/3/05
Howdy comrades,
We met again yesterday evening, three regulars and one new person who looked us up on the Anarchist Yellow Pages - I love that site. We managed to share some ideas as I pushed the meeting through 6 fairly big agenda items in one hour. For anyone who's been a regular at lefty meetings, you know that's tough. But the cafe closes at 6 pm, and Luis, one of the owners, is way too nice to kick us out. So out of consideration, we managed to only go over by about 20 minutes.

All that aside, we set a date to go out and gather up all those abandoned newspaper boxes that litter the sidewalks, decided on a basic design, and tossed around some ideas for the zine content. Our first issue will be out by the March 19th antiwar protest. Check http://ctunitedforpeace.org for more info on that. We talked a bit about what kind of banner we want for that day, but we'll decide for sure when we go and make it with Latinos Against the War on Saturday. Get in touch if you want more info on that.

We also decided on a membership policy. Basically, if you come to 4 consecutive meetings (which is over a period of 2 months) the person is elibible for having consensus (voting) privileges. If there are no objections from pre-existing members, the person is in.

- Matt, CLASH Collective

2/21/05
So, our shady little group of assorted radicals met
last week and made some pretty (uncharachteristically)
important decisions about our direction and such.

First and foremost, we decided to meet regularly EVERY
OTHER wednesday, beginning March 2nd, from 5-6 pm
(PLEASE be punctual, the place closes @ 6), at La
Paloma Sabanera in Hartford on the corner of Capitol
Ave and Babcock.

Second, we've decided to focus on agitational and
educational propaganda in the form of a new
[maga]zine, and distribute it not only in local
establishments and events, but also to begin
systematically refurbishing and utilizing the many
abandoned newspaper boxes around the Hartford area. We
appreciate anybody's help in this effort who can
either give us a call and tell us where abandoned
boxes are located, or even pick them up yourself and
bring them to us. Specifically, we're looking for the
large, yellow "Employment" boxes with one large
compartment on the bottom (which we can use for other
alternative literature/publications) and two smaller
compartments on the top, which we will use for our new
zine, as well as other pamphlets we decide to
distribute.

Our new zine will include national and international
news on revolutionary and/or anti-authoritarian
struggles, opinion, and updates/contact info on
Creating Local Autonomy and Solidarity in Hartford
(CLASH Collective).

11/21/04
Had our first successful meeting in a long time yesterday at the CT United for Peace (http://CTUnitedforpeace.org) conference at CCSU. We had a meet-up that was open to all, and we had some new people come and talk to us. We scheduled out next meeting time, which will be at La Paloma Sabanera, cafe and bookstore at 405 Capitol Avenue (on the corner of Babcock St & Capitol), at 12 PM Saturday the 27th of November.
10/15/04
Just updated the links section, made the front page a little bit prettier. Rock.
10/14/04
So, just put this site up, hopefully you're one of many visitors, and you find our work and ideas interesting and useful. Get in touch with us for meeting times, resources, conversation, etc. We're here as a public service to disseminate information, and if requested, help out where we can.