3/20 was not about winning hearts and minds - it was to inspire people here and worldwide

This week is a critical time in our movement, and
I wanted to offer a little historical context.. Such a discussion seems especially important in the current atmosphere, where activists are analyzing our goals, our tactics, and our overall strategy.

Two central points I want to make here:

One is that it is virtually unprecedented for a decentralized group to successfully stage a nonviolent shutdown such as what happened in the SF Financial District on Thursday, March 20.

The other is that a shutdown action is not designed
to win the hearts and minds of the uncommitted or even to some of our allied- no, no no! It is not a missed opportunity to do outreach, as the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle would have one believe. Such an action is designed to "lead by example" - it is a prefigurative action of the revolution that we hope to see in our lifetimes or that of our children. The purpose of such an action is far more than just protest the immediate outrage - rather, the purpose is to inspire movement activists here and around the world and to let the rulers know that they are vulnerable - that their grip on power is in jeopardy..

THE DECENTRALIZED SHUTDOWN STRATEGY

The decentralized shutdown strategy used in SF on 3/20 is an incredibly powerful tool. I don't think most people realize the importance of what was created on
that day.

To my knowledge, the only previous time in US history that affinity groups and clusters have successfully used this strategy to shutdown a significant geographical area -- rather than just a single building - for a prolonged period of time is at the WTO meeting in Seattle on November 30, 1999.

Furthermore, the only other times that I am aware of that this strategy has even been attempted is the Mayday actions in DC in 1971 (13,000 arrests, but
unsuccessful in shutting down DC), the 1972 Miami Republican Convention (1000 arrests, unsuccessful in shutting down the convention), the DC IMF
meeting in April, 2000, and the DC People's Strike action in September, 2002.

Affinity groups first came into their own in the US in the latter part of the Vietnam War, but the antiwar movement never fully embraced them. Their only contribution on the national scene happened in DC in 1971, after some terrible movement in-fighting in the aftermath of the Kent State shootings in May, 1970 which led to radicals and pacifists in the movement revolting against the then-prevalent notion that actions designed by central committee and that mass nonviolent direct action was a losing strategy. (In 1969 and 1970, the most popular actions were either peaceful and legal or violence-prone).

The strategy requires small groups to take responsibility for specific intersections, and then to be able to hold the area - and, often, to maintain a certain "tone" in that zone to encourage like-minded
individuals to join them. Atthough simple in
concept, it requires literally hundreds of individuals to don the mantle of "leadership" - which illustrates
its revolutionary potential on this basis alone.

I encourage anyone with longer memories that mine to respond with additional examples. To be meaningul, however, these examples should focus on decentralized actions organized by affinity groups, not actions organized by central committees, labor unions, or the like.

In short, this type of decentralized shutdown is a rare
and precious tool, and should be analyzed and
used again when appropriate.

SHUTDOWNS ARE NOT TO WIN HEARTS AND MINDS

Most of the time, our actions are designed to win people over: Rallies, marches, teach-ins, candlelight vigils...all of these events are designed to educate or
organize - to reach out to other people - to convince
others of the rightness of one's cause.

A shutdown action is very different. It is not merely an
action of protest - it is an action of resistance. It is
an action that says NO MORE! It draws a line and
urges people to go farther. As I said earlier, It prefigures the revolution that we would like to see.
The purpose is not to educate or organize. Our critics complain that we are "alienating" potential supporters. While I would agree that some people are at least momentariIy turned off by tactics that they don't agree with, I argue that these critics are entirely missing the point.

The purpose is to agitate! To set people's imagnations on fire. To let the people of Iraq, London, Chiapas, Nablus, and elsewhere to know that they are not alone. No movement for fundamental social change can succeed without kindling a passion best described as "fierce love".

And we did it on March 20. Not only did we get our message around the world - not only did we shut down the Financial District - as a bonus, we beat the SF cops on their home turf. They'll be trying to "get even" for a long time to come. But they'll never be able to take away from us what we accomplished that day.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

In the short term, we should be focusing on specific
corporations and institutions, and educating ourselves and the public about the corporate drive to profit from war - the Carlyle Group is a perfect example. So is Bechtel. This is a time to reach out to our fellow Americans, not push them away. Shutdown actions aimed at a single corporation located in a single building with no neighbors - such as Bechtel - may be particularly effective.

Another focus should be on the media itself - particularly television which destroys so many
good minds during times like these CBS/Westinghouse is a great target in the Financial District - they lie to the people and profit from war at the same time.

Those of us in the antiwar and global justice movements in the US - primarily Anglo and middle-class based - also have to look for opportunities to strengthen our relationships with the struggles being waged by people of color and the working class. A broad-based movement is the only way to win. Our actions in the coming weeks should be designed to nurture these relationships.

One thing's for sure. In the face of unrelenting media attacks, there is absolutely no reason to apologize for our shutdown actions - not only for the reasons stated above - but at the violence they avoided. I read that "two officers were slightly injured" on March 20.
And although a number of protesters were injured on 3/20, the numbers of injuries (and damaged property) was minute compared to what would have happened
if Direct Action Against the War had not labored so
hard and well to organze such a terrific action.

The time for a shutdown action will come around again - I'm hoping to see it at the WTO action in Cancun, Mexico in September, and at the FTAA action in Miami in November. This year offers an ideal time to combine the struggles against war, racism, poverty, and corporate globalization.

Because if we don't do it now, the US government will be going to war in Iran, in Syria, in North Korea in a matter of months. See the New American Century website or any search on "Richard Perle", "Paul Wolfowitz" and the like.

We live in an era where 40-50 per cent of all Americans believe that Saddam Hussain played a key role in9/11 - a factual misunderstanding that the Bush Administration has gone to great lengths to encourage rather than to correct. When you do hte math, this represents the great majority of the Americans that support this war. Americans who are very poorly informed.

We live in an era where we can reach these Americans with our passion, with our imagination, with our sense of adventure, and with our thirst for
social justice. These people are not concerned about our tactics - they are looking for a way to shake off their confusion. And if we focus on education - educating both ourselves and them - and on action - in every arena available to us - we may be able to offer a better way.