Uf the Future is Now Revolutionary Abolitionist Art and Praxis Jrom the Underside of White-American Civil Society Inthe sit ofreoludonary bolton sragale Posh pulleive 2018 Contents A Preface of Sort fam We a ‘Three Levels of Prion Organising Amerie Be Doge Divect Ation L A Preface of Sorts (My name i Heviberto Garcia. Yan 27 yeu vl (wrt sts race am organizer, potticaltheorx, and artis comendy holding the Agretmen: to End All Hostlies pact out here in Kalifonia. Tm dedicated to revolutionary commnity onganizing with a intematinnal view of ending ‘oppression—axticimperialism, decolonirati, and PIC abolition. I believe ‘in and advocate fora poitial ie thee revives oroona five core princi: pea, wy, grt, iatermaslonatsns, and independence, What most interests ‘me, intelectual, is ‘he dally toggles of tke mases, iasde and ouside of prisons; the methods of resistence we employ to Set azainstracima, caplulism, amd the state and the forms of practice that can be willzed to develep a thared revolulonary conssioumers in our colenized and displaced communities, ‘My experience as cacla-chattl property of the US sta led to mov poliicizaton ely. From Jury Hall anf CYA, to Level Yards and SHU's, The crenmstances of my ceptivity rough se ts question my ruroondings ‘his an exrty age. In my quat for geater undersanding of today’s Iistvica cicuustanes, | ccae 2 fara that the soUggle: OF al Blk, [Natve, and Third World peope are interconnected in the mass spe agtnst US mperatn and fr te abelton of white supremacist warfare. I is hs constant Sesre to question white sapremecy that hve opened my (yes to te stlkunfolding Trt. Ant itis» disdplines approach to sy ‘nd practi thet has mademe the New Thuaaa i today 1 lwow what i want to do in Me, and that is to fight imperiatiam, Fight militeriem, and panicipae in prleeian liberation fom ct setter rule. Tc abotsh the systems of White Being i a Rodeiguee 2019, (© achieve cmancipaticn fiom opressien, I don't dy ds for alonfication or ratings, to 2 “controversial” or fo give my fe meaning. 1 bo becuse i's what is corre and for my lf-words survival, Tat is Svedom in its most immediate and soneete sense, AS a sersox. who is contious'y oppressed, resting and shearing is wea: i 60 I fight daly ‘Whater through theorizing, reading iterate, teachieg, or learning fom thes, onthe goundor fom thiscel, Jam saeadng the mesage of ony, abontion, and revolition in ths time of ntenstving strict change. T come from a lineage of mignnt fimily, On my son's side, tx: CGermen/Spanies from ay Dade vie Mexican, {war bor in Micheact City of Uruspen (Mexia). Traveled back and forward from Mexicoto the U.S, erougtout my ealdhoed, tving im stugele. Mom isa hard worker My father te Tederal prisoner, also a ard worker. [ was introduced to the gang Me at the age of Ll. Yendedincarceated ete age of 16 an have been ‘Thi ace presents ocala, Aly wits ey representig casas. Her mouths tc ot, toning fo cove amesoge, Puc. Atenptingto sak “inside ear wth anid tor we a seers i ours Enslaed wif chats fom wrsto wr, apprarmgeutofa musivoom cloud sad Cline uneoy te pepe The ace omer ol Qorwaden) aed ona ot ‘te)—msls for anaymii—a bon hinge bl fr game) ‘While prfessimals analyze our situation in the strgele attempting 10 understand it, we He it. Weve at per of he pivileged class tat as the Toxmry to educate dumeclves— those vho can dcop tie to write soot no mybad—the tine to “artalate?contadiaions Por the mest part, we the ‘Bandanas understond our hucked-p situation con be thaled to the Suits and Tes up an the roof of those megt-city sky srappert. Yet ce you intteduce revlutionary Inowlecge to a Bandanea, its aimost Inevtible they become a comrade of the lnterationsl trggle, reincarneted being tht understands tow éual power come, in par, fom a versiy of utc, and posnély 1m some instances the batel of & gx. Abeitonbt does nct mem pectic Now tramfonmed ito this new conicious, principled, anf communeminded being, “hise new Human, the Bandana helng typically immerse themself in the precess of ansfomning tur elbw Bandana's consciousness. Peep Gee diagram beiowe ten ntner eveate at—naratve, ll, pais, sketch, raw, theorize, emceptalioe— for the masses and because {lve it 1 like ue proces f materalizing ‘dea, When it comes down to ati tle pide, time, and dedication. There sce tmce wena plese might abe me week: to faldh and Uns which lke only hours. I know most imagine prisoner just siting on their asses aad watching T-V. and consuming, which is tre in a wey. But for “active” prisoners, we pick upthe sack ofothes, thea we deal with these pi alwevs ‘tying to shove us ic a box somewhere. I've been kicked cat of *reheb" provps, crave writing las, *ebure," ee, which areal places tht an be convered ito sent-seminars for revolutionary study. I pose a problem to she class and ve stare dstogs, or provide input ona sujee eataing revolutionary elements. So mystsioudy, my name is no Longer on the It. Tvebeer dealing with strip-searches, harassment, cll searches, “hate” and satboliehit don't car, i undervand the risk of sptxing much and/or ving in defiance of (white) imperial authority. I embrace the ssrugele ard the leaming process—and for tose times i bled, it 4s then that iknow iam alive, make the bes out ofthe situation ifind myself in, I'm not going to stop creating. 2. i am We ‘Cente: the ie See of ow Wat row va of nce sais ae manent through the power oflead Explosive: ke supernova, tas weapons, and tomemade bem Passionate ike when you ru oa of bles, yecconsauetopul te tigger Savage ie the aunge: ofa popleseeing deoloization ‘Teacher: Hee Quest who taveled to te underground te being ie and ‘each wisdom seaioed from the tas Goerleo: Hie eseludenaey Che Guevara. Geronine Pra, and Zapsas with maches andrifeathand, ‘anfane wrapped seound ny fee ‘Vandal: le Vue airy fom he rch and ving isback oe poor Tioxcatg: ce yi, ‘pemes, slats before ant anercommencisg bates neyterious ge oem tes ea expects dented ver nght cormybe Arts: Uke hieroglyphic fm temples defied uc the sin of overtnt, ad inurl nse the Projets ‘Telit like boodeligseross te jure and tate down [chices] eave (Ma: ke selene, phasor, pty, pophay, ping fee coxsciou oftine so eanctsiesp ‘Vicious tke beoks and iwledge withthe power a prove, seve mass (Game: te tcing ones, yet ctorous Deca the fal lays hdsen nay sleeve Unepectt: ke sharebies usin he ooan ar ‘lighing seke sme te ‘rains rmsybe CObscoe:lice dark matter, ackuolet in space that ead 0 the anon ‘Pore lke a tar thas dropped tom aplae of pale and lone Orlike acl eioty neigh the poople that 8 up spine opresion aco the worl feseag aching foe fer noth Iebut he new worl 0 be made Persie he daegarting me for ananswer [Complcatd: ie ewators anc puzzes win ex ples, ‘ke atemping to understand ‘ove fer strug em the sis ooking in er ying decipher te beanty behind aime Lora ‘iamal this and some foram energy, ie existence am ton, resect, loyalty. amcesitnos, diane, truth am you, fam. 3. Three Levels of Prison Organizing Think tht thor are hee Levels af political orguaitieg her in Cliforain prisons. Te fit, to achieve unity, reqect, and wadersandirg amongstthe ‘epaessec. Secon, to bud the political corscioumest of thepeopk. Thi, to mobile the peosl towards emarcipation thr radical ws of politics. Rig:tnow, we are atworkon level 0. The fist ievel of struggle is one of peace and unity, In prisons here in Cali, this vas exeroted throughout the hunger sires, But didn’ realy make ax impact until the one tx 2011. Which 's when tre “Agreement to End Hostlties” came into ffict, Due to the influence that prisoners nave out there, we can expect that what happens in prisons is shen practiced om the street amongst the burius-reightburhoods. To achieve peace and tunity amongst the appressed and therefore spreading this practice to theres ofthe public Seon, isthe level cf knowledge and growt, where we convert the prisons into some type of school, ar educational carspus so that all that come in can study, arn and become part of @ teacherstudent/studensteacher method and way of ifs, as cpposed to the banking systers of educetion practiced in capitalist society This will revolutionize the incarcerared masses, whom will then take this new set of politics to the neighboshoods-barrios to which they return, transforming the ghettos, Third ond final, is she level of mobilization. Once level E-2 have been accomplished, level 3 is the key tu revolutionary emancipation. The land stclen from the people will be returned 10 the people. The masses will own the means of producticn, Institutions from the people or the people will be in every hocd. New table of laws jor the masses will be set by the oppressed. ‘This will cone only afer ending imperialiom, and, as we sow, imerialism will sot hand over ower, It is up to us to take it To achieve tis, we must practice this line not only locally, but at cn international level to bring independence to all, Ths lst evel is a battle and only through practice we'll now what we're up agairst here at home and how to defeat it ‘Tas schematia present youcutlie a blueprint forthe the eves of pron arganising, ari eavisiont, sting la my cl, trugging achieve this Reedem dream, Struggling tobe fe, to stay sane. fot this, then what Wak forthe day of acushrenes nd atk i solid? Reform a Hore! ‘aw, p08 2 cv righ bil. cecyling the carot of a pipe dream? Should T allow the colorizatia, genocide, and dsplioement of my people—ol your ‘peopleto continie? Shawld | jast mppress my feelngs, my féeas, my ‘epsssed and incendiary being Mast T turn my cheele and be bappy to plainly exist? Mirae, bit existing Eating, drinking, conmuaiog crap bbutexistcg, Puc tht!7 wl do what ican. Uillattept what i can'tleem som the prooets addo it agin, For the love ofthe New Fiomanity, for Re ave coacrets freedom, forthe love ofevulutionarysboltionin. 4. Amerika Be Dope ‘Whether in prison or out in socalled “Bee” society, drugs represent 2 problem af peuliar sort. For colonized and oppressed communis inthe “ited Saws, dnuge represent a deceiving allure for te mass of youtk: power, status, auhosty, adwacement, di allanglay-doie, te Ameria ‘rear. In reality, drugs often ace jst another cap to preserve estas gud and maintain the white setler’s domination over and sutjugaton of Aispowessed communities. Oploige have boen used by humans for thousand ofr, both mediinally sand recreatonaly, wit many periods of mass epidemic addiction. Use began wit optim ftom poppies, Morphine was Yolared in 1808, 3y tae carly 1900's heroin was promoted as a cure fer morphine addiction, eventually eing rade Hegalin the United tres by 1924, There was 1 shot Inll in hemin ote daring the 198. when cocaine (acd “erack”) overshadowed i By the 1991s, various presiption pain killer came back Into vogue, even whilst the Began Esa's "Jus Say Nol” stetaiy ras dp in the colorizer’speyehe. Since this in period, ue ané casual abuse es ‘een on a steady “ise, feding «surge in the we of heroin as a cheaper new alternative, This rofeation in the eoocomie ceters of the US is ereciy Hated to ransfomnations in spits sezimes of accumulation throughout the wee, ‘The saay use in opioid abnve hasbeen staggering an understatement) and ‘scausinga disproportionate number of deaths rom Seog averdcses, Despite only teing ‘ess than 5% of che world’s populatior, sbost 10% of picié sddice: wosidwide are inthe US, This epidemic d¢propartionstely fects Buro-Amerkkan eters. Preddent Donald ‘Trump linke his campaign to Yulia wallatung de Curent U.S.-Menico border 0 the Dame 2gatnst the ‘pidenic, despite te fact that pasion sain ae atthe rocco t. This it coosivent with the Amerikan governments olution for drug “protlems™ which are—canteary te the ermmon helenae by US perio. Foe te creck epdemiof te 1980's, te Armenian government responded with ‘Se masr imprizonment of Disck/New Alan people a lis possauent sols, [owas opioid addicoon continues atasteady ie, Trump's defn psition isthe milteriztion ofthe county's Sauthem borer. By *mitariation,” ‘mean the ongoing goth and entreschmeat ofthe state's (or aay other fagittion or opanization’) miltary and waefare czpeites For me, this itfers from “alitarim” proper the internalization of paichy, sexism, anc white supremacy, ‘Bouigeols societies tazeanindvidnalisic view ofthe world, Whenit comes to drug acdictcn, the foes i a the evel ofthe individual: we ae about how thy filed and suocurbed tp addition out of “wealmes.” Wis tir Isolated ite 8a petsonendoned wide suionality and free will Tit isa ‘white supremacit mythological gesture, a colonialist mirage. ‘While individods must infeed -2ke responsibilty for their ntions in the realm of interpersonal elaonshipe, itis only by studying and teaching end feeming sbout how impedait sosey is wproduced 2° a sllecive and structural level (and by arng 2 materials method to study the pot! conan) and forms af pone: spec te sald socley) that we cat bei 2 ‘address problems in ways thst actuals confont te uneven distbution of ‘eal and life chances ast acnaly exis. 1 tun, one coal augue Hata radi standpoint is even more useful for theorizing soc atte pexoual ive, ellowlng a thinker to eut rectly to the root cause of grater sola! problems, aot the ret of laws in one's {individual personaly. From ‘his postion we are better equpped to empower ovr Amite, ved unas, and aeighbors io oszanize toward Mooggles we can tangbty ee in miceialy—wem For the capialist, ‘be Inputs, ce ster foci: yeu aling dnugeinpreerablo to yor Hghting ‘aguas his/her theifoundatonal systems cf oppcesson. A population bat fs consuming crags i mare desired because you're escaping 1nd mpresing cconsioumess ef a stared social eality under conitions of oxcupaton, “Whsther you sl drge on contame drugs in cera, yom remove youself ‘rom the necessary revolution and ony consibute to the oppressicn visted ‘upon OU cOmMUMSes, Wines is washes, whtenas ts ee, Lee Hat ‘oar sialic enemy. Tae ft hat often it isthe sate ageutsthemeeves who flood the prisor with dopeie proof encugh tat the drug rade (drug was) onally apredet ofthe ite Wet asthe tae floods tb ghetios and bastos ‘with dope, the dealers are simply powns, shadow figures mimicking the cettus ane morality ofan occupying U. asi. The Mooding oft: ghetos ‘with eck it the stares example of is ‘Weruststartby educating our communities and intramurally changing ox: consciousness So ‘hat rocKles and excesive dug tsoge meats is ved ‘upon, thi ie espesially snpoant when building rewhstionary movement, ‘These are aio tricky convesstionsto have because we don't want ‘0 play ia 1 loges of the sate'ssocled War or Lrugs (Le fs War an black and Brows. communities). I Joke like 2018 is 2 new ctapter fr the hismey of| cugs'n the United Stats, wth marijaaoa becoming legal in several states, ‘most rently Califo, where there ica lageamher of serple il incked ‘up on ossession charges. We'llhave to wat and seehow this one plays out, 5 de inact dis Tas on Ge culuze sek at Ge moment iene 9 determine 5. Direct Action L iret Action oan be defined asthe we of my tol, tactic o: steegy that ‘yor: san centr youre, Iemeans using tacts, waich directly adress your protiem, I's stuightiorward andsimpe, yoo can rust. Itsuzceed a ils tevording to bow good your idea i, hove fereflyi:3 applied, end how sppropriate it isto te situation. 1. COnething we asa people must understand i thatthe working clas and the employing last (whieh own the mess 0° prresion) haze nathing in ‘emmon, What is geod forthe bosses—Waich is cheap lator maximally commotied and passive (expcitation) bs bad forthe workers, What is good forte workers, which is maximum contol cver te means ofcompenstion for oar prcociens tine, lavor, and enzzgy is interpreted es symbovte deat tothe Suits andTie, : Of course, there is 2 much more complex analysis needed, especially if we fre 0 understand new clases facture and refornuise dung psiods of revolutionary eis bt, hese are te bnsicbullding blocks ofe Markist css ‘analysis, Fundamentals that anybody can Warn qulekly and apply to eit everyday titvation. Aad by all means the owning /nenperied sass wl fot to te death to revert werker’srevolation from happening, 30 one agri, ‘he masses end the empoy.ny clas lay absolutely nothing in common, vs ‘a demoonsvable act at we cansot afford ta ignere. w. ‘As Iso often sy, there ace few important phases we must go througl 10 ‘ead pial where colletve sugges fer abcliton and revolution are posible: unity => elucation => organization (ue. mcbilization. As the ‘youn living under aster: of ogpresson, under direct settler rule, we sete tangle and immediate fxedons. We ask our elders, our young ces, nd the generations to come ton athe strugge for evolutionary chenge. For a better today und a beter tomesrow, throngh the power of diet eton by ‘anys neces ¥, Jn the minds of the masses, violence is not always the most popular of sethcds pot to use. Which 2 why we away: Rare os polis frm the position of couater-viblenee, counteriorce, end counterpover. We are alovays responding the violence ofthe oppressr, not the oer way around, ‘hecxlonio= setthe teams ofengagemerthere. Mis feamiae of he sazation at hard allows us to see how the pricipled use of “violence’—eeunter ‘iolense—ae somthing not quepieue but nosy an. atool tbe wielded gains the state vt “To speak of direc: counter-violence metiphorially: it is « “counter,” as ix ‘boxing or any other fom af fighting. Countenviolener = sedefonse, We ate constany (old thar in order t create chinge, the masses must ete: ‘work ard tplacetheaselves ad polls id yada wn he zonal ove cour conditions ro choose “democratic” representatives, Reformis sociales ‘hinkthat this form of politin may ane day allow workers o seve the mean: of production, We axe told thar threugh econcmic zeforms, we will cventually commande: the mines, the vatervays, the mils, the facoris, the miliary. powcr vill amcothly be headed to the people, mort cextrally through a “war of ideas.” I questca this fiber! approach. See how fir You fet youre jour paintec mrssage on a sheet of cardboard. Witt you: etmited parades on te sidewalk while the government contiues to drop ‘orbs on people: ofthe Thid World, while te blood of my tethers and sSterepint the ereets sed Puck tat. va ‘One thing we must understand is that, historically, counte-violence ways paves te wey forthe intial omentum of revolutionary socal change, I's ‘his ype of eizect ction that lam istered i seeing the masses experimen ‘with athe contractions in captaism worser. You see, ance an colonized etsonis teliover inthe prneiplat use of counte-olence, is thes vay a quesion o! the mos eflzctne war of agplyingit. Aboliian and seveutior wall torever eat ist mrbulent event. As Funon sates, “decolonization ‘hichsets out to change the erder of the work, js clearly an agenda for tote jsorde.” Thus, abolition and revolution must also ental the creation o? ‘new mon." Or what I would more appeopristely call the Now Haman, ¢ ew “speci” of being moleled on the needs and immedizcies of the colonized masses, vu. Butch creation amrorbeattburedto a "wupernarur powes," ss Fens ‘writes, Ie slso emnot be complenly preplanned er spelled oat in advance ‘The colonized subjee: devdops tbe new form ofconscivusnes trough the ‘yey proces of Hoeraon struggle To tea he ealenial woe in mhereent i a exyval car image vithn the grap and imaginaion of every colonizec/oppmssved persons. I 1s = farce Gia must be stewarked nd released! The fentasy runs deep, perreates the subcorscous, even as ene doesnot sognize it hold m ‘To destroy the euotdal worlds meses nothing los thon demolishing ‘he colonists sector, getting sid of copresdve systems and institutions, bury the setiers weuld deep beneath the earth, no possible zesurerzon. All sonsces off, all the matral wealth ofthe earth tnd the too’ necessary tO cooperative production, mist become acessibie to all, This vision of ‘ratival feedom, the ponbiity, thir evertuality is something worthy of any strogae, itis not the nattre of life © surender to power without struggle, Distt ation is where its st. We al Hed the same ard hats cenytal iar. ‘True Leap Press & Distribution