Black Rose in Utica is a small local but is very actively fighting for a better world. We are in a unique position to organize in this small rust belt city since there are few other activist groups in town, and none that offer a vision or politics like Black Rose. We spend most of our time at the grassroots and in the community, organizing protests, raising consciousness, running educational events, and launching campaigns and programs to build power from below. Often times, our events and demonstrations are the first political acts that people come out to. Anarchism, to us, is created through action and organization rather than serving as an abstract theory. in the spirit of the Zapatistas as well as the Spanish anarchists of 100 years ago, “we make the road by walking and we walk by asking question.”
Here are some of the major campaigns we are working on.
Love and Rage
In a nod to a past anarchist federation of the same name, Black Rose members launched Love and Rage in 2014. It is a local media collective that has a decidedly activist and unapologetically anarchist orientation. Local writers and activists cover a number of local, national and international issues and struggles and our style of journalism ranges from investigative to gonzo. Love and Rage is Utica’s only alternative media site and we plan to start a print publication in 2016.
https://loveandragemedia.wordpress.com/
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See posts, photos and more on Facebook.
Mohawk Valley Freedom School
Much of the work we do is through the Mohawk Valley Freedom School which was established by members in 2014. The Freedom School seeks to raise the consciousness of people in the community and encourages people to become actively engaged in transforming the world they live in to one rooted in the practice of cooperation, mutual aid, autonomy and freedom. It comes out of a long tradition of education geared towards liberation.
The core principles of the Freedom School are:
- Provide an education that focuses on social justice and community needs.
- Maintain an environment that fosters principles of popular education, specifically dialogue that encourages critical thought and self-reflection with a focus on personal experience.
- “Each one, teach one” – the idea that this is a collective, community oriented education. We all have something to learn from each other and something to teach each other.
- Teach by asking questions, not by giving answers.
- Create an education that is both relevant to the needs of students and is rooted in the community.
- Hold onto the belief that another world is possible and another Mohawk Valley is necessary.
https://www.facebook.com/Mohawk-Valley-Freedom-School-430548723721365/?fref=ts
Public Actions and Protests
Black Rose members have been involved in organizing large protests in a city that rarely sees any. We have organized protests for Black Lives Matter, Gaza and Palestine and for refugee, immigrant and immigrant justice. Many of our protests have drawn large crowds and have introduced many people to activism and politics. We plan on building on this as we continue future actions and grassroots organizing around Palestinian liberation, Black Lives Matter, refugee and immigrant justice and in support of the Rojava Revolution among other critically important struggles.
Utica Social Forum
We are currently working with activists to launch the Utica Social Forum as part of the World Social Forum (WSF) movement. We will also organize people to travel to Montreal in the summer of 2016 to attend the World Social Forum. We see this as critical to raise consciousness, encourage activism and organizing and help build an anti-authoritarian movement locally.
Workplace Organizing
Many of us are actively organizing our coworkers, most notably with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), but are also attempting to establish a worker cooperative. We have taken workplace actions in the past and are in the process of launching industry-wide organizing campaigns.
We have a new world in our hearts and one we are building, if you live in Utica, NY or the greater Mohawk valley region and want to get involved, please contact us.