Must-Reads and Some Thoughts on the DNC

Your weekly curated list of must-reads is here, along with some thoughts about the Democratic National Convention. But first, there's a new episode of Movement Memos I want to share with you.

I talked with Tracy Rosenthal about why a recent SCOTUS decision means it's "open season" on unhoused people. We also dug into the politics and history of the criminalization of homelessness, how we got here, and how we can fight back. Is the criminalization of homelessness a factor in the rise of fascism? Yes, it is, and it’s bigger than the GOP.

You can subscribe to Movement Memos wherever you get your podcasts. If you need a transcript, you can find that, along with audio and some show notes, here.

Must-Reads

From antifascist soccer fans to cash-strapped abortion funds and the queer youth derailing KOSA, here are some of the most important stories I’ve read this week.

• Workers Across the US Rally After String of Heat-Related Deaths by Ayurella Horn-Muller. “On Tuesday, service workers rallied at major airports in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Phoenix. They called for immediate action from employers to ensure their safety in the workplace, including adequate breaks and access to drinking water during periods of extreme heat.”
• Chicago’s Palestinians Won’t Let the DNC Ignore Gaza by Sarah Lazare. “There are some who hope to push Harris to take a new direction on Palestine, and while protesters gather outside the DNC, there will also be a fight taking place inside. The Uncommitted National Movement, which emerged during the primaries to protest Biden’s support for Israel’s actions in Gaza, is planning to send 30 delegates to the DNC, and is calling on Harris to support ‘an immediate embargo on US arms to Israel,’ pursuant to a permanent ceasefire.”
• Moving Towards Life by Marina Magloire. “Despite their biographical similarities, [June] Jordan and [Audre] Lorde had differing practices of solidarity. How can we add nuance to the historical narrative of Black feminist solidarity with Palestine? After all, even 40 years later, US-based solidarity movements are still threatened by the same fault lines that felled Lorde and Jordan’s friendship.”
• Football Fans Are Organising Against the Far Right by Polly Smythe. “Far-right violence has broken out across the UK, and word has gotten around that the mosque is under threat. Chadwick and Kelly are among 200 antifascists who have mobilised in response.”
• By Vowing to Codify Roe, Kamala Harris Ensures Continued Government Meddling in Abortion Care by Jordan Smith. “Functionally speaking, however, Roe provided anti-abortion activists and politicians the framework to begin restricting access even as the opinion’s ink was drying.”
• Following National Funding Cuts, ‘July Was Pure Hell’ for Abortion Funds by Garnet Henderson. “With the biggest and best-funded national organizations in the space now saying they can no longer sustain the level of assistance they were providing, the abortion access movement is staring down a cliff, confronting the real possibility that large numbers of people could now be unable to obtain abortions altogether.” 
• Over 100 People Die in Missouri Prisons Each Year. Othel Moore Was One of Them. by Frances Madeson. “This was no routine death, it was murder. Those charged were members of a special unit contracted from another Missouri prison two hours away in Potosi. They’d been brought in to conduct the military-style operation in the massive prison complex where nearly 2,000 men are incarcerated in the state capital.”
• Queer Youth Are Derailing the Controversial Kids Online Safety Act by Mike Ludwig. “Across the internet, communities of queer and trans youth have mobilized to oppose KOSA as the legislation became increasingly entangled in longstanding culture war debates over sex education and queer visibility in schools.”
• Video Belies Police Report, Yet St. Louis County Prosecutor Presses On by Ryan Krull. “The bystander shooting the video remarks, ‘Oh, he’s hitting her.’ A different video, captured by an officer’s body camera, records another officer exclaiming, ‘Don’t throw a strike’—even as the officer atop Greene does just that.”
• Israeli Army Uses Palestinian Civilians to Inspect Potentially Booby-trapped Tunnels in Gaza by Yaniv KubovichMichael Hauser Tov. "Israeli soldiers can be seen dressing Palestinian detainees in uniforms and flak jackets, putting cameras on them and sending them into badly damaged houses and tunnel entrances with their hands bound by plastic ties."

Counter-Conference During the Week of the DNC

If you will be in Chicago for the DNC, Chicago Dissenters is organizing a counter-conference for activists and organizers. F*** the GNC (as in Genocidal National Convention) will include panels, community spaces, and parties. Organizers say, “this counter-conference is meant to bring us together to learn, sharpen our skills, and build our movement.” You can register for events here. N95 or KN95 masks are required for in-person events. 

Some Thoughts on the DNC (and Some Resources)

Next week, the Democratic National Convention will be happening in Chicago, and I, like many people, will be in the streets protesting. I am deeply concerned about how the Chicago police will handle this event. While many people are linking their concerns about police brutality to the violence Chicago police inflicted on protesters in 1968, my concerns are tied to much more recent events. In 2012, for example, in the run-up to the NATO Summit in Chicago, police embedded two undercover officers in the Chicago protest scene. Those cops won the trust of several young men who would soon face false terrorism charges. While Brian Church, Brent Betterly, and Jared Chase were ultimately found not guilty of the terrorism charges they faced, they were each convicted of lesser charges, which resulted in sentences ranging from five to eight years.

The 2012 NATO protests also saw significant acts of police brutality. I am well acquainted with the damage police caused on May 20, 2012, when they started swinging their batons because I worked as a street medic that day. I did my best to care for seriously injured people and, in some cases, helped carry wounded protesters for several blocks when ambulances would not approach the frontlines of the protest.

The NATO 2012 protests were powerful, but they were also traumatic and costly for some. A highly dedicated defense committee worked diligently in support of five people who faced major charges following the summit. That work stretched on for years. Without the organizing of the NATO 5 defense committee, I think it’s likely that Church, Betterly, and Chase would have been railroaded even further and convicted of false terrorism charges.

Some of you have heard me tell these stories before. I am telling them again now because I am worried. I am worried because, in 2020, we saw escalations from police that made my experiences in 2012 seem like child’s play. This is a new era for the Chicago police, where memories of raising bridges to trap protesters, gassing people en masse, and brutalizing countless protesters without consequence is a recent memory. The George Floyd Uprisings in Chicago were bloodier than any moment of protest I have witnessed in Chicago in my lifetime, and that’s saying a lot because I have seen a lot. 

Granted, there is a new mayor in town, but what will this mean for the safety of people marching next week? I have no idea, and neither does anyone else. From what I’ve heard, the police have been given a free hand in managing the situation. CPD has recently officially revised its mass arrest policies after reform groups complained to a federal judge that its existing guidelines violated the First Amendment. However, it’s important to remember that, in the streets, laws and guidelines do not actually dictate the behavior of police. Cops act with impunity. That means that if one of them gets angry and decides to initiate violence, they will not face any consequences, and in all probability, a protester or group of protesters will face heightened charges in order to justify the incident. For example, if police choose to injure protesters, it’s very likely that they will charge someone with assault and with resisting arrest in order to craft a scenario that justifies their actions. The system is built to accommodate police violence because their violence and impunity are part of the legal process. We must always remember this.

To be clear, I am not trying to discourage anyone from protesting. As I have mentioned, I will be in the streets next week. Protest always involves risks, and those risks can be worthwhile. However, I also believe that for our actions to be righteous rather than reckless, we must be well informed. I also have some limited advice to offer. 

First, and perhaps most obviously, watch what you say and who you say it to. Sometimes, people talk big or say things sarcastically (especially while under the influence of alcohol and drugs), which can be highly incriminating. Jokes and bravado do not translate well in court transcripts.

If you are someone who engages in illegal tactics, I probably don’t have to tell you not to converse about those topics with strangers or over drinks. People who participate in such actions usually have infosec practices to protect themselves, their comrades, and their actions. If someone doesn’t have those kinds of safeguards and is therefore spilling all of their plans or attempting to recruit you (someone they just met at a convergence), they should not be trusted, regardless of whether or not they are cops. If someone is being cavalier about security culture and the safety of others, that is reason enough to disengage. 

Historically, when the Chicago police want to justify repression, they conjure the boogeymen they need to do so. Do not make yourself an easy mark for this kind of witch hunt. 

Also, please remember that when you are protesting a national security event, things can escalate very quickly. Chicago police already have an extremely violent reputation that is well-earned. In 2012, some were spotted in t-shirts that joked that they got up early to beat the crowds. However, if you are protesting next week, you won’t just be facing our notoriously violent and racist police. 500 police from across Illinois and from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, are expected to join Chicago cops in policing the DNC protest. Notably, CPD is refusing to share the training materials it will use to prepare those police with the public. In my experience, police who assemble for massive moments of protest often engage in recreational violence when they can. Some of them get off on the opportunity to swing a baton. Safety planning is important. One simple step that everyone can take is to learn how to treat pepper spray and tear gas exposure. If you don’t know how to do that, you can find that information in the appendix section of Let This Radicalize You or in the Get In Formation Toolkit (which has a lot of other great information about safety planning).

Take advantage of the fact that Chicago is a well-organized city. There will be workshops and community events around the DNC, like the counter-conference Chicago Dissenters has organized. Take the opportunity to connect with seasoned organizers and hear what they have to say about what this moment means and how to make the most of it. This is an opportunity to march and take action, but it’s also an opportunity to learn, connect, and build relationships. 

Avail yourself of local resources. Need a Know Your Rights rundown for Chicago protesters? You can find that here. Also, be sure to write this number somewhere on your person: 872-465-4244. That is the National Lawyers Guild Chicago’s Mass Defense Hotline. It will be staffed 24/7 during the DNC. If you are arrested, facing charges, and need help, you can also call that number. You can also use the hotline to report arrests if you witness someone get grabbed up at an action or if you have been contacted by law enforcement.

(Note: If you won’t be at the DNC, you can still share the resources I am mentioning here online in order to help folks who are attending.)

Lastly, please remember that, sometimes, after moments of mass protest, people can wind up facing serious charges. Supporting those people is part of supporting our movements. It’s crucial that we do not fall into the trap of reinforcing good protester/bad protester binaries and that we focus on getting everyone out. As I write these words, I am thinking about organizers in Ferguson, Missouri, who have faced targeted repression for years since the Ferguson uprising a decade ago. Since last week, when protesters marked the anniversary of Mike Brown’s death and the protests that followed, local police have been engaged in what organizers have described as a mission to “destroy” local activists. Activists are facing bogus charges with extremely high cash bail. In one case, police claimed that a Ferguson protester, who had been taken into police custody, caused property damage by repeatedly ramming their own head into the wall of an interview room, thereby damaging the wall. Why do police believe they can get away with spinning such far-fetched tales? Well, for one thing, they probably don’t think anyone’s paying attention. 

Attention matters, and solidarity is about much more than cheering people on in heated, high-profile moments. So, let’s be conscious of what we can do to support people who are criminalized for acts of protest in Chicago, Ferguson, and beyond. 

And with that, I’ll see you in the streets. 

Much love,

Kelly

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