The Decolonizer, February 2017

THEDECO LO NIZER February 2017

One Year After The State Of Emergency If Your Anti-Trump Movement Is Not Anti-Colonial

Notes On A Mode Of Address Cuffing Or Survival: The Politics Of Cuffing Season

TABLEO FCO NTENTS 1

What is THE DECOLONIZER?

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If Your Anti-Trump Movement Is Not Anti-Colonial You Are Wasting Your Time And Ours

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The News Feed

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Notes On A Mode Of Address: Talking Back

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One Year After The State Of Emergency: Flint Still Doesnt Have Clean Drinking Water

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Cuffing Or Survival: The Politics Or Cuffing Season

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Decolonizing Culture

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How To's

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Brief Histories

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Decolonizing Voices

Track The Movement

W hat IsTHEDECO LO NIZER? THE DECOLONIZER

is here for this.

This pulling of all our hopes

cocked back in a slingshot

Aimed at the regime machine

middle finger

on the pulse of the people.

Teaching ourselves

how to pull the rings off of grenades

while eating soup with a knife

while pounding on a typewriter

while telling a story to a child.

Here for this

these fists bloody against the wall

the cracks in its foundation scream

we were here for this.

1

If Your Anti-Trum pMovem entIsnotAnti-Colonial YouAreW astingYour Tim eAndO urs

By The Decolonizer Donald Dump has been making a lot of people loose their shit these past couple of week he has been in office.

Executive orders by his pen have forcefully approved the Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines, initiated the U.S.-Mexico boarder wall, and even established a travel ban targeted at predominately Muslim countries. An order that froze funds for Obamacare will severely cut funding for Planned Parenthood and other birth control programs.

Many have protested, from the continued women's protests following the Woman's March to the emergency occupations of airports to help banned refugees. The politics of those who protest are varied and dynamic from the liberal reactionary to the anarchist black bloc, and everywhere in between. What unifies the masses in actions across the country is a general disapproval of Dump and his policies.

Yet, this dissent, which does not even amount to a strong pro-impeachment stance, is still waiting for a unifying framework that will make its goals clear to itself.

So, while Standing Rock water defenders are being forcefully evicted via the Trump executive order, THE DECOLONIZER says:

If Your Ant i-Trump Movement Is Not Ant i-col onial You Are Wast ing Your Time And Ours.

That goes for you too anarchist. We are all for punching Nazis (really we are) but the pursuit of an anarchist agenda without the leadership Native peoples will only replicate settler

relationships. Any insurrectionary organizing against Trump on this land (Turtle Island) that has been stolen by white Europeans, must be rooted in an anti-colonial framework. If you are punching Nazis let it be because they are fascists as well as white colonizers. If you are destroying public property let it be because it is white property that was stolen by the U.S. settler colonial state. If you seek the abolition of the state, let it also be the abolition of settler colonial power and the restoration of Indigenous sovereignty.

As f or you l iberal s...

Many of you take issue with Trump, but are absolutely fine with the white supremacist settler colonial system that you and your ancestors have profited from for centuries.

You have no real qualms about racism or misogyny, you just don't want to be reminded of your investments by a loud and overt bastard.

Your rallying cry is "make America subtlety racist again". You would give anything in the world to trade Trump for Hillary Clinton or Obama. When the Obama administration's drone strikes and bombings have caused the very war-torn conditions that refugees are fleeing from.

You couple discontent with the Trump administration with a strange nationalist pride. You hold signs that say "this is not us" or "we are better than this". But Trump is as American as it gets and everyone knows it.

Fuck "not my president ". How about NO PRESIDENTS No presidents, no cabinet, no administration.

NO COLONIAL STATE. It is time to let go of an America that is inherently racist, inherently violent, inherently imperialist. An America that is inherently patriarchal, that organizes itself via gendered violence, an America that was founded on genocide, land-theft, and the force labor of Black Africans.

No, we are def init el y not al l immigrant s Stop saying that. Some of us were brought here in chains against our will and some had already been here. For thousands of years before any European had touched this land.

There are better ways of being in solidarity with immigrants and refugees. To say that we are all immigrants is Indigenous erasure.

A anti-Trump movement that fails to build anti-colonial foundations will be just another settler protest, impotent and unable to bring together the great masses people for the purposes of authentic liberation.

The boarder wall is about the securing of stolen settler territory along a boarder that crossed Mexicans, many of whom are Chicanx people Indigenous to the region.

The travel ban is about Christian hegemony, a pillar of the U.S. settler colonial project.

The racism, patriarchy, and anti-queerness come from colonial social relations that were imported by European settlers and institutionalized. The spearheading of DAP and Keystone are the clearest instances of colonialism and environmental racism.

There is but one commonality that cuts across all other concerns regarding a Trump presidency. That commonality is the situation of continued settler colonialism via U.S. occupation of Indigenous lands.

Don't Just Organize, Organize Against Col onial ism.

Angela Davis once said "radical simply means grabbing something by the root".

Your movement just aint radical if you are not getting at the root of the issue. On this land the root of the issue is settler colonialism. Dissent is at level where some real substantial organizing can take place.

Many have been urging us to organize. But to organize without a sound basis is reactionary. THE DECOLONIZER SAYS: organize against colonialism!

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TheNewsfeed NoDakotaAccessPipeline Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 24th that granted permission for continued construction of the Dakota Access pipeline as well as the Keystone XL pipeline that was halted by the Obama administration. The order also streamlines the permit process for oil companies seeking to construct pipelines.

Of course, Trump had investments in Energy Transfer Partners, the company responsible for DAP. His share in the company was said to be between 500,000 and one million dollars. Trumps current energy secretary Texas governor Rick Perry even sat on the board of Energy Transfer Partners.

Meanwhile at the camps, repression has continued to escalate. During the first week of February militarized police raided a camp arresting 70 people, including Indian Country Media Network journalist Jenni Monet.

BIA agents have been deployed to clear water defenders from the sites.

The Trump administration announced the approval of the last permit needed for DAP on February 7th. Standing Rock Sioux tribe announced that legal action will be taken against the executive order.

IsraeliColonial StatePassesAggressiveSettler Expansionbill The settler colonial state of Israel passed a new settlement bill on February 7th that retroactively legalized the securing of at least 4000 settler homes in the Palestinian West Bank. The land grab flies in the face of any previous attempt at a "two state" solution and only confirms to Palestinians that the so called "Peace Process" has always been a front to steal more Palestinian homeland.

The annexation is illegal, even by U.N. standards. According to UNSC Resolution 2334 all Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories are considered illegal under international law. More illegal outposts are set to be legalized by the colonizers in the coming months, a move that very clearly attempts to annex the whole of the West Bank for the Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu perfectly timed the annexation as pro-Zionist Donald Trump rose to power in the United States. Knesset member of the Jewish Home party Bezalel Smotrich even stated after the vote: "We thank the American people for voting Trump into office, which was what gave us the opportunity for the bill to pass". Trump, who criticized Obama's treatment of Netanyahu, plans to meet with the prime minister next week. Many if not all of the illegal settlements in Palestine are funded by the U.S.

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Flint W ater Crisis Residence of Flint, Michigan have been forced to continue paying their water bills even though the water is contaminated and unsafe to use. On February 9th a letter from Michigan governor and criminal Rick Snyder surfaced revealing that the state of Michigan would be discontinuing federally funded subsidies that help residence pay their water bills. Since 2014 Flint residence had been entitled to partial federal subsidies to help with water bill payments since the water was contaminated. Snyder's letter indicated that those subsidies will be discontinued February 28th. Government officials claim that the cut-off is because water quality in Flint is improving, while residence and community leaders have not seen any improvements and say the cut-off is Snyder's attempt to downplay the seriousness of the crisis. The government continues to reassure residents that contaminated water is safe to drink while avoiding responsibility for the crisis. Early February Snyder issued a budget request that included nearly 49 million in taxpayer money to help Flint recover from the crisis, when money should be coming from Snyder's personal funds. Snyder has yet to be arrested.

Trump'sEmergencyAppeal For MuslimBanStrikedDownByCourts Donald Trumps Muslim ban, targeting seven predominately Muslim countries, will remain temporarily frozen by courts after a federal appeals court denied Trump's emergency motion to reinstate the ban. The executive order, which halted all immigration from the countries of Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Syria, and Somalia, was temporarily frozen by a Seattle court on February 3rd. Wide-spread panic and protest occurred at airports across the country following Trump's executive order. Muslim immigrants were detained, handcuffed, separated from their families, and held for hours without food. On Trump's emergency appeal to reinstate the ban the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled: "We hold that the government has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its appeal, nor has it shown that failure to enter a stay would cause irreparable injury, and we therefore, deny its emergency motion for a stay."

IndigenousPeruviansSueG overnment 13 years of continued negligence on the part of the Peruvian government regarding its protection of uncontacted tribal territories in the Amazon has prompted the Matses tribe to sue the Peruvian Ministry of Culture. The continuing operation of oil companies into the Amazon has been over seen by the Puruvian government despite its commitments to protect Indigenous rights through international law ILO 169.

Continued oil spills in the region have caused the decline of fish populations and contamination of water has caused many health problems for tribes in the Amazon. Indigenous rights group AIDESEP (AsociaciĂłn InterĂŠtnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana) has called on the Peruvian government to honor its commitments to international law after it approved Canadian oil company Pacific E&P to explore Amazonian reserve Yavari Tapiche.

O scar LopezReturnstoPuertoRico Puerto Rican freedom fighter Oscar Lopez touched down in Puerto Rico February 9th to serve the remainder of his time in home confinement at his daughters residence. Lopez, who was commuted by former president Obama, had been captive for 36 years in the United States prison system for his leadership in the fight against U.S. Colonialism in Puerto Rico. Lopez was a prominent member of Puerto Rican nationalist group FALN (Armed Forces of National Liberation). In 1981 he was arrested and sentenced to 55 years in prison for conspiracy. Lopez's return to the island comes after renewed nationalist sentiment in Puerto Rico over the debt crisis and proposed PROMESA plan that would put Puerto Rican economic power in the hands of appointed U.S. officials. As the debt crisis fulled by the United States threatens to collapse the Puerto Rican economy, Puerto Ricans everywhere are calling for the end of colonialism. Obama's pardon allows for Lopez to be free on May 17th.

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NotesonAModeO f Address:TalkingBack ?The mode of address, far from being a simple rhetorical technique, enacts the social constitution of ontology? .The mode of address enacts the social possibility of a livable existence?

a mode of expression is locationally acted out. This act is re- act- ing a place holding, but it is also forming and locating blackness? in what Fanon calls the "historical racial schemata?. This schemata, a historical violence, a de- constitution, gives form through the beginnings of Chattel Slavery in the 15th century to the re- enacting, re- constitution or talking back/ black in Black Lives Matter.

Violence, Non-violence: Sartre and Fanon, 2008, Judith Butler ?Giving voice involves giving more than the capacity for mechanically reproducing speech. When voice is given to something that was imagined not to have it, this involves a valuation, and an attribution of meaningful intention and the demand that that agent be heard.?

Judith Butler?s essay "Violence, Nonviolence? is addressing Sartre introduction to Fanon?s book "The Wretched of the Earth?, and how Sartre and Fanon use the pronoun "you? differently in their mode of address.

Can The Market Speak?, 2012, Campbell Jones ?We don?t all have to think the same way, but we do need to clarify whether we are heading in the same direction.?

Alicia Garza, From Hashtag to Strategy: The Growing Pains of BLM, 2015

by Todd Ayoung What do I mean by a "mode of address?? This notion from Judith Butler?s "Black Lives Matter? New York Times interview, and her essay "Violence, Nonviolence?, reflections on Sartre?s introduction to Fanon?s 1961 book "The Wretched of the Earth?.

A mode of address is a form of speaking out, an enactment of a "social constitution of ontology? according to Judith Butler. This social constitution of ontology, of a mode of re- directing, demanding, and as a result a placeholding.

Who is this "you? Sartre is addressing and who is this "you? Fanon is addressing?

What Would MLK JR Say Today? (Ballpoint pen on sketch paper. 2014) By Todd Ayoung After Occupied was policed away from Wall Street proper, Occupied found another placeholding close by, this time the public privatized Zuccotti Park, before OWS?s mode of address eventually proliferated globally.

Black Lives Matter evolved through a mode of expression and virtual placeholding, after being platformed on social media through hashtag #BlackLivesMatter in 2012, as a response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman murdering of black teen Trayvon Martin, in Florida. This placeholding originated in most cases, in spatially black dominant communities (BLM started in Oakland CA, as did the Black Panthers), and is speaking to the historical systemic violence, in the US, directed at African American bodies.

What results from this re- directing, demanding and place holding, in both cases is a configuration of a mode of expression. For "Occupied? was a temporary nomadic global placeholding, to draw attention to a mode of political economic This enacts two anchors to begin our inequality, inherent globally in capitalism. For Black Lives discussion: form giving as a re- directing, and a Matter, this re- directing, demanding and placeholding, also demand to open a placeholding as locational. spatially emerging globally, draws attention to a mode of This notion of a mode of address and place in- existence, an un- livable existence (Homo Sacer) in the United holding employed by Black Lives Matter, in States, where black bodies, since chattel slavery, are expendable 2012, was also employed by the Occupied Wall at the hands of a militarized, predominantly white police force, Street movement in 2011. What are some and where black and brown bodies are the majority incarcerated similarities and differences between the two through a "New Jim Crow? (Michelle Alexander?s New Jim Crow: movements? Like BLM, in the wake of OWS Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, 2010) political demanded political horizontality, as initially economic policy, that emerged after the old Jim Crow policies modeled after the egalitarian possibilities of from 1877 ended in the mid 1960?s. social media. OWS in actuality, unlike BLM initially, was a placeholding of the NYC Tal king Back financial district, or a place of symbolic financial power: Wall Street.

Talking back is form giving as re- directing, demanding, and how

Nested within this "you? is also the question of violence. For Sartre violence by the colonized is justified because of the violence acted upon the colonized by the colonizer. For Sartre the violence of the colonized is a mirroring back of the violence of the system of chattel slavery and racism, and ultimately the violence of being colonized.

For Fanon, violence is not just an absorption of violence practiced by the colonizer that is thrown back, but also a "pycho- affectivity?, an investigation into the ontology of the colonizer/ colonizer dialectic, which can be a kind of violence towards the difficult process of self emancipation. So even though Fanon does not picture violence as Sartre seems too, as somewhat deterministic, Fanon does engage with violence as a cathartic instrument in the forward movement to social revolution. ?Each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it, in relative opacity.?

The Wretched of The Earth, 1961 Frantz Fanon. ?O my body, make of me always a man who questions!"

Black Skin White Mask, 1952 by Franz Fanon

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We Speak, You l ist en I attended a Black Lives Matter rally in downtown Ithaca, New York this summer.

There was a large turnout with lots of pre- made signs for the participants. Some signs simply read "Black Lives Matter?, others directly questioned police violence in general. Another sign brought up a specific case around a police killing of a black man in Ithaca, and other signs spoke to incidents of excessive use of force by the police. At this rally and others I have witnessed African- Americans or people of color, were given a the platform to talk back, pushing white folks into the position of being active listeners. In fact there was no opportunity throughout the evening rally in Ithaca for white opinions or verbal acts of solidarity. White bodies were allowed and needed, but their individual voices were secondary.

This type of format in Black Lives Matter where whites are asked to position themselves only as allies is important. This differs from the Black Panther Party movement where whites could not join, but could be allies outside the group. In the Black Lives Matter movement, many white allies, at lease initially, were involved in organizing with blacks, but their voices in public space become secondary. Whites in public space are positioned as active listeners/ allies only, whereas folks of color are the speakers. This was also evident at an Occupy Black Lives Matter intervention I happened to witness on my way out of Church Ave train station one night in Brooklyn. In this case, whites were in a call and response line on the sidewalk with folks of color doing the repeated vocal mega phone action occupy became well known for, as two African American male individuals initiated a call of remembrance/ justice for Kyam Livingston?s wrongful death, which happened while she was in police custody in 2013.

This brings us back to Judith Butler?s essay on violence, non- violence. Fanon?s "The Wretched of the Earth? the mode of address is directed at black bodies, whereas Sartre?s introduction to the book, his mode of address is directed to white Europeans. Sartre?s encourages the Europeans to listen carefully, but not to assume that these black bodies give a damn what Europeans think. This is not unlike the Black Panther movement, which

started in October 1966 in Oakland, California, or Stokely Carmichael?s summation of what was taking place in black America, as "Black Power?.

"She (white ally and activist) broke down a system that allows black infant babies to die at twice the rate of white ones. A system that expels black kids from school at five times the rate of white kids. A system where

Erik Gobel from Danish Shipping Along The Triangular Route, 1671- 1802 I started off with this quote not to create what we call in the US "white guilt?, with regards Danish involvement in the European slave trade, but to re- cite what Franz Fanon calls the formation of a "historical racial schemata?. A good example of this is from Fanon?s first book "Black Skin,White Masks?, 1952, where Fanon recalls a personal incident as a new immigrant arrival walking the streets of France.

A child points a finger at him, saying to the mother, "look a negro, I am frightened?. How does this mode of speech from a white French child inscribe black and brown bodies, not only singularly, but historically? Can we say following Fanon's lead, that today?s "Clash of Civilizations?, with regards migrants or refugees, is the result of a historical cultural, religious schemata?

If this question is relevant to the current Danish, or maybe European continental context generally, then what Birgitta Frello, the Danish Scholar writes in her essay Dark Blood, 2010, on the 2005 Danish documentary "Slaves In the Family?, that "It can BLM, (Ballpoint pen on sketch paper. 2014), By Todd Ayoung be argued that in Denmark the racialize Other is not black. He is Muslim?. So how or when did the Muslim black teenagers are more likely to die than graduate from college. A system where police kill black people 21 become "racialize?? times more often than white people. And a system that cages more black men today than were in bondage during slavery.?

It Took Me Years to Believe That Black Lives Matter.

Now Here?s What I Need From You , Yes Magazine Oct 16, 2015

Under Decol onizat ion "Denmark shipped around 100,000 enslaved Africans across the Atlantic from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries. This traffic made up almost 1% of the total transatlantic slave trade, which is assessed at 12.5 million persons from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

During the period from the 1660s to 1802, or the time when the Danes participated in the trade, their share amounted to a little more than 2% of all slaves embarked in Africa for the Caribbean."

To continue Birgitta Frello declaration she writes: "Although visual difference does count when it comes to identifying Danish-ness, the bodily signs of difference that are most often designated as markers of a threatening otherness are not primarily "African?, but rather signs that can be read as "Muslim?.

Hence, the main issue in terms of purity and contamination is not "race?, but "culture? ? or rather "religion?, which then, in its turn, is racialize: it is read on the surface of the bodies of its carriers.?

Can we see how Fanon?s notion is echoed by Frello in this quote, that is, how black or brown bodies are inscribed through race historically in this statement?

Continued on page 10

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Frello?s analysis is based on the distinction between the notion of "liberal hybridity?, which "essentializes? the mixture of "races?, in the Danish slavery and colonial context of black and white, and "hybridity as displacement?, which re- sites not only the history of slavery and colonialism, but also locates how power relations are translated through cultural and religious, social and nationalist configurations, creating the racialized other from "African? to the Muslim.

Making this distinction she then goes on to say that the documentary "Slaves in the Family?, although allowing Danes to acknowledge, even romanticize, that their "kinship? homogeneity is questionable. "We are all immigrants? as the film director when promoting his documentary, as regards the mixing of the blood of African slaves and the Danish slavers.

"Slaves in the Family?, does not bring into question the current economic, social power relationships created in the wake of slavery and colonialism. So in the Danish context today, you may be all immigrants, but some of you more so than others, meaning, to use a notion from psychoanalysis Erik H. Erikson, we have two constructions of "pseudo- speciations,? one more culturally, politically, religiously and nationally powerful than the other.

To continue with this thought regarding "pseudo- speciations?, or as Huey P. Newton, (Black Panther Party) would put it, a form of "reactionary intercommunalism?, which today could be a kind of Capitalist globalization. In Susan Buck- Morss?s book Hegel, Haiti and Universal History, Buck- Morss quotes the Trinidad historian Eric Williams?book Capitalism and Slavery, that "Slavery was not born of racism; rather, racism was a consequence of slavery?. Buck- Morss goes on to state that given the consequence of slavery, "Europeans built conceptual barriers of difference in the form of spatial distinctions between nation and colonies, a racialized distinction of Negro slavery, and legal distinctions as to the protection of persons, in order to segregate free Europe from colonial practices.?

As regards Danish involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. I wonder what other factors besides having difficulties navigating the seascape around Denmark, to the Africa coast, discontinued the Slave trade in 1802?

Denmark being the first European nation to abolish slave trading is admirable given the capitalist profits involved, but the essay by

Erik Gobel regarding Danish involvement in the slave trade, only lays out the historical mathematics and pragmatic difficulties the Danes encountered, but does not hint at any Danish ethical dis- engagement with slavery as a practice, like the old Testament injunction: "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute?(Prov. 31: 8).?

From what I have read and viewed on the Internet, the most recent Danish installment regarding the European slave trade, the film Guldkysten, 2015 (Gold Coast) loosely based on the actual diary of a Jewish Dane, fictively, romantically, if ambiguously unfolds Denmark?s recent attempt to come to terms, dis- engagement with it?s past slavery days.

One news report on Guldkysten, voicing astonishment, revelations of Denmark?s role in the Atlantic slave trade, has a Ghanian man involved with the film, stating that the slave trade also has to be blamed on African chiefs too. This inserted speech act by a black African to the realities of Danish slavery, allows the white viewer an escape route, for Denmark?s past and present responsibilities for the cruelties of chattel slavery. presented at Danish Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2015

Ref erences:

Sticker created by Todd Ayoung for Artist of Color Bloc for Brooklyn Museum Anti-gentrification and displacement summit, summer, 2016

http:/ / inthesetimes.com/ article/ 18394/ from- hashtag- to- strategy- the- growing- pains- of- black- lives- matter What?s Wrong With ?All Lives Matter?? by George Yancy and Judith Butler THE STONE, New York Times, January 12, 2015 Danish Shipping Along The Triangular Route, 1671- 1802: Voyages and conditions on board

by Eril Gobel. Scandinavian Journal of History Vol.36 No. 2 may 20111. pp. 136- 155 Violence, NonViolence: Sartre and Fanon by Judith Butler from Race After Sartre: Antiracism, Africa Existentialism, PostColonialism 2008 Edited by Jonathan Judaken Endangered/ Endangering: Schematic Racism and White Paranoia by Judith Butler from Reading Rodney King:Reading Urban Uprising, 1993 Edited by Robert Gooding- Williams In Search of Common Ground: Conversations with Erik H. Erikson & Huey P. Newton, 1973 We Can?t Address the EU Refugee Crisis Without Confronting Global Capitalism by Slavoj Zizek InThese Times, September 9, 2015 https:/ / www.theguardian.com/ us- news/ ng- interactive/ 2015/ jun/ 01/ the- counted- police- killings- us- database http:/ / variety.com/ 2015/ film/ festivals/ gold- coast- review- 1201537926/ http:/ / guldkysten.com/ en/ history https:/ / vimeo.com/ 118699931

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O neYear After TheStateO f Emergency:Flint Still DoesNot HaveCleanDrinkingW ater

By Dubian Ade

It has been about a year since news of brown-yellow water and widespread lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan broke national news. For three weeks stories of the crisis were all over the news stream. People sent thousands of cases of bottled water to Flint. Then, just as quickly as it came, national outrage dissipated.

One year later not much has changed in Flint, Michigan. The water is still undrinkable. People are still relying on bottled water. Governor Rick Snyder is still in office. Governor Rick Snyder still has yet to be prosecuted.

Residence are still suffering from high levels of lead poisoning. All the water pipes still have yet to be replaced.

The decision was made in April, 2014 to change the city?s water source from the Detroit River to the Flint River.

Rick Snyder was directly implicated in the decision, which was supposed to cut water costs for the city. The corrosive Flint water caused erosion of the City?s major pipe systems and increased the lead levels in the drinking water. When residents complained of foul-smelling and discolored water, high levels of chlorine was added to improve the smell and kill off bacteria (high levels of chlorine have been associated with cancer).

Snyder and other government officials claimed that the water switch was for financial reasons. Yet the City was only saving $100.00 a month using Flint water. The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department actually offered the City a 50% reduction in prices if Flint remained with Detroit water sources. Snyder refused the plan which could have saved Flint $800 million. The switch occurred amid

protests and was undemocratically decided by Governor Rick Snyder.

Snyder, who has personal stock in Nestle, made the decision for his personal benefit at the expense of the people of Flint. Nestle is the largest private owner of water sources in Michigan and the largest water bottling company in the world. Nestle pumps 200 gallons of fresh water a minute out Michigan water reserves to be sold as bottled water. In 2016 in the face of the Flint water crisis it was announced that Nestle is waiting for permits that would nearly triple its water extraction. The permits, which have already been approved by the State of Michigan, would allow Nestle access to 100 million gallons of ground water for just 200 dollars a year. The company receives 13 million in tax breaks from the state of Michigan to continue water extractions. The current demand for bottled water in Flint, Michigan has allowed Nestle to make a small fortune off the crisis. Snyder?s chief of staff Dennis Muchmore had close ties with Nestle and was very involved in the decisions to make the switch. His wife, Deb Muchmore is actually the Michigan spokesperson for Nestle company.

For two years Snyder was made aware of the growing public health crisis and made no attempt to stop it. When reports came back of hundreds of water-related illnesses and growing lead levels in children, Snyder finally issued a state of emergency in December, 2015.

The water has caused skin lesions, hair loss, chemical-induced hypertension, vision loss and depression. A rise in Legionnaires disease has been linked to the contaminated water. Severe diarrhea and dehydration has also been linked to the water. The effects of lead poisoning in children are already causing developmental defects and brain damage.

The City?s water source was quickly switched back to the Detroit River. Yet the corroded pipes still make the water unsafe to drink. Despite this fact, Flint officials continue to lie to residents about the water being safe to drink. Commercials have been running encouraging residents to drink the water. Obama even paid a visit to Flint and drank water that was claimed to be filtered Flint water to get citizens to use the water again.

But the water is clearly still poisonous. To add insult to injury, Flint residence are still paying monthly water bills for contaminated water, even though no one is actually using the water. Bottled water is used for everything and has made it extremely difficult for residence to perform everyday tasks such as cook, wash hands, and bathe. People are eating less because the water it takes to cook cuts into their water allowances. Outbreaks of bacterial diseases have been widespread because of people not being able to wash their hands properly.

On the Northside of Flint, which is mostly Black, water pipes are so corroded that they are leaking. Black families on the Northside need immediate assistance yet have been largely abandoned by city officials. Some Black families have been forced to pay enormous sums for their own pipe repairs, while some are still waiting for major pipeline replacements to be done. The Water Department has forced these residence to pay water utility bills. For many residence, the contaminated water costs more that rent.

Flint residence have had to walk long distances to get water allowances. Elderly and differently-abled people who are unable to make the trip have to have their water allowances delivered to them. The State of Michigan has repeatedly refused to deliver water to residence because of the high cost they claim will be involved. A federal court judge ordered Michigan to provide water delivery to residence, yet nothing has been done.

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CuffingO r Survival:ThePoliticsO f Cuffing Season St ruct ures of Surviving: Love, Emot ional Labor and Sex Work

By Jia Justice "I?m getting married! I proposed to him! ?, Mercedes said to me as we appreciated the warmth of NYC night in early Fall right after we had enjoyed a Fashion Week function together. My emotions swirled between joy, shock and absolute terror like the Brooklyn Cyclone Coaster at Coney Island.

My friend, Mercedes, is marrying the same boyfriend who 3- 4 months ago she was "plotting her escape" from.

This is the same fiancĂŠe she described as overwhelming her with the bulk of emotional labor in their relationship which had put a crushing effect on her mental health. Mercedes was absorbing all the stress her partner brought home from his demanding job as a Wall Street banker.

The emotional labor/ domestic labor women/ femmes perform is often undervalued and uncompensated. Mercedes is a West Coast transplant in NYC pursuing her Master?s degree from a working class/ poor Mexican- American family.

While Mercedes never characterized her boyfriend as abusive, 70%of victims of psychological abuse suffer from PTSD. Her facial expression seemed blank, aloof and anxious as she relayed details of their struggle. I could sense the agony it was causing her feeling so stuck in this situation. Mercedes simply wanted to find a new job that would empower her to afford new housing in addition to leaving her boyfriend. I frantically sent her web links to job openings. She promised me she would be fine.

I needed to be thoughtful about the way I reacted to the news of her engagement. I had considered Mercedes a very good friend. Her bright smile and palpable joy illuminated the night sky like Macy?s Fourth of July fireworks. I wanted her to savor this exciting milestone in her life but more so wanted to protect her. I am so proud of her as a millennial feminist Latina cis hetero woman of color defying patriarchal structures by proposing to her life partner.

"So? .Remember all those concerns you share me about him awhile ago? " On average Latinas are paid 45%less than white non- Latino men. Minimum wage in NYC is $11 hourly. The more realistic national minimum living wage is estimated to be $20+ hourly.

The median cost of housing in Manhattan is $3,1114 and $2,607. The cost of living in New York City increased more than 23%in just 5 years from 2009 to 2014. New York residents spend nearly 70%of the median income for rent.

With New Year?s eve out of the way and cupids arrow on the horizon, cuffing season, has almost reached it?s climax. It?s safe to say f you haven?t found a bae by now it won?t happen at all this time.

"Yeah, you know things have changed. That was just a hard moment in our relationship.?

The term derives from African American Vernacular English or Ebonics. The cultural contributions of Black youth to America as well as internationally are so often overlooked and uncredited.

Mercedes ?s experience isn?t different from my other QPoC friends, all of whom have traveled to NYC to pursue their education. Each one of them is surviving on the wealth accumulated from their partner?s access to white privilege or male privilege.

Andre, my Black sexually fluid non- binary masc friend, lives with their white passing male partner, Steve. Steve?s upper middle class West Coast family assisted them in securing a renovated apartment in Manhattan.

Sacred, my Black bisexual cis woman Californian friend, shares her apartment with her boyfriend.

His family?s excellent credit was a major factor for them successfully securing their home.

Sacred sometimes stays in their relationship when the two of them are on the verge of a break up to avoid disrupting their housing situation.

Generally, LGBT households earn up to 70%less than their heterosexual counterparts. Lesbian couples especially lesbian Latina and Black women experience double the wage gap and up to $1 million in lost wages over their career.

Each one of my friends has expressed fear of becoming housing insecure if they leave their partner because they happen to be miles away from their hometown . Luckily, Andre, Sacred and Mercedes have families to return to if their living arrangement gets rocky. In 2016, There were as many as 60,000 people in 274 shelters operating in NYC for people who had limited resources to fall back on.

If we?re maintaining a relationship for housing and/ or income, is it then called survival not commitment? Is it less about love or more so for the purpose of preventing our own housing insecurity? If being together is not for love, Can it be consider subset of sex work?

Net f l ix + Oxyt ocin: Why We Cuf f When We Cuf f The cultural phenomenon of cuffing season is the short period that stretches over the Fall/ Winter holiday period that from Halloween to Valentine?s Day like a seductive bod- con dress.

Cuffing season is a social and scientific phenomenon. Seasonal depression also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder sets in during the colder month. A chiller climate forces us to spend most of our hours indoors with limited sunlight. Oxytocin is a ?feel good? hormone that produces the same sensations of pleasure in the brain as a dosage of cocaine would. It is released through bonding, child birth or sex. More children are conceived in America during this term than any other time in the year. Winter holidays are a time that society and other families members may put pressure on us to be in at this time.

Cuf f ing Under Trump?s America 25 million Americans lose their health care, as affordable housing becomes more folklore than fact. As living wage is uncertain under Trump?s America, survival sex or survival relationships will rise. These changes will impact low- income and other marginalized groups the most.

Sex work may become a lot more commonplace.There is a plot twist however, Trump?s transition team includes Vice President Mike Pence, who is anti- abortion, anti- Planned Parent, anti- Transgender bathroom protection, and anti- birth control contraceptives.

This leaves sex workers or any human capable of reproducing at risk if they are assaulted or contraceptives fail. Safety net programs like Medicaid, Food Stamps and Section 8 are highly likely to be cut or disposed of all together. When there is nothing to fall back on and survival is at stake, bigger risks are taken.

*All names have been changed to protect privacy.*

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DeclonizingCulture Bookof themonth:

Artist of themonth: ToddAyoung

M inimanual Of The Ur ban Guer r illa

Originally born in Trinidad and Tobago, W.I., and educated in the United States,Todd Ayoung is a multi-media visual artist specializing in two and three-dimensional design.

Carlos Marighella (5 December 1911 ? 4 November 1969), was a Brazilian Marxist revolutionary and writer. Marighella's most famous contribution to guerrilla literature was the Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, consisting of advice on how to disrupt and overthrow an authoritarian regime aiming a revolution. He also wrote For the Liberation of Brazil. The theories laid out in both books have greatly influenced contemporary ideological activism. Unlike Che Guevara, who proposed guerrilla activity in the countryside, Marighela's theories on urban guerrilla warfare envisaged cities as the source of rebellion.

Todd has exhibited in museums and galleries in Denmark, Austria, Belgium, England, Holland, Colombia, Costa Rica, and throughout the United States. His artwork has been published in THIRD TEXT, Front 3, Fredag, New York Talk, DOCUMENTS, Bomb Magazine, Kyoto Journal, Semiotext(e), Found Object, Art Journal, New Observations, Social Text, ARTBAR, Artworld Digest Magazine and Shifter Magazine. http://toddayoung.com/ www.carlosandrade.info

Filmof themonth: Thomas Sankar a: The Upr ight M an Sankara, a charismatic army captain, came to power in Burkina Faso, in 1983, in a popularly supported coup. He immediately launched the most ambitious program for social and economic change ever attempted on the African continent. To symbolize this rebirth, he even renamed his country from the French colonial Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, 'Land of Upright Men.' As soon as he took office, he reduced the salaries of all public servants, including his own, and forbade the use of chauffeur-driven Mercedes and 1st class airline tickets. Like many revolutionary leaders, he banned unions, a free press, anything which might stand in the way of his plans for the immediate and radical transformation of society.

W ordof themonth: Post-Colonial This month's word is Post-Colonial.

Post-Colonial (adj): Of or describing the conditions of a former colonized territory after the colonizers have formally "left". Also describes a field of academic study that focuses on such conditions of the former colony and the affects of colonialism on the social, political, and cultural fabric of the newly emerging independent state. Post-colonialism is said to be a largely empty term, since the colonizing power in most cases only reconfigures the power relationships present during formal colonization (neo-colonialism), and controls via capitalist coercion and puppet government officials.

Post-Colonial in a sentence: Many argue the term post-colonialism is a fallacy that assumes decolonization is complete when colonial relationships have yet to change.

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HowTo's HowtoInciteARiot The riot is a technology of collective dissent against a regime or power structure in which a people explode into civil unrest. Whether spontaneous or planed, the riot has been used throughout history as a tool to release built-up frustration, bring awareness to ignored grievances, and inflict large-scale property damage. It ignites once the people have been pushed to their limits and cannot contain their rage any longer.

At surface-level it may appear that a riot is a reactionary response of the people, but in many instances it is used in incredibly strategic ways. The principal objective is to destroy as much property as possible, especially that belonging to wealthy landowners, colonizers and the elite. In communities of color property damage is often done to gentrifiers and incoming businesses in order to forestall gentrification.

In metropolitan areas where many big-time multinational corporations are located, a riot can cause major losses for capitalist enterprise. In occupied areas a riot can displace settlers and destroy colonial interests. In areas where there are state or governmental buildings, a riot can hinder the function of governmental structures and may even shut them down. Riots can even be coordinate with other actions such as strikes or guerrilla campaigns.

Looting is also a common objective during a riot and is done to bring resources back into the hands of the people. For poor communities of color looting is both logical and necessary for survival. Looting functions in two ways: it harms the capitalist target and extracts resources that can be used for the betterment of the people.

Riots are still unpredictable and if one breaks out in the wrong area it can be disastrous for the people. Damage to poor neighborhoods should be avoided at all cost. Intense military repression should always be expected and precautions should be taken. People can die during a riot and the inciting of one should never be taken lightly.

Step 1: Popular Discontent A riot can only spark if there is a significant amount of discontent among the people.

Observe how much anger there is and whether it is at a palpable level. If necessary, you may have to increase the anger by distributing pamphlets/zines or organizing a traditional protest or escalation campaign. If there are not enough people angry enough to riot you will be an easy target for the pigs.

Step 2: Location, Location, Location Where the riot takes place will ultimately determine its effectiveness. Location is one of the most important factors to consider when inciting a riot because the area of the riot is the area where the most damage is done. You will want to coordinate so that the riot destroys as much of the target's property as possible, while inflicting the least amount of damage to surrounding neighborhoods and residential areas. Often times riots that occur in poor neighborhoods of color are never repaired by the government and experience further decline. Riots that occur in metropolitan areas will experience increased repression and surveillance. Come up with a list of key areas where rioting should take place that will inflict maximum damage to those in power.

Step 3: Logistics Most riots occur spontaneously and organically once the necessary pieces are in place. If you are planing to incite a riot it is still helpful to plan logistics and details. For instance, you may have the intention of joining a protest already in progress for the purpose of starting a riot. If so, be sure to track the route of the protest to make sure it crosses through those key target areas where rioting would be desirable. If not, plan to head the protest in order to re-route its direction. Most riots occur during street protests and are good vehicles for setting up a riot. You might even organize a street protest of your own with the intention of inciting the riot. In both cases it will be very helpful to you if you have a group of comrades who are in on starting the riot. They can spread themselves out among the crowd and coordinate when to escalate the action that will spark the riot. Discuss and plan these details as necessary.

Step 4: Preparation There will be police and military repression during the riot. If there isn't chances are you have done something wrong. For this reason it is important to be as prepared as possible. Tear gas, sound grenades, rubber bullets and water cannons will likely be used. You will want to wear clothing that you wont mind disposing of and that can easily come off of your body. Do not wear contacts or makeup. Wear a ski mask or gas mask if applicable. Turn location off on your phone, take the battery out or leave it at home altogether. Write the phone number of legal assistant on your arm if applicable. You will want to bring milk, Maalox, or water to treat eye irritation caused by tear gas. Bring Molotov cocktails.

Step 5: Inciting The Riot A volatile or climatic rising action done by members in the crowd is what usually begins the riot. This could be anything from the first brick being thrown to a dramatic scuffle with police. If you have planned before hand, you may introduce the rising action yourself when it is appropriate.

After the rising action anything can happen, so timing is everything.

There will be agent provocateurs among the crowd. Be on alert.

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BRIEFHISTO RIES:TheAlgerianRevolution

By Dubian Ade The story of the French colonization of Algeria begins with Napoleon's 1798 invasion of Egypt. Napoleon made a deal with two merchants in Algeria, who loaned him grain to feed his troops. After the campaign in Egypt failed, Napoleon refused to pay back the merchants.

Tensions between France and Algeria (then a territory of the Ottoman Empire) persisted until 1827. The Ottoman Dey of Algiers called on the French government to repay the loans and met with French council Pierre Deval to resolve the issue. But during the meeting Deval repeatedly refused to discuss the loans, dismissed and belittled the Dey until out of anger, the Dey struck the French council on the head with his fly- whisk.

The so- called "fly- whisk incident" had bruised French egoism and caused general national embarrassment, especially in the eyes of other European powers. Though the Dey had insisted he meant no disrespect to the French government, the French promptly severed all diplomatic ties with the region and the French Navy moved in to blockade the port at Algiers. When the Dey responded by firing onto the ships, the French, seeking to restore national morale and distract its citizens from its domestic issues at home, prepared for conquest.

Despite Algerian resistance, the French defeated the forces on July 4th, 1830 and captured the city of Algiers. From the beginning the Algerians resisted colonization. Berber and Arab resistance in western parts of the region forestalled the French intrusion for nearly 30 more years.

One key leader was Abd al- Qadir who managed to unite the Arabs and Berber confederacies into a stronghold that controlled nearly two- thirds of unoccupied land in Algeria. France signed the Treaty of Tafna in 1837 which allowed the group territorial autonomy, but subsequently broke the treaty for more land grabs.

French scorched earth campaigns viciously burned people alive, destroyed crops and livestock. Whole villages were burned to the ground. In 1857 the French defeated the last of the Berber confederacies.

The colonial administration in Algeria was an excessively military regime. The arrangement quickly facilitated the influx of French settlers. From 1830 to 1940 at least 8.64 million acres of Algerian land was confiscated by the colonial government and redistributed to European settlers.

Vast amounts of land were converted into settler property or used for commercial agriculture.

Algerian guerrilla warfare the primary method of struggle for Algerian independence.

The land seizures displaced thousands of Indigenous Algerians and destroyed the traditional agrarian economy in the countryside which depended on the production of grain. The colonizers' activities and mismanagement of the lands brought on a terrible famine in 1869 and a number of plagues that claimed the lives of countless indigenous Algerians. Within a 40 year period after the French conquest their numbers dropped from 3 million to 1 million people.

FNL tactics included the planting of bombs in areas heavily populated by European settlers. In retaliation, French troops set out to kill thousands more Muslims in a "tit- for- tat" policy that exposed the full barbarism of the colonial regime. The FNL's use of violence against French colonialism was most famously theorized by Martinique psychologist Frantz Fanon. Fanon's work documenting the revolutionary struggle in Algeria has become essential text for anticolonial movements all over the globe.

The widespread starvation suffered by the Native peoples of Algeria was exacerbated by France's continued extraction of Algerian grain for war and refusal to replenish grain reserves. This sparked the 1871 Kabylie uprising, which was violently suppressed by French forces and used to justify accelerated settler expansion. A system of colonial apartheid of Muslims was further instated by the colonial administration. The Code de Indigenat essentially permitted Muslims full French citizenship only if they renounced their faith. This did not change until a proclamation made by France in 1947.

A number of pro- nationalist groups began emerging in Algeria in the first half of the 20th century including the Young Algerians, and even the Etoile Nord- Africaine founded by Emir Khalid, grandson of Abd al- Qadir. The Parti du peuple algerien or Algerian Peoples Party (PPA) was founded by Messali Hadj and was dissolved in 1939. The 1943 Manifesto of the Algerian People was written by Ferhat Abbas and made calls for an independent Algeria. But it was the Setif Massacre of May 8, 1945 that pushed the fragmented nationalist parties towards armed movement. The French troops along with settler vigilante groups killed an estimated 6,000 people within a five day period following a celebration march that ended in violent clashes with Muslims and police. Other estimates have the number around 45,000 people.

The Organisation Speciale (Special Organisation) was formed in 1947 in direct response to the massacre and took a hard- line towards armed guerrilla movement. The OS was forcefully disbanded by French police in 1951. Its surviving membership formed the Revolutionary Committee of Unity and Action (CRUA), which was seceded a year later in 1954 by the Front de Liberation National (FLN).

On November 1, 1954 the FLN coordinated a number of attacks on the colonizers throughout Algeria, officially beginning the liberation struggle. The group was originally led by six nationalist: Rabah Bitat, Didouche Mourad, Mostefia Ben Boulaid, Krim Belkacem, Mohamed Boudiaf, and Larbi Ben M'hidi.

The FNL was able to consolidate the fractured Algerian nationalist groups, absorb them, and make

As the struggle intensified, the requirements of the guerrilla movement saw the transformation of the traditional Algerian family structure, the depositioning of men and the repositioning of the indigenous Algerian woman as the central actor in the revolution. The movement relied heavily on women to transport resources, equipment, and explosives through French colonial checkpoints undetected. Militant women fought alongside male combatants, performed assassinations, and conducted acts of revolutionary terrorism. It was the bombs planted in settler Algiers by three Muslim woman combatants Djamila Bouhired, Zohra Drif and Samia Lakhdari, which began the the Battle of Algiers on September 30, 1956.

The important Battle of Philippeville a year earlier had destroyed all hope of settler reconciliation.

The failed attempt by the FNL to take over the town resulted in the disgustingly indiscriminate executions of Muslims by the French military and settler militia Pied-noirs and only justified the guerrilla's continued use of violence. A general strike was organized by the FLN. By the 1956 bombings, French police had been escalating its torture and interrogation methods.

The French utilized torture tactics as well as settler paramilitary groups and Muslim loyalists to level a crushing military response. Covert intelligence missions conducted by infiltrators caused confusion and suspicion among FNL members, resulting in combatants killing eachother.

Though the French were able to end FNL bombing operations via execution and imprisonment, it was not enough to convince French administrators that Algeria could be won. The people of Algeria showed a determination to fight even in the face of the most brutal of colonial repressions. In 1959 leader of France Charles de Gaulle, announced to the horror of the French Algerian military, that continued French rule was unattainable. Negotiations concluded in 1961 and on July 1, 1962 a referendum was held in Algeria to approve of the Evian Agreements an establish Algerian independence.

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DecolonizingVoices Tabl e of Cont ent s

By Joel Salcido

I speak Spanish with an accent and don?t suffer from orgullo that keeps secrets hidden in the back of the refrigerator like last week?s frijoles,

as if my mustache weren?t the natural bowtie of Cantiflas, sparse like carne stuffed in a tamal, as if my nariz weren?t prominent, a nopal growing on my face holding up my glasses, as if my eyes weren?t the Earth brown of Oaxaca? molĂŠ deep, stewing out from a Maya balaclava,

so I wrap my failures in the warmth of a tortilla slathered with mantequilla to make it easier to swallow, letting memories soak like arroz for horchata stirred with canela to wash down the bitterness, but my hopes are mangoes swimming in sal y limon, patiently listening for the horn of the elotero like the trumpets of revelation, my insecurity is aceite frying chicharrones cracking loudly like abuela?s disapproval, huevos anointed in the neighborhood?s molcajete, grinding out the sweetness like tomatillos for salsa, boiling it all in a pot to make Chicano caldo.

Because baking under the Phoenix sun, hijo of a reformed mojado? can make anyone snap like a blackened tostada, charred but still burning inside.

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Gonzo Europe

By Joel Salcido

I. We shook fists at Columbus on the pier in Barcelona, as a toilet paper scarf whipped across his face and rubbed Mestizo beards walking hungry, day dreaming frijoles on the wharf.

We bowed our heads in the Parisian rain, breaking coded cigarette signals along the Seine, parleyed at Left Bank cafes sipping boldly, cursing like brown Henry Millers.

III. We the eloquent litter, tinder of trash can alleys, who talked shop-work poetry in the cardboard boxes of backyard parties always

We demanded Coronas in Munich praying for palm trees,

advocates for the infinite onwards.

burned rare Hash with Moroccans in Madrid contemplating God, wandered Hyde park high, witnessing poetry in the leaves, shivered in Amsterdam canals in an alchemy of smoke and fog.

In Maryvale apartments we stayed up spun bullshitting, listless while lusting for wander, articulating legs for escape from the drum of the sun,

We carried the weight of exceptionalism with American accents,

plotting the mental exchange to the Euro from the dollar.

watching the winter from train windows like frozen cactus.

When the summer burned the cactus to thirst, II.

we hallucinated Rimbaud winter, a dream of death

Dos nopalitos frozen on November trains,

in PĂŠre-Lachaise immortalized in dirt

smuggled between freight cars on clouds

hoping that the European chill would shape our breath.

of hash imported from African Spain.

A lighter shade of Brown, mouths Weighted with the understanding of the schism among us, wearing berets of smoke bumming frajos

the edge of our skin

in broken French, je ne sais que existentialist

shaking a fist at Columbus.

scanning the fog of CafĂŠ de Flore for the ghost of Sartre to ask about his treatise on Mexicans.

There was no Herrera in Shakespeare and Co. neon Berlin hotel closets held no promise of tortillas to wrap out the cold, jones for the caldo warmth of Phoenix in August

the city that burned through winters where alleys were trash cans brimming with tinder.

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Ent it l ement s

By Joel Salcido born anchored Brown on a red blue and White background demanding tio Karlos?Marxist dish of FREEjoles birth right apple PI three-point- one-four acres, and a burro afterlifetime supply of tortillas and fortune empanadas stuffed with Papeles, demanding a spaceship shaped like a sombrero fueled up to emigrate to Mexico and crash land on Tenochtitlan, a marijuana zarape star spangled banner, the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo sliced like Zig-Zags, demanding a resurrected Jesus backed by mariachi, Eucharist of pan dulce, and a thirty minute grace period for the Rapture, demanding Papa Pancho canonize 43 new saints and beatify every soul lost on the Frontera, leap year summer long siestas for all landscapers paid to let the grass grow like Whitman?s barba, A huelga in all restaurant kitchens until every chef is fluent in Spanish, overtime back pay for every limpieza who could clean everything except dirty looks, demanding the border patrol be armed with super soakers filled with tequila, convert ICE into an open tab cantina, build pools for every twenty mile stretch of the Sonoran desert, use the migra as a public shuttle service, put free chalupa ferry?s on the rio Grande drape a towel on wet backs like capes greet each arriving immigrant with cumbias, and dance them back Aztlan.

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af f irm:

By Zaira Gomez

affirm: i am my own. i want this ingrained in my head. i am my own. no one has control over my thoughts, how i feel. i am my own. my energy, my space. i am my own. say it. repeat it. believe it. i am my own. feel it. scream it. i am my own. pass it on. i am my own.

affirm: i opened my eyes. i survived another day. it was me. all me. it will always be me, it can only be me. celebrate that you're here. and rest knowing that it was me. all me.

affirm: break. unravel. come undone. once.twice.threetimes. break. unravel. come undone. continue. continue. continue.

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Col ored Peopl e Time Is Resist ance

By Jia Justice Colored People Time is resistance.

CPT is self care.

CPT is intuition; tapping into inner wisdom.

CPT is survival.

CPT is anti-colonial.

CPT is I had 5 responsibilities that day and I still showed up.

CPT is it took 2 hours by transportation to get to you but I came through.

CPT is I have socio-economic hardship, It makes it difficult to get here; systemic discrimination affects me daily CPT is I have a disability and I needed to take my time to get here.

CPT is I showed up to show maaaaad love even when I'm battling Depression and Anxiety.

CPT is I took a shower, ate, took the time to look and feel my best self ; I can be fully present and mentally sound.

CPT is I lost track of time.

CPT is I am fatigued.

Let us be gentle with each other. STFU about CPT. Thank you.

Your loving friend, Jia

Bl ack Hair, Whit e Gaze

By Jia Justice I want my naps to put fear in your heart I want how often I switch my style up From kinky to curly From Meek Mill braids to high buns From blonde to brown to Black To give you vertigo I want you to catch whiplash when I pull this Dominican Blow Out out the doubie I want you to bow to these peas in my kitchen I hope the smell of coconut oil and the sight of headwraps becomes triggering Betta not take every bend of my curls for granted I'll hold a moment of silence for the time you thought you could touch it I want you to become bothered by basic bitch aesthetics Take your white gaze off my hair

26

Zaira Gomez

27

Call For Submissions

The Decolonizer is looking for submissions! The subversive content we feature cuts across a variety genres including but not limited to essay, short-story, poetry, news articles, commentaries, reports, plays, excerpts and short fiction. We ask that they be no more than 1000 words although there is room for flexibility. Submissions that do not address race, class, gender, sexuality, or colonization will not be considered.

Please send all submissions to thedecolonizernewsletter@gmail.com or fill out the Submissions form on our website http:/ / www.thedecolonizer.com/ . We will then contact you to move forward with the submissions process.

TRACKTHE MO VEMENT February,2017 # NoDAP

# NoBanNoWall

Repression has escalated at Standing Rock since Trump's executive order to continue construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. Raids by riot police and BIA agents have resulted in the arrests of at least 70 people during the first week of February.

The U.S. Army Corps granted Energy Transfer Partners the last easement needed to complete construction of the pipeline.

Protest broke out across the United Snakes in response to the executive order, amounting to at least 50 actions nationwide. An action was even staged at Army Corps headquarters in New York City.

Protests popped up in U.S. airports across the country in response to the Trump executive order issued in late January preventing immigrants and refugees from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S.. Lawyers and legal advisors stationed themselves at travel gates hoping to help. Some protesters forced themselves between guards and detainees. Meanwhile, a number of protests broke out across United States as well as globally in opposition to the Trump Muslim ban and the proposed boarder wall. In Berlin, Germany over 1000 people marched in solidarity at the Brandenburg Gate, where the infamous Berlin Wall once stood.

# JusticePourTheo

# VaughnRebellion

Riots broke out in the suburbs of Paris, France in response to the beating and rape of a 22- year- old Black male by French police. On February 2nd a Black man identified only as Theo encountered police doing ID checks on a group of young people. When the police assaulted on of the persons, Theo intervened. He was then taken around the corner by police an brutally beaten by officers. One officer raped him with a police baton. Five days of rioting has resulted in 17 arrests. French riot police use live ammunition. Three of the officers involved were charged with aggravated assault and one charged with rape.

Prison inmates of the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Delaware launched a rebellion on February 1st to overtake the correctional facility in response to the rise of Trump in the White House. A statement issued by one inmate read "we know the institution is going to change for the worse. We have got some demands that you need to pay attention to". Inmates took five guards hostage and demanded better living conditions, a functional rehabilitation program, an education program, and full transparency of prison financial budgets. Three of the hostages were released. In the early hours of February 2nd police stormed the facility to end the stand- off. One guard was killed.

30

Special thankstoour contributing writers Zaira Gomez Joel Salcido Todd Ayoung Jia Justice Dubian Ade

THE DECOLONIZER gives a special thanks to @DecolonizingMedia for their continued coverage on issues regarding # indigenousliberation and for their righteous use of images. Their work continues to influence THE DECOLONIZER. Check out their work at http:/ / decolonizingmedia.tumblr.com/

Call For Submissions Do you have something to say with regards to race, class, gender, sexuality, and its intersections with colonialism today? Then we want YOU to write for THE DECOLONIZER! The subversive content we feature cuts across a variety genres including but not limited to essay, short-story, poetry, news articles, commentaries, reports, plays, excerpts and short fiction. We ask that they be no more than 1000 words although there is room for flexibility. Submissions that do not address race, class, gender, sexuality, or colonization will not be considered.

Please send all submissions to thedecolonizernewsletter@gmail.com or fill out the Submissions form on our website http:/ / www.thedecolonizer.com/ . We will then contact you to move forward with the submissions process.

Have a comment, suggestion or like what you see? Want to write a letter to the editor? Be sure to check us out at our website http:/ / www.thedecolonizer.com/ . For all other inquiries contact us at thedecolonizernewsletter@gmail.com. Letters to the editor may be featured in the next issue of THE DECOLONIZER.

Contact thedecolonizernewletter@gmail.com