My New Blog. I’m so glad QWB and I have an open relationship.

I have long been a movement critic, a partisan, always with something to complain about in terms of how the movement is run and the tactics it has or hasn’t employed. That tendency is likely to surface in the midst of this endeavor. But the main purpose is to put forward the alternatives that myself and others have been advocating for a long time that are now taking shape. It’s really a wonderful time to be a part of this movement; it is not hard to feel a re-awakening and a shift in movement politics. The time when a handful of groups and individuals can monopolize the direction of the movement is coming to a close.

Instead, new organizations like Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and Students for a Democratic Society (the latter of which I am a member) are changing the tone and dynamics of the movement, in ways that the heavyweights can’t ignore, and it’s amazing to see previously-immovable parties jump on the bandwagon (for whatever their reason might be). We have initiatives like the Port Militarization Resistance that have asserted their right to decide what will and will not pass through their community; the Bay Area group Direct Action to Stop the War has resurfaced 5 years after their amazing mass direct actions at the open of the war that shut down the city; IVAW has asserted itself in the movement and requested that their Winter Soldier hearings take precedent for the March war anniversary actions. This has forced the movement leadership to reassess the importance of the ritualistic permitted march and rally, and has also put military-based antiwar organizations at the center of the movement.

The list goes on, which is why this blog is necessary as a journal of praxis: the process of theorizing about tactics, and incorporating the results of those tactics back into your theory. Please post a link to the blog on your site and let all your friends know about it. I really want people to become contributors to this effort with their own writings, and to forward relevant materials to post. Here are some basic guidelines:

3 Comments »

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1. kerri:
   February 19th, 2008 @ 5:28 pm The title of this post gave me a much needed laugh.I’m going to go check out the blog now.
2. frank o’gorman:
   February 19th, 2008 @ 10:53 pm Kudos to m(A)tt for your intellect, ingenuity, activism and now, blog! richard:
3. richard:
   February 21st, 2008 @ 11:25 am Hi Matt
   The new blog looks terrific. Lots of good information and exciting things happening in the pursuit of stopping the war and bringing down the war mongers and hopefully the ruling class as well. Your graphic in my mind is excellent. I think of the man who stood in front of the tanks in Tinnenman Square a few years back. But know in the here and now we are a movement of many that seeks to get many more involved. As one lone man gets hauled away and only a few remember. Thanks Matt for making this information possible to all of us. I do hope that you will still send in some food for thought for the QWB blog.