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ESPECIFISTA Page 6 * Issue 1

Shifting Priorities
Brian White

Seen Avatar yet?


I think you should; unless you really really
don’t want to see or hear what is going on in the
minds of people who live in the first-world but op-
pose imperialism, genocide, white supremacy, and
environmental devastation.
Legal work and its relevancy to the direction of anarchist thought and action
And if you are allergic to watching white
people wrestle with whether or not to stand against Oakland police with an organized and intimidating pres-
white supremacist violence and colonialism, avoid ence.
this movie. However, the narrow scope presented by the current
It is a super duper
Lee Chen legal work seeks to observe but not to participate. The
close up of one white man
AVATAR main focus is to ensure the safety of activists and ac-
going through the angst and Movie Review countability of the police at rallies and demonstrations,
emotional turmoil of deciding It was the day of the Direction Action against but does not span further to build a mass movement.
to act against his people because they are acting the War. While staffing the legal hotline, I got the call to Without such a movement, how will we see an end to
like greedy murdering monsters. take down the information for Cindy Sheehan and oth- capitalism and enable us to build a new world based on
The fact that his decision to resist takes up ers who are attempting to get arrested. mutual aid and self-determination?
most of the movie is the biggest disappointment to As I took down their well-organized informa- The contrast was sharper at ‘Know your Rights’
me. The Na’vi (the “natives”) had to provide Jake tion, I thought of the time my friends and I were pulled trainings. It is ironic that the training was provided by
Sully (the “hero”) with food, shelter, protection, train- over by the Watsonville police for being a car full of peo- those who only interact with the police when they
ing, socialization, a very formal invitation into their ple of color. It’s not planned or voluntary. We didn’t ‘choose’ to. These trainings were given to people that
community, and marriage to their most powerful have the watchful eyes of legal observers to protect us, are targeted by the police because of their skin color,
young woman before he decided that he should stop nor resources to minimize our exposure to the criminal the neighborhood they live in, how they dress.
leading the charge to destroy them. legal system. By the virtue of these interactions, they are fa-
And then, the way he decides to help is to It was a very odd moment for me to hear miliar with how the police operate. Who should be
take control of the entire race of Na’vi and organize someone tell me that they are ‘trying’ to get arrested. teaching whom?
and lead their resistance to his people’s assault on I have participated in my share of street We need to switch our focus of activism to
their homes. protests and rallies, where I witness the insanity of the movement building. The main goal of the BPP was not
And yes, at the very end of the movie he police. Armed to the teeth, they never hesitate to un- just about confronting the police, but to build a move-
decides to permanently join the Na’vi community in leash massive amounts of violence on anyone who ment for the liberation of all oppressed people.
as real a way as he could, but it would be as their dared to cross their path. The patrol on the police was a part of their
leader and liberator… I also saw the aftermath, the legal ramifica- overall program. This strategy aided them to show other
…which is why I said that you should avoid tions, how it drained people and community resources. that people power will win over state power. Once they
Avatar if you have a sensitive gag reflex or any al- Engaging in legal work, I wanted to defend and preserve built a bond of trust with the community, they were able
lergies to watching white people working through the people’s right to protest, to help foster the growth of to organize successfully, building further their survival
their racism in front of you. One review of Avatar a mass movement. program.
asked “When will white people will stop making Legal, just as other work, should not be about As more people joined the BPP, the movement
movies like this?” holding the line, limited to ‘know your rights’ trainings, grew like wild fire across the county. Though it met its
I doubt it will end anytime soon. It is part of or making sure the police doesn’t get crazy at a protest. demise through many reasons, the impact they made is
trying to make sense of a legacy of white suprema- It is a tool for us to push back. undeniable.
cist genocide and conquest of land and people. But if our efforts go only toward symbolic Building a mass movement will be many years
It is really depraved to glorify annihilation protests and sporadic actions, the end product will not of work. It will mean patience, genuine struggles against
of people for profit, so most white people in the U.S. be a mass movement against capitalism. the state and institutions that uphold the current op-
have some sense that it was probably wrong to have Back in 1966, the Black pressive conditions.
killed the Indians, although some will defend it as Panther party decided to Building relationship with
necessary to fulfilling white people's manifest des- confront the ruthless- others, principled organizing, sup-
tiny back then (and now Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, ness of the police in porting others in their struggles,
Iran, Venezuela, etc.). West Oakland. continue to learn with each
Of those white people in the U.S. who ac- They used the other through study and in-
cept that it was wrong what we did to the indigenous law as a tool teraction. This means we
people of this hemisphere, we have the choice of to support do it all the time, not just
whether to commit ourselves to acting against white their organ- sometimes, for the rest
supremacy now. izing. The of our lives.
We can respect treaties and pay repara- Panthers Legal work should
tions to the people who we have stolen land from found a be focused on build-
and enslaved. We can join the fight to stop the dis- Califor- ing the power of the
possession and genocide of indigenous and colo- n i a people in challeng-
nized people here and around the world. statue ing the systems
That choice is what it means to be white in t h a t that exploit us. If
this country. And it is really uncomfortable to see the would our efforts go only
U.S. continue steamrolling down the same old path permit an toward symbolic
of conquest and plunder of people of color all over individual protests and sporadic
this planet via the U.S. military and economic insti- to carry a actions, the end prod-
tutions like the IMF, World Bank, WTO, NATO, and loaded gun in uct will not be a mass
Plan Colombia public as long movement against
So white folks who don't like colonialism as it was not con- capitalism.
and white supremacy love to fantasize about chal- cealed and did not
lenging "the man" and imperialism who serve up the have a bullet in the
blood money and protect the homeland... I definitely chamber. This enabled
do. them to start their patrol on the Illustration by Favianna Rodriguez
What makes me sad is that resistance to
genocide and imperialism rarely hits the big screen
and has to be masked in a sci-fi fantasy world rather
than showing the real people suffering right now and
Visit us online at:
what effective struggle for collective liberation looks
like.
The only action being suggested is to go
sit passively in a theater and sympathize with how
especifista.wordpress.com
hard it is for Jake Sully to decide whether to fight for
justice.

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