CHAZ started as a joke somebody spraypainted on some barricades the police left up, nobody ever expected it to last as long as it did, and it was far more successful at getting people to think about self-organization than anyone thought it would be.
didn't they battle in the streets for 8 consecutive nights until the cops basically gave up and left the precinct? At that point, someone wrote with sharpie on a police barricade but people also kinda started occupying the park immediately, no? Also, the No-Cop Coop sprang up pretty quickly.
I essentially agree with you on everything but the 'started as a joke'-part. I feel like it has been started by quite revolutionary and definitely intentional struggle
Oh, yeah. I mean CHAZ itself started as a joke. The actual struggle that lead to it was very real (and very cool). But nobody in the battle against the police leading up to it was aiming for an autonomous zone.
Would you say the people battling weren't necessarily fighting for anything but simply against police oppression? And when that oppression was gone, improvisation happened?
Not really, there've been pretty consistent demands (halve the SPD's budget) that still haven't been met.
The primary thrust of the protest is to move money from the police to social services. It's mostly not the radical anarchist vision of the future that CHAZ was.
CHAZ started as a joke somebody spraypainted on some barricades the police left up, nobody ever expected it to last as long as it did, and it was far more successful at getting people to think about self-organization than anyone thought it would be.
didn't they battle in the streets for 8 consecutive nights until the cops basically gave up and left the precinct? At that point, someone wrote with sharpie on a police barricade but people also kinda started occupying the park immediately, no? Also, the No-Cop Coop sprang up pretty quickly.
I essentially agree with you on everything but the 'started as a joke'-part. I feel like it has been started by quite revolutionary and definitely intentional struggle
Oh, yeah. I mean CHAZ itself started as a joke. The actual struggle that lead to it was very real (and very cool). But nobody in the battle against the police leading up to it was aiming for an autonomous zone.
Would you say the people battling weren't necessarily fighting for anything but simply against police oppression? And when that oppression was gone, improvisation happened?
Not really, there've been pretty consistent demands (halve the SPD's budget) that still haven't been met.
The primary thrust of the protest is to move money from the police to social services. It's mostly not the radical anarchist vision of the future that CHAZ was.