social war

The winter of 2011-12 saw a number of clashes with the police in Atlanta. Almost a year later, I’m comfortable enough to sit down to write about them. There were many other things going on around the country and even right here at home that made the following events possible, and I couldn’t feasibly account for all of them here with my limited perspective. The anti-police actions in themselves were not very significant, if gauged by the limiting discourse of “effective direct action” or “community organizing.” The cops still murder people, many people still have terrible ideas of how to respond. They were important, however, because they created a sense that something was occurring out of the ordinary. The excitement, the hope, and the anxiety created a whirlwind of emotions felt by dozens of people that evaporated as our sense of collective rebellion faded into nostalgia.

On February 12th, 30 hooligans descended on DeKalb County Jail. We came to scream and cry out in solidarity with a jailed comrade who's bond had been posted the previous day but who was, nonetheless, still incarcerated; all of this in the face of the general asphyxiation which characterizes the prevailing Social Peace.

• At first there were only a few of us...

Upon approaching the Jail, we were met immediately with the waving of just a few inmates. The faint knocking on the glass was exciting. The large bass drum picked up a beat as the 15 of us began chanting.

"Burn this fucker down, Atlanta wants a free town!"