Building Blocs:parenting, movement and little folk

i s a compi lation zine of radical parenting* chal lenges, experiences and

reflections. I t' s a desire to be less isolated and to bui ld col lective knowledge.

In this issue:

Towards a Family-Friendly Radical Movement:

Intergenerational Liberation for All;Continuing the Struggle: Lessons to be Learned from

Mothers and Children in Zapatista Communities;

"Firsts" - a comic;

Feature Project: Regeneracion Childcare Collective;and more!

* Radical Parenting is an imperfect term and is meant here as inclusive and diverse - an

exploration of parenting styles that value respect, trust, autonomy, difference, non-

oppression, learning, love and revolution.

Building Blocs:Parenting, Movement & Little Folk

#1 "Firsts"

Welcome to the first issue of Bui lding Blocs! As I ' ve been putting together this new

compi lation zine focused on the connections between parents, l i ttle folk and movement/s,

the Egyption revolution has been underway. Whi lst most media coverage made invisible

the incredible sel f-organisation at work, instead trying to convince us of a state of "chaos",

el sewhere I caught wind of a different on the ground real i ty. A real i ty where people

organised not only to get out in the streets and sqaures, but to keep each other fed and

safe. A real i ty far too dangerous to let out, as i t might give us fai th in our own capacities to

organise and make change on a systemic scale. Hel l , i t might even let us bel ieve we are

capable of control l ing our own l ives! However, whi l st gl impses of this al ter-real i ty to the

mainstream story were visible in some places, even harder to see were the parents and

caregivers with kids in tow, who also make revolution.

A great hope for this zine is that in some smal l way it contributes to making visible and

supporting the parents/caregivers/kids and their l ives, which are integral to bui lding

radical communities, movements and ul timately revolutions. Whi lst the official theme for

issue #1 is "Firsts", the unofficial theme that evolved is "Intergenerational movements",

which is fi tting to such hope.

Thanks to al l those who have taken time out of their l ives and organising to share their

experiences and reflections in Bui lding Blocs. With your contributions I hope this zine

wi l l play a smal l part connecting with each other and bui lding our col lective knowledge.

Enjoy, Lara. (Jan/Feb 201 1 )

Building Blocs:Call forSubmissions

Bui lding Blocs is open to contributions from parents, caregivers, kids and al l ies. The

theme for the next issue is "Home Makin'", but don' t let that l imit what you want to share.

How is home makin' different with little folk?

What is overcome to make your home?

Who and what makes up your home?

What are the struggles of home makin' in the current political moment & your context?

What home do you have and what home do you want?

or contribute to one of the regular segments:

Make a mix tape or review a book/zine/film!

Put together this issue's feature project!

Submit art for the cover!

Deadl ine for submissions is 30th May 201 1 . Please send contributions (of any length) to

tricyclezinedistro@riseup.net with a bio and any pics/images.

Don't miss out! To order copies or to be notified as new issues of Bui lding Blocsbecome avai lable, emai l tricyclezinedistro@riseup.net

Parenting, Movement & Little Folk

Cover Art by Renata Field.

#1 "Firsts"

40

Contributors

Adam Wolfenden i s new to being a father and learning a lot in the process. He has

worked on economic global isation issues for a whi le now and sometimes makes zines, as

wel l as comics, but mostly spends his time perfecting his terribly unfunny 'dad' jokes.

Amy Hamilton i s an anarchist mama and community organizer l iving in the Southern US.

For more of her writing on community-based revolution check out her blog

http://elevenoclockalchemy.wordpress.com/

Lara Daley i s a parent among other things. She has a number of radical parenting related

projects on the run, including Bui lding Blocs, which you can check out at

raisingrebel l ion.wordpress.com or tricyclezinedistro.org

Laurel Ripple Carpenter deeply loves her uterus, her fami ly, and her new farm. She isfounder of www.Ful lSpectrumDoulaNetwork.org and publ ishes the CUNTastic Zine,which you can find at www.CUNTastic.org. Contact her at laurel@cuntastic.org.

Renata Field i s a community organiser from Sydney who is interested in creating

sustainable radical communities.

Victoria Law i s a writer, photographer, prison abol i tionist and mother of colour. She is

also the editor of the zine Tenacious: Art & Writings by Women in Prison and the author

of Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women(PM Press 2009).

ContentsArticles1 Towards a Family-Friendly Radical Movement: Intergenerational Liberation forAll by Amy Hamil ton

21 On Radical Childcare by Laurel Ripple Carpenter

12 Continuing the Struggle: Lessons to Be Learned from Mothers and Children inZapatista Communities by Victoria Law with lots of input from Terry Rodriguez

"Firsts"19 Firsts - a comic by Adam Wolfenden

Feature Project24 Regeneracion Childcare Collective by Lara Daley

Reviews33 Uses of a Whirlwind: Movement, Movements, and Contemporary RadicalCurrents in the United States by Adam Wolfenden

35 Fireweed: a zine of grassroots radical herbalism and wild foods connecting withkids and family life by Lara Daley

Mix Tape32 Ruby's songs to sing to sleep by Adam Wolfenden

Miscellanea & Contributors37 Cal l -outs/Notices/Announcements/Other

39

Towards a Fami ly-Friendly RadicalMovement: Intergenerational Liberation

for  Al lBy Amy Hamil ton

“Making children is the most anti-revolutionary thing you can do. We

should not subsidize other people’s lifestyles. If you breeders want

childcare, then organize it amongst yourselves.” – Anonymous comment

on Infoshop.org

There’s more where that came from.

Whi le many revolutionary and radical

communities embrace fami l ies,

intolerance of parents and chi ldren is a

stance that sti l l has a foothold in many

circles. Scorn towards mothers, chi ldren

and fami l ies is hardly a revolutionary

mental i ty. In fact, this posi tion is a direct

holdover from capital ist, authori tarian

ideology. Unfortunately, instead of

chal lenging this rhetoric as reactionary,

anarchists and other radicals often accept

i t in our midst. (1 ) Mainstream cul ture

generates a steady stream of contempt

towards mamas and kids. Any parent can

tel l you how common it is to hear

statements l ike, “Some people just

shouldn’t be al lowed to procreate,” or

complaints about how the Worst Thing

Ever is to si t down for a fl ight next to a

young chi ld, or a baby. How strol lers are

forever in the way. How breastfeeding is

disgusting and offensive. How the unruly

chi ld in the checkout l ine or the coffee

shop is obviously the product of a lazy

mother whose incompetence is assumed

after only a few moments' fami l iari ty.

How mamas on welfare and teen mamas

should, basical ly, eat shi t and die (but

have a Happy Mother’s Day! ). This

judgment, eye-rol l ing and hatred flows

freely in our society. Interestingly, as i t

becomes less and less general ly

acceptable to express a blanket

intolerance towards women,

fami l ies in your movement or community,

including:

* Organizing from within an Anarcha-

Feminist Chi ldrearing Col lective;

* Mothers Among Us: The Prison Birth

Project;

* On Fear & Commitments: A father’s

reflects on his own chi ldhood in England,

Baghdad and the U.S. and the chal lenges

of raising a biracial chi ld in the anti -

Musl im and xenophobic cl imate of the

United States today;

* Radical chi ldrearing with a queer and

sex-posi tive angle;

* Tips on supporting parents who have lost

a newborn infant;

and much, much more.

A pdf is avai lable here:

http://issuu.com/chinabodina/docs/zine_4_

with_cover

Please note that the centerfold is a

separate fi le:

http://issuu.com/chinabodina/docs/centerf

old.zine4

If you prefer a paper copy, go to

tricyclezinedistro.org (Austral ia) &

dontleaveyourfriendsbehind.blogspot.com

(USA)

Want to contribute? This exciting zine

series is being turned into a book!

Final Cal l for submissions: March 1 5 ,

201 1 . see

dontleaveyourfriendsbehind.blogspot.com

for detai l s

Outlaw Midwives#1

Featuring visual art,

poems, essays, and

practical tips from

women global ly. About

abortion, pregnancy,

birth, and babyhood,

colonial ism, structural violence, anti -

oppression work, and revolutionary love.

Read onl ine at:

http://issuu.com/maiamedicine/docs/outla

w_midwives

The Life of an Anarchist

Mormon

"My hopes for putting

my zine onl ine as wel l

as printing i t is that i t

might help someone

else not feel so lonely or

gui l ty for not ful fi l l ing a stereotype of an

identi ty that they l ive in; be it an identi ty

of popular cul ture or some random

subcul ture; especial ly women".

download or buy a copy here:

http://mormonanarchisthousewife.wordpre

ss.com/

Submit! call outs, announcements, letters,

etc. to this section: email

tricyclezinedistro@riseup.net with subject

heading "miscellanea"

1 38

mothers–and by association, their

chi ldren–are sti l l a “safe” reposi tory for

cul tural scorn. Any m/other can tel l

you–it’s always open season on her and

her sisters. (2 )

To offer an i l lustration of this dynamic: a

couple of years ago. there was an incident

on an Air Tran fl ight. The crew ejected a

mother with a screaming 3-year-old chi ld

from the fl ight before the plane took off.

Simi lar occurrences are relatively

common and women often organize

around them–mothers kicked out of

restaurants for breastfeeding (i ts legal i ty

notwithstanding), cafes declared kid-free

zones, et cetera.There is often media

coverage, complete with the peanut

gal lery, which usual ly weighs in on the

mothers in question as if witch burnings

might be an option.

I f onl ine comments are any measure,

plenty of people were in agreement with

the Air Tran decision. Here’s one:

“Good to see that at least some

airl ines throw out the inconsiderate parents

with their brats. Seriously, that should happen

more often. I f your damn kid can’t shut up, stay

off of airplanes. I don’t see why anyone else,

be it crew or passengers, should have to put up

with unruly brats. I t’s about time that

enti tlement-ridden parents learn their lesson.”

Here’s another comment from a different

website:

“Parents of smal l chi ldren should

except [sic] the responsibi l i ties[sic] of their

[sic] decision to have these mewl ing brats

and let those of us who were smart enough

not to make the asinine [sic] mistake of

parenthood, have the peace we so richly

deserve.”(3 )  

The point should be made that this

blanket intolerance of parents lands

disproportionately, and squarely, on the

backs of women.

This is a value system clearly dictated by

capital ism.Whi le giving l ip service to the

sancti ty of motherhood and putting social

pressure on women to procreate –alas,

soldiers and workers do not come from

thin air – in actual i ty, a capital i st

framework places a very low value on

chi ld-rearing and penal izes al l women

(some far more than others) economical ly

and social ly for becoming mothers. This

is particularly true in the US version of

capital i sm. M/others on the low-end of

this totem pole (whether single, of color,

receiving government assistance, poor,

young, or undocumented) are the

recipients of increasingly compl icated

layers of discrimination, intolerance, and

exploitation.

Unpaid caregiving (for chi ldren, the

disabled and the elderly) is not measured

in the gross domestic product of the US,

or any other nation-state. I f unpaid

MiscellaneaCall for Birth Stories from LGBTQParents

There are vast col lections of birth stories

written by heterosexual folks.   I t i s time for

your stories to be heard & recorded as a

part of our queer history.   I am asking you

to share your story with me because I am

passionate about your story of the day you

welcomed your chi ld to the world being

heard, in your own words. Send me your

story whether you were the parent who

gave birth or the co-parent who supported

your partner when your baby was born.

I am not certain about the direction this

col lection wi l l take & I wi l l respond to

your e-mai led story to ask permission

before posting/publ ishing it.

Who’s asking?

Hi . I ’m Kristen. I ’m a queer feminist birth

doula and chi ldbirth educator in Chicago.

I am passionate about the power of queer

voices in pregnancy & birth cul ture. You

can learn more about me

at  www.kaleidoscopedoula.com

Al l submissions can be e-mai led

to  kaleidoscopedoula@gmai l .com

Call-out to parents/caregivers inNewcastle, Australia

Hey! I 'm interested in starting a parenting

group for al l kinds of parents/caregivers.

For folk who share a desire to support

each other and to talk about what i t i s l ike

to be a parent/caregiver in this world

where race, class, gender, abi l i ty,

sexual i ty & age dramatical ly al ter your

parenting/caring experience.

I f this sounds l ike your kind of group emai l

me! utopia@riseup.net

Free zines on the net

Don't Leave Your

Friends Behind #4

The latest issue of Don’t

Leave Your Friends

Behind is ready for your

reading! Featuring over

70 pages of stories,

experiences and tips on how to support

37 2

fami ly-based labor were calculated as part

of the world GDP, i t would amount to over

1 /3 of the gross domestic product of the

entire world. (4)   One conclusion to be

drawn from this information is that the

exploitation of the unpaid work of women

is a precondition for the success of global

capital i sm. Capital ism, as a system,

depends on this uncompensated fami ly-

centered labor, meanwhi le penal izing

women – the very people whose labor

makes the system possible – for doing this

work. Put another way, we can say that

global capital i sm is erected on the backs of

women (then, adding insul t to injury,

women are often scapegoated for

capital i sm’s woes: see “welfare mothers

are ruining the fabric of our society”

rhetoric).

In the US, motherhood is the single biggest

risk factor for poverty in old age. (5 )  

Though mothers are the most impacted,

this effect is not confined to gender.

Anyone choosing to devote her time to the

unpaid caregiving of chi ldren, people with

disabi l i ties, or our elders is subject to

economic and social hardship and

isolation. This fami ly work is simply

invisible and uncompensated under

capital i sm. I t’s also worth noting that

chi ldren themselves embody much that

capital i sm discourages and devalues: they

are not productive in the traditional sense.

They are often disorderly, reluctant to be

control led, and natural ly distrustful of

authori ty. A hyper-individual ist society

takes no col lective responsibi l i ty for

chi ldren. I t says that your choice to

become a parent is yours alone, therefore

an expectation of help from non-parents

is unreasonable. This idea gets plenty of

play in radical and anarchist circles, as

another comment on Infoshop.org, in

response to an article (penned by mysel f),

advocating for the inclusion of fami l ies in

the anarchist community, demonstrates:

“Get this homegirl – I ’m a woman and I

don’t care about your fucking kid. Clearly

I must be internal izing patriarchy if I

don’t drop everything I CARE ABOUT TO

DEAL WITH YOUR CHILD. Does this

mean I think you or your chi ld should be

treated badly? No. But I don’t want kids

and I don’t want to help you take care of

yours.”

Mi l ton Friedman would be proud.

* * * * *

Why do we al low anti -parent and kid

rhetoric in spaces devoted to l iberation?

What are some of the various ways that

anti -fami ly atti tudes manifest in

anarchist/radical communities?

First of al l , the dominant practice in the

US is to segregate people by age, so

many of us raised unquestioningly in

dominant, white, US cul ture are not

social ized to spend time around chi ldren

fami les are having out there-from

wildcrafting stories, remedies for i l lness &

how we share & grow everyone' s plant

knowledge.”

I al so love plant artwork, so Monkeypants'

plant art makes the zine even more

awesome!

The only thing that would make this zine

an even better read and resource would be

reflections on the pol i tics of wi ldcrafting

and radical herbal ism. Jess is currently

pul l ing together the second issue of

Fireweed and I am excited to see if in this

issue people wi l l meet her cal l out for

“Thoughts on privi lege, accessibi l i ty,

racism, classism in the herbal community

and how we relate these ideas to our kids

or the general publ ic. How have you

chal lenged these oppressions and made

herbs and herbal knowledge for

everyone?”.

As with other ongoing zine projects I am

sure Fireweed wil l continue to grow, take

root and amaze, so I highly recommend

fol lowing its evolution and spreading it

round!

For more info check out:

http://www.fireweedherbalzine.blogspot.c

om/ and

www.tricyclezinedistro.org

Plant Artwork from Fireweed by Monkeypants

3 36

or include them in conversations – much

less consider their needs in a space, or

provide a space expl ici tly devoted to

chi ldren’s l iberation. People unused to the

company of kids are often wary of them

because they can be painful ly honest,

direct and may not hide their disinterest in

you. Elements of unfami l iari ty and

discomfort are often at play, and many of

our gatherings, spaces and communities

habitual ly take the defaul t form of “adul t-

only”, indirectly (but repeatedly) excluding

chi ldren and their caregivers.

This is simple enough to solve, given

awareness of the problem and a col lective

wi l l ingness to expand our comfort zones.

But actively exclusionary atti tudes towards

fami l ies and caregivers are less easi ly

remedied. When spaces are unwelcome to

chi ldren and parents, over and over again,

regardless of any attempts on the parts of

parents and al l ies to create a space of

inclusion, we must assume that there is

resistance to the presence of fami l ies. Or,

as event organizers may have discovered,

chi ldcare is difficul t work that requires

tight planning, starting months

beforehand, in order to come off without

a hitch. Sometimes i t’s easier to “forget”

about i t or claim that insurance won’t

cover i t. Word to the wise, event

planners: two weeks before the

conference, when interested parents start

asking you about chi ldcare arrangements,

i t i s far too late to try to whip something

up. At this tardy point, attempts to create

chi ldcare often fal l short and may resul t

in chaos and an unsafe atmosphere (not

to mention that this last-minute

responsibi l i ty often fal l s to burnt out

women organizers or parents

themselves). In my opinion it' s better to

chalk i t up to experience, create a fami ly

hang-out spot, and put chi ldcare on the

l ist for the next event (starting on logistics

Fireweed: A zine of grassroots radical herbalism andwild foods

connecting with kids and family life

edited by Jess

"Wildcrafting is the practice of harvesting plants from their natural, or "wild" habitat, for

food or medicinal purposes. It applies to uncultivated plants wherever they may be

found. . .When wildcrafting is done sustainably with proper respect, generally only the

branches or flowers from plants are taken and the living plant is left, or if it is necessary to

take the whole plant, seeds of the plant are placed in the empty hole from which the plant

was taken. Care is taken to only remove a few plants, flowers, or branches, so plenty

remains to continue the supply. " (Wikipedia)

"There is also a very radical reason I love being an herbalist. I am learning how to rely on

nature as my medicine chest and breaking the American dependence on the

pharmaceutical industrial complex. " (ancestralapothecary.com)

Reviewed by Lara

Fireweed is a fantastic zine overgrowing

with info and ideas on many aspects of

radical herbal ism and wildcrafting!

Anyone new to the subject wi l l appreciate

the practical stuff, which makes up a great

portion of the zine. I t has recipes and

remedies; ideas for plant adventures with

kids; as wel l as descriptions of different

herbs and how they are useful at home.

The interviews with herbal parents are also

a great insight into how herbs and

wildcrafting can be a wonderful part of

fami ly (in the very broadest sense) l i fe.

For those that are already wildcrafters and

herbal ists themselves, this zine is a

wonderful opportunity to connect with

and share in what others are doing. Zine

editor Jess says:

“I started Fireweed to connect

radical -herbal fami l ies. Al though there

many herb zines & books I want

"Fireweed" to focus on real experiences

35 4

In our society, life as theparent of a small child canbe socially isolating, and

many public placesbecome “de facto”

inaccessible.

from Day 1 of general planning). Good

intentions are not enough–if you offer

chi ldcare, safety is a top concern, and you

can’t afford to make big mistakes. (6)

Perhaps I ’m alone, but I bel ieve that every

event, unless inappropriate for chi ldren,

should be accessible for kids of al l ages (and

their mothers, and fathers, and caregivers).

Within many circles, this is often not the

case. Saying a meeting is welcome to

chi ldren, and then tolerating eye rol l s and

penetrating glances towards mothers and

kids when l i ttle ones vocal ize or run around

welcoming the chi ldren there – both so

the chi ldren feel welcome, and so the

participants know that caregivers are not

“out of place” for bringing a kid around.

Yes, chi ldren can be disruptive or

distracting–so it’s up to us as a

revolutionary community to figure out the

best ways of fi tting them in, and

empowering them, so that good work gets

done and everyone goes home happy.

La Lubu, a labor activist, describes the

“meeting cul ture” she has experienced as

a mother:

(because they have

not perfected the art

of si tting sti l l for a

three-hour meeting)

is not true accessibi l i ty.

Caregivers often

leave these events

early, with the grim

frustration that

comes from knowing that our world truly is

not set up with parents and young chi ldren

in mind, and being reminded of this,

rudely and repeatedly. In our society, l i fe

as the parent of a smal l chi ld can be

social ly isolating, and many publ ic places

become “de facto” inaccessible. Scenarios

such as these, in which chi ldren and

parents are treated as an intrusion, are part

of the problem, not the solution.

I f you are hosting an event, i t i s helpful and

kind to make a point of publ icly

“Why am I barred

from your feminist meeting,

your environmental

meeting, your pol i tical

meetings, or your

slow/local food/support

farmers gathering,

or…whatever? Why are

those spaces considered ‘inappropriate’ for

chi ldren? And why do you sigh and complain

about publ ic apathy when you have this

arbitrary rule about ‘appropriateness’? Why is

i t so ‘inappropriate’ to raise a chi ld with

pol i tical consciousness and knowledge of

power dynamics? Especial ly when she is

al ready encountering this stuff in her own l i fe,

and needs a framework to put i t in? I t boggles

my mind. I t especial ly boggles my mind

because I remember when it was not l ike this

in the US. I grew up going to pol i tical

gatherings of al l stripes….and protests, and

picket l ines. When and why did left-leaning

involved it was also a cathartic process,

where upon being given the invitation to

write has also proved to be a beneficial

excuse to stop and take the time to reflect

on what is happening. This makes for great

reading as you can see the sel f analysis in

al l i t' s brutal honesty and hope shine

through. The stories mix both

personal/organisational experience with

theoretical analysis of the current pol i tical

moment adding weight and meat to what

could have just been a col lection of

experiences without any context for a

future.

The book has a strong undercurrent for

' activists/organisers/radicals' of inquiry

into our current struggles and working

with others who are also seeking

l iberation. You get the sense from some

stories that people have learnt this lesson

the hard way, seeing coal i tions breakdown

as differences between 'activists' and other

folk become too big. The interviews at the

end of the book provide some wonderful

historical contexts from people who have

been around long enough to see activist

fads change.

I read this whole book in about one and a

hal f weeks whi l st carrying my sleeping

baby in a sl ing and I think this was a

disservice to the book. There is a lot to

digest in this col lection and powering

through it meant that some things that

might have come to l ight upon further

reflection were buried under an avalanche

of more info. This is a book that needs to

be read and appreciated as a whole, with

al l four sections combining together to

make it greater than the sum of it' s parts.

Whi lst i t i s US focussed there were sti l l

some lessons for those of us not based

there. One thing I wi l l take away from the

book is the role that organised resistance

has played in crises and how we must

keep that in mind when we' re evaluating

our histories and present moments. This

wi l l al so help us in determining what

futures lay ahead.

5 34

mother was the event that cemented my

ties to anarchism and anti -capital i sm. I t’s

best not to assume that parents are post-

radical or post-mi l i tant – we lose too many

comrades this way. Some of the most

effective mi l i tant activi ty that I am aware

of is undertaken by mothers. Some of us

mindful ly continue the high-risk activi ty

that we did before we had chi ldren. This is

as i t should be if we want to create a

revolutionary trajectory.

Anarchists often voice the opinion that al l

parents are capital i st

sel l -outs, as i f parenting is just one more

insti tution to be demol ished. Those that

make this assumption fai l to have an

appreciation for the cul ture of

revolutionary, anti -authori tarian parenting.

They don’t recognize that the problem is

not parents themselves as a universal

enti ty, but the cul tural style of parenting

that many of us have grown up in.

Possibly the most divisive issue in many

communities is the question of population.

The idea that humans should decrease our

numbers or procreate less often can

devolve into contempt for kids who are

people buy into right-wing ideas of parenting

and the role of mothers? Why are left-leaning

people participating in the backlash against

women’s growing pol i tical strength?”

One common assumption is that parents

no longer have what i t takes to be a

successful activist. When Rahula became

pregnant, she had this experience:

“A ‘comrade’ (someone I had done a

lot of running in the streets and food-not-

bombing with) said, ‘Oh wel l , there go two

good activists, ’ as though surely my partner and

I would no longer be active in any way, now

that we were procreating.”

The notion that parents have nothing of

value to offer (and stale pol i tics to boot)

can become a sel f-ful fi l l ing prophecy, as

many revolutionaries and radicals with

chi ldren find spaces less and less tolerant

of them and eventual ly ti re of doing work

or seeking community in an unwelcome

and al ienating atmosphere. Additional ly,

the expectation that a parent have the

exact same level of activi ty as a chi ldless

activist is eeri ly simi lar to the capital i st

boss expecting a mother of a newborn to

come straight back to work to resume

productivi ty. Parents may not be able to

do as much as they could prior to having

chi ldren (al though some may do more) but

being a parent often bui lds our resolve,

focuses our commitment to change and

makes us more valuable, accountable and

responsible. In my case, becoming a

When and why did left-leaning people buy intoright-wing ideas ofparenting and the role ofmothers?

Uses of a Whirlwind: Movement, Movements, andContemporary Radical Currents in the United States

edited by Team Colors Collective

Reviewed by Adam

Uses of a Whirlwind aims to be an inquiry

into the current state of radical /anti -

capital i st organising in the US, and it does

that rather wel l . I t was written at a time in

the US where the financial crisis is hi tting

hardest and the wel l of hope promised by

Obama has dried up, leaving many on the

broader Left displaced and unable to put

their feet on sol id ideological ground. In

order to get a picture of what things are

l ike for organisers in the US at the moment

the book is broken up into 4 sections:

Organisational case studies; Movement

strategies; Theoretical analysis; and

Interviews. These four sections and the

variety of authors manage to cover an

incredible amount of ground and make for

a diverse and interesting cross section of

US radical pol i tics.

When reading this book you get the sense

that for the organisations/individuals

Reviews

33 6

already here, and their mothers, who then

get slapped with the unfriendly label

“breeders”. Anarchist parents and their

al l ies have plenty of feedback about this:

Brad says:

“The fact that  hating on parents  has

become so widespread and fashionable is

troubl ing.   The fact that elderly folks are just

about as ‘welcome’ as kids  i s al so problematic.  

I don’t think anyone needs to hear that our

industrial -civi l ization social structure is fucked,

and I ’d suggest that the fucked-ness wrapped

up in cal l ing someone a ‘breeder’ comes the

detri tus of an atomized human experience, as

opposed to a reasoned ideal to be strived

towards.”

Dave says:

“There may be ‘too many of us’, but

what is far more significant is the consumption

levels of the population. A far better tactic

would be to massively reduce the average

consumption level – which of course is al ready

far lower than ‘average’ in many parts of the

world. Activists condemning other people for

having chi ldren are already on the wrong page.

I t’s an inherently anti -human standpoint,

demonstrating incredible negativi ty about one’s

own capabi l i ty for posi tive impact. My advice:

lead by example! Go and create sustainable

communities, and learn the ski l l s to help others

make the transi tion to l iving in them.”

Adam says:

“I t i s very easy for a white male from

an industrial ized country to say, ‘No one

should have chi ldren’. When the main impact

of a pol icy l ike this is on women and

particularly women in non-industrial ized

countries…over population is just one of the

things that is causing the destruction of the

ecosystem. Consumption, particularly that of

industrial ized countries is another. These al l

have to be looked at and debated."

The 1 2 percent of the world’s population

that l ives in North America and Western

Europe accounts for 60 percent of private

consumption spending, whi le the one-

third l iving in South Asia and sub-Saharan

Africa accounts for only 3 .2 percent. (7)  

This over-consumption is, in effect, force-

fed to the population by the powers that

be. Let’s stop needlessly targeting parents

and kids as the “problem” and keep the

heat on the enemy – the most egregious

pol luters and consumers by far – the

mi l i tary and corporate industrial

complexes.

Ruby's Songs to Singto Sleep Mix Tape

A B

The World Turned Upside Down -

Billy Bragg

I Was Only 19 (a walk in the light

green) - RedgumA Song of Unapolgetic Optimism -

Tom FramptonDear Coaches Corner -

Propagandhi

Saint Patricks Battalion - David

Rovics

Hopeless and Fearless - Jamie Hay

Virtue The Cat Explains Her

Deperture - The Weakerthans

I Wish That I Was Beautiful For

You - Darren Hanlon

Behind Two Hills.... A

Swimmingpool - Múm

My Favourite Chords - The

Weakerthans

We Now Know - Lia Rose

Refusing To Be A Man -

Propagandhi

And The Band Played Waltzing

Matilda - Eric Bogle

I Ain't Got No Home - Woody

Guthrie

7 32

Although I do not advocate for any

ideology that advances population control

as a real istic consideration, one point that

may not be immediately apparent to zero-

population growth promoters is: a cul ture

that accepts and embraces fami l ies can

have the indirect effect of lowering birth

rates. A chi ld-inclusive community helps

us break away from the nuclear fami ly

expectation (those that wish to procreate

must pair off and form a household unit in

order to experience parenthood). The

more we can raise our chi ldren in an

accepting community where each chi ld

has many adul ts who commit to an

ongoing caregiving role, the less every

individual who wants a close relationship

with a chi ld wi l l feel compel led to

become a parent. When chi ldren find

belonging in a larger, low-resource

community, less people wi l l feel the need

to have their own biological chi ldren.

The population control argument is tone

deaf to freedom struggles around the

world. Many communities and cul tures

identi fy a form of resistance as creating the

next generation of fighters–their chi ldren.

This includes tribal groups, Palestinians,

and other cul tures whose right to bear

chi ldren/exist has been contested by the

corporate state. “Breeder” is also a word

with a continuous history of racist use,

used (both historical ly, and to this day) by

white supremacists to describe slaves and

poor women of color. Population control

rhetoric (see the Sierra Club) often uses

the same arguments that many ul tra right

wing groups/white power groups are

making about the world’s oppressed

populations. Let’s stop using the

vocabulary of fascists.

A community committed to revolutionary

l iberation can agree – we should be free

to decide to procreate or not procreate.

Women should not be under pol i tical

pressure to get pregnant or stay chi ldless,

whether under the rubric of population

reduction, in the name of God and

Country, or by any other coercive

ideology. Being a mother should not be

viewed as a central i ty for women, or the

pinnacle of womanhood, but a choice to

be freely made without experiencing

pol i tical coercion.

Final ly, let’s speak pragmatical ly. In a

revolutionary struggle that needs al l the

support we can get, why cut off the most

powerful source of support possible–new

generations? Taking the long view: in

twenty years, you, me, and our comrades

wi l l be the older generation in the struggle

(unless we’re l iving in a post-revolutionary

society). I f our l iberation struggle has

gained the reputation of being chi ld-

haters, why should youth feel any

attachment to us, or choose to join our

ranks as they grow older? I f we insist on

insul ting parents and chi ldren, we wil l

ensure that anarchism remains an insular,

i rrelevant movement of twenty-somethings

part of movements for liberation and howhave you dealt with this?

Yes, certainly, I think I covered that in theabove question? We have conversationswith folks where appropriate, and wecertainly make note of the spaces that feelmore participatory and mutual lyappreciative.

If you could have any super power, whichwould it be and why?

As a col lective, I think we would love tobe able to shape shift or at least manifestimagery around us. I 'm thinking of thestory we concocted for CR1 0 – there wasactual shape shifting, flying, travel l ing,manifestation of so many different symbolsand we were using these differentimageries to convey in the most authentic,playful , digestible way possible our visionof justice and truth, our pol i tics aroundconfl ict resolution and heal thycommunication, our guiding wisdoms forhuman and systemic transformation. Is thatthe superpower of being god?

(1 ) PACHAMAMA: THE BUSHWICKCHILDCARE COOPERATIVE: Black and Latinamothers caring for each other and our childrenwhile organizing for collective liberation.Regeneracion was birthed through a processwith Pachamama, and its mother organizationSista II Sista (a Brooklyn-wide collective of poorand working-class young and adult Black andLatina women building together to model asociety based on liberation and love) , as theyenvisioned a community of support for mothersand families in a movement for collectiveliberation.

(2) From websitehttp://www.childcarenyc.org/

(3) Interview conducted over email in Jan/Febof 2011 .

31 8

who eventual ly drop out, rather than a

multi -generational tidal wave of resistance

that wi l l meet our objectives.

* * * * *

This brings us to the question: what do

intergenerational communities of

resistance look l ike?

Connie says:

“Everyone in our community is very

supportive and has developed relationships

with my chi ldren separate of me. I get to l ive

vicariously through them in raising a girl , since

I have two boys. I ’d say this came out of

necessi ty (financial , help in chi ldcare) as wel l

as a desire to share my l i fe with folks. I t’s a

direct stand against the nuclear [fami ly]

si tuation I find so isolating. I ’ve l ived

col lectively for the last five years (2 with a

baby) and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I t

helps that we’ve developed our relationships

with each other and that our community is

smal l and so we’re able to better support each

other.”

Jacob says:

“Our 1 6 month old loves a lot of our

community members and runs laughing to hug

them whenever we stop by or they stop by. At

fi rst i t wasn’t quite this way and we did have to

have a community meeting about the

breeder/non-breeder divide, and now some

friends of ours defend us parents real ly

furiously when they hitch and travel around.”

Jason says:

“Santa Cruz, CA has an enormously

strong radical movement that is effective and

beauti ful , and they LOVE babies, they seriously

love babies, you’ve never seen so many

fami l ies at an infoshop. During the 2009 Santa

Cruz Anarchist convergence which included a

book fair and freeskool conference, they set up

chi ldcare through the entire 4 day event and

prior to the event they did their best to help

people get set up with places to stay, they had

specific kid friendl ier houses set up for

incoming fami l ies. AND I went to multiple

workshops that deal t with baby/fami ly/youth

AND older generation issues, every workshop I

went to had babies in the crowd and never

once did I see anyone be less than welcoming

to fami l ies, i t’s al ready part of the cul ture in the

rad scene there.”

Roberto says:

“What people don’t real ize about

chi ldren is, in an indigenous world, they are

our teachers and angels sent to straighten our

l i ’ l chi ldish asses up. Chi ldren Are Important,

they are the next generation they are US.”

Chi ldren are a joy to have around. Yes,

years of incredible, dedicated work, whichinspired the birth of Regeneración, theytransi tioned out – this was after aconscious, caring, gentle process ofattempting to transi tion out of dependenceon non-profi t funding. Organizations suchas Sista I I Sista (and others includingSisterfi re – INCITE! : Women of ColorAgainst Violence NYC Chapter) – thatwere Regeneracion’s primarycommitments – were unable to sustainthemselves, posing a chal lenge for us.

How does the collective support kidsbeing important to movements?

The dream of bui lding a trulyintergenerational movement, aka amovement that wi l l sustain i tsel facross generations - this means doingchi ldcare to support ‘adul ts’ who worktoday to resist systemic oppression and tocreate al ternatives, and to i l luminate,integrate and celebrate the pol i tical visionbehind this work in our chi ldcare practice.

One of our ul timate goals with this work isfor groups to recognize kids as an integralpart of movement bui lding… creatingevery space to be intergenerational (forkids and elders). This could take the formof a vision for chi ldcare being integratedinto organizations themselves… andconnecting across organizations to evolvethat vision.

We are also working to create curriculumfor our chi ldcare gigs – in practice withour partner organizations. We have abirthday party every December where weinvite al l the kids from al l the orgs to playat the museum of natural history – itssomething people look forward to every

year. We were doing ‘pol i tical playtimes’this summer in a simi lar vein – kids comeand play, let folks have a day off, wepresented the play we made at CR1 0 forone of the playtimes, we played gamesand hung out.

How does the collective encounter thecity as a site for intergenerationalmovement building?

I ts hard here because its such a huge, busycity – we usual ly find ourselves in a parkor playground near to the event space,which works out wel l , but i t i s a bitstressful to move around with kids here. I twould be lovely to have big open spaceseverywhere to run around in. Buthonestly, the parks and playgrounds feell ike a gift!

There exist counterproductive andnegative attitudes towards children withinsome activist and radical circles. Whathas been the response from activist andradical networks to your work and vision?

We haven’t received any overtly negativeor disrespectful cri tique or atti tude towardthe work. I t’s much more subtle … folksassign a space for chi ldcare that is dark,stuffy, without windows, without l ight.Chi ldcare is that hassle folks have to dealwith, or that afterthought. That kind ofthing happens. Many many spaces valueand appreciate the work. There are thosethat pay l ip service to the work, and that’sok too. We’re al l working together tostretch the boundaries of our imaginationsand investments!

Has the collective ever been treated as aservice provider, rather than an integral

9 30

they’re also a pain in the ass, but so are

adul ts. Chi ldren tend to l ighten the

atmosphere of any given event. I ’ve been

to meetings which were stuck in

intransigent bickering and petty-minded

back and forth fighting, and seen the

presence of a chi ld alone make people

real ize their shoddy behavior.

Kids offer simple and straightforward ideas

for change. They are solution-oriented

people who are sti l l young enough not to

have been completely disempowered and

brainwashed by our cul ture. A world

where everyone is free is easi ly within the

realm of a chi ld’s imagination. Kids are

powerful al l ies to have in your camp.

They understand the logic of direct action

more than most adul ts. A chi ld’s opinion

can give you a fresh take on a problematic

si tuation and often bring more wisdom

than a whole roomful of adul ts put

together.

A mature and effective radical and

revolutionary movement has nothing to

lose and everything to gain by creating

multigenerational communities of

resistance. A powerful example of the

strength that can come from a generation

raised in struggle and freedom is

mentioned in the Zapatista’s Sixth

Declaration of the Selva Lacandona:

“I t so happens that our insurgents,

insurgentas, mi l i tants, local and regional

responsables, as wel l as support bases, who

were youngsters at the beginning of the

uprising, are now mature men and women,

combat veterans and natural leaders in their

units and communities. And those who were

chi ldren in that January of ’94 are now young

people who have grown up in the resistance,

and they have been trained in the rebel dignity

l i fted up by their elders throughout these 1 2

years of war. These young people have a

pol i tical , technical and cul tural training that

we who began the zapatista movement did not

have. This youth is now, more and more,

sustaining our troops as wel l as leadership

posi tions in the organization.”

A culture that does not embrace chi ldren,

and our elders, i s a cul ture of death. A

revolutionary movement that is intolerant

of chi ldren wi l l always be stuck in an

adolescent, easi ly co-opted phase,

bubbl ing up and then fading into

irrelevance. Whether you are a parent or

an al ly, helping to pass on our cul ture of

resistance to the next generation is one of

the most powerful ways of saying, “We’re

here! Get ready, because soon it’s going

to be OUR TURN!”

_______________

A world where everyoneis free is easily within therealm of a child’simagination.

2010 has come to an end and it is anumber of years since the collectivesinception. What have beenRegeneración's priorities for the year andwhy?

We actual ly celebrated our 5th birthdayparty in 201 0, so its been around 5 years.Regeneracion continued to do regularchi ldcare over the year – we supportgroups such as Domestic Workers United(DWU), Fami l ies for Freedom (FFF) andAnother Pol i tics is Possible (APP) byhanging out with kids so that their fami l iescan participate in col lective movementbui lding work. We meet regularly toreflect on chal lenges, opportunities, and toprepare for special events.

In 201 0, we journeyed to Detroit toparticipate in the second-ever UnitedStates Social Forum (USSF) where ourgoals were to bui ld with other chi ldcarecol lectives (from cities including the BayArea, Austin, Bal timore, Chicago, DC,Atlanta, Seattle, Montreal , Phi ladelphia,and Portland Oregon) by co-faci l i tating aworkshop that we had been planning viaconference cal l s for some months beforethe event. We also offered ourselves as aresource in planning the Chi ldren’s SocialForum, having created an interactive,immersive, pol i tical , educative, theatricalKids Program for the Critical Resistance 1 0Conference in 2008; participated invarious Al l ied Media Conference (AMC)Kids Tracks, including the 201 0convergence that occurred days before theUSSF; and having participated in the first

Chi ldren’s Social Forum in Atlanta.

What have been the challenges forRegeneración over the years?

One of the earl iest struggles that wasnamed by moms in Pachamama (1 ) i s thatfolks are attracted to chi ldcare as a form of‘al ly work’ – chi ldcare and cooking beingthings people feel they can support with,having a different identi ty from corecommunity members. One of thechal lenges to this, named by a mom, wasthat ‘we don’t want to send our kids themessage that we need people from theoutside [aka white folks] to come in andtake care of our kids’.

Capacity, in that this is a volunteerorganization – we are al l very pol i tical ly,social ly, cul tural ly active New Yorkersl iving hectic l ives – one of Regeneración’svalues is, in fact, that this can’t be the onlything we do. So capacity for us is huge,and related to this is the chal lenge ofgrowing the organization – it takes a lot oftime, energy and investment to grow theorganization in a way that feels in integri tywith our guiding principles. New Yorkmakes commitment a chal lenge.

And final ly, and probably mostimportantly, Regeneracion exists primari lyto serve organizations with whom weal ign in vision. This includes pol i ticalcommitments to sel f-rel iance andsustainabi l i ty in resistance to Statedominance. Unfortunately, in thispol i tical /economic cl imate, i t i s verydifficul t for ‘off the grid’ organizations tosurvive. An example is Sista I I Sista, aradical , visionary col lective of women ofcolor in Bushwick, Brooklyn. After 1 0

Interview

29 10

Special thanks to Vikki , China, Rahula, Jen,

Erik, Tomas, Tal ia, Sienna and everyone on the

A-parenting l ist for the continuous col lective

discussion over the years that helped me to

develop this work.

Footnotes

(1 ) This essay is general ly intended for the

predominantly white activist community,

especial ly the anarchist community. This

includes people that consider themselves post-

left, autonomist, progressive, radical ,

insurrectionist, and revolutionary, as wel l as

any formulation of ‘anarchist’ . This is due to

my observation (and gross general ization) that

white communities and White Cul ture often

have difficul ty seeing the value of

intergenerational i ty, al though this is often less

true of subsegments of white cul ture. I wri te

from my perspective as a white,

Southern/Gael ic, queer, middle-class raised,

poor-for-almost-two-decades, food-stampin’

mama.

(2 )   M/others: (sel f-identi fied single, teen and

welfare mamaz) defini tion from the Al l ied

Media Conference 201 0

(3 )   Comments after article:

http://honeymoons.about.com/b/2007/01 /07/sc

reaming-3 -year-old-ejected-from-plane.htm

(4)   1 995 UN Human Development Report,

Ch. 4: hdr_1 995_en_chap4.pdf

(5 )   Cri ttenden, Ann; The Price of Motherhood,

2001 ; Henry Holt and Co.; p.6

(6) Don’t Leave Your Friends Behind zine is a

great resource for al l ies and those who need

help planning rad chi ldcare. There’s a world

beyond chi ldcare, too–if you are planning a

conference, you might consider a “kids track”.

I f you publ icize i t, chances are, a whole new

group wil l come to partake of your event.

(7)   http://www.worldwatch.org/node/81 0

Drawings by Lara (when l i ttle), " love" by Sienna (age 5) & page 9 by Shizuki (age 3 )

We are a cultural catalyst.We aren’t capable of organizing an entire intergenerational

movement under our umbrel la, nor do we want to. Our primary

focus is not to grow our organization, but to grow our vision of

an intergenerational movement for col lective l iberation.To do

this we wil l model the movement we want to see, inspire other

groups to transform themselves, and provide resources to help

the process along. Our work is about more than just changing

pol i tical posi tions, or having people adopt ours. I t requires us to

make anew our entire cul ture, and reshape our communities and

movements.

Our dreams are big, and we sti l l have much to do. But after some

years of growing with kids and their communities, we see many

more holes in the wal l s of the system than when we first started.

They are al l over the place, growing in size and connecting with

one another. The smal l things we’re doing now wil l further these

openings, and the world that awaits us wi l l become bigger,

stronger and more beauti ful .

We are on a journey,building the world we want aswe go.

11 28

I had original ly been inspired to go to the

Women’s Encuentro by the cal l to

volunteer at the Non-Conformist Cul tural

Center. Recognizing that an encounter of

women required a safe (and fun! ) place for

them to leave their chi ldren whi le they

attended meetings, plenaries and

workshops, volunteers from a sol idari ty

group put a cal l -out for people around the

world to help put together not just

chi ldcare, but a Non-Conformist Cul tural

Center whose activi ties would reflect the

plenaries and sessions that their mothers

were participating in.

As a mother who pushes for the social

justice movement to support the parents

and chi ldren in the struggle, I was excited.

For the past year and a hal f, I had attended

(predominantly white) anarchist and

feminist events to present “Don’t Leave

Your Friends Behind,” a workshop

outl ining the need for the radical

community to support the mothers and

chi ldren in their midst. My daughter, at

ages five and six, accompanied me and

had a chance to experience each event’s

chi ldcare (or lack thereof). At some, such

as the Chi ldren’s Social Forum at the

United States Social Forum (USSF), she

had participated in activi ties reflecting the

social justice themes of the day, discussing

concepts such as gentri fication, war and

gender in ways that she, and other

chi ldren her age, could grasp.

Reading about the plan for a Non-

Conformist Cul tural Center, I was

intrigued. What would radical chi ldcare in

a zapatista community look l ike?

Then I got a cal l from Terry, a mother I

had roomed with at the USSF. She and her

now-three-year-old daughter Pi were

members of a delegation of women of

color (and white al l ies) who were going to

the encuentro. Was I interested in coming?

Continuing the Struggle: Lessons to BeLearned from Mothers and Chi ldren in

Zapatista Communitiesby Victoria Law with lots of input from Terry Rodriguez

(article has also appeared in the zines "Don' t Leave Your Friends Behind #2" & "Raise Some Hel l ")

From its inception, Regeneración has provided chi ldcare to low-

income parents of color and queer parents, in order to faci l i tate

their participation in movement groups. This al ly role remains

central to our work, but i t’s si tuated within a larger vision.

Regeneración also wants to change and deepen the way groups

interact with chi ldren. We want to bui ld connections between

radical parents and caretakers, furthering their sel f-organization

and nurturing movement that is relevant and accessible to folks

with kids. Ul timately, we want to change how individuals and

groups connect: not just through formal meetings and

compartmental ized issues, but through al l our various forms of

l i fe, including fami l ies, caretaking and personal relationships.

Connecting in this way enriches our movement, and at the same

time, changes i ts scope and vision.

As a form of work, chi ldcare has been feminized and devalued

in our society. Al l around us, women are expected to care for

chi ldren in isolation and without support; schools and jai l s

produce kids l ike commodities on an assembly l ine; and

domestic workers are exploited whi le raising the chi ldren of the

weal thy. Regeneración wants something better. We bel ieve

chi ldcare is a central part of our creative activi ty as a people, a

kind of labor that creates and molds subjectivi ty, producing

human beings who can interact with others and cooperate with

their peers. We bel ieve chi ldcare is the crucial labor that

reproduces human community, generation after generation. We

want to draw it into the open, recognize its true importance, and

make it the col lective labor of al l .

Childcare is a centralelement, but not the

only one.

Childcare is valuable, critical, beautifullabor.

27 12

My answer was an unequivocal YES! I

joined the delegation

and real ly became excited

about the adventure we were

al l about to embark upon.

I didn’t find the Non-Cul tural Conformist

Center unti l the second day of the three-

day encuentro. I t was far from the center

of the community where the plenary

sessions and other activi ties were taking

place. A woman and several boys were

painting a mural on the cinderblock

façade of the school . Other boys raced

around hitting each other with empty

plastic bottles, apparently a favori te game

among chi ldren in the campo. There were

eight chi ldcare providers and eight l i ttle

boys. The man I spoke to looked at Pi and

said, “There aren’t any girl s here.”

“Why not?” we asked.

He shrugged. “Maybe they are busy

working.”

Only much later did I begin to real ize that

the concept of organized chi ldcare - of

separating chi ldren from the adul t

activi ties - is a western capital i st concept.

In other cul tures, chi ldren are integrated

into dai ly l i fe, not shunted into a corner or

separate room far from grown-up eyes and

ears. The zapatistas didn’t need the kind of

chi ldcare usual ly expected by those of us

north of the border. They incorporated

their chi ldren into the struggle, teaching

not only with stories and words but also

by example. After al l , the chi ldren (and

their chi ldren and their chi ldren’s

chi ldren) is who the struggle is ul timately

for. To emphasize this point, many of the

t-shirts and gas sold during the encuentro

depicted smal l chi ldren growing out of

corn stalks.

Throughout the plenary sessions, chi ldren

ran in and out of the auditorium to see

and si t with their mothers or to be hugged

before dashing off to resume playing

outside. Babies sometimes cried, but no

one took much notice and, unl ike

meetings and events in the north, no one

even dared suggest that the mother leave.

Intergenerational movements arepowerful.

Kids change how we dopolitics.

Intergenerational movements sustain themselves through periods

of intense repression and regenerate over time. They develop a

profound col lective memory, which al lows each generation to

learn from the experiences of those that came before. They offer

more than a scene, which one dips into and out of on a whim, or

a phase, which one ul timately abandons for more serious

responsibi l i ties. Intergenerational movements create

cul tures of resistance that people use to understand themselves,

their communities, and col lective action in the world throughout

their entire l ives. Struggles that embody this vision continue to

surge from the global south, and they remain a huge inspiration

for Regeneración.

Kids teach us that movement is a process–not a program– and

that this process is playful , imaginative and creative, not just

serious and rational . In turn, we teach kids that their play is a

powerful tool they can and should cul tivate throughout their

l ives, with serious impl ications for the world we inhabit.

Interactions with kids produce another kind of pol i tics, one that

recognizes play as a crucial ingredient of any movement and

demol ishes the wal l s that sequester i t in chi ldhood or bar i t from

our adul t l ives.

13 26

Masked girl s sat beside their mothers,

l i stening to the stories of what their l ives

might have looked l ike had they not been

born into the movement.

“Before, only the men and boys could

have fun,” Comandanta Rosal inda said on

the first day. “Girl s had to take care of the

babies and never had time to go to school

or even to play.”

Having heard stories from their parents

and grandparents, chi ldren, particularly

the girl s, understand the significance of

what they now have. Marina stood before

thousands of women from around the

world and, in the clear words of a girl just

about to turn nine, stated what the

revolution means to her:

"I want to tel l you about my l i fe. I

study in an autonomous zapatista school

because I have rights. My parents respect my

right to dance, to sing, to have fun. In my

autonomous school , sometimes we don’t have

school suppl ies and we don’t ask the

government because we are part of the

resistance. My father works in his fields and

sel l s his harvest so that we have money to buy

my school suppl ies. We are zapatistas and we

don’t take crumbs from the government. I am

very proud to be a zapatista; we won’t be

discouraged because we are used to resisting."

That evening, a woman from our

delegation wondered aloud about the

girl ’s speech: Could a nine-year-old real ly

have come up with these words and

sentiments on her own?

Raising a chi ld of my own in the struggle

and having seen how her older peers talk

and think, I defended the girl ’s sinceri ty.

When chi ldren are taught and included

from an early age, they absorb these

teachings. They ask questions about

experiences and real i ties and, i f their

questions aren’t dismissed or si lenced,

their understanding and consciousness

grows.

Mothers both in and out of the zapatista

movement are the primary teachers of

their chi ldren.

For many women, the zapatistas were the

first to encourage them to think, question

and learn:

"Before the EZLN, we [the mothers]

didn’t have this education. We didn’t know

that we could fight a just fight for the wel l -

being of our chi ldren. We dedicated ourselves

to working in our homes and in the homes of

the landowners. Our chi ldren were raised l ike

animals. We didn’t educate our chi ldren

[before] because we didn’t know these things.

The landowners didn’t teach us so that they

could keep us as workers."

–Maribel , a zapatista mother

Integrating mothers has been crucial to

continuing the struggle. This sentiment

was repeated again and again as women

The Regeneración ChildcareCollective i s committed to growing an intergenerational movement for

col lective l iberation, in which people of al l ages can participate,

learn from each other, take care of each other, and dramatical ly

reshape the conditions of their l ives. Since 2006, Regeneración

has bui l t relationships with and between domestic workers,

immigrant fami l ies, fami l ies facing detention, queer fami l ies

organizing for racial and economic justice, and radical parents

and caretakers; we’ve sent delegations to the U.S. Social Forum,

faci l i tated a chi ldren’s program at the Critical Resistance 1 0

conference, and been in dialogue with radical chi ldcare

providers across the country; we’ve occupied cafeterias in New

York City, swung on swingsets in Detroit, and played hide-and-

go- seek in Oakland.

As we did al l this, we discovered an incredible secret: the wal l s

that constrain our everyday l ives are riven with fissures, tears and

holes. The holes are hard to spot, but once we notice them, they

nourish us with a powerful magic. We can peer through them

and see real i ties that exist right now, inside this world and inside

of ourselves– magical real i ties in which people fashion their

world together, everyone feels respected and loved, and people

are responsible to one another and to a col lective vision. The

more we practice our magic, the more we’re able to notice these

holes, tug at their edges, and begin stepping through them into

what awaits us. Here are some pieces of the magic we’ve

practiced so far. Use them wisely.When movements provide

people of al l ages a way to participate in their own

l iberation–from the very young to the very old–they are capable

of fantastic things.

25 14

from the different caracoles spoke their

experiences:

“As mothers, we set examples for our

chi ldren,” stated El izabeth, a mother from La

Real idad. “We teach them that unless you fight,

you are fucked. As mothers, we show by

example, by taking on responsibi l i ties and

participation in the EZLN, in the region, in the

CCRI . We teach our chi ldren not to

contaminate the earth with chemicals so that i t

wi l l continue to provide for us and for future

generations.”

“When our chi ldren are smal l , we talk to them

about what they’d l ike to do when they are

big,” stated Elena, a mother from Oventic. “We

talk about options in the mi l i tary, in the

community, and in doing pol i tical work. We

tel l them that they have the same rights as the

Ladrones [l ight-skinned landowners] . We talk

about the resistance and why we resist. We

teach them why we don’t receive help from the

bad government.”

Some women spoke about the difficul ties

of actively participating in the struggle.

Some husbands do not understand the

importance of women’s participation,

fearing that i f their wives are active in the

community, the work at home is left

undone. Other husbands agree to their

wives’ publ ic participation provided that

they continue do al l of the housework and

chi ldcare.

Zapatista mothers are actively raising the

next generation to combat these

entrenched oppressions and gender

Feature Project:Regeneración Chi ldcare

Col lective

Each issue of Bui lding Blocs wi l l feature a pol i tical project that is ei ther specifical ly

focused on kids in movements, or is working on/supporting intergenerational movement

bui lding in their organising.

Hopeful ly one day al l our projects wi l l be doing this!

This issue' s feature project is Regeneración Chi ldcare

Col lective. Regeneracion Chi ldcare is a col lective

based in New York City, USA. Regeneración was

born out of a process with Pachamama and Sista I I

Sista (1 ) in order to contribute to bui lding an

intergenerational movement for col lective l iberation.

Regeneración participates in chi ld-raising as a form

of resistance that bui lds radical communities and

relationships. They provide chi ldcare at

organizational meetings, events, and in col laboration with community based chi ldcare

col lectives and cooperatives. Their partner organizations are those whose visions inspire

them. (2 )

This issue' s feature starts off with a reproduction of Regeneración' s vision and artwork,

fol lowed by an interview with Radhika Singh, a founding/col lective member of

Regeneracion. (3 )

15 24

expectations:

“We teach the boys housework so

that when they are bigger they can help. This

creates a sense of equal i ty between boys and

girl s. We teach [al l our chi ldren] to defend

ourselves and our community when the army

comes in to try to evict us,” said Elena.

Gabriel la, another mother from Oventic,

explained that, without the participation of

the mothers, the struggle fal ters:

“Sometimes mothers wi l l say they

can’t participate because they don’t understand

the importance of their participation. Some

women do not want to send their chi ldren to

the autonomous school because there is so

much responsibi l i ty at home and they don’t

understand the concept of col lectivism.”

For the mothers who do participate in the

struggle, their chi ldren - both boys and

girl s - learn from their examples. They

teach their chi ldren by model ing what

women’s participation looks l ike and

shows them how this is important.

The lessons for us visi tors should not be

that our communities are rel ieved of the

responsibi l i ty of providing chi ldcare or

otherwise supporting the specific needs of

mothers and chi ldren. Rather, we have

witnessed how the zapatistas incorporate

chi ldren into their struggle, how they

include mothers and chi ldren rather than

shunting them into a corner or onto the

outskirts. And, fourteen years after the

uprising, we see that those who were

smal l chi ldren in 1 994, who grew up in

the movement, now entering and

continuing the struggle for dignity and

l iberty.

Now, when we return home to organize

ourselves, we need to find a way to do the

same in our own communities and

movements.

PicsbyVictoriaLaw

create a shared chi ldcare arrangement that

meets everyone' s needs right their within

the home.   There are clearly less

communal options also, where a

community can informal ly swap

babysi tting hours between fami l ies, or a

radical fami ly could setup their own in-

home daycare, infused with the values

important to their radical community.

Ideal ly, a radical chi ldcare cooperative

would be a fantastic option for us.   We

would be fami l iar with the people

involved and their values, our chi ld would

be social izing with other kiddos in ways

that we support, and our community

would be drawn together and rooted l ike

never before.   But the catch for us is that

we l ive in a rural , conservative area with a

fairly isolated radical community.   There

just aren' t enough of us to make this work

wel l yet.

Instead, we've spent the past few weeks

patching together a temporary plan that

involves help from grandparents and

standby assistance from a fami ly that we

previously co-parented with.   Our chi ld

spends her parentless days feeding

Grandpa' s chickens or wreaking havoc

with her brothers-in-anarchy at the former

Black Diaper Col lective.   There' s no

chi ldcare bi l l , no time-out, and no

imposition of a worldview that directly

confl icts with ours.   I t' s by no means long-

term solution, but neither is daycare.

23 16

CUNTastic i s an exploration of al l things cunt, and is meant to

be a compi lation of experiences, thoughts & research from the

editor & others. I t’s part personal , part educational , and al l

pol i tical .

Tricycle Zine Distro was created to distribute and inspire the writing of radicalparent/ing* zines and other zines/resources useful to parents, caregivers and al l ies.

I t i s a project that aims to chal lenge the norms of parenting (and other norms l ikegender, race, class, sexual i ty, age, abi l i ty and capital ism) and explore al ternatives;inspire writing as an act of rebel l ion; support radical parenting, pol i tics and action;value parents/ caregivers/ chi ldren as integral to bui lding communities of resistance;create col lective knowledge and networks of support and mutual aid amongst parents,caregivers and their al l ies in Austral ia.

I f you have a zine or resource which you would l ike to distro through Tricycle pleaseemai l tricyclezinedistro@riseup.net For orders or more info go to tricyclezinedistro.org

Zines in stock

* Radical Parenting is an imperfect term and is meant here as inclusive and diverse – an

exploration of parenting styles that value respect, trust, autonomy, difference, non-oppression,

learning, love and revolution.

and their goal is to generate a profi t. (1 )  While

I acknowledge that they' re often run by

very wel l meaning folks who've probably

done a fantastic job raising their own kids,

that doesn' t mean that they should be

raising mine.  

At times, I feel l ike this atti tude is

condescending--as i f I can real ly walk into

a place and judge in 1 5 minutes the

worthiness of a set of people to spend time

with my daughter.   But the sticking point is

that as radical parents, we are committed

to insti l l ing a particular set of values and

behaviors in our chi ld, and these values

are not necessari ly (or even l ikely)

priori tized by the majori ty of the chi ldcare

providers in the broader community.

When I identi fy mysel f as a ' radical '

parent, what I 'm trying to communicate is

that I hold the values of autonomy,

respect, community, non-oppression, and

non-hierarchy at the core of both my

personal worldview and my parenting

phi losophy.  

That means that a preschool where the

toys and play time are segregated by

gender is total ly inappropriate for the

gender ideas that I 'm trying to insti l l in my

daughter.   I t means that a daycare that

uses time outs and candy rewards isn' t

teaching her how to act in the world as an

autonomous human being motivated by

her own good judgment.   I t means I 'm not

feel ing ok about preschool or daycare

right now, unti l my l i ttle one' s

understanding of the world is more sol id.

Radical Childcare Options

There are other options that circumventthe capital i st-infused, gender binary,authori tarian models of chi ldcare that theworld confronts us with. Radicalcommunities across the U.S. have createdtheir own solutions in the form of radicalchi ldcare cooperatives and co-parentingcol lectives, among others.

These options each have their advantages

and disadvantages, but they general ly

meet the needs of egal i tarian fami l ies

better than commercial chi ldcare.   In   a

radical chi ldcare cooperative, each fami ly

earns ' credits' for providing a certain

number of hours of chi ldcare, and is then

able to redeem those credits with any

other fami ly in the cooperative for

chi ldcare in return.   In a co-parenting

col lective, fami l ies l ive together and

17 22

Dadam i s a personal and pol i tical zine about the

experiences, observations and reflections of i ts writer’s

journey as a Dad.

Don’t Leave Your Friends Behind i s a series of work-in-

progress zines toward a book geared to the non-parent radical

community about how to be an al ly to the parent(s) in their

midst.

Fireweed: A zine of grassroots radical herbalism and wild

foods connecting with kids and family life i s a zine sharing

remedies and ideas for al l things kids, herbs, and wi ld foods.

The zine includes recipies, remedies, interviews with herbal

parents, suggested reading l ists, book reviews and more.

(See review on page 35)

Tenacious: Art & Writings by Women in Prison i s a zine fi l led with

articles, essays, poetry and art by formerly and currently

incarcerated women across the United States. The idea for

Tenacious originated with several women incarcerated in Oregon

in 2003 and The Mother' s Day issues feature the writings of

incarcerated mothers.

Raising Rebellion i s a cut-n-paste personal zine whose author

puts as much work into the col lage as the content. I t deals with

personal/pol i tical journey that is raising a l i ttle person and

rebel l ion.

Needing Childcare for the First Time

After 29 months of insuring that my chi ld

has been with a trusted, emotional ly

bonded member of her personal

community every hour of every day, I 'm

facing a choice.   The choice of how she

wil l spend her time now that both me and

my partner are working 30-40 hours per

week to support our new home, the Circle

A Farm.    

As two sel f-identi fied anarchist parents,

the chi ldcare options we face are almost

always incongruent with our view of

chi ldraising in some serious way.   But the

real i ty is that we have to work at our paid

jobs right now, in the short term, in order

to give our l i ttle one a place for  her

chickens to roost, for her toys to be played

with, for her drawings to hang on the

fridge.

In the long term, once this l i ttle farm starts

producing food, we can stop sel l ing our

time to our bosses and start sel l ing our

veggies to our community.   But for now,

the capital i st tradition of paying someone

else to raise our chi ld for several hours a

day has final ly entered our l ives.  

Daycare and preschool and nannies, oh

my!  

The search for a chi ldcare solution has

been arduous and eye opening.   In the US

daycares and preschools are businesses,

On Radical Chi ldcareby Laurel Ripple Carpenter

As two self-identifiedanarchist parents, thechildcare options we

face are almost alwaysincongruent with ourview of childraising in

some serious way.

21 18

19 20