Anarchy in the NC

On November 12 a group of 50-75 “in solidarity with occupations everywhere” amassed in a building in downtown Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Following the Carrboro Anarchist Bookfair, the group occupied the 10,000 square foot building and began playing films inside and hanging banners from the windows and rooftop reading “Capitalism left this building for DEAD, we brought it back to LIFE” and “Occupy Everything”.  The group wasn’t affiliated with Occupy Chapel Hill but instead just a collective interested in trying an “experiment”.

On Sunday afternoon, roughly 25 police in full riot gear carrying assault rifles stormed the abandoned building and arrested eight demonstrators.  Explained in a statement released by Sgt. Josh Mecimore, the reasons behind the high-power weapons was a fear that the group had placed traps inside the building or were planning to attack the police.  Fear that the group was destroying the building was also a factor in the move to shut down the demonstration.

Though most people are receiving a skewed idea of what is happening across our countries from the media, these are not a bunch of indecisive, smelly hippies who don’t know what they’re protesting.  These are young people, old people, all people who are coming together to fight against a common enemy which is the ruling class that are getting rich off our labour.  These people who occupied this building had a plan and a message and they were successful in delivering it.  These acts of defiance are what will define this movement, and instead of villainizing these people we should be commending them.

The idea of squatting as a form of protest is nothing new.  It has been used many times throughout history, with movements like the Homeless Workers’ Movement in Brazil or the Abahlali baseMjondolo in South Africa.  The idea of taking an abandoned space and using it to better the community is nothing new.  The group had mentioned some ideas for developing the space including a library, free clinic, kitchen and dormitory.  While this idea may seem radical to some people it hardly warrants a shock and awe infiltration of the property by armed police officers.

The group that took control of the building in Chapel Hill were fully aware what they were doing was risky but they stated in a flier that many of the acts that have won us any of our freedoms were illegal as well.  Civil disobedience has been a powerful tool of protests; Rosa Parks refusing to move on the bus, Susan B. Anthony voting illegally and even the Boston Tea Party were all major acts that helped to spark a movement that brought about massive reform.  Without these defiant acts we’d be living in a world that would be worse off than it currently is, which is saying quite a bit.

So while these demonstrators are being charged the world is watching and seeing that radical action can be taken here at home.  We’re seeing that the people aren’t apathetic like the media tells us, they aren’t standing around shouting at phantoms.  They have educated opinions, strong morals and the idea that we can be better than we are.  Their signs might have different slogans but they’re all standing together for the one thing we all agree is the basic right for everyone, Freedom.  The freedom to know that 20 years from now we’re not going to be living in third world countries because a couple of people want to control all the money.  To be staring across the vast wasteland that was toppled by the greed of a few.  We must take hope in these actions that everyone will use them to educate themselves on what is happening and hopefully bring on the change we so desperately need.

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