Festival del Pueblo
C/o Barricada
PO Box 73
Boston MA 02133
festivaldelpueblo-AT-hotmail.com
www.festivaldelpueblo.org

This Text Contains 14 Sections
These are:
1-Statement from Festival del Pueblo General Assembly: After New York...
Updates
2-Demonstrations and Direct Actions
3-Radical Bookfair
4-Revolutionary Music Festival
5- Free School
6-Revolutionary Cultural Gathering
7-Community Carnival of Resistance
8-Revolutionary Sports Tournament
9-Fundraising
10-Housing Registration and Adopt-an-Activist
11-Registration
12-Food
13-Organizing Structure
14-Endorsers


1* STATEMENT FROM THE FESTIVAL DEL PUEBLO GENERAL ASSEMBLY

After New York: Take the Struggle Back to the Communities and Workplaces!
In May: Converge on Boston to Help Us Bring Together Communities in Struggle and Retake the Offensive!

The thousands that took to the streets of New York city last week, despite the police harassment, the media vilification, and the assortment of scare tactics, clearly demonstrated that resistance in North America did not die in the post-September 11th period, but had in fact only entered into a tactical retreat. While it is true that the New York police greatly contained the possibilities for direct action and this was at times disempowering, the mere fact that over 10,000 people took to the streets is in itself heartening. However, it is time to retake the offensive! This time, we act on our own schedule, and we choose the venue!
Boston is preparing to hold what could very well be one the largest anarchist, radical, and anti-capitalist gathering in recent memory, at the Festival del Pueblo, May 1st to May 5th.

FESTIVAL DEL PUEBLO
BOSTON MAY 1-5, 2002
A Five Day Celebration of Resistance, Community, and Freedom!

While confronting the global ruling elites when they meet is important and has symbolic value, the substance of the anti-capitalist struggle lies in the work we do every day in our communities and workplaces. This is the work that builds the power from below and eats away at the power of the state and corporations to dominate our lives. This is how we build revolutionary dual power.
However, local activists are often alienated from the communities in which they live and with whom they should really be trying to build bonds. The events organized in the Festival del Pueblo will hopefully serve to build these bonds, both in the streets as well as in the recreational events.
The Festival del Pueblo is an attempt to bring different communities in struggle, from Boston and beyond, closer together by taking the fight to our common exploiters, and by focusing on issues of relevance in our day to day lives.
In Boston, these issues are police brutality, rising unemployment and casualization, immigrant's rights, the prison-industrial complex, and above all, housing. The goal of this event is to combine the community-building opportunities of locally based community-rooted efforts, with the flavor and possibilities of large militant protests. Festival del Pueblo will also mark the starting point of a concerted campaign to organize around the issue of affordable housing in the city of Boston. However, in order to accomplish all this, we need the presence of as many anti-capitalists as possible in the city.

Given the fact that many people were discouraged from going to New York City due to a lack of clear communication as to the advancement of the organizing and as to what exactly was to take place, we are making it a priority of the outreach group to focus not only on spreading the word about this event among the communities of Boston (a job that has already begun with wheat pasting, contacting local organizations, and door to door fliering), but to keep fellow activists in other cities well posted as to how the organizing is advancing; that is the purpose of this update.

If you have any questions, or would like to become actively involved in organizing an event, please do not hesitate to contact either the General Assembly or the relevant Working group. The Festival del Pueblo is a decentralized and horizontally organized event that will only become better and richer with the active participation of as many as possible.

Keep Up the Fight!
See You All in May!

Festival del Pueblo General Assembly
Outreach Working Group


2* Demonstrations and Direct Actions

Every year in our respective cities across North America we have small, primarily activist oriented, Mayday celebrations. Invariably, these events do not have the impact we would hope, and they fail to involve the working class communities that the first of May is all about. Furthermore, in our isolation, we often become easy targets for police repression.
Therefore, this year we urge revolutionaries of all anti-authoritarian stripes to converge on Boston for a massive show of working class solidarity and strength in a demonstration side by side with the impoverished and oppressed communities of the city, be they immigrants (legal or otherwise), unemployed, working poor, or any other sector of the community victimized by capitalism. Together with these communities, we intend to take the battle to our oppressors.

MARCHES:
MAY 1ST, REVOLUTIONARY MAYDAY MARCH
FOR A REVOLUTIONARY ALTERNATIVE, FOR A CLASSLESS, STATELESS SOCIETY

MAY 5TH, CONVERGE AGAINST CAPITALISM, A UNITING OF STRUGGLES
A march through the city of Boston to denounce all that is wrong with
capitalism; from high rents, to dead end jobs, harassment of immigrants,
racism, sexism, and all forms of oppression.

DIRECT ACTIONS:
Throughout the week, we would like to encourage participants to organize and
carry out direct actions of all forms. From banner-drops, to housing
occupations, to lock-downs and everything in between. These direct actions
will culminate in the CAC march on the 5th.


3* Radical Bookfair

The 4th New England Anarchist Bookfair and Free School will be held in
Boston on May 1st at Northeastern University, directly following the revolutionary May Day march. As of today, confirmed tables are...

Insurgence Records (Toronto)
Barricada Collective (Boston)
Lucy Parsons Center (Boston)
Tute Nere Collective (DC)
NorthEastern Federation of Anarcho-Communists (NEFAC)
Northeastern Anarchist
Ruptures (Quebec)
Clamor Magazine
Anarchist Communitarian Network
Institute for Social Ecology (Vermont)
Institute for Anarchist Studies (New York)
Anti-Racist Action Columbus (Ohio)
Industrial Workers of the World
Anarchist Black Cross Federation
Rich Mackin (Boston)
In Hope (Salem, MA)
AK Press
Brian Mackenzie Center (DC)
And More...

Tables are still available and cost $10-20 for a half-table, and $20-40 for a full table (sliding scale). The deadline to register for a table is April 1st. To sign up for a table, or if you have any questions, please contact fdpbookfair-AT-hotmail.com or complete the registration form at www.festivaldelpueblo.org


4* Revolutionary Music Festival

The Festival del Pueblo will include at least four concerts, from May 1st through May 4th. The goal of these concerts is to bring together a diversity of groups in a setting of social interaction. With that in mind we have chosen to prioritize non-punk/hardcore bands. Despite this, such bands are the most prevalent and as such are very well represented in the band line up. Because of this, other than unconfirmed bands with whom we are already in contact, no more bands other than hip-hop, jazz, folk, and other non-punk genres will be accepted.
The line up now stands as follows....


*Ricanstruction (NYC) - Puerto Rican Liberation Rock
*Aeropajitas (Lima, Peru)- Anarcho-communist punk rock 'n' roll
*Millions of Dead Cops (NYC)- Classic 80's Punk Rock
*David Rovics (Boston)- Folk
*Brandeis Improvisation Collective (Boston)- Free Improvised Music under the Conduction of Tom Hall
*Human Racist (West Virginia) - A four piece crusty punk band from West Virginia
*Anomie Mind (NYC)
*Hopeless Dregs of Humanity (New Jersey) - punk rock n' roll
*Give Us Barabbas (New Jersey) -Blasphemous punk
*Melee (Boston) - Thrash
*Radical Bluegrass Troupe (Boston)
*Disaster Strikes (Boston) - Punk-hardcore
*Makhnovshchina (Boston/Ukraine) - Raging political crusty metal.
*Guardia Negra (Boston) - Internationalist Anarcho-Communist Oi!
*Erik Peterson (Philadelphia) - Songs of mischief sung over mandolin, acoustic anar
chy for drinkers and dancers alike. Been described as "gypsy-hobo-pirate-punk."
*Robert Blake (Philadelphia) - Folk
*1905 (D.C.) - Punk
*Turn Around Norman (West Virginia) - Hardcore
*Suiciety (Connecticut) - Crusty political punk from CT.
*Creation is Crucifixion (Pittsburgh)
*Czolgosz (Boston) - Absurdo-Punk
*Jeunesse Apatride (Montreal) - Revolutionary redskin Oi! from Montreal.
*Homage to Catalonia (DC) - Folk-punk
*The Umoja Unit (NY) - Free Jazz and Poetry featuring Ras Moshe, Jackson Krall, Matt
Heyner and Matt Lavelle.
*No Good Heroes (Kentucky) - Streetpunk
*Clifton Joseph (Toronto) - Hip-hop/Reggae
*Beaten Down Witness (New Hampshire) - Emo
*Drop Dead (Rhode Island) - Powerviolence
*Fallen Short (Boston) - Crust
*Dance Emma Dance (Boston) - Peace punk ala crass
*Go For Broke (Boston) - Ska
*Hiretsukan (Brooklyn)-Hardcore
*XRAY (Boston) - Experimental electronic
*Toxic Narcotic (Boston) - Punk
*Diallo (Connecticut) - Hardcore punk
*Virulent Strain (NYC) - Squatter Punk core
*Violent Society (Philadelphia) - Street Punk
*Molotov Cocktail (NYC) - Punkrock n'roll
*Cranked Up Really High (Philadelphia) - Oi!
*The Profits (Boston) - Punk
*Return of the Essence (Boston) - Hip-hop
*Slipstream Time Travel (NYC) - Free Jazz featuring Tor Snyder, Ras Moshe, James
Duncan, and Marc Edwards.
*Satellite Probe-Voyager Interstellar Mission (NYC) - Free Jazz duet with Marc
Edwards and Paul Flaherty.
Witch Hunt (Pennsylvania) - Feminist Anarcha-punk rock.
*Virginia Black Lung (Philadelphia) - Anarcho Punk-hardcore
*Rambo (Philadelphia) - Political fun youth crew!

And Several Other Unconfirmed acts...

We do not as of yet know the price of tickets for the concerts, as it will depend on the price of the venues we are looking into as well as covering of travel expenses for all the artists.

See the Festival del Pueblo webpage at www.festivaldelpueblo.org for regular updates of the lineup, as well as the final schedule once it is made available.


5* Free School

The Free School will be held on May 1st in conjunction with the radical Bookfair. Currently, confirmed workshops and speakers include...

Confirmed Speakers:
-Cindy Milstein (Institute for Social Ecology)
-Professor Jon Bekken (Editor Industrial Worker)
-Professor Noel Ignatiev (Editor Race Traitor)

Confirmed Workshops:
-Sabate Anarchist Collective (NEFAC-Boston): Revolutionary Anarchist Organizing
-Anarchist Black Cross Federation Members: Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War
-Jacksonville ABCF-TDC: Tactical Defense Caucus, Self Defense for Activists and Anarchists
-Columbus ARA: DIY Women's Health
-Columbus ARA: Anti-Authoritarian Parenting
-Dave: Black and Green
-CRAYON (Chicago): Youth Liberation
-Barricada Collective (NEFAC-Boston): The Necessity of Revolutionary Anti-Fascism
and many more.
-Sabate Anarchist Collective (NEFAC-Boston): Anarchism and the Struggle Against Patriarchy


6* Revolutionary Cultural Gathering

The revolutionary cultural gathering will take place on Thursday, May 2nd. It will feature movie screenings, art exhibitions, spoken word acts, and homebrew tastings.

Drawing Resistance (www.drawingresistance.org) will be exhibiting the work of 31 radical artists during this event. There will also be performances by Rich Mackin and others. Furthermore, the cultural gathering will also feature anarchist propaganda posters from across the world.

Homebrew of all varieties will be available from the many who have already volunteered to share their brewing skills during the cultural gathering.

If you are interested in participating in the cultural gathering, contact fdpculture-AT-hotmail.com


7* Community Carnival of Resistance

The Community Carnival of Resistance will be held on Saturday, May 4th in conjunction with the Wake Up the Earth Festival, organized every year in the neighborhood of Jamaica Plains, and which last year drew over five thousand people.
Games such as Dunk the Landlord, Pin the Tail on the Pig, Destroy the Prison, Bash the Fash, and others will be featured for the amusement of all along fire eaters and a sea of red and black balloons.
It is still not too late to organize a carnival attraction (such as cheerleading, or street theater). If you are interested, contact festivaldelpueblo-AT-hotmail.com


8* Revolutionary Sports Tournament

The Revolutionary Sports Tournament will feature soccer, basketball, and ultimate Frisbee competitions, to be held on Friday, May 3rd. It will be a chance for outdoor socialization and fun while feasting at the people's picnic.

There are over 12 confirmed teams from Montreal, Amherst, Boston, DC, Baltimore, Chicago, and Columbus that will be participating in the soccer tournament.

It is still early enough to register your team. If you are interested, go to www.festivaldelpueblo.org to find out the rules and regulations for the competition and register by filling out the online registration form.

As of today, no teams have registered for the basketball or ultimate Frisbee competitions.


9* Fundraising

As with any such event, the economic costs incurred will be high. Venues need to be rented, outreach materials printed (we intend to do intensive fliering and pasting in many communities), housing needs to be provided, as well as many other assorted costs that tend to arise.
For this reason, we strongly urge people to collaborate economically with the Festival del Pueblo. Please send checks or money orders to our mailing address (leave pay to field blank please). Send cash at your own risk.


10* Housing

Housing will be available to all those who request it. However, in order to ensure that there is not a housing shortage, we request that people register for housing as early as possible. To register for Housing simply fill in the registration form at www.festivaldelpueblo.org and state simply that you need to be housed, giving all the relevant information.

We are also organizing an "Adopt an Activist" program similar to the one carried out by CASA in Quebec for the Summit of the Americas. So, if you live in the Boston area and would like to help us with this, please contact festivaldelpueblo-AT-hotmail.com and let us know.



11* Participant Registration

We strongly recommend using the online registration at www.festivaldelpueblo.org
However, if for some reason this is easier for you, feel free to complete this form and send it to festivaldelpueblo-AT-hotmail.com

Individual Name:
Group Name (Or Team Name):
Telephone:
Email:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip:
Country:

We are interested in making the Festival del Pueblo as inclusive and broad based as possible, and therefore are seeking contributions and participation from anyone interested. If you are interested in conducting, or participating in, any of the following, please check the appropriate space...

Soccer Tournament:
Give Presentation:
Musical Performance:
Bookfair Table:
Homebrew festival:
Debates:
Legal Support:
Art Exhibition:
Film Screening:
Theater:
*Under no circumstances will party front groups or electoral politics be
accepted*

If you are planning on participating in any of the following-giving a presentation, art exhibition, film screening, or theater- please use the following space to tell us more about your contribution. Please ensure that your project is in some way related to revolutionary issues. We reserve the right to reject proposals which do not meet this (very broad) criteria.

Description of Activity:

12* Food

As a demonstration of mutual aid, the food working group is asking those coming to bring with you some sort of food staple. Whatever you are capable to bring in your travels. We are asking specifically for canned vegetables, rice, hamburger buns and frozen veggie burgers (no bagels please, we will have more than enough). All food brought will be used to feed people throughout the festival. Also, if possible, we ask you to bring your own bowl and utensils. This will help limit waste and make the festival as ecologically friendly as possible. So come with what you can and prove that we don't need to be fed, we can feed each other!


13* Organizing Structure

The Festival del Pueblo is organized through open General assemblies held every two weeks. These general assemblies are open to all who agree with the points of unity which are available at www.festivaldelpueblo.org.

________________________________________________________________________

14* Endorsers

Sofia Perovskaya Collective (NEFAC Supporter, Boston)
Tute Nere (NEFAC Supporter, D.C.)
Barricada Collective (NEFAC Supporter, Boston)
Sabate Anarchist Collective (NEFAC Member, Boston)
RASH MTL (NEFAC Supporter, Montreal)
Lucy Parsons Center (Boston)
Green Mountain Anarchist Collective (Vermont)
Ever Reviled Records (New Jersey)
Freyheyt (NEFAC Supporter, Toronto)
Insurgence Records (Toronto)
Valley Anarchist Organization (Amherst)
CRAYON (Chicago)
Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed
C.A.L. Press
Turning The Tide (Los Angeles)
Progressive Student Alliance (Northeastern University - Boston)
St. Lawrence University Anti-Capitalist Collective (NY)
Radical Student Alliance (Boston University - Boston);
Black Touta (Toronto)
Infoshop.org
Black Heart Anarchist Collective (Ohio)
Anti-Racist Action McGill (Montreal)
Anti-Racist Action Columbus (Columbus)
East Coast Anti-Racist Action (Canada)
Prince Edward Island ARA (Canada)
Fredericton ARA (Canada)
Moncton ARA (Canada)
Saint John ARA (Canada)
Halifax ARA (Canada)
Anti-Racist Action Chicago (Chicago)
Boston I.W.W. (Boston)
Tension Collective (New Orleans)
Words Are Not Enough (DC)
Anarchist Black Cross Federation
ABCF Jacksonville (Florida)
ABCF Los Angeles
Cleveland ABCF
Northeast ABCF
Empress Street Gang (Prince Edward Island)
Clamor Magazine
Washington, DC Anti-Capitalist Convergence
Raptivism Records (NYC)
Anarchy Archives
Brian Mackenzie Center (DC)
G-7 Welcoming Committee (Winnipeg)
Catchphraze Records (Phoenix)
AK Press
AWOL Magazine (Philadelphia)
RASH New York
CLAC (Montreal)
Just Seeds (Chicago)
Desiderata Collective (New Jersey)