Anti-Repression Resources
Puget Sound Prisoner Support – An anarchist collective providing jail and prisoner support in the so-called Pacific Northwest since 2015. If you’re facing repression for anarchist activity you can contact them at psps (at) riseup (dot) net
NLG Federal Defense Hotline – A hotline for activists and lawyers to report incidents of federal repression, such as FBI “door-knocks” at activists’ homes, grand jury investigations and subpoenas, and any other federal law enforcement efforts to undermine civil rights, including federal grab squads and the use of unidentified federal agents to police protests. The line is live at: 212-679-2811.
Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) Deportation Defense Hotline – A hotline staffed by WAISN to report immigration activity. It is active Monday-Friday, 6AM-6PM. 1-844-724-3737.
Introduction to Security Culture and Anti-Repression
are you prepared
to hide someone in your home indefinitely
say, two to six weeks, you going out
for food, etc., so he never.
hits the street, to keep your friends away
coolly, so they ask no questions, to nurse
him, or her, as necessary, to know
‘first aid’ and healing (not to freak out
at the sight of torn or half-cooked flesh)
to pass him on at the right time to the next
station, to cross the Canadian border, with a child
so that the three of you
look like one family, no questions asked,
or fewer, to stash letters, guns, or bombs
forget about them
till they are called for, to KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT
not to ‘trust’
even your truelove, that is,
lay no more knowledge on him than he needs
to do his part of it, a kindness
we all must extend to each other in this game-Diane Di Prima, Revolutionary Letters #14
Security culture is an evolving set of cultural practices that enable us to collectively take risks in the struggle for total freedom and to minimize and mitigate the effects of repression. Security culture is built upon trust, based in analysis rather than speculation and paranoia, oriented toward risk taking rather than safety.
The central principle of all security culture, the point that cannot be emphasized enough, is that people should never be privy to any sensitive information they do not need to know.
One of the core principles of security culture is to not share more information than is necessary for people to know and to not ask for information you don’t need to know. This builds upon broader cultural practices of respecting each other’s privacy and not bragging about or things we may or may not have done to seem cool.
Building on this good consent practices are important for information security. Asking and getting permission before you share information about someone – their contact info or adding them to a group, where they live, their legal information, etc. Being the holders of each other’s sensitive information puts us in a situation where we can show we are trust worth – or easily break trust.
On the flip side, having good boundary setting becomes important as you can say no to anything at any time. Being able to exercise this is critical. If someone is starting to tell you something you know you don’t need to know, you can stop the conversation, walk away. If someone is trying to pressure or guilt you into taking action you aren’t prepared for or don’t believe is right, you can say no and walk away.
While security culture helps us preempt and mitigate repression, anti-repression is the practices and way we orient ourselves when repression inevitably comes. Much anti-repression organizing comes in the form of fundraising for bail and legal costs, supporting captured fighters, writing to prisoners, forming defense committees to engage on the discursive terrain. Most of it is defensive, legal, and maintains a separation from the combative movement but one lesson from anti-repression campaigns of the last two decades is that if the movement switches all its resources to anti-repression and stops going on the attack then it has also been successfully repressed. As the old saying goes – Solidarity Means Attack!
By repression we mean anything that limits or contains the possibilities of revolutionary action. This includes the violent repressive arms of the state: police, jails, prisons, courts, etc. This includes the political, economical, and ideological consistency of day-to-day reproduction that subjects us to belonging so long as we do not rebel. But this also includes the recuperative and co-optive forces of the state or that aid the state, or recuperative and co-optive tendencies within them: “progressive” non-profits & NGO’s, “yellow” or business unions & union leadership, the dominant right-wing party lines of political organizations like the DSA, PSL, CPUSA, etc. Repression also includes ourselves when we orient our analyses of possible action towards the fear of consequences rather than the effectiveness and expediency of action. Repression also includes ourselves when we fail to act according to what the moment requires of us.
–Don’t Be Careful, Be Quick! Reflections on Counter-Repression
This is a very basic, incomplete introduction to these concepts and we would encourage further reading and discussing on the topic below. Security Culture is something you should always remember to come back to, study again, and re-assess as needed.
Further Reading
Confidence, Courage, Connection, Trust
Why Misogynists Make Great Informants
Basic Politics of Movement Security
Reflections on Counter-Repression