Blast from the past

I've transcribed a couple of articles which comrades may find of interest. These poorly written articles appeared in Black Flag of Anarchism: an Anarcho-Syndicalist Newsletter in 1977 and 1978 and were ghost written by myself.

Black Flag of Anarchism: an Anarcho-Syndicalist Newsletter was initially published by MM and various others in Rhode Island. Upon the formation of the NYC area Libertarian Workers Group (LWG) in december 1977, it became its publication for one issue. BFA was superseded by On The Line. The below statement of principles were also superseded by the LWG's own Where We Stand.

---Syndicalist
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Social Revolutionary Anarchist Federation Holds Conference

The weekend of July 29-31(1977) SRAF held its yearly North American conference at Wildcat Mountain in Wisconsin. In attendance were both members and non-members of SRAF and independent Anarchist groups/collectives.

Although this author arrived late Friday night, I was told that a General Assembly was held earlier that evening. Fraternal greetings from Portugal were read.

On Saturday morning breakfast (like all other meals) were provided by the hosts, Milwaukee SRAF. Following breakfast the 2nd General Assembly was held. At this Assembly, the names of the 20 odd workshops were read off and the times decided on. A number of these workshops proved to be worthwhile; overall they clearly lacked a class analysis and perspective. Of all the workshops that dealt with an Anarchist class perspective and analysis was the "Self-Management Workshop."

One interesting development that occurred at the conference was the pre-organization of the Anarchist-Communist Tendency within the SRAF. ACT was initiated by a number of Anarchist-Communists and Revolutionary Syndicalists with the hopes of getting the stagnant and non-revolutionary SRAF on a revolutionary Anarchist path. Although there seemed to be a lack of consensus by some on any one particular [organizational] issue. There was most clearly a consensus that a new declaration of principles should be written. A declaration of principles was submitted by Resurgence, a group of Anarchist-Communists and Anarcho-Syndicalists from Chicago.

It is the opinion of this writer that the ACT may prove to be an answer to the problems that face the non-class struggle oriented SRAF. It is this writer's opinion that all Revolutionary and Anarcho-Syndicalists get involved in this project.

Due to space limitations, I cannot give a full analysis of all the workshops. Overall, however, the conference needed to be better organized, less sexist, less pot smoking and certainly needed to be more oriented towards the class struggle.

--M

Black Flag of Anarchism: an Anarcho-Syndicalist Newsletter
Volume 1 Number 1 (new series)

[ Self-published 8" x 14' black and white mimeographed newsletter.

Previous issues were simply named Black Flag of Anarchism and issued over a period of almost four years. ]

Anarchist-Communist Federation Founded

The weekend of March 18 [1978] is now an historic date for the North American Anarchist movement. On that date Anarchist-Communists and Anarcho-Syndicalists gathered, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to debate the issues that face the North American Anarchist movement and to federate together to create a viable Anarchist-Communist and Anarcho-Syndicalist organization and movement.

The process of federation, which led to the founding of the Anarchist-Communist Federation (ACF), is one that dates back at least three years, mainly through correspondence amongst individuals. However the main thrust for this federation came about at last summer's Social Revolutionary Anarchist Federation's conference in Wisconsin (see last issue of BFA). At this SRAF conference a number of individual's, group's, and collectives met to set up the forerunner of the ACF, the Anarchist-Communist Tendency (ACT). The people who initially responded to the ACT were temporarily based around a document of Anarchist-Communist principles, distributed by Resurgence, a group of Anarchists from Chicago.

The ACT, which up until March 18, served, more or less, as the organizing committee of the ACF. During the interim period between the SRAF and the ACF founding conference, members of the ACT published Peter Kropotkin's Anarchist-Communism: Its Basis & Principles (which now acts as one of the ACF's common points of agreement and basis for affiliation); participated as an organized tendency in demonstrations and revised the ACT document.

The March 18 meeting was merely a culmination of debates and work on the revised document. At the conference, the debates and hard work on the revision lead to a fruitful ending: the creation of an Anarchist organization based on a coherent set of principles and organizational structure.

The ACF stands alone on the libertarian left because it has been founded around revolutionary principles of collective responsibility, mutual aid, feminism and class struggle. Opposed to the ACF in pioneering the way towards economic and political freedom are scattered groups of libertarians who either fail to grasp the issues at hand or who are opposed to collectively working together to bring about social and economic change.

The Libertarian Workers Group of New York City

As of December 1977, a small group of Anarcho-Syndicalists in the New York City area has constituted themselves as the Libertarian Workers Group (LWG).

The aims of the LWG is to promote rank and file unity in the unions against the boss and union bureaucrats; support for independent unions and workers councils; the publication of Anarcho-Syndicalist literature; participation as a group in workers and peoples demonstrations; and building the North American section of the Anarcho-Syndicalist International Workers Association.

The LWG has fraternal ties to most European and Latin American Anarcho-Syndicalist organizations and carries a good many of their publications, inclusinding the 1978 Solidaridad Internacional Anti-fascista calander for $3.00.

The LWG can be reached at: Box 445 Forest Hills Station, Flushing, NY 11375.

Free Workers Union of Germany Reconstructed

According to the informational bulletin of the International Workers Association, the Freie Arbeiter Union (FAU) has been reconstructed.

The FAU publishes Direkt Aktion as well as an informational bulletin about news from Spain, as well as Anarcho-Syndicalist literature.

The FAU's "…objective is the liberation of society from exploitation. The future Anarchist-Communist society, with the use of technology, will assure the distribution of necessities in a free society. The self-managed federalism will come about through spontaneous revolution and movements of councils to face organized reaction, and to counter the formations of authoritarian oppression. The functional organization is continuous in an Anarchist society and is the organization of struggle for the economic existence of our choice, which is workers' self-management and federalism."

(Freely translated by MM from Informacion A.I.T.)

Black Flag of Anarchism: an Anarcho-Syndicalist Newsletter
Volume 1 Number 2 (new series)

This 8" x 14' black and white mimeographed newsletter was published by "members of the [NY] Libertarian Workers Group and the [newly formed] Anarchist-Communist Federation" of North America.

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Our Principles

Black Flag of Anarchism: an Anarcho-Syndicalist Newsletter is based around the following principles:

Support for all autonomous rand and file labor struggles, both inside and outside the trade union movement.
- Support for certain immediate gains by labor to help alleviate poverty and want.
- Socialization and collectivization of the means of production and distribution by the working class. Another words, for a society run and controlled by those who produce the world's wealth.
- For the use of the Social and General Strike to abolish capitalism and the State.
- For the abolition of the wage system.
- For working class internationalism.
- For working class education in the principles and functions of Anarcho-Syndicalist economics, theory and mutual aid.
- For class war defense work.
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