Liu, Yvonne (yl28172@imcnam.sbi.com)
Mon, 5 Oct 1998 13:54:47 -0400
> ----------
> From: queen of cups[SMTP:damiana@saranwarp.com]
> Sent: Monday, October 05, 1998 12:22 PM
> To: yl28172@imcnam.sbi.com
> Subject: Re: OT:) RE: RECLAIM THE STREETS of NYC
>
> i think this thing needs to be a regular occurrence - i mean, every couple
> of months or so, now that people actually KNOW what to do...
>
As a matter of fact,
I think they're trying to create
some sort of regularity in occurrence.
But of course,
not without the support of *you* !
(in a plural "you" sense)
(Paraphrased from a flyer.)
RECLAIM THE STREETS
Mayor Giuliani's Quality of Life campaign
hinges on his definition of "quality of life."
Is this yours?
Community gardens bulldozed throughout the five boroughs;
community centers (like Charas/El Bohio) auctioned off to
profit-driven developers; aggressive police intrusions into
peaceful assemblies; thousands of cyclists and pedestrians
hit every year; parks rigged with police video cameras;
rents soaring (which profits whom?); sanitized chain stores
and remote corporations re-shaping every neighborhood
in their own image; air waves treated as corporate
products; public schools still understaffed, underfinanced,
deteriorating; a near record number of public suits
filed regarding the city's abuse of the Freedom of
Information Act.
The Mayor carries a "No Dancing" sign and hangs it
everywhere he goes. Corporations buy "You Can
Dance If You Pay" signs and hang them wherever
they go. Fundamental democratic ideals are being
squeezed. If there is no place to freely assemble,
there is no free assembly. If there is no place to
freely express, there is no free expression.
RECLAIM THE STREETS is at once a unifying
symbolic action and a movement to reclaim
public space and reinvigorate inner-city public life.
Our definition of "quality of life" diverges from the
powers that be. Our definition of "quality of life"
does not mean conventional, homogenized,
capitalized life, working 80 hours a week to
pay the rent. Why must New Yorkers aspire
to the least common denominator? We want
ourselves and our communities to thrive on their
own terms. We want real, eclectic democracy, not
the brand of seeming that's being tossed our way.
We demand great feasts of public space.
We demand our freedom to express.
We demand safety on the streets.
We demand clean air - as if the basis for
democracy were not the ability to breathe !
We demand places we can afford to live.
We demand leadership that embraces and
cultivates the vitality of diverse ethnic communities
of all economic means.
We demand leadership that prioritizes and answers
to the individual, the family and the community;
not the CEO, the police force, the front page,
the next campaign.
We don't have much time. As the powers that be
know all too well, reversing what is already done
is much more difficult than preventing things
from going any further.
Reclaim the Streets.
Let the vibration of our dancing feet
rumble like subway trains.
For more information about RTS,
please call 212 539 6746.
Some good community organizations to contact:
ABC No Rio
254 3687
Community-based arts center, performance
space and gallery.
Blackout Books
777 1967
Anarchist bookstore and info shop.
Completely volunteer run.
CHARAS/El Bohio Community Center
982 0627
Cultural and educational community center
serving LES. Home to many local arts organizations.
Center for Constitutional Rights
614 0627
Dedicated to the fight to uphold
constitutional rights. Home of
Police Watch, a legal services
organization fighting police brutality.
Food Not Bombs
254 3687
Providing free vegetarian food to all comers.
Green Guerrillas
674 3124
Dedicated to converting abandoned space
into community gardens. Fights for
garden preservation.
Lower East Side Collective
477 6863
A collective of activist working in small groups
on projects & issues dedicated to building a
vibrant culture of activism on the Lower East Side.
Paper Tiger Television
420 9045
Video collective that examines the communications
industry via the media in all its forms.
Steal This Radio (STR)
995 8356
88.7 FM
Pirate community radio for LES.
Broadcasts every evening from 6 to 12.
TIMES UP
802 8222
Encourages non-polluting transport,
promotes NYC parks & greenways,
& supports bicyclists & skater's rights.
Transportation Alternatives
629 8080
A NYC area citizens' group
working for better bicycling,
walking, public transit,
& fewer cars.
Keep the Peace,
Yvonne.
> ____________________________________________
> This is a story. It's about the Word,
> the Virus and the Magician.
> Crossing Time and Space,
> transcending cultural boundaries.
> It is about disguise and dissimulation,
> transmission and dissemination.
> It begins at an end,
> and ends at a beginning.
> Full circle,
> cycling through the ages,
> turning through 360 degrees
> and all points in between.
> It is a story about magic and codes,
> about dreams and reality;
> above all, it is about the PROCESS.
>
> The end of one story is the beginning of another.
> All things return to their root,
> and to begin we will visit the secret chamber
> of Hassan i Sabbah,
> Old Man of the Mountain
> and founder of the Ismaeli sect
> known throughout history as 'The Assasins.'
> The date is May 23rd.
> The year, 1124.
> The place, Alamut, the Eagle's Nest
> set high in the mountains,
> just south of the Caspian Sea...And
> it is here that we find
> Hassan i Sabbah,
> the hero of our tale.
>
> He is waiting for us in the same chamber
> he has occupied for 33 years since founding
> his mountain kingdom, 33 years, the time endured
> in this world by an earlier heretic some thousand
> odd years before. Another law breaker
> whose word struck fear into those who opposed.
>
> Hassan i Sabbah is dying, but still he waits.
> Waiting for the moment to strike.
> And while he waits he dreams of
> the grand stratagem by which he secured this
> impenetrable retreat...He must speak with Kiya.
>
> Reaching out from his bed,
> he beckons Kiya-Buzurg-Umid,
> his Grand Vizier,
> friend and chosen successor.
>
> 'Kiya, come close,' he whispers.
> 'It is time to convey the secret.'
>
> Later they were to be recorded in
> CITIES OF THE RED NIGHT
> from which I now quote:
>
> 'It is said that an initiate who wishes
> to know the answer to any question
> need only repeat these words as he
> falls asleep and the answer will come
> in a dream...'
>
> Rumour has is that 'these words' were:
>
> ' NOTHING IS TRUE.
> EVERYTHING IS PERMITTED. '
>
> (From A William S. Burroughs Birthday Book,
> Ed. by Paul Cecil, Temple Press: 1994)
>
>
>
> ~d
> http://www.saranwarp.com
> "if I can't dance, I don't want to be a part of your revolution."
> -- "Red" Emma Goldman
>
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