RE-EXISTIR BULLETIN
Issue #1: Another Existence is Possible
Winter 2024
native lands “inland empire”
READ & DOWNLOAD HERE: rex1
Stay tuned for Issue #2, Spring 2025!
no one ever changed history by asking for permission
“The political and moral significance of thinking only appears in those rare moments in history when ‘things fall apart; the center cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,’ when ‘the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.’ At these moments thinking ceases to be a marginal affair in political matters. When everyone is swept away unthinkingly by what everybody else does and believes in, those who think are drawn out of hiding because their refusal to join is conspicuous and thereby becomes a kind of action.” — Hannah Arendt, Thinking and Moral Considerations
“ABOUT US”
RE-EXISTIR: (noun) beyond resistance, the proposals for re-invention of life; a concept used by latin american autonomous communities
a new community info-project coming to the Inland Empire. created to inform & empower local communities. not just to fight back against the system’s misinformation but also to expand & liberate our people’s imagination. we believe in self-determination and stand against tyranny. this is a fully autonomous effort meaning we’re self-funded, and self-managed collectively. with no outside $$$, NGOs, or politicians involved made just for you: someone in search of something better.
find us on social media — instagram: @re_existir_ & @love_and_disorder_
contact // collaborations: culosinaction @ duck.com
EDITORIAL
DECOLONIZING OUR HEARTS & MINDS
The recent election circus with its new top clown demonstrated once again that power is only achievable through mass manipulation and intentional lies. Today, thought has become an object of colonization for the system; it invades our thinking in order to re-align our actions to benefit the system’s bottom-lines of profit and authoritarianism.
The system of government – the state, for short – is one based on disinformation. The people who run this system (the politicians, and the 1% capitalist class who green-light their authority) exist to divide and conquer the people, so as to better manage their beliefs and actions.
As has been extensively documented, the political class engages in tactics of misinformation in order to shape and mold the perceptions of their targeted audiences, through the “fog of war” military strategy to confuse and provoke fear (Newitz, “Stories Are Weapons”).
The people must proactively resist the attempted colonization of thinking by the false idols of billionaires who pretend to be saviors, from political parties who distort the truth, and from the media industry that contorts reality to create the mass opinions necessary for the system to function according to the agenda of the 1%. “The purpose of the mass media is not to inform about what happens, but instead is to give shape to public opinion in accordance with the agendas of power. It takes one minute to tell a lie, and an hour to refute it.” (Noam Chomsky)
Reject all that which seeks to impose its definitions of reality. The state seeks to capture our thinking, for it to conform with its accepted ways of (non)existing. Another existence is possible when we think and act for ourselves.
LOCAL HITS
Pro-Palestine direct action at Pomona College | Claremont, CA
On Monday 10/7/24 over 100 brave students from the Claremont Colleges held a divestment rally that led to the occupation of Carnegie Hall at Pomona College. Starting at 10:07am, an homage to the anniversary date, students walked out of classes and rallied. Once inside the building, protestors used signs to obscure windows and successfully barricaded exits.
However, 12 students – mostly first-generation, low-income, and/or of color – were suspended from their campus. They were simply targeted for walking out of class and wearing keffiyehs or masks. Most never received a hearing and were evicted without due process. They’ve been stripped from their communities, lost food and housing, and had their graduation plans and financial aid impacted.
Reach out to support: pomonadivestapartheid@proton.me
Donate to impacted students here — Venmo: @NobodyFails5cs & Cashapp: #NobodyFails5Cs
THE PEOPLE VERSUS THE POLICE
Tyranny & Resistance In The Inland Empire
“The apparent conflict between the law and police practices may not be so important as we tend to assume. The two may, at times, be at odds, but this is of little concern so long as the interests they serve are essentially the same. The police may violate the law, as long as they do so in the pursuit of ends that people with power generally endorse, and from which such people profit.” — Kristian Williams, Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America
IT HAS BEEN ONE YEAR, since the city of Fontana made big headlines: “Tacos and Street Vendors Are Outlawed.” Of course, you can’t just go ahead and ticket, fine and arrest street vendors in an area that is predominately Latino/Brown/“Hispanic.” Irrational, foolish actions implemented by government officials will always have consequences. So, communities and individuals from throughout Southern California responded to this tyrannical absurdity. The people linked up, stood up, and responded through city council disruptions, legal challenges, and street protests. In reaction to this upsurge of activity, the government kidnapped 8 people from their homes in mid-December of 2023, and held various of them captive for over 6 months, without the possibility of a bail release.
The Justice 8 were given a blanket “criminal conspiracy” charge, as part of a politically motivated attack on protest. The legal system is inherently broken, and disproportionately incarcerates the poor and minorities; but it has been pointed out that even murderers are able to achieve bail. These individuals were not granted bail for months, despite the overwhelming public awareness that there’s almost no evidence of “serious crime” committed by the Justice 8. The police press conferences held by San Bernardino sheriffs revealed a completely absurd political theatre, founded in baseless accusations, such as “doctoring” live-stream videos (which is impossible), as an attempt to instill fear into the public.
If the police supposedly exist to maintain public safety, why are they doing the complete opposite by terrorizing people in the middle of night and kidnapping them away from their lives and families?
At this point, we must understand the true function of the police based on cold hard facts: The U.S. Supreme Court cases DeShaney v. Winnebago County (1989) and Castle Rock v. Gonzales (2005) ruled that the police do not have a constitutional duty to protect a person from harm — the mass shooting we all saw in Ubalde, Texas is a clear example of this. Today, recent statistics show that the property crime rate in 2023 was far below the peak since the last record in 1980 — also, the violent crime rate was less than half of the record peak back in 1992. Despite these facts, the U.S. government has increased police and incarceration expenditures exponentially in recent years — for example, Los Angeles Police Department has confirmed a budget of $1 Billion Dollars for fiscal year 2025. Now ask yourself: for what?
“Crime” is a social construct; its meanings are created and assigned by the 1%. The people must stand firm against media distortions and politician’s rhetoric on “rising crime,” when “crime” is a double standard. Face the facts: there’s about $50 billion a year in wage theft from corporate entities (aka “white collar crime”) against low wage workers mostly, which is five times the amount the FBI has reported on property crime in this country combined. The police themselves take more property from people through what they call “civil asset forfeiture”—much of which is just illegal searches and seizures—than all burglary combined in the U.S. Instead of addressing the root causes of “crime” (capitalism and ecocide), the system is going to force YOU and ME to pay for our own oppression, funneling our taxes and fines to the police tryants who let the 1% do whatever they want, yet exclusively terrorize our people.
Given recent economic and social crises of the last few years, the 1% opts to militarize the police in order to control the effects of the state’s diminishing legitimacy and decreasing rates of global profits. We can see this through the “Cop City” national trend in the United States. In fact, in our own backyard, we can start to see the glimpses of this rising authoritarianism through a new “modern police station” in Rialto set to open in 2025. Again: for what? So that local police can learn psychological torture tactics from the Fontana PD (search: “Police pressured him to confess to a murder that never happened.”) The Inland Empire will never be safe as long as uniformed idiots terrorize the streets. If the police can unjustly attack the Justice 8 with full impunity, it can happen anywhere. Abolishing the police is a matter of safety, dignity, and true freedom.
search: “chad bianco riverside sheriff oath keeper extremist”
Know your enemy: Watch this new documentary released by The Intercept putting Fontana PD’s KKK influence on full display. Racist tattoos, extremist views, racial profiling within their own department: don’t take our word, see it for yourself. Find it on Youtube:
INLAND EMPIRE SPACES
CALL TO ACTION: Come kick it, connect, and get active!
It is clear now that the Democrats would rather sell us out, and enable fascism, than do anything right. Right now, more than ever, we can start to build the skills and bonds needed to confront anything the system throws at our people. We invite you to get connected, stay updated on current events, and actively meet other locals to create a resistance capable of dethroning any tyrant.
LOCAL UPDATES & EVENTS
- Stay updated on the ongoing battle for the Jurupa Oak tree versus warehouse development in Jurupa Valley
- IE Amazon Workers United campaign prepare for a strike after failed negotiations with bosses
- Stay tuned for the Inland Empire Anarchist Bookfair Fest for June 7th, 2025!
- Follow @barriofuerza on IG for upcoming events
LOCAL AUTONOMOUS PROJECTS
- Our Common Foe
- Queer Coalition
- IE Brown Berets
- Redlands Safe Schools
- Moreno Valley Panther Club
- Brittlebush Distro
- Feed the Block, Ontario
- Indigenous Empire Cultura Collective
- Redlands Mobile Distro
- Silly Geese Collective
- Pushing Down the Walls
- Students for Justice in Palestine, CSUSB
- UCR FTP
- Abolish UCR
Fighting for freedom today, as a common construction of powers, is opening up the possible for those who will come tomorrow. We do what is unimaginable so that one day it becomes common sense. That is what was done by the person who confronted the first king or who said that we are all equal. – Periodico Anarquia (“Uruguay”)
resisting capitalism how-to: co-operatives
YOU: Ugh, my boss sucks, I don’t have enough money, and rent is too high! I can’t take this shit!
RE-EXISTIR: Maybe you can start a co-op, homie!
YOU: what’s a co-op?
US: A cooperative (or co-op) is an organization that is owned and run by its workers. This means that the workers are the ones who make the decisions about the organization and, as a result, receive all its benefits equitably.
This can be anything, such as a business, a farm, or even a house.
The idea is that people get together to create something that will help them and those around them because it operates based on values such as autonomous organizing and supporting the community, and does not rely on a boss or a single owner to tell everyone what to do or how much money to make.
YOU: so how do I get started?
US: It’s kind of like getting a house or starting a business, but instead of doing it alone, you join forces with people who you have shared goals and values with. You and a few people you trust put your resources together (money, space, time, supplies, etc). You decide what problem you want to solve and how you want to solve it.
Think of it this way:
a trustworthy group of people + shared resources + deep conversations about problems and solutions + relevant actions + a little bit of courage = a co-op
Here’s a handy guide on how to start a co-op: “L.A. Co-op Lab 7 Steps to Start a Worker Co-op”
“A person is free, truly free, when they do not need to rent out their arms to anyone in order to lift a piece of bread to their mouth.”– Ricardo Flores Magon, Mexican anarchist
FLASHBACK FRIDAY
Pictured is an editor’s pick of exciting things that have happened in the IE: an amazon distributor warehouse burnt down to A CRISP in Redlands on June 5th 2020, amidst the George Floyd rebellions taking the region and country by storm. Good times! Why burn down warehouses? Local artist Toni Sanchez breaks down the logic for us in their art piece below.
Description: The burning and pruning of land is (was) an essential process in land management by native americans. It allowed for abundance and new growth of plants that provided for the people and native animals/insects. If burning and pruning were not activated on the land it would result in severe lightning fires or severe grazing which led to weakened plants and eventually death, or overgrowth of plants that would result in weakened new growth from lack of rejuvenating processes which would also lead to death. Our land may be covered with warehouses instead of native plants, but a rejuvenation of the land may be needed for the life and abundance of our land and community.
Fire resistant native plants: lemonade berry, quail bush, iva hayesiana, sugar bush, agave, yucca, prickly pear cactus, coyote gourd, toyon, oaks, saltbush
DID YOU KNOW…
Over half of young “Americans” hold a negative view of capitalism.
The logistics and distribution industry is one of the largest employment sectors in the Inland Empire with more than 200,000 jobs in the region.
Over 40% of goods entering the U.S. pass through this region of SoCal
It only takes about 3.5% of the world population to bring about change.
These numbers show that the participation of small fraction IE logistics workers could paralyze the country, giving our communities the upper hand to reshape the region.
Get it fam!