July 28-30 2023, the streets of Ypsilanti welcomed visitors for the first ever Organizing Against Capitalism conference, hosted by local anti-capitalist organization Michigan General Defense Committee. Solidarity Hall, Ypsilanti Freighthouse and Growing Hope’s Incubator Kitchen were all vibrant centers for conversation and collaboration of leftists and anti-capitalist organizations from around the midwest and across the country.
Through panels and workshops that tackled a variety of subjects — including labor organizing, the role of political art, housing activism and eviction defense — conference attendees remained engaged and focused on building connections and sharing a wide range of revolutionary and anti-capitalist knowledge, perspectives and community work.
“I was very impressed with the conference. I didn’t know what to expect,” says Xtan, an anti-fascist writer and organizer with the blog Three Way Fight. “I left the weekend saying, wow, this was really positive on so many levels. The amount of people wanting to talk, people being open to new ideas, new organizing projects, really impressed me.”
During the conference, Xtan demonstrated the nuance anti-facist political analysis of the blog Three Way Fight. He connected that mission to on-the- ground organizing against anti-queer sentiment and legislation in the local city of Hamtramck, Michigan, which just last month passed an ordinance prohibiting the flying or displaying of the LGBTQ+ pride flag at Hamtramck City Hall.
“The far right and the Republican party, as well as the street-based fascist movements, as well as broader reactionary authoritarian tendencies in society, are really focusing their ire and their attacks on trans and queer communities.” Xtan explained how that influenced the panel. “With the far right and the fascists focusing on trans and queer folks in our society right now, we need to have a much broader anti-fascist perspective that situates itself in working-class and queer communities.”
Aeron, an organizer with the Michigan General Defense Committee, worked mostly with outreach and inter-organizational planning of the conference. He spoke about the goals of these large-scale political events. “It’s a sense of building the confidence in comrades to know that we can act collectively and independently of non-working class institutions.”
Aeron maintains that one of the most rewarding experiences of the weekend was the constant flow of engagement among comrades, contributing to a welcoming and invigorating atmosphere. “The conference itself is to, of course, build relationships, exchange knowledge, and also inject something that you can’t do so much in the organizing effort, which is what I like to call a collective, active joy. It’s when people come together for common reasons. It’s a joy that I think is innate in human beings. Under capitalism, it’s never tapped into. I think we sometimes see glimpses of that stuff at concerts and things like that, but to do it politically really has a transformative effect on people.”
Throughout the three-day event, coordinated and facilitated mostly by comrades with Michigan General Defense Committee, 200 attendees representing over 80 local and visiting political organizations attended panels and workshops and ate meals together, as well as taking a brief break together Saturday evening to enjoy socializing with live music, poetry and screenprinting in the green space of Solidarity Hall. Among formalized panel discussions and more casual interpersonal conversations, attendees emphasized that the atmosphere was consistently enthusiastic, inclusive and down-to-earth.
“It wasn’t a bunch of academic stuff. It was people doing the work. It wasn’t an abstract discussion.” Xtan notes. “I think non-sectarian in the sense of people coming together to figure out what commonalities are, and in a constructive and principled way, discuss what differences are…that’s non-sectarian. […] I think people were open to talking about differences. I enjoyed that.”
According to Aeron and other organizers, this “down on the ground” not “up in the clouds” approach for panel topics and discussion was no accident.
“We really wanted to make this not an academic conference, not an NGO conference where professionals explain situations. Even the opening panel was a discussion. And I think this idea of horizontalizing the discussions really adds to a different way of organizing, a way that’s working class based.”
The weekend ended with a communal breakfast and breakout groups, reviewing knowledge shared and revisiting discussions that were had throughout various spaces and moments Friday and Saturday. The main focus of these final conversations was to place the events of the weekend within a context of achieving broader goals of working-class and leftist political struggle.
“We need more education. That’s the old slogan: Educate, Agitate, Organize.” Xtan recited. “The last couple of years, whether it’s COVID or social media or people being tired and burnt out … This conference was blending theory and action. We need more than ever, more education, more discussion, more debate. I think the conference was a good step in trying to get there.”
Aeron emphasized that there are many important aspects of revolutionary movements that conferences like these can help cultivate. “The thing that can sustain us and the thing that has sustained me in my political organizing more than anything else, is [a] sense of being connected to a broader struggle. […] It transforms somebody else’s struggle into our struggle. […] It makes concrete what was before just intellectual.”
For the next few weeks, Aeron, Xtan and other comrades who attended and coordinated the conference will continue the work the conference initiated.
“What we said in the conference was, if you come to the conference un-organized, join an organization. If you came to the conference with an organization, learn how to collaborate. […] The world is really in dire straits right now, and for us to have a little bit of a respite but also organize at the same time — I think it really helps people to endure the struggles ahead.”
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