Strategies for Revolutionaries: All Out Against the 2010 Winter Olympic Games –

Although the Olympic Resistance Network (ORN) has successfully integrated a massive base of anti-capitalism, indigenous rights and environmental justice, they’re having trouble getting people over the border:

Independent media reporter rejected at border, detained by border agents and denied outside contact

Martin Macias Jr., (Twitter @ Digital_Natives) an independent media reporter from Chicago travelling to cover the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver BC, has been rejected by Canadian border agents and held without outside contact for at least 7 hours (as of 9pm) today.

Macias arrived in Vancouver from Chicago (via Minneapolis) on a 11:30am Delta Airlines flight on Saturday, February 6, 2010. He was detained for hours by Canada Border Services agents in the Vancouver International Airport and questioned about his plans during the Olympics. Ultimately he was refused entry to Canada. He was then put on an Alaskan Airlines flight to the Seattle / Tacoma Airport (departing at 2:40pm). As of 9pm he had not been able to contact legal counsel or his travelling companion since before his rejection at the border. The information on his rejection was only made available through the US Consulate. It is routine for people rejected at the border to be interrogated by both Canadian and US border agents; he may well still be detained for questioning in the USA at this point.

Although he is entitled to a phone call and legal counsel, nothing has been heard from Macias since about 2pm when he still expected to be able to enter Canada as planned.

Martin was travelling to Vancouver for political events during the Olympic Resistance Network anti-Olympic convergence and to document the effects of the Winter Olympics on the communities of Vancouver. He was to leave Vancouver for the USA on Feb. 11. He was travelling with political organizer Bob Quellos of No Games Chicago, who was allowed to enter Canada. They were both to be picked up by Chris Shaw, a member of the Olympic Resistance Network, local Olympic critic, and author of ‘The Five Ring Circus’ who himself has been questioned and detained when travelling to a sports conference in the UK and repeatedly approached by members of the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (Olympic policing body) regarding his political activities. Canadian border agents, police, and intelligence units have been actively surveilling, questioning and harassing opponents of the Olympic Games (and their associates and families) for years. Media, such as Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, have been subject to questioning and increased scrutiny as well.

Macias (20 years old) was a leading member of No Games Chicago – which successfully opposed Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. He is a youth organizer for the Chicago Environmental Justice Coalition, and Comite 10 de marzo, an immigrant rights organization. He is also a media reform activist with community radio station Radio Arte where he serves as the host/producer of First Voice, a radio news zine. He has covered the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Power Shift 2009 in Washington D.C., and local social justice issues in his community. He currently chairs the Peace Committee at the National Museum of Mexican Art. Macias can normally be reached through reclaimtheearth@gmail.com.

Independent media, activists and opponents of the Olympics are gathering in Vancouver for the Feb. 10-15 anti-Olympic convergence organized by the Olympic Resistance Network. It begins with a two-day conference (Feb. 10-11) and a mass protest and march on the day of the opening ceremonies (‘Take Back Our City,’ 3pm Friday, Feb. 12 beginning at the Vancouver Art Gallery) organized by the 2010 Welcoming Committee, and continues with three days of political events and demonstrations. Visitors have been subject to interrogations, detention, and rejection at the Canadian border repeatedly and members of the Olympic Resistance Network have been interrogated at the US border and denied entry to the USA for speaking tours. – (ORN News Release, Feb 7, 2009)

Here I find one of my greatest divergences from Robert Anton Wilson’s philosophy. At several points within his literature he references taking a pacifist approach to activism. He recounts the tale of his participation in a civil rights protest – he bolted and took refuge in a pub long before things had a chance to get hairy. In justification, he suggested that he was no good in jail and would rather not get beaten. I don’t disagree with his priorities – getting arrested or beaten aren’t high on my list of enjoyable activities either. But I’m also of the opinion that we’re most remembered and valued for our actions, not our thoughts or ideas.

When I am confronted with injustice, I will occasionally endanger myself in order to confront it. In the case of the Olympics, I have too much knowledge of the situation to be apathetic. I cannot sit quietly when billions get spent on two weeks of games and thousands of teachers are laid off. I cannot sit quietly when more than a billion dollars gets spent on militarizing the Lower Mainland while funding for the arts, libraries, and museums is gutted. I cannot sit quietly when aboriginals are co-opted to pander for oligarchs, raped of their ancestral lands, and insulted with misconstrued histories. I cannot sit quietly when homeless people are victimized by gentrification and trivialized by policy makers. I cannot sit quietly when I watch Vancouver turn into a giant advertisement for despotism.

As a result, I cannot sit quietly when I come across Olympics boosters. Without any ambiguity, I let them know that I do not approve. Considering how dense the city is getting with Olympics-related etc, this is getting more and more challenging. There’s a fleet of thousands of vehicles for official Olympics business. They’re brand new Chevrolets, and they’re easy to spot from a distance because of their compliment of Olympics propaganda. Whenever I see one of these vehicles stopped, I make it a point to walk over and give the vehicle’s occupants the bird – and an enjoinder that the Olympics should not be held on stolen native lands. I also typically make it a point to declare my disapproval of fascist sympathizers and contempt for economic opportunists. Sometimes this leads to additional difficulties, but I’d be a fool to be surprised or complain. The culture of sports isn’t based on reasoned pleas, justice, morality, or a drive for excellence. It’s rooted in aggression, violence, avarice, and narcissism.

Last night I had a good reminder of this ideologic tendency. After coming upon an Olympics vehicle parked on the side of a road, giving my one-finger-salute and uttering my spiel, I continued walking down the sidewalk. Then, as I waited for the light at a crosswalk a few blocks further up the road, a male called out to me as he crossed to the other side. I glanced over at him, and he was returning my salute, and said, “Right back at you!” To which I responded, “For…?” And this launched us into a heated discussion which was punctuated by his violent outbursts. Twice he pushed me, and three times his face was so close to mine that his nose touched my glasses. I suspect he might have been around my age, mid-30s, but he had a good 100lbs or so advantage over me. It can be difficult to present reasoned arguments when your heart is thumping in your chest, but I invited him to consider aspects of the Olympics that he was ignorant of. Sadly, you might easily imagine how willing he was to reevaluate his position. A rational discussion can’t be had with an irrational participant, and I really had no chance of success (which, however I might define it in this instance, would probably entail some ability to provoke a change in opinion). But I stood up. And I will stand up again. And again. And again.

Will you?

Additional Rabbit Holes -

• For Whom Does the Bell Toll?
• Strategies for Revolutionaries: You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs –
• Witnessing the Collapse of the American Republic –
• Obama’s True Colours –
• Want Liberty? Freedom?

Tags: activism, agitprop, classism, controversy, fraud, grass roots, hegemony, lies, olympics, propaganda, robert anton wilson, sports, tyranny, youtube

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