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News & Observer
Published: Dec 1, 2004
Anarchists explain views
Panelists at a meeting at UNC-Chapel Hill discuss a
'multifaceted' social movement
By JESSICA ROCHA, Staff Writer
CHAPEL HILL -- They crammed into a small classroom to hear
what the three panelists had to say, politely raising their
hands and waiting to be called upon. Toward the end, they
passed out bread and apples.
These were the anarchists and other activists, progressives
and curious onlookers who attended the informational
discussion of anarchism, its meaning and its ****trayal in
the media.
About 50 people gathered in room 117 of the Hanes Art Center
at UNC-Chapel Hill to listen to David Phillips, a
Charlotte-based activist, Liz Seymour, a Greensboro
anarchist and freelance writer, and Danyele McPherson, a
Carrboro progressive media coordinator. Andrew Pearson, with
the Campaign to End the Cycle of Violence, facilitated the
event.
Panelists labored to explain anarchism without defining it
because, as a rule, anarchists are uncomfortable with
labels. A person's sense of being an individual is in itself
anarchic, they say.
"Just like any social movement, it's multifaceted,"
McPherson said. "You can't characterize it by one event."
She said maybe the best definition of anarchism is believing
in living -- or trying to live -- a nonhierarchical,
nonauthoritative and noncor****ate way of life.
The event fell on the fifth anniversary of protesters'
successful disruption of the World Trade Organization talks
in Seattle in 1999, but was organized in response to a
recent, more local event.
On Nov. 5, a post-election protest culminated in the
vandalism of the state's Republican Party headquarters in
Raleigh. Three people had felony charges brought against
them for damage estimated at more than $5,000.
At the trio's first court appearance, an acquaintance of one
of the defendants re****tedly attacked two television camera
operators' equipment, spawning news re****ts that other
anarchists felt were biased against them.
But it also brought about peaceful demonstrations, including
a "Honk for Peace" event earlier in November at N.C. State
University, and Tuesday's discussion at UNC-CH.
Though the group was trying to set the record straight,
organizer and discussion leader Pearson barred television
cameras. He said the panel had no objections to the media's
presence, but that some attendants might have been
uncomfortable with the cameras.
While panelists avoided judgment of the GOP headquarters
vandals, some people in the audience questioned vandalism as
a tactic. Frank Papa Jr., who owns the pet store Phydeaux in
downtown Carrboro, said he believed working within the
system might work better to instill lasting social change.
"I don't think protesting does a whole lot other than
alienate other people," he said.
Panelists said many anarchist touted mostly peaceful actions
such as "Buy Nothing Day" and working with the organization
Food Not Bombs, which collects discarded food and
distributes it to the homeless and hungry.
"I know a lot of anarchists, and they are very nice people,"
Pearson said.
Staff writer Jessica Rocha can be reached at 932-2008 or
mailto:jrocha@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dan Clore
My collected fiction, _The Unspeakable and Others_:
http://www.wildsidepress.com/index2.htm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1587154838/thedanclorenecro
Lord We˙rdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
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News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
"It's a political statement -- or, rather, an
*anti*-political statement. The symbol for *anarchy*!"
-- Batman, explaining the circle-A graffiti, in
_Detective Comics_ #608
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