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Collective aims to feed hungry, fuel change
CAFE members live together in Chinatown, hold political talks and serve
meals to poor.
By Hannah Franklin / The Fresno Bee
04/26/08 23:16:30
For information about Fresno Collective for Arts, Freedom & Ecology
events, visit
http://www.cafefresno.org
or
http://www.myspace.com/cafefresno
In an old restaurant on quiet F Street in the heart of historic
Chinatown, Becky Asami and six of her friends are stocking food,
chopping vegetables and preparing meals.
But they're not making any money, and they hope they never do.
Their venture -- the Fresno Collective for Arts, Freedom & Ecology -- is
on a mission to feed the hungry and fuel change. They denounce
capitalism. They promote anarchist ideals.
They've set up shop in the middle of an area where others are trying to
breathe new economic life into what once was a thriving business
district. Now Chinatown has more than its share of boarded-up
storefronts, but CAFE members have mixed feelings about economic
revitalization.
"If we were to put up just a Starbucks and a Wal-Mart, we'd be selling
ourselves short," said Asami, 24, a substitute teacher and one of the
original residents of the collective.
Asami and the other CAFE members live in the upper ****tion of the store.
Their decorations are eclectic: bamboo stalks, a purple picket fence, a
bicycle sculpture, a colorful mosaic that reads: "total liberation."
The idea for the collective was born a few years ago as a dream to
create a thriving community center. Asami said she was already involved
in Food Not Bombs -- an effort to feed the hungry with surplus and
donated food -- and she joined up with other activists who had found a
place in Chinatown to spread their roots.
"If you are trying to be conscious of your ecological footprint, living
in community just makes sense," Asami said.
CAFE found its home two years ago in the old Golden Mar Chinese food
restaurant. Asami said the collective is still a work in progress and
currently is renovating the downstairs kitchen area and remodeling the
walk-in refrigerator.
Why Chinatown? "It was cheaper," Asami said. Plus it's close to
downtown, where many of the group's efforts are focused.
The collective is just down F Street from the offices of Chinatown
Revitalization Inc.
Kathy Omachi, vice president of Chinatown Revitalization, said she
hasn't discussed capitalism with her CAFE neighbors.
"They seem like very nice people," Omachi said. "We wish them the best
like anyone who takes a chance with us."
Members of the collective come from various backgrounds. Some are
students, some have jobs. But everyone is asked to pay $300 for their
monthly rent and serve in the community.
"It teaches you to pay more attention to people around you, and what
people are going through," said Logan Siler, 23, a CAFE member and
Fresno City College student.
Kyle Hunt, 19, who joined the collective in December, said living and
working with CAFE has helped him become a better version of himself.
"I'm a giving person, so this helps me bring out the best in myself,"
said Hunt, who said he works in sales and marketing.
On Sundays the group can be found in Courthouse Park in downtown Fresno,
serving free vegan meals to the homeless. On Wednesdays, members pass
out fresh groceries to low-income families near University Medical Center.
"I don't eat this healthy unless I come down here," said Michael Cabibi,
36, who was among over a dozen people served in Courthouse Park on a
recent Sunday afternoon. "We really need this."
Along with serving food for the stomach, CAFE hopes to dish up some food
for thought.
CAFE hosts events throughout the year. There's a self-defense class, a
"womyns" discussion group, and talks on Marxist and anarchist ideals.
In the back of the restaurant, where the smell of rice and savory
noodles may have once simmered, CAFE has established a library with a
wide range of revolutionary literature.
"It's a place where our ideals and lifestyles can have a place to grow,"
said CAFE member Ashley Fairburn, a 24-year-old Fresno State student who
is majoring in women's studies and history.
But CAFE members have not completely abandoned capitalism. They hope
eventually to purchase the Golden Mar building.
[And owning their own home would have what to do with capitalism, the
owner****p-and-control of the means of production by an elite class of
capitalists rather than the workers themselves? Looks to me like a
perfect fit with anarchist ideals.--DC]
"It's easy to take it for granted that I have this great space," Asami
said. "I'm lucky."
The re****ter can be reached at hfranklin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
or (559) 441-6308.
--
Dan Clore
My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://tinyurl.com/2gcoqt
Lord We˙rdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://tinyurl.com/292yz9
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
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Skipper: Professor, will you tell these people who is
in charge on this island?
Professor: Why, no one.
Skipper: No one?
Thurston Howell III: No one? Good heavens, this is anarchy!
-- _Gilligan's Island_, episode #6, "President Gilligan"
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