Anarchist Neighborhood:Toledo, Ohio
From Infoshop OpenWiki
Toledo is a city in Lucas County on the northern border of Ohio and the western end of Lake Erie. It is the county seat of Lucas County, and the principal city in the Toledo Metropolitan Statistical Area. In the 2000 census, the city proper had a population of 313,619. It is the fourth largest city in Ohio. Toledo is known as the Glass City because of its long history of innovation in all aspects of the glass industry: windows, bottles, windshields, and construction materials. The Jeep vehicle has been manufactured in Toledo since 1941.
Toledo has a long history of anarchist and radical activity, and in recent years the anarchist community has grown rapidly, at least as a public presence, and is becoming increasingly militant.
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[edit] Calendar
- July 25-26, 2007 - CrimethInc. Convergence - Athens, Ohio.
Ongoing Events
- Food Not Bombs every Friday at 4pm at the plaza at Erie and Madison
- Really Really Free Market every Friday at 4pm at the plaza at Erie and Madison
- October Fifteenth Anarchist Collective meetings every Friday at 7pm
- Media Decompression Collective Film Nights held first and third Mondays and Mickey Finn's Pub at 602 Lagrange St.
[edit] Organizations, Groups, Projects
- type A collective - The type A collective is an anonymous group of anarchists that publishes a quarterly magazine, type A, which is distributed mainly in the Toledo area and provides local, regional, and national news, as well as commentary and DIY information. The group's politics lean toward a sort of post-left, green, insurrectionary, anarchism but also show some situationist influence at times. The group created headlines when it issued what seemed to be an ultimatum to Toledo mayor Jack Ford regarding a visit by a neo-Nazi group in December of 2005. type A was named in a subsequent injunction and their letter to the mayor used as justification for the suspension of most civil liberties in the city of Toledo, similar to a martial law situation, for a period of two weeks following the Nazi visit. The type A collective continues to work as a voice for much of the anarchist community in the Toledo area and is a frequent contributor to sites like Infoshop and Indymedia.
- Toledo Food Not Bombs - Toledo Food Not Bombs is one of many Food Not Bombs groups around the world. The groups originally stemmed from the anarchist wing of the anti-nuclear movement in the early 1980s. Toledo's chapter receives food from a variety of sources, mostly donations, on a weekly basis and prepares and distributes it for free at a location in downtown Toledo.
- October Fifteenth Anarchist Collective - The October Fifteenth Anarchist Collective is a group of Toledo area anarchists that is open to various anarchist, radical, and anti-authoritarian viewpoints. The group evolved out of the Toledo Anti-Racist Action group, which was integral in organizing the resistance to an October 2005 neo-Nazi rally in a North Toledo neighborhood, which erupted into the historic October 15th Uprising, from which the group derives its name. It has been the primary organizing force behind most local anarchist activities, and has helped to organize regional activities such as the 2006 and 2007 Great Lakes Anarchist Gathering.
[edit] Alternative Media
- type A - type A magazine is a high quality, quarterly publication that focuses on issues relevent to the Toledo anarchist community. It publishes local, regional, and national news, as well as commentary, stories, reviews, and interviews. Submissions to the magazine are welcome and can be sent to typea@riseup.net
- MDC - The Media Decompression Collective is a group that is not explicitly anarchist, but does show anrchist tendencies and sympathies in the projects they choose. Primarily, the group has been showing films and helping to organize demonstrations in the Toledo area.
- Clamor Magazine - Clamor is perhaps the most well known alternative media source in Toledo. The publishers have radical, if not explicitly anarchist, views, which are reflected in the magazine's content. Stories tend to focus on peoples resistance to state repression, and interviews with people like Ian Mackaye and Derrick Jensen have made this a anarchist friendly publication. The group also organizes the annual Allied Media Conference, which usually includes guests like Anarchy Magazine, Autonomedia, and AK Press.
[edit] Recent Events
On October 15, 2005 a neo-Nazi group called the National Socialist Movement planned to hold a rally in a North Toledo neighborhood, where one resident had complained of trouble with black gangs. Meanwhile a coalition consisting of local anarchists, members of the community and regional Anti-Racist Action groups began to organize a counter-demonstration with people in the affected neighborhood, many of whom had already made plans to oppose the Nazi rally, including calling a gang truce.
On the morning of October 15, approximately two dozen members of the group showed up and stood together on the lawn of a neighborhood high school, taunting residents and counter-protesters while waiting for the signal to begin their march. Within an hour roughly 800 people had amassed on the opposite side of the street to oppose the march. Police on bicycles and horses seperated the two.
When the signal was given for the NSM to march the counter-protesters ran full speed ahead of them and the police in an effort to cut off the march route. Police began charging the crowd, which retaliated by throwing rocks, bottles, and bricks by the hundreds, immediately disabling two police vehicles, and sending the officers into a full retreat. The NSM got into their vehicles and fled the area when police could no longer provide them protection.
Officers quickly returned with riot gear, including pepper spray, teargas, and concussion grenades, and a tense standoff between them and the conter-protesters began. Sporadic clashes took place over the next several hours, resulting in the destruction of thirteen police vehicles and two media vehicles, as well as an ambulance which had been sent to retract injured police officers. Neighborhood residents also took the opportunity to set fire to a bar that was used as a gathering spot for police officers patrolling the neighborhood. After several hours, most people returned to their homes.
More than 150 people were eventually arrested in connection to the riot, most recieving minor charges, but several were made example of by the city, including a seventeen year old boy who recieved an 8 year sentence, and a single mother who recieved a 5 year sentence.
War is Shit
On the night of February 1, 2005 a group calling itself "War is Shit" expressed its opposition to US imperialism when it attacked a military recruiting center on Reynolds Rd[1]. The group, which had also in previous days canvased the entire city with a graffitt campaign, spraying the "War is Shit" message, along with anarchist circle A's, smashed out the front window of the building and then threw a bucket of fecal matter inside. A communique issued by the group read, "In a nation fueled by murderous lies, we can think of nothing more appropriate than expressing our disgust in this inappropriate fashion." Police have made no arrests.
Retaliation Against Nazi Tattoo Parlor
Following the December 10, 2005 visit of the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group, to Toledo, the Lucky Duck Tattoo Parlor at 1441 Sylvania Avenue had its front window smashed out with a brick painted with a circled capital "A"[2]. The Tattoo shop had been used in October as a base of operations for the NSM's failed rally that led to the October 15th Uprising in North Toledo, and had been used again the following November to house Nazis that had returned with the intention of seeking revenge against local anarchists. The shop's owners Jerry and Lisa Campbell say they believe a group called "The A Project" to be responsible for the attack. Police have made no arrests.
PFW Recruiting Center Attack
During the week building up to the three year anniversary of the Iraq war, the group People for a Free World, claimed responsibility for an attack against a military recruiting center on Laskey Road, at the Miracle Mile Shopping Center, during which a brick was thrown through the front window, resulting in hundreds of dollars in damage. The group issued a communique, which read, "WE ARE CLAIMING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE MARCH 15TH ATTACK ON THE MIRACLE MILE ARMY RECRUITING CENTER-THE SMASHING OF THEIR FRONT WINDOW WITH A BRICK-IN RESPONSE TO THE THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ. OUT OF IRAQ, OUT OF TOLEDO." Police have made no arrests[3].
Anarchist Graffiti Campaign
In Late July, 2006 police in the Toledo suburb of Perrysburg began an official investigation into an intense graffiti and vandalism campaign, which left anarchist symbols and messages strewn across ritzy subdivisions, expensive SUVs, and area billboards, resulting in thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars in damage[4]. Police have made no arrests.
PFW Valentine's Day Action
On Valentine's Day, 2007 the group People for a Free World attacked an unmanned military vehicle at a Toledo military recruiting stattion[5]. The following day they issued this communique: "People for a Free World IS CLAIMING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DAMAGING OF THE MILITARY VEHICLE AT THE 3454 OAK ALLEY COURT RECRUITING CENTER IN TOLEDO. THIS, OUR MOST RECENT ACTION, WAS A VALENTINE'S DAY GIFT TO THE PEOPLE OF TOLEDO, AND AN ACT OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE IRAQI PEOPLE. THE MILITARY IS A VILE BLIGHT ON OUR CITIES AND MUST BE EXPELLED." Police have made no arrests.
2007 Great Lakes Anarchist Gathering
On the weekend of April 14-15, 2007, Toledo hosted the Great Lakes Anarchist Gathering, an annual conference and social event for regional anarchists. The event, which included presentations by noted author John Zerzan, Species Traitor publisher Kevin Tucker, Anthony Rayson of Chicago Anarchist Black Cross, and many others drew a large crowd from places as far away as San Fransisco, Buffalo, Eugene, and Athens, Georgia, as well as from all corners of the Great Lakes. Discussions covered topics ranging from the upcoming Republican National Convention, to environmental issues, to self defense and the history of public education. However, not everyone was happy with the choice of speakers. A member of Toledo Food Not Bombs passed out leaflets attacking Zerzan.
No location has been announced yet for the 2008 GLAG.
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