Thank you for being interested in getting involved with the Neighborhood Anarchist Collective (NAC)! This page is to help you know more about NAC so you can know what’s going on and be as involved as you want to be. It covers a lot of basics about NAC, the things we do, and how we operate.
We’d also like to schedule a time to talk with you to answer any questions and learn more about you. And if you’d prefer to learn this stuff through a conversation and not reading, that is also fine. Please email welcome@neighborhoodanarchists.org if you haven’t already scheduled a welcome/intro conversation.
NAC’s Mission
The Neighborhood Anarchist Collective (NAC) strives to grow the anarchist movement through strategic direct action and by providing a welcoming environment for education and participation. We organize locally to help build a society where neighbors support each other to meet basic needs, individuals are free to follow their passions, and empowered communities collectively shape the future.
What is Anarchism?
Anarchism is a functional, viable method of seeking greater freedom for individuals and society as a whole. NAC seeks to broaden the understanding of anarchists and anarchism, pull it out of the dark and show people what they can do with the many theories and tools that have been given to us by the many thinkers and visionaries of the anarchist tradition. We recognize there is a diversity of anarchist principles and approaches – we primarily work from a vision of Social Anarchism, a vision of shared resources and community support built around the empowerment of the individual and the decentralization of power. Whether or not someone identifies as an anarchist, we welcome everyone who works within the following anarchist principles:
Individual Sovereignty – You contribute your energy on your own terms.
Mutual Aid – Acting together for shared benefit of all through the voluntary exchange of resources and services.
Distributed Power – No one has more power than anyone else. People work together on equal footing.
Direct action – Creating change or highlighting issues without relying on government or other indirect methods to accomplish goals.
Empower Individuals – By giving people the creative space to experience and experiment with their personal power, as well as their ability to impact their community, we will fan the flame(s) of self-liberation inside the hearts of our community.
Autonomy – Individual’s ideas and energies are important and encouraged.
Transformative Solidarity – We are committed to act in solidarity for the collective liberation of all; in particular, with folks who are being politically targeted: people of color, women, muslims, trans people, LGBTQ, people with disabilities, migrants, victims of the criminal ‘justice’ system, and all suffering under oppressive systems.
NAC Principles
Inclusivity – We welcome anyone interested in the mission and principles of this group (no one needs to commit to an anarchist identity to be involved)
Love-Focused – We commit to a radical love for our communities, our families, ourselves, and the earth.
Wholeness – We bring our whole selves to this group and respect the often emotional nature of social justice work and collective process. We strive to set aside our egos and the masks we often put on in public places in order to respect and appreciate everyone for who they are and the unique things they bring to our community.
Build for the Long Term – Projects we take on will lay the foundation for a stronger organization and larger projects in the future, whether they are entirely successful or not.
Strategic Nonviolence and Self Determination – As a group, we will mobilize using strategic nonviolence while respecting the right of communities to protect themselves.
Joyous – In a world full of drudgery and fear, we bring playfulness and joy to our projects
Current NAC Projects and Teams
Projects are the heart of what we do. We work creatively together to effect positive change in our communities. We prioritize projects that:
1) Serve and educate the community
2) Give people a sense of their own power
3) Shift power from government and corporations to people and communities.
Our current projects are:
- Share Fair – A really free market and fun social event with free food, clothes, supplies, massages, haircuts, music, and services.
- Radical Repair – Creating a Transformative Justice framework to support community accountability processes and conflict resolution.
- Community Resilience Organizing Workshops (CROW) – Free workshops on organizing, DIY, and resilience.
- Education – Telling people about NAC and anarchism through tabling, reading groups, video nights, theory discussions, zine making, etc.
- Prisoner Support – Writing letters to prisoners.
- Anarchkids – Creating resources and activities oriented towards younger people.
Have ideas for other projects you’d like to work on? We’d love to hear them when we talk with you!
Teams are internally focused. Our current teams are:
Facilitation – Organizing the gatherings and looking at how to improve NAC’s processes and structure.
Power and Privilege discussion group – An internal discussion group to examine as individuals how we each benefit from different power structures and privileges in our society.
Artists – People available to help with flyers or other graphic needs. Artists and people seeking artist’s help welcome.
Welcome Intros – A group of people available to give welcome intros to new people.
Security Culture
Security Culture is a set of shared customs that are designed to minimize risk, to offset paranoia, and to increase effectiveness and trust. These intentional practices can become habitual and instinctive. The following are NAC’s principles of security culture:
- NAC is a public and above-ground group. We welcome people with different comfort levels and experience with activism and direct action. We don’t want to expose people to danger that they haven’t signed up for.
- People should never be aware of sensitive information they do not need to know – Don’t ask, don’t tell.
- Don’t share personally identifying information about yourself or others
- What we say and don’t say, what we type and don’t type is our best defence from the state. Protecting people’s identities is our best defence from Fascists/Nazi organizations.
- Don’t talk to cops (except to assert your rights or if acting as a police liaison)
- Know that you can say “no” at any time to anyone about anything. Don’t answer questions or participate in any projects you don’t feel good about.
- Look out for other people. Don’t imperil others with your decisions. Don’t brag about past actions. Remember: Jokes can be taken seriously.
- If you’re going to organize confrontational/arrestable (initiating confrontation that interferes with other group’s activities) protests or actions:
- Utilize affinity groups (small groups of trusted people)
- Organize in person as much as possible
- Be conscious of the locations you choose to organize in and consider the risks.
- If organizing online do it in an encrypted system and only where you know everyone (affinity group).
- Don’t get too distracted worrying about whether people are infiltrators or not; if your security measures are effective, it shouldn’t even matter. Keep sensitive information inside the circle of people it concerns, collaborate with reliable and experienced comrades whose history you can verify, and don’t give away anything about your private activities.
Stack
Stack helps facilitate discussion and decision making in which everyone has an equitable say in the conversation. Progressive stack is used to give marginalized groups, voices that are often submerged, discounted, or excluded, a greater chance to speak by placing them before those on stack without lived experience or who have already spoken.
To get on Stack, raise one hand and look to the stacker to confirm your addition. You will be called in the order you were added.
Other common hand signals are: (see more examples here: https://neighborhoodanarchists.org/norms).
● Up twinkles / Down twinkles: Indicates agreement or disagreement with what is being said or with a consensus proposal. May be asked to clarify.
● Clarifying question/comment: To clarify what was just said.
● Direct response: Something that must be said after the person speaking, usually for clarity’s sake.
● Process triangle: An idea for how to improve meeting process. The following can be used in response to something being said and can also to get a “temperature check” on a topic/proposal being discussed.
● Vibes Watch: Things are getting tense. Lets address it or take a break.
NAC Organizing Culture
- We at NAC recognize that our society is dominated by intersecting oppressive power structures, including capitalism, the state, white supremacy / racism, cis-hetero-patriarchy, ableism, agism, and classism. We are committed to intersectional action in all that we do. We expect every NAC participant to interrogate their own relationships to power and privilege, in NAC-specific spaces and more broadly, and to participate in group-wide discussions on these topics.
No intentional perpetuation of any harmful power structure will be tolerated. (Racism, sexism, transphobia, ableism, etc.) - Mistakes are human; assume best intentions. We are all continually working to unpack harmful behaviors and language.
- We act in solidarity, not charity, with marginalized groups and individuals.
- Emotional labor will be respected, in the name of voluntary association and mutual support. We respect each other.
- We treat each other with the respect of equals. We are a horizontally- organized collective. No one has a higher rank than anyone else.
- We encourage everyone to bring their own ideas and strive to create a culture where everyone feels comfortable in asserting their needs for shared spaces and asking for relevant accommodations.
- For example, if you need childcare, others to wear masks, clarifying questions answered, others to speak more loudly or slowly, breaks during a meeting…please ask! We are all committed to making this space as accessible as possible, but we can’t anticipate everyone’s diverse and individual needs.
Group Decision-Making
Consensus is used to decide major decisions and the general direction of a team; the advice process is used for less consequential decisions.
- The Advice Process is used to access collective wisdom in pursuit of a sound decision. One can make a decision after seeking advice from everyone who will be meaningfully affected, and people with expertise in the matter. With the advice and perspectives the decision maker receives, they choose what they believe to be the best course of action.
- Consensus is a cooperative process in which group members develop and agree to support a decision in the best interest of the whole. A decision may not be everyone’s personal preference, but is something that all can agree is worth trying. The wisdom of the group is synthesized through active listening, shared purpose, preparation, deliberation, and a focus on issues and solutions.
Compassion Comrades
We have designated “Compassion Comrades” who are available to provide confidential support to anyone in the collective about any difficulties they’re experiencing. It could be about a problematic comment or interaction at a meeting (or just a weird vibe), a conflict with another person in NAC, difficulty getting involved in NAC, a personal problem, or really anything that someone wants support with (in NAC or outside). You can email them at compassion@neighborhoodanarchists.org
Misc Info
We have monthly meetings for people involved in NAC. Projects and teams have other meetings on their own schedules.
There is a conflict resolution process if/when conflict comes up
Next Steps
- Finish your introduction by doing a welcome introduction with whoever sent this to you.
- Come to a gathering
- Be introduced to a project
- Check the weekly newsletter email for events
- Join the Signal Announcement group to get event reminders. Join the other NAC Signal groups as well.
- Attend regular project meetings, internal gatherings, events, etc.
More to Read
NAC Mission and Principles: https://neighborhoodanarchists.org/principles/
NAC Safer Space and Meeting Norms: https://neighborhoodanarchists.org/norms
NAC Structure: https://neighborhoodanarchists.org/structure/