At every full collective gathering we acknowledge that we live in a society founded on stolen land and stolen lives. Someone researches and presents a relevant topic and then we take a moment of silence to reflect. We share the research here for others as well.

My original Stolen Land, Stolen Lives was going to be about police brutality but I think many of us are aware of the extent and impact of state violence, its purpose, and how well it functions against marginalized people and those who challenge the status quo. Charlie Landeros was a passionate advocate for teaching and arming the community to defend itself against the many threats vulnerable peoples face in the so-called U.S. and in the wake of their murder by the Eugene Police Department, it is important to carry on this legacy and continue to support the armed self-defense of our communities.

With higher rates of shootings and victims of gun violence than most other countries in the world, it is easy to simply point to guns as the cause and call for gun reforms and stricter gun laws than looking at the deeper, less tangible, but nonetheless prevalent roots of violence, including toxic masculinity, white supremacy, racism, and other forms of power structures that use violence to keep the oppressed down. While advocacy for armed self-defense may seem counter-intuitive in a society entrenched by violence, much of the success of progressive movements in U.S. history can be attributed to armed self-defense and armed resistance.

An episode of the Friendly Anarchism podcast goes deeper into the importance of community armed self-defense with Charlie and Ariel and you can listen to it on SoundCloud through this link:
https://m.soundcloud.com/critmedia/friendly-anarchism-episode-42-community-armed-self-defense-and-gun-control-with-ariel-and-charlie/reposts

In an era of violence, communities must be able to support and defend each other. Charlie strongly believed this. Let’s carry on their work. Love & Rage for Charlie