I remember over a decade ago, when I was regularly attending the weekly Bay Area Anarchist Reading Group at the @long_haul_infoshop, another regular participant, Audrey Goodfriend (1920-2013), a “black diaper baby” born and raised in a multigenerational anarchist community, admonished us during one of the routinely divisive meetups (to paraphrase), “In my day, we all subscribed to every anarchist newspaper, whether we liked the writers or content—or not. It was solidarity. It was what you did.”
She gave us other examples, underscoring what she felt had been lost today: the ability to stick side by side with each other whether we agree or not, whether we like each other, or approve of each other’s strategies, tactics, or political takes. Indeed, precisely because anarchism aspires toward a flowering of forms of freedom, we won’t and shouldn’t think or act alike. But we should see common purpose, or a unity in our diversity, especially as we counter the immense violence of state structures that see anarchism—warm and fuzzy as “the beautiful idea” is—as a dangerous and threatening enemy to eradicate.
Yet each time the hammer of state repression smashes down on fellow comrades of various tendencies—those who seek collective liberation, but don’t see eye to eye —there are too many in our midst who waiver in their solidarity. The reasons are many, but all share a self-rationalization of why solidarity is somehow porous, only to be applied when, say, we agree with the alleged action being criminalized, or are friends with the defendant, or think they aren’t guilty, etc. It’s as if solidarity demands a lack of messiness, when instead we should always proudly display our messy beautiful alternatives versus the clearcut ugliness of the state, and its laws, cops, courts, and prisons.
It’s not my place to share the beauty of @free.peppy.and.krystal, particularly the solidarity of the codefendants themselves. It’s awe-inspiring. But it’s not why we should support them. Solidarity is our best weapon—for all, always.
Photos (in order): sign at Palestinian solidarity encampment at UPitt, April 2024; Peppy and Krystal solidarity poster in the “library” at that same encampment; sharpie tag in @the.big.idea.412’s bathroom, April 2024; graffiti under the 40th Street bridge in Pittsburgh, October 2024.
