A Range of G20 Actions/Events

Leaders of 20 of the most powerful governments in the world, representing 19 countries and the European Union, are descending upon Pittsburgh in late September. We, concerned residents participating in the local outreach working group of the Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project, are asking for individuals and organizations that are seeking a better world to come and show their opposition to these undemocratic, closed meetings. Our future belongs to us, not to our governments!

We are calling for a diversity of actions throughout the week, and we hope that you can join us, as you are able. Below this update on resources is a detailed day-by-day list of events that we’ve organized. Additionally, there are a number of trainings, workshops and presentations happening over the next two weeks: http://resistg20.org/calendar.

Check out the new convergence space at 4374 Murray Ave. in Greenfield! Open hours this week are Thursday (Sept. 17) noon-8pm, Friday (Sept. 18) noon-8pm, Saturday (Sept. 19) 2pm-10pm, and Sunday (Sept. 20) 10am-8pm. We hope to be open even longer hours during the week of the G-20. Check the website for updates on hours of operation. We are currently in the process of hammering out space guidelines dealing with respectful conduct, law enforcement, media, consent and sexual assault. These will be posted on our site in the next day or two.

Our website also features vivid posters, flyers, promotional videos (including “The Anarchist Simpsons: Stephen Hawking Leads Riots against the G-20”), educational resources, a ride board, info on medics and their call to action, info on the students working group, and even the map of the announced security perimeter around the summit. So take a second to go there (http://resistg20.org) if you haven’t already!

As far as other resources go, the PGRP is happy to provide childcare for visiting dissidents. Local childcare specialists are committed to providing a safe and caring space for children during the convergence. The hours for childcare are 9:00am-9:00pm, on Thursday, September 24 and Friday, September 25. Ages for children are infant-12. More on childcare: http://resistg20.org/childcare

The housing working group has reported that the space we have available for housing during the actions is extremely limited. We have only a very small amount of space left in individual housing. If you are a local and still have some space, please fill out the form on http://resistg20.org/housing. If you are from out of town, note that the last day to apply for individual/ match-maker housing is Sept. 18. After that, we can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to find space for everyone who requests it. If you’ve got friends or neighbors in Pittsburgh, now is the time to contact them!

We’ve got comms. Tin Can Comms Collective is a collection of communication rebels seeking to provide useful free tools for activists fighting the State and Capitalism. They are an anarchist group that has come together to help with the communication infrastructure for the Anti-G-20 protests because: People and Information want to be Free! Anyone who wants to be part of providing up-to-date and relevant information to people on the streets can get involved. It’s very easy. All you need is a cell-phone (they strongly suggest a pre-paid that can get text/sms messages) and opposable thumbs. Tin Can will collect information from websites, media, scouts and participants on the street. These communications will be filtered and then sent to those who are subscribed to one of their lists. You will receive texts. Go here for information on how to plug in: http://tincancomms.wordpress.com/

Lastly, the legal update. If you are arrested, witness an arrest, or to report surveillance, harassment, brutality or any other incidents please dial: 412-444-3553. To report a civil liberties violation, please contact the ACLU at 412-562-5015. With any other inquires please e-mail legal@resistg20.org. The PGRP legal team has committed to: running a legal hotline, answering calls from jail and arrest reports, tracking folks through jail and doing their best to communicate with support people on the outside. The team will be in communication with a group of attorneys about any legal emergencies during the summit and will do their best to help arrestees and victims of state repression get in touch with appropriate attorneys for criminal defense and possible civil litigation. The legal team has NOT committed to collecting individual legal information, so please fill out a legal support form and leave it with a friend or somebody in your affinity group! (available at www.g20legal.org) This will be incredibly helpful as they try to track you through the system. They are NOT committing to bailing people out of jail. If you are planning on risking arrest please make plans also to bail yourselves out. And they are NOT committing to securing pro-bono legal defense for all arrestees. They’ll do their best to match you up with appropriate legal help but if you are arrested, do plan on the possibility of relying either on a public defender or paying for legal representation.

THE ACTIONS AND EVENTS

Tuesday, September 22
On Tuesday, September 22, neighborhoods in Pittsburgh will be having community picnics, where long-time residents, short-time residents, and the early-bird protesters can share a meal and talk about the better world that they want to live in. The G-20 tries to present itself as leaders getting together, but whenever they meet it seems to cost millions and involve police hitting people over the head with batons. Let’s show them how a real civil gathering works: good people, good food, good times. Locals in the East End have already confirmed an Anti-G-20 Community Gathering in Friendship Park from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm Besides food, music and conversation, Rustbelt Radio, a project of Pittsburgh Indymedia, will be on hand collecting stories for its G-Infinity Media Project. The live, streaming audio project is a non-corporate, participatory media forum for the voices of the people who will not be in the room during the summit, who are affected by the G-20 economic policies but whose stories go largely untold. http://resistg20.org/tuesday

Wednesday, September 23
Wednesday night, September 23, at 7:00 pm, there will be a spokescouncil meeting for information sharing and coordination at our convergence space, located at 4374 Murray Ave. The spokescouncil is a place for affinity groups to share decisions that they have made and identify things that they need to do and decisions that they need to make.If you are planning on attending, PLEASE READ this page: http://resistg20.org/wednesday on the spokescouncil format.

Thursday, September 24
Thursday, September 24, will feature a People’s Uprising, a mass march to disrupt the G-20 summit. We’ll be starting at Arsenal Park at 2:30 pm in Lawrenceville, a vibrant working class community in the city, and marching to the G-20 summit downtown. Our theme is “Power from Below, Not Impositions from Above.” Our only permit is our feet and voices. The G-20 is in the house, throwing a party. Let’s crash it. Read the whole call to action here: http://resistg20.org/thursday

Friday, September 25
Friday, September 25, we’ll be working to undermine the G-20 summit by attacking their power, making connections to the local manifestations of their neoliberal agenda. The folks that gather in the convention center represent large governments that draw their power from collusion with powerful corporations, governments that draw their wealth from resource extraction and destruction to our world, and governments that maintain their forces through the direct violence of police forces and militaries. Without these structural supports, their power will disintegrate. The G-20 is in a house of cards: let’s shake the table. The action working group of the Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project has drawn up a list of 100 potential targets, and many groups will be claiming a destination somewhere in the city. We call for these coordinated actions to end at 11:30 am in which we will demonstrate: we do not need to be together physically to be together in struggle. http://resistg20.org/friday

We encourage people to form affinity groups with those that they know and trust, to have familiar faces to stick with in the streets and people to organize and take action with. An affinity group is when you get together with folks who are on the same page as you about what kind of action you want to do. Maybe they’re your friends from work or school, maybe they’re your marching band mates. What each group’s action will be on Friday is up to that person or affinity group. We ask that each affinity group send one member of that group to our spokescouncil on Wednesday night to share information, coordinate and to pick a focus for Friday, if one is not already chosen.

After the actions end at 11:30 am, there will be an anti-authoritarian contingent in the Thomas Merton Center Anti-War Committee’s state-sanctioned People’s March to the summit site. This contingent will adhere to the Pittsburgh Principles (http://resistg20.org/principles), respecting the tone and tactics of the march organizers.

We are working hard with many groups and individuals in order to ensure there is a solid foundation for all of these actions to be a success. We ask those who are able to contribute more than their bodies – those who are interested in helping to provide legal support, scouting, staffing the convergence center, medical support, food, housing, etc. — to do what they can to help the resistance. If you see a need that you can fill, fill it. If you’re not exactly sure how to do that but want to try, get in touch.

See you in the streets,
Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project
www.resistg20.org