Submission
The autonomous demonstration has returned to Philadelphia. On June 10th and June 14th respectively, two self organized autonomous demonstrations were called to fight back against ICE and in solidarity with the rebellion in Los Angeles. To read a better understanding of what went down, I recommend you read the Unicorn riot account (https://unicornriot.ninja/2025/philadelphia-police-crack-down-on-anti-ice-marches-twice-in-one-week/) and an article I have deep disagreements with (https://phillypartisan.com/2025/06/15/headless-courage-anti-ice-protests-vs-police-brutality/). Both give brief overviews of what happened at these demos.
As an older anarchist, I was glad to see younger comrades organizing against ICE in a militant fashion. It is a rare thing to see publicly organized autonomous demonstrations in the United States despite the fact that they are common in many other places like Latin America or Europe. Autonomous demonstrations are critical for real combative street movements. For over a decade, the activist/organizer culture has plagued Philadelphia’s street movements with their cowardice and liberalism. The tension between the militant and the activist has played out in the meeting, communique and even in the streets. Organizers have often played a counter insurgent role in various struggles such as anti-gentrification direct actions from 2013 to 2018, OccupyICE in 2018, the George Floyd uprising, the Eddie Irizarry uprising and the Palestine solidarity encampments. In each of these struggles, anarchists and our friends faced conflict with activists. While it seems more hip to talk about “counter-insurgency” these days from some of the very same cowardly leftists, it bears reminding that anarchists in Philadelphia have struggled against those who would want to water down social struggles.
These dynamics are often difficult to grapple with as the dynamics are often highly racialized. Despite the longstanding history of Black anarchists and Black radical militancy in the city of Philly since the 60s, those who take risks and organize autonomously are often accused of being “white adventurists”. While it can be amusing sometimes as there will be white radicals so plagued with white guilt that they cannot imagine that perhaps a Black or Person of of color person may in fact want to fight back against the forces that oppress them, many Black and POC organizers also actively despise militants of every background despite their near constant exhortations about “revolutionary violence” so they can sell copies of their books and admission to workshops.
Either way, I want to congratulate whoever called for the most recent demonstrations. The type of bravery displayed by those who organized and attended these demonstrations is the type that we’ll need to fight back against the worsening conditions in the United States. Unsurprisingly, both of these demonstrations were met with overwhelming police repression. There are probably a number of reasons for this. Both Cherelle Parker and the so-called progressive DA Larry Krasner both made it clear that peaceful protest was acceptable but anything deviating from permitted protest would be treated harshly. I believe that the PPD are afraid of a rerun of 2020. Doubtless the LA rebellion has scared the shit out of them. Either way, it is clear that the autonomous demo frightens the State in a way that the nicely marshaled parades by various activist and socialist groups simply do not. I want to commend the young people for taking the streets regardless of overwhelming police numbers on both days. The rest of the “Left” in the city of Philadelphia has been quiet. It makes me proud to be an anarchist to see that we remain on the front-lines when it comes to organizing to fight back against ICE while much of the Lefts skulks in the shadows (and not in the cool way). Let’s all make sure to support the comrades who faced more serious charges for taking part in these actions.
Some socialists wrote a critique of the first autonomous demo that I feel like I should address. In my view the article takes a myopic view of autonomous struggles and relegates them largely to a reaction to a current moment despite the fact that autonomous demos were popular in Philadelphia way back in 2017.
So the article is titled “Headless Courage”, I thought this was kinda funny because it’s clear whoever wrote it has never engaged with the work of Philly’s own Black revolutionary Russell Maroon Shoatz with his critical essay “The Dragon and the Hydra” where he argues for a multi-headed resistance against the colony and capital rather than a single-headed one. The autonomous demonstration in theory is an example of multi-headed resistance. The idea of an autonomous demonstration is a moment where various different WELL ORGANIZED affinity groups with different goals and intentions (ideally coordinating with each other prior to the action) can converge and act together in a public manner. Unsurprisingly, this doesn’t always work in real life as there are often liberals who show up as individuals, seeking to derail the demonstration or accusing people of being cops. However, well organized affinity groups who can assert themselves solves this problem. Often many anarchists understand affinity to be a one time thing but it’s actually critical to understand that affinity is a long term organizational orientation based on building trust and reciprocal knowledge with your comrades. It seems that whoever wrote the article did not arrive to the demonstration with their own set of goals but instead decided to complain on the internet because no one listened to them! Organize yourself and yourself better. No one owes you allegiance or a rowdy demonstration.
Chiding the demonstration for being “peaceful” when people were de-arresting, throwing barricades in the street and engaging in some light types of vandalism feels like a cheap shot considering the overwhelming police presence. Most demonstrations never even have any of those things happen. It’s sad but true. Furthermore, It’s clear that some people at the demonstration attended with intention and were able to take part in ways they found liberating. The conclusions in the article are unclear as the author acknowledges that non-autonomous demonstrations are weak and ineffective. Yeah, welcome to the club. Anarchists have been saying that for years. Nothing the socialists described at the demo such as police violence or snitchjacketing is particularly new. That’s just par for the course at public demonstrations. The solution isn’t creating some commander militant though but rather building forms of organization that can facilitate un-governability. I would refer the author to the coordinated affinity group as an example. Unfortunately, that form in Philly has largely been eclipsed by whatever the Left is doing these days. The author also argues bizarrely that socialists should do ESL classes and then use the people who do those classes for a militant demonstration.
“but you can recruit people more honestly and form more articulate connections by tabling, going door to door, or mounting programs like free food distributions or free ESL classes that directly serve your community. As described before in the Partisan, we should think of these types of projects as the proper way to build people power, and mass actions as the way to “cash out” on whatever power has been built to make change in the most direct and literal way”
Unfortunately just because someone likes your ESL class or free food doesn’t necessarily mean that they are going to be interested in whatever type of demonstration that you want to do. Mass actions are the the product of random people from an ESL fighting the cops but rather the product of affinity groups building amongst themselves and together to build capacity to fight back. I dunno the author’s background but the whole part about “organizing the masses” is always corny to me cause leftists always seem to be confused when the masses are not interested in their political project. Often when white leftists talk about “organizing the masses”, they are talking about Black and brown people in the city. I think it may be hard to imagine for some crackers to understand Black and brown people are already organized just in ways that are often reactionary or liberal. Instead of thinking of people as monolithic subject for your revolutionary desires perhaps realize that individuals regardless of their class background are complicated. The mechanistic way of thinking about human beings on the Left continues to be a weakness.
For the younger people. Don’t stop! Focus on building affinity with one another in the streets. I feel like there has been a lot of chastising from both socialists, so-called legal support collectives and various cowards on the internet. At the end of the day, ya’ll are doing what the Left wishes it was doing. Keep training, making sure your Black bloc is on point, talking with your friends and refusing to follow orders. Whether it’s from cops, progressive politicians, leftists, crackers, organizers, liberal anarchists or whoever. If I had any recommendations, it would be to examine the history of social struggles in Philadelphia prior to this moment. You might learn a few things. I’ll include a reading list. But honestly, I’m just proud of ya’ll.
– ya local anarchist agitator
Some reading reccs:
Anti-Gentrification Actions Philadelphia: 2013 to 2018
The Dragon and the Hydra by Russell Maroon Shoatz
Spontaneity and Organization by Kimathi Mohammed
Activism as Recuperation (From a Movement for No Society)
In Defense of Looting by Vicky Osterweil
The Secret is To Really Complain (From Anathema Volume 10 Issue 2)
What the Fuck Does Reconstruction Even Mean to Ya’ll: A Critique of the W.E.B. DuBois School and the Black Left in Philadelphia (From Anathema Volume 10 Issue 1)
Archipelago: Affinity, informal organization and insurrectional projects
