Sunday, July 21st 2013, 7:30PM
Human Relations
1067 Flushing Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11237

On Sunday we’ll be participating in a discussion with some comrades in advance of the opening of The Base, a new social center scheduled to open this August in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. We’ll be talking about some of the work we’ve been doing in the past year, and some of what we hope to do in the near future, in particular forms of organizing that a new radical movement space in Brooklyn might facilitate.

The are some immediate supply needs for the new space, whose very reproduction will require a broad and collective effort:
folding/stackable chairs;
wall paint;
a ladder;
curtains;
printers, computers, copier, paper;
kitchenware;
tables/desks/cabinets;
cleaning supplies;
rugs;
lamps;
coatrack;
couch/futon…

This talk was originally scheduled for last Sunday, July 13th, but was postponed so everyone could participate in the demonstration protesting George Zimmerman’s acquittal for murdering Trayvon Martin. Last March we did the same after the NYPD murdered Kimani Gray, postponing our “Labor and the Strikes to Come” in order to join the “East Flatbush Rebellion”. On Sunday the Base posted this statement on their Facebook page:

We, at the Base, just saw the verdict of the Trayvon Martin trial. What was a clear-cut case of premeditated murder has been contorted into another injustice handed down by the American judicial system. We are saddened by the death of Trayvon and wish his family the best. However, we are not surprised by this verdict. For far too long, we have watched as the American state has persecuted people of African descent. While some have argued about living in a post-racial society we, at the Base, are completely aware of the nature of this social order. We watched as people put faith in the judicial system hoping for justice. But as we have long known, you can only get justice in the street. You can only get justice when you make justice for yourself. Justice cannot be lived until we tear down the structures that make an American society possible.

From the event’s original announcement:

We are welcoming NYC’s most recent and unapologetic radical organizing space. The space is opening very soon, and this talk will focus on some of the programs that will be there.

Please join us for this event and see how you can take part and learn more about this great up and coming project.

The Base: http://thebasebk.org/
Human Relations http://www.humanrelationsbooks.com/

The Base will be a sociopolitical space in Bushwick, Brooklyn, committed to the dissemination of radical-left ideas and organizing. The mission of the space is to spread ideas and practices to the broader populace and provide a place where individuals can learn, grow, and organize outside of traditional activist and educational institutions. We will provide a foundation for fostering the ideas and theory of people who have either a preliminary background in political thought, or who have not grappled with political theory at any level. Furthermore, we will establish a framework where creative modes of sharing will be encouraged, with the goal of spreading these modes beyond the confines of the space itself. We intend to establish a sociopolitical model in New York City where participants can create projects that are expansive and creative. Lastly, this will be a place where people can grapple with, organize, and find solutions to issues that affect their living situation in a constructive environment.

The venue for Sunday’s discussion, Human Relations, is itself a used bookstore run by some comrades, which opened in August 2012.