Table Of ContentPraise for Towards Collective Liberation
“In Towards Collective Liberation, Chris Crass has shared with us a valuable
collection of thoughtful, honest, and humble reflections on what it means to
build the world that we are waiting for. Chris achieves the difficult task of
practice driven-theory— encouraging and allowing all of us to be present in
our work, to lead with our hearts, and to embody the change that we seek. It
is through these critical and sometimes painfully honest reflections that we
as organizers, activists, and social change makers are given the courage to
do the same.”
—Alicia Garza, People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER)
“For those of us committed to thinking across, though, and between
organizing and theory, Towards Collective Liberation promises to map novel
itineraries for an anti-racist project that demands that the theoretical be
known through transformative organizing.”
—Andrej Grubačić, anarchist organizer and author of Don’t Mourn,
Balkanize! Essays After Yugoslavia and Wobblies and Zapatistas:
Conversations on Anarchism, Marxism, and Radical History
“As a young Affrilachian woman engaged in the struggle, it is refreshing to
hear analysis that is contemporary from another young person who is
connecting the dots between practice and theory in the struggle to smash
white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism. In Towards Collective
Liberation, Chris’s openness in talking about his own process and
experiences is timely as we try to build movements that don’t reproduce the
systems that we’re trying to overcome. I look forward to sharing it with my
comrades in struggle.”
—Ash-Lee Henderson, organizer with United Campus Workers and former
steering committee member of Appalachia Rising
“With compelling honesty Chris Crass shares his journey toward
understanding his own privilege in order to become a more effective ally in
struggles for justice. Towards Collective Liberation provides inspiration and
practical guidance for working across differences of race, class, sexuality,
and gender. It is a thoughtful and engaging handbook for our times.”
—Barbara Smith, author of The Truth That Never Hurts: Writings on Race,
Gender, and Freedom, founding member of the Combahee River Collective,
and editor of Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology
“Chris Crass offers a precious gift that new generations of young activists
especially are starving for: a vision and strategy for social change rooted in
love and soul. Unitarian Universalist youth movements in particular have
found solace and hope in Crass’s words and leadership. And for all those
struggling with cultures of critique and competition woven through our
movements, this book provides a healing approach to the pursuit of
collective liberation. As a long-time organizer, Crass has learned to prioritize
his own spirituality, and link it with his work against systemic injustice. The
result: a compelling resource blending personal testimony, lessons from a
diversity of organizations, and historical insights to ground and sustain our
efforts.”
—Betty Jeanne Rueters-Ward, adjunct faculty, Starr King School for the
Ministry and former national youth organizer, Unitarian Universalist
Association
“This anthology of essays is of vital interest to those of us interested in
bridging longstanding race, class, gender, and generational divides to build
more effective social justice movements for the twenty-first century. In clear
and compelling prose, socialist-anarchist Chris Crass offers a multilayered
critique of the oppressive hierarchies of capitalism and the nation-state.
Bringing both practical and theoretical insights from his own and others’
experiences of the past two decades of tireless progressive movement
building, Crass is at his best when he discusses his work as a white man to
understand and uproot intertwining systems of racism and sexism.
Powerfully attentive to the lessons of U.S. history from its margins, Chris
Crass is part of a small but significant tradition of white radicals who have
joined with people of color to shake the foundations of white supremacy—
ranging from John Brown to Anne Braden to Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. In the
odyssey described in these essays, he has become a major voice in the rise
of new currents of white anti-racism in the twenty-first century.”
—Catherine Fosl, author of Subversive Southerner: Anne Braden and the
Struggle for Racial Justice in the Cold War South and director of the Anne
Braden Institute for Social Justice Research
“A deeply important, engaged, and learned defense of anarchism, class
politics, and anti-racism. Grounded in study, organizing, and struggle,
Towards Collective Liberation is a significant contribution to the recent
history of the U.S. left.”
—David Roediger, author of The Wages of Whiteness and The Production of
Difference (with Elizabeth Esch)
“Chris Crass offers penetrating analysis and a keen understanding of the
political and cultural dynamics shaping the United States. He is one of the
new generation of anti-oppression/collective liberation advocates and
organizers. What I like about his writings is they offer more than just his
opinions, but a framework that is the result of both reflection upon
inequities and his experiences putting his analysis into practice. We can all
learn from reading this.”
—Rev. David Billings, The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond and
United Methodist Church Elder
“Chris Crass’s writings are compost on the seeds of a better world
struggling to grow, blossom and bear fruit. They are also gasoline on the
flames of a crumbling, ugly, racist empire. He takes on the hard obstacles to
movement and alliance building and—agree or not—pushes us all to take
responsibility and be part of the solution. His book provides new tools—and
sharpens a few old ones—that everyone who wants to make a better world
and community needs in their toolbox.”
—David Solnit, editor of Globalize Liberation and co-author of Army of None:
Strategies to Counter Military Recruiting, End War and Build a Better World
(with Aimee Allison)
“In his writing and organizing, Chris Crass has been at the forefront of
building the grassroots, multiracial, feminist movements for justice we need.
Towards Collective Liberation takes on questions of leadership, building
democratic organizations, and movement strategy on a very personal level
that invites us all to experiment and practice the way we live our values
while struggling for systemic change. Chris Crass is writer/activist who
keeps his eye on the prize: to work for collective liberation, remembering
that mine is interdependent with yours. To that end, the book draws crucial
lessons from applying women of color feminism to anti-racist organizing in
white communities, and feminist work with men—lessons that need to be
studied and applied widely.”
—Elizabeth ‘Betita’ Martinez, founder of the Institute for Multiracial Justice
and author of De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views for a Multi-Colored
Century
“In his activism and writings, Chris Crass has been able to articulate and
practice a transformative model for social change. Guided by a vision of
collective liberation that centers the experience and leadership of women of
color, Chris has done groundbreaking work to realize the revolutionary
potential of grassroots multiracial alliances. His essays and interviews over
the past two decades provide tremendously valuable and concrete lessons
for all those deepening social, political, economic, and spiritual change.”
—Harsha Walia, co-founder of No One Is Illegal and Radical Desis, and
author of Undoing Border Imperialism
“In Towards Collective Liberation Chris Crass makes a subtle, but very
important contribution to the movement for social justice that is critical for
unity building in the ‘Occupy’ era. In Towards Collective Liberation, Chris
shares his insight as a strategic bridge over the past twenty years between
Anarchists, Marxists, Revolutionary Nationalists, and radical Feminist and
Queer organizers and organic intellectuals. I firmly believe these insights
will help those currently seeking to bridge ideological divides on the Left to
build more insightful, transformative, and powerful social movements. Many
of the theoretical and practical insights I have gained from working with
Chris over the past ten years are on full display in this work. Insights that
have helped me gain a deeper understanding of anarchism and radical queer
theory that I have helped me struggle with my own limitations, biases and
shortcomings. Towards Collective Liberation is a must-read.”
—Kali Akuno, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
“In over two decades of organizing, Chris Crass has ignited countless young
people to engage in long-term feminist and racial justice organizing. From
developing political education models grounded in people of color led
organizing, to a political practice of mentorship and leadership
development, his writing and activism provide a vision for those of us with
various forms of privilege to bring our full selves to movement work with
accountability, passion, and love. His visionary analysis and years of
organizing, as well as interviews with some of the most ground-breaking
anti-racist organizers of our generation are distilled into this book, which
will no doubt equip anyone who reads it with new inspiration, historical
lessons, and practical organizing tools.”
—Leah Jo Carnine, Arizona Hummingbird Collective and Communities
United for Racial Justice
“This book was not written by an armchair activist. It came together on the
bus on the way to a direct action, in a meeting room dialoguing with
community organizers, and at the kitchen table while watching a friend’s kid
so she could attend a meeting. From the trenches of the social movement,
Chris Crass offers insights that challenge and support us as we reach
towards the goal of collective liberation. He brings his own experience as a
white anti-racist activist to bear, inspiring others to join him in thinking
critically about race, class, and gender so we can build a stronger and more
successful movement.”
—Maria Poblet, Causa Justa/Just Cause
“If you are a young activist, or if you have been organizing for social justice
for decades, Towards Collective Liberation is a must-read. As a white, anti-
racist organizer, Chris has worked for years building genuine and powerful
solidarity and action between white and communities of color on critical
social justice struggles of our day—from immigrant rights, to racial justice,
to ending U.S. wars and occupations. As an organizer in South Asian,
Muslim, and communities of color in a post 9/11 world, where wars abroad
and at home are linked more than ever, I see this book as critical analytical
grounding for U.S. activists to make another world possible and another U.S.
necessary.”
—Monami Maulik, founder and executive director of DRUM (Desis Rising Up
& Moving) and contributor to Howard’s Zinn’s Voices of a People’s History
“Chris Crass is a creative and dedicated organizer, and his writing comes
out of that day-to-day, shoulder-to-shoulder work. I have seen the impact of
his touch through the Anne Braden Program at Catalyst Project in a
generation of thoughtful, accountable young white activists doing racial
justice work from coast to coast. Thought-provoking and stimulating. Helpful
and practical. New and seasoned activists should pick up this book.”
—Pam McMichael, Highlander Research and Education Center
“Longtime social justice organizer, Chris Crass, provides honest and
insightful personal and political analysis weaving a deep understanding of
white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy into everything he writes.
Accessible, inspiring and useful writing from the frontlines of struggle.”
—Paul Kivel, educator, activist, and author of Uprooting Racism and You Call
This a Democracy?
“Chris Crass brings that all too rare combo of finely honed strategic
thinking, activist praxis, unflinching moral principle, and generous heart—
qualities that show up on every page. This is the world I want to build. As a
queer (white) Jewish feminist, I’m thrilled to have him as an ally.”
—Penny Rosenwasser, founding board member, Jewish Voice for Peace,
author of Voices from a ‘Promised Land’: Palestinian & Israeli Peace
Activists Speak Their Hearts and Visionary Voices, Women on Power:
Conversations with Shamans, Activists, Teachers, Artists and Healers
“Chris Crass is an important resource to movements for social justice. By
educating, challenging, and training white activists and organizers to
develop their own practices with an eye on collective liberation for all of us,
he helps us build the movements we need. His work and example provide
clear models for how this may be done.”
—Rachel Herzing, Critical Resistance
“Chris Crass’s politics and praxis transverse the boundaries of anti-racist
organizing, anti-capitalism, gender struggles, and international solidarity. As
with his organizing and, now, his writing, Chris has an incredible ability to
ground things in historical context and make even the most complex ideas
understandable and applicable. It’s no wonder that the best white allies in
the movement are ‘graduates’ of the Catalyst Project.”
—Rami Elamine, Left Turn
“ Towards Collective Liberation is an important contribution to the history of
social movements. It a powerful, beautifully written account of twenty years
of political organizing in the anarchist movement, by a young man whose
entire life has been dedicated to the struggle for social justice. The book is a
careful analysis of the origins, strategies and debates within movements like
Food Not Bombs, the Rural Organizing Project, the Catalyst Project,
showing that ‘anarchist organizing’ is not an oxymoron. Most impressive is
Crass’s commitment to confront the sexism and racism within the movement
and willingness to scrutinize his own life in this perspective. For anyone
interested in learning about the soil from which the Global Justice and
Occupy Movements have sprouted from, this is an essential read.”
—Silvia Federici, author of Caliban and the Witch: Women, The Body, and
Primitive Accumulation
“Part political biography, part political history and thoughtful analysis, this
book is on-time in its laying out of personally tested strategies for
eliminating racism, sexism, and capitalism. The juxtaposition of feminist,
anarchist, and anti-racist thinking is a great jolt to the weary practices of
progressive non-profits that skim the surface of change.”
—Suzanne Pharr, author of In the Time of the Right: Politics for Liberation
and Homophobia: A Weapon of Sexism
“Chris Crass goes into the grassroots to produce a political vision that will
catalyze political change. Drawing from the history of the anarchist
tradition, Crass offers lessons and inspiration for a revitalized fully human
left, alert to the distinctions between people and the social hierarchies that
smother the full liberation of our humanity unmarked. These are words from
the heart, overflowing onto the streets.”
—Vijay Prashad, author of The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the
Third World and Karma of Brown Folks
“In a world screaming for solidarity across all cultures, Chris Crass offers
actionable insight for those seeking accountable participation in building a
better tomorrow. Crass’s insights reveal a personal, transformational
journey in the context of moving toward that tomorrow. His writing is frank,
challenging and authentic. A must-read, in particular, for dominant culture
activists seeking to live a justice-seeking life in accountable relationship
with historically marginalized communities.”
—Reverend Wendy von Zirpolo, founding member and past president of
Unitarian Universalist Allies for Racial Equity, and chair of the Unitarian
Universalist Journey Toward Wholeness Transformation Committee
“Grace Lee Boggs once told me that one’s political orientation is often
determined by the milieu in which one comes of age. For Chris Crass and
others of our generation, it was our generation’s refusal to accept the end of
history, that capitalism was the only way. But, along the way, other
structures of domination pervaded our spaces, defined by race, class, gender
identity, and sexuality. Many of us tried to reconcile with this contradiction,
but none as successfully as Chris. His thoughtful essays in this collection
wrestle with this and many other questions, a testament to the example
Chris has set for the generation of committed white organizers that
followed.”
—Yvonne Yen Liu, Colorlines.com
Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and
Movement
Building Strategy
© Chris Crass
This edition © PM Press 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be transmitted by any means
without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-60486-654-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012913638
Cover by John Yates
Layout by Jonathan Rowland
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
PM Press
PO Box 23912
Oakland, CA 94623
www.pmpress.org
Printed on recycled paper by the Employee Owners of Thomson-Shore in
Dexter, Michigan.
www.thomsonshore.com
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
From Collective Refusal to Collective Liberation: An Introduction
Chris Dixon
Towards Collective Liberation: What I Believe
Section I “While Learning from the Past, We Work to Create a New World”:
Building the Anarchist Left
A New World in Our Hearts: Anarchism and the Need for Dynamic and
Visionary Left Politics
Food Not Bombs and the Building of a Grassroots Anarchist Left in the
1990s
Section II “We Make the Road by Walking”: Developing Anti-Racist Feminist
Practice
Going to Places That Scare Me: Personal Reflections on Challenging Male
Supremacy
“By All Means, Keep Moving”: Towards Anti-Racist Politics and Practice
Against Patriarchy: Tools for Men to Help Further Feminist Revolution
Section III “Because Good Ideas Are Not Enough”: Lessons for Vision-Based,
Strategic, Liberation Organizing Praxis
Looking to the Light of Freedom: Lessons from the Civil Rights Movement
and Thoughts on Anarchist Organizing
“But We Don’t Have Leaders”: Leadership Development and Anarchist
Organizing
Section IV “Love in Our Hearts and Eyes on the Prize”: Lessons from Anti-
Racist Organizing for Collective Liberation
What We Mean by White Anti-Racist Organizing: Catalyst Project’s Strategy
Strategic Opportunities: White Anti-Racist Organizing and Building Left
Organization and Movement: An Interview with the Heads Up Collective
“A Struggle for Our Lives”: Anti-Racist Organizing in White Rural and
Working-Class Communities: An Interview with the Rural Organizing Project
in Oregon
Building Liberatory Power: Anti-Racist Queer Organizing in the South: An
Interview with Louisville Kentucky’s Fairness Campaign
Leading with Our Vision: Anti-Racist Organizing in the Economic Justice
Upsurge in Wisconsin, the Occupy Movement, and Beyond: An Interview
with the Groundwork Collective
From a Place of Love: Catalyst Project and the Strategy of Collective
Liberation Leadership in White Communities: An Interview with Catalyst
Project
Section V Conclusion
We Can Do This: Key Lessons for More Effective and Healthy Liberation
Praxis
Author Bio
Index
To the memory and legacy of Joel Olson.
For my son River and his generation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For those who have come before us, who dared to dream of a better world
and fought to realize it. For the victories they won and for the mistakes they
made. For the political imagination they nurtured and for the lessons on
organizing we have today because of their efforts. For my movement
ancestors, whose vision, courage, and insights give us legacies to help us
live and work for liberation.
To the organizations and projects which have been political homes and
vehicles that I grew up in, learned from, practiced politics with, and built
community through. Thank you to all the members and participants of the
United Anarchist Front, Love and Rage Revolutionary Anarchist Federation,
Whittier and San Francisco Food Not Bombs, the Black Sheep Action
Cluster, Challenging White Supremacy Workshops, Direct Action Network,
