Sustainable Knowledge-Sharing Program Launched by NorthEast Anarchist Network
Independent media, such as the Infoshop network and the various Indymedia collectives worldwide, are a fantastic counter to the major news networks that strive to maintain the status quo. However, members of the NorthEast Anarchist Network have seen a growing need for greater accessibility to radical workshops and skillshares. Such collaborative trainings are widely available in major urban areas, but individuals and groups located away from large cities are often forced to choose between traveling to the scheduled trainings or missing them completely. In many ways, this centralization of skillshare activities has hampered the efforts of those in smaller towns to expand their practical knowledge, and from sharing the skills and experience they already have with people who live in urban areas.
In response to this, we have launched a “Traveling Skillshare Program” in order to bring a wide array of collaborative presentations to communities in and around our region, both radical and otherwise. We have prepared a “menu” of the skillshares, workshops, and panels that members of our Network are all too willing to present to interested individuals and groups, covering topics ranging from “Chemical Weapons & Police Tactics” to “De-Mystifying Lady Bits” to “Grassroots Disaster Relief”. Anyone interested in hosting one or more of our presentations, whether to complement a planned event or for a customized, multi-day skillshare extravaganza, is invited to contact us through our skillshare program page and our Network will work with you to send trainers to your area. Through this program, we are eagerly hoping to share our knowledge as well as build connections with people we would otherwise never have had a chance to meet. Many of us see this as an important step for both our Network and the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions in general.
In this era of increasing repression and government control, those who are opposed to the creeping advances of capitalist-driven fascism must fight fire with fire. If the government is aiming for total control of information and knowledge, autonomous alternatives become a necessity. The internet is an invaluable resource, but nothing can replace human interaction and collaborative learning.
For a listing of skillshares available through NEAN [1], see "Skillshares and Trainings [2]" under the Resources section.