Governance and Methods
The organization was made up of affiliated independent organizations, individuals, local chapters, and less formal national 'networks' organized around specific initiatives or interests. The central form of the organization was a National Council which met periodically to "identify new reactionary attacks and to encourage resistance to them."
From September 1987 through early 2002, Refuse & Resist! published the print periodical CounterAttack and from 1995 until 2006 it maintained the Refuse & Resist! website as media for information about political and social events of concern in the United States and internationally.
In 1988, R&R! organized Resist in Concert! at the New York Palladium, with performances by Sinéad O'Connor, Afrika Bambaataa, De La Soul, Ikey C & Easy-Ad, Karen Finley, Lenny Kaye, Shinehead, and others.
In addition to the Resist in Concert! initiative, Refuse & Resist! involved and supported progressive art and artists, including supporting artists and arts organizations whose work was the object of governmental repression. Visual and performing artists, especially in New York and Los Angeles, were active in the Artists' Network of Refuse & Resist! and experimented with ways to integrate political themes of resistance with aesthetic expression.
R&R! initiated a periodic Courageous Resister Award to recognize important individual acts of resistance and in support of civil rights and civil liberties. Recipients included health care workers, activists against police brutality, artists, and even small towns. The first awards were presented at Resist in Concert! 1988, by Susan Sarandon, Robbie Conal, and Philip Agee.
R&R! organized public demonstrations and other forms of protest in support of abortion rights, immigrants' rights, political prisoners, and for other causes. For example, R&R! activists were actively involved in demonstrations against the 1991 invasion of Iraq and marched with thousands in the streets of New York City to protest the politics of the 2004 Republican National Convention.
Read more about this topic: Refuse & Resist!
Famous quotes containing the words governance and/or methods:
“He yaf me al the bridel in myn hand,
To han the governance of hous and land,
And of his tonge and his hand also;”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)
“We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say—and to feel—”Yes, that’s the way it is, or at least that’s the way I feel it. You’re not as alone as you thought.””
—John Steinbeck (1902–1968)