The NYC Ya Basta Collective was a group of
anti-globalization activists, based primarily in NYC, active from roughly October, 2000 through October, 2001, inspired by the
Ya Basta Association.
Initiated in October, 2000 by L Fantoni and TFG Casper on the heels of the anti-IMF / World Bank protests in Prague, a collective soon formed and developed its own variation of the
Tute Bianche tactic of the
padded bloc. Their tactics relied on
civil disobedience, where the protesters acted "silly" as possible, using kazoos, water balloons, and water pistols against the police. The members wore white chemical jumpsuits over improvised padding to protect themselves from rubber bullets and batons. These tactics was meant to highlight the disproportionate responses and power disparity between the police and the protesters. The collective organized several actions and events highlighting the inadequacy of borders, in support of immigrant rights, and against
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...
and racialist hate groups.
David Graeber was a member involved in the early organizing, and detailed its growth in
Direct Action: An Ethnography.
In April, 2001, this collective, along with the
Direct Action Network, was active in organizing, after invitation, a
Canada–United States border crossing over the
Seaway International Bridge
The Seaway International Bridge is an international crossing connecting New York State, in the United States, Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, and the province of Ontario in Canada. It consists of the South and North Channel Bridges. The South Chan ...
, in cooperation with the
Akwesasne
The Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne ( ; french: Nation Mohawk à Akwesasne; moh, Ahkwesáhsne) is a Mohawk Nation (''Kanienʼkehá:ka'') territory that straddles the intersection of international (United States and Canada) borders and provincial (Ont ...
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
* Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
* Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...
Warrior Society, at the
St Regis Mohawk reservation, leading up to the anti-FTAA protests in Quebec City, Quebec. An estimated 500 anti-globalists, along with a few Mohawk warriors, challenged the legitimacy of the border. The collective never made it to Quebec. The American and Canadian police identified them as potential "violent elements" and those suspected of involvement where interrogated and detained for days when attempting to cross the border.
The NYC Ya Basta Collective is now defunct.
See also
*
Civil and social disobedience
*
Disobbedienti
*
Ya Basta
References
External links
NYC YaBasta Collective archive websiteTute Bianche
American activists
Anarchism in New York (state)
Defunct anarchist organizations in North America
{{Anarchism-stub