KALWNews.org

By Holly McDede

Over the weekend, the anarchists came to town. In truth, the anarchists are always in town lurking, planting homemade zines in our libraries and playing “collective corporation” in our parks. But it’s not so often that hundreds of anarchists gather together, as they did at the San Francisco County Fair Building for the 16th Annual Anarchist Book Fair. There was valet parking outside for bicycles, complete with a guard ready to yell at any potential bike thieves, “That is not the spirit!” Generally speaking, the older crowd sat in the lecture hall, listening to speeches by authors and other activists, while the younger scene browsed through the posters, pamphlets, zines, and books for sale.

“I usually come here to meet up with some people I haven’t seen in awhile,” one man said as his eyes browsed the room looking for old comrades. The majority of attendees, though, actually appeared to be in their 20s and came complete with the alternative fashion typically associated with anarchists: piercings, dreadlocks, facial hair, anti-authoritarian t-shirts, baggy pants for the fellows, and colorful stockings for the ladies.

“I read this book when I was 15,” one man declared, glowing as he held up Peter Kropotkin’s Anarchism: A Collective of Revolutionary Writings. “It changed my life. Then I read it again, and it changed my life again.”

Many at the book fair, however, were neither anarchists nor government workers out to sabotage leftist fun. Take for example … me. I came for the books.

AK Press, a worker-run collective that publishes and distributes radical books, had its own stand that included the book I happened to buy: The Right to be Lazy: Essays by Paul LaFargue. The book begins with the quote, “Let us be lazy in everything except in loving and drinking, except in being lazy.” It goes on to criticize the notion that overworking oneself is honorable. K Chronicles – the weekly, semi-autobiographical comic strip based on Keith Knight’s life – was also there. In one of Knight’s comics, a monkey notes from the podium, “You may have noticed that many of us have stopped walking on all fours. We are evolving! And that is why I’ve called this summit on primate change.” In the next panel, someone in the crowd yells, “You lie! Primate change is a lie perpetuated by upstanding elitists like you!” Leftist humor sure tickles me.

Long Haul, a bookstore in Berkeley whose motto is “Opposing All Nation States Since the Existence of Nation States”, made an appearance, of course, selling books like the The Anarchist Planner, The Anarchist Quiz Book and The Art of Not Being Governed. One table, labeled Yanarchy, sold yarn and was led by the Finny Farm collective all the way from Skagit County, Washington. The group also sold posters, including one that read, “Can’t wait til’ they figure out how to profit from peace.” Other tables were represented by Free Berkeley Radio, the Green Arcade bookstore, Food Not Bombs, Homes not Jails, CopWatch, and more.

You might have to wait another year for the next Anarchist Book Fair, but anarchist publishing houses, organizations, and book shops are right in our own backyards. Well, maybe not in your actual backyard, but they are certainly are major forces in the Bay Area literature and activism scene.

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This article originally appeared on KALWNews.org