How to organize in drug-ridden, extremely impoverished areas?

Question

I live in such an area. Police occupation, prostitution, death-drugs, extreme poverty, etc are all problems we here face. Does anyone have experience organizing in such an environment?

Comments

why are people downvoting and not at least explaining the reasons? this is a valid question in my opinion, so if you disagree, say why.

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why is organizing something that should be done in this neighborhood? organizing for what? what kind of organizing?

do you want to get to know your neighbors? do you want to make the neighborhood safer? do you want to get rid of the police, even if your neighbors want them there? is this somewhere you grew up, or a place you just moved to? do you plan on living there for a long time or will you be moving out in a year or two? do you have friends living around you or is it a place full of strangers?

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i dont see the reasoning behind your question: "do you want to get rid of the police, even if your neighbors want them there?"

explain this please. because as it stands, most people "want" police, everywhere. but this does not mean that the police are any less violent, useless to the interests of working poor people, and unnecessary. a lot of people, if they were exposed to the violence and true nature and purpose of police forces, would rather be without. but of course people need to understand that if police are done away with, this now leaves a great responsibility on our shoulders. (not going and fucking up your neighbor, or killing someone because they made you mad, just because now there is no threat of police intervention/prison)

but this is an anarchist pipe dream. i and my neighbors are not going to succeed at kicking the police out of our neighborhood. this would entail a virtual war of turf, involving arms and death. obviously the situation is not revolutionary, nor will it be for a long time.

what can be done is for myself and my neighbors(which yes, i know some of them, and make it a point to talk to anyone in my neighborhood as much as possible.), to organize to confront police abuse of power/ violence. I have witnessed and been subject to police oppression in my neighborhood on more than one occasion. I have done lone copwatch work at night which is very dangerous, and have been ganged up on by 3 very large police officers, simply because i was not in the company of similar concerned neighbors. a militant community engaged in their community, who has eachother's back, will at the least be a blockade to police abuse of power.

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i'm trying to point out that one reason that people might not like your question is that it's vague. organize who for what? you have now made it sound like you're asking about organizing against the cops (rather than for example organizing against drug users), so that's something.

(not everyone likes cops btw. plenty of non-anarchists hate the police at least as much as anarchists do.)

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of course non-anarchists don't like the police as much as anarchists, thats not my point though. my point is that the community is in a state of decay, as this side of town has been for decades. police play a part in the oppressive environment here as do city code enforcement cruise around daily looking for some minute "code violation". the drug dealers are a large part of this as well. this is where it gets complicated, because true, drug dealers are often working class too, but they are engaging in capitalistic behavior; profiting off of the poison that destroys lives and communities. i am not really trying to bridge a gap to drug dealers,or "organize" them, or anything like that. what i am talking about is bringing life and a sense of community and common ground back into a place that has none. i was inquiring as to whether anyone has any experience trying to do this, like organizing against slumlords or against police brutality in a community where it is rampant, etc. i have been considering doing lone trash pick ups and trying to get others involved in it. its not the most "militant" or romantic thing in the world, but those ideals are empty anyway.

and of course i would never think of organizing against drug-users. who am i, Reagan?  ;)


i hope this clarifies a bit. i dont want it to come across as if i am trying to come into a community and bring it "salvation", or "radicalize" it. Though, the latter wouldn't be so bad.  i live in this community, i have for quite some time, and i know the people. i am a part of it, not some activist who wandered in. no, it will not be my permanent home, but i hardly think this matters. the goal is for people to create foundations, organizations, counter-institutions that can outlast their participation, sort of like a struggle against a landlord continues, even if the "organizers" move away, take time off fora newborn,etc.

Answer 1

I have experience in this multi-faceted social dynamic, but bewares, my opinions are of an artistic nature. I consider any reality as a condition of the meta-narrative that has designed its own biased forms, thus the ethical nature of 'criminality' depends on the structure from which our perceptions originate, and our own discerning critique of 'our- self' and our place within a social structure.
Let's leave concepts now, and get down to the nitty-gritty! I've had substance abuse problems, prison time in years, assaulting police etc, etc, I would say a general disrespect for any authority has been my creed, I loath officials of any kind, they bore me, they are lacking in imagination! I love teasing them with their own rhetoric, I play with them as a cat plays with a mouse, yet I respect those that do not exploit the power they are allowed, and who are genuinely devoted to the welfare of the meak.
Do you expect me to abuse my own purity by suggesting that you form a vigilante group with your neighbor friends to protect your property and impose a criminal ethic on substance abusers? Or do you assume a binary reflexive response of whining about police brutality when the simple solution is to fight back, and " let the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" have its way?