Congratulations to the Crossroads Infoshop collective in Kansas City for getting their space open, and for a successful opening gala last Friday night. Every community should have at least one infoshop or similar type of community space that serves both as a place to gather and a place to find and disseminate information.
I can’t agree with Crossroads collective member Chuck0 more when he notes, after reporting that 500 people came to the opening gala:
“This all just goes to show how desperately needed this project is for Kansas City. I also think that this demonstrates why activists should stay put and work in their communities, instead of migrating to anarchist hot spots like Eugene, Oregon or San Francisco.”
This is the crux of closing piece I wrote in mediageek zine #1 (which also appears in the new Zine Yearbook #8), entitled “The Sense of Place”:
“So my parting shot for this zine is another exhortation to go out and make something, but to also make it where you are. You might love your hometown, or you might hate it, and have no power to leave. In either case, sharing a little bit of yourself—or the source of your enmity—might make it better. …
DonÂ’t cede your place to the suffocation of the mainstream. DonÂ’t surrender to those who make you hate your place.”
A few somebodies were the pioneers in Eugene back before there was an anarchist community there. If all the creative, progressive and free-thinking people move to just a few hot cities, then we give up on the rest of the continent.