US, Orange County, OC Anarchist Bookfair Rallies Resistance and Revolution This Saturday! By Aimee Murillo

Anarchy in the OC! ---- Contrary to popular misconceptions about Orange County being an 
apathetic wasteland of Conservativism, it's actually a hotbed of poltical and radical 
activism, raised by its citizens' awareness of local and global issues. Out of that 
consciousness springs an event aimed at emboldening regional activists and writers who lay 
their thought-provoking ideas through book, zine, art, or music for the greater public: 
the OC Anarchist Bookfair. ---- Held this Saturday at El Centro Cultural de Mexico in 
SanTana, OCABF is a day-long series of workshops, lectures, panel discussions, performance 
art, bands, and (oh yeah!) books aimed at bringing the local activist community together. 
---- According to organizer Gabriel San Roman, the idea for the Fair came from a 
conversation he sparked with a fellow protestor he met at a rally in Sasscer Park. 
(Disclosure: San Roman is a totally chingon writer-reporter on local activism and culture 
for our infernal rag.) From there, their separate networks assembled with more and more 
people jumping in and forming a collective of artists, activists, writers, labor 
organizers, students, parents and teachers who brought their respective experiences of 
fighting, among other things, police brutality, homelessness and discrimination into the mix.

In brief, 'anarchism' refers to a political philosophy that promotes the ideal of 
self-government and democracy, countering the model of appointed authority and oppression. 
This idea has developed over time from its classical iteration through different forms 
(from academic to punk rock) to include marginalized voices, many of which can be 
discovered through the various independently-published literature, zines, and books 
provided by vendors, including worldwide publishers AK Press and PM Press. "There are 
different spectrums of books where sometimes there's histories of different events as well 
as counter-narratives, as well as different forms of anarchism or anarchy," says OCABFC 
member Cheyenne Reynoso. "You can't necessarily define it as one thing, people live it out 
in multiple and varied ways."

Indeed, beyond tablers offering their books, the programming for OCABF provides in-depth 
discussions and workshops on various macro and micro issues: "Deconstructing Anarchism," 
"Colonialism: Definitions, History and Future," "Deconstructing Anarchism" and "The 
Non-Profit Industrial Complex" are just some of the titles of workshops that make up the 
day's itinerary. Says San Roman of the latter panel "[it's] really geared towards OC with 
a mix of grassroots groups like Chicanos Unidos and another panelist who headed OCCORD for 
years."

There are even workshops geared for children as well as a daycare room for the lil' 
anarchists. Dr. Andrea Smith and scott crow will also make keynote speeches as well: Smith 
brings a lecture on anti-blackness, while crow discusses his experiences in organizing 
during the Katrina aftermath to provide relief to survivors. A performance art piece 
brings to life a chapter in recent local history: the Anaheim unrest of 2012 after the 
death of Manuel Diaz at the hands of Anaheim PD. And just before the event ends, legendary 
Chicana punk musician Alice Bag will perform along with Iuri Lara and OC natives Cuauhtémoc.

As one can imagine, the process of organizing such an event wasn't easy: many prospective 
venues turned down organizers from holding their event there before the organizers decided 
on El Centro. AK Press suffered a warehouse fire and lost most of its inventory, 
effectively limiting their presence at the fair. And due to the small size of El Centro, 
many anarchists were turned away from participating. But the wide response to the open 
call definitely proves that a large network of anarchists in the county exist, becoming a 
motivating factor for the collective to plan future OCABF events. "People are learning 
about us, we're learning about people, and a lot of the folks that didn't get a chance to 
be a part of this first one would be great to hit up first things first next year," says 
San Roman. "So there's a lot of momentum to make this an annual tradition."

Adds Reynoso, "I like that we're doing this book fair and opening that up in Orange 
County, because that's really needed especially with the stereotype of what [anarchism] is 
and what that means, and for me personally living that out as a life of resistance in 
different ways is really important."

To view information on Saturday's program lineup, you can check it out on the group's 
Facebook page, and RSVP for the event too. Don't miss out, go go go!