Responses

December 10, 2017 – From the authors of The Broken Teapot

A statement regarding Redneck Revolt’s reference to “The Broken Teapot”

https://www.sproutdistro.com/catalog/zines/accountability-consent/the-broken-teapot/

No single structure is going to work in every situation of abuse,
therefore we shouldn’t create dogmas around structures. The most
important thing is a sincere and uncompromising desire to root out
patriarchal and abusive relationships. This desire enables us to adapt
responses most adequate to specific situations. Honesty and transparency
are an important part of that process.

Redneck Revolt, as a network, is not being honest or transparent about
the widely documented and continuing abuse patterns of Dave Strano. If
Redneck Revolt really cares about addressing toxic masculinity, then it
should not allow someone who is still actively doing harm to hide behind
narratives of transformation and change.

The Broken Teapot is a zine about addressing abuse, however imperfectly.
The zine is not about denying abuse, or gas-lighting those you have
harmed. Redneck Revolt should not accept the manipulation that Strano’s
problematic behaviors are all in the past- they are not. The expulsion
of the Rose City chapter shows the lengths Redneck Revolt will go to
protect a serial abuser.

Society will always pressure us into supporting dichotomies that are bad
for us. The flaws in the accountability model burned a lot of people out
and created excuses for abusers. Critiques of that model also created
excuses for abusers. Why? Because those who serially abuse people will
look for excuses anywhere they can get them.

Anyone who uses the Broken Teapot’s critiques of the dominant model of
accountability in our scenes to defend what is the dominant model in
society at large: that men can abuse people again and again and get away
with it, should openly declare that they stand on the side of the State
and patriarchy and stop posturing. We don’t want to be a part of your
excuses.

Please stop referencing our writings,
The authors of The Broken Teapot.

 

October 7, 2017 – Rose City Redneck Collctive

Statement by Rose City Redneck Revolt regarding Dave Strano and the need for transformation within the Network

We, the members of Rose City Redneck Revolt (RCRR), have read and thoroughly discussed a blog which details accounts of abuse spanning a time period of 10 years by Dave Strano, a founding member of Redneck Revolt (RR) and a current member of the Phoenix John Brown Gun Club (a branch of the RR network). To date, Dave has resisted true accountability and accepting the requests of the survivors that he step back from organizing to address his patterns of abuse.
There has been debate on the matter in the network several times over the past few months, a statement was released by our branch to our allies, and a public statement was released by the Phoenix branch addressing the situation. While these statements were released, there has not been much other action taken in regards to complying with the survivors’ requests.
A number of our allies have spoken out against our inaction, including the Seattle General Defense Committee, the Denver Anarchist Black Cross, and the Antifa Torch Network, calling for Dave’s resignation and centering the survivor’s requests by the Redneck Revolt Network.
Our Analysis
We unconditionally believe the survivors’ accounts contained in the blog. Our previously released statement did not fully acknowledge and respect the needs and wishes of the survivors. We understand that by not explicitly doing so we have reinforced patriarchal structures, rape culture and toxic masculinity in our community.
As a branch that endeavors to incorporate anti-patriarchal values in the fight against all forms of oppression, we believe that radical survivor support is central to those values. Dave Strano’s continued participation in the network and membership in the Phoenix branch is in direct opposition to those values. Furthermore, the Phoenix branch’s public and internal statements which continue to center Dave’s needs for a process rooted in restorative justice, are an indication that they are also in direct opposition to those values. We believe that transformative justice cannot possibly begin unless and until the survivors’ requests are honored.
It is clear to us that the organizational structure of the RR network is currently being manipulated to prioritize the Phoenix branch’s autonomy over the needs of survivors and community safety. Members of our branch and many other branches have encountered significant resistance to any actions or processes that prioritize survivor needs and community safety over the desire of Dave Strano to maintain involvement with Redneck Revolt. Members who have expressed concern and/or have asked for Dave to leave the network have been categorically dismissed, silenced, and alienated by members in the Phoenix branch and numerous other branches.
At the time of the writing of this statement, we opened our process to the wider network in an attempt to bring the network together to engage in the process in a spirit of transparency and self-criticism. The response we have received from much of the individual members of the network (with the notable exception of several branches who have been open to honest engagement with the process that is essential to centering the survivors requests) has been toxic, abusive, bullying, and silencing. They have personally attacked individual members of our branch, targeting us and claiming that we are acting in bad faith or attempting to doxx Dave or the network. This is clearly not the case, and we challenge any of those members to engage openly and honestly with the survivors requests as we are attempting to do.
Despite the claims of both Dave and multiple Phoenix branch members that his participation in the work of Redneck Revolt has been significantly limited, we saw him prioritized as a presenter in two talks on the first day of the recent national conference for Redneck Revolt. We also believe that the social capital that he maintains in his branch and throughout the network is a significant indication that there is no way to limit his membership in a way that does not continue to compromise survivor and community safety, much less honor survivor requests. It is also an indication that an accountability process facilitated by the RR network much less the Phoenix branch is inherently compromised.
Supporting & Centering Survivors
These issues reflect a very serious lack of commitment to radical survivor support and consequently to anti-patriarchal values, which are absent in the current stated principles of Redneck Revolt. As a result, RCRR considers itself in contention with the members and branches of the network who continue to support Dave’s membership and involvement in Redneck Revolt and John Brown Gun Club and continue to behave in attempts to silence us in bringing this to light. We as a branch feel that we can not effectively move forward in participating in the network until the survivor’s needs have been met. This includes, but is not limited to:
  • Dave Strano completely stepping down from any capacity in organizing with RR/JBGC, association with or attendance in any public or private events, meetings, or gatherings
  • (The first step of this ask has already occurred with Dave announcing at the time of this writing that he is stepping down from the network, but this must be fully carried out unlike times in the past when he was brought back after stepping back.)
  • An uninvolved outside organization being brought onboard to help create, facilitate and steer an accountability process.
  • That the Phoenix branch and other RR branches and individual members demonstrate their discontinuing association with Dave on a organizational level outside of participation in an accountability process. This does not mean that Dave should be cut off from all communication and being held accountable, what this means is that current association cannot continue on as they currently exist, instead that we encourage members of the network to engage with Dave in the accountability process as it will be managed through an uninvolved third party at the request of both the survivors and our allies.
  • A self-criticism be issued by the network and individual branches for it (and their) complicity in ignoring and defaming the survivors and silencing dissent internally and externally.
A Needed Transformation
While these outward changes are essential, internal transformation must occur in order for this work to have a lasting effect. We must change how we handle dissent within our organization, providing a safer space for everyone’s voices and opinions to be heard. There must be a safer space for people to speak up, or we are perpetuating the abusive structures we seek to overthrow.
Central to this work must be centering fighting patriarchy as a main principle that draws us together. Patriarchy is one of the pillars of oppression in our society, and is a lynchpin to the continuance of Capitalism, White Supremacy, and Nationalism. We cannot fight those without taking on the fight against Patriarchy head-on. This must be reflected in our internal and external processes and praxis, and not merely be paid lip-service with the “right words” on paper only.
To do this, we must:
  • Add fighting Patriarchy to our Principles as a central commitment and focus of our work.
  • Engage in study and discussion as individual branches and as a network about the ways in which patriarchy affects us individually, as an organization, and as a society.
  • Be open and welcoming to criticism from our members, our allies, and our broader community regarding our behaviors, our processes, and our praxis, and actively seek to change when confronted.
  • Engage in total transparency on a branch and network level regarding our accountability processes, conflicts, and failures.
  • We must develop network-wide standards of accountability that are universally applied. These must include having 3rd party facilitation as part of our accountability praxis.
The Conflict Resolution Working Group must be actually empowered to resolve conflicts between members and branches. It should be made explicit that this does not mean the formation of a hierarchical structure or a centralized authority, but that we recognize that the judgement of branches may be compromised internally when dealing with situations, and require a broader level of accountability that is one of the strengths of being part of a larger network.
What is Needed is Action
The needs and requests of the survivors must be centered in our action on this issue. We must do what is right, what the survivors and our allies are calling for us to do, and take the steps necessary to correct our complicity in these structures of abuse and patriarchy. If this network is to move forward, we must begin the transformation by engaging in the points we have outlined, and seek to go beyond them as we work together to sharpen and improve our analysis and praxis.
What is needed is action. We have debated and discussed these issues for months without progress, and in doing so we have lost sight of the survivors needs, our allies requests, and our commitment to our communities. We must act now, and reaffirm and re engage in the principles that drew us together – fighting oppression, building solidarity, defending and supporting each other. We cannot allow an individual’s desire to maintain control to blind us to the needs of the broader communities we serve.
During the drafting of this statement, Dave Strano officially resigned from the Phoenix branch of Redneck Revolt and the network. While we applaud this action as a step in the right direction, it does not change our resolve to see a wider transformation of the network’s analysis and praxis. The problem will not just go away with Dave out of the network – we must address the root causes that created this problem and the escalation of the internal conflict in the first place. We call on all of our fellow members to actively engage in this process and support the transformation of Redneck Revolt.
October 7, 2017 – Torch Anti-Fascist Network

Statement on Dave Strano

It has come to our attention that Dave Strano of Redneck Revolt and the John Brown Gun Club has engaged in an ongoing pattern of behavior that is oppressive, exploitative, abusive, and which put comrades’ activities and well-being at risk. Strano’s behavior is in complete contradiction to what the TORCH Network stands for, as recorded in our Points of Unity.

TORCH Point of Unity #3:

“We oppose all forms of oppression and exploitation. We intend to do the hard work necessary to build a broad, strong movement of oppressed people centered on the working class against racism, sexism, nativism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and discrimination against the disabled, the oldest, the youngest, and the most oppressed people. We support abortion rights and reproductive freedom. We want a classless, free society. We intend to win!”

TORCH Point of Unity #4:

“We hold ourselves accountable personally and collectively to live up to our ideals and values.”

TORCH Point of Unity #5

“We not only support each other within the network, but we also support people outside the network who we believe have similar aims or principles. An attack on one is an attack on all.”

The TORCH Network declares itself in complete solidarity with the survivors of Dave Strano’s abusive behavior. Strano has caused serious harm across a number of groups over a sustained period of time. In creating a society free from fascist activity, we must also challenge and reject abusive behavior in our own movements and from those claiming to be allies. Therefore, we issue the following call.

For the TORCH Network, the only acceptable means of accountability from Dave Strano starts with his complete cessation of involvement with Redneck Revolt, the John Brown Gun Club, and other similar and allied groups. Though the TORCH Network has worked with these groups in the past, we hereby discontinue our involvement with them until Strano ceases to  be a part of these groups. We ask that any organization that seeks to work with the TORCH Network also issue a similar, allied call, and refuse to work with Strano and those involved with him. In line with our Points of Unity, we will neither work with nor support any organization that continues to have a relationship with Dave Strano.

September 20, 2017 – Denver ABC to Phoenix JBGC

(Phoenix JBGC reached out to Denver ABC to open a line of communication with the people writing statements in this blog, and to invite them to participate in an accountability process that Phoenix JBGC was starting for Dave Strano. Below is the response sent from DABC.  Communication and Conflict Resolution for Redneck Revolt were copied as well.)

The following response is from Denver Anarchist Black Cross, we are not representing or speaking for anyone else except ourselves as an organization.

We passed your message on to the others who made statements on the blog, spanning 15 years of their experiences with Dave. We will let you know if they take you up on your offer. However given your recent statement that you have already decided to continue organizing with him, even though you have not actually engaged in a process yet or found out any of the asks from the people he has harmed, we are guessing that will be unlikely. Accountability processes that are rigged to already have an outcome determined, do not tend to go well for anyone except the person who caused harm.

Dave needs to step back from all organizing and focus on fixing his life and healing himself. He needs to stop using the state to intimidate people.

The statements in the blog provide a clear description of Dave manipulating accountability processes. To make yourselves the group responsible for his accountability process is irresponsible at best. And instead of pausing, you have decided to continue working with an admitted abuser and rapist without thoroughly investigating his past behaviors. This is directly counter to an effective community accountability process.

For the primary organization that Dave is a prominent figure of to be leading his process is not a focus on those harmed, but an attempt to shield the person causing harm. Which is another way abusers perpetuate harm and center themselves. Like the state, abusers and those loyal to abusers are not in a healthy position to hold themselves, and those they are loyal to, accountable.

We are holding to our statement that DABC will not work with or support any individuals or groups that continue to enable and organize with Dave Strano. He needs to step back and work on himself in a capacity where he can’t be propagating continual power dynamics in his favor, and causing harm to those around him. He is not entitled to organizing positions after all the fucked up shit he has done, and y’all are putting many people at risk just so his ego has something to continue to latch on to.

If he wants to actually be accountable to his community and the people/organizations he has harmed/disrupted, then step one is to step away and take some real time to do some real work on his shit.

-Denver Anarchist Black Cross

It has recently come to our attention that Dave Strano, a founding member of Redneck Revolt and the John Brown Gun Club, has demonstrated a history of betrayal, and sexual and psychological abuse, and we issue this statement in solidarity with the survivors of those behaviors.  The General Defense Committee is charged with the defense of the working class and other oppressed people.   The clear pattern of abuse committed by Dave is oppressive on many levels, and the survivors need our support.

Therefore, GDC Local 24 publicly denounces Dave’s abusive behavior, and his attempts to evade any accountability for his actions. Accountability in this context includes removing himself from any involvement with Redneck Revolt and John Brown Gun Club. Any system of accountability that avoids this is not accountability, but an evasion of it. While the GDC supports the missions of both Redneck Revolt and John Brown Gun Club, we will not work with, and will not support, any organizations who continue to work with or support Dave Strano.

We ask that other locals in the General Defense Committee join us in supporting survivors by denouncing Dave Strano’s behavior and severing ties with any organizations or individuals that support him.

An injury to one is an injury to all.

Greater Seattle General Defense Committee Local 24