Re:Activism Twin Cities: Commemorate the Anniversary in St. Paul, August 29
by Webmaster ~ August 24th, 2009. Filed under: Events.August 29, 2009 will be the one-year anniversary of the first police raid directed at the RNC 8. To commemorate the resistance to state repression and the challenge to the RNC’s invasion of the Twin Cities, as well as to remember the history of radical organizing in St. Paul that outlives any one police state spectacle, some Twin Cities activists have independently organized Re:Activism: Twin Cities. Come take to downtown St. Paul again!
Saturday, August 29
12:00 - 4:00pm
Black Dog Cafe: meet up to form teams
308 Prince Street (corner of 4th and Broadway), St. Paul
Come commemorate the one-year anniversary of the RNC by running around St. Paul, revisiting sites of big events during the RNC, and learning about the struggles that have taken place there in the past.
What is Re:Activism, you ask? Re:Activism is a game. And a scavenger hunt. And a history lesson. And an expression of solidarity across struggles. And street theater. And disruption.
Participants visit sites of local struggle and resistance, performing challenges at each to earn points. These could be historical re-enactments relevant to the site, interviews with passersby, or staged protests, among other possibilities.
The point is to draw parallels between struggles, to unearth moments of local radical history, and to theatrically subvert business-as-usual.
Oh, and to run around in the street.
Re:Activism is a big-urban-game that revisits locations of historic and present day protests to teach game participants and developers about activist events and related social causes. In order to progress through the game, the game-players learn about and raise awareness of protest events and movements by creating present day interventions and public interactions. Teams of game-players race to different challenge sites to complete challenges and use activist tactics to increase their score. Each challenge site is themed around a different protest or social cause and the challenges at each site help the players learn more about the theme. Re:Activism was originally designed and played in New York City to raise awareness of the historical strife of the lower east side, touching on events such as the Triangle Shirtwaist fires, the Stonewall Riots, Union Square anti-war protests, and many more.
For more information, visit http://reactivismtc.tumblr.com/ or email reactivismtwincities@gmail.com.
