DECEMBER 2008

Dear Infoshop Friends and Supporters,

For many reasons, it's been some time since we have put out an update on the status of the Infoshop. We are writing now to try to catch everyone up to speed on what's going on with us. There is a lot to say.

As many have noticed, the Infoshop has been closed considerably more than it has been open over the last few months. For some time, those of us doing the core work involved in maintaining this project have felt overwhelmed and stretched very thin. Although there has always been a steady stream of interest from willing volunteers to support the project, finding people who are committed to doing the more intensive work entailed in sustaining the project over the long term, has always been a challenge.

Within the last year, this challenge of finding long term collective members and volunteers started to effect the project's output and sustainability more and more. Most notably, challenges with staffing the space increased significantly, and things took on a domino effect from there. If the space is not staffed regularly, then we cannot bring in a steady stream of funds, resulting in fewer and fewer book orders being placed, which starts to impact sales and cash flow; and further contributes to losing the business as well as interest of customers and supporters who have also not been able to access the space reliably, due to our irregular hours. This lack of energy and capacity carries over in many other ways too, from planning events to day-to-day operations and management as well as decision-making. On top of all of this, the current "economic crisis" has meant that there is, at the moment, simply less money available for projects like ours, in the form of both donations; and sales from would-be customers.

The relationship with our physical space and our landlords has also bee a significant drain on our resources. It has, to say the least - been a both contentious and un-fulfilling relationship for many years. We have also struggled with the limitations of the size of our space some time
now. In May of 2008, the Brian MacKenzie Infoshop's 5-year lease at 1426 9th Street came to an end. Since May we have extended our lease at the Arthur Flemming center, while we tried to plan the next steps for this project. Although we have found options for potentially moving the space, there is simply not enough energy or capacity to sustain a move and to get us functioning on track again right now.

There's a lot more that could be said as to what has brought us to this current stage of decline. Most of all, those of us who have anchored this project over the years are simply tired and need a break. Right now we wish to simply announce that the Brian MacKenzie Infoshop will close on December 31, 2008. The bottom line is that we are stretched too thin, and so the best thing we can right now is take a break. Five years is a long run, especially in the radical activist community, as there are very few if any other explicitly anarchist projects in DC right now, that we are aware of that have been around and sustained themselves for 5 years or more. We are proud of our history, and believe that the Brian MacKenzie Infoshop has accomplished a great deal in both its five years as a physical space, and its nine year history as a collective project.

ONWARDS
Now more than ever, there is a need for an anarchist organizing center and radical haven for independent thinkers in the Capitol of Empire.
And although those of us who have been responsible for the Infoshop to date feel that it is simply not possible to keep our this space open right now, the spirit of the Brian MacKenzie Infoshop will live on, with the following aspects of the project continuing in one way or another.
In addition to these things - we invite, encourage, and challenge you to carry on the spirit as well.

EVENTS
The BMI – and folks within our project – have organized a great majority of the radical events in the DC area for the past 9 years. We will continue to bring engaging speaking events, film screenings, inspiring political punk shows, benefits for community and anarchist causes, vegan community dinners and all the rest to the DC radical community and beyond. We will continue to advertise these events on the Infoshop email and websites. Stay tuned.

LIBRARY
We are working on the idea of creating a project to archive many anarchist texts, representative of the titles the Infoshop carries now – in a local space – that will be accessible for people seeking access to an anarchist library in DC. More info will be forthcoming on what this will look like and how it will work, nothing is certain yet, but ideas are fermenting.

PRISONER SUPPORT
Over the last few years, the Infoshop has organized a considerable amount of support efforts for political prisoners. This work, in the form of providing emotional and moral support, consciousness raising and organizing benefits will continue. Please contact us if you would like to collaborate on issues pertaining to supporting political prisoners. We'd love to hear what you are working on too.

MEETING AND EVENT SPACE
Over the last 2 years, we've done more and more of our regular events off site, and there are an increasing amount of venues, including churches, community centers, and other spots that are friendly to the radical community. We will continue to cultivate relationships with these spaces and will continue to help connect groups and individuals in need of space.

RADICAL NETWORKING
As we've outline above – our commitment to the radical community, and anarchist culture here in DC – is still a major priority and whether it be on an organizational level or an individual one, we are still dedicated to making anarchist resistance here in the Empire both visible and accessible. For those reasons we encourage you to please stay on our email list and our myspace network, and to check our website from time to time, to stay plugged in to the Brian MacKenzie Infoshop's virtual world. We are still hard at work – be on the lookout for future efforts.

WE STILL NEED YOUR HELP
Finally, although we are closing, we still need your support. We have bills to pay and other financial obligations involved with closing the
store. It's essential to us to that we close our space in a manner that does not place a burden on other radical projects that have provided us
books, music, and other resources. We ask that you think back a little bit, to all the things the Infoshop has done to date, and consider showing your appreciation by making a financial donation now. Please help us out at this time! To give money – paypal to: sweazl[at]aol[dot]com or make checks out to Brian MacKenzie Infoshop (1426 9th Street, NW Washington, DC 20001) and drop it in the mail. We also welcome fundraisers and other forms of assistance. If you'd like to help, please let us know.

OUR CHALLENGE TO YOU
The closing of the Infoshop will leave a significant void in this city and will create an absence of a center for radical activism and anarchist thought and practice. Please support the radical spaces that continue to exist, and please do not take them for granted! Spaces such as the People's Media Center; Emergence Community Arts Collective; and Sankofa Books and Cafe are great examples of community oriented projects that we are lucky to continue to have in this city. But most of all – our challenge is this – if you miss what the Infoshop was – or feel a lack of something else entirely, please organize and create it! And let us know if any of our knowledge can be of help. We are happy to share
what we have learned. Please, continue to organize, organize, organize! There is much to be done.

THANK YOU
It is impossible to start naming everyone and every group that has supported the Infoshop project since its start. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this project – past and present. Volunteers, collective members, ally organizations, other local businesses, friends,
family, supporters, the Infoshop network, distributors, performers, co-collaborators and co-conspirators as well as everyone in the neighborhood that has shared with us, spent time with us, and been a part of the space – there are so many people who have been part of this project. Keep in touch and thanks again for collectively making this project what it was. It truly has been nothing short of amazing.

TO RECAP
We need to donations to help pay off our debt. This will help us close on a positive note and ensure that the closing of this project does not
put strain on former volunteers, collective members or future local radical projects. Pay pal donations to sweazl[at]aol[dot]com or bring them by the space!

CLOSING PARTY
This is in the works now, more details will be announced once we've made more progress with organizing this. If you have ideas, we welcome them: dcinfoshop[at]mutualaid[dot]org or talk to us at our sale days.

OUR SHORT BACKSTORY
For those who just walked in - some history:

The Brian MacKenzie Infoshop was born in 1999 out of a desire by local activists in Washington, D.C. for a center for radical thought: a place that could host meetings for local activist groups with nowhere else to go; somewhere to hold events such as panel discussions, film screenings and fundraisers; a place to seek out materials that educate and inspire; and a place for activists to come together, and to plug into existing projects as well as to find like-minded energy to start new ones. A movement space for radicals, anarchists and other activists.

For the last 5 years, the Brian MacKenzie Infoshop has provided a bookstore and infoshop; meeting and event space; as well as organized hundreds of events.

While many communities around the country play host to various venues for the expression of radical ideas and activism, the activist community within the Beltway has often been forced to subsist on inconsistent and ever changing venues for the dissemination of dissenting ideas. As an international bastion of capitalism and empire, Washington, D.C. plays host to many of the architects of national and global inequality. Given the unique position that all who live in Washington D.C. find themselves in - at the crossroads of local, national, and international struggles - it has felt increasingly urgent to have a consistent, accessible and thriving center for radical thought to ground our work and give strength to radical activist and cultural networks. The Infoshop was created, and has existed to fill that void.

In May of 2003 the Brian MacKenzie Infoshop opened at its current location, 1426 9th St. NW, as a radical independent book and music store, resource center and haven as well as meeting and organizing space for D.C.'s radical activists and independent thinkers. The Infoshop has been run entirely by volunteers on anarchist principles as an explicitly not for profit project. For nearly 5 years the Infoshop has strived to be relevant, flexible and useful to the community that gave it life, while expanding its networks into the surrounding communities.

For more than 5 years now, the Infoshop has served the DC area in the following capacities:

A convergence center: A place to plug into activism and anarchist organizing as well as a place to hang out and meet other radicals while
providing a space for discussion and education about radical theory and activism.

A radical bookstore: Makes available radical books and other materials titles that are published by independent presses, titles with which you can make a positive change in the world and that are hard to find elsewhere.

An independent record store: Makes available politically charged punk, indie rock, hip-hop, folk music and spoken word and audio CD's & records by independent artists that inspire creativity and action and defy cultural norms.

A meeting and event space: Made available for free to local activist groups and projects for meetings and events; we also host café nights; film screenings; author readings; poetry; acoustic performances; shows; workshops and many other events regularly.

An infoshop and resource center: We receive, display, and distribute dozens of newsletters, event notices, and flyers from projects and organizations locally and around the world to connect people to the struggle for social and environmental justice.

Free computer and Internet access: Made available to the community.

A mobile resource: We bring information into the community by setting up book tables and displays at conferences, demonstrations, and events around D.C.

That's just a short history of what this project is, what it has provided, and why it was created. We will write more about the project, to document it's history, accomplishments and lessons learned.

For now, the question is – what's next? – and the answer is just as much up to you! We look forward to seeing what emerges to fill this void, here in Washington, D.C.

Thanks again for all your support.

In Solidarity,

The Brian MacKenzie Infoshop

Samantha Jane Dorsett, a transgender woman from the bay area was pushed or fell 50 feet off of an interstate bridge about 4 weeks ago in the bay area - although no one may ever know exactly what happend the information we do have points to a hate crime.

Though Samantha is now in stable condition, this was a life threatening experience and she sustained two broken ankles and two broken vertebra from the fall. She has extensive back and spinal injuries and needs help with long term care. She had spinal surgery and is at last being released from the hospital and going to physical therapy. She doesn't have enough money for rent, given that she will need to move into a more accessible house, or living expenses - of which there will be many after surviving something like this.

If you want to help you can send donations to BMI, c/o Emergency Fund - 1426 9th Street NW WDC 20001 - checks made out to Brian MacKenzie Infoshop and we will pass on the funds. You can also pay pal money, for her, to chrisclavin (at) yahoo (dot) com - Please mark the donation for "Samantha's Emergency Fund". Anything you can spare at this time, will be really appreciated.

IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS IN THE BAY AREA BAY: there will be a benefit show at the LONG HAUL on OCT 24th!

Who is Samantha? She founded Plan-It-X records, and since then she has started and been involved with many other really inspiring and amazing projects. In Bloomington, she started SECRET SAILOR books, an anarchist bookstore/venue which was home to the midwest pages to prisoners project and later turned into BOXCAR BOOKS (which is still there and going strong). She lived in Pensacola for a few years and did a lot of work with books to prisoners and a lot of political activism and made some cool 'zines called STRAP YOUR SELF IN and wrote a novel called TROUBLED SLEEP. She now lives in the bay area (Oakland) and does the same kind of awesome stuff and works with the LONG HAUL and the SLINGSHOT ORGANIZER.

Samantha is a also a dear friend of members of the DC Infoshop collective, and the project she started in Bloomington, IN - Secret Sailor Books - was a huge inspiration and resource for helping us start the Brian MacKenzie Infoshop.