A few years back I spent some time in
the San Franscisco Bay area and had the privilege of hanging out at
the Long Haul infoshop located in Berkeley, California. The infoshop
hosted discussions about various radical topics and had a large
library and meeting space where meals were occasionally served.
Zines, books, and novel t-shirts were sold there to help make ends
meet. And, of course, the Slingshot newspaper was published there
along with the Slingshot organizer (which is distributed broadly at
many other infoshops and independent bookstores). And, I'm sure,
many of the things I've described still take place there.
However, it should be noted that the
tone, tenor, and direction of the space (and particularly its
publication) has undoubtedly fluctuated somewhat over the years.
This is to be expected of such a public institution (as the prominent
issues of the day change and those involved with the space come and
go – bringing and taking various qualities or points of focus).
And, when the space was raided in 2008, that undoubtedly shook things
up. Since that incident... I imagine a certain hard-core has
probably stayed away from the infoshop while undercover operatives
have possibly filled the void or, at the very least, continued their presence.
In any case, a tamer crowd has probably comprised more of the
community since the raid.
With those things in mind, I'd like to
make at clear that it is not my intention here to outright condemn
the Long Haul. It may still be serving as very valuable resource
within the broader anarchist milieu. But I must express my general
disappointment with the latest issue of Slingshot (issue #111, Autumn 2012). And, with that disappointment, I must wonder who is hanging
out at the Long Haul and what the community surrounding the space is
like these days.
