For those of us living in the Inland Empire region of California, the presence of deep problems concerning our living conditions is not new. The issue of poverty has long pervaded our cities and recent years have revealed new-but-related dilemmas, like the innumerable warehouses’ stronghold on our community. The IE’s vegetation is not the only thing that is desert-like; Inland Empire struggle is isolated because our struggles are as unique as our geography, our history, and our people. Even so, this IE struggle is directly connected to the broader discontent with living conditions under racial capitalism and state violence, a sentiment that is being broadcasted to the world through the emerging political demonstrations across the nation.
Despite the fact that multiple cities in the Inland Empire are organizing never-before-seen demonstrations as we speak, our cities don’t even exist on the map when the protests are discussed, rendering our plight invisible to the exterior world. Not only are we alienated from the broader world, but we also face alienation within our own region. The lack of community spaces, the suburban structure of our area, and hyper-individualism have prevented people in the IE from becoming visible to each other. The present moment has disrupted this normality as IE folks begin to take to the streets.
This project hopes to create a collaborative hub of intentional resources by and for Inland Empire locals. The goal is to share media regarding the IE demonstrations and uprisings as well as to provide resources to empower our community through political education that might not be readily available elsewhere. By encouraging our community to collaborate on the dissemination of resources, we hope to also cultivate a stronger community identity and foment agency over our material and living conditions. The past few years have set new conditions for resistance in the Inland Empire, which have brought an unprecedented presence of people in the streets. We hope that people continue to build power, trust, and community with each other.
Toward that end, Anarchy in the Burbs seeks to circulate crucial knowledge, resources, and information for people who seek to take action and build the basis for future movements in the Inland Empire region. Please refer to our resources, files, links, and debriefs and we will continue to update them frequently.