Bringing Buffalo Back: The Return of the Labor Movement by Liam Cobb

The Buffalo Harbinger vol. 0

Bringing Buffalo Back: The Return of the Labor Movement

by Liam Cobb

Part Zero: “The Thallus From Arabia”

Let me tell you a story about journalism, and whyit’softenterrible

It was a cold December day in 1964, and not much happened. However, it matters to us because on this particular cold day “Aveillutd Urubod:ThallusofMarchantia"wasarriving

wrong and everything right about journalism: The ability to tell a riveting story? Check. The kind of weird insane bullshit you’d only find in a local paper? Absolutely Anything resembling important or useful or even true information though? Clearly not. These real actual journalists paid to do real actual journalism were tricked by a small group of universitykidsintothinkingthat“Aveillutd

attheBuffalomunicipalairport.

In a press release printed by the Buffalo EveningNews,theThallusdeclaredhewasvisiting the United States on a State Department sponsoredvisit.

The Columbia Spectator headline on the following day would read: Rioting Buffalo StudentsGreetVisiting'Thallus'fromArabia.

The article mentions “damage estimated as high as two thousand dollars” and “broken windowsintheterminalandslashedseats…jostled travelers, walked over chairs and [students] shoutedoverthepublicaddresssystem.” Ofcourse,thatisallentirelynonsense.Therewas no “Thallus from Arabia” Nor would there be a riot.Notonewordoftheheadlineturnedoutto betrue,whichisexactlywhyIloveit.

IthinkIwillalwaysrememberthefeelingof reading the statements from the student activists describing how they duped The Columbia Spectator,TheBuffaloEveningNews,andothers.

I’ll remember it because it’s hard to forget the mental image of all my friends and I huddled around an old computer in the library being unable to stop laughing despite the shushing attemptsofthelibrarian Wecouldn’tgetenough of the Thallus from Arabia! That laughter is precisely why this story is interesting to me. Somethingsofunnydemonstrateseverything

Urubod: Thallus of Marchantia” was coming to Buffalo, and then were tricked again into believing that the resulting protest of a couple hundred students constituted a riot of more than one thousandpeople.

How did this happen? How could all of these peoplecometogethertodosomethingthatstupid?

Idon’thaveananswer,otherthanthatpeople arestupidandjournalistsarepeople.

I hope you know I’m no different, and to me that’s what makes this whole endeavor meaningful and important. People have flaws, tell stories from theirownperspectives,andtrytheirbest.Sometimes that means you’re immortalized as being the Journalistwhodidn’tevenrealizethat“thallus”isn’t a real word. Sometimes it means you’re Rodolfo Walsh.

I can only pray that if I mess up it’s at least as funny as “Thallus from Arabia” and some kids six decades from now can have a good laugh at my expense.

Thehumannessinherentintheflawsandtheart ofstorytellingiswhatseparatesjournalismfromjust watching C-Span all day or whatever. I think that meanssomething.

So that’s what the following is: a collection of stories, maybe a message or two, and mostly just whatIthinkisinteresting.Formysake,Ihopeyou likeit.

Asfaraslaterreportscantell,thedamageofthesmallprotestthatactuallyoccurredcouldneverbesaidtoexceedmorethan$200 Howthisfigureballoonedbyanentireorderofmagnitudeisgenuinelybeyondme.

Seriously,youbetterlikeitorIjustmightquitandgetarealjob

The Buffalo Harbinger vol. 0

A Haunting On Elmwood Avenue

I’ll never forget the look on union organizer Angel Krempa’s face as she described the moment that the real, actual CEO of Starbucks compared theworkers'efforttounionizetothereal,actual

Constant surveillance, schedules designed to destroy sleep and induce insomnia, chronic understaffingofshiftswithUnionemployees,and anyothermeansofinflictingpsychological

holocaust during a captive audience (read: propaganda)meeting Imean,whatdoyouevensay tothat?TheStarbucksUnionhassomesuggestions, I’dencourageyoutolisten. Beforethatthough,let's review the scene as Howard Schultz and his “BuffaloSWATteam” of“elite”(trulyournation's finest!) union-busting Starbucks corporate goons descendedonthiscity.

Part One: “they’re trying to create their own reality”

SigmundFreudisonesickbastard-andbecause that particular sick bastard had some wild ideas whilehighonmorespeedthanmyentirehighschool doesinaday -therestofushavetolivewiththe consequences.

In Angel’s case, this meant psychological warfare.

Starbuckswasn’tjustgoingtoletworkershavingavoiceslidewithoutalittlebitofCIA-stylewar crimes.

"YourBosscan’tlegallykillyou, sotheyhaveto movetopsychologicaltactics.”

damageStarbuckscoulddigupfromFreud’schai latte (read: cocaine) addled brain were used to constantly keep union workers in a state of confusion,doubtandexhaustion.“Iwassleeping maybethreehoursanight…youstarttoquestion yourownself.”

Thinkaboutwhatamonths-longgaslighting campaign from a multi-billion dollar employer coulddotoyourmind.Legitimately,Iencourage youtotakeasecondtoconsiderthehorror.This was the scene at Elmwood Avenue before the union resurrected some old ideas to haunt Mr Schultz.

“A huge part of standing with each other was just having someone who understoodthegaslighting. Starbucks is trying to create their own reality, butthisisreality.”

Mr.Schultz’s OneHundredAnd TwentyMillion(!)dollarmegayachtPi (picturedleft)offthecoastofMykonos. JustlookingatthisassuagesanyguiltImay havehadformercilesslydunkingonhim.

ARealActualHeadlineFromTheIndependentonTuesdayNov 9th2021

Full-timeDr.Evilcosplayerandpart-timesupervillain Yesthat’sreallywhatStarbucksactuallycalledit,intheyearofourlord2021! Note:AllquotesarefromaninterviewwithStarbucksUnionOrganizerAngelKrempaconducted07/07/22.See!Notall myfootnotesareunnecessarynonsense,thisoneevenapproachesrealjournalism!

The Buffalo Harbinger

Part Two: “derrida please stop talking”

JacquesDerridaisperhapstheworstwriterin human history, but as much as I’d like him to never write one of his stupid maze-like sentences ever again, his work is very important to understanding the situation at Starbucks. SpecificallyweneedtotalkaboutHauntology.

AnarticlefromtheNewStatesman describes theconceptasfollows:“ifontologyisthestudyof what is, then its punning cousin is the study of whatisnot.”Inshort:Hauntologyisthestudyof lost futures, especially how lost left wing futures affect present day efforts to resist imperialism, capitalism,andwhatevernonsenseFukuyamawas onabout

Part Three: necromancy is underrated

Whybringbacktheseoldideas?Whyhauntthe presentwitholddeadleftistfutures?

Our answer? Because we are unsatisfied with theantisepticfuturelaidoutbeforeus.Becausethe “EndofHistory”isjustaboutthemostdepressing thingI’veeverread. Becauseitscaresthewealthy somuchthattheycan’thelpbutcompare ittoone of the worst tragedies in human history Because whatotherchoicedowehave?

Wecan’tdoitalone,andsoalittlehelpfrom some long dead friends might be appreciated now andthen.

SowhatideasarehauntingHowardSchultz?

“Allworkisskilledwork”saysAngelKrempa, and,asshedoes,aspectrefromlabor’spastopens its long dead eyes. A concept not seriously entertained since the 1886 Knights of Labor reemergesinthedeterminedsleepdeprivedeyes

looking out from behind a Starbucks cap. The union at Starbucks is drawing on the aborted future that was championed by the Knights of Labor more than one hundred years ago, and usingittobuildanewunionmovementforanew futuretoday.

I hope our friend Howard Schultz is too scared to ever get a good night’s sleep again, althoughIdoubtI’mthatlucky.

“All work is skilled work, I credit this entire campaignwithgivingmemyvoiceback.”

SolistentotheStarbucksunion,andtheghosts they bring with them: “We can’t overcome the obstacleofcapitalismwithoutsolidaritywitheach other!” 11

“Theendofhistory”issodumbitgenuinelyreadslikethepapersI’vewrittenmeremomentsbeforetheyaredue.Notlikethis onethough,Ipromise!

Voted“mostlikelytobecomePatrickBateman”byhishighschoolclass.

Tipshisdailyforeheadshineronlyasingledollar Agoodquestiontoaskif“becauseitpissesoffHoward”isnotenoughofananswerforyou. Hamletwishesitcouldbethatsad

ExcerptFromKnightofLaborConstitution:aSpecialDispatchto theNewYorkTimes,1878

The Buffalo Harbinger vol.

Labor's Spirit in New Buffalo

Part One: “I hate to say I told you so”-IndiaWalton

WhatwasitliketobeintheroomwhenIndia Waltonwontheprimary?

“How can I describe it... Usually you know you 'vewon,butthiswasdifferent.'Arewereally gonnapullthisoff?What?Ohmygoodnessthisis wild!' Your wildest ideas coming to fruition. There might not be another moment like that inmylife.”

Despite the loss, the India Walton campaign stillmeansalottothepeopleofthiscity,andits legacywillcontinuetohauntthoseworkinginleft wingspaces

“It’sgonnakeepcoming”

Whyisthat?

Iwouldarguethatit’sbecausethecampaign tapped into the spirit of the new labor scene in thiscity Itacknowledgedtheinvisiblelaborthat so often goes ignored: “essential workers” in the pandemic, mothers raising children, people once thought not to have “skilled enough” jobs to unionize, women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, all got behind this campaign because of thisnewspirit inthelabormovement

“Oneofthethingsthatwasbeautifulaboutit isthatitforcedlaborintothespotlightwiththis new group of people that view hierarchies as inadequate. Sharing the burden, there’s just a difference”

Part two: “if you aren’t

at the table you’re on the menu”

Sowhatexactlyis“thenewspiritoflabor”?

Likemostofthiscountry,thelabormovement hasashakyhistorywithrace. Thesamecanbe saidformanysocialissues,asithasstruggledwith acceptanceofwomen,LGBTQIA+people,etc.

Thenewspiritoflaborisaboutaddressingthis problem.“It’sachangingoftheguard,who'snot here, who should be here?... If you ’ ve lived in a marginal space you know that there’s a lot of us out here, and we have leadership but we aren’t asked.Wehavetochallengeourselvestoaskwho's missing from the table If we ' re all eating really wellatthebanquet,whoisn’there? Ifyouaren’t atthetableyou’reonthemenu.”

In my mind, that’s the legacy of the India Waltoncampaign,anddespiteitsultimatefailure itprovedthatthere’sstillhope.Thatpeoplewho “aren’t part of the machine” can win and mount serious campaigns. That this new movement withinlabor “isaninflectionpoint,anewspace that has come out… All workers, women, LGBTQ+,everybody.”

Part three: literally who cares?

Thisisn’tanarticleaboutIndiaWalton, not reallyanyway.It’saboutthefuture,andwhyyou should care about it. Apathy is so easy in today’s world, it’s so tempting to just check out and let thedociletonesofNetflixdriftyouintoakindof semiotic sleep you’ll never recover from. That kindofapathymeansdeath.Itmeansthatitreally istheendofhistory.Itmeansyouhavefullyand completelygivenuponthefuture

Unfortunatelyformylazyass,Ithinkthatthe futureisprobablyworthfightingfor.That’swhat thepresentspiritoflaborinthiscityremindsus of, and it’s haunting the mind of every labor organizer,ne'er-do-well,idealisticteenager, Allen Ginsberg wannabe, and really anybody with a consciencewho’spayingattention.Thatpresence that you can feel is the new spirit of labor in Buffalo, and its proliferation is the legacy of the India Walton campaign. A shock to the system that will persist in the zeitgeist long after any specificeventorcampaignisover.

“IstillseeIndiaWaltonsignsout,andI’venever seenpeopledoartfortheircandidatelikethat.”

Ihopethishelpsremindyou:adifferentfuture ispossible-afuturethatbelongstoeveryone-but weneedtogetupandmakeithappen.

“That’s the legacy, it will never go away. It’s gonnakeepcomingIthink.”

Source:TheChallenger,July9th,2021

If any of you have had the misfortune of reading Hegel then your reward is understanding the deeper meaning of this sentence.

Let'sbeclearhere:“ShakyHistory”isareallygenerouswaytosay“reallyreallybadandfuckeduphistory” Andleft-wingspacesmorebroadly. Godknowstherearealreadyplentyofthose

All quotes come from an interview with NYSUT organizer and Working Families Party chairwoman Louisa Pacheco conductedon06/14/22.