From: Jesse Hirsh - jesse@lglobal.com - http://www.lglobal.com/TAO/
Bringing Culture Back To Resistance
The Media Collective (Toronto, Canada)
The Media Collective is a spontaneous, dynamic, holistic organization, that includes the universe as its membership. We are artists, activists, and people interested in reclaiming our environment, reclaiming our minds, and thus reclaiming our lives. The Collective itself is a conduit for change.
The term 'Media' does not refer to an institution, or a technological artefact, but rather to the environment in which we all live. Media are the methods in which we communicate with ourselves, each other, and the world at large. As we communicate, we forge the material reality in which we exist.
Centuries of empire, appropriation, and exploitation have consolidated and centralized control of the majority of media. Corporate concentration manifests itself as the realization of a true media monopoly, declaring the birth of a new regime, and the end of history. His story has robbed us of our sovereignty, robbed us of our land, robbed us of our voice, and may soon rob us of our minds.
"and behind the most creative aspect of that insurrection looms a band of reality hackers, merry pranksters, ontological anarchists, psychedellic warriors, and intelligence agents; the bastard progeny of Toronoto's own McLuhan: The Media Collective"
The Media Collective is a spontaneous proclamation of the self. It is an uprising of the free individual spirit, shedding the chains of mental colonialization, screaming shouts of joy with the self-realization of identity.
We break the homogeneity of the media monopoly by expressing ourselves with our own media. We take back our media, taking back our freedom, igniting a chain-reaction of self-expression, a revolution of many minds uniting against a common enemy.
We use guerrilla tactics and any means necessary to defend our freedom of speech which is not defined according to profitability. We are involved in video, mirco-power broadcasting, radio, art, graffiti, zines, performance art, food, street theatre, cartoons, faxing, fasting, civil-disobedience, newspapers, music, hacking, phreaking, luddism, the web, television, writing, email, video-conferencing, elite-crashing, talking, loving, reading, ranting, telephony, protesting, analysis, and straight-out revolution
We are the virus of human liberation. We spread through the minds of all people, spreading the desire for freedom and happiness. Everybody is the media collective, and everybody can speak on behalf of the media collective. We must all take responsibility for our future, and we must all take an active part in our future.
We are the virus of unity. All may take claim under our banner as all are subject to media, and all have an interest in controlling their own media. We seek to decentralize power by decreasing the degree of mediation between us. Together we can all help each other help ourselves.
We are the virus of language. We subvert the institution via the medium on which it was built. Education accompanies transformation as the living language flows among free people. We spread the word and propagate the message of freedom.
We are the virus of action. We lead by example, allowing our actions to be the spark that ignites hearts and minds to strive for freedom. We are the convergence of thought and action, ideas and initiative, I and I bringing down babylon.
The Media Collective is an ambiguous, and amorphous organization. Our members participate in primarily spontaneous actions, covering a wide range of media and minds. Individuals make actions, the collective is the forum in which to share these individual experiences.
The Media Collective meets on the 27th of each month. The meetings act as a forum for members to exchange experiences, thoughts, ideas, and actions.
Members outside of Toronto are encouraged to organize local meetings, events, and take part in their own spontaneous actions.
Send comments, questions, and reports to media@lglobal.com
"And one day all the slaves ran free,
Something inside of them died.
The only thing I could do was be me
And get on that train and ride."