Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement

Formed by young activists in September 1994, Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM) was a left wing revolutionary cadre-based organization based in the Bay Area of the United States.

Origins

STORM grew out of a radical people of color organization in the Bay Area called "Roots Against War" (RAW), which was committed to involving young people of color in direct action protests against the Gulf War. RAW emerged in the early 1990s and organized mass protests in the Bay Area around the Rodney King verdict, as well as protests in 1992 against the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus landing in the Americas in 1492.

Development & composition

STORM initially included anarchists, communists and revolutionary nationalists, but after some struggle the anarchists left and STORM become more communist-oriented. STORM was also different than its predecessor group RAW because it had white members, whereas RAW was comprised only of people of color. While STORM had some white members, its membership was always more than 60 percent women and 75 percent people of color. Most of STORM's membership had never previously been in other revolutionary organizations. STORM officially dissolved in December 2002.

"Sisters at the Center"

Throughout its history, STORM was committed to maintaining itself as a majority women, majority people of color organization. This commitment also extended to the areas of mass work in which STORM members collectively worked. Growing out of theoretical frameworks inherited from revolutionary, third wave and Black feminisms members of STORM developed the "Sisters at the Center" slogan early on in their organization's history. Application of this slogan meant a conscious emphasis to keep women of color and working class women at the center of the organization's analysis, program and practice.

Disbanding & summation

After STORM disbanded, a collective summation entitled "Reclaiming Revolution: History, Summation, and Lessons from the Work of Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM)" was written by former STORM members, collectively endorsed by a majority of the organization's former membership and was published in Spring 2004.

External links

* [http://www.leftspot.com/blog/files/docs/STORMSummation.pdf Reclaiming Revolution: History, Summation, and Lessons from the Work of Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM)] - STORM's Spring 2004 Self Critical Summation.

* [https://zmag.org/ZMag/articles/sept96martinez.htm Back in the Early 1990s] - An article written by Elizabeth Martinez for [http://zmagsite.zmag.org/curTOC.htm Z Magazine]