Anarchists Say Goodbye to Greensburg
When a fierce tornado leveled Greensburg in May, Kansas Mutual Aid came to the rescue, dispatching a handful of Lawrence anarchists to aid in the recovery. They came, they helped, they got kicked out by police officers. Now, after several trips to the Western Kansas town, KMA members say they’re moving on to other efforts.
At first, state authorities rebuffed the anarchists’ assistance. On their second trip to Greensburg, a couple weeks after the storm, KMA members were rounded up by a cadre of law enforcement officials and escorted out of town because of their affiliation as anarchists. The next weekend, the Pitch tagged along for a two-day trip. Because they had been banned from the city limits, KMA members helped local farmers clean their fields, loading their arms with mangled boards and shards of metal that had been ripped from the city and spread across surrounding counties.
Before they left, the group spent some time in a trailer park set up by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and barbequed with some Greensburg refugees. Lawrence resident and KMA member Joe Carr wrote about the group’s experience in FEMA-Ville on his Web site. Carr told the Pitch that the group’s interviews with the evacuees might provide content for a “Voices of Greensburg” zine or newsletter.
When the group returned a few weeks later, though, the majority of the trailer park residents had been moved back to Greensburg. Despite their previous banishment, the anarchists decided to risk a trip within the city limits to see if they could lend a hand. This time they weren’t arrested; in fact, some were even offered jobs by one of the contractors working on reconstruction.
But a few days later, at a KMA meeting, the group decided to disband its recovery efforts in Greensburg.
Read details from their final trip and a self-critique of their efforts here. – Carolyn Szczepanski
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