Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers
Encyclopedia
Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers (often referred to as simply "the Motherfuckers", or UAW/MF) was an anarchist affinity group
based in New York City
. This "street gang with analysis" was famous for its Lower East Side
direct action
and is said to have inspired members of the Weather Underground and the Yippies.
-influenced art group
called Black Mask
with some additional people involved with the anti-Vietnam War
Angry Arts week
, held in January 1967.. Formed in 1966 by painter Ben Morea and the poet Dan Georgakas, Black Mask produced a broadside of the same name and declared that revolutionary art should be "an integral part of life, as in primitive society, and not an appendage to wealth." In May 1968, Black Mask changed its name and went underground. Their new name, Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers, came from a poem by Amiri Baraka
. Abbie Hoffman
characterized them as "the middle-class nightmare... an anti-media media phenomenon simply because their name could not be printed."
Early Motherfuckers included Tom Neumann, the stepson of Herbert Marcuse
, John Sundstrom, Alan Hoffman and Alan Phillips.
The Motherfuckers contributed to New York City
's counterculture
by setting up crash pad
s, serving free food, starting a free store, and helping radicals
connect with doctors and lawyers. They were opposed to and resisted on principle any attempt to impose order on the political demonstrations they participated in. Among other things, the Motherfuckers instigated brawls with Maoist groups such as the Progressive Labor Party. They were the first to use the term "affinity group
".the term having been coined by Ben Morea.
Eventually, as the political and economic climate changed toward 1970–1971, the Motherfuckers ceased concentrated activities in New York City, stopped referring to themselves as UAW/MF, and many members moved to New Mexico, California, and other states. Morea himself moved with his wife to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
, where they lived for five years on horseback, gathering and poaching game. Other UAW/MF members became loosely absorbed into an interconnected network of communes and collectives known as Armed Love (a term coined by Ben Morea). With Black Bear Ranch
as a spiritual center, the Armed Love collectives spread out along the rural and urban coastline of California and Oregon, existed in Vermont, New Mexico, and other locations. As Motherfucker Terry C. once stated, "Motherfuckers was just a form. That time is past. It's time to move on."
, a radical feminist and would-be assassin
of Andy Warhol
, was friends with Morea and associated with the Motherfuckers. In the film I Shot Andy Warhol, the gun used in her attack is alleged to have been taken from Morea.
When Morea was asked in a 2005 interview by John McMillian of the New York Press
how he had been able to rationalize supporting Solanas, Morea replied, "Rationalize? I didn't rationalize anything. I loved Valerie and I loathed Andy Warhol, so that's all there was to it." He then added "I mean, I didn't want to shoot him." He then added: "Andy Warhol ruined art."
Despite rumors to the contrary, the Motherfuckers were never part of, or associated with, the Situationist International. Situationist Raoul Vaneigem
did not want to have anything to do with them during his visit to New York City; Morea castigated Vaneigem in correspondence for his out-of-touch "person of letters" persona. The English
section of the SI was expelled in 1967 for its ties to the Motherfuckers. They went on to form the King Mob
group.
(LeRoi Jones): "The magic words are: Up against the wall, mother fucker, this is a stick up!" One of the first appearances of the phrase "Up against the wall Motherfuckers!" as a revolutionary slogan was in April 1968, on a famous piece of graffiti found scrawled in the mathematics department (the building they helped occupy), following the Columbia University protests of 1968
. On April 22, 1968, student leader Mark Rudd
quoted Baraka in the concluding paragraph of his open letter to Columbia President Grayson Kirk: "I'll use the words of LeRoi Jones, whom I'm sure you don't like a whole lot: 'Up against the wall motherfucker, this is a stick-up!'"
Most of the lyrics for the 1969 song We Can Be Together, by the acid rock
band Jefferson Airplane
were used virtually word for word on a leaflet written by Motherfucker John Sundstrom, and published as "The Outlaw Page" in the East Village Other
. The lyrics read in part, "We are all outlaws in the eyes of America. In order to survive we steal, cheat, lie, forge, fuck, hide, and deal... Everything you say we are, we are... Up Against the Wall, Motherfucker!" The song marked the first use of the word "fuck" on U.S. television, when the group played it uncensored on The Dick Cavett Show
on August 19, 1969. This song also helped popularize the phrase as a counterculture
rallying cry, over and beyond the immediate impact of the anarchist group.
At various times, the line became popular among several groups that came out of the sixties, from Black Panthers to feminists and even "rednecks." In the 1970s, Texas country singer-songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard
adapted the famous phrase for a song he wrote entitled "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother". The phrase was also used as a song title on the album Penance Soiree
by The Icarus Line
.
The line was famously shouted by Patty Hearst
during a bank robbery.
Affinity group
An Affinity group is usually a small group of activists who work together on direct action.Affinity groups are organized in a non-hierarchical manner, usually using consensus decision making, and are often made up of trusted friends...
based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. This "street gang with analysis" was famous for its Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
direct action
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
and is said to have inspired members of the Weather Underground and the Yippies.
History
The Motherfuckers grew out of a DadaDada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
-influenced art group
Art group
An art group refers to an association of artists who may work communally, for the purpose of facilitating the creation of art, either that belonging to the individual, or the collective....
called Black Mask
Black Mask (anarchists)
Black Mask was a radical anarchist art collective operating in New York City in the 1960s. They gained notoriety for their self-titled broadsheet as well as their public actions and demonstrations. The Black Mask was together from 1967 to late 1968 before reforming as Up Against the Wall...
with some additional people involved with the anti-Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
Angry Arts week
Angry Arts week
Angry Arts week was an event organised by a group of radical artists based in Lower East Side, New York in January 1967. It brought together such people as Michael Brown of the Pageant Players, Peter Schumann from the Bread and Puppet Theatre Osha Neumann and the painter Ben Morea. They were...
, held in January 1967.. Formed in 1966 by painter Ben Morea and the poet Dan Georgakas, Black Mask produced a broadside of the same name and declared that revolutionary art should be "an integral part of life, as in primitive society, and not an appendage to wealth." In May 1968, Black Mask changed its name and went underground. Their new name, Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers, came from a poem by Amiri Baraka
Amiri Baraka
Amiri Baraka , formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism...
. Abbie Hoffman
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
characterized them as "the middle-class nightmare... an anti-media media phenomenon simply because their name could not be printed."
Early Motherfuckers included Tom Neumann, the stepson of Herbert Marcuse
Herbert Marcuse
Herbert Marcuse was a German Jewish philosopher, sociologist and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory...
, John Sundstrom, Alan Hoffman and Alan Phillips.
The Motherfuckers contributed to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
by setting up crash pad
Punk house
A punk house is a dwelling occupied by members of the punk subculture. Punk houses are similar to the hippie crash pads of the 1960s and the slan shacks of science fiction fandom. The Factory, an alternative living space founded by Andy Warhol as the home base of The Velvet Underground, is directly...
s, serving free food, starting a free store, and helping radicals
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
connect with doctors and lawyers. They were opposed to and resisted on principle any attempt to impose order on the political demonstrations they participated in. Among other things, the Motherfuckers instigated brawls with Maoist groups such as the Progressive Labor Party. They were the first to use the term "affinity group
Affinity group
An Affinity group is usually a small group of activists who work together on direct action.Affinity groups are organized in a non-hierarchical manner, usually using consensus decision making, and are often made up of trusted friends...
".the term having been coined by Ben Morea.
- 1967 - Forced their way into The PentagonThe PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
during an anti-war protestProtestA protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
. - Became the only non-student chapter of Students for a Democratic SocietyStudents for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
. - January 1968 - "Assassinated" poet Kenneth KochKenneth KochKenneth Koch was an American poet, playwright, and professor, active from the 1950s until his death at age 77...
(using blanksBlank (cartridge)A blank is a type of cartridge for a firearm that contains gunpowder but no bullet or shot. When fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound . Blanks are often used for simulation , training, and for signaling...
). - Helped occupy and hold one of the buildings at the Columbia University takeoverColumbia University protests of 1968The Columbia University protests of 1968 were among the many student demonstrations that occurred around the world in that year. The Columbia protests erupted over the spring of that year after students discovered links between the university and the institutional apparatus supporting the United...
. - Dumped uncollected refuse from the Lower East Side into the fountain at Lincoln Center on the opening night of a gala "bourgeois cultural event" during a NYC garbage strike (an event documented in the 1968 NewsreelNewsreelA newsreel was a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories and items of topical interest. It was a source of news, current affairs and entertainment for millions of moviegoers...
film Garbage). - 1969 - Organized and produced free concert nights in the Fillmore EastFillmore EastThe Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. It was open from 1968 to 1971, and featured some of the biggest acts in rock music at the time...
, featuring such groups as the MC5MC5The MC5 is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan and originally active from 1964 to 1972. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson...
, after successfully demanding that owner Bill GrahamBill Graham (promoter)Bill Graham was an American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death.-Early life:...
give the community the venue for a series of weekly free concerts. These "Free Nights" were short-lived as the combined forces of NY City Hall, the police, and Graham terminated the arrangement. - Cut the fences at WoodstockWoodstock FestivalWoodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
, allowing thousands to enter for free.
Eventually, as the political and economic climate changed toward 1970–1971, the Motherfuckers ceased concentrated activities in New York City, stopped referring to themselves as UAW/MF, and many members moved to New Mexico, California, and other states. Morea himself moved with his wife to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
Sangre de Cristo Mountains
The Sangre de Cristo Mountains are the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States...
, where they lived for five years on horseback, gathering and poaching game. Other UAW/MF members became loosely absorbed into an interconnected network of communes and collectives known as Armed Love (a term coined by Ben Morea). With Black Bear Ranch
Black Bear Ranch
Black Bear Ranch is an 80-acre intentional community located in Siskiyou County, California, founded in 1968, with the slogan "free land for free people"...
as a spiritual center, the Armed Love collectives spread out along the rural and urban coastline of California and Oregon, existed in Vermont, New Mexico, and other locations. As Motherfucker Terry C. once stated, "Motherfuckers was just a form. That time is past. It's time to move on."
Associations
Valerie SolanasValerie Solanas
Valerie Jean Solanas was an American radical feminist writer, best known for her attempted murder of Andy Warhol in 1968. She wrote the SCUM Manifesto, which called for male gendercide and the creation of an all-female society.-Early life:Solanas was born in Ventnor City, New Jersey, to Louis...
, a radical feminist and would-be assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, was friends with Morea and associated with the Motherfuckers. In the film I Shot Andy Warhol, the gun used in her attack is alleged to have been taken from Morea.
When Morea was asked in a 2005 interview by John McMillian of the New York Press
New York Press
New York Press was a free alternative weekly in New York City, that was published from 1988 to 2011. During its lifetime, it was the main competitor to the Village Voice...
how he had been able to rationalize supporting Solanas, Morea replied, "Rationalize? I didn't rationalize anything. I loved Valerie and I loathed Andy Warhol, so that's all there was to it." He then added "I mean, I didn't want to shoot him." He then added: "Andy Warhol ruined art."
Despite rumors to the contrary, the Motherfuckers were never part of, or associated with, the Situationist International. Situationist Raoul Vaneigem
Raoul Vaneigem
Raoul Vaneigem is a Belgian writer and philosopher. He was born in Lessines . After studying romance philology at the Free University of Brussels from 1952 to 1956, he participated in the Situationist International from 1961 to 1970...
did not want to have anything to do with them during his visit to New York City; Morea castigated Vaneigem in correspondence for his out-of-touch "person of letters" persona. The English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
section of the SI was expelled in 1967 for its ties to the Motherfuckers. They went on to form the King Mob
King Mob
King Mob was a radical group endeavouring to contribute to worldwide proletarian social revolution, based in London during the 1970s.It was a cultural mutation of the Situationists and the anarchist group Motherfuckers. They sought to emphasize the cultural anarchy and disorder being ignored in...
group.
Influence as a slogan
The phrase was taken from the poem, "Black People!" by Amiri BarakaAmiri Baraka
Amiri Baraka , formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism...
(LeRoi Jones): "The magic words are: Up against the wall, mother fucker, this is a stick up!" One of the first appearances of the phrase "Up against the wall Motherfuckers!" as a revolutionary slogan was in April 1968, on a famous piece of graffiti found scrawled in the mathematics department (the building they helped occupy), following the Columbia University protests of 1968
Columbia University protests of 1968
The Columbia University protests of 1968 were among the many student demonstrations that occurred around the world in that year. The Columbia protests erupted over the spring of that year after students discovered links between the university and the institutional apparatus supporting the United...
. On April 22, 1968, student leader Mark Rudd
Mark Rudd
Mark William Rudd is a political organizer, mathematics instructor, and anti-war activist, most well known for his involvement with the Weather Underground. Rudd became a member of the Columbia University chapter of Students for a Democratic Society in 1963. By 1968, he had emerged as a leader...
quoted Baraka in the concluding paragraph of his open letter to Columbia President Grayson Kirk: "I'll use the words of LeRoi Jones, whom I'm sure you don't like a whole lot: 'Up against the wall motherfucker, this is a stick-up!'"
Most of the lyrics for the 1969 song We Can Be Together, by the acid rock
Acid rock
Acid rock is a form of psychedelic rock, which is characterized with long instrumental solos, few lyrics and musical improvisation. Tom Wolfe describes the LSD-influenced music of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Iron Butterfly, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Cream,...
band Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
were used virtually word for word on a leaflet written by Motherfucker John Sundstrom, and published as "The Outlaw Page" in the East Village Other
East Village Other
The East Village Other , was an American underground newspaper in New York City, New York, published biweekly during the 1960s. EVO was among the first countercultural newspapers to emerge, following the Los Angeles Free Press, which had begun publishing a few months earlier...
. The lyrics read in part, "We are all outlaws in the eyes of America. In order to survive we steal, cheat, lie, forge, fuck, hide, and deal... Everything you say we are, we are... Up Against the Wall, Motherfucker!" The song marked the first use of the word "fuck" on U.S. television, when the group played it uncensored on The Dick Cavett Show
The Dick Cavett Show
The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including:* ABC daytime ...
on August 19, 1969. This song also helped popularize the phrase as a counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
rallying cry, over and beyond the immediate impact of the anarchist group.
At various times, the line became popular among several groups that came out of the sixties, from Black Panthers to feminists and even "rednecks." In the 1970s, Texas country singer-songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard
Ray Wylie Hubbard
Ray Wylie Hubbard is an American Texas Country singer and songwriter.-Early life:Hubbard grew up in southeastern town of Hugo, Oklahoma. His family moved to Oak Cliff in south Dallas, Texas in 1954. He attended W. H. Adamson High School with Michael Martin Murphey, who had his own band at the time...
adapted the famous phrase for a song he wrote entitled "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother". The phrase was also used as a song title on the album Penance Soiree
Penance Soiree
Penance Soiree was the second full-length album released by The Icarus Line. It was one of 2004's most critically acclaimed releases, and its reputation has subsequently earned praise in various publications, including the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.Due to infighting with the...
by The Icarus Line
The Icarus Line
The Icarus Line is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California.The Icarus Line was formed out of the ashes of high school punk group Kanker Sores...
.
The line was famously shouted by Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst
Patricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....
during a bank robbery.
Further reading
- The Story of Black Mask and Up Against the Wall Motherfucker
- Black Mask & Up Against The Wall Motherfucker, ISBN 1-873176-70-8, Unpopular BooksUnpopular BooksUnpopular Books is a publisher in London's East End, producing leaflets, pamphlets and books.- Leaflets, pamphlets and booklets :* Jean Barrot - What is Communism * Jean Barrot - Fascism/Antifascism...
, 1993 - The Brown Paper Bag Theory of Affinity Groups, Up Against the Wall Motherfucker, available online at http://flag.blackened.net/ksl/bullet17.htm#The%20Brown%20Paper%20Bag%20Theory%20of%20Affinity%20Groups
- McMillian, J. (2005) Garbage Guerilla, New York Free Press, available at http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=05/05/06/1354249&tid=
- Osha Neumann's book Up Against the Wall Motherf**ker: A Memoir of the '60s, with Notes for Next Time (Seven Stories PressSeven Stories PressSeven Stories Press is an independent publishing company. Located in New York City, the company was founded by editor Dan Simon in 1995 after he parted company with Four Walls Eight Windows. The company was named for its seven founding authors: Annie Ernaux, Gary Null, the estate of Nelson Algren,...
) - Ben Morea's blog