Travis Kevie: When the Going Gets Tough, Open an Illegal Bar

Times are hard. Have a drink on us? Or on them...?

Politicians, developers, police, and upper middle class non-profit do-gooders often tell us that they have it all figured out. Many claim they know what will get us out the economic crisis. Problem is, the rich have already made it out. Despite the recession, corporations are making record profits. In part, this has to do with not only taking that bailout cash and making sure it stays at the top, but also through massive cuts to workers' wages and benefits. According to an article that appeared in the Washington Post in July 2010:

In the mildly halcyon days before the 2008 crash, the one economic outlier was wages. Profit, revenue and GDP all increased; only ordinary Americans' incomes lagged behind. Today, wages are still down, employment remains low and sales revenue isn't up much, either. But profits are the outlier. They're positively soaring.

Among the 175 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index that have released their second-quarter reports, the New York Times reported Sunday, revenue rose by a tidy 6.9 percent, but profits soared by a stunning 42.3 percent. Profits, that is, are increasing seven times faster than revenue. The mind, as it should, boggles.

The impacts of the foreclosure and economic crisis in the Central Valley of California show no signs of ending anytime soon - in fact, by many estimates the bad times have only just begun for poor and working people.

More and more people are on government aid.

In record numbers, people in the Central Valley are turning to government assistance to help make ends meet. In Merced County alone, about 1/4 of the population is on food stamps:

It's no secret that Merced County is one of the state's poorest and hardest hit areas by the economic downturn - unemployment hovers just below 20 percent and the poverty rate is more than 20 percent.

In Stanislaus County, applications for food stamps have risen by 51% in the last two years.

Today in the Modesto Bee, Vice Mayor Brad Hawn even promoted many of the things that anarchists have been calling for over the centuries: mutual aid and community self-organization.

"Have a block party and become friends with your neighbors," Hawn suggested. "By talking to your neighbors, you'll find out what common things there are that you all care about." That may be public safety or help for senior citizens or programs for children. Hawn said public agencies no longer may be able to fill some of those needs. "We need to be able to figure out how people can do what government can't do anymore," he said.

Of course, Hawn's vision of mutual aid and communities coming together has more to do with keeping Modesto looking nice for developers and business interests, who bring in tax revenue, and surprise surprise, keep Hawn, oh so...nicely paid.



Furthermore, people have been throwing block parties in the last couple of years, bringing people together - albeit in revolutionary ways, all under the radar of the mainstream media. For instance, the large revolutionary hip hop festival, "Keep Ya Head Up," which happened in South Modesto last year (see above video), the Graffiti Festival in West Side in early summer, and the ongoing BBQs organized by Modesto Anarcho and the Revolutionary Hip Hop Report.

A closer look at Hawn himself brings out more interesting things into the open, than his empty calls for people to donate time at the local soup kitchen. Hawn is a member of the Chair of the Finance Committee and Vice Chair of the Safety and Communities Committee, which as you remember, was the group that first came up with the idea to shut down, or "privatize" Paperboy Park, due to the 'threat' of homeless people sleeping on the grass.

Prior to his election, Brad served as a founding member of the City’s Citizens Redevelopment Advisory Commission and Board of Zoning Adjustment. These organizations are in part, working to 're-develope the downtown" and other areas of Modesto. And while some of their talk sounds inviting, such as the creation of more affordable housing, this has more to do with marching in step to business and developer interests, than responding to the needs of poor people.

As the Modesto Redevelopment Project Area 5 Year Implementation Plan, drafted this year stated, "[Redevelopment should p]romote the economic viability of the Redevelopment Area by attracting new development. [New development should e]nhance the visual appeal of Modesto’s public spaces by upgrading existing parks, plazas, and streets, and by creating new parks and plazas that offer public access." In short, making sure Modesto is favorable to the interests of those that can bring money in.

Within "the Plan," the group talks about some of the Modesto Redevelopment Agency's "successes," which includes the 10th Street Place, and the implementation of a large, and costly, surveillance camera system in the Downtown. In recent years, the once vibrant and youthful crowd that was attracted to the 10th and J Street spot (an area outside city hall and Brendan Theaters), brought an interesting mix of working class youths together from diverse backgrounds. However, this created problems with the local businesses, who saw the crowds of young people as a threat to the upper scale establishments. Kids saw in the 10th Street Place a well lit area to hang out in and meet other young people, and parents often were glad for a space that was also used by adults and by and large, was free from fights and drug use.

The businesses however grew wary of the youth for loitering, and worst of all, not buying anything. Political events also took place in the area, such as protests, demonstrations, and ongoing 'Anarchist Cafes,' which featured live music, free food, and free literature, which often angered the police. Cops often responded to these occurrences with harassment of young people; moving them out of the downtown.

Former Modesto Police Chief Roy Wasden makes the rounds in Downtown Modesto...

For business interests, a solution in part came when the Modesto Police put in a substation in the downtown area, which they stated in part was created to drive out young people who came into the downtown on Friday and Saturday nights to hang out. In the wake of small riots that occurred on St. Patrick's Day in 2007, and the "Hyphy Melee" of 2006, the surveillance system was also placed in the downtown.

Modesto police receive training for crowd control from the DoHS.

While promoted as a way to curb crime in the downtown, the cameras had more to do with making the area more safe for businesses, give the police more power, and ward off against possible clashes between large groups of people and authority. This also helped give way to a much more militarized police force in Modesto, which now receives trainings from the Department of Homeland Security, and responds to crowds of people in the downtown in full riot gear.

So what does redevelopment plans have to do with foreclosure and economic crisis, and more importantly the police? The point in bringing all of this up is simply to address that the elites of Modesto, and the Central Valley at large, just like those the world over, have no intention of helping us out of the current crisis. If anything, they're looking to bank on the current situation, and grow rich from it, just as the owners of wealth are doing the world over as we speak. Moreover, they are looking for ways, to often preemtively, ensure that resistance to this system does not build.

So, it's important to look at what normal people are doing around us, and see where we can begin to come together, to start solving problems as they exist in the here and now. Sometimes this happens in social movements, which can be large. And sometimes in simple ways such as residents that have been foreclosed on refusing to leave their homes when ordered to leave. Who of us doesn't know someone that hasn't stayed in a foreclosed home, lied to their social worker when applying for aid to get more food stamps, or taken items home from work? All of this, in large or small ways are forms of class struggle. They are tactics that we use to fight for our interests; on the job, on the streets, and where we live.

People occupy foreclosed home in Stockton California.

For readers of this blog and Modesto Anarcho magazine, you know that we've talked at length about the occupations that have gone on around the country in workplaces, schools, and foreclosures. We see these occupations as not only a way for working people to fight back against some of the attacks launched at us (foreclosure, pay cuts, layoffs, budget cuts, fee increases), but also as a way of relating to each other in new ways, outside of capitalism, that also builds our power against it. Examples of this include the occupation of workers in Chicago, that won them benefits and pay. The occupation of universities and schools across the county, including Fresno and Davis here in the Central Valley. And the occupation of foreclosed homes, such as the Miwok tribal office in Stockton California, which halted the eviction.

In July, a 29 year old homeless man waltzes into downtown Auburn and re-opens a historic bar.

This is why an article in July of 2010, caught our eye. A young 'Rodeo cowboy,' Travis Kevie, opened up a bar in Auburn (by Sacramento) that had been previously shut down. Several newspaper articles herald the opening of the historic watering hole, and customers stream in. Several days later, the new "owner" of the bar is, behind bars! What happened? He wasn't laid off, and he wasn't foreclosed on. Oh where did our fairytale go?

Is it Miller, or squatting time?

Turns out, Kevie simply went into the abandoned bar and opened it up. That's right. He broke in, cleaned the place up, and opened up the doors. He was squatting not renting. Although he did no damage to the building, he did revamp the place. Cleaning the open neon sign and even spent a little money for a 6 pack of beer, which he then sold and used what little money he had to buy more alcohol. All without a liquor licence. Police first became suspicious when, according to the Auburn paper:

Detective Jim Hudson recognized Kevie in the Journal article Tuesday not as a new business owner but as a local transient who had come into contact numerous times with the Sheriff’s Department.

Soon, Kevie was arrested and thrown in jail, only to be released after two days on misdemeanor charges of selling alcohol without a licence - even as some people were calling for his freedom.

As one local resident wrote:

Travis Kevie, has given me hope in the future of our younger generation...The Winkle family has long been patrons of the Valencia Club. After the Shanghai closed down, I would venture to say it’s been the No. 1 venue in the Auburn area to get our drink on. It’s almost impossible for a family of seven to enjoy a full night of libations with the prices these new clubs in Auburn charge. How can anyone be expected to stretch a welfare check that far? Lincoln’s been out of work for quite a while, and one of the few things keeping him going was the knowledge he and his family could get together four or five nights a week and develop that bond families are given when closing a bar down.

Instead of putting young Travis in the county jail, we should be trying to raise funds to help the young man continue his inspirational calling. All he did was help folks out in tough times, and if he was able to pull himself up a bit while doing it, God bless him. One thing I can guarantee is that if one of the Winkle family is on a jury deciding this youngster’s fate, he walks!

Kevie gets the bar ready for customers.

In the end, Kevie was only sentenced to 15 days in jail, in large part due to the outpouring of support that he received from the surrounding community. And that support is what we find interesting. A situation like Kevie's is exciting because not only is it a great story, but also that it shows the tensions that exist within capitalism, and illustrates some possible ways forward in dealing with those tensions.

As the commenter in the local paper pointed out - where can working people with little money go now days? With the increase in development like that proposed by planners in Modesto which we talked about earlier, where can we go to get a drink with our friends and family that isn't totally over priced and taken over by yuppies? Moreover, it seems that Kevie's bar helped to create a sense of community out of his effort and gave people something to believe in. It's not always that the "little gal or guy" gets fucked over. In doing so, he bypassed the government and property owners who claim that everyday people can't run their own lives and organize their own spaces. It spat in the face of daily life in the Central Valley which is filled with boarded up homes and businesses, and thousands of homeless and evicted families.
It also gets one thinking about taking back even more space, for our needs, in the here and now. Not waiting for city planners, non-profits, or the police to do it for us. With so much vacant property around - and if threats of jail time from the authorities wasn't stopping us, imagine the types of things that we could be doing. Childcare centers, pool halls, meeting spaces, places to live, and yes...bars! What's even more hopeful, is that with the massive support and interest that's been thrown Kevie's way, his jail time was greatly reduced. See what happens when we stand up for each other? Perhaps we need not be so worried, as long as we have each other's backs. Kevie's story is a breath of fresh air because we can begin to see that our desire for community, a place to have fun, and a place to come together - is different from that of the police, the property owners, and those in power. And, when we get together and do something about it, a whole new type of being starts to come about.


So tonight. Whether you're drinking a cold one, a glass of water before bed, or a hot cup of tea - raise your glass to Travis Kevie. The greatest squatter bar keep we've come across in the Central Valley - so far.