L38Squat, the social centre Laurentinokkupato, is one of the social centres and squats of Rome and, more exactly, of the south-west outskirts of the city, in a neighbourhood called Laurentino38.
Our history begins in 1991, when was squatted the big compound is still giving us ospitality.
In 1991 it was completely abandoned and, even if other people lived there, very demoted.
But to tell everything from the beginning we have to start from 1987, when a former experience started with the occupation of a small farm house, in the same neighbourhood, by some different bands of teenagers, with different interests and political involvments.
The Casale opened in the autumn of 1987 with a "big" meeting, a photos exhibition about degradation and abandon of the neighbourhood and finally a big concert with punk and hardcore bands.
The group of action kept going on with many activities for two years, until 1989, editing also the #0 of a paper on the hot issues of those years, the opposition to nuclear, the pussyfoot laws of the country and mainly an active presence in movements of solidarity with the palestinians in the first Intifada, started just then, in 1987.
Among the end of 1989 and the beginning of 1990 suddenly broke in the movement called "La Pantera". The universities were mostly occupied and quickly the movement got to the secondary school students too.
Many boys and girls of Laurentino started attending university that was everyday full of people, presidium against fascism, concerts; many people slept there, sharing the university revolt supported also by Radio Onda Rossa, the frequency of the movement.
During 1990 summer the attention pointed the football worldcup and the big businesses on it.
Finally in 1991, presented again the occasion of squatting during an event organized by one of the associations of the nieghbourhood, at the sixth bridge; it was all abandoned and scrapped but with water and easy acces to electricity.
On february 1991 it was squatted with the name of Laurentinokkupato.
Immediately started works of reorganization and maintenance and the transformations to make spaces functional to our use.
Laurentinokkupato is on two floors and, at the beginning, the second one, the out and out bridge, was enough for houses.
On the same floor there is a big bar, with a kitchen inside, a music rehersal room, and a cinema room that, during the years, moved to be a gym.
On the first floor there has always been a concert hall and sometimes it is used to host big meetings too.
In 1991 the #0 of Laurentinokkupato Info came out talking about the Gulf War, demonstrations against USA, solidariety for Intifada.
The death of a boy, Auro, in Corto Circuito, an other social centre set on fire by fascists, got us completely involved.
>From 1992 started an intense period for the life of social centres of Rome.
The number of foreigners migrating to the city was increasing and sadly also the number of nazis, authors of poltroon aggressions and rascist writings.
Two guys of Laurentino fell in a trap plotted by the fascists of Meridiano Zero(a fascist group of the nienties).
Meanwhile in Los Angeles the afroamericans were revolting because of the murdering of Rodney King and the absolution of both the killer police men.
In autumn '92 we organized a big exhibit/event on Black Phanter Party and the presentation of a
booklet on it, titled "By any means necessary".
The organization of a big event for prisoners during the summer, "Fuori da Rebibbia", made us working with many people from many different places of Rome.
In Laurentino works kept going on,the transformations were turning empty rooms in to a library, ateliers or houses; loud music went with ping pong and table soccer tournaments during every afternoon and evening in the social centre.
On the big corridor, that is the bridge on the street, the houses are set up by two big rooms, with personalized and personal kitchens and bathrooms; big balconies, looking on the street below, has been slowly gardened.
Then 1993, Laurentinokkupato becomes the most crowded place in the area.
Hundreds people made it full everyday, attending also the general assembly, making the events more regular.
Squatters were very busy with the organization, daily cleaning and preparing for the evening.
The boom concerned all the social centres of Italy and Rome where activists decided to create a coordination of CSOA to obtain the assignment of occupied places to the general assemblies.
USA were attakking Iraq again, but the interest was mainly pointed on the election for the mayor of Rome. The left proposed Rutelli, while the right Fini, secretary of MSI.
Many praesidium and demonstrations were organized to fight Fini and fascists in Rome.
The first event organized with an association of the neighbourhood "Strade in festa al Laurentino" was in 1993.
>From 1994 Laurentinokkupato started to be daily opened, every week there was a live concert and a different issue to propose.
A big anniversary was celebrated on april for the third year of occupation.
The new serigraphy was inaugurated, while the others areas of the social centre were improving with no money from anybody, just with the small profits of concerts and events and with the big patecipation of everybody.
Now, it's 1995, the bar in the social centre is every night opened and the library, the gym, the music room and the artistic one are working a lot to popularize self productions and antagonistic culture.
The main interest is on communication, an Antagonist Documenentation Centre, that now is the Infoshop, was created to gather and distribute self producted materials on many issues; the use of computers was increasing and Internet was lightning the way for researches and new materials.
We also had a radio broadcast, every sunday, on Radio Onda Rossa, to discuss about multinational corporations as Shell and McDonald's, for example, and axplain the reasons of our hate against them or to show solidariety to Mumia Abu Jamal, political prisoner in the USA.
Meanwhile the situation of the network of the CSOA of Rome arrived at a turning point. The attemp to occupy again La Torre, evicted many times in the months before, ended with 85 people denounced.
Rome council had approved a resolution, "delibera 26", trying to normalize the occupations by paying the rents and that was the break between the social centres in Rome and also the end of what is called the first generation of social centres.
second part history of L38Squat??
In 1996 many of us continue a close collaboration with other activists of the movement and work to diffuse the worl wide web throut the social centres.
The creation of the web site tactical media crew, and independent source of information, inside this project is done actively by some of us.
Inside the laurentinokkupato we start a campaign to support the anarchists that are involved in the ROS-Marini inquiry. We do many benefits to support them and troughout the year we do concerts and cinema.
1997 we do less concerts, but during the year we do 2 that are really great: Brutopop and Wendy's party to support TMCrew, and a history of punk together with another squat torremaura. We are busy in this moment with the selfproduction of independent information. The web site becomes one of the first, for popularity and vastity of information, in the Italian movement. We work seriously on the creation on a booklet were many of us can express themselves on different issues, during the year we release two numbers: five and six.
Another important experiment is that five of us try to gain a minimal wage by doing a pub in the social centre, because years of "working" for the squat without being paid had tired out many of the squatters. The experiment only lasts a few months and the results are controversial.
1998 intense year of events. One of our comrade, with other activists, are arrested during a demonstration and taken to the police station and beaten. The two of them press charge towards the police and in a court case that will last a few years and in the end the police man who beaten them will be condemned.
In Turin some squatters are arrested accused of being ecoterrorists. Big campaign against these anarchists done also by the mainstream press. At few months distance one from the other Baleno and Sole commit suicide in prison. The journalist and prosecutors who held this defamatory campaign receive all our hate. There are many angry demonstrations, in Turin and Rome, there is lots of solidarity and exchange with the squatters form Turin and there independent radio: Radio BlackOut.
Inside the squat we produce another two numbers of Info, the infoshop goes strong and sends materials to people who request it through our web site. We do many initiatives for the anarchists that are still in jail after the ROS-Marini court case. We also do typical roman food evenings with other anarchists in town.
A group of students starts to come to the squat and they create a collective called Hazet36. Most of them in the years after will become active part of the squat. In this year some of the people that were here from the beginning decide to go and live together in a house in the centre of the city, leavy there houses inside the squat and participating less to the squats activities.
1999 in Rome we prepare for the jubilee that will be the year after. We hear that with all the money that will be needed to prepare Rome for the pilgrims there is also a project on the sixth bridge without us in it. We do a campaign against to voices of eviction. In the end the bridge is being repainted today, June 2006, and we are still here.
War in Kosovo, many demonstrations against the American bombing the Balkans. In April info 9 is released and for now is the last info that has been written. Later we decide to write together a one page newspaper, that should come out more frequently and with a language that everyone can understand. This newspaper is called A4 newsbot, inspired by SchNews (a one paper journal from Brighton) for the format, the graphics and the distribution on-line. These are the years where the activist communities are linking together through internet and networking together to fight the WTO in Seattle. We continue to do campaigns against multinational corporations. We do lots of activities outside of the squat, but inside we create a few events that go really well, like the illegal box, a theatrical sports event to raise money for activist in prison. Hundreds of people from all over the city come to this event. A concert with the Brutopop band which is a starting point for the new group of students that start to take their responsibilities and start being an active part of the squat.
2000 the big success of Seattle N30 give new energy to the movement for social changes, the crises of capitalism is highlighted and the scarecrow of communism is not there. All over the world initiatives and cultures are spread from north to south. The Italian movement is very active and there is a new big participation through the social forums and many other associations which will be active this year and the next. Almost all the squatters al L38squat are active in this movement, in the communication like in the direct actions, in trying to stop this meetings and in everything else. Often we travel in Europe and Italy to demonstrations and discussions. Inside the squat we produce three numbers of A4newsbot: on the antiglobalisation movement, on climate change and against copyright. There is a big change, lots of new people come to live here, and the spaces to live become less and less.
In Rome, like in other parts of Europe, the is a lot of tension in the movement, especially with the "white overalls" who want to dominate the scene and to it intimidating anyone else. The tensions are also because these white overalls pointed an the spectacularly of the event.
2001 campaigns against globalisation continue, and in Italy, like all over the world, we prepare for the event of the year which is the G8 in Genoa. From L38Squat many of us go to Genoa to participate to the week of actions against the G8. Even if the city is strongly militarised, and intimidated Genoa is invaded by hundreds of thousands of activists from all over the world. This is not accepted by the Italian government which makes the summit in a fortress in side the city, the "red zone". Like an army the riot police charge against the demonstrators on Friday and Saturday with extreme brutality, beating, torturing and killing Carlo Giuliani. Capitalism was being threatened and the rich are worried about how things are going, the participation in big numbers of people from all over the world in the anti-capitalist movement and the scandal of the brutality of the Italian police are high everywhere.
Then comes September 11, everything is quietened, there is an enemy and this time it is Islam.
In the squat, beside participating to the demonstrations in Rome, Genoa and other places, we continue A4newsbot a we start a debate on sexism which will be continued later on.
2004 campaign in the neighbourhood to grantee a house to the people that live in the bridges that are going to be pulled down. Meetings, flyering, demonstrations, census, encounters with the institutions, to obtain a council house for the people occupy the bridges.
No Copyright
Via Domenico Giuliotti 8x, 00143, Roma
