Redneck Revolt is an anarcho-communist and anti-fascist network of gun clubs and mutual aid groups based in the Southern United States that specialises in training people in safe firearm usage, first aid and gardening. They also help provide food, clothing and needle exchanges to poor communities.
History
Precursor Organisations
Redneck Revolt was founded in 2009, in part in response to the perceived contradictions of the Tea Party movement, as an offshoot of the John Brown Gun Club, a firearms training and community defense project that was itself founded in Lawrence, Kansas in 2004. Founding member Dave Strano was previously part of the Kansas Mutual Aid Network, which was involved in organizing protests against the Republican National Convention in 2004, in relation to which he and others began to train with firearms and engage in Second Amendment advocacy. In the early 2000s, John Brown Gun Club members operated anti-racist stalls at gun shows in Kansas. The John Brown Gun Club sought to "demystify" firearms, and to distinguish their commitment to community self-defense from clandestine groups that advocated guerrilla warfare. Its first major mobilization was a protest against the 2005 national conference of the Minuteman Project.
Name
The group attributes their use of the word "redneck" to the time of the Coal Wars, a series of labor disputes in the United States occurring from around 1890 to around 1930, when the word became popular among coalminers. The use of the term is also intended as a form of subversion or reappropriation. The group's name also refers to the Battle of Blair Mountain, and the red bandanas worn by members emulate those worn by striking coalminers during that conflict. A member has said that the group tries "to acknowledge the ways we've made mistakes and bought into white supremacy and capitalism, but also give ourselves an environment in which it's OK to celebrate redneck culture".
Activities
As of December 2017, there were 45 local chapters across 30 US states affiliated with Redneck Revolt. The groupp is active in spaces such as country music concerts, flea markets, gun shows, NASCAR events, rodeos and state fairs. Chapters provide firearms and first aid training, food and clothing programs, and community gardens, and host needle exchanges, potlucks, and educational events.