ANARCHISTS' CONVENTION OPENS, TOO.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

The Anarchists Convention kicked off Friday with security guards on watch for police and about 200 people crammed in a stifling hot Elysian Park studio.

Blamed for violence and vandalism during Seattle and Washington, D.C., protests, delegates to the North American Anarchist Conference meeting in Los Angeles for the Democratic National Convention started their own convention by embracing each other.

And their first seminar: ``Embrace - Group Affection Workshop.''

Next door, graying anarchist Jay Brophy sat in a wicker chair to discuss ``Liberation Pedagogy,'' telling the spike-hair, black- and red-dressed anarchists that ``the schools are where the potential for doing revolutionary work is the greatest.''

For those with two-wheeled transportation, a fellow who gave his name only as Randy taught the art of Zen and bike repair.

``I hate to disappoint the corporate media, but all we're doing is having workshops,'' said an anarchist whose name tag read ``Idiot.'' ``I don't think bike repair is the same as throwing bombs.''

The conference runs through Sunday and is taking place at 2431 Eads St.

Anarchists insisted they have not planned any ``organized'' protests. They said they plan to participate in nonviolent demonstrations to protest corporate greed and to advocate their philosophy, which calls for a radical reorganization of society.

Anarchists believe people should live by principles of mutual aid and cooperation and that hierarchy and all forms of social domination are unnecessary.

The buzz of the convention was over whether the rumors were true: Would police harass anyone wearing a circle-A anarchist logo or people dressed in black?

``They say anyone wearing a circle-A will be stopped,'' he said. ``We're starting a new kind of scare. It's not the red scare. It's the black scare.''

An anarchist guard, who refused to identify himself in any way, said security is necessary because ``our movement is extreme - it's calling to destroy the complacency of everyday people because they are afraid to embrace the potential of their own autonomy.''

Brophy, a self-described '70s hippy-turned-anarchist, said anarchists in Seattle committed acts of vandalism by breaking corporate building windows only after ``police rioted,'' spraying people with pepper spray and clubbing them.

He said he expects a similar reaction during the convention here. ``The police will probably riot,'' he predicted.

Outside the conference, a La Crescenta mother waited for her daughter to emerge. She told her mother she`d only go in briefly but had been gone 20 minutes.

``She said, `Mom, don't come in. They don't like the establishment.' I said, oh, that's wonderful.''

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Photo:

Masked members of the American Anarchy Association stand guard over a meeting in a studio near Dodger Stadium.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer