BY MICHELLE TEA

TOWARD THE BITTER end of the year 2000, the local, collectively owned AK Press – the publisher of such classics as Valerie Solanas's SCUM Manifesto and distributor of subversive literature churned out by freethinking presses like Soft Skull and Autonomedia – got evicted from its space in the Mission District. Located across the street from the fluorescent-lit hell that is Foods Co., the AK headquarters looked like just another worn-down residence, but a peek inside revealed not a thrifted Mission flat but a whirring warehouse of political propaganda. A maze of metal shelves offered titles like The Philosophy of Punk (the crucial text by former co-op member Craig O'Hara), collections of anonymously penned pamphlets like As Soon As You're Born They Make You Feel Small: Self-Determination for Children, "Smash the State" T-shirts, charming little class-war pins, and really too much transgressive literature and radical accessorizing for one to take in on a single visit.

Luckily, AK opened its doors to the public quite often. In the summer months the press treated the neighborhood to free performances by high-integrity artists like Eric Drooker, or writer Peter Plate delivering a rapid-fire recitation of an entire chapter of his newest Mission-noir novel. At the close of the century, when AK's lease ran out and its greedy and delusional landlord suggested renewing at an absurdly astronomical amount, the collective did what so many San Francisco evictees did: they headed for Oakland.

"We needed to look for something we could afford," collective member Jeff says. "The Oakland warehouse has much more space for the money, so we made the move. I think everyone is satisfied with our new home."

The eight-member collective publishes about 25 titles each year, with each worker initiating a couple projects every season. Though all collective members are on the same page, each brings specific interests to the editorial task.

Says member Angela, whose noneditorial duties include coordinating the press's ongoing events calendar, "I am particularly interested in titles that focus on women, particularly radical women's voices, which often seem to get lost or ignored. The Voltairne de Clair Reader strikes me as a great example of bringing back an amazing radical woman who might otherwise be forgotten entirely."

"I am especially excited about Beat the Heat," member Lani says, "because it is by an anarcha-feminist woman and a former prisoner, Katya Komisaruk, and it is a how-to manual for dealing with cops. It's a book that I think myself and just about everyone else would benefit from reading."

At this particularly fearful moment in time, when mass media would have us believe most Americans are unquestioningly marching along to the beat of the president's war drum, it's a relief to hear AK's frankly radical offerings have been flying off the shelves.

"There's been a huge surge of interest in our titles and in the information AK Press distributes," member Lisa informs me. "It seems as though there has been a serious shift in consciousness and a shared moment of clarity when it became so obvious that we are not being told the truth. With Bush getting elected fraudulently, then 9/11, the hunt for bin Laden, invading Afghanistan and then Iraq ... it's too much for people to swallow. People want to know why. Why are we invading other countries? Why are we killing people? Who is profiting? And why does the rest of the world look upon the U.S. with disdain? Well, we've got plenty of books with the answers to these questions in the AK warehouse."

For intellectuals who've got all the answers but are perhaps short on inspiration and validation, there's 2/15: The Day the World Said NO to War, a compelling documentation of an antiwar movement the mainstream media has at best trivialized. The flashy book offsets the press's heavier offerings but retains its commitment to vibrant resistance. Photos of the antiwar demonstrations that erupted across the globe last February in 30 countries run alongside quotes from Arundhati Roy, Susan Sontag, and other pissed-off supporters.

But what about the party? The gatherings of yore, where crusty punks rubbed patched elbows with poli-sci students? The anarchist cabaret does tromp on, with a regular series of events hosted by the collective in their not-so-new-anymore home. Says member Ramsey, whose radical folk ensemble Folk This! plays the occasional AK soiree, "Two or three times a month we host a variety of events at the Oakland warehouse, typically free, including authors reading from their work, book launches, film nights, folk concerts, cabaret, political lectures, debates and discussion, and a whole lot more."