We know you’ve been on the edge of your seat, waiting for see which candidate will receive the Ex-Worker’s endorsement for president this year. In Episode 52, we offer an Ex-Voter’s guide to the 2016 election, including an analysis of the risks we anticipate in its aftermath titled After the Election, the Reaction. There’s lots of listener feedback to discuss, including advice for a young anarchist on less illegal or risky forms of anarchist action, updates about conflict between the Turkish state and the forces of Rojava, and a nuanced discussion of what “solidarity” really means, or should mean, in concrete terms. On the Chopping Block, we undertake a work of fiction for the first time, Nanni Balestrini’s Vogliamo Tutto, or We Want Everything. There’s also an announcement about some upcoming CrimethInc. developments, along with prisoner birthdays and more. We released this episode in tandem with an audio zine exploring anarchist critiques of voting, elections, and representative democracy, which you can download as Episode 51. {November 7, 2016} -------SHOW NOTES------ Our discussion of the 2016 Presidential election and its likely aftermath centered around After the Election, the Reaction, the recently published text from the CrimethInc. blog. It also included clips from Wavy Gravy, George Carlin, the Las Vegas Trump/Clinton debate, Trump’s advisor Roger Stone, and Public Enemy. On the Chopping Block, we reviewed Vogliamo Tutto, or We Want Everything, by Nanni Balestrini. In our listener feedback discussions, we mentioned a wide range of less-risky ways to get involved, including organizing Really Really Free Markets, helping start a Solidarity Network, researching polluters and prison profiteers like CCA, the Geo Group, Enbridge, and VINCI, learning about electronic security and encryption and how to beat surveillance, screening video from SubMedia, raising money for political prisoners, solidarity groups in Rojava, or the occupation resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline, and lots more. We also referred to writings by anarchist people of color and writings about black anarchism, such as the work of Ashanti Alston, Black Anarchism: A Reader, Anarchism and the Black Revolution by Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin, Anarchy Can’t Fight Alone and other writings by Kuwasi Balagoon, African Anarchism by Sam Mbah](https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/march–2012-interview-with-sam-mbah), Anarchist People of Color (APOC), and the zine Our Culture, Our Resistance. In our discussion of Turkey and Rojava, we mentioned this grim picture of the city of Nusaybin from occupied northern Kurdistan. The Noam Chomsky excerpt came from the 2001 CD “An American Addiction.” In our discussion of solidarity, we referred to Gabriel Kuhn’s book Turning Money into Rebellion on solidarity-motivated Danish communist bank robbers - also check out the interview with Gabriel about the book on the Stand Up Fight Back podcast (their website is down, but you can find it via iTunes). We also mentioned our discussion of radical martyrs and martyrdom in Episode 50, Rojava Solidarity NYC, the Weather Underground, the George Jackson Brigade, Luciano “Tortuga” Pitronello’s prison letters - we reviewed them in Episode 5, and interviewed Tortuga in Episode 30 - Oso Blanco, and the Phoenix Project. Prisoner birthdays last month: Justin Solondz #98291–011 FCI Oakdale I Post Office Box 5000 Oakdale, Louisiana 71463 {October 3rd} Joshua Stafford #57976–060 USP Tucson P.O. BOX 24550 Tucson, AZ 85734 Please address card/letter to Skelly, envelope to Joshua Stafford {October 3rd} Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin #99974–555 USP Tuscon Post Office Box 24550 Tuscon, Arizona 85734 {October 4th} David Gilbert #83-A–6158 Auburn Correctional Facility Post Office Box 618 Auburn, New York 13021 {October 6th} Michael Davis Africa #AM–4973 SCI Graterford Post Office Box 244 Graterford, Pennsylvania 19426–0244 {October 6th} Meral Smith Seguro Correctional Center 1252 East Arica Road Eloy, Arizona 85131 Please address card/letter to Malik, envelope to Meral Smith {October 8th} Robert Seth Hayes #74-A–2280 Sullivan Correctional Facility P.O. Box 116 Fallsburg, NY 12733–0116 {October 15th} Anthony J. Bottom #77A4283 Attica C.F. P.O. Box 149 Attica, NY 14011–0149 Please address card/letter to Jalil, envelope to Anthony Bottom {October 18th} Edward Goodman Africa #AM–4974 SCI Mahonoy 301 Morea Road Frackville, PA 17932 {October 31st}
Do anarchists vote? If not, how do we express our voice and participate in changing society? What’s the problem with elections and representative democracy? In this special Election Day audio zine,we describe why electing representatives robs us of our power, refute common arguments made to convince us of the value of voting, explain direct action as an alternative approach for making change without politicians and parties, and lay out our vision for a free world beyond electoral politics. We begin by surveying anarchist responses to elections from the 19th century to the present day, and include excerpts from CrimethInc. interventions against the last few presidential elections, including “Don’t Just Vote, Get Active: A Community Non-Partisan Voters’ Guide” (2004), “Voting vs. Direct Action” (c. 2004), “False Hope vs. Real Change” (2008), “The Party’s Over” (c. 2009), and the “Democracy is Bankrupt” website (2012). This audio zine provides background for our discussion of the 2016 presidential campaign and its likely aftermath, which appears in Episode 52. Whoever they vote for, we are ungovernable! {November 7, 2016} -------SHOW NOTES------ This audio zine draws on several previously published CrimethInc. texts that address voting, elections, democracy, and direct action, including “Don’t Just Vote, Get Active: A Community Non-Partisan Voters’ Guide” (2004), “Voting vs. Direct Action” (c. 2004), “False Hope vs. Real Change” (2008), The Party’s Over" (c. 2009), and the “Democracy is Bankrupt” website (2012). In the introduction, we quoted a variety of historical anarchist critiques of elections, voting, and representative democracy, including: Mikhail Bakunin, "On Representative Government and ; Peter Kropotkin, “Revolutionary Government”; Elisee Reclus, “Why Anarchists Don’t Vote”; Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience”; Emma Goldman, “Woman Suffrage”; Zo d’Axa, “He Is Elected”; and the Yippies’ nomination of Pigasus. You can find many more anarchist critiques on these themes via The Anarchist Library.
As we build momentum towards the September 9th national prison strike, we want to reflect on lessons learned from past generations of prison rebels, as well as how we can maintain energy on September 10th and beyond. In Episode 50 of the Ex-Worker, solidarity organizer Ben Turk fills us in on some history of prisoner organizing in recent decades, recaps some of the solidarity actions that have taken place leading up to this year’s historic strike, and offers perspective on continuing and deepening our resistance to prison society. We commemorate the death of Jordan MacTaggart, an American anarchist killed on the front lines in battle with the YPG against the Islamic State, and discuss international solidarity and the politics of martyrdom with Rojava Solidarity NYC. The death of John Timoney, former police chief and notorious foe of anarchists, prompts both glee and a somber reflection on the misery he inflicted on us. A member of Revolutionary Anarchist Action (DAF) in Istanbul discusses the background to the recent failed military coup as well as recent waves of anti-anarchist repression. A call for solidarity from la ZAD, news, events, and prisoner birthdays round out this packed episode. {September 7, 2016} -------SHOW NOTES------ Find a demonstration or event about the September 9th prison strike near you, or post it here if you’re organizing one. We interview Ben Turk about the struggle against US prisons, including the upcoming September 9th strike and beyond. Wanna read more about some of the prison rebel history he mentioned? Learn more about the Attica uprising, Walpole and Men Against Sexism in Walla Walla, and especially the Lucasville Uprising of 1993, plus more recent upheavals including the Pelican Bay hunger strike against solitary confinement - which we covered as it was happening in Episode 9 - as well as the Georgia prisoner strike, the Free Alabama Movement, the Menard, Illinois hunger strike, the recent Bend the Bars Conference in Columbus, Ohio, and the Dying to Live hunger strike movement in Waupon, WI. Repressive cop extraordinaire John Timoney has shuffled off his mortal coil. Check out this commemoration of his miserable life by some anarchist comrades. Good fucking riddance, asshole! We discussed the recent death of American anarchist Jordan MacTaggart. Check out the send-off video produced as a tribute by Rojava Solidarity NYC. Also check out this lengthy article written last winter in which Jordan shares stories about his experiences fighting on the front lines. To learn more about the revolution in Rojava, listen to our previous coverage in Episode 36 and Episode 39, and check out Rojava Solidarity NYC’s book “A Small Key Can Open A Large Door: The Rojava Revolution”. We shared an excerpt from an interview with Devrimci Anarşist Faaliyet (DAF), or Revolutionary Anarchist Action, an anarchist organization based in Istanbul, Turkey. Thanks to our friends at Crna Luknja in Ljubljana, Slovenia for sharing it with us. Learn more about DAF via their website or their Facebook page. The US “Justice” Department recently announced its intention to phase out the use of private prisons. Good news, right? Well… these anarchists don’t necessarily think so. Either way, it’s unquestionable that prison privatization has horrible consequences for the incarcerated; if you weren’t already convinced, check out this massive expose by Mother Jones magazine about the corruption and brutality of private prison industry, written by an undercover reporter who actually got a job as a guard in a CCA prison; it’s fascinating, horrifying reading. But the question is whether this reform will serve to weaken or strengthen mass incarceration in the long run. As Ben Turk mentions in his interview, the so-called “prison reform movement” led by such luminaries as Hillary Clinton and Newt Gingrich exists not to abolish prisons, but to generalize carceral logics across all of society. Check out the call for solidarity on October 8th with la ZAD, the anti-airport occupation in western France. Listen to our Episode 14 on squatting for an interview with a resident of la ZAD. Other upcoming events include Running Down the Walls, an annual 5 K run that benefits political prisoners and prisoners of war, on September 4th in New York City and on September 11th in Denver, the Fighting Future Prisons tour in Northern England, and the Red Warrior Camp’s global weeks of solidarity to support the indigenous-led movement to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, from September 3rd to 17th. Upcoming prisoner birthdays: Brian Vaillancourt M42889 Robinson Correctional Center 13423 East 1150th Avenue Robinson, Illinois 62454 {September 5th} Alexander Irwin #2016012934 St. Louis County Jail P.O. Box 16060 Clayton, MO 63105 {September 5th} Please note that Alexander is pre-trial. Do not write about illegal activity and assume that any charges from the state are alleged and falsely accused. Leonard Peltier #89637–132 USP Coleman I Post Office Box 1033 Coleman, Florida 33521 {September 12th} Sean Swain #243–205 Warren CI P.O. Box 120 5787 State Route 63 Lebanon, OH 45036 {September 12th} Steven Martin #2015017284 St. Louis County Jail P.O. Box 16060 Clayton, MO 63105 {September 22nd} Please note that Steven is pre-trial. Do not write about illegal activity and assume that any charges from the state are alleged and falsely accused. Greg Curry #213–159 Ohio State Penitentiary 878 Coitsville-Hubbard Rd Youngstown OH 44505–4635 {September 26th} Brian McCarvill #11037967 Snake River CI 777 Stanton Blvd Ontario, OR 97914–8335 {September 27th} Jorge P. Cornell #28152–057 FCI Petersburg Medium P.O. Box 1000 Petersburg, VA 23804 {September 29}
The Ex-Worker is back! And just in time, because a potentially historic national prisoner strike is just around the corner. In our 49th episode, we discuss the upcoming September 9th strike to end prison slavery, with an interview with the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee. You’ll also hear a review of Dan Berger’s book Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era; an interview with an anarchist from the UK about the Brexit vote; listener feedback on Spanish revolutionary militias, Comintern, and parallels with Rojava; updates on Kara Wild, a trans anarchist incarcerated in Paris; a letter from trans anarchist prisoner Jennifer Gann; plus news, prisoner birthdays, event announcements, and plenty more. {August 24, 2016} -------SHOW NOTES------ The September 9th National Prison Strike is coming up! To learn more, check out the Support Prisoner Resistance site, in particular the zines Let the Crops Rot in the Fields by the Free Alabama Movement, End Prison Slavery with several articles about emerging prisoner movements, and Incarcerated Workers Take the Lead by Houston IWOC. In our interview with Azzurra from the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, she referred to several texts, campaigns, and other resources, including: the Houston IWOC zine about the history of prisoner rebellion since 2008, the Attica Rebellion, Black August, the Flikshop app for sending postcards to prisoners easily and cheaply, Chicano anarchist political prisoner Xinachtli Alvaro Luna Hernandez and his Twitter account, Mumia Abu Jamal’s struggle for Hepatits C treatment, Rashid Johnson’s article “On the Questions of Race and Racism: Revolutionary National Liberation and Building the United Front Against Imperialism”, checking the IWOC website for ongoing updates, Jeremy’s Hammond’s recent trip to solitary confinement for “encouraging rebellion and criminal activities,” and criminologist Nils Christie’s article Conflicts as Property about how the state has appropriated our conflicts. On the Chopping Block, we reviewed Dan Berger’s book Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era. It discusses, among many other things, the life, death, and legacy of George Jackson, whose books Soledad Brother and Blood in My Eye can be read in full online. We interviewed Jon Active from Active Distribution in the UK about the Brexit vote. If you want to read more anarchist perspectives on it, check out these articles: “Building an anti-fascist culture post-Brexit” by some folks from the Anti-Raids Network, “On the tragic and the farcical of the British referendum” by the Void Network, and anarchist reflections on Brexit on Reddit. Please support Kara Wild, a trans anarchist from the US imprisoned in France in connection with recent militant protests in Paris. Here’s a video of her in her former dwelling that she built and squatted in in Chicago. We’ll post more updates on how to direct support her way as soon as we get them. In our listener feedback section, we shared a message from Jennifer Gann, a radical trans prisoner in California, who is requesting support. Check out her website to learn more about her case, or write to her at: J. Gann #E23852 KVSP-D1–209U P.O. Box 5103 Delano, CA 93216 We also referenced some other queer and/or trans prisoner solidarity links, including Black and Pink, the Trans Prisoner Day of Action and Solidarity, and a publication focusing on the writings of incarcerated women and trans and gender variant prisoners called Unstoppable. Another listener suggested that folks interested in the struggles in Rojava, and their potential parallels with the Spanish Revolution & Civil War, check out these articles titled “The International Brigades and the social revolution in Spain, 1936–1939” and “News of the Spanish Revolution: Anti-authoritarian Perspectives on the Events.” And if you’re feeling down, just remember that in Phenix City, Alabama, an unnamed Taco Bell employee refused to serve four cops who came in to order food - because they were cops. That’s what we mean by Fight where you stand! Prisoner birthdays this month: Eric King # 27090045 FCI Englewood Federal Correctional Institution 9595 West Quincy Avenue Littleton, CO 80123 {August 2nd} Bill Dunne #10916–086 USP Lompoc 3901 Klein Boulevard Lompoc, California 93436 {August 3rd} Debbie Sims Africa #006307 SCI Cambridge Springs 451 Fullerton Avenue Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania 16403 {August 4th} Dr. Mutulu Shakur #83205–012 USP Victorville Post Office Box 3900 Adelanto, California 92301 {August 8th} Barrett Brown #45047–177 FCI Three Rivers Federal Correctional Institution P.O. Box 4200 Three Rivers, TX 78071 {August 14th} Hanif Shabazz Bey (Beaumont Gereau) #5161331 Seguro Correctional Center 1252 East Arica Road Eloy, Arizona 85131 {August 16th} Address envelope to Beaumont Gereau, address card to Hanif Maliki Shakur Latine # 81-A–4469 Shawangunk Correctional Facility Post Office Box 700 Wallkill, New York 12589 {August 23rd} Russell Maroon Shoatz #AF–3855 SCI Graterford P.O. Box 244 Graterford , PA 19426 {August 23rd} Ronald Reed #2195311 Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights 5329 Osgood Avenue North Stillwater, Minnesota 55082–1117 {August 31st}
Welcome back to the Ex-worker! We’re eschewing our typical format once again to bring you our second audio zine, a production of Crimethinc.’s new text From Democracy to Freedom. This release coincides with the announcement of an online platform for participating in decentralized reading groups and online discussions on this text as well as the others in the series exploring questions around democracy, and how we relate to it as anarchists. {April 26th, 2016} -------SHOW NOTES------ The full text is available here for reading online or here for printing. Original music and sounds courtesy of Counterfeit.
Is Democracy what we’re fighting for, as anarchists? In episode 47 of the Ex-Worker Podcast, a contentious debate between Clara and Alanis on this topic sets the stage for an upcoming, in-depth engagement with the topic of Democracy. In addition, we clean out our backlog of listener feedback, clarifying our trash-talking of both the Bay Area and Adbusters in past episodes, as well as hearing from a listener in Australia about various online resources for finding out what’s happening with anarchist and anti-fascists in the land down under. NYC Anarchist Black Cross provides us with thorough political prisoner updates, and we share a review of the book Huye Hombre Huye, available from Little Black Cart. As always, the episode is bookended with global news updates, plus prisoner birthdays, a whole slew of upcoming anarchist bookfairs and other events and more. {March 16, 2016} -------SHOW NOTES------ New York Anarchist Black Cross (NYC ABC) is doing a fantastic job of keeping us updated on political prisoners and prisoners of war. If you’re looking for a comprehensive overview of political prisoners in the US, you can check out their new Illustrated Guide to Political Prisoners. It’s got detailed info on all their cases including up to date mailing addresses plus tips on writing to prisoners; it’s a great overview if you want to support radical prisoners but aren’t sure where to start. Dr. Mutulu Shakur, a longtime black liberation prisoner who helped Assata Shakur escape to freedom, was supposed to be released from prison in February… but his release was denied at the last minute. He’ll be facing the parole board later this spring. Here’s a link to a statement he wrote explaining the situation with more info on how to show support. Supporters have also launched a new website at MutuluIsWelcomeHere.com to gather stories describing his the positive impacts he has made and to organize solidarity events leading up to his parole hearing. Former Black Panther Maliki Shakur Latine will also be heading to the parole board in April, and he’s collecting parole letters; check out justiceformaliki.org for details. Supporters of Brandon Baxter (one of the Cleveland Four, anarchists active in the Occupy movement who were entrapped in an FBI plot) are doing a small fundraising campaign right now to help with costs to get him some visitors in his new digs at FCI Terre Haute in Indiana. Brandon hasn’t received any visitors since his sentencing, and he’s never had a in person visit since his arrest. He’s about 11 hours away from his supporters who plan to visit and they need to raise some money for a car rental. They’re only a couple of hundred bucks short, so even if you can throw in a few dollars it’ll make a difference. Any donations not used for this trip will go into the general fund to support the Cleveland Four getting visitors. To learn more about their case, check out cleveland4solidarity.org or listen to Episode 17 on Conspiracy. Eric King, an anarchist from Kansas City accused of an alleged attack on a politician’s office, has accepted a non-cooperating plea deal for a ten year prison sentence; after time served, he’s got eight and a half years left to go. On top of this, the facility where he’s locked up CCA is now on lock-down, and Eric has been put in solitary confinement. Please take a few minutes to send Eric a postcard or letter to remind him that folks are thinking of him. Eric King 27090045 CCA Leavenworth 100 Highway Terrace Leavenworth, KS 66048 Former earth liberation prisoner Daniel McGowan will be in court on March 15th in Washington, DC to support the Center for Constitutional Rights’ case against the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ “Communication Management Units.” The CMUs are experimental prison units that impose severe restrictions on prisoners’ communications, both within the prison and with the outside world. If you’re in the DC area and you want to show some solidarity against a particularly vicious form of repression - one that has primarily targeted Muslims and political radicals - you can find the info on our website. On March 23, Tyler Lang has his sentencing hearing for his charges under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act for releasing thousands of animals from a fur farm. If you can be in Chicago, please attend the hearing to show support for Tyler. It is important that on this difficult day for Tyler that he feel surrounded by love and solidarity, and that the judge see that Tyler is part of a community that is there for him. His co-defendant Kevin Olliff was sentenced to three years, which with time serve means he’s only got about three months left to go! J ay Chase of the NATO 3 has one more pretrial hearing in Chicago on March 23rd - actually at the same time as Tyler Lang’s sentencing hearing, though in a different courtroom, before he goes to trial on April 11th. Supporters ask anyone to come out who’s able and to continue sending Jay support through letters or mailing softcover books. Stay posted on updates at freethenato3.wordpress.com. Solecast, the excellent anarchist podcast we mentioned at the end of the listener feedback, can be found on it’s website here and on iTunes. We highly recommend that you check it out! As we mentioned, anarchist in Belgium are facing repression and prison time for alleged property destruction related to a long struggle against the construction of a Maxi-Prison in Haren. A little more information about the struggle and information about how to send money or otherwise show solidarity can be found here. Our listener Cut Snake wrote in response to our request to send us a list of blogs and websites that publish news of interest to anarchists and antifascists from Australia. This should keep us all busy for a while: DISACCORDS ANARCHIST AFFINITY MELBOURNE ANTIFASCISTS REZZA ANTIFA SLACKBASTARD MELBOURNE ANARCHIST CLUB FTP ZINE MELBOURNE ANARCHIST COMMUNIST GROUP BLACK ROSE JURA BOOKS MUTINY ZINE Huye Hombre Huye, the book we reviewed on today’s chopping block, is available from little black cart on their website. The material from our theme segment today was inspired by the new 10-part Crimethinc. Feature critiquing democracy. It’s not posted yet, but when it is it’ll be up at crimethinc.com. And don’t forget to stay tuned to the podcast for our upcoming audio version, plus more information about how to plug into reading groups. The theme segment also mentioned and quoted from another piece called ‘Breaking with Consensus Reality,’ from the zine Terror Incognita, released in the U.S. around the time of the Occupy movement. From March 18th to 20th in Athens, Ohio, Appalachia Resist! will host an action camp in to connect environmental justice and social justice efforts in the Appalachian region. Here’s how they describe themselves: Appalachia Resist! is a small group of rural activists who use direct action as a tactic to resist the fracking industry in our region. We work and live in a rural working class community that is predominant white. We see that struggles for environmental justice and the ongoing fight for racial justice are linked. We want to articulate that link and find concrete ways to work together to push back against a system that brutalizes and sees as disposable the bodies of low income rural people, people of color, gender nonconforming people, women, native, and undocumented people. Mentioning all these people together should not be a way of erasing difference (this is not “all lives matter”) but a way of seeking actual solidarity based on mutual liberation. This is a monumental task, and we are definitely not experts. But we think it’s important and necessary. They’re encouraging regional activists working on racial justice, anti-rape culture, prison solidarity and prison abolition, environmental justice and anti-extraction, and other struggles to take part. In Seoul, South Korea, the Anarchist Film Festival of Hannam-dong will open March 24th through 26th at “Take Out Drawing”, an art space standing in defiance of gentrification in downtown Seoul. On April 23rd at Stone Mountain, outside Atlanta, Georgia, there’s a big white supremacist rally planned, and anti-fascists around the region are gearing up to shut it down. Check out the website alloutatl.com for more info on the mobilization; it articulates some shared principles that address some of the nuances of diverse anti-racist mobilizations in a particularly thoughtful way. The anarchist book fair season kicks off in earnest in April, with book fairs in Zagreb, Croatia on the 8th through 10th; Dublin, Ireland on the 15th and 16th; Sheffield, UK on the 23rd, Oakland, California on the 26th, and Bristol, UK on the 30th, followed by Bern, Switzerland on May 6th and 7th. Prisoner birthdays this Month: Luke O’Donovan #1001372271 Washington State Prison P.O. Box 206 Davisboro, GA 31018 (March 2nd) Reverend Joy Powell #07G0632 Bedford Hills Correctional Facility P.O. Box 1000 Bedford Hills, NY 10507–2499 (March 5) Ruchell Cinque Magee #A92051 Calif. State Prison, D–5 #1, P.O. Box 4670 Los Angeles County, Lancaster, CA 93539 (March 17) Jaan Laaman #10372–016 USP Tucson P.O. Box 24550 Tucson, AZ 85734 (March 21) Kevin Olliff KEVIN JOHNSON 47353–424 MCC Chicago Metropolitan Correctional Center 71 West Van Buren Street Chicago, IL 60605 (March 27) Delbert Orr Africa #AM4985 SCI Dallas 1000 Follies Road Dallas, PA 18612 (April 2) Charles Sims Africa #AM4975 SCI Dallas 1000 Follies Rd. Dallas, PA 18612 (April 2)
What do anarchists around the world think is in store for the new year? In Episode 45, we began our 2015 year in review, focusing on the US. In this episode, we share reflections on developments in 2015 and from anarchists in Chile, Finland, Brazil, Korea, Colombia, Czech Republic, and Rojava. There are also discussions about developments in fascism and anti-fascism, with reports from the UK and Australia, and an analysis by Gulf Coast anarchists of the environmental movement’s supposed "victory" over the Keystone XL pipeline in November. On the Chopping Block, we review the latest issue of Perspectives on Anarchist Theory, the journal of the Institute for Anarchist Studies, on the theme of "Justice." Long term black liberation political prisoner Herman Bell discusses his upcoming parole hearing, and we share plenty of news, including some reflection on a new round of revolts in Tunisia, plus prisoner birthdays, events, listener feedback, and more. {February 11, 2016} -------SHOW NOTES------ On the Chopping Block, we reviewed the latest issue (Number 28, on "Justice") of Perspectives on Anarchist Theory, the journal published by the Institute for Anarchist Studies. You can order it through AK Press; you can also find them on Facebook, though you know how we feel about that. Our friends at the North American anarchist news website It's Going Down have announced plans to produce a print magazine! Check out their Kickstarter page if you want to show them some support. Former Black Panther and long term political prisoner Herman Bell is up for parole in February. Please check out this info from his support site about how to help with his parole hearing, including an online petition. Here's Glenn Greenwald's editorial critiquing the notion that internet encryption is responsible for the Paris terror attacks by the Islamic State. The report we shared on Rojava came to us from a group of anarchists and internationalists from Central Europe working for liberation in Kurdistan. If you're interested in reading more, CrimethInc. previously published a longer interview piece from this group titled "From Germany to Bakur: European Anarchists on the Kurdish Struggle". To learn more about the Guarani resistance in the state of Sao Paulo, mentioned in the report on 2015 resistance in Brazil, visit yvyrupa.org.br. Our friends who reported on the so-called "victory" over the Keystone XL pipeline sent links to some of the ongoing ecological resistance happening along the Gulf Coast, including folks fighting a massive 42" LNG export pipeline whose route from West Texas to Mexico cuts through Big Bend National Park - visit Defend Big Bend and the Big Bend Conservation Alliance; and the environmental justice group in Mobile, AL called MEJAC that is fighting an oil storage tank farm that would directly impact the historic community of Africa Town. In terms of ecological resistance coming up this year, there's the Prison Ecology Project's gathering coming up June 11-13 in the Washington D.C. area, focused on building around the intersection of incarceration and the environment. There's also a struggle brewing against a new federal prison slated to be built on a former mountaintop removal site in Eastern Kentucky. And the Earth First! Winter Organizer's Conference is taking place February 10th-15th on Chumash territory outside Santa Barbara, California. Please take a moment to support Jared "Jay" Chase of the NATO 3! You can attend his court date on February 18th in Chicago, follow his case on Twitter, Facebook, or the NATO 3 support page. You can also write to Jay at: Jared Chase M44710 P.O. Box 99 Pontiac, IL 61764 Here's an announcement from supporters about the court date: Pack the court for Jay Chase Thursday, February 18, 9 AM Cook County Criminal Courthouse 2600 S California Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60623 The presiding Judge had a sick day on 2.3 so Jared "Jay" Chase now has a pre-trial hearing on February 18th at 26th and California in Room 303. He is being targeted by the same prosecutor (Anita Alvarez) he faced during the NATO 3 trial for alleged assault charges pinned on him by guards while he awaited trial for two years back in 2012-2014. These same guards were allowed to testify against him during the NATO 3 sentencing in a somewhat successful attempt to bring a harsher sentence and now they will likely testify against him in this case . . . This trial is not just about a few extra years being tacked on to his current sentence which is coming to an end in May. The State has made it very clear through this obviously vindictive prosecution that they want to ensure Jay lives out his days in their cage. Please be there and show the State that we stand with Jay and let Jay know that we have not forgotten him or his struggle. He needs our love and support as he stands in defiance of this ongoing persecution. Upcoming prisoner birthdays: Veronza Bowers, Jr. 35316-136 USP Atlanta Post Office Box 150160 Atlanta, Georgia 30315 {February 4th} Kamau Sadiki (Freddie Hilton) #0001150688 Augusta State Medical Prison, Building 13A-2 E7 3001 Gordon Highway Grovetown, Georgia 30813 Address envelope to Freddie Hilton, address card to Kamau {February 19th} Shaka Cinque (Albert Woodfox) #72148 West Feliciana Parish Detention Center Post Office Box 2727 St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775 Address envelope to Albert Woodfox, address card to Shaka {February 19th}
In our first episode of the new year, the Ex-Worker looks back over 2015 and its highlights, lowlights, and everything in between. We summarize some of the year’s key news developments, including tech developments and struggles around gender, anarchist publishing and media, a hilarious look at mass media coverage of anarchism, and our reflections on the last year of the podcast itself and our new year’s resolutions. You’ll also hear some analysis of some of the important themes within anarchism and revolutionary struggles in 2015, including an extended discussion on identity and solidarity, a review of the AK Press anthology “Taking Sides”, and reflections on our relationship to mass movements. The anarchist news website “It’s Going Down” contributes their end of year thoughts, a new project called “The Spaces Between” sets out to document US anarchism outside of its major urban hotspots, and a supporter offers an important update on NATO 3 prisoner Jared “Jay” Chase. We also received a number of detailed and inspiring year in review reports from anarchists around the world … but we’ll save those for our next episode.
