This week, the show features two interviews. Anti-Fascist Organizing in Charlotte Against AntiCom The first is with an antifascist in Charlotte, NC, about the “March Against Communism” event that MIGHT be taking place in that city on Thursday, December 28th. Anticommunist Action, the nazi group that originally announced the event had hoped to hold it in Marshall Park but never applied for a permit, got told off by the city and MAYBE cancelled it. This anti-fascist, Soyboy, thinks it might still occur and wants folks to show up. (A) Healthcare Workers Respond to 7 Words Banned at CDC Then, William talked with two anarchist healthcare workers in Asheville, NC about the Trump administration’s censorship of language regarding the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2018 budget proposal documents. In this short episode we talk about what this means, some recent context for similar censorship, how CDC budget documents affect people’s everyday lives, and recommendations for how to move forward. This chat appeared as a "minisode" in our podcast feed this week. They chat about possible implications of removal of the following terms from the CDC’s budgeting proposals: fetus; transgender; science-based; evidence-based; diversity; vulnerable; & entitlement. Announcement: Asheville NYE Noise Demo On Sunday, 12/31/17 at the downtown Buncombe County jail and courthouse complex in Asheville, a noise demonstration will happen at 7pm to bring outside attention to the jail and let the folks on the inside know that we’re thinking of them. Bring noisemakers, pots, pans, horns, whatever. Here’s a link to the jpg of the flyer. Not in Asheville? Organize your own damn thing. Or check itsgoingdown.org to join with an existing event! Playlist
Today William talked with two anarchist healthcare workers in Asheville, NC about the Trump administration's censorship of language regarding the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's 2018 budget proposal documents. In this short episode we talk about what this means, some recent context for similar censorship, how CDC budget documents affect people's everyday lives, and recommendations for how to move forward. Unfortunately the taping of another show made it into the background of this minisode, sorry about that. If you listen closely you might learn something about the latest game. To read more about this recent censorship, you can get online and type something along the lines of "CDC list of banned words" into your web browser for some more background context.
DefendJ20 Updates on 1st Trial Block For the hour, we spoke with Betty Rothstein of DefendJ20Resistance and Jude Ortiz of DefendJ20Resistance and the Titled Scales Collective, about how the case is going as this first trial group finishes up it's defense and the prosecution fires it's last shots. This conversation was recorded on Friday, 12/15/17 after the final arguments in the case of the first trial group of the J20 arrestees, the 194 people facing as many as 60 years in Federal prison for the property damage that occurred on January 20th, 2017, in Washington D.C. during the inauguration of Donald Trump. The march was advertised as an Anti-Fascist and Anti-Capitalist protest against the incoming administration. The march started with as many as 500 participants and ranged 16 city blocks, often chased by police spraying super soaker-style guns filled with OC pepper spray, stingball grenades, concussion grenades and swinging batons. At the intersection of 12th & L, people were pushed into a kettle where many were forced to sit in the January cold and mist for over 6 hours without water, without medication or professional medical aid, in clothing soaked in OC spray, having to relieve themselves outside and among other people. The property damage at the center of this case amounted to 5 chain businesses windows. And now the trial is moving forward, drawing 6-8 defendants to D.C. at a time, this first group's trial lasting 4 weeks thus far (plus however long jury deliberation will take). The trials have led to pressures on individuals, relationships, loss of employment and income, legal and other huge costs and threaten to pave a path in this administration and beyond of the criminalization of participation in street demonstrations in the U.S. The attempts at criminalizing street medics and journalists, as well, for being present also poses a dangerous precedent. More on the case and how to offer support can be found at DefendJ20Resistance.Org , by signing up for their email newsletter and listening to their regular podcast updates on the trial. They are also on twitter, fedbook and instagram. Playlist pending
This week, Bursts was joined by Pat Boyle, a collective member at Unicorn Riot (more about them later in this post), radical independent media project. We chatted about crypto-currency, Bitcoin in particular, technologies and strategies involved in the implementation of crypto-currency, recent comings to light of increased wealth coming via Bitcoin into the hands of far right racists and ecological impacts of crypto-mining. As to the far right, we referenced an article from IdaVox and one from Mic.com, as well as the twitterbot @NeoNaziWallets that can be visited to track transactions with the bitcoin wallets of well-known white supremacists. Chicago Mercantile Exchange trading of Bitcoin was brought up a few times, and it was just introduced to the Private, or secondary, Market of the NASDAQ. An example of an interesting use of cryptocurrency ongoing against the prison industrial complex is the BailBloc project that is shared between the Bronx Freedom Fund and The New Inquiry. Some great Unicorn Riot content that Pat & company have been releasing this year (an incomplete list): Black Snake Killaz, full length documentary about resistance to the #DAPL; Coverage from Greece & the G20 in Hamburg, Germany; on the ground in Charlottesville, VA for Unite The Right; the processing of TONS of documentation of the UTR organizing on the (leaked) Discord chat platform; Our interview last year with Unicorn Riot's Pat Boyle and Wendy Parker; their appearance on Delete Your Account talking about their coverage of the Alt-Right. track heard: Traffic by Babyland from their 1992 album, You Suck Crap.
Interview with RAM-NYC This week we spoke with members of The Base, which is an anarchist space in New York City, about the newly formed Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement NYC Community Bail Fund. In this episode we talk about the concept of bail and its origins, what folks have happen to them from the moment of arrest to the moment bail is set, what it means to have an explicitly abolitionist bail fund, the intricacies of the corporate bail bond system, and many many other topics! We end with a surprise follow up question to our previous interview about Burn Down the American Plantation, a text which our guests authored and put out earlier in 2017. To hear that previous interview, you can go to our blogpost about it and listen for free! To support this initiative and for more information, you can go to fundedjustice.com. To connect with our guests, you can email them at revolutionaryabolitionistmovement@protonmail.com or search that name on any of the social media platforms commonly in use (Twitter: @RevAbolitionNYC , Facebook: RevAbolitionistNYC ) Further reading on our current bail system is as follows: From the New York Times From The Nation Announcements It was announced today that members of Hudson Valley Earth First! is in the second day of a tree-sit to stop the Valley Lateral Pipeline in Wawayanda, New York. From their press release: On December 8th, 2017, Millennium Pipeline Company started clearing trees for the Valley Lateral Pipeline, which would connect fracked natural gas from the existing Millennium Pipeline to the scandal-ridden, toxic Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) Power Plant. Courts and government will never protect the land, but these brave beings have put their lives on the line to save endangered species and sacred wilderness. Day 2: We have a direct update from one of our treesitters: "Cut trees leading toward wetlands and eagles nest and to wetlands and farm fields and forests where I hear cutting. Pretty quiet where I am. Swaying in the breeze a bit this morning. Trying to keep snow from getting in warm bags and that's working well. This fight is only beginning and this is the first known actual treesit in the Hudson valley ever. We need more affinity groups willing to take action against these projects and their world. CPV. Millennium. Legoland and that which destroys this bioregion. Minisink Lenape indigenous land." For More Updates and Photos Hudson Valley Earth First! Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/HVEarthFirst/ If this 7.8 mile pipeline is completed, it would run through ecosystems which contain, and have the potential to contain, endangered species such as the Bald Eagle(a mating pair is known to live 30 feet from the right-of-way), the Indiana Bat, and the Bog Turtle. Additionally, if the CPV plant is fueled, the pollution from the plant release tons of chemicals known to increase cancer and asthma rates in nearby areas. This pipeline is the bottleneck to stopping this plant. Aides to Gov. Cuomo and CPV executives go to trial in January over a bribery scandal. Also, if the pipeline is stopped before August 2018, the CPV plant will likely go bankrupt and this beautiful bioregion will be spared from further ecological destruction. After nearly 6 years of fighting this project, we are running out of options. Tree sits are a form of aerial blockade where individuals rig themselves in trees or sit on a small platforms hoisted into trees to prevent the cutting of that tree. Additionally the rigging of the treesitter’s platform can be attached to other trees to protect an entire area of forest. This tactic relies upon the unwillingness of a logger/company to take human life in the pursuit of economic enterprise, like the building of an unnecessary and polluting pipeline. Tree sits can be long term endeavors, and Hudson Valley Earth First! is prepared to stay in the trees as long as it takes to protect the wild!! Asheville Area If you're in the Asheville area, stay tuned the next two weeks during Words To Live By at 1pm on 103.3 wsfm-lp, before The Final Straw, where we will air radio shows from the Channel Zero Network of anarchist podcasts and radios, of which we are a proud member. Tell your friends! Also in Asheville, at 7pm at the County Jail on New Years Eve there will be a noise demonstration against the current jail, against the proposed new women's facility and for a world without incarceration. If you bring noisemakers and signs, it's hoped that participants can get the attention of folks on the outside to the failure of the carceral state to bring justice, only the immiseration of marginalized individuals and their communities while lining the pockets of the state and capital. And to reach out to those on the inside to let them know that we're thinking of them. Here's where you can find the flyers! Error451 tech podcast If you haven't yet, we'd like to invite you to check out our ongoing new podcast series entitled Error451. An html451 error delineates a page being unavailable due to political censorship, a reference to Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451. Well, our occasionally weekly podcast features Bursts chatting with different folks about tech security issues from an anarchist perspective. This week, rather than our usual guest, William Budington from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, we'll be joined by Pat Boyle from Unicorn Riot to talk about crypto-currencies like Bitcoin, the increased usage to enrich the far-right and how we can fight back. You can find this on Wednesday, alongside past issues of Error451 and this here Final Straw Radio show at thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org! Playlist here.
This week, William Budington chats with Bursts about the recent exposé published by Yael Grauer at The Intercept about research by Exodus and Yale Research Group leading to the findings that hundreds of common apps available from the Android Google Play Store contain clandestine tracking apps, allowing for the scooping up of the data a phone user gives off throughout their use of the device. Ever wonder why a free flashlight app needs permission to access your microphone? Here's why! We also chat a bit about F-Droid, a platform for free and open-source apps outside of the Play Store, many designed at increased transparency of device usage. At one point, Bursts brings up criticisms aired about the F-Droid repository by Moxie Marlinspike, a founder of Open Whisper Systems, which makes the Signal App for free end-to-end encryption. William is kind enough to explain what the concerns come from and his views on the subject. Like this show? Rate us on I-Tunes or dop us an email, check out other Error451 episodes or our regular feature, The Final Straw Radio. Oh, and you should know better than to be on social media, but if you are willfully ignorant, we are findable on fedbook, instagram and twitter. track heard: Ugh! Your Ugly Houses! by Chumbawamba from the album "Swingin' With Raymond"
This week we feature two segments. Prison-Related Audio Roundtable The first is a roundtable discussion with producers from various audio projects around North America that focus on prisoner struggles and amplifying incarcerated voices. In the chat you'll hear from me, two producers of The Prison Radio show on CFRC radio in Kingston, Ontario, a producer of the Prison Radio Show on CKUT from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, and a producer of the June11 audio series released this last year and revving to mark the day in solidarity with Marius Mason and other long term anarchist and ecological prisoners. Follow-Up with Walid Zazai on Manus Island The second conversation is an update from Walid Zazai, the 24 year old Afghani man being held on Manus Island off of the coast of Papua New Guinea. Walid has been in detention for 4 years now awaiting resettlement at the pleasure of the government of Australia. We spoke with Walid two weeks ago after the Manus Regional Processing Centre in which he was living had been closed and he and roughly 450 other refugees stayed in protest of their longtime lack of freedom of movement and the violence they feared from PNG security forces and locals on the island. More coverage of the struggle immigrants against the Australian border authorities and other updates from the Oceania can be found on the long running Anarchist radio show based there, Subversion1312. Subversion1312 is also a recently added member of the Channel Zero Network of anarchist podcasts. Now For Some Fun Events If you're in the Asheville area today (December 3rd 2017), at 5pm at Firestorm Books and Coffee, Blue Ridge ABC will be hosting it's monthly letter writing session, where you can swing by, find out about political prisoners in the U.S., write to some with upcoming birthdays and meet other local radicals. After that, tonight at 8pm at the Lazy Diamond, 98-A, North Lexington Ave in downtown Asheville, comrades will be hosting a Radical Trivia night to benefit the 2nd Asheville Carolina Anarchist Bookfair, or ACAB2018, planned for this summer. Alone or in teams, you are invited to test your wits on subjects of Black Liberation, Anarchist History, Queer Resistance and more. A cash prize will go to the winning team or individual. This episodes playlist
This week on the occasionally-weekly tech podcast from The Final Straw, Error451, Bursts and guest William Budington, a tech security expert, talk about Net Neutrality. The context is that it's back in the news as FCC Chairman Ajit Pai appears to be pushing for the revocation of the 2015 FCC decision to declare the Internet a Title II public utility in U.S. law. The upside of this is that access to un-inhindered Internet is then supposedly enshrined in the law as a public good. The current make up of the court includes 3 Republicans (including Pai) and 2 Democrats, so if a vote happens in mid-December along party lines, the Title II status may be revoked, possibly allowing for tiered access, which would possibly allow internet service providers and comms giants who are the gatekeepers to the web to throttle access to lower-paying services or outright deny access to certain sites and services. We chat about how Tiered Access looks in countries like Portugal, the very curious padding of at least 1.1 million online submissions to the FCC's Open Comment period misrepresenting U.S. voters perspectives on Net Neutrality and the FCC's apparent disinterest in investigating the stunt. William suggests that one action listeners can take immediately, which sadly is far from a direct action is to lobby congresspeople to block the move by Chairman Pai and protect the Internet as it is. He suggests visiting BattleForTheNet.Com and petitioning the powers that be via their suggestions. As far as a wider lense of what we might do to increase autonomy and integrity in our information technologies, William suggests listeners check out and start playing with Mesh Networking technologies. Mentioned in the episode are People's Open in Oakland, CA, USA & Friefunk in Germany. track heard: Connected by Stereo MCs from their album, Connected
Interview with Eleanor Goldfield This week we spoke with Eleanor Goldfield, who is an activist on the far left and a proponent of creative activism, a stance that centers creative approaches to direct action with the aim of leading people to interrogate their own politics on an emotional and psychological level. From her website: “Creative Activism is outreach and change through the mediums that appeal to all people and all of people – their emotions, conscience and intellect, in that order. It places itself at the intersection of pop culture and politics, bringing the two together.” We talk about different approaches to politics and direct action, as well as her new book Paradigm Lost; Radical Verse and Visuals for the Shift, which is a collection of her original spoken word poetry accompanied by mixed media artwork from around a dozen artists. We also talk about the book and her upcoming performance date in Asheville on December 9th at Firestorm Books and Coffee! To see more of Eleanor Goldfield’s work, including links to the musical project Rooftop Revolutionaries, information about the media project Act Out! (available on occupy.com and Free Speech TV) and many more writings, you can visit artkillingapathy.com. The radio version has some material cut due to length, though the podcast version has all those pieces included back in. To see that version, plus archives of this show, you can visit thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org. Announces for Asheville Next Sunday, December 3rd, Blue Ridge ABC does it’s monthly letter writing night at Firestorm Books & Coffee from 5:30 til 7:30pm. Paper, pens, stamps, envelopes and the addresses and info on political prisoners in the U.S., particularly those having upcoming birthdays, are all available for free! Come on by and send someone behind bars some kind words. After that at 8pm you can join folks across town for a game of Radical Trivia. This event is 21 and up, happening at the Lazy Diamond bar at 98-A N. Lexington Ave, there’ll be some potluck food for sharing and a cash prize for the winning team or person. To form a team and get on the roster, you can drop an email or sign up at the night of. This event will benefit the 2018 Asheville Anarchist Bookfair happing in the summer. Various levels of knowledge are welcome and topics will span a few categories. Playlists here
In perfect timing for holiday driving many will be doing in the U.S., we're releasing episode 3 of Error451, The Final Straw's occasionally weekly tech security podcast with William Budington. This episode is about GPS navigation on mobile devices and ways to use it without disclosing your information to service providers. Oh, hand here's a link to one of those Motherboard chat logs about Mr. Robot. If you have ideas for topics you'd like to hear discussed or researched, send us an email at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net. track heard: The Robots by Kraftwerk from "The Man-Machine"
This week on the Final Straw we feature 2 interviews. Walid, an asylum seeker held at the Manus Regional Process Center, Papua New Guinea First up, you'll hear a conversation that Bursts had with a refugee seeking asylum in Australia. His name is Walid, he is 24 years old and from Afghanistan. Manus Regional Processing Centre, where Walid is being held alongside nearly 450 other men, is a facility on Papua New Guinea on the PNG Lombrum Naval Base. The processing center, from here out called Manus for short or MRPC, was run up until October 31st by the Spanish multinational company Grupo Ferrovial on behalf of the Australian Government as a way of off-shoring the housing of people seeking asylum. The center was closed October 31st after the Papuan Supreme Court determined the facility unconstitutional in breech of the promise of personal liberty. So, the Australian government withdrew it's medical workers, shut off electricity and water and food shipments. However, the residents of MRPC have refused to be resettled into other facilities in PNG due to fears of physical harm by members of the PNG Defence Forces, as is alleged to have happened in April of this year, as well as violence coming from local gangs wielding machetes and other weapons. The population of the island is just short of 6,000 people and locals have expressed concern that resettlement would affect their economy greatly. In the conversation, Walid mentions two fellows from the MRPC who were found recently hung by their necks in the jungle near the Processing Centre as a proof of danger the refugees face if they leave the premises. The Obama administration had agreed in 2016 to resettle many of Australia's asylum seekers. However, do you remember that first presidential phone call that Trump made, where he ended by saying it was a stupid deal and it was the worst conversation ever? That was #45 chatting with Australia's Prime Minister Turnbull about the resettlement deal for refugees on Nauru and Manus Islands. Cancelling that at the time fed into the issues in PNG & Australia's national politics with the refugees being caught in the middle as pawns. The U.S. has now apparently changed it's tune about the Asylum seekers, having applied for whatever "extreme vetting" it was seeking and has taken in 24 of the men and resettling them. I will admit to being a bit ignorant of the situation in Manus that people like Walid are facing, but what I do understand is this: borders are imprisoning some of the most marginalized people fleeing dangerous situations and holding them in dire circumstances. The men at the Manus Regional Processing Centre are refusing to leave for fear of their lives and in hopes of reaching a safer space and are being starved by bureaucracy. And many Australians are voicing a desire to resettle these people on the mainland. We at the Final Straw wish the residents of MRPC the best of luck and solidarity and will continue to air their words as we receive them. Aaaaalso, a big big big thanks to Linda from Subversion1312 podcast for helping us make this contact with Walid and with some pointers on the questions. Definitely check out their work, it's (under various names) one of the longer running English-language anarchist radio shows and is jam packed Sara Falconer and Daniel McGowan on the 2018 Certain Days Calendar for Political Prisoners Secondly, we are airing an interview presented recently by the Which Side media collective with Sara Falconer and Daniel McGowan about the 2018 Certain Days Calendar for Political Prisoners. Jordan Halliday and Jeremy Parkin host the interview, and range along a wide array of ideas and topics. From the show notes "The calendar is a joint fundraising and educational project between outside organizers in Montreal and Toronto, and three political prisoners being held in maximum-security prisons in New York State: David Gilbert, Robert Seth Hayes and Herman Bell. The initial project was suggested by Herman, and has been shaped throughout the process by all of our ideas, discussions, and analysis. All of the members of the outside collective are involved in day-to-day organizing work other than the calendar, on issues ranging from refugee and immigrant solidarity to community media to prisoner justice. We work from an anti-imperialist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, feminist, queer and trans positive position." You can check out the Which Side online store to see some giveaway deals regarding the Certain Days calendar by visiting http://www.whichsidecollective.org/ and see more from this project at http://whichsidepodcast.com If you'd like to hear The Final Straw's conversation with Herman Bell's daughter in law Dr Kihana Ross which details the incident mentioned in the interview plus some more about his case, you can visit our website. Whichside Podcast is a member of the Channel Zero Network of anarchist podcasts, of which we are as well. Check out our website for a steady stream of up to date anarchist audios and keep an eye out for our mobile app coming soon. Audios of Interest: Just a heads up, if you missed it. we launched our occasionally weekly intro to tech security podcast series, Error451 this week with a conversation on safer approaches to burner phones. Check it out and keep an ear out for more! Also, the Anarchist Radio Network just released the November episode of B(A)DNews: Angry Voices From Around The World, which is up on the new A-Radio Network website. Keep up on episodes there.
This is the first standalone episode of Error451, The Final Straw's occasionally weekly podcast featuring a conversation between Bursts and William Budington about tech, security and safer practices. Upcoming episodes include how to avoid leaking info while using maps on your device and safer practices at borders. If you have other topics you'd like to see covered, drop us a line at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net In this episode, we have a brief conversation about the idea of burner phones, mobile devices kept insulated from the users personal information and which can just be dumped when no longer useful. We talk about reasons one might use them, approaches to getting them and using them and how to dispose of them after usefulness has ceased. Hopefully you'll find this helpful in your endeavors! track heard: The Machines Have Control by Resident Anti-Hero from the EP Cut The Power.
Anti-Repression Panel from Denver, October 2017 This week we are featuring a recording from an Anti-Repression panel that took place in Denver in October of this year. The sound quality is affected by a fan system that the venue had running, but the words are well worth hearing. For the hour, we'll hear words from a few perspectives of resistance in the U.S. currently. First, we hear from Danica from occupied territory of Portland about work around anti-colonial antifa resistance and self-defense in the North West. Next up, Firehawk talks about work in unceded Pueblo, Colorado, about working with femme, queer & trans prison rebels, Unstoppable zine and The Fire Inside project. Montana talks about autonomous relief work in Houston after Hurricane Harvey and the slow-disaster that is white supremacist capitalism in Texas. We hear from Jude talking about the J20 conspiracy cases coming out of the Inauguration, the court case moving forward and up til a few weeks ago. Finally, we hear from Jess who has been working with Water Protectors doing legal collective work up in so-called North Dakota mostly around #StandingRock with a very in-dept report-back on wider repression and specific case details. A few updates are worth mentioning in the J20 case since Jude spoke on this panel: the first defendant convicted, Dane Powell, has been released and there is a linked support site for his post-release; two of the riot charges have been dropped down from Felony to Misdemeanor; the first court dates have been moved forward to November 15th and info about how to help with court support can be found at Its Going Down. As stated above, 2 of the initial 8 felony charges ('engaging in riot’ and ‘conspiracy to riot’) have been dropped to misdemeanors, thus shaving decades from the potential sentences of the defendants. We here at The Final Straw suggest that Judge Leibovitz use a secure tor browser and visit https://dropj20.org to learn more about ending this expensive, insulting and dangerous act of political persecution that is the J20 case. - --- - -- Show playlist here.
In mid October, Bursts and Sole sat down at Sole's Colorado Villa by the family grotto and chatted over some bubbly water. In the hour they spoke about: CZN and its aspirations J20 Repression Political prisoner support Why the Anarchist Black Cross is so awesome The Situationists and folk traditions In music Science fiction books we are geeking out on Much more! You can find more work by Sole at his website, where you can subscribe to his podcast, see videos he's worked on, listen to his music and donate to help keep this troubadour of anarchy pluggin away.
For a 59 minute long, radio clean version for syndication purposes, please visit the archive.org collection. Cascadia Forest Defenders This week William had the opportunity to speak with someone who works closely with the group Cascadia Forest Defenders, which is based around Eugene Oregon. This crew has been opposing logging in the Willamette National Forest, and was recently driven out of the camp by forest workers and employees of Seneca Jones Timber Company. We talk about this incident, plus much much more in the way of contextualizing and re-contextualizing forest defense in a time of climate change, plus some important things to keep in mind if you are looking to join established political movements like this. More on this group, this struggle, and the many ways to get involved can be found at forestdefensenow.com To follow up on something that I said toward the beginning of the interview, about logging around the Asheville area, there were plans in place to log in the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests as of 2014. The stated reasons for this logging were environmental and maintenance minded in nature, but it's thought that those endeavors would help literally pave the way for future commercial logging by establishing a roadway system through the forest. As promised, here are some links for further reading: USFS proposes opening most of Pisgah-Nantahla National Forest to logging Forest Service logging plan draws criticism Logging on the Nantahala and Pisgah Logging in Pisgah, Nantahala forests hanging in the balance Defend J20, Upcoming Trials The J20 inauguration arrestees case is starting on November 15th. There is a call out for court support including note takers, as well as folks to fill the court in their finest black dress clothes, also for fundraising and any legal support you can muster. For a really good article on the topic, check out https://itsgoingdown.org/j20-case-need-know/ . Despite the good news that 2 of the Felony "Riot" and "Conspiracy To Riot" charges being dropped down to Misdemeanors this case still has a long way to go. And a few local announcements from Blue Ridge ABC For those in the Asheville area coming up Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross has 3 events we'd like to share with you. Firstly, today from 5pm to 7:30pm BRABC will be hosting it's monthly Political Prisoner Letter Writing Night. The first Sunday of every month, join BRABC, who'll provide stationary, stamps, pens, camaraderie and the addresses of political prisoners with upcoming birthdays you can write to. Or, just take the time to hang, or write to someone you know behind bars. This month, they'll also be showing TROUBLE #7 about anarchist disaster relief in the Western Hemisphere plus maybe another film. The pre-registration for BRABC's benefit Ping Pong Tournament is coming up fast. If you wanna play and help earn some money for legal support coffers, send an email to blueridgeabc@riseup.net by November 12th and then show up November 15th at 6:30pm at the Standard Pizza at 755 Biltmore Ave in South Asheville to battle for a good cause. If space allows and you miss the pre-register, show up the day of and there might be a spot. On Friday, November 17th at 9pm at The Mothlight in West Asheville, get ready for a #ItsARiot benefit comedy show for autonomous disaster relief efforts in Mexico City and Oaxaca in the aftermath of 3 deadly and destructive earthquakes this year and an incredibly inept government response. Door donations will go to some of the folks on the ground in those cities. The night of comedy will be hosted by Moira Goree, featuring the stylings of Kira Magcalen, Chesney Goodson and a special guest. More info on these and other events from Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross can be found at https://brabc.blackblogs.org Sole and Bursts Podcast Eminent Also, keep an eye on our website, thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org, this week for a special podcast conversation between Bursts and the anarchist hip hop artist, podcaster and rad dad outta Denver, Sole. Should be dropping Tuesday. We talked about Channel Zero Network, about prisoner support, the J20 inauguration case, the Situationists and a bunch of other topics. You can hear some of Sole's work including his podcasts at his website. Show playlist here
Airs on WSFM-LP 103.3 in Asheville / streaming at AshevilleFM from 3am EST on October 30th through November 5th, 2017 and podcasting on libsyn.com. For a 59 minute long, radio clean version for syndication purposes, please visit the archive.org collection. This week, we share a conversation that Bursts had with Betsy Raasch-Gilman. Betsy is a lifelong Quaker, feminist and anti-capitalist. She talks about her experiences organizing as an anarchist during the Cold War with Movement for a New Society, difficulties of critiquing capitalism within the peace movement, anti-nuke organizing, modeling consensus and affinity group organizing, alternative and cooperative models, attempting to ground organizing in anti-racism, separatism, organizing with the Marxist Left and more. Later in the conversation, Betsy talks about her engagement in the RNC Welcoming Committee against the 2008 Twin Cities Republican National Convention, the conspiracy trial that she almost got roped into, security culture and police spies and what she's excited about now in the current terrain. You can find out more about the work that Betsy is doing these days, check out Training For Change. Playlist
Anarchist Voices on DACA and much more. This week we are presenting two anarchist voices regarding DACA, among many other things. DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and has been in the news recently because of a stay on this program by the current administration. I should say that these two interviews were conducted separately, and I am trying something different regarding their presentation, namely weaving the two of them together in the way that seemed to make the most sense to me so as to present all the information in the most succinct way, all in the same place, while still trying to preserve the arcs of both interviews. I’m still not really sure how I feel about this radio tactic, and I’m seeking opinions from listeners if you feel moved to shoot me an email via thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net. The two interviews were very different, and from slightly different perspectives though the two interviewees were both anarchists and both living in North Carolina. We talk about DACA and its histories, some psychological and logistical impacts of this stay on affected communities, and the mental calisthenics involved in being an anarchist while living in a world so saturated by the state and all it entails. If you enjoyed this presentation, both of the interviews in their entirety including my replies and questions are on The Final Straw Radio’s archive.org collection for anyone to listen to. Just visit archive.org, search The Final Straw Radio Collection and navigate to the post entitled “DACA interviews, full versions”. The interviewers recommend getting in touch with regional organizations for solidarity and resources where possible. CIMA operates out of Asheville, and stands for Compañeros Inmigrantes de las Montañas en Acción, which is “a regional network connecting and strengthening organizations that empower Latino communities in Western North Carolina. At one point about 25 organizations actively participate in the coalition.” You can follow them on the web at http://cimawnc.org/ and email them at info@cimawnc.org. ————————————– Playlist here.
I'd like to share a Final Straw Radio mini-episode, a conversation with Emilio of the currently unofficial Sonoma County IWW, or Industrial Workers of the World. This chapter doesn't yet have an official charter but they were in the process or organizing one when the fires in Northern California started last week and have used this as a platform for fund-raising and trying to work out solidarity relief in Santa Rosa, the seat of Sonoma County. For this chat, Emilio and I talk about the weather patterns of northern coastal California, relief efforts by the Red Cross and other NGO's around shelter and care distribution, what their nascent chapter of the IWW is trying to do and related topics. To find more about their chapter, you can go onto fedbook and stay tuned in the conversation for their relief phone number, a few material needs you can provide from a distance and ways to get involved if you're in the area.
introduction of the program news from 98fm (athens) 3:47,5 – 12:24,5 syriza changes Law attack on the french institute of athens harm of environment / shipowner and gold mining law about the gender issue 15 years of prison in cause of self-defence attack against goethe intitut of athens several actions of a anarchist group A-Radio Berlin (berlin, de) 12:25,0-23:18,0 a collage about the Anarchist Days 2017 in Dresden Radio Fragmata (thessaloniki, greece) 24:17,0 – 31:30,0 3 cases , and the justice system of greece the case of marios zervas radio kurruf the case of panagiotis z. and the case of a 22 year old girl who killed her rapist 105fm * (mytilini/ lesvos island, Aegean Sea, greece) 31:30,5 -- 31:30,0 News from Mytilini (lesvos island) and beyond- Refugees Transgender issue *case of a rapist The Final Straw (north carolina, usa) 36:36,5 – 48:02,0 *Interview about the case of Herman Bell (- who is a beloved organizer and family member, a political prisoner clocking 44 years behind bars, and former member of the black panther party. they spoke to his daughter in law, kihana Ross, about recent developments in his case.) bilda kedjor (sweden) 50:12,5 – 53:18,5 news from Sweden about the antifascist mobilisation against the nazi demo that happened 30.09 in goetheborg Radio Kurruf * (temuco, chile) 53:24,0 – 58:59,0 current struggle of political Mapuche prisoners in chile Dissident Island Radio (london, uk) 59:00,0 – 1:08:08,0 update DSEI arms fair week of action. a portion of a debate on whether the russian revolution should be celerated. Frequenz-A (hamburg, de) 1:09:07,0 – 1:14:28,0 *update about the repression and solidarity related to the protest against g20 in hamburg (episode in total 1:14:44)
Airs on WSFM-LP 103.3 in Asheville / streaming at AshevilleFM from 3am EST on October 16th through October 22nd and podcasting on libsyn.com. For a 59 minute long, radio clean version for syndication purposes, please visit the archive.org collection. Support Herman Bell First this week, we had the opportunity to speak with Dr Kihana Mariah Ross, who is the daughter in law of Herman Bell, a former member of the Black Panther Party and a political prisoner who is currently clocking 44 years behind bars. We will speak about recent developments in his case, plus some historical context, and actionable items moving forward. To learn more about Herman Bell and to read some of his writings, you can visit freehermanbell.org. To send him a card – and be aware that his 70th birthday is on January 14th and his upcoming parole hearing is in February 2018 – you can write to him at Herman Bell 79 C 0262 Shawangunk CF P.O. Box 700 Wallkill, NY 12589-0700 How Best to use Signal? In the second segment of today’s episode, we’ll air another conversation with William Budington, a digital security expert and trainer about the Signal end-to-end text encryption app for smart phones and desktops. Signal, produced by WhisperSys, is an easy to use, free means for folks to avoid one type of surveillance in their day to day communication. The ubiquitous, normalized use of encryption shields the purpose of the use, obscuring whether the practice is to shield illegal activity or not. In the conversation we talk about the human failure side of communication, as well as the informational leakage possibilities of the devices we use to engage Signal app. If you really enjoy the pie-baking/Betty Crocker metaphor, don’t despair, it doesn’t end with this segment. Check out more on this topic in our occasional series, Error-451. Stay tuned soon for a conversation with William about burner phones and more. If you have a topic about digital security, devices and programs, surveillance or related topics, leave us a suggestion at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net ! If you want our pgp key, check our website. Editorial Now, it’s my turn for a brief editorial, dear listeners. This is Bursts. I grew up in a part of so-called California known as Sonoma County, lands stolen from the Pomo and the Miwok peoples first by the Spanish, then by Mexico and Russia and then the U.S. I lived there from the mid-1980’s through 2009 and consider it my home in a way I could no other place. The rolling hills, the foggy mornings, the Coastal Live Oak groves, the nasty but 100 year old Eucalyptis groves, the early evening sky that turns a goldish orange into purple, the Manzanita, the people, the ocean breeze coming out from Bodega. These are things that I remember fondly from the deeply damaged yet still beautiful biome I called home for most (and definitely the more formative years) of my life. This has been a year for spectacular disasters around this hemisphere, with a record 10th hurricane now appearing in the Carribean and southern U.S., 2 major earthquakes rocking Mexico and now the fires in Northern and Southern California. The fires in the north, which I’ve been paying more attention to because they QUITE literally bring home to me a sense of devastation I still haven’t been able to digest from this distance, have been whipped up by winds, a seasonal dryness out of the ordinary and fed by the aftermath of a wet winter that created a ton of easy-to-burn fuels. California has long been racked by fires, but never this many deaths and never have they consumed large parts of cities as they have with Santa Rosa. Thousands of homes have been turned to ash, monuments standing over a hundred years are cinders, human and non-human animals have been killed, damaged and displaced. California is yet another part of the world feeling the first hand effects of anthropogenic climate change, after years of over-taxing it’s water levels with large scale and animal and food agriculture, it’s manicured industrial lawns, the barely regulated weed industry booming, the building of human settlements in the middle of deserts and the idea promoted by high levels of industry and state that as the 6th largest economy in the world it could buy itself climate chaos. Day by day, year by year, this is proven more and more a delusion. But I digress. I’d like to give a shout out to the brave folks doing search and rescue in my home away from home, the neighbors who look out for each other, that roused each other from sleep to escape the fire storms, who shelter and feed each other. Also to the fire professionals who are working to fight back the fires. An element of this that is under reported, of course, is the fact that over a thousand prisoners of the state of California and it’s included counties, are putting their lives on the line for $1 to $2.56 a day to train and then fight these blazes. That can be compared to the $31.85 an hour of the median hourly wage for non-inmate firefighters. I would like to bring this up because as the climate becomes more chaotic and the ever-tighter squeeze of austerity capitalism turns further and further away from more sustainable and stable incomes like unionized firefighters this continues a nasty trend. Putting prisoners on the fire lines to fight the blazes, while more deadly for them than other modes of work, arguably offers them a potentially more meaningful and lucrative engagement with community service. This also fuels the profit motive of governments bent on incarcerating mostly poor communities of color, often people with chemical dependencies and neuro-divergencies the state can’t be bothered to treat but to stick them in a concrete and steel cage. More prisoners means more low-pay and expendable firefighters who’s crime was to be born the wrong color or class in the age of mass incarceration. I don’t bring this up to denigrate those risking themselves to save lives and homes, whether a prisoner or not, but to point out that this is not how a community organizes itself for it’s members, this is the logic of capital and thus streams value to the top of the pyramid. My heart goes out to those who suffer at the hands of these fires. Let’s fight for futures where we are better prepared, where we don’t employ slave labor to fight them, and everyone has what they need to live in true community, which means true accountability to the impact of our survival on the non-human environment with which we share this awesome world. If you’d like to help by sending some money to autonomous organizing for relief in Sonoma County, consider visiting https://generosity.com/emergencies-fundraising/northbay-iww-fire-relief-fund Playlist
For a 59 minute long, radio clean version for syndication purposes, please visit the archive.org collection. Interview This week we air the second half of Bursts conversation with Kevin Tucker. Kevin is an anarcho-primitivist, author and publisher of Black & Green Review. This week we air Kevin’s views about tribal-bro-ism in the white supremacist and macho approach to historical misappropriation, upcoming issues of the journal Black & Green Review, Collapse, Rewilding versus Revolution and more. For a free look at some of Kevin’s writings, visit theanarchistlibrary.org, and to check out his publishing project, journals and books you can visit blackandgreenpress.org For part one of Bursts’ conversation with Kevin, you can visit our noblogs site! Related Audios If you found this conversation interesting, you may enjoy the interviews Bursts conducted with two other anarcho-primitivists on the show over the years. Check out his chats with Layla Abdel-Rahim pt 1 (Layla begins about 40 minutes in) & pt 2 as relates to her philosophy and her book “Wild Children – Domesticated Dreams” and with John Zerzan on the subject of anti-civilization anarchism more widely. Announcements “White Lives Matter” rally in Shelbyville TN, October 28th, Editorial Online platform The Tennseean has recently been reporting of several white nationalist rallies (called White Lives Matter rallies) that are planned for October 28th in Shelbyville and Murfreesboro TN among perhaps one other town. These spots were chosen by the event organizers, most visibly Brad Griffin, who writes under the alias Hunter Wallace on the blog Occidental Dissent, because of the state’s Republican and red status coupled with a mistrust of law enforcement in what they’re calling “more Democratic towns”. According to a statement that they released on Saturday, The National Socialist Movement, a pro-white organization based out of Detroit, MI, said the group’s “street action” would be broadening its scope to include other small TN towns in the vicinity of Nashville. This same statement claims participation by other groups such as League of the South and the Traditionalist Workers Party. It’s not known how many people will be attending at this time, though the organizers are predictably posturing that it will be a well attended event. The stated purpose of these events is to protest the changing demographic of middle TN, silence from the White House regarding a fatal church shooting in Antioch last month (in which the perpetrator started his early life in Sudan but was a US citizen) and probably some other white nationalist nonsense as well. According to interviews posted a couple of days ago by WCVS, residents of both Shelbyville and Murfreesboro are both angered at this groups’ presence and confused about why their hometown was chosen. Many statements include disgust at the very message of white nationalism and white lives matter. It’s believed by residents that these groups are outside agitators who are descending on them to disrupt their town and their already scheduled community events, and by doing so are making implicit assumptions about their way of life and of thinking. All the organizing information is attempting to draw a clear link between these events and the by now internationally famous events in Charlottesville Virginia of August 12 this year, even though that day was a clear loss for those on the side of the alt right. Despite claims, also by the organizers, that the event “will not be violent”, police are gearing up in those cities to prepare for the rallies. Just last night (October 7th), in that same city of Cville, Richard Spencer showed his face and formed a 30 strong, 10 minute long torch march around the doomed Lee Monument (scheduled for removal) in Emancipation Park, the site of their previous defeat. Predictably, police were heavy allies to the Nazis and escorted them away under police protection. If you are disgusted by this, you can call the folks at the CPD and ask them why they’re still helping Neo Nazis do their thing. They can be reached at 434-970-3280. In this post Cville landscape of frenzied and often disorganized white nationalist activity, it is perhaps important to keep these things in our sights and oppose them as best we can. The exact location of the event has not yet been released, but it might be reasonable to assume that the information will be posted on Griffin’s blog a day or two beforehand. For more information about developments, keep eyes on your favorite anarchist and antifascist news sources! You can see here the article from which much of this information was pulled. Playlist
For a 59 minute long, radio clean version for syndication purposes, please visit the archive.org collection. Interview This week Bursts spoke with Kevin Tucker, anarcho-primitivist, author and publisher of Black & Green Review. We had a rather lengthy conversation, so we’ve split the conversation up. This is the first portion, in which Kevin talks about anarcho-primitivism, domestication, civilization, anthropology and the scientific method, human development, agriculture and more. In the future episode you can hear his views about tribal-bro-ism in the white supremacist approach to historical misappropriation, upcoming issues of Black & Green Review, Collapse, Rewilding versus Revolution and more. For a free look at some of Kevin’s writings, visit theanarchistlibrary.org, and to check out his publishing project, journals and books you can visit blackandgreenpress.org Other Audio Today’s episode premiers October 1st, which is the date of the #CatalanReferendum for independence in that northern region within the bounds of Spain. In the leadup, the Spanish government has violently repressed the efforts to hold this election and the news we’re seeing today is no different. If you’d like to hear a chat I had earlier this week with an English-speaking anarchist who has long resided in Catalunya about Catalan nationalism, autonomy, cultural differences between that region and central Spain, some history and some forecasts of where this referendum and repression may go (always critical of the State and Capital), check out our downloadable podcast. Also, keep an ear out for an upcoming series of podcast miniepisode ‘s featuring William Budington and Bursts chatting about digital security and safer practices with our devices. We’ve got a couple coming out about practices with Burner Phones and strengths and weaknesses of wrangling with the Signal app for end to end encrypted texts from Open Whisper Systems. Announcements Defend J20: Call in Day for US Attorney Liu This Monday October 2nd is the last day for a concerted call in effort to urge the US Attorney to drop the charges against the J20 defendants. You can join the defend j20 crew in welcoming brand new US Attorney Liu to office with a flood of phone calls demanding that the J20 charges be dropped! Sign up at call.usattorneyliu.org to reserve your time slot. The fine folks there will send you an email with more details and a suggested call script. Her number is 202-252-7566, or if you cannot call in you can send a letter to the Judiciary Center Building, 555 Fourth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20530. October 19th Call for Solidarity There has been a formal call for solidarity from antifascists around the south to oppose an appearance by the by now internationally infamous white supremacist Batman villan Richard Spencer. It has been officially confirmed that this piece of white bread is going to be spewing pseudo intellectual and only marginally intelligible xenophobic racism at University of Florida in Gainesville on October 19th, which is in just over 2 and a half weeks from now. You can see the entire formal call for solidarity, plus some important context that includes recent history and what to be prepared for, at It’s Going Down. You can get in touch if you want to endorse this call and are planning on being there in solidarity by emailing oct19endorse@riseup.net Support Herman Bell! “Black Panther Party political prisoner Herman Bell was viciously assaulted by guards at Great Meadow Correctional Facility (Comstock) on September 5, 2017. While being “escorted” by a guard back to his housing unit, a guard struck Herman, age 69, in the face causing his glasses to drop to the floor. He pushed Herman against the wall, Herman stumbled and fell to the ground. The guard then continued viciously hitting and kicking Herman. Very soon about 5 other guards arrived and joined in the violent attack, hitting and kicking Herman all over his body. Herman Bell has now been charged with “assault on staff.” Defying common sense, they allege that Herman, for no apparent reason, slapped the guard escorting him. He did this, they claim, in a location out of the view of all inmates but in the presence of other guards. He is now in the Special Housing Unit (box) at Five Points Correctional Facility where he was transferred after the incident. Herman Bell has not had a disciplinary violation in over 20 years. He had been scheduled to begin a three day family visit with his wife a few days after the incident, their first such visit in over 2 1/2 years. In addition he is to appear before the parole board, for the 8th time, in February 2018. At this time, we are encouraging everyone to take the time to write to Herman or send him a get-well card, so that the authorities know we are concerned for Herman. Further requests for actions of support will be posted soon. His new address is: Herman Bell 79 C 0262 Five Points CF 6600 State Route 96 Caller Box 119 Romulus, N.Y. 14541 Friends and family are also encouraging supporters to email Commissioner Anthony Annucci, to let him know that folks are keeping tabs on Mr. Bell’s situation. Commissioner Annucci’s email address is: Anthony.Annucci@doccs.ny.gov You can see a sample letter and a bunch more information at this article here: Political Prisoner Herman Bell Assaulted by Guards Comrade Malik Washington Comrade Malik, a tireless writer and organizer who’s been very active in exposing unsafe conditions at the Eastham Unit in Texas, is facing retaliation from prison staff, and is asking supporters to email the Texas Ombudsman to prevent any further action being taken against him. You can find out more information at Action Needed to Fight Retaliation at the Eastham Unit! Support Shaka Shakur and Angaza Bahar At the Wabash Valley Correctional Institute in Indiana, Shaka Shakur, who is a political prisoner, defended himself against mistreatment by guards, and another, Angaza Iman Bahar (Jimmy Jones), who helped alert the outside world to the situation, are both facing disciplinary charges. Wabash Valley Correctional has been getting a reputation for “a culture of sadism [in which] guards take pride and find humor in their mistreatment of inmates, especially Black and New Afrikan inmates whom they expose to every kind of abuse and humiliation.” IDOC Watch are asking people to call in so the prison knows that they both have outside support. It is urgent that the security of Shaka Shakur and Angaza Bahar be ensured, but the only way is through mass pressure from the outside. IDOC Watch asks that people call Wabash Valley warden Richard Brown at 812-398-5050 and IDOC Commissioner Robert E. Carter Jr. at 317-232-5711. You can also email IDOC officials at rcarter@idoc.in.gov, rbrown@idoc.in.gov, mauxier@idoc.in.gov, jbasinger@idoc.in.gov, and lsalinas@idoc.in.gov You can see the entire call, which includes helpful context and analysis, and sample letters and emails at incarceratedworkers.org.
This segment is a conversation Bursts had on Monday, September 25th with an Anglophone anarchist who has lived in Catalunya, within the Spanish borders, for some years now. This conversation comes as there is an intense escalation in the region with government officials from the semi-autonomous region of Catalunya declaring that Sunday, October 1st there will be a public and binding referendum on Catalan independence from the Spanish state. On the other side of the escalation has been the declaration of the referendum illegal by the central government in Madrid, intervention by militarized national police against print shops suspected of printing ballots and political activists and politicians in the region who may engage in carrying out the referendum. Barcelona has seen frequent crowds surround the intervening national police, the local police are sitting on the fence, the Spanish military is on stand-by and tensions are rising. For the hour, we chat about about the machinations of government officials on both sides, electoral Leftist reactions in the region, pressure from the E.U. & banks for de-escalation, the scrambling of the Catalan bourgeoisie, anarchist engagements or lack there of and what possible outcomes of this may be. The old man singing at the beginning and end of this episode is Chicho Sanchez Ferlosio, a Barcelona-based anarchist singer-songwriter who recorded this song “Malditos Elecciones” late in his life, for the documentary “Buenaventura Durruti, anarquista.”
Airs on WSFM-LP 103.3 in Asheville / streaming at AshevilleFM from 3am EST on September 25th through October 1st and podcasting on libsyn.com. For a 59 minute long, radio clean version for syndication purposes, please visit the archive.org collection. Coalition for Immokalee Workers Today we are airing an interview conducted with Lupe Gonzalo of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Immokalee, Florida. This is is a worker-based human rights organization which seeks to promote awareness of social responsibility, human trafficking, and gender-based violence at work and in corporations, seeking to boost the voices of some of the more marginalized workers in the US. We talk about the ciw, how it got started, and about hurricane relief after Hurricane Irma. We also touch on some political differences and points of unity with anarchism. This interview was conducted in translation from Spanish into English, with Patricia of the Alliance for Fair Food doing translation. If anyone would like the full interview just in Spanish, please write to us and we will provide that audio! If you would like to learn more about the Coalition of Imokalee Workers, and to donate to hurricane relief efforts, you can visit their online fundraising page For more on this group, including how to get onto their email list, information on their radio station Radio Conciencia or La Tuya, and their upcoming visit to UNC Chapel Hill, you can visit ciw-online.org If you would like to see just one of the many accounts of anarchist accompliship and solidarity with the CIW you can go to It's Going Down and search "Autonomy in Tampa, Solidarity in Immokalee: Love Letter to the Future" Further links for reading and solidarity: Blog Concerning Hurricane Irma relief Alliance for Fair Food's report on the state of the town of Immokalee CIW Blog post about Hurricane Irma relief in Labelle, FL CKUT's Prison Radio with Jalil Muntaquim Then comes part two of Prison Radio's interview with Jalil Muntaquim, who is former member of the Black Panther party and the Black Liberation Army and is one of the longest held political prisoners in the world. While incarcerated, Jalil has become a father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Jalil graduated with a BS in Psychology and a BA in Sociology in 1994. He has written several books, arguably most notable being We Are Our Own Liberators, his most recent being a book of poems entitled Exiting the Prism. More from CKUT out of Montreal can be found here! Announcements Duke Energy Protest & NCUC Public Comment Period In Asheville on Wednesday, there'll be a protest against Duke Energy, which proposed to the NC Utilities Commission to raise electricity rates 15%, raising $200 million a year to pay for the cleanup costs of their coal ash dumps and build new infrastructure to keep us dependent on ecocidal fossil fuels. NCUC is holding a public hearing from 7-10pm at the downtown courthouse in Asheville, with a rally starting at 5pm and marching towards the courthouse. You can find a fedbook event for a training to help you get more comfortable with presenting during public comment period. "Eyewitness to Charlottesville" at UNCA Also in Asheville this Wednesday, Sept 28th at UNCA here in Asheville, there'll be a presentation from 6-8pm. Location to be determined, but you can find more at fedbook by searching for "Eyewitness to Charlottesville." The presenters are from the (shudder) International Socialist Organization (ISO) from Raleigh, a UNCA student and member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), and members of the Carolina Mountain John Brown Gun Club, formerly Redneck Revolt. Trouble #6 at Firestorm BRABC will be airing Trouble #6 on Friday the 29th at 7:30pm. This episode of the short-documentary series from sub.Media is focusing on Counter-Insurgency. The showing is free and will be followed by a discussion with questions crafted by sub.Media on the topic. The flyer for the event can be found here. FBI visits more activists in WNC From BRABC: On September 8, 2017, an FBI agent attempted to visit a comrade in western North Carolina. They visited a house, and the person there stepped outside to talk to the agent, who repeatedly asked if the comrade in question lived there. The person at the house did not engage with those questions, and instead insisted on a card from the agent that a lawyer could call later. The agent said it was regarding a case being handled by another office. This comes at a time when Anarchists have been standing up to a grand jury and other FBI harassment across the state of North Carolina. The person who the FBI agent was seeking secured legal representation. On September 13, 2017, their lawyer called a number the agent wrote down, and the FBI specified that they were actually looking to speak with the person’s child, a minor. The FBI said that they were seeking the original person because a legal guardian had to be present for the agent to talk to the minor. During that call the agent stated she wanted to ask about graffiti on a car related to a case being investigated by the FBI Field Office in Raleigh, NC. The minor in question has now secured legal representation. Nobody above is speaking to the FBI. We cannot just hope that harassment like this stops. Get educated on how to protect yourself if the FBI shows up. If you are approached by the FBI, refuse to answer their questions. Know your rights! Please read If An Agent Knocks for more information. We cannot let them intimidate us and raise fear and distrust. If An Agent Knocks: https://ccrjustice.org/if-agent-knocks-booklet
For a 59 minute long, radio clean version for syndication purposes, please visit the archive.org collection. Interviews UNCA Radical Rush In this two parter episode, firstly we chatted with Beck, a University of North Carolina Asheville student and fellow organizer this year’s Radical Rush Week, which builds off of the model of the UNControllables of UNC and their Disorientation. The hope of the event is to introduce opportunities to spark conversations and relationships to radical organizing initiatives on campus and introduce new students to local projects around the Asheville area. You can find more about this on fedbook by visiting “UNCA Radical Rush”, and find flyers for the week of events at UNCA and around the community including: Tuesday, the 19th Radical Reflections of Students Past; Wednesday, the 20th Tranzmission Prison Project & Asheville Prison Books Program packaging event; Thursday, the 21st Sex, Drugs & Self Defense; Friday, the 22nd Marathon of TROUBLE mini-documentaries; Saturday, the 23rd Herbalism as a Tool for Resiliency and Resistance; Saturday night DACA Solidarity Benefit Show Supporters of Comrade Malik Washington Secondly, our comrade and sometimes contributor Disembodied Voice shares several short interviews with members of politicized prisoner Keith Malik Washington’s support team. Comrade Malik, as he is known to his friends and supporters, is currently in solitary confinement in Texas at Eastham Unit, where he was placed as retaliation for coordinating a work stoppage during last year’s nationwide prison strike on September 9th. In addition to his work around the End Prison Slavery movement, Malik is a member of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee of the IWW and the Deputy Chairman of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party prison chapter, and is active in the Fight Toxic Prisons campaign. Malik has an extensive network of support nationally and even internationally, both within and outside of the anarchist community. The interviews we will share today show the diversity of backgrounds, motivations, and stories that go into forming a support network for those engaged in revolutionary struggle while incarcerated, which is to say, from behind enemy lines. The conversations cover a wide range of topics, including a look at the range of issues prison activists like Malik work around; the kinds of relationships prison activists form with their supporters on the outside; the importance of being in solidarity across identities and political labels; and what a revolutionary abolitionist movements means to the people doing this work. As Malik would say: DARE TO STRUGGLE. DARE TO WIN. ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE. You can view Malik’s work at comrademalik.com and write to him directly at: Keith ‘Comrade Malik’ Washington TDC#: 1487958 Eastham Unit 2665 Prison Road #1 Lovelady, TX 75851 The audio for these interviews is a bit rough because the interviews were done somewhat on the fly. Stay tuned (look for?) a transcript of these interviews in order to make comprehension a bit easier! It should come out sometime within the next two weeks. B@d News! Dear listeners, we would like to invite you to give a listen to the newest edition of the International Anarchist Radio Network’s monthly podcast, B(A)D News: Angry Voices From Around The World, fresh for September 2017. This 4th episode, available at our website, is about 45 minutes of updates from projects based in the UK, Chile, Greece, the Aegean Sea, Germany, El Salvador and from us! Additionally, Feel free to give a listen to ARadio Berlin’s Charlottesville reportback episode, done with none other than your host William Goodenuff. This was geared toward an international audience, so the news may not be new to a US based listening crowd, but if you want to hear why one of your hosts has been a lil absent for a sec, this is why. Everything’s fine tho, and I’ll be back to opine over the airwaves next week. Show playlist is here.
Hey people! Here is bad news #4, presented by Radio Pirata of Tegucigalpa (so-called Chile) with the collaborations of: 98 fm presented a roundup of the last month of action and repression in labor, student struggles, anti-fascist anniversaries around Greece; 105fm spoke about immigration struggles, resisting fascist attacks, gender violence and other topics from Lesvos and other Aegean Islands; Radio Kurruf presented about resistance to and dangers of liquified natural gas from the U.S. imported to so-called Chile and the role LNG plays in the IIRSA (Initiative for the Integration of Infrastructure of South America); Rosas Negras speaks about violence against civil society and journalists in particular in El Salvador, violence coming from organized crime and the State; A-Radio Berlin shares a report about the recent raids against and shutting down of linksuntent indymedia in Germany by the German government with lots of context; Dissident Island presents voices of resistance from the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) to the London DSEI arms fair; The Final Straw Radio spoke with an activist from the South of the U.S. about autonomous Hurricane relief.
The Main Event This week Bursts spoke with William Budington, a digital security expert, about various topics under that heading. We spoke about: encryption for texting, email and mobile devices operating systems; about anonymity on the internet; safer practices with social media; doxxing; and more. The conversation was ranging and a bit thick at times due to Bursts very specific style of posing questions. Thusly, the notes will be very long with lots of links embedded for further reading on the topic, posted in the Further Reading section below. If there are other topics around security that you’d like to hear discussed on this show, drop us an email at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net and we’ll mull it over. This chat was by no means the end of a conversation. The practices and tools we talked about here are meant to keep you SAFER, but can’t promise your safety. But hopefully some of these words can get more of us to take our digital hygiene more seriously! Announcements Political Prisoner Herman Bell Assaulted We received this notice after the show aired, but hope that folks read these notes and get this info. Herman Bell is one of the New York 3, the same group of defendants as Jalil Muntaqim, who we featured an interview with in our last episode: Black Panther Party political prisoner Herman Bell was viciously assaulted by guards at Great Meadow Correctional Facility (Comstock) on September 5, 2017. While being “escorted” by a guard back to his housing unit, a guard struck Herman, age 69, in the face causing his glasses to drop to the floor. This same guard then repeatedly punched Herman about the face, head and body. Responding to a commotion, 5-6 other guards arrived and joined in the assault. One of them was able to knee Herman in the chest causing two cracked ribs. Another guard took out a bottle of mace and sprayed it all over Herman’s face, eyes and mouth. Herman was then taken to the prison infirmary. X-rays have confirmed fractured ribs. Herman’s left eye is damaged from the mace and blows. He has bruises to his body and is suffering headaches, a sign of a possible concussion. Herman Bell has now been charged with “assault on staff”. Defying common sense, they allege that Herman, for no apparent reason, slapped the guard escorting him. He did this, they claim, in a location out of the view of all inmates but in the presence of other guards. He is now in the Special Housing Unit (box) at Five Points Correctional Facility where he was transferred after the incident. Herman Bell has not had a disciplinary violation in over 20 years. He was scheduled to begin a three day family visit with his wife a few days after the incident, their first such visit in over 2 1/2 years. In addition he is to appear before the parole board, for the 8th time, in February 2018. Herman has, however, been the target of guard harassment due to his political background. Visitors report that guards processing them and in the visiting room comment that they are visiting a “cop killer” or “terrorist”. Some guards have been seen passing around the book “Badge of the Assassin” written by Herman’s prosecutor. At this time, we are encouraging everyone to take the time to write to Herman or send him a get-well card, so that the authorities know we are paying attention and are concerned for Herman. Stay tuned for updates as we develop this campaign. Herman Bell’s new address is: Herman Bell #79C0262 Five Points Cor. Fac. P.O. Box 119 Romulus, N.Y. 14541 2018 Certain Days Calendar I’d like to quickly announce that the 2018 Certain Days: Freedom For Political Prisoners Calendar has just been posted as ready for pre-order. The calendar is a joint fundraising and educational project between outside organizers in Montreal, Toronto, and New York, in partnership with three political prisoners being held in maximum-security prisons in New York State: David Gilbert, Robert Seth Hayes and Herman Bell. The proceeds from Certain Days 2018 will be divided among these groups: Addameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association (Palestine), Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) and other groups in need. More info on the project and where to sign up is at certaindays.org T-Shirt Designs For all you artistically minded listeners out there, who would like to see their art worn by people (potentially) all over the world, The Final Straw is looking for tshirt desgins! If you like the show, or love it, or just think it’s ok-ish but like to make designs then this challenge is for you. We will be accepting submissions until the (end of November), and lest you think this is a one way street, the winner of this challenge will recieve a special prize from each of us (Bursts and William) of a personal and one of a kind mixtape which will include all sorts of audio goodies. Runners up will also get prizes, so never fear there’s no heirarchy here. Want in?? Just email your submission and any relevant info to thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net and keep your ears peeled for the winner announcement. Show Notes begin in vain For a starter on COINTELPRO, check out the wikipedia page on the topic. The Whisper Systems (Signal) case referenced concerning user data disclosure to government is explained by WS folks. Also, here’s a link to Weapons of Math Destruction, the book by Cathy O’Neil that William references. Doxxing Anti-Repression Committee in the Bay deals with, among other things, doxxing by the far right in order to build charges against anti-racists. Discord Chat logs leaked from the Far Right prior to and after #Charlottesville on Unicorn Riot. Oh Crap! What Now? digital security page Time to Beef Up Defense Against Far Right Doxxing Equality Labs released this dope guide to safer practices which overlaps with a lot of the interview and links presented here In case it’s too late, check out Crash Override Network‘s guide to post-Doxxing mitigation Bigger Toolkits That One Privacy Site The EFF‘s Security Self Defense Guide Riseup‘s offerings on safer practices and tools Device Safety Your Phone is a Cop part one and two On the topic of vulnerability markets, zerodium.com/program.html got brought up. Specific Tools PGP Enigmail for is an add-on to the Thunderbird email client that makes creating a pgp key set easier. The Onion Router (TOR) produced this really great package for safer browsing called the Torbrowser package. TAILS is a portable operating system so you can operate a computer and leave less traces Signal is a phone app for end-to-end encryption available for iphones, android phones and desktops. HTTPSEverywhere is a useful add-on for your web browser VPNs One VPN intro, including links to clients you can use, can be found at riseup VPN services to check out https://www.mullvad.net/ https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/ Online Presence One tool mentioned to help minimize your online presence is DeleteMe by ABINE.com Data Brokers you may want to scrub yourself from include: Spokeo BeenVerified PeekYou PeopleFinders Various other nefarious tech the state and non-state actors may deploy IMSI catchers, or phone spoofers, include the name-brand Stingray. The ACLU has this little site that allows you to see what law enforcement agencies they know to have (and probably use) them! In reference to the Automatic License Plate Readers mentioned by William, here’s an article on the subject Playlist here
This is a The Final Straw Radio mini-episode and we just had a quick conversation with Assata, an activist and member Yellow Hammer Alternative, an Alabama-based far left autonomous mutual aid group. We talked about relief work done by Assata's group around Hurricane Harvey, in Mobile with Food Not Bombs and in the run-up to Hurricanes Irma and Jose. More about Assata's group can be found at theyellowhammeralternative.com and you can make donations to their and others efforts in the gulf at https://www.youcaring.com/hurricane-Irma-direct-action
The haps: This week we’ll be taking a little break. We’ll be sharing a short interview conducted by friends of ours at Prison Radio at CKUT from the studios of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec in so-called Canada. This interview is the first of a few with Jalil Muntaqim, incarcerated since 1971 as an accused member of the Black Liberation Army. In the interview, he talks about his conviction, about the Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) of the FBI used against the Black Panthers, and the participation of the Policeman’s Benevolent Association and Fraternal Order of Police in pressing to withhold parole from Jalil and others of the New York 3. More segments speaking with Jalil about his case and his attempt to build power in supporting Jalil in his bid for parole while resisting the efforts of the racists at the BPA & FOP’s to make him die in prison. Here's a link to the film Jalil references, Legacy of Torture. Then we will have some brand new releases which were posted on the blog Red and Anarchist Black Metal! Playlist here
Interview with São Paulo member of Indymedia This week on The Final Straw, we're featuring an interview produced by comrades from Anarchistisches Radio Berlin with Elisa. Elisa has been involved in the anarchist movement for a long time and is one of the co-founders of the Brazilian Indymedia. Which in turn is one of the earliest counter information projects using the name and mode of Indymedia. In the conversation they talk about the political developments in Brazil of the last years as well as how the autonomous movements have been reacting to them. More audio from A-Radio Berlin can be found at aradio.blogsport.de. A-Radio Berlin is a member of the International Anarchist Radio Network that produces B(A)D News: Angry Voices from Around The World, a monthly English-language bulletin from many radio projects around the world. This conversation we're airing was recorded in July of 2017. We air this audio in the wake of the German government raiding and shutting down the website, linksunten.indymedia.org, allegedly for being infrastructure used in the organizing of the G20 Hamburg protests and other mass mobilizations and direct actions. Autonomous media is super important, and we suggest you check out the crimethinc article on the subject. On the subject of autonomous and anarchist media initiatives, A-Radio Berlin is also a member of the Channel Zero Network of English-language anarchist radio and podcast projects. Along these lines, we also want to share the following jingle for Rustbelt Abolition Radio, another member of CZN. Check out our 24/7 audio stream at channelzeronetwork.com Announcements: Stay Safe Berkley! Firstly, much love and solidarity to those fighting nazis in Berkley today. We are thinking of you here. Stay safe out there! Benefit for grand jury resistor Katie Yow On Tuesday August 29th at the Double Crown there will be a benefit show, bbq, and cake auction for grand jury resistor Katie Yow! BBQ sandwiches start at 6pm, with vegan and non vegan options for all you cats, with a cake auction to follow! Then music will commence with Bob Boob, Nomadic War Machine, Wyatt Yurth and the Gold Standard, Snake Musk, and Darien! All proceeds will benefit our brave comrade fighting state oppression and putting her safety and freedom on the line by doing so. Comedy Show to benefit J20 Arrestees And also, because Asheville loves a benefit show, there will be a night of laughs and comedy at the Mothlight on Monday September 4th at 9pm! This event is described as: "An evening of comedy by some of #Asheville's leading comedians: Minori Hinds, Kelly Morgan, Moira Goree & Dana Williams! 9pm, Labor Day 2017 at The Mothlight in West Asheville The proceeds will go to help cover legal and travel costs for defendants from the mass arrest at the protests against Donald Trumps inauguration in Washington D.C. on January 20, 2017. More info on the case at http://defendj20resistance.org/" This is hosted by Asheville's own Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross, and to see the facebook event you can go to the beast itself. Also, Sunday, September 3rd is the monthly Prisoner Letter Writing event that BR(A)BC hosts at Firestorm. Joshua Zero Cartrette post release fundraiser Here is an announcement on behalf of Joshua Zero Cartrette, who is an incarcerated member of IWOC and an anarchist. From his support page: "After years of struggling behind bars for prison abolition and against white supremacy Joshua Zero Cartrette will be returning to the community sometime in the next few weeks! But the struggle continues! Let’s make sure our comrade who has been so important in the fight against white supremacy and the prison industrial complex in Oregon has the chance they deserve to build a life beyond prison walls! While incarcerated, Josh was an active member of the IWW’s Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC) and the founding member of the Anarchist Black Cross Oregon Prison Chapter. Over the years Josh encouraged dozens of Prisoners around the state of Oregon to contribute to the Oregon Prisoner Forum – a monthly newsletter that circulates articles and information from incarcerated peoples – which he also founded. (Read about that here). Josh also became an outspoken anti-racist and spent years mentoring incarcerated youth to escape the trappings of the white supremacist movement. For his organizing, he was repeatedly targeted by organized white supremacist gangs with death threats, forcing him to spend much of his time in protected custody. Across the state Josh was able to form several study groups that provided both basic civil rights education as well as more in-depth political analysis for prisoners. Josh’s educational work has empowered prisoners from across the state to take steps towards self advocacy and to take a stand to improve the deplorable conditions they are subjected to – the 2016 prisoner work strike at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution being just one example (read more here). On September 9th 2016 prisoners across the country self-organized to take a historic stand against prison slavery and its continuation of institutionalized white supremacy and genocide. Oregon joined other states across the country in the wave of resistance that worked its way into institution after institution. As a result of the subsequent wave of repression across the country, Josh was subjected to over 6 months of solitary confinement (a punitive practice considered across the world to be a form of torture) when prison officials found him to be working to “orchestrate Oregon prison inmates to become involved in a massive prison work stoppage in all institutions” where the “purpose of these prison work stoppage was to shut down the daily operations of the institutions based on the inmate’s perception that institutions utilize inmate labor for capitalist needs”. (See Joshes Report back and the ODOC official Misconduct Report here) White supremacists openly organize, fascist violence creeps back into the commonplace and the reactionaries are all abuzz – in this age, we have an obligation to support those who contest the fascist creep in the belly of the beast, where it festers and finds its most fertile recruiting grounds. Not only does the prison industrial complex act not only as a coercive and disciplinary institution created to enact and “legitimize” violence against marginalized communities, it serves as an incubation chamber for supremacist ideology and street violence by routinely allowing open white supremacist gangs to promote their toxic ideas, thus recruit more henchman and build lucrative criminal syndicate networks – within and outside its walls. The severity of racism in Oregon prisons was expressed by the all afrikan revolutionary Rashid Johnson while incarcerated in Oregon in 2011, “while the mainstream postures to project racism as a thing of the past, its rabid forms persist. Which I found upon my imprisonment in Oregon, where in contrast to most everywhere else in Amerika, the prison population is overwhelmingly white and thus feels no compulsion to conceal its bigotry. Security in numbers. …despite the delusions of many, is the level of civilization in Amerika, which one sees reflected in Oregon prisons, where a rabid racist culture parades openly stripped of pretense and lying in wait for the moment it can be given free violent expression.” To bring down the walls of racism and fascism we must begin by bringing down the prison walls. Anti-racists and anti-fascists have an obligation to support those on the inside –the ones engaged in a life or death battle against these forces – and to welcome back our comrades when they re-enter our communities. Support your fellow worker, fellow anti-racist, anti-capitalist and anarchist Joshua Ames Cartrette! We are asking folks across the country to consider throwing a benefit show or a letter writing night to incarcerated anti-racists and to donate some funds to Josh’s re-entry. Help him get his life off the ground once again and continue the work that he once began in prison. The funds will be used to help josh find a new place to live and with all of the associated move in costs and to provide him time to look for work and to recover from the traumatic experience of incarceration." Please check out his support page here! Playlist here
Interview This week, we’re featuring two segments. Kara Wild The first conversation is with a supporter of Kara Wild. Kara is an anarchist, a trans woman, an artist and is currently incarcerated and awaiting trial in France for participation in the Nuit Debout protests that swept across France in 2016 against changes to labor laws in that country. Kara was arrested on May 16, 2017 and will finally be going to trial Sept 19-22nd and so could use some immediate support. More information on Kara’s case can be found at freekarawild.org. Here’s a little background on the Aachen robbery case referenced in the interview. And here’s a guide to writing to Lisa of the Aachen Case Solidarity to Aachen from International Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces Info about the Kalimero Solidarity Group An article about Damien’s release An article about Damien being beaten Kara retracts her apology that she was weaseled into giving to the judge by her previous lawyer. She really regretted it and after Krem was arrested, she decided to retract her apology. To write to Kara: BRAULT, David (Kara) #428682, MAH de Fleury, 7 Ave des Peupliers, 91705, Fleury Merogis, Cedex, FRANCE Conflict in Movement Next, we do something a little experimental. We present a conversation with a member of an anti-authoritarian movement in Europe. We don’t say what movement. We talk about conflict internal to their movement, but we don’t name the parties involved. The conversation was conducted from an anti-authoritarian perspective, in the interest of creating heterogeneous communities of struggle. The purpose of this recording is to promote a mental exercise on the part of the listener to plug in their own experiences in movements with many different trajectories inside of it. The anonymous nature of the conversation was in part to not contribute to internal conflict to the movement, conflict is better addressed between parties involved than with an outside party (our radio show) who’s interest may not be the same as the movement. I hope that this conversation is helpful, for all of it’s purposeful vagueness. Announcements Katie Yow If you are in Asheville, there will be a benefit for North Carolina grand jury resister Katie Yow on Tuesday the 29th of August at the Double Crown on Haywood Road in West Asheville. There will be bbq of the vegan and non vegan sorts, plus a great lineup of bands including Margaret Killjoy’s Nomadic War Machine, Snake Musk and Wyatt Yurth and the Gold Standard. Yow, who is a social worker with a professional past in education, has been an anarchist for over half her life. Her committment to resist this grand jury shows a bravery in the face of the kinds of trauma and isolation that only the state can instill, yet she has named this resistance as “the easiest decision I have ever made”. Stay tuned for an interview with Katie Yow and a supporter on next week’s Final Straw! For more information on Yow, updates on her resistance, and many resources on grand juries and grand jury resistance, you can visit https://ncresiststhegrandjury.com/ Cvill, AVL, and Calls for Solidarity It’s been a week and a day since the events in Charlottesville, and for me it is a bit difficult to know what to say. There have been many excellent report backs – from Solecast, It’s Going Down, CrimethInc Ex Worker, and Radical Underground podcast – definitely check those out for in depth analysis and on the ground perspectives from anarchists and antifascists. Since Cville there have been very well publicised resistances to fascism and ongoing white supremacy in Durham, Boston, and right here in Asheville where four brave community members attempted the removal of a plaque commemorating Robert E. Lee at downtown’s Vance Monument. These four folks put themselves and their safety on the line to fight white supremacy and racist, revisionist history by engaging in this act. If you want to read a statement from these folks or donate to their legal fund, you can visit “Asheville Monument Removal Legal Fund”. Activity seems relentless right now, with elements on both sides galvanized by recent events, marches and calls to action are coming fast and furious. It is important to mobilize, but mobilize wisely, in the spirit of complete honesty about your capacities and energy. We cannot fight longterm unless we fight alongside all our comrades, support those who put themselves or are on the frontlines, and help prioritize all levels of antifascist engagement and accompliceship. With that in mind, I want to say that if you are interested in keeping up with these calls or solidarity keep your eyes on itsgoingdown.org for announcements and updates. One that’d like to mention right now are a call for solidarity in Phoenix AZ. This is a “call for an anti-fascist & anti-colonial contingent against Trump’s rally on Tuesday, August 22 at 6pm at the Phoenix Convention Center. We will converge, in the spirit of solidarity and hostility to the current order, and as a physical body ready to act in self-defense and mutual protection of each other from cops, fascists, and liberal/radical ‘peace police.'” This rally is a reaction to Trump’s suspected decision to pardon former AZ sheriff Joe Arpaio who was recently found guilty of criminal contempt for defying a state judge’s order to stop traffic patrols targeting suspected undocumented immigrants. Those patrols were kept in place by Arpaio for 17 months after the order was issued. This same sherrif rose to infamy for his intentionally cruel and sadistic treatment of incarcerated people. This rally will be held on Tuesday, August 22 at 6pm at the Phoenix Convention Center at 100 N. 3rd St. in downtown Phoenix. It’s recommended that people arrive and look for the black flags. For a complete anti colonial antifascist analysis of this day and the liberal response to it, check out “Phoenix, AZ: Call for an Anarchist Anti-fascist & Anti-colonial Presence Against all Presidents” Vouched Fundraising Efforts As always, keep vigilant about sources of fundraising! White nationalists are capitalists too, they will coopt anything including revolutionary momentum on the far left. If you are in a position to donate, you can look at the sources below, all of which will directly benefit those who fought and were injured in Cville: ASH Medical funds: https://fundly.com/defendcville Richmond Medic Collective Funds: https://www.paypal.me/rivercitymedics ASH General: https://fundly.com/ash-general-fund Seven Hills Autonomous Queers gen funds https://fundly.com/help-queers-defend-charlottesville-2 Alexis Noelle and her 14-year-old daughter: https://www.youcaring.com/alexismorrisnoellemorris-903027 Natalie Romero: https://www.gofundme.com/natalie-romero-medical-fund Dre Harris: https://www.gofundme.com/i-was-beaten-by-white-supremacists Star Peterson: https://www.youcaring.com/starpeterson-903042 Two UVA students: https://www.youcaring.com/vayouthinvolved-902691 NYC GDC & MACC benefit for CVille On August 12th in Charlottesville, many IWW and GDC members from across the country were present. Members of Metropolitan Anarchist Coordinating Committee, or MACC, from New York City also had members present at the vehicular manslaughter that occurred that day. The NYC GDC and MACC stand in solidarity with all those who oppose the growing wave of fascism around the world. Cowardly attacks will only strengthen our resolve to fight back and defend ourselves. An injury to one is an injury to all! To support all those injured by fascist violence in Charlottesville, NYC GDC of the IWW as well as MACC are holding a fundraiser and screening of the latest episode of “Trouble” by SubMedia at Rebecca’s, at 610 Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn on Sunday, August 27th from 8pm to 10pm. “Trouble” is a new monthly documentary series that broadcasts first-hand accounts of struggles for community self-defense. Previous episodes have explored topics like water protectors fighting the construction of the DAPL pipeline at Standing Rock, anti-fascist organizing, solidarity efforts for refugees and resistance to state repression. SubMedia has encouraged groups to host screenings of the show to bring communities together and provoke discussion of tactics, struggles and movement dynamics. The best defense against fascism is a strong and supportive community, based on principles of mutual aid, solidarity and self-defense. Heather Heyer will live in our hearts forever! If you’d like, here’s the fedbook event
This is the third episode of "B(A)D NEWS - Angry voices from around the world", a news program from the international network of anarchist and anti-authoritarian radios, consisting of short news segments from different parts of the world. Content: * Radio Kurruf: Government social care projects * 98FM: Update on resistances to state repression of political activists * The Final Straw: Grand juries in the US * A-Radio Berlin: The disappearance of Santiago Maldonado and the Mapuche struggle in Argentina to reclaim Benetton-owned land * Dissident Island: Issue of abortion on the island of Ireland + update from anti-fracking protest in Lancashire
Interviews For this week we are featuring two interviews from listeners and past contributors. August 19th Protest in Solidarity with Prisoners The first interview is an excerpt of a longer interview that Disembodied Voice did with with a supporter of Malik Washington about the august 19th demo in Washington to end prison slavery, the millions for prisoners march. they talk about how the march came to be and what kinds of goals the organizers might have in mind. they also discuss a rationale for approaching what might be called "reformist" tactics from an anarchist perspective, and how pathways to social change can have multiple layers. For more information on this event, you can visit https://amendthe13th.org/ and also check out the Asheville solidarity march with this event as well on August 19th at 11:30 AM in front of Pack Square, fedbook event here Resisting LNG storage in Tacoma, WA The next conversation, Jules holds a conversation with Roxanne Murray who is an indigenous activist involved in struggles against a Liquified National Gas storage facility proposed in the Port of so-called Tacoma, WA, Port of Tacoma, which is both notably on a fault-line and first for such a populated area. One correction for the interview, at one point it's mentioned that the company has "12 gallon tanker trucks" when actually it's meant that they have "12,000 gallon tanker trucks". They talk about lng and lng facilities, also the process by which this is extracted and some of the specifics of how fracking works, differences between this struggle and that at Standing Rock, as well as the timeline for this resistance plus many more topics. If you want to learn more about this struggle you can visit the fedbook page for Climate First Responders. Announcements ACP State Regulatory Public Comment Period from SMED "Join us Friday Aug. 18th to tell the NC Dept of Environmental Quality to reject the 401 water quality certification for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The construction of the ACP threatens our wetlands, streams, rivers, springs and wells. Additionally it will destroy sites sacred to the Lumbee and Tuscarora peoples, and sieze people’s family farms for the private gain of energy companies like Duke Energy and Dominion. The fracked gas that the ACP will bring to market will create greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to constructing 20 new coal plants or adding 14 million cars to the road. In the meantime please submit a public comment to the DEQ by Aug 19th telling them to reject the ACP: Mail your own comments to: 401 Permitting, 1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC, 27699-1617. Email your own comments to: PublicComments@ncdenr.gov (include “ACP” in the email’s subject line)" To learn more about Smoky Mountain Eco Defense you can visit listen to an interview that Bursts did with Whitney, who spoke about the logistical and environmental impacts the pipeline would have plus the impact on human and non human life, plus some of the context to its resistance. Reminder: Asheville Solidarity Rally with Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March on Washington DC On August 19th at 11:30 AM at Pack Square Park (In front of City Hall), folks will be gathering to show resistance to the continuation of slavery in the exception clause to the 13th Amendment of the U.S. constitution and in solidarity with prisoners and the rally by iamweubuntu.com in D.C. For more information, please check out this Fedbook event. More resistance to FBI in NC I'd also like to take this opportunity to spread word about another Anarchist statement against intimidation tactics by Federal Law enforcement in North Carolina. Jayden Savino, who currently lives in Asheville, published their statement on
INTERVIEW This week, we're airing the formerly only podcast conversation I had with organizers of the Haymaker Gym project in Chicago, IL. Haymaker is an explicitly anti-fascist and feminist self-defense initiative. If you want to help out the Haymaker project, until August 14th they have a fund raising page up at launchgood.com. If you want to encounter the folks from the gym and get involved in some of the startup events, you can run into them at the Breakaway Autonomous Social Center at 2424 S Western Ave Chicago, IL and more info on that project can be found here. ANNOUNCES NC Resists the Grand Jury, Donate to Katie Yow! In July of 2017, long-time activist Katie Yow received a subpoena to testify before a grand jury in North Carolina. The subject of this grand jury has been revealed to be what the government has described as a bombing at the GOP headquarters in Hillsborough, NC this past fall. Katie has expressed no knowledge of any relevant information to this alleged event, yet is continuing to resist the inquiries of this proceeding. Grand juries are not regular trials, but rather operate in secrecy where normal rules of evidence do not apply. The prosecutor runs the proceedings and no judge is present. This type of proceeding has been used as tools of the State to isolate, divide, and destroy social movements since the 1960’s. They have been used to sow distrust and coerce information from the Chicano, Puerto Rican, and Black liberation movements, the anti-war movement, and more recently the environmental, animal rights, and anarchist movements. They are currently especially being wielded against anarchists, anti-fascists, and indigenous water protectors who struggled at Standing Rock. But we have powerful tools as well, those of resolute silence, courageous refusal, and fierce solidarity. In honor of her principles and the different world we struggle for together, Katie is refusing to cooperate with this witchhunt. In addition to legal support, navigating the possibility of an unknown amount of jail time, away from work, can be expensive. Please consider making a donation to support Katie’s refusal to participate in the grand jury by going to the support page. You can learn more about this case and keep abreast of updates by going to NC Resists the Grand Jury. Getting Ready for Cville with It's Going Down Regular listeners to The Final Straw Radio, and anyone who's clued in to southern antifascism, will be aware that there is opposition planned to a Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville Virginia next Saturday, August 12th. For any folks still feeling uncertain of what is going on and who will be there, there is an excellent article on It's Going Down about the specifics of all the Neo Nazi, white nationalist, and all around bonehead alt righters who may be showing their miserable faces in Cville on the 12th, plus some context for why these fashies are dragging themselves out from behind their computer screens in the first place. You'll get to read about such charmers as the Traditionalist Worker Party, Identity Europa, plus Neo Nazi Jason Kessler, local to Cville, who is one of the brains behind this march in the first place, plus many others. PANSY FEST If you can't make Charlottesville but will be in the Asheville area, consider Pansy Fest. Pansy Fest is a new queer and trans DIY music and arts fest in Asheville, NC, August 11-12th. Proceeds will go towards two beneficiaries: Beloved House and Southerners on New Ground. If you are local and you would like to help with support functions (set-up, tear-down, stage management, local housing, etc) you can contact the organizers at pansyfestavl@gmail.com. On August 11th, at Static Age Records in downtown Asheville at 7pm there'll be a show who's lineup includes Bryan Estelle, Crooked Ghost, Sister Mantos and many more. On August 12th, from 12-3pm at Firestorm Books & Coffee in West Asheville, there'll be workshops and a band panel. At 7pm at the Odditorium another show will ensue with bands including Brief Awakening, Laser Beams, Ghastly & Cloudgayzer. More info at http://pansyfestavl.com/ Dearest Asheville (and surrounding area) Queers! "Glitter and Bone is a radical queer collective hosting what is, basically, a big party. We have no official status as an event or an organization, nobody makes a profit or gets paid. We ask for donations only to cover our expenses. The dis-organizers are queer/trans folx who are concerned about emotional, psychological and physical safety of queer and trans people at skills events, and want to create a safe space for our queer/trans community to learn skills, be in the wilderness, and thrive. Registration begins at noon on Friday, August 18. Event begins Friday evening, 7pm, and ends Sunday afternoon, 6pm. Glitter and Bone provides rustic camping, composting outhouses, and water/soap for handwashing and meal clean up. We do not have showers. Meals are not provided, but a large, rustic communal kitchen area will be maintained, with both open fire and camp stove cooking. Pack for a typical weekend of camping, bring whatever food and supplies you would bring for that. Please see the specific list of what to bring below. For folx unfamiliar with rustic camping, we provide support in finding a good camp spot, pitching a tent, understanding the bathroom situation, learning how to cook over an open fire, etc. No judgement here, we want more queers in the wilderness! We need everyone's help to make this happen! All Glitter and Bone participants will be asked to volunteer a few hours to help out at the event. Here is a list of jobs to help you think in advance about what you would like to do. If you feel drawn to providing some leadership in a particular area, email us at glitterrrandbones@gmail.com" You can get in touch with G&B at that email, keep in touch with them on tumblr at their tumblr, and link up w them on the Fedbook by searching their name! Asheville Solidarity Rally with Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March on Washington DC The 13th Amendment of the US Constitution still allows slavery, creating an increasing population of caged people who provide free or near-free labor to stockholders of the Prison Industrial Complex and profiteers of mass incarceration. As a result, American jobs are lost and job-seekers are victimized because private industry cannot compete with involuntary servitude. Therefore, citizens of Asheville North Carolina invite you to a Solidarity Rally with Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March on Washington DC. There, we will peacefully assemble to let Congress know, it is time to end slavery once and for all, delete the exception clause in the 13th Amendment authorizing prison slavery, and stop profiteering in its tracks - because all workers deserve living wages. All Asheville and Buncombe County residents are invited--especially our elected representatives and those running for office this election season. Voters, your constituents, want to know where you stand on this matter. When: August 19th at 11:30 AM Where: Pack Square Park (In front of City Hall) This event is organized by Asheville Black Lives Matter, Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross (BRABC), and Zamani Refuge African Cultural Center, with more endorsements forthcoming. For more information, please check out this Fedbook event. Playlist
Interview This week William had the opportunity to speak with Margaret Killjoy about her new novella The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion, which is coming out on August 15th from Tor.com. In this interview we will talk about how she got into writing genre fiction, how writing has shaped her politics, about the book itself, and about fighting a battle on a cultural front, among many other things. If you are interested, you can come to a book release event that Killjoy will be doing at Firestorm Books and Coffee on August 15th at 7pm! You can pre-order a copy of this book from your local bookstore or from Red Emmas, an online anarchist source. You can find more of her writings at her website, Birds Before The Storm, alongside some of music and artwork! Announcements NC Resists a Grand Jury, Solidarity with Katie Yow! On Monday, July 31st, people will gather in Greensboro at 9am at the Federal Courthouse, 324 W. Market St in order to support Katie Yow, who is refusing to comply with a Federal Grand Jury convening there to which she's been subpoena'd. And here's an update from Katie on what she's learned about the fgj: "We have now learned more from the Assistant US Attorney about the subject of the federal grand jury to which I have been subpoenaed. This grand jury is looking into what the government has described as a bombing at the GOP headquarters in Hillsborough, NC this past fall. The AUSA has also indicated that they are interested in "other people" and "other events." I don't know anything relevant to a criminal investigation of the alleged incident at the GOP headquarters. The broad nature of the government's interest in other information makes clear the way that this and other grand juries are used as fishing expeditions to attempt to coerce testimony on 1st amendment protected information. This is one of the many ways grand juries are used to repress social movements, and one of many reasons why we resist them. Whatever new information we may learn about this grand jury, I will continue to refuse to cooperate. We didn't have to know what this grand jury was about to know what we are about. Our values are long held, they are nurtured through both triumph and incredible loss, and they cannot be compromised. My resistance to this grand jury is the easiest decision I have ever made, even if the consequences may be difficult. I will continue to refuse to comply with this subpoena, and I have every faith in my community's ability to support me in doing so." If yr feeling it, show up in Greensboro on Monday to show support! More information can be found at NC Resists the Grand Jury Did you say "Grand Jury"? What the heck is that?? If you are in Asheville on Wednesday, you are invited to attend a workshop at Firestorm Books and Coffee (610 Haywood Rd) at 7pm entitled "What Is A Grand Jury?" The discussion will be presented by the Scuffletown Anti Repression Committee. Smashing the Fash, Every Day Keep your eyes on your favorite anarchist news source for updates on resisting AmRen in Tennessee, which is going on today and tomorrow (7/30 and 7/31). For context, you can hear an interview that Bursts did about this resistance by searching "AmRen" on our blog. Also, keep your eyes peeled for information on resisting the far right in Charlottesville on August 12th by following the #NoNewKKK Playlist here
In this podcast special, Bursts spoke with L.A. & Hawaii, collective members at the Radiozones Of Subversive Expression, Radio98fm, a squatted pirate radio station on the campus of Athens University & the Polytechnic School in the Zografou suburb in the capitol of Greece. During the chat, L.A. & Hawaii talk about the radio station, about recent threats of repression at the hands of the university, telecommunications ministry & the police, and about collusion between those agencies and a commercial pirate radio station. You can find the station's website at https://radio98fm.org To hear the statement by Radio98FM about the repression, check out the July 2017 episode of B(A)D News: Angry Voices from Around The World. That podcast and more episodes of The Final Straw can be found at thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org
This week William got to speak to two people about the anti KKK demo in Charlotesville VA on July 8th, plus about the resistance to a Unite the Right gathering proposed for Charlotesville on August 12th. We speak about what went down on J8, plus things to keep in mind for A12 and who all may be attending the event. Here is some intro text from our guests that lays the groundwork for some of the things we will speak about: In the wake of the Charleston Massacre in 2015, the Confederate flag saw a drastic change in social tolerance, and its removal from public institutions sparked widespread reaction from scores of White Southerners, even leading to further terrorizing and violence. Donald Trump's campaign and election saw these fires stoked further, now emboldening the more explicit White Supremacist dialogue that so many had attempted to distance the flag from a year earlier. In late April of 2017, the city council of Charlottesville, Virginia voted to remove its statues depicting Confederate generals Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, and rename the downtown parks that hosted them as Justice Park and Emancipation Park, respectively. Local Confederate advocates such as the VA Flaggers and politicians like Corey Stewart had already inserted themselves into the dialogue, but they did not stop when the City's decision was cast. With the assistance of local white activists a court injunction was filed to challenge and halt the removals, and only a few weeks later, White Power figureheads from across the U.S. descended on Charlottesville's parks unannounced for a day of rallies and photo-ops, in a calculated move to insert themselves into the conflict. Since May, the people of Charlottesville have been dogged by intermittent rallies, harassment, stalking, threats, and outright violence from these forces, all the while fighting to resist this fascist creep. Just two weeks ago, on July 8th, the infamous Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan held a rally in Justice Park. Many from the city and across Virginia assembled for a peaceful counter-demonstration that sought to block the Klan from entering the park. This time, the police led a violent and one-sided escalation against those protesting white supremacy that included 23 arrests. As the far-right and so-called Alt-Right's campaign in Charlottesville continues, August 12th has been set for what they hope to be a culminating event, a rally to "Unite the Right" in Emancipation Park. With a special guest line-up featuring the worst of the worst, they are counting on even greater numbers of alt-righters, Neo-Nazis, white nationalists, neo-confederates, militia groups, and even biker gangs to converge from all corners of the country, with aims not only of unification but of violent retribution against those who oppose them. A call to action for A12 resistance and detailed information chronicling this struggle, including how to support those arrested on July 8th, can be found at solidaritycville.com, and you can contact Defend.Cville@protonmail.com for more. Use #DefendCville and #TheNewKKK for news and conversation before, during, and after A12; and most importantly, show up to support Charlottesville and help send these Nazis packing! To support those who were arrested resisting the KKK on July 8th please visit https://fundly.com/virginia-anti-racist-bail-fund. 98FM podcast coming out soon Keep an ear out for a special podcast segment we’ll release this week about 98Fm, Radiozones Of Subersive Expression in Athens Greece. This is the squatted pirate radio station we were going on and on about during the interview on Its Going Down. Well, as you may have heard on B(A)D News: Angry Voices From Around The World #2 last week, they’ve been having some issues with the Telecommunication Ministry, the police, a commercial pirate station and the University where they squat. So, we chat about it for about 45 minutes and they tell us about what’s going on in Greece these days. Take a peek at our website mid week for this interview. Announcements Updates from Comrade Malik Washington Now a quick announcement from the dungeons of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice: Comrades incarcerated in the "Ad-Seg"--that is, solitary confinement"--block at the Eastham Unit in Texas are reporting that mentally ill prisoners who are unable to care for their own physical health and hygiene are being utterly neglected by prison COs, and even by mental health personnel supposedly tasked with oversight functions at the prison. Comrade Kado is an occupant of the Ad-Seg unit who has seen this neglect firsthand, related in a recent communication that his concern for one particular individual on the block has become acute. He writes, "It is known that this man is mentally ill. If engaged directly in conversation, he is able to respond, although only in very short sentences. He knows he is from Nebraska, and that he is here for “trespassing too much”... when asked why he's in solitary, he states “they want me to do work and it's too hard” or “the guards yellin' all the time, I get upset”. Each time Comrade Kado tried to engage the prison staff about getting some assistance for this man, who had been living for months in his own filth, in a roach-infested cell, he was ignored or told he can't advocate for fellow inmates. Well-known prison activist and human rights advocate Comrade Malik Washington, who also resides on this unit, similarly tried to speak out on behalf of this person, and he, too, was promptly told to mind his own business. A major concern is that this man could become ill from the deadly heat people in Texas prison are regularly exposed to; this is a concern for ALL Texas prisoners, but especially those who no longer (or maybe never did) possess the cognitive ability to advocate for themselves. As Comrade Malik writes, "[This man] lives only 3 cells away from me. He has no fan and really doesn't know or understand how to ask for one, so he suffers more than the normal prisoner in ad seg...And yet from the senior warden all the way down to the lowest-ranking correctional officer, no-one sees the importance or urgency of obtaining a fan for this mentally ill humyn being!" Officials at Eastham will not succeed in destroying solidarity amongst imprisoned people. Comrades Kado and Malik will continue speaking out for their fellow incarcerated brothers and sisters--and they need our help!! Take a minute to call Bryan Collier, Executive Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, at (512) 463-9988, to tell him that mentally ill prisoners need to be properly cared for. And if you want to learn more about this pressure campaign and about prisoner advocacy, write to Comrade Kado at: Noah Coffin #1795167 Eastham Unit 2665 Prison Road #1 Lovelady, TX 75851 Dare to struggle! Dare to win! All power to the people! J20 Week of Solidarity This is the week of solidarity with the over-200-people arrested during the protests against the inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20th, known as the J20 defendants. Among the ways to get involved, one could thrown a fundraiser, attend a fundraiser, do graffiti, drop a banner, have an info-session to teach people about it, re-socialize your local Fox News outlet and read a statement on the air, plaster your social media, talk to your awkward manarchist uncle Jerry, and otherwise raise awareness that might support the support lawyers in their attempt on July 27th to get the charges against the J20 defendents dismissed. More info on events ongoing can be found at defendj20resistance.org. Za in NYC with the Wobs for J20 If you’re in New York and wanna have some pizza about this, the New York City General Defense Committee of the Industrial Workers of the World is organizing a pizza dinner as a benefit of the over 200 people who were arrested in Washington D.C. on Inauguration Day. Here's a fedbook post for the event, and here's where the funds are being collected if you can't make it but wanna give. WHEN: Saturday, August 5, 2017 from 4 P.M. to 4 A.M. WHERE: Rebecca's, 610 Bushwick Ave., Brooklyn NY 11206 Fire Inside Zine & Tour From FireInside.noblogs.org, we read an announcement about Firehawk & Ben's upcoming rust-belt tour with a zine compiling the experiences of prisoners of the September 9th #PrisonStrike from last year in the prisoners own words, as well as info about the August 19th Millions for Prisoner Justice march this year. July 25th day of International Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners From
Interview This week William interviewed Mark Bray, who is a professor, author, and anti authoritarian, about the G20 protests that took place in Hamburg Germany last week. We will talk about the event, how it unfolded, much in the way of cultural and historical context for resisting G20 summits, and much more! You can follow our guest on Twitter @Mark__Bray and search any search engine to find his books. B@d News #2 The July 2017 edition of the monthly English language podcast, Bad News: Angry Voices from Around The World, is just out from the International Anarchist Radio Network. As of this moment, the network’s website has yet to debut at a-radio-network.org, so check out our website at thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org and our rss podcast feed for a link to this newest episode. Fuck a Grand Jury; Grand Jury Resistance We’d like to present a breaking announcement. Longtime North Carolinian, organizer and anarchist, Katie Yow has just released a statement that she’s been subpoena’d to a Federal Grand Jury in Greensboro and will be refusing to cooperate. We at the Final Straw Radio wish to express our care and support to Katie as she faces down this threat with our hearts full of the knowledge that she won’t be resisting this alone, but alongside all of us who know that backing down is not a choice. Many before have resisted and will. To the recalcitrant refusals of Team Grumbles! To see Katie Yow’s full statement, you can visit North Carolina Resists the Grand Jury on It’s Going Down. Some Upcoming Events In the Asheville area, here are a few upcoming events: On Thursday, July 20th at 7:30pm at Firestorm there’ll be a showing of Trouble #4, about movement defense and resisting repression followed by episode 2 of Channel (A)!, a compilation of screen representation of anarchists from popular media. This event sits in the international week of solidarity from July 20-27th with J20 defendants from the inauguration protests in D.C. this year. “We are calling for a Week of Solidarity with the J20 defendants from July 20 to 27, 2017. July 20 marks six months from the initial actions and arrests during Donald Trump’s inauguration, and on July 27, a motion to dismiss the charges will be argued in court. On January 20, 2017, tens of thousands of people converged in Washington, D.C. for the DisruptJ20 protests to oppose the inauguration of yet another president. A combination of blockades, marches, and festive demonstrations shattered the spectacle of a peaceful transition of power. Unfortunately, with resistance comes repression. Approximately 214 arrestees now face a total of eight felony charges a piece, including conspiracy and destruction of property. All of the J20 defendants are now facing up to 75 years in prison. The majority of defendants are working together, collectively responding to the charges and using solidarity to push back against the state. How effectively we support the inauguration day defendants will determine how effectively anyone can keep resisting under the Trump administration. Turning protest into a felony offense is dangerous for anyone who believes in the right to resist.We call on supporters to organize events and actions in solidarity with the J20 defendants throughout the week. Be creative and strategic! Help cultivate a spirit of resistance and mutual aid! Visit Defend J20 Resistance for more information” On July 21st at 8pm at Firestorm, a repor-tback from the protests in Hamburg, Germany, will take place at Firestorm. From the original announcement “In July 2017, the rulers of the world’s 20 most powerful nations met in Hamburg, Germany to coordinate the preservation of capitalism and state power at the expense of humanity and the natural world. Over 20,000 police were brought into the city in order to brutally suppress dissent. Yet the more violently the police attacked demonstrators, the more the general population of Hamburg came together in rebellion against them. In the end, in response to escalating attempts at repression, massive riots paralyzed the city, with some areas becoming police-free zones. We will hear a full report from Hamburg, complete with photos and video.” On July 22nd, don’t forget about the bbq, bake sale and benefit punk show for J20 defendants. Details should be up on IGD along with other scheduled events around North Carolina for the week. ------------- Playlist here
This is the second installment of the International Anarchist Radio Network's monthly show, featuring resistance news from around the world in the voices of the member-projects of the A-Radio Network. It includes news from: 105fm: about resistance to a rape by a security guard at University of the Aegean of one of the students housed there The Final Straw on the August 19th Prisoner solidarity activities against slavery in the U.S. & information on the suppression of 214 inauguration protesters arrested in D.C. on January 20th, 2017 & the week of solidarity with J20 arrestees from July 20-27th. Rosas Negras : Social activism for the defense of Trans-gendered people in El Salvador. Dissident Island: Segments from recent episodes, including their 10th anniversary episode, a conversation with Peter Gelderloos, housing activism in the U.K., homeless "aid" used to deputize social workers into outing the homeless and more Kurruf Radio: On the deaths of Mapuche at the hands of local police and landlords in Walmapu A-Radio Berlin: coverage of the resistance in Hamburg against the G20 Convention and the eviction of Friedel54 as well as from Radiozones Of Subversive Expressions, 98FM in Athens speaks about the recent threats of attack by the Telecommunications authority for the possibly benefit of a private, pirate radio station!
Nashville Anti Racist Action about the upcoming American Renaissance Conference in Burns, Tennessee from July 28th to 30th, 2017. AmRen, as it's called, is a yearly conference that sprange from Jared Taylor's suit and tie nazi thinktank journal by the same title and is being held on state land in Tennessee and anti-racists plan to make the "white identitarians" uncomfortable to say the least. For the hour we talk about anti-racist organizing in the South, about the upcoming "Unite The Right" convergence in Charlottesville, Virginia and more. Here's the fedbook page for Nashville ARA, and here's another state-wide coalition in Tennessee, TARN. As an aside, big ups to the crowds that overwhelmed the KKK in Charlottesville on July 8th. The Klan had to be escorted by State Police to even escape the throngs of counter-demonstrators. NPR reports 50 Klan showed up, over 1,000 counter protesters and 23 anti-racists arrested, other reports include word of police brutalizations and felony charges. Here's a fundraising page for those arrested. One resource we would like to point folks to if they're seeking to get involved with anti-racist and antifa groups over the internet, considering the honeypot and disinformation tactics being taken by the far right is Antifa checker, which vets social media sites for antifa and ARA groups and has social media presences on twitter, facebook and more. Here's an article about last year's AmRen with a history of Jared Taylor and other organizers behind NPI, AmRen, Paleo-Conservatism, "Racial Realism," "Identitarianism," "Racialist," Sam Dickson and more buncombe. Announces Interview w/ Your Hosts at It's Going Down If you wanna learn more about your hosts, get a blow by blow of the anarchist radio conference that happened in Greece earlier this year, and hear some A++ trolling, you can hear an interview that we did with members of the anarchist, anti-authoritarian news platform It's Going Down! Tell us what you think by writing to us an email! Dane Powell sentencing and J20 Solidarity As many of you have probably heard already, the first of the J20 defendants was sentenced recently to 4 months of a 36 month sentence followed by 2 years of supervised probation. From a fundraising support statement: "Dane Powell is a father, veteran, water protector, and active community member, but will now forever be known as the first political prisoner of the Trump era." He is famous for pulling children and elderly folks out of the range of police chemical weapons on January 20th, and was arrested and held for days in DC lockup after having been profiled and dragged from a car on the 21st. You can read and listen to a fabulous interview that he did with the Bloc Party on It's Going Down, in which he talks about his reasons for taking a non cooperating plea deal and how he has been talking about all of this with his children, among many other topics. The interview links to other support sites and articles by co-defendants. You can also see detailed reporting on his sentencing, along with helpful context, on
This week William spoke with Maria and Jeff, who are two long term members of the humanitarian aid group based in Arizona called No More Deaths. This group does solidarity work with those who are crossing the border in that region, as well as advocacy, legal work, and work which runs along many other vectors of solidarity. We will speak about the group and how each member got involved, the exact nature of the work and some media myths that the group gets leveled at them, along with the rise in repression that No More Deaths has faced in recent weeks, culminating in highly militarized raid on Bird Camp, a remote outpost that serves as a clinic, on Thursday, June 15. We will go on to discuss the strategy behind Border Patrol's surveillance and repression of those who are crossing and aid workers, and will talk about asks for assistance that the group is thinking of. You can visit NMD online at nomoredeaths.org, plus follow them on Facebook and Twitter if you want to keep up with calls for solidarity and with updates on their situation. Those titles that Maria mentioned for further reading if folks want to learn more about the border and how it got that way are: - No Wall They Can Build, out recently by CrimethInc. - The Insurgent Southwest - Designed to Kill via CrimethInc as well - The Disappeared Report - Dispaches from the Borderland thru the anarchist media collective It's Going Down The first musical track in this episode is by Calle 13 with "Pa'l Norte". They are a Puerto Rican hip hop group that often tackles themes that are oppositional to the border, border patrol, and FBI. The episode closes with a track from an Argentinian atmospheric metal band called Ruinas/Raíces with Dos Colores Fundiéndose which is the first track off their title album that just came out in April. You can find them on the blog Red and Anarchist Black Metal. Playlist
This week, Bursts spoke with Ben Turk about the August 19th call out for solidarity with prisoners. The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, a project of the Industrial Workers of the World (or IWW) syndicalist labor union is one body organizing the inside and outside actions, and Ben is a member. Ben's also affiliated with Lucasville Amnesty Last year was a huge time for radical organizing around the U.S. Prisoners from around the country participated in the September 9th national prisoner strike, the first of it's size and scope that we've seen. This event mobilized individual prisoners and also sprang from groups like the Free Alabama Movement and it's sister pushes in other carceral states, Anarchist Black Cross chapters, the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, or IWOC, of the Industrial Workers of the World labor union and also by just lots of unaffiliated prisoners. Now, we have what could be called a hard Law and Disorder administration in the White House talking about increasing funding and support for cops, further militarizing the border and terrorizing residents, reviving the 1980's style war on drugs and other repressive actions. In this context, it feels necessary for those who have a different vision of the world to push back and keep pushing as we were under Obama, under Bush & before. More on IWOC can be found at https://incarceratedworkers.org and more about public call for the strike can be found at IAmWeUbuntu.com Soooooo many Announcements But first, we have a bunch of announcements we wanted to share with you. If you have things you want announced on the show, send us an email and we may include it! Firstly, if you follow the show on twitter, we're shifting the show's account over to @StrawFinal. If you're on that or other, despicable forms of social media, consider checking us out for announcements about the show, about related projects and for the occasional anti-social, cat memes. Kevin "Rashid" Johnson in transit An update on the case of Kevin "Rashid" Johnson from http://rashidmod.com : "Supporters have received word that Kevin “Rashid” Johnson was picked up by Virginia officials and removed from Clements Unit on Thursday, June 23rd. He is no longer being held by Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Thanks to so many people phoning Virginia Interstate Compact Supervisor Terry Glenn, we have found out that Rashid is now in Florida at a “reception facility”. However, we do not know where that is, if he can receive mail there, or where he will end up. We will keep you informed as we find out more, and in the meantime will be asking people to phone Glenn back on Monday. Rashid is Minister of Defense of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party (Prison Chapter); he is a Virginia prisoner organizer and revolutionary communist. As a result of his organizing he has been repeatedly transferred out of state, under a setup called the “Interstate Compact” which is used to remove rebellious prisoners and exile them to locations where they have no friends, support, etc. For the past four years Rashid has been held in Texas, where he has been beaten, threatened, had his property confiscated, been set up on bogus infractions, and more — nonetheless, he used his time there to forge connections with other prisoners and to write a series of powerful exposés about violence, medical neglect, abuse, and murder in the Texas prison system. Transfers can be opportunities for prison officials to arrange for violence and abuse. Rashid was beaten when he was first brought to Texas, and lost much of his property at the time. Outside supporters and people concerned about prisoners’ rights and basic human dignity need to make sure this does not happen again!" Kevin "Rashid" Johnson's support site suggests people call the following prison employee to support Rashid, and there's a simple script for calls available at http://rashidmod.com: Mr. Terry Glenn, Interstate Compact Supervisor Virginia Department of Corrections P.O. Box 26963 Richmond, VA 23261-6963 Phone: (804) 887-7866 Fax: (804) 674-3595 QTLUG & VPNs When this show is over, consider bringing your linux or soon-to-be linux laptop, tablet, phone or whatever device over to Firestorm for the QTLUG. A linux and open source software enthusiasts' meetup. Asheville Queer & Trans Linux User Group (QTLUG, pronounced "Cutie Lug") aims to provide a welcoming environment for queers, trans folks, women and others who want to explore technology and receive support from peers. QTLUG meets monthly and can be contacted at qtlug@tuta.io . Today, June 25th at 3:30pm EST there'll be a VPN clinic, where attendees will be helped to set up Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, on their devices. Little to no experience necessary! Self-Protection Class Today at 4 to 6pm, and every Sunday, in Haw Creek Park at 40 Avon Rd in Asheville there will be a self-protection class taught by folks at Mountain Forge. This class is informed by Combat Systema and other tendencies. J20 benefit with Thou Tonight, on June 25th at 7pm at the Pinhook in Durham, NC, there'll be a benefit concert to raise funds for J20 defendants, those swept up in the kettle on January 20th in D.C. during the protests against the inauguration. Bands playing include the New Orleans, anarcho-doom band THOU as well as Bad Friends and Slime. Info Session on Stonewall On Tuesday June 27th, the other Tranzmission in Asheville will be hosting An Information Session downstairs at the Pack Library in Downtown AVL from 6-8pm. "Learn about the Miss Major, Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. Myka Johnson from TQPOC, Charlotte (Queer Trans People of Color, Charlotte) will teach us about the leaders who kicked off the modern day LGBTQ movement, trans people of color!" DIY Screen Printing workshop On Wednesday, June 28th, you can attend a DIY Screenprinting workshop// Taller de serigrafía from 7-8:30pm at the Kairos West community center, behind Firestorm at 610 Haywood Rd in West Asheville. Bring a blank, light colored tshirt to print on! Trouble #4: There Is No Justice... Just Us On Friday, June 30th at 7:30pm, there'll be a showing of the 30 minute, 4th installment of TROUBLE, the new serial documentary series from sub.Media. This episode has a focus on Repression and Movement Defense with examples around support for Fernando Barcenas in Mexico, defense of water defenders from the #NoDAPL struggle, support for #J20 defendants, La Fuga anti-carceral organizing across Chile, Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee about U.S. prison strikes and more. This'll be followed by a conversation based on prompts from the film makers. Prison Books packaging On Saturday July 1st and every following Saturday, Asheville Prison Books Project will be hosting a weekly book packaging and letter writing event in the back of Downtown Books & News, 67 N Lexington Ave, Asheville. APBP sends free books and letters to prisoners around the South Eastern U.S. Stonewall Folk Punk concert Also on July 1st in Asheville, the other Tranzmission will be hosting Folk Punk Transtravaganza at the members-only bar, Broadways from 7-10pm. Performances by Gullible Boys, Bless Your Heart, Brynn Estelle and ATL's wWaylon. NVDA training against Coal Ash & Pipelines On Sunday July 2nd, there'll be a Non Violent Direct Action training camp from 9am to 5pm hosted by Claire and Coleman in preparation for a protest on July 4th against the Duke Energy coal-ash pit and Atlantic Coast Pipeline that Duke is investing in. The action is entitled "Lake Julian Action: Independence From Fossil Fuels". The action camp will take place at 406 Overlook Rd Extension in Arden. There's also a request on that fedbook page for fundraising for the direct action. Blue Ridge ABC letter wriitng Letters save lives! Join Blue Ridge ABC each month for an evening of solidarity with incarcerated comrades. Celebrate their birthdays by sending words of encouragement and support. From 5-7:30pm at Firestorm Books & Coffee, more info on the group at BRABC.Blackblogs.Org Needle Exchange July 4th falls on a Tuesday and every Tuesday at 1:30pm, the Steady Collective, a harm reduction project in Asheville, does it's Needle Exchange at Firestorm, 610 Haywood Rd. Show up if you need clean needles, information on Narcan, or wanna start helping out! They'll also be at the Haywood Street Congregation, 297 Haywood St in downtown from 10am to 3pm every Wednesday. July 4th Critical Mass Bike Parade Also on July 4th, from 5:30pm to 9pm, there will be an Anti-Nationalist Critical Mass Bike Ride and bike parade in Asheville. Leaving from Montford Park Place, near between Panola and Cumberland, the ride will be a reasonable distance at a reasonable pace to allow more participation and will return to the park for cool-down, vegan popsicles, or vice lollies as they may be called in the U.K., plus speakers, info and maybe music. From the announcement: "Gather with us on July 4th to demonstrate resistance to nationalism and the american empire's history of genocide, slavery and ecological devastation. Especially in the present climate of rising white nationalism, attacks on indigenous sovereignty, and disregard for impending climate disaster, we reject this holiday and its gratuitous flag-waving propaganda. Instead, we'll celebrate collective resistance by taking the streets in a critical mass bike ride through downtown. Show your opposition to war and eco-devastation in this pedal-powered parade!" More on this event and other local events to WNC, check out http://avlcommunityaction.com Anarchist Summer Camp, Register by July 5th! The Institute for Advanced Troublemaking, which is "a small collective of long time anarchist organizers seeking to create a lasting movement education hub in the Northeast of the so-called US", is hosting an anarchist summer camp which will be held August 11th – 18th in Worcester, MA this year. Some information about the group from their website "The I.A.T. aims to raise collective capacity to target our enemies at the systemic level with effective direct action and campaign work. As Trump’s presidency spurs a swell of anarchist organizing and renewed interest in anti-state anti capitalist perspectives, we want to escalate by building skills in direct action, creating movement infrastructure, and community organizing for new anarchists. We also want to bring experienced organizers together to innovate strategies and tactics for our contemporary context. Rather than an activism 101, our intention is to cultivate deeper understanding and praxis of anarchist organizing among people who are already doing some of that work." The main idea is to build on the social and political potential of events like conferences and bookfairs to expand what is possible in this upcoming era in which it feels increasingly vital to have a vibrant and adaptive anarchist praxis. You can see more information about this event at https://advancedtroublemaking.wordpress.com/ which will include a three part presentation by some past interviewees about Burn Down The American Plantation! Registration ends on July 5th, and will prioritize "people of marginalized identities including POC, working class, trans or gender nonconforming, those with dis/abilities, LGBTQI, and women, but recognize that many of these may not be visibly apparent". When There Is No 911 On Thursday, July 6th to 9th from 9am to 5pm each day in Knoxville, TN, there will be a workshop entitled "When There Is No 911: Emergency Care". This will be hosted by Mountain Forge "Learn the skills for the Right Now emergencies. There is no time to google for the answer, you can't consult your mentors, the stars, or your power animal, you need to act NOW ! Now what? Skills that will help us to take care of ourselves and each other. This class will start you off in the fundamental skill of emergency care in urban, suburban, rural, wilderness, and disaster (short, long, and very long ) emergency situations." More info, including the location and the requisite pre-registration, can be found at their fedbook page. BK Punk Rock Karaoke If you're in Brooklyn on July 14, consider the Punk Rock Karaoke benefit for Certain Days political prisoner calendar. The karaoke will take place from 9:30pm til 12:30am at the Pine Box Rock Shop at 12 Gratton st in Brooklyn. Meet Your Local Redneck Back in Asheville, Carolina Mountain Redneck Revolt will be having a public event in Carrier Park (220 Amboy Rd) on July 16th from 12 noon to 4pm. This'll be a meet and greet with the local chapter in the hopes of networking, discussion of community engagements, Redneck Revolt praxis and more. This is a potluck with veg options, and it's suggested you bring sides to share. Playlist
This week we featured two conversations in the episode. "Stop The Pipelines Action Camp" Firstly, Bursts chatted with erin. erin is a resident of the Blacksburg VA area and an affiliate of Blue Ridge Rapid Response Project (or BRRRP) and is helping to organize the "Stop The Pipelines Action Camp" in that area from July 13-17th, 2017. The action camp is being organized in hopes to spread resistance to the Mountain Valley & Atlantic Coast Pipelines that are traversing Appalachian West Virginia, Virginia and, in the ACP's case, North Carolina. We talk about what it is to live in a place and defend your home, to get to know your neighbors, to build the skills needed to resist ecocidal, capitalist infrastructure projects. More info at https://blueridgerapidresponse.wordpress.com. The event is being co-sponsored by Smokey Mountain Eco-Defense (SMED). You can find a flyer, here. erin mentions pipeline security pursued by mercenary groups like TigerSwan as well as industry-sponsored astro-turf (or fake grassroots) group YourEnergy meant to muddy the water of community resistance to pipeline expansion and other infrastructural projects. Errekaleor Bizirik! After that, Bursts chatted with 2 residents of the squatted neighborhood of Errekaleor Bizirik in the Basque territory within the borders of so-called Spain. The residents talk about the history of Errekaleor Bizirik, feminism, energy infrastructure, recent attacks by police on the project and pre-figuring a post-capitalist life-way in the rubble of the existent. For more info on the project, which translates to Dry River (Errekaleor) Lives (Bizirik)!, check out: The draft wikipedia page; An IGD post about the project with links and context; Their Coopfunding page. From their post on igd, is this quote: "For those of you that are too far away to personally attend, feel free to make a quick call to the mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz Gorka Urtaran at +34 945 16 13 82 or +34 945 16 13 83 or send us a message at errekaleorbizirik@gmail.com!" We wanted to also state that the folks at Errekaleor reached out to us for the interview, which was super awesome. If you have a project, a book, an article, a fight that seems like it'd be interesting to us and our listeners, send us an email at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net and get the ball rolling. Find us on itunes and subscribe for free. You can rate us there as well, to help others find us more easily. Announcement The Arizona based humanitarian aid group No More Deaths (No Mas Muertes in spanish) has been under semi constant surveillance by Border Patrol for the past week. This is unprecedented attention; since its foundation in 2004 this group has had a written agreement, essentially a non interference good faith contract, with Border Patrol that names the group as a health aid and humanitarian group that has every right to be doing the work it's doing. NO More Deaths is a group based on certain faith principles (it is an official ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Tuscon) and on critical engagement with policy reform, nevertheless it is a group that has a high degree of anarchist involvement and solidarity with what could be called anarchist principles. It is most famous for desert aid; volunteers hiking out and leaving supplies such as water - essential in the 100 plus degree heat - food, socks, blankets, other supplies, and directed first aid where needed along remote corridors in the Sonoran Desert. The group also engages with legal aid, abuse documentation, searching for missing or disappeared people, helping getting belongings back from Border Patrol, networking with other border solidarity groups in the area, and consciousness raising and education to subvert the extremely stale narrative that immigration has in the US. A couple of days ago, after almost a week of constant surveillance, Border Patrol raided a camp "in an unprecedented show of force, [with] approximately 30 armed agents raided the camp with at least 15 trucks, two quads, and a helicopter to apprehend four patients receiving medical care." We hope to talk with someone about this situation soon for the radio show; the fact that this raid is coming now is a clear sign of the administrations attitude toward this kind of work. For more information on this issue and to keep up with No More Deaths, you can go to their website https://nomoredeaths.org Playlist
As a podcast special, we're sharing the first episode of the International Anarchist Radio Network's collaborative, monthly, English language radio show. We may feature future episodes as our bandwidth allows on The Final Straw Radio libsyn account. We hope you enjoy the content. B(A)D NEWS – Angry voices from around the world“ is a monthly news program from the international network of anarchist and antiauthoritarian radios, consisting of short news segments from different parts of the world. As an international network of radio projects, we believe in the importance of international solidarity. And we also recognize the importance and the need to create and disseminate our own media and counterinformation. We hope, with this effort, to reach out to other anarchist and antiauthoritarian projects, groups and individuals, and to strengthen our connections and our struggles in sharing our stories. Although this program is in English, we recognize that even this ‚international‘ language can be alienating to some and we want to encourage others to create and share similar content in their own languages. Below you can find an audio link which introduces the concept behind Bad News, as well as our first episode. We want to hear the Bad News first! Content: * Radio Kurruf: Occupation of CONADI, mapuche resistance and repression by the State * The Final Straw: Updates on anti-pipeline struggles around the so-called United States * A-Radio Berlin: New squats in Germany and the acute danger of eviction of Friedel54 * 98FM: Prisoners in Greece, Terrorism law in Greece, Eviction of squats in Athens * 105FM: Food poisoning and stolen food in refugee camps in Lesbos, eviction of refugee squat, feminist information, antifa festival * Dissident Island Radio: Fuck Parade & thoughts on voting in the UK * Rosas Negras: Struggles against the criminalization of abortion in El Salvador Links: The Final Straw (All links in English) * Upcoming push to defund Mountain Valley & Atlantic Coast Pipelines * Surveyors disrupted while working on Mountain Valley Pipeline * White Pine Camp against Mariner East 2 Pipeline * Resistance to Sabal Trail Pipeline * Lancaster organizing against Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline * Algonquin Pipeline & dangerous proximity to Indian Point nuclear power plant * Discussion of the upcoming Keystone XL restart Anarchist Radio Berlin * Herner131 (Bochum) (German) * Solidarity group for Herner131 (German) * Jugendzentrum HH-Ost (Hamburg) (German) * Unsere Villa (Kassel) (German) * Friedel54 (Berlin) (English) 105fm (All links in Greek) * Food poisoning incident at concentration camp at Chios * Local people stole food and clothing stuff that were meant for immigrants in Lesvos * Complaints for incidents of genital amputations of young girls for religion beliefs at hot spots all over greece * 2000 new job openings at detention centers * Refugee – immigrants deportations to Turkey * Eviction against an immigration housing squat at Lesvos * Accusations against the N.G.O. “Mercy Crops” * Sexual harrasements to girl students occurred to a local-high school in Mytilene by national-socialist headmaster * Raping incident * All anesthetists of Samos hospital refused to provide anesthesia interventions that concern pregnancy interruption: our own research * Antifa Fest May 27th
In this week's episode we feature two interviews. In the first, we spoke with Em, a supporter of the mass arrestees from the January 20th inauguration of Donald Trump in Washington DC earlier this year. We also speak with Jay, who was one of the arrestees. The two share first and secondhand experiences of the arrests, detention, denial of medication, rough rides and arraignment that accompanied those arrested at 12th & L that day. We also talk about where the court case is now and how to support the over 230 people kettled as Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff and other state agents attempt to give everyone 80 years in prison for alleged property destruction. More info on the effort at https://defendj20resistance.org To hear some interesting and entertaining musical approaches to resisting the repression of the J20 arrestees, check out https://kerkhophony.bandcamp.com/releases . Some of these tracks will be featured in the podcast version of this show, up soon at https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org In the second portion, I chatted with anarchists in Hamburg, Germany about the upcoming protest against the G20 summit that is scheduled there between July 6th and 8th. The guests speak about the history of resistance in Hamburg, the state ramping up repression, it's impacts on marginalized folks living there and on the planned protests and how to get involved. More info on this initiative can be found at https://g20tohell.blackblogs.org/2017/02/11/english/ Our blog and podcast will also host links and audio from a few songs in German meant to bring folks out into the streets of Hamburg. Here's a video for one. If you're listening still on June 11th, happy day of Solidarity with Long Term Eco & Anarchist Prisoners, Marius Mason and beyond! Whatever your solidarity looks like, don't get caught. Local events can be found at june11.org. Don't forget to submit your anonymized and proxied exploits to june11@riseup.net. Also, check out the awesome series of interviews with prisoners, former prisoners and their supporters done by the June 11th crew that are up at It's Going Down by searching for june 11th. Announcements Kevin "Rashid" Johnson New Afrikan Black Panther, Kevin "Rashid" Johnson is a long term prison organizer and published author. Rashid is being retaliated against for his prison organizing. According to the blog PAPS Texas, "He had a shank planted on him which was used as an excuse to take away his legal materials and typewriter. Please call the following numbers. William Clements Unit (806) 381-7080 – ask to speak to the warden’s office or if unavailable to property open 24/7 Region V Director Phone: 806-296-4500 or FAX 806-296-4521 Ask for Captain Ramirez Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Texas Department of Criminal Justice Ombudman’s office Phone: (936) 437-4927 Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m Follow up by emailing: ombudsman@tdcj.texas.gov" more info, including a script you can borrow from and more in-depth descriptions of what happened to Rashid can be found at http://rashidmod.com Editorial As in many locations yesterday (June 10th 2017), Raleigh NC saw immense opposition to the Anti-Sharia Law marches, for the most part called for by Act for America which is a far right islamophobic group that alleges that the US is slipping into Sharia Law via whatever wingnut influence they think is going on. Like pretty much everything in this vein, this notion belies an extremely poor understanding of what Sharia is and how it functions, basically transforming it into yet another proxy for islamophobia and "patriotic", white supremacists zealotry in the mouths of racists. Yesterday saw (as I mentioned before) nationwide opposition to this farce, with battles from Seattle and Portland to our very own North Carolina, where the anti-racist crew outnumbered the racists by about 4 to 1, demoralizing them into an early dispersal and hopefully a lowered self esteem. Keep your eyes peeled for updates and report backs on your favorite anarchist news sites, like It's Going Down! To editorialize for a second, at the start of this Pride month 2017 there were seemingly a lot of LGBTQ people joining the Act for America shindig in the name of protesting the alleged homophobia and misogyny under Sharia. As a gay person myself, I would say to any LGTBTQ individual who joined Act for America yesterday that you need look no further than your own home country to see brutal and systemic attacks against women and queer folks any day of the week without resorting to otherising and racist rhetoric to express your so called rage at homophobia. And before you start crying, wringing your hands, and trying to derail this statement, it's true that patriarchy and homophobia exist everywhere, it would be ridiculous to say otherwise. That's not what I'm talking about tho. What you did yesterday and what you are continuing to do by joining the right is lending them another facet by which they justify their own bigotries (plus I daresay expressing your own as well), and by lending them numbers. What in any case is the point of protesting this phenomenon, which the right neither understands nor knows how to interpret, other than to oppress an already beleaguered demographic of people in the States? In closing, I'll say that make no mistake that the far right will throw you under the bus at the first opportune moment. They historically always have. So if you like that kind of thing, then knock yourself out. If not, check your shit and examine who is telling you what, why, and at what cost to you. Playlist
Welcome to a podcast special release of The Final Straw's interview of two members of The Haymaker, a gym project under way in Chicago, IL. The Haymaker's principles of unity are as follows: As organizers, we believe in Autonomy, Strength, and Solidarity. Because we believe in autonomy, we know that we must learn to fight our enemies without relying on institutions that disempower us and macho gym cultures that weaken us. We must learn to fight for ourselves. Because we believe in strength, we know that we must be stronger than those who want us to suffer or wipe us out completely. We must learn to be unafraid as we become a force capable not only of self-defense, but of social transformation. Because we believe in solidarity, we know that our personal transformation is at once collective transformation and that an injury to one is indeed an injury to all. We will learn how to keep each other safe as we become dangerous together. If you want to toss them some duckets, find their indiegogo. If you're inspired to work on something like this in your town, hit them up at haymakerchi@riseup.net or on the fedbook or twitter by their handle @haymakerchi. So, if you feel like passing the hat or holding a fundraiser or hitting up Daddy Warbucks himself, George Soros, for them please do. If you enjoyed this episode and you get our show from the itunes library, drop us a review, rate us 5 stars and help spread this show. Also, if you like hearing our podcast and want our interviews to make it to the cars, trucks, jail cells, basement apartments and everywhere else in your area, consider hittin us up and help us figure out how to get on your local community radio. Our shows are an hour weekly, are free for stations and people to download and are radio clean. Right now we're airing in Columbus (OH), Asheville (NC), Olympia (WA), Santa Rosa (CA) & Fairbanks (AK). Why not YOUR home town?
Burn Down the American Plantation For this episode, we are featuring a conversation that William had with some members of The Base, a social and political space in Brooklyn, about a book they co authored called Burn Down the American Plantation, which outlines a potential revolutionary praxis that coincides with the history and present of black liberation, radical self defense, building a revolutionary society, the formation of the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement, and many other topics. This book is just out from AK Press, and a free pdf can be found at Revolutionary Abolition. Announcements: Oppose Islamophobia The Islamophobic right in the U.S. has called for a "National March Against Sharia" for June 10th with knuckledraggers in about 20 cities signed up to participate according to Proud Boy Magazine. Needless to say, there will be opportunities for those of us with enough brain power to realize that the U.S. is in no danger of EVER becoming a state run by Sharia law and that this is nothing but a poorly masked call to increase violence against our friends, neighbors and families of African and Asian descent and who also who may be Muslims. If you plan to oppose the ACT! for America events in your area, check out the article on Antifascist News to find where the nearest to you will be. It's suggested that if you are planning to attend, keep your identity safe, travel with friends, park away from the event and share emergency information with your buddies. For those in Western North Carolina, Raleigh may be the nearest place of engagement. In the wake of continued violence by Islamophobic elements of the right, including the recent stabbing deaths of two and injury of a third antiracist who stepped up to try to stop the harassment of two women of color wearing headscarfs on Portland public transit, it's imperative for those who oppose bigotry in all of its forms and want to do something about it take care of ourselves and know how to fight back. Haymaker Popular Fitness and Self-Defense: podcast special release In this vein, stay tuned for our online release alongside this episode of our interview with organizers with the Haymaker Popular Fitness and Self-Defense gym project in Chicago. Their indiegogo campaign is nearing it's end, so we wanted to help give it a little push and get them some more donations. In the interview we spoke about building the muscles and self-confidence to fight off stranger attacks, as well as this project as an attempt to empower those struggling against intimate violence, we talk about queering workout spaces and concepts of violence. To check out more about their fundraising and watch their demo video by finding their page on indiegogo. This segment will become an episode in the near future. JUNE 11th: Day of solidarity with eco and anarchist prisoners June 11th is next Sunday, y'all. Check out https://June11.org for a list of events in your area. We had announced a concert here in Asheville but due to circumstances beyond our control we'll be holding instead a vegan cookout at Firestorm Books and Coffee at 610 Haywood Rd from 3:30-6pm including presentations on prison realities for queer and trans folks, long term eco and anarchist prisoners cases and the history of the greenscare. Alongside of this we'll be showing the documentary, "Better This World," about the frame up on terrorism charges of Bradley Crowder and David McKay, two young activists by the megalomaniacal former leftist turned right-wing crackpot Brandon Darby during the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN. Also, check out this awesome benefit tape of country and folk music. Aaaaand, this awesome series of podcasts have been coming out from June 11th organizers about prisoners and prisoner support in the run up to J11 this year: Grace chats on Jeremy Hammond; Supporters on Eric King; Josh Harper on incarceration and prisoner support; CLE4 and Nicole & Joseph interview; Leslie James Pickering on J11 Queer Cafeteria: Know Your Host! Queer Cafeteria is a companion podcast to Fed Up Fest, which is a queer music festival in chicago this year. You can hear your host - among many other folks - talk about class and queerness / transness, hear me swear A LOT, and hear some really fantastic music from queer and trans artists from all over singing about all sorts of things the kids are talking about. You can hear this episode at their soundcloud and hit up queer cafeteria on facebook by searching the name. You can keep in touch with fed up fest at the Fed Up Fest website. Playlist
This episode will include two segments, firstly Bursts speaks with a longtime supporter of vegan anarchist prisoner Eric King, who was accused in 2014 of attempting to firebomb a government officials office in Kansas City. They speak about his case, veganism in prison, and steps moving forward with his support. Also about the fast approaching June 11th day of solidarity with anarchist prisoners, as well as for the first international day of solidarity with Eric on June 28th 2017 and the ideas and visions surrounding that . You can keep up with Eric's situation by going to supportericking.org. Secondly William speaks with two members of the Liverpool based anarchist black metal project Dawn Ray'd, who have just kicked off a tour of the US with one date in Asheville on June 1st at the Odditorium. We talk about anarchism and black metal, what the two have to offer each other, and about the political situation in Liverpool as it relates to music culture, and many other topics. Their tour dates are: Fri May 26th in Cincinnati, Sat May 27th in Pittsburgh, Sun May28th in NYC, Mon May 29th Philadelphia, Tues May 30th in DC, Wed May 31st in Richmond, Thurs June 1st in Asheville, Fri June 2nd in Atlanta, Sat June 3rd in New Orleans, Sun June 4th in Houston, Mon June 5th in Dallas, Tues June 6th in Tulsa, Wed June 7th in Columbia, Thur June 8 in the Quad Cities, Fri June 9th in Milwaukee, and finally Sat June 10th in Detroit You can hear all their music on bandcamp for free. Playlist pending.
For this special mini episode we are featuring an interview with two members of the Liverpool based anarchist black metal project Dawn Ray'd, who are playing in Asheville on June 1st at the Odditorium. In this interview we talk about the intersections of anarchism and black metal how those two things inform each other, and about their fast upcoming tour booked by the Milwaukee based label Halo of Flies! For more tour dates, check out Dawn Ray'd's fedbook.
#A In the first half of this week's show we spoke with Rodney about the upcoming Heartwood Forest Council, one of two yearly meet and greet events by Heartwood. Heartwood "is a regional network that protects forests and supports community activism in the eastern United States through education, advocacy, and citizen empowerment. We are people helping people protect the places they love. Heartwood was founded in 1991, when concerned citizens from several midwestern states each defending their national forest from logging, mining, roads and ruin, met and began to work together to protect the heartland hardwood forest." They'll be holding their "Strong Roots", the 27th Forest Council from May 26-29 at Camp Spring Creek, 774 Spring Creek Rd, Bakersville, North Carolina, the heart of the Katuah Bioregion. Info on the event, how to register yourself to attend, what'll be offered and how to get involved in Heartwood can be found at https://heartwood.org #2 The second half is an interview conducted by Pinda and aired on episode 192 of Dissident Island Radio, an anarchist podcast out every 2 weeks from London and available at https://dissidentisland.org. In the chat, Pinda spoke with Crossbill, a bird of the Riseup! collective about the recent FBI gag order ordeal and what this means for users of riseup mail and other services. Coming Soon Stay tuned to our website, social media & podcast feed for a special podcast release of an interview with the Liverpool based anarchist black metal project Dawn Ray'd. In this interview we speak about the inception of the band, the political situation in Liverpool, and the many ways in which anarchism and black metal can inform and augment each other. This band is just about to embark on a tour of the U.S., organized by the Milwaukee based label Halo of Flies, with dates in Cincinnati, Detroit, Texas, and in Asheville on June 1st at the Odditorium! You can check out their music for free on bandcamp, and keep in touch with tour dates and new releases by visiting their fedbook page. Announcement From the Durham Solidarity Center: "Dozens of southern anti-racist activists organized a counter protest today, May 20, 2017, at a so-called "Confederate Memorial Day" rally organized by the white supremacist organization, ACTBAC (Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County). Three were arrested and given serious charges and high bail - the highest was $15,000. The Alamance County Sheriff is a notorious racist. According to witnesses, Alamance police were seen shaking hands with known Klan members. We need your support to support these anti-racist fighters." Playlist
This week we're just back from a few weeks in Europe, most recently attending the 3rd International Anarchist Radio Conference at Radio98FM, an anarchist pirate radio station of 14 years in the squatted studios at the Polytechnic University in Zografu neighborhood in Athens, Greece. In coming episodes we'll be releasing some of the interviews that we had with folks who we met between that event and the Paris Anarchist Bookfaire the week before. Here is the live radio show we helped conduct on April 30th with the participation of all of the attending projects on topics ranging from misogyny in the anarchist scene to discussions of technology, from eco-struggles around the world to prisoner resistance. Soon, we'll have an Intl Anarchist Radio website, following will come a streaming radio station and a monthly 1.5-2 hour news blast from all of the projects called B(A)D N(E)WS. More info soon on that. This week features 2 conversations Bursts conducted at the radio conference. First, we spoke with 2 buddies from Crna Luknja, an anarchist radio show in Slovenian and English broadcast on Radio Student in Lubljana, Slovenia. The friends talk about their organizing with the Balkan-based Federatin of Anarchist Organizations, affiliated with the synthesist International of Anarchist Federations, sometimes called IFA. An Anarchist Bookfaire is being organized by the friends next weekend in Cerkno, Slovenia as well. Since Asheville just hosted it's first bookfaire we thought this'd be a timely audio to play. The second segment was with Elisa. Elisa is an Anarcha-Feminist organizer in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. She talks about her radio project, Rosas Negras found at the online feminist radio station, La Radio de Todas. She speaks about Feminist organizing in El Salvador, the state of anarchist organizing there, the Anarchist Federation of Central American and Caribbean (FACC), organizing to change abortion laws in El Salvador, and a lot more. Because the conversations are in English with people who are not native English speakers, the conversations may be hard to understand. But, their English is better than my Slovenian or Spanish, so it's in English! If you misunderstand the chat, consider listening to the archive or podcast later with headphones. There's no Sean Swain segment for this week, but stay tuned for future outbursts by the main Swainiac himself.
This week Bursts spoke with Rhyd Wildermuth. Rhyd is a co-editor and founder or the website Gods & Radicals, which also publishes periodical journal entitled "A Beautiful Resistance". For the hour, we speak about paganism, anti-capitalism, race and whiteness in the context of ethical approaches towards earth-based religions as white people in a Settler Colonial society, May Day and more. You can find his projects at https://godsandradicals.org We also repeat our announcement of the upcoming anarchist bookfaire in Asheville: If you're in the South East (or wherever), you are cordially invited to attend the 1st Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfaire, also known as ACAB2017 from May 5-May 7th in Asheville, North Carolina. The weekend of events kicks off with an a welcome table at firestorm books at 610 Haywood Rd from 3pm until 6pm with a schedule of events and ways to plug in. There are multiple musical events Friday and Saturday night. Featured speakers include Shon Meckfessel, Jude Ortiz of Tilted Scales Collective, members of the crimethInc collective as well as from the Water Protectors Anti-Repression Crew and a special appearance by author and activist Ward Churchill. Vendors over the weekend will include PM Press, AK Press, Little Black Cart, Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness, Combustion Books and many more. Consider the daytime events to be all ages. Check out http://acab2017.noblogs.org for updates and info. More up-to-date announcements and episodes will pick up along with audio from our participation in the International Anarchist Gathering in Athens, Greece, starting up mid-May, 2017. Check out our social media feeds to see and hear elements of it, including the live broadcast on April 30th from Athens.
This week, we spoke with Whitney about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline, two pipelines flowing through mid-Appalachian and the mid-Atlantic region on Turtle Island and both connect Transco pipeline in Pennsylvania County, VA. The pipelines are 48 inches in diameter and are made for transporting dangerous compressed and pressurized natural gas through many watersheds, towns and farmlands. In addition to fears of contamination of waterways and soil, through possible leaks and explosions, many people are concerned the pipeline will be carry gas for export , not even for domestic consumption. Whitney is also involved in an upcoming podcast series to inform folks in Virginia about the history and aspects of the pipelines to be released in the run-up to the decisions by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on whether or not these projects can move forward. As of now, there is no website address for our guest's podcast, but their podcast's mission statement is as follows: "'End of the Line' is a pre-recorded podcast created by local Richmonders, following the developing story of two proposed pipelines in Virginia - the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Over the past year, the subject of fossil fuel "pipelines" has reached a high point of saturation in the national consciousness. While the nation watched major milestones unfold around the rejection of Keystone XL by President Obama and Standing Rock's struggle to protect water against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, resistance to pipelines in Virginia has been building as well. Residents and landowners in mostly rural parts of the state have taken on an uphill battle to try and stop two high pressure natural gas pipelines from going through their land as well as some of Virginia's most treasured places. Featuring the voices of those directly affected by the proposed infrastructure, this ongoing series will examine every aspect of the local pipeline struggle, episode by episode, starting at the very beginning and working our way to the present. Through voices of those on the frontlines, we will touch on issues such as eminent domain, energy policy, industry influence on local politics, environmental impacts, and the mental health aspect of how residents are coping with this tremendous burden. Our goals are to provide listeners with the stories of Virginians who have been and are currently resisting both proposed natural gas pipelines and build a wider audience of people throughout our region who may not be familiar with all that has occurred since the summer of 2014 when the pipelines were first introduced. The built-in question we will be posing to listeners is the same many landowners are facing, "Are these pipelines a ‘done deal’?" To that end, as our episodes begin to meet up in real time with the decision-making process at state and federal levels, “End of the Line” will continue to report on developments as the pipeline saga unfolds". We will announce a website for this project as soon as we know! ----------------------- Other, regional upcoming events related to the ACP & MVP pipelines may consider attending include the following: Beyond Extreme Energy will be putting on a convergence in Washington DC from April 26-28th. BXE was a co-sponsor of the walk across NC areas that may be affected by the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline. More info on the conference and other stuff by BXE can be found at http://beyondextremeenergy.org Delaware River Keepers have compiled "People's Dossiers" on shortcomings of studies in the economic and environmental harms of the ACP & MVP by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or FERC. http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/ongoing-issues/peoples-dossier-ferc-abuses-economic-harms Another site of interest worth check out is http://www.apppl.org for the Alliance of People to Protect the Places we Live. If you're in the South East (or wherever), you are cordially invited to attend the 1st Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfaire, also known as ACAB2017 from May 5-May 7th in Asheville, North Carolina. The weekend of events kicks off with an a welcome table at firestorm books at 610 Haywood Rd from 3pm until 6pm with a schedule of events and ways to plug in. There are multiple musical events Friday and Saturday night. Featured speakers include Shon Meckfessel, Jude Ortiz of Tilted Scales Collective, members of the crimethInc collective as well as from the Water Protectors Anti-Repression Crew and a special appearance by author and activist Ward Churchill. Vendors over the weekend will include PM Press, AK Press, Little Black Cart, Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness, Combustion Books and many more. Consider the daytime events to be all ages. Check out https://acab2017.noblogs.org/ for updates and info.
This week William spoke with a member of Eastern Kentucky Antifa about the upcoming resistance to the Traditionalist Workers Party's event in Pikeville KY. This group, along with The Nationalist Socialist Movement, The American Freedom Party, League of the South, The Iron March Forums, and other groups which it is accurate to call neo-Nazi are converging to form The Nationalist Front. They will gather on Friday, April 28th on private land for camping, a series of speakers, and trainings. The following day, they are planning to rally in front of the courthouse in Pikeville, KY at 2:00pm EST. They plan to retreat to the location where their camping and the conference is being hosted to hold an after party as well as a “secret event." In this short interview, we talk about what to expect from this event, some of the history of fascist and proto fascist activity in rurual KY, and things that resisters should keep in mind. One thing that we did not mention is that phone reception is very spotty in this area, so if you are going you should come having printed off paper maps beforehand. You can see an excellent article on this by going to It's Going Down After this interview we will hear some new antifascist, antiracist metal from The Dark Skies Above Us Collective out of Greece. ANNOUNCEMENT If you're listening in Asheville come out to a queer country show and corn dog pop up to benefit the Tranzmission Prison Project, a decade long running project which sends free books and resources to LGBTQ incarcerated folks. This event will be on Wednesday April 19th at the Double Crown at 375 Haywood Rd Asheville NC, food starts at 6 music at 8 come out! You can get in touch with Tranzmission by writing them at tranzmissionprisonproject@gmail.com or by writing PO Box 1874, Asheville NC 28806. -------- Playlist here.
Black Women's Defense League This week I spoke with Niecee X of the Dallas Texas based group Black Women's Defense League, which has been in existence for a bit over 2 years. In this interview we speak about BWDL and the circumstances around its formation, the work it engages in, and the political climate it exists within. We also speak about feminism and misogyny within this context, as well about the status of and tools for addressing anti blackness and sexism in anarchist scenes. The interview you are about to listen to has been edited down for broadcast, and we will release the longer version for on the podcast feed. On top of that, this is the second of two interviews that we recorded, and in the coming months I am planning to synthesize the two conversations into one long podcast version, which we'll announce once it is ready for listening. If you would like to get in touch with Black Women's Defense league, you can go to http://blackwomensdefenseleague.com, hit them up on Instagram or Facebook by searching their name, or email them Announcements For folks in the Pacific Northwest: The Tilted Scales Collective will be holding workshops called "Fighting Charges, Strengthening Movements." On Monday, April 10th in Olympia there'll be 2 workshops, the first at 3:30pm at Evergreen College in Lecture Hall 6 and the second at 6pm at Last Words Books. In Seattle on Wednesday April 12th at 7pm in the Bannon Science Building at Seattle University, check it out in rm 102. On the 15th Tilted Scales will be in Eugene, on the 16th in Portland and ending up at the Humboldt Anarchist Bookfaire on Saturday, April 29th in Arcata, CA. For folks in the South and South East of Turtle Island: Tomorrow, Monday the 10th in Durham, NC, there will be a "No War With Syria Rally" at CCB Plaza, 201 N. Corcoran St at 6pm. Word is that this event is being planned by the World Workers Party, a Stalinist and Russian-apologetic organization that has a knee-jerk reaction to support anyone the U.S. is in tension with as anti-imperialist. So, make up some nice anti-Assad, Anti-US, Anti-Russian, Anti-Nation-state slogans for your signs and engage the organizers. Anti-war should mean ALL warmongering governments and groups, not the populations that suffer the bombs and torture. Friday, April 14th at 9pm in Asheville, the HEX 1 dance party benefit for OurVoice will be taking place at The Mothlight at 701 Haywood Rd in West Asheville. The event will be DJ'd by DJ Lil Meow Meow, DJ Malinalli & DJ Abu Disarray. The beneficiary, OurVoice, is a non-profit rape crisis center in Asheville that offers counseling services, offers many educational workshops around consent and other topics, does outreach to bars around decreasing drug-assisted sexual assaults and does a lot more. More info on the project can be found at. Keep an eye out for future HEX Asheville benefits. In Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday, April 14th at 10pm there'll be a benefit for Louisville Anti Racist Action. The show will be held at The Cure, 1481 Shelby St, in Louisville. The bands include Blind Scryer, Boneclaw (Evansville), Satellite Twin & Black Kaspar. Louisville ARA self-describes as "here to help build, defend, educate and create an effective cultural resistance against fascism." Saturday, April 15th in Asheville from 1-7pm, local rads will be hosting the Anarchist Field Day community event in the West Asheville Park at 198 Vermont Ave. It's an all-ages, potluck event that brags kick-ball, face painting, grilling with vegan and gluten-free grill space and food, friend-making and May Day banner-making. You can find them near the baseball diamond in the park and if rain chases folks away, there's a reschedule date for a week later on April 22nd at the same place and during the same hours. https://www.facebook.com/events/1860190510916621/ Playlist
This is a continuation of our episode talking about violence, non-violence, nonviolence, property destruction, Liberalism's public secret, antifa violence, insult and way more. In this podcast bonus is content we couldn't fit in the hour of our show for this week. Hopefully most of it will end up in an episode in the near future. Shon recently authored the book, "Nonviolence Ain't What It Used To Be," which is also the focus of this related podcast episode. We hope you enjoy this. Let us know by dropping us an email at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net, check out our archives at https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org or write us at: The Final Straw Radio c/o AshevilleFM 864 Haywood Rd Asheville, NC 28806 At one point we talk about anarchist approaches to the Syrian Revolution & Rojava and I reference an interview with a co-author of Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War, Robin Yassin-Kassab which can be found here
Interview This week, we air our conversation with Shon Meckfessel. Shon is a longtime anarchist and activist from Sacramento, CA. He has penned numerous articles and the book "Suffled How It Gush: A North American Anarchist in the Balkans." In this interview we talk about his most recent book, "Nonviolence Ain't What It Used To Be: Unarmed Insurrection and the Rhetoric of Resistance." We spend the hour chatting about concepts of Nonviolence in the U.S. and how they've developed, the threat and use of violence in and by anti-capitalist and anti-racist social movements. The chat moves through Lockean Liberalism, Insurrectionalism, Ghandian-Kingian non-violence, Anarchism, Nihilism and more. It was a fun chat and we talked in some real depth that we couldn't fit into this one hour. So, we made a podcast episode that's just over an hour PLUS
Interview This week Bursts spoke with Jude, a member of the Tilted Scales Collective, about the collective's new book, A Tilted Guide to Being a Defendant out from Combustion Books. In this interview, they speak about the Tilted Scales Collective, which is "a small collective of dedicated legal support organizers who have spent years supporting and fighting for political prisoners, prisoners of war, and politicized prisoners in the occupied lands of Turtle Island (i.e., the so-called united states)." from their website, and about the book which is a comprehensive run down for people facing legal charges and how to cope with handling them. You can visit them at https://tiltedscalescollective.org/ Announcement From fighttoxicprisons.org: The Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons (FTP) is a collaboration with the Abolitionist Law Center. FTP’s mission is to conduct grassroots organizing, advocacy and direct action to challenge the prison system which is putting prisoners at risk of dangerous environmental conditions, as well as impacting surrounding communities and ecosystems by their construction and operation. At this time, FTP is focused on opposing the construction of a new federal prison in Letcher County, Kentucky. FTP is inspired by the abolitionist movement against mass incarceration and the environmental justice movement, which have both been led by the communities of color who are hardest hit by prisons and pollution.Both these movements also have long histories of multi-racial alliances among those on the front lines of the struggle and those who can offer support and solidarity, which we aim to build on. FTP has been informed by the ongoing research and analysis of the Human Rights Defense Center’s Prison Ecology Project, as well as the work of the Earth First! Prisoner Support Project and June11.org FTP has just announced that their 2017 convergence will be from June 2-5th in Denton/Fort Worth Texas. It will include speakers, panels, workshops, protests and cultural activities, including an art show and hip-hop performances. Some proposed topics are: – Mapping Toxic Prisons – The History and Future of June 11 – Building Mult-Racial Alliances Against Incarceration – EJ Lessons from the Pipeline struggles Why Texas? Environmentalists know Texas as the financial headquarters of oil and gas empire that controls the nation’s political system, where fights against pipelines like Keystone XL and Trans-Pecos have captured the attention of the nation. Prison abolitionists know Texas as home to one of the most brutal and corrupt state prison systems in the country, where extreme heat is coupled with tainted water, and vocal participants from the September prisoner strike like Keith ‘Malik’ Washington sit in long term solitary confinement, subjected to both. You can stay updated on this event and see more about Fight Toxic Prisons at http://fighttoxicprisons.org Playlist: here
This episodes features two portions. Janye Waller In the first segment we talk to Noelle about the case of Janye Waller. Janye is a young Black revolutionary from Oakland, California, who was the only person convicted of property destruction during the 2014 demonstrations in the Bay following the non-acquittal of pigs for the murders of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray. Noelle is a supporter of Janye Waller and believes that Janye's conviction was a clear case of railroading and racial profiling against a community activist. Janye is now finishing up a 2 year sentence with one year off for good behavior. The interview was held in February of 2017, and Janye is set to be released in coming months, then he's out on parole. You can find out more about his case and donate to his post-release fund at https://rally.org/supportjanye and updates can be found on his support fedbook page and to find out more about some projects Janye was involved with in Oakland, check out the site for El Qilombo You can write to Janye in the near future by addressing letters to: Janye Waller #ba2719 A Facility,P.O. Box 2500, Susanville, CA 96127-2500Anarchist Observations of the Struggle at Standing Rock In the second segment I speak with Noah, who is a well established movement medic, anarchist, and participant in #NoDAPL at Standing Rock, about his experiences there and analyses of how this resistance was organized and how it developed. This interview was recorded days before media saw the images of the Sacred Stone Camp burning and having been disbanded, so many of the modes and tenses that we employ are not what we might given the current position of the camps. We talk about a wide ranging set of topics, from what worked in the camps to what the failings were, and how resistance to extraction industries could look moving forward. For links on how to support the efforts at Standing Rock - which are ongoing and support is needed both for folk's legal and medical expenses - check out: Water Protector Legal Collective Sacred Stone Camp Medic and Healer Council Announcements ACAB2017 End of Submissions Shortly there'll be a posted end to a call for submissions for presenters, workshops and bands at the first annual Asheville Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfaire up on the website (https://ACAB2017.noblogs.org), but we announce it here. Submission deadline is April 1st, 2017. Spots are filling up fast. Check out the website for updates and we hope to see you there! TROUBLE showing at Firestorm, March 24th @ 7pm That about says it. First episode of TROUBLE, which was chatted about in our last episode as the new video series by subMedia will be showing at Firestorm Books & Coffee at 7pm on Friday the 24th of March! Episode Playlist
Interviews with Queen Tahiyrah and Franklin López This episode contains two segments: In the first, Bursts spoke with Queen Tahiyrah about the hunger strike being engaged by Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan and Jason Robb, two death row inmates put there by their attempt to resolved the hostage taking involved in the 1993 Lucasville Prison Uprising. During the uprising, Jason Robb and Hasan acted as negotiators for the prisoners as representatives of the Aryan Nation prison gang and Muslim prisoners, respectively, at the facility. More on their case can be found at http://lucasvilleamnesty.org. Check out Queen Tahiyrah's podcast, entitled SiGnOtHeTiMeS. We apologize that the beginning of Queen Tahiyrah's interview sounds crappy - that was a technical fail on our part - but it clears up after about 2 minutes. In the second segment, Bursts chatted with Franklin López about Submedia, the importance of anarchist media production, his upcoming anarchist hip hop podcast, and the new short documentary series they're about to start releasing entitled Trouble. Trouble is available for public showings, so find yourself a venue in town, contact Frankie and company via, pass word of the event in town via flyers and word of mouth and antisocial media and make some friends where you're at! The first episode will focus on diversity of tactics at Stand Rock with a focus on the Red Warrior Camp. More work by Frankie can be found at https://submedia.tv. Oh, and there's an announcement of a podcasting network looming on the horizon. More to come on that in future episodes. Announces Benefit Shows: Help our comrades arrested at J20! If you're in Asheville or the surrounding area, there is a benefit show TONIGHT (March 12) at the Odditorium at 1045 Haywood Rd in West Asheville. Proceeds will benefit our comrades who were arrested during the inauguration protests in DC earlier this year. Also, next Monday the 20th there will be a dance party to benefit J20 arrestees, come dance to mod, punk, and all the classics new and old with DJ Murphy Murph! This will be at the Lazy Diamond at 98-A N Lexington Ave in downtown Asheville. Rebel! Rebuild! Rewild! call for submissions The Rebel! Rebuild! Rewild! Collective has put out a call for submissions of texts about strategic lessons that can be learned from the resistance at Standing Rock. As one phase of the resistance has ended and another has begun, the idea is to compile experiences and analyses and reflect on the lessons learned from this game-changing moment in movement history. This project is mostly for the benefit of those who were not present at Standing Rock but who might participate in something similar in the future. The plan is to publish a compilation of thoughtful strategic analyses, both online and in print. However, seeing as it might not be possible to publish everything that people submit, the plan is to put an unedited version of everything that folks submit onto a wordpress site sometime in the future. The call is to write about anything you'd like to, but some leading questions are: Which actions were most effective? Which actions were least effective? Do you have any insights on dynamics between indigenous and non-indigenous water protectors? What was unifying? What was divisive? What can we learn from the tactics of DAPL, the police, and the state? What can we learn from the legal battle? What message would you like to pass on to future water protectors? Please submit writing to rebelrebuildrewild@riseup.net. Submissions can be signed with your legal name, an alias, or be anonymous. Please include whatever information about yourself that you consider relevant. Art by Julie Maas (borrowed from http://www.nightslantern.ca/) Playlist
This week we spoke with Romina and César, who are two members of the Black Rose Anarchist Federation in LA. We talk about what it's like organizing in an Especifist federation model of anarchism, about anarcho-communism, and tensions and points of unity between non federation and federation organizing. We wanted to interview these folks in order to present another model of possible engagement, for folks who perhaps are looking for ways to plug in. This conversation is somewhat introductory, and we welcome any feedback you have. To see more on this project, you can visit http://www.blackrosefed.org/ Announces Events Tonight, Sunday the 5th of March from 5 to 7:30pm at Firestorm in Asheville, join Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross for an evening of solidarity in the form of letter writing for long term political prisoners: people who are locked up for their activism and resistance to systems of domination and oppression. Supplies will be provided as well as copies of the March 2017 prisonbooks Political Prisoner birthday calendar. More info can be found at https://brabc.blackblogs.org On Thursday, March 23rd, check out the Tranzmission book packaging party, also at Firestorm. Tranzmission prison project is an all volunteer, books-and-zines-to-prisoners project that focuses on getting materials to incarcerated LGBTQI prisoners. This event starts at 6pm. http://avlcommunityaction.com/ On Sunday March 12th at the Odditorium in Asheville, there'll be a benefit concert for folks facing charges attached to the J20 Inauguration protests in DC this January. The door is at 8pm, it's a sliding scale donation and an all-ages show. Bands include: Gullible Boys; Mother Moses; Maitland +more TBA Water Crisis in PA Prisons Since August of 2016, Mumia Abu-Jamal and other Inmates at the State Correctional Facility in Mahanoy, Pennsylvania, have been plagued with unsafe drinking and bath water. For several months now, inmates have complained about brown, oily water in both the showers and the faucets of their cells. This has been an on-and-off problem from August 2016 to this very day. One of the inmates at SCI Mahonoy, Lorenzo Cat Johnson, when asked of the matter, stated that one week the water seems good and another week, when run, the water seems to go from the color gray to the color brown. As recently as last week in a conversation with MOVE Political Prisoner Edward Africa, Eddie was asked what he did for water and he stated that he obtained his water from a hot water filter that was on his cell block. So other than the alternative to obtain a little water from a hot water filter, men are being forced to shower and wash in brown water. Eddie stated that the only time inmates can get bottled water is when they are on a visit in the visiting room. All the while, prison staff are being provided bottled water at SCI Mahanoy and are being told not to drink the water because it's unsafe. Mumia Abu-Jamal, who is suffering from a very serious skin condition due to Hepatitis C, is required to take specialized baths in the prison infirmary, but has not been able to take these baths due to the water hazard. Grievances have been filed on this matter, but to no avail--the water situation has not been resolved. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH On March 6, 2017 there will be a National Day of Action aimed at both Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel. The power is in the hands of the people; the only way to make these officials respond is through massive public pressure, so we are upping the ante. From 9 am to 12 noon, folks are being asked to call, fax, and tweet theoffice of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf. (P) (717)787-2500 (F) (717) 772-8284 (Twitter) @GovernorTomWolf From 1 to 3 pm, folks are being asked to call, email, and tweet Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel. (P) (717) 728-2573 (Email) Ra-crpadocsecretary@pa.gov (Twitter) @DOCSecretary These Are the Demands: (1) Inmates at SCI Mahanoy are provided immediately with clean waterboth for their bathing and other personal needs. (2) An environmental Protection Agency testing of the water at both SCI Mahonoy and SCI Frackville. (3) Bottled water be provided immediately to inmates in all Correctional Facilities across Pennsylvania. Let's keep the pressure on to get clean water for the men and women across Pennsylvania’s state prisons. For more info, people can go to http://www.freemumia.com/ http://www.bringmumiahome.com Playlist pending
Red Warrior Society Tour This week on the show we spoke with Ikmu, an indigenous activist who was involved in the Red Warrior Camp at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Ikmu is now affiliated with the Red Warrior Society and is traveling with comrades around the country on a tour to talk about their work, decolonization and the struggle against ecocidal projects like #DAPL. For the hour, Ikmu and Bursts talk about the Camps at #StandingRock, indigeneity, decolonization, the cases against Water Protectors Krow, Red Fawn Fallis and others, prayer, direct action and more. We had this conversation just after the eviction of the Oceti Oyati Camp by pol-igs of various stripes. To find out about the upcoming West Coast branch of the Red Warrior Society Ride For Resistance Tour, check out their FedBook page Red Warrior Society's legal fund Red Warrior Society's Funds Account Contacts and support for some of the folks who are still being held in custody in connection with water protection at Standing Rock are: Katie “Krow/Twig” Kloth Katie Kloth Morton County Correctional Center 205 1st Ave. NW Mandan, ND 58554 Red Fawn Fallis 205 6th Street SE Suite 201, Jamestown ND 58401 Charles “Scorch” Jordan Charles Jordan Burleigh County Jail PO BOX 1416 Bismarck, ND 58502 and Michael “Rattler” Markus Michael Markus PO Box 1108 Washburn, ND 58577 Please write to and support these folks! For more information and further ways to support these brave folks, you can get up with the Water Protector Legal Collective and the Water Protector Anti Repression Crew on FedBook. Fundraising sites for these folks can be found at It's Going Down. To check out our 2013 conversation with Krow on defending the Penokee Hills in northern Wisconsin, it starts 35 minutes, 47 seconds into the episode. Announcements Updates from Sabal Trail Resistance Following our interview last week with Karrie and Niko of Sabal Trail Resistance against the Sabal Trail Pipeline in the South Eastern U.S., the two locked down inside a section of the pipeline in Marion County, Florida to hamper the construction of the high pressure gas pipeline and demanding the release of a revised Environmental Impact Statement. (I misspeak in the podcast and claim it was under the Suwanee River. Apologies) You can donate to the legal fund for these and other Water Protectors in the South East by visiting https://sabaltrailresistance.wordpress.com/donate/ Building The Commune in Durham #BUILDINGTHECOMMUNE is a convergence organized to spread the tools and knowledge for self-defense and autonomy throughout our community in Durham, NC. We are dedicated to building a culture and space for autonomous resistance against Trump and his regime, the State, and capitalism. This convergence is happening across three different venues in Durham: Pinhook, Arcana, and the Atomic Fern. The Welcoming Committee will be setup at Pinhook (at 117 W. Main St, Durham, NC 27701) with materials/programming distributed there. Childcare will be provided with drop-off/pick-up at the Atomic Fern (at 108 E Parrish St, Durham, NC 27701). A free lunch will be provided at Pinhook by Durham FoodNotBombs FedBook. To close out the day, an Autonomous Assembly will be held at Pinhook from 4:00PM – 5:00PM. The assembly will collectively create the agenda to be discussed, but we’d like to suggest that folks come prepared to discuss: announcements and projects to collaborate on; skills, resources, and spaces we can share with one another; direct issues/crises facing the community or concerns we’re feeling; and mutual aid networks (cop-watches, community medical programs, rapid-response call networks, etc.) we can begin building in Durham now. We will provide materials to help folks learn how they form affinity groups, so that they may begin autonomously building these networks themselves. You can see an entire list of workshops and events at the website http://www.buildingthecommune.com/ ACAB2017 If you are in Asheville or the surrounding area, consider participating in the first ever Asheville Anarchist Bookfair! The dates for this event are May 5-7th, and will include workshops, shows and dance parties, nature events, and a whole day of tabling revolutionary and anarchist art and literature. Keep your eyes on http://acab2017.noblogs.org for the latest in news about the fair, and also use this webiste to submit ideas for workshops, speakers, or tabling. See you there! Playlist
This Episode Sabal Trail Resistance This week we’re sharing a conversation we had with Karrie and Niko, two folks involved in the initiative called Sabal Trail Resistance. The immediate goal of Sabal Trail Resistance is to block the Sabal Trail Pipeline, actually a series of 3 pipelines meant to run through Georgia, Alabama and Florida, carrying pressurized natural gas. We spend about a half an hour of this episode chatting about the route, who’ll be effected, the companies behind the pipeline, environmental racism, decolonization and other related topics. Coming up, they plan a weekend of action February 23-27, including an action against prisons and in solidarity with longterm Indigenous political prisoner, Leonard Peltier. More on their project can be found at https://sabaltrailresistance.wordpress.com and http://stopsabaltrail.com AntiPolitika After that, we’re spreading a 10 minute interview between comrades at FrequenzA out of Hamburg, Germany, published in English at the end of January. From https://frequenza.noblogs.org: “The interview is about the first issue of ‘antipolitika’, released in summer 2016 with the topic antimilitarism. The anarchist newspaper consists of statements and articles from ex-yugoslavia and greece and is dedicated towards a broader public.” Updates on Sean Swain Before these words from anarchist prisoner Sean Swain, we have a quick update on his dietary situation. We’ve just gotten word that Sean resumed eating on his 50th day of hunger strike. He is still not being given a halal diet in line with his practice of Islam, and neither are other Muslim prisoners in Ohio, but he’s said that the administration is considering the move. He’s achieved the other demands that he was hungerstriking for. If you’d like to see Sean and other adherents to Islam in Ohio prisons during this age of increasing Islamophobia be able to at least eat according to their faith’s dietary practices, give a call to Ohio Governor, John “JWow” Kasich. You can call JWow at 614 466 3555, that’s The Honorable Governor of Ohio, John Kasich at 614 466 3555. You can also write to him via Governor Kasich 77 South High Street Columbus, OH 43215-6117 And request that Sean Swain, prisoner #243-205 who’s being held at Warren Correctional, be allowed to eat according to his faith. And, now, a word from Anarchist Prisoner Sean Swain Announcements Reporting ICE Raids on Social Media As many of yall are aware, there has been a lot of concern and fear regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (or ICE) checkpoints recently. Given the rising tide of overt xenophobia and racism in this country, these concerns are valid, and there has been a lot in the way of confirmed raids and detentions by ICE. However, the use of social media in these situations is something that can both help and hurt the situation, both being an effective way to broadly communicate an issue and a platform for a whole lot of unsubstantiated claims and rumors. In an effort to battle this aspect of social media use, I'd like to plug a resource that DRUM put out some time ago. DRUM stands for Desis Rising Up and Moving, and they are a NYC based group which "is a multigenerational, membership led organization of low-wage South Asian immigrant workers and youth in New York City. Founded in 2000, DRUM has mobilized and built the leadership of thousands of low-income, South Asian immigrants to lead social and policy change that impacts their own lives- from immigrant rights to education reform, civil rights, and worker’s justice. Our membership of over 2,400 adults, youth, and families is multigenerational and represents the diaspora of the South Asian community – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Guyana, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Trinidad." They have put out a very useful resource entitiled "A Brief Guide for Reporting Raids on Social Media", which we will link to directly in our blog. Basically it cautions against the spreading of unsubstantiated information and provides a step by step guide for what to do if you witness something: http://www.drumnyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/ABriefGuideforReportingRaidsonSocialMedia.docx.pdf To see more about DRUM you can visit http://www.drumnyc.org/ Support Krow From our comrades at http://supportkrow.org: On February 4, while supporting the No DAPL struggle, Krow (Katie Kloth) was assaulted and arrested by a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer (there is video of the incident below). She was walking on a public road, away from the Sacred Stone camp, when she was chased down by the officer. It is believed that she was specifically targeted because of her ongoing involvement and visibility within the No DAPL resistance, which had resulted in two arrests on misdemeanor charges previous to this incident. Krow was also known at Standing Rock for being an advocate for creating a unified front in fighting the pipeline. Krow has been charged with violation of felony probation and is being held at Morton County Correctional Center. The probation is from previous charges in Wisconsin stemming from an environmental protest against mining in the Penokee Hills in 2013, for which she served nine months in jail. After a recent bail reduction hearing, Krow was assigned a cash-only bail of $100,000. The stipulations of the judge require that the bail be paid in full. Even if the full bail is paid, it is likely that Morton County would refuse to release Krow. We are currently working with lawyers and legal teams in North Dakota and Wisconsin to figure this out. Donations to support Krow will go towards paying lawyers, commissary, postage, travel for supporters visiting Krow, and/or bail. Krow has stated that she wants the bail paid. We fear for Krow’s safety and well-being, especially in light of her assault and the severe mistreatment other water protectors have received in this particular facility. Krow is an activist, artist, forager, sustainable farmer, biologist, and amazing person loved by many within the environmental movement. We need to show her as much solidarity and support as we can at this vital time. In Krow’s own words, “We must negate state repression by protecting ourselves and land-bases therein; we must not give our people up, and recognize that to be in solidarity with one another is more akin to the idea of ‘harmony’ than ‘unity.’ Harmony implies that we can all do different things within the same song, and still find conclusion together.” Whether you are a direct action environmental activist or simply support the No DAPL struggle and protection of the land and all of its people, join us in supporting Krow, in solidarity with all things wild and free. Contact Krow’s support team at supportkrow (at)riseup.net You can also donate to Krow's legal fund at http://supportkrow.org/ Resisting Snitching in Berkeley From the Anti Repression Committee in Oakland: ARC is aware that UC Berkeley PD is circulating images of individuals who they claim are associated with the Berkeley anti-Milo protest on February 1. They are actively seeking information about these individuals, and are asking anyone with information to contact them. We want to remind everyone NOT to assist UC Berkeley PD in their investigation, EVEN IF it seems like the information you give is harmless. Remember that even minor information, like identifying a “witness,” can be used to increase surveillance of activist communities. Police use this kind of information to map activist networks and harass them. In the current political climate, the state is looking for ways to clamp down on dissent and resistance. Let’s not help them do that. Remember that you have NO LEGAL OBLIGATION to talk to police or FBI if contacted about the protest. They may try to make you feel intimidated, but you ALWAYS have the right to remain silent. If you are contacted by phone, email, letter, or in person, either ignore the correspondence, or tell the officer that you decline to speak with them. If you are contacted, immediately call the National Lawyers Guild at 415-285-1041 so that they can give you legal advice, and also so that they can be aware of police/FBI activities. Finally: DO NOT post or circulate the UC Berkeley PD webpage with pictures of individuals. We do not want to signal boost anything that will increase surveillance and targeting of our communities. NC J20 Defense As always, you can help support our comrades who got kettled in DC by donating to http://ncj20defense.com/ Playlist: http://www.ashevillefm.org/node/19229
Jesse Cohn rebroadcast This week we are re-broadcasting an episode which originally aired in early May 2015 with Jesse Cohn who is the author of the book Underground Passages: Anarchist Resistance Culture 1848-2011, published by AK Press. In the book, Jesse explores trajectories in literature, cartoons, comics, music, poetry, drama produced at times by and or for or just conspicuously consumed by anarchists in europe, north and south america and asia during that time period. More info on the book can be found at https://www.akpress.org/ Stay tuned next week for a conversation with an anarchist who has spent a bunch of time in struggle at Standing Rock about their experiences and moving forward with an explicitely anti colonialist approach to resource extraction resistance. But first here are some announcements: "Imperial Wizard" kicks it! To start off with some good news, yesterday February 11th the bloated corpse of KKK Imperial Wizard Frank Ancona was fished out of the Missouri River, apparently after having been there for a hot minute. This piece of human garbage white supremacist is the bonehead who was credited with saying that Ferguson protesters, showing their rage at the police murder of Mike Brown, had awakened a "sleeping giant" in the KKK and claimed unlimited violence in "retaliation". Who's sleepin now, Frankie? In whatever way this death occured, here's hoping that KKK will follow their leader in this ultimate act. Support NC #DisruptJ20 arrestees On January 20, 2017, tens of thousands of people converged in Washington, D.C. for the #disruptJ20 protests opposing the inauguration of Donald Trump. A combination of blockades, marches, and festive demonstrations made it clear around the world that the people do not recognize Trump’s authority or support his policies. In response, D.C. police went on a rampage, shooting pepper spray, tear gas, and concussion grenades indiscriminately at protesters, including children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. In one instance, police cordoned off an entire block and mass arrested 257 people, including dozens of North Carolinians. This attack on political dissent is intended to create a chilling effect to keep protesters out of the streets so that Trump can move forward with his divisive agenda. We owe it to the arrestees to support them through the legal process so they can get adequate representation and as fair a hearing as possible. A group of North Carolinian community organizers created the NC J20 Legal Defense Fund to quickly and efficiently support the arrestees from North Carolina. Please join us in donating, and spread the word to everyone who cares about civil discourse and the future of our world. If you are a North Carolinian arrested at #disruptJ20 and are not yet in touch with us, email ncj20legalteam@gmail.com We cannot accept donations in individual’s names, but all donations will be used to provide legal support to #disruptJ20 arrestees from North Carolina. You can donate at http://ncj20defense.com/ Antifa Sacramento medical support From Antifa Sacramento: One of the six antifascists who was stabbed by Neo-Nazis at the capitol building in Sacramento on June 26th, 2016 still has thousands of dollars in medical bills to pay. An artist has made a beautiful print to support this person, and it is now being sold to continue fundraising for this brave individual’s remaining medical bills. They are 5 dollars each, and printed on 7×8 cardstock. If you would like one, please head over to the website https://antifasac.noblogs.org/donate/, make a donation, and email the crew to let them know how many cards you’d like and what address we should mail it to. Thank you for the support! -Antifa Sacramento Herbal Clinic at la ZAD From comrades at la ZAD, the autonomous occupation resisting the building of an airport in in Notre Dame des Landres outside of Paris, France: We're a group of people who have been working with medicinal plants on the ZAD for the past 6 years. We've made a collective medicinal plant garden and do wild harvesting to stock a small apothecary of dried plants that we distribute at the non-market or out of a house. Some of us do first aid in demos or everyday on the ground, and others do education like plant walks and workshops. In an effort to have more collective autonomy in healthcare, we would like to be able to do consultations, both individual and group. The idea is to have one day a week for free price individual consultations, and another for people to come and learn together, combining different people's knowledge while having access to plants, to figure out common acute illnesses. However, to have enough medicine for 300 people all year long, would mean full time in the garden and probably bitter burnout. Which is why we are asking for money. Just this week a group in solidarity finished building a cabin where we can dry, process, and store plants, and do consultations and workshops. We're able to get access to bulk tinctures that are super cheap (€2 an oz.!!!) and plan to distribute medicine at free or indicated price so that we can make some of the money back and the clinic can fund itself and time can be spend gardening instead of having to beg for money all the time. Money raised will go primarily towards tinctures and dried plants, but also to bottles, tools and machines, and menstrum for making more medicine. Please help us out! Also if you can donate dried plants or medicine get in touch at plantesmedicinaleszad@riseup.net You can donate to la ZAD by visiting the website https://www.generosity.com/community-fundraising/zad-herb-clinic Playlist: http://www.ashevillefm.org/node/19156
This week we thought we'd take a teeny break from politics and scream it out with some new and not so new anarchist and antifascist punk, metal, new wave, and more. We'll be back next week with an anarchist take on updates at Standing Rock and how to keep anti extraction momentum going, plus strategies on how best for non indigenous folks to be accomplices in indigenous struggles. For music, as we have in the past, we tip our hats generously to the good folks at Red And Anarchist Black Metal & The Dark Skies Above Us for continuing to offer space for aggressive and not-so-aggressive anti-racist, antifascist, feminist, ecological, anti-capitalist, and generally anti-authoritarian music from around the world! Announcements These three people are being held by police in connection to water protection at Standing Rock, this information is from (518) 474-8390 Email: https://www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form Write: The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo Governor of New York State NYS State Capitol Building Albany, NY 12224 Email these people: 1) Marta Nelson, marta.nelson@exec.ny.gov- Executive Director of the Governor’s Council on Community Re-Entry and Reintegration 2) Acting DOCCS Commissioner Annucci, anthony.annucci@doccs.ny.gov 3) Senator Gallivan, gallivan@nysenate.gov- Senate Chair of Corrections Committee 4) Assemblymember Weprin, WeprinD@nyassembly.gov - Assembly Chair of Corrections Committee 5) Senator Avella, Avella@nysenate.gov- Senate Chair of Children & Families Committee 6) Assemblymember Jaffee, JaffeeE@nyassembly.gov - Chair Assembly Committee on Children & Families ======= Playlist here
The Inspection House This time we are rebroadcasting an episode which originally aired in March 2015 with the two authors of the book "The Inspection House", Emily Horne and Tim Maly. In this interview we talk about the book, the idea of the panopticon, the concept of security theater as a psychologically repressive tool and much more. We decided that now would be a good time to rebroadcast this particular episode because, what with a bunch of comrades and heros ramping up in righteous ways on various fronts, it might be a good idea to re-introduce this idea of panoptic surveillance with an eye to helping spark conversations in yalls communities about security culture and keeping safe in the midst of a high key surveillance state. It's believed that under Trump, the surveillance will only get more nightmarish and more fascistic, however we can and will adapt to this newer state of affairs. To get a copy of this book and to read some more about it and the authors, you can visit https://chbooks.com/Books/T/The-Inspection-House Make Airports Great for the First Time Ever If you are listening in Asheville, there is a protest called for at 4pm TODAY at the Atlanta airport - which is the busiest in the country - in response to Trump's ban on Muslim people from countries including Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. This has led to folks with greencards getting detained and questioned in airports all over the U.S. If you can make the drive and want to be a part of the already massive resistance, please do! Be advised that protesting at airports is a different ballgame than in the streets, the presence of homeland security makes the possibility of being detained for lengthy periods without access to legal aid more likely. Keep yourself and your crew safe by making sure no one gets lost or separated. https://itsgoingdown.org/igd-protests-breakout-airports-trumps-immigration-ban/ Announcements Sean Swain on Hunger Strike Sean Swain continues his hunger strike against his unfair treatment at the hands of the Ohio Department of Corrections at Warren Corruptional in Lebanon, Ohio. For those who don't know Sean, here's some background. Sean Swain went to prison in 1991 for defending himself during a home invasion. He was dating and living with a woman and her kids when her abusive ex-partner and father of the kids was released from prison and came to confront Sean, who he saw as a usurper. When dude kicked in the door to the apartment Sean defended himself from what he saw was an attacker with a weapon and stabbed the man. Sean had no prior record. The home invader was related to court officials and so the case was made and Sean Swain was convicted. As time went on, Sean became politicized in prison, developed anarchist critiques and began publishing zines with the help of outside groups like Anarchist Black Cross. As time went on, Sean became a thorn in the side of the administration of his prisons by developing and implementing skills as a jailhouse lawyer, adept at filing lawsuits on behalf of himself and other prisoners against deplorable conditions. In 2012, Sean was charged with being an organizer with the Army of the 12 Monkeys, a guerrilla sabotage movement in the Ohio Prison system that spread ideas of resistance among prisoners and organized conflagrations in institutions. Sean denied his participation with what he called a self-styled Maoist organization, though he expressed appreciation of the content. Due to this conviction, Sean was shuttered away in super duper uber mega ultramax prisons. This is when our relationship with Sean began. Since January 19th, 2014, we've aired mostly weekly installments of a segment by Sean called "You Are The Resistance", in which Sean talks about his time inside, his ideas, shares his humor at the illogical world of politics and what he calls Swivelization and more. You can find these segments linked from Sean's support site, http://seanswain.org, alongside his writings and updates on his case. Sean is currently being held in a suicide cell, away from general population at Warren CI in Lebanon, Ohio, as I mentioned. He has refused to speak to administrators and refused food since December 26th of 2016, only taking water. This is worrisome as he's no spring chicken, he's hunger struck before, and according to word that got out a few days ago he's dropped in weight by 28 pounds and has crossed the 30 day threshold, increasing the danger of organ and bone damage due to lack of nutrients. Sean is striking because administration keeps throwing unwarranted charges his way and isn't providing him with functioning means of communication with his aging parents and his supporters. Here's what you can do, dear listeners: you could annoy the Deputy Warden of Operations at Warren CI by calling him at 513 932 3388 extension 2005 and requesting that he seee to the repair of all broken phones at the institution holding Sean and a regular schedule of maintenance be established. You can also call Warden’s Assistant Greg Kraft (513) 932-3388 ext. 2010 and request that they retract the charge of extortion that's been placed on Sean and that they stop messing with our boy. Stay Dangerous, Swainiacs, and let's get Sean outta the hole and back on the mac n cheese. Legal Defense for J20 Protesters Various community defense funds have sprung up around getting support moneys to folks facing charges from arrests in Washington DC while protesting the Inauguration of Donald Kampf, I mean Trump on January 20th. On that day at around 11AM, a group of over 200 folks were kettled at the intersection of 12th & L (12L!), including journalists, medics, legal observers from the NLG & ostensibly protesters. While the kettle was valiantly charged and briefly broken, the majority of these folks inside were arrested and face felony riot charges. Likely, most of these charges will be dropped AAAAND a suit against the city and USPP and other law enforcement that kept kettled folks out in the 40 degree weather over the course of 7 hours is pending. But, check out our blog post for various fundraisers to get moneys to friends across North Carolina, in PA, Virginia, and other places who could use help covering lost wages, legal fees and travel costs outside of what's being offered by the DisruptJ20 crew. #J20 New Orleans Arrestee Support Durham DisruptJ20 Legal Fund Pittsburghers arrested in DC Richmond Antifa of the Seven Hills defense fund Denver folks arrested in the streets Keep your eyes out for more defense initiatives, this is by no means a complete list. Richard Spencer got clocked and everyone loves it! Philly antifa is also pre-emptively raising money to support the person who sucker punched alt-right pundit and nazi saluter Richard Spencer in the head on January 20th in the streets of DC. While conducting an interview and being heckled by folks around him, Richard Spencer was just reaching for his trusty Pepe the frog pin to explain the meme to the cameras when, irony of irony, he was about to become one himself. While the puncher has yet to be unmasked, don't think that the state and autonomous right don't want to make a trophy of them. We're including a link to this in our notes as well. Here's to more direct action and more dance remixes. To donate or learn more, check out https://phillyantifa.org/aboutdonate/ https://duckduckgo.com/?q=turn+down+for+what+spencer&t=lm&ia=videos&iax=1&iai=lyG16sAemLM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCZ19LLMRsU Antifa gunshot support During a protest against a speaking engagement by over-rated, pro-genocide & anti-semetic alt-right yackjob and Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos, a right winger shot an unarmed antifascist IWW organizer. The shooter later turned himself in, claiming self defense, and was released by Seattle police. The Wobbly who was shot is apparently not filing charges and is requesting dialogue. If you'd like to offer medical support to the shot antifascist, you can find a fundraising page at https://www.crowdrise.com/medical-fundraiser-for-iww-and-gdc-member-shot-in-seattle Playlist: http://www.ashevillefm.org/node/19005
This week we spoke with James. James is involved in anti-fascist and anti-repression work. Over the hour we spoke about the election of Donald Trump, the need for resistance in the face of a rising autonomous ethno-nationalism in the form of the alt-right and other formations, liberal ideas of the CIA and deep-state saving us from "ourselves," autonomous community building and self-defense and more. Here are a number of texts that James suggests readers check out to be better informed: http://Threewayfight.blogspot.ca https://itsgoingdown.org/trumptheregime-resources-ongoing-resistance-trump-far-right/ http://Antifascistnews.net https://www.academia.edu/5486857/Counterinsurgency_and_the_Occupy_Movement https://itsgoingdown.org/limits-possibilities-anti-fascism/ https://media.wix.com/ugd/c1543a_b08ebbb3dd6e426eb8f9d356e11acb23.pdf
This week we feature two interviews in the show. Kamua Franklin on #ungovernable First, we spoke with Kamau Franklin, who is a radical activist, the political editor for the online publication Atlanta Blackstar, and former attourney based out of Atlanta, GA. We are speaking today about Ungovernable, which is a radical organizing platform rooted in anti state Black and POC autonomy, how it began, its directives and ideals, and how to best move forward in this political moment among many other things. From their website: "We pledge to create a resistance movement that makes Trump unable to govern our oppression; unable to deceive the people, to make the people accept his reign of hatred. We refuse to give hatred a chance to govern, a chance to roll back civil and human rights, a chance to deport millions of people, a chance to create camps and registries for Muslims, a chance to expand the prison industrial complex, a chance to expand its drone wars, or a chance to turn back the gains won by our struggles." To learn more about Ungovernable, you can visit their website at https://www.ungovernable2017.com/, also you can hit them up on fedbook by searching "Ungovernable 2017 and Beyond", our guest has also invited people to message him on the FB too, you can do that by searching his name spelled Kamau Franklin. Repression in Turkey The second segment is an interview conducted by audio comrades from the Slovenian anarchist radio project called Crna Luknja with a member of the Turkish anarchist group DAF & an editor of their newspaper, Meydan. As we announced recently on the show, the main editor of Meydan, Hüseyin Civan, has just been sentenced to 15 months in prison in relation to 3 articles in their December 2015 issue dealing with the struggles of Kurdish minorities and the resistance they offer to the Turkish state's slow genocide. The conversation was published in their January 5th episode of 2017. Though most of Crna Luknja's interviews are conducted in Slovenian, they do produce interviews in English when it's the common language shared with their guests. More content from Crna Luknja can be found here. Announces First, though a few quick, mostly prisoner announcements: Sean Swain Sean Swain, an anarchist prisoner who's generally got a featured segment on this show and has for 3 years as of this week, has been on hunger strike at Warren Correctional Institution in Ohio since December 26th and has been placed in a suicide cell. Although details are still murky, we know that Sean has been without food since December 26th. He was charged with extortion of a deputy warden and had begun a disciplinary process when he began his hunger strike and was placed in a suicide cell. We know that the prison is recognizing his hunger strike and following the associated procedures, which include taking him to the medical unit every day and weighing him and taking his vital signs. It is unclear whether they are attempting to negotiate with him in any way. Please take a moment to write a letter of encouragement to Sean and to call the following prison administrators and encourage them to negotiate with Sean and help him end this hunger strike as quickly as possible. Deputy Director of Operations Casey Barr (513) 932-3388 ext. 2005 Warden’s Assistant Greg Kraft (513) 932-3388 ext. 2010 Updates on Sean can be found at http://seanswain.org Clemency Pushes There are pushes by the support crews in these last days of the Obama presidency to request clemency or commutations for the sentences of long standing political prisoners here in the U.S. The few that we've caught wind of specifically are the following: Leonard Peltier Leonard Peltier, an indigenous activist and prisoner in his 70's is continuing to serve in federal prison as his health declines despite his denial of guilt in the shooting death of 2 fbi agents during the raid on the American Indian Movement's encampment on the Pine Ridge Reservation in North Dakota in 1975. The case has been hotly debated since it was held, with many contesting the possibility of Peltier's guilt. Recently, one of his prosecutors from that case said that it was time to let him go due to his age and health. More on his case can be found at http://whoisleonardpeltier.info Reach out to US AG: The Honorable Loretta Lynch Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice Comment Line: +1 202 353 1555 Contact form: https://www.justice.gov/doj/webform/your-message-department-justice Chelsea Manning Chelsea Manning is a former intel analyst for the U.S. Military who was convicted of sharing documentation of military abuses with Wikileaks and is serving a 35 year sentence. She is also a Trans Woman who transitioned inside of military prison and because of her poor treatment on the inside has been very depressed and attempted suicide. There is hope that in his last days, Obama may commute her sentence for trying to do the right thing and to protect against the increased cruelty of the upcoming regime. Visit http://chelseamanning.org for details on how to support her Resisting the Inauguration, J20 An extensive list of anti-inaugural activities are set for January 20th around the Empire. Check out a partial list by finding the post: https://itsgoingdown.org/disruptj20-actions-across-us-trump-regime/ Here in AVL: https://j20asheville.noblogs.org/ Playlist: http://www.ashevillefm.org/node/18858
Interview This week we are rebroadcasting an interview with Peter Werbe of Fifth Estate magazine, which originally aired in February 2015. Fifth Estate is an “anarchist, anti-capitalist, anti-authoritarian, anti-profit project” which is published cooperatively three times a year, and this year marks its 50th year of publication. The magazine tackles current events, issues, theory, and praxis which would be of interest to an anarchist audience. To find out more about this project, and to subscribe, you can visit http://www.fifthestate.org In this interview we talk about the magazine’s historical trajectory, from its inception in 1965 as a weekly, less political periodical, to its takeover by anarchists in 1975, to what it is today. They talk about the Eat The Rich Gang and its associations with Fifth Estate magazine, as well as directions the project could take. For more on Peter Werbe’s radio work, you can visit http://www.peterwerbe.com Announcements The founder of the crisis hotline Trans Lifeline is being detained by immigration authorities in Arizona after being stopped while driving home to Chicago. Nina Chaubal, 25, an India-born Chicagoan and the co-founder of Trans Lifeline (a San Francisco-based non-profit), was driving to Chicago from California on Interstate-8 with her wife and two friends when the group encountered an immigration checkpoint in Arizona on Wednesday. There, officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Chaubal and demanded she show them her passport (Chaubal was carrying her Illinois drivers license at the time, but not her passport, because she was traveling through the United States and not crossing international borders, so she provided ICE with a photo of her passport) and that she provide proof that she is married to a U.S. citizen. They then took her into custody after learning that her gender identity did not match the gender listed on her Indian passport and that she was in the country on an expired work visa. Chaubal's family and friends are urging ICE to release Chaubal, who has been held since Wednesday by ICE in two Arizona immigration detention facilities. She is currently being held at Eloy Detention Center in Eloy, Arizona—a privately operated prison with a disturbing reputation for violence against LGBT detainees. Chaubal's wife is pushing to have her released—reasoning that the well-known activist and non-profit founder should not be imprisoned and is not a flight risk—or at least transferred to another detention center with a better track record for treating LGBT people. She is also urging friends, family and supporters to help amplify her voice by contacting ICE with these requests. To hear more about this situation, and to contact ICE in various ways about their treatment of Nina Chaubal, you can visit the website http://messica.codes/freenina/ To learn more about Trans Lifeline and to donate to this project, you can visit http://www.translifeline.org/ -------------- On Jan 5th, 2017, The Odditorium in Asheville will be hosting a benefit concert for the newly-formed Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross starting at 9pm. Come early for a Security Culture 101/201 training where folks'll talk about things you need to keep your community safe. The lineup includes: Secret Shame, Nomadic War Machine, Kangarot & Cloudgayzer --Before this event, don't miss the Anarchist Bookfair Planning and Info Session at Firestorm from 8-9:30pm on the 5th for Asheville's first ever anarchist book fair in the summer of 2017! Come share ideas for what you would like to see at this event and for ways on how to get involved. And on Tuesday January 10th from 7-9pm at Firestorm Books and Coffee, there will be a presentation entitled Preparing for the Trump Era: An Anarchist Viewpoint. In this talk, the presenters will address various questions such as how did Trump come to power, and what does that tell us about the era we are entering? They will go on to discuss what strategies might be effective in countering repressive government policies and the rise of grassroots nationalism. Playlist is here: http://www.ashevillefm.org/node/18709
