Category Archives: activism

abolition, activism, Anarchist, General, Pennsylvania, Prisons, Racism, Transcribed, zine

Bulldoze SCI Rockview: Abolition, Prisoner Support, and Resistance to Genocide in PA-DOC

Bulldoze SCI Rockview: Abolition, Prisoner Support, and Resistance to Genocide in PA-DOC

Black and white cartoon of a grill with prison bars at bent and torn
Download This Episode

SCI Rockview is a prison in central Pennsylvania where incarcerated comrades have been facing repression for demanding justice in the face of impunity by racist COs and following a year of prisoner deaths due to institutional toxicity and guard violence. We speak to an outside supporter about the situation at Rockview, the reactions of administration, inside / outside relationships and solidarity that have flared up. We hope that this conversation contributes to increased and thickened ties between folks on both sides of the walls.

You can read some recent posts about this situation at AbolitionistStudy.com and PHLAntiCap.NoBlogs.org and you can find audio from the wives of prisoners at SCI Rockview on In The Mix Prisoner Podcast. A few other sites of interest include StudyAndStruggle.com, DC IWOC on instagram, and In The Belly Journal.

This conversation was conducted via encrypted messages and recorded by a comrade Golem and Ash from the the MolotovNow! Podcast, so a big thanks is due to them.

Announcement

Jorge “Yorch” Esquivel

Jorge has now been held in prison for over a year without a trial, and urgently needs funds to cover legal fees and prison costs (food, water, phone calls, visits, administration fees, service costs, etc).

Jorge “Yorch” Esquivel is a beloved compañero of the punk community, and a long-time participant of the Okupa Che. He was arrested on December 8, 2022 by plainclothes police as he was leaving the campus of the Ciudad Universitaria (of the UNAM university) in Mexico City as part of a campaign of criminalization against the Okupa  or squat.

BACKGROUND

On February 24, 2016, an operative was carried out in which plainclothes policemen detained him, “planting” drugs on him in order to fabricate crimes, and accusing him of drug trafficking, as part of a campaign of repression on the squatted auditorium Okupa Che in UNAM (still existing). The whole case was plagued with irregularities. He was transferred to Oaxaca and then to a maximum-security prison in Hermosillo as a strategy to hinder his legal defense by taking him far away from his support networks. Thanks to the solidarity and legal work, he was reclassified from the crime of drug dealing to simple possession of narcotics, and was released on bail in March 2016.

Even though he was no longer in prison, he was not out of danger. Constant threats and journalistic reports did not cease; the press even reported his death and accused him of participating in organized crime. Meanwhile, steps were being taken to frame him once again and re-arrest him for the same fabricated crime.

On December 8, 2022 he was arrested in exactly the same place – a few steps outside Ciudad Universitaria, where the Okupa is located, once again by plainclothes police – with the grounds for this illegal
detention being that the Attorney General’s Office appealed the decision to reclassify the crime.

The compañero’s health is fragile due to an extended hospitalization a couple years back and the toll the prison conditions have taken on him.

CURRENT SITUATION

Jorge is currently incarcerated in the Reclusorio Oriente prison in Mexico City. The legal process is still in the evidence stage. Several hearings have been postponed and Jorge’s process is being delayed and prolonged to keep him in what is called “preventative imprisonment” with no sentence, which is common for cases of political prisoners in Mexico.

Despite the fact that there is no evidence to keep him in prison, the strategy of the State is clearly to drag it out as long as possible, which is a tortuous level of uncertainty for all of us close to Jorge.

Thanks to the solidarity of individuals, collectives and networks, it has been possible to cover Jorge’s expenses inside the prison, which have been very high due to the corruption that reigns in Mexican prisons. We are raising funds to support his legal costs and basic needs to be able to survive in this unjust incarceration, and to re-join the community on the outside as soon as possible. We call upon the solidarity of our friends and compañerxs around the world to help us in supporting our compañero Yorch.

For updates and news:

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • Ba Teaches Yoga by Four Tet from Beautiful Rewind

Continue reading Bulldoze SCI Rockview: Abolition, Prisoner Support, and Resistance to Genocide in PA-DOC →

activism, Author, General, Prisons

Mac Marquis on “Books Through Bars: Stories from the Prison Books Movement”

Mac Marquis on Books Through Bars

book cover of "Books Through Bars"
Download This Episode

This week, you’ll hear our chat with David “Mac” Marquis, one of the editors and contributors to the recently published new book Books Through Bars: Stories From The Prison Books Movement out from University of Georgia Press. We talk about prison books projects, what they say about conditions inside, some of the value of this inside-outside organizing and what you can expect to find in the book.

abolition, activism, General, Ohio, Prison Strike, Prisons, Transcribed, zine

James “Jay” Ward On Incarceration And His Struggle To Be Free

James “Jay” Ward On Incarceration And His Struggle To Be Free

photo of James "Jay" Ward
Download This Episode

This week you’ll hear from James “Jay” Ward, a long-time abolitionist who has been incarcerated in Ohio for over half his life, since he was 15. Over the years, he has participated in the national prison strike of 2018, various hunger strikes, and other movements against the abuse and mistreatment of incarcerated people.

One of his major political goals is to educate the public about the struggles he and other prisoners face to create systemic change. Without a sentence reduction, Jay will likely spend the next 25 years in prison as well. Jay is currently raising funds to pursue post-conviction relief so that he can reunite with friends and family and begin a new life on the outside. Despite Jay’s best efforts, he was not able to visit his mother before she died of an illness in 2022. He would like the chance to spend time with his father, who is also in poor health, before he passes.

Jay’s links:

His mailing address is:

James Ward
A571461
P.O. Box 788
Mansfield, OH 44901

Continue reading James “Jay” Ward On Incarceration And His Struggle To Be Free →

activism, Anarchist, Francaise, General, Police, repression, Security Culture, Surveillance, Technology, Transcribed, zine

Corvallis Bookfair, Tyumen Case, and Counter-Surveillance

"TFSR 3-10-24 | Heart of the Valley Anti-Capitalist Bookfair, Updates on Tyumen Case, and Counter-Surveillance" featuring: a photo of posters of the Tyumen prisoners strung between trees in a forest; a logo of flames licking a double-helix of DNA; a print for the bookfair with people reading under a tree
Download This Episode

This week, we’re featuring four segments.

First up, you’ll hear a chat with organizers of the 2024 Heart of the Valley Anticapitalist Bookfair which ran its first iteration in Corvallis, Oregon from January 19-21st.  A zine of their experiences will appear on that blog soon. [ -> 00:24:18 ]

Then, you’ll hear a brief segment updating listeners on the conspiracy case against six anarchists and antifascists in Russia known as the Tyumen case (for where it initiated). The six anarchists, some of whom barely knew each other, were tortured into confessions of conspiracy to further anarchist ideology and damage the Russian war machine. [ 00:24:34 – 00:32:53 ]

Following this, we spoke with Aster, a European anarchist involved in the counter-surveillance and anti-repression project known as the No Trace Project which works to share information about known methods and cases of state surveillance. The project does this in order to improve and expand our collective knowledge, tools and abilities at evading state crackdowns as we organize and act. This interview was conducted via encrypted messages and Aster’s portion is being read by an unrelated volunteer. [ 00:35:47 – 01:05:18 ]

If you plan to visit their site, we suggest at least running a VPN (riseup.net has a free one) and using an anonymized browser. One method is to download the tor browser (find your device/operating system at ssd.eff.org for some tips) and visit the NoTrace Project tor address. Their website can also be found at https://NoTrace.How

Finally, you’ll hear Sean Swain’s reading of names of people killed by cops in the USA during October of 2023. [ 01:09:50 ]

Tyumen Links

. … . ..

Featured Tracks:

Continue reading Corvallis Bookfair, Tyumen Case, and Counter-Surveillance →

activism, Antifa, Author, fascism, General, Philosophy, Politics, Racism, Routledge, Transcribed, United States, zine

Extremism, Fascist Voids and Antifascist Hope with Joan Braune

Extremism, Fascist Voids and Antifascist Hope with Joan Braune

"TFSR 2-25-24 | Extremism, Fascist Voids and Antifascist Hope with Joan Braune" featuring the book cover of "Understanding and Countering Fascist Movements"
Download This Episode

An interview with Joan Braune, author of Understanding and Countering Fascist Movements: From Void to Hope out this year from Routledge. In this chat we talk about understanding fascism and fascists, motivations and deterrents, the framework of “deradicalization”, the role of former fascists in education around fascism and the importance of fostering antifascist movements.

Continue reading Extremism, Fascist Voids and Antifascist Hope with Joan Braune →

activism, Appalachia, Drug War, General, Health, Mountain Valley Pipeline, North Carolina, Pipeline, Protest, repression, Transcribed, United States, Virginia, West Virginia, zine

Harm Reduction and Eco-defense in Appalachia

Harm Reduction and Eco-defense in Appalachia

Project Mayday logo featuring a badger and crossed needles, a photo of an MVP site at Peters Mountain with a zoom in on Madeline Ffitch locked down + "TFSR 2-18-24 | Harm Reduction + Eco-Defense in Appalachia"
Download This Episode

First up, Ian chats with Tasha of Project Mayday, a harm reduction project operating in so-called West Virginia. They discuss harm reduction strategies and the political framework of their approach to mutual aid. The conversation also touches upon co-existing in the public health and non-profit space without compromising their radical values and some of the many ways that drug policy and pharmaceutical marketing affect people who use drugs. Listeners can contact Project Mayday at the links below and should watch those spaces for news about the benefit show coming up on April 28th.

Then, I spoke with Toby from Appalachians Against Pipelines and Madeline Ffitch, an activist recently arrested for locking down to a drill threatening to move the Mountain Valley Pipeline through Peters Mountain at Jefferson National Forest. We talked about the recent days of solidarity, direct actions against the MVP, repression of activists and related topics.

Project Mayday Links

Appalachians Against Pipelines links

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • We Roll (instrumental) by Pete Rock from We Roll

Continue reading Harm Reduction and Eco-defense in Appalachia →

activism, Anarchist, Antifa, FrequenzA, New York, Prisons, repression, Russia, Transcribed, United States, zine

Free Alex Stokes + Russian Anti-War Saboteur Ruslan Siddiqui

Free Alex Stokes + Russian Anti-War Saboteur Ruslan Siddiqui

"TFSR 2-4-2024 | Alex Stokes faces 20 years + Russian Anti-War Sabateur Ruslan Siddiqui" featuring a photo of Alex looking to the left and Ruslan in fatigues in a forest holding a cow skull
Download This Episode

This week on the show, we’re starting out with an interview with Lo and Meghan, two supporters of Jewish independent journalist, artist and antifascist leftist from Albany, NY, Alex Stokes Contompasis. Alex is serving a 20 year sentence for defending himself and 3 other community members attacked by Proud Boys and Oath Keepers at the New York state capital on January 6th, 2021. For the hour, we speak with Lo and Meghan, two friends and supporters of Alex who talk about Alex’s media work, the politically-charged court case and his ongoing appeal. More on his case can be found at FreeAlexStokes.Com, you can order his artwork to support his case there as well. They mentioned getting support & attention from the International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund.

Then, you’ll hear an interview from our comrades at Frequenz-A in so-called Germany with a recent interview of Anya of the grassroots group called Solidarity Zone that offers legal, media and other support to people facing charges for anti-war direct actions inside of Russia to speak about their work and the case of Ruslan Siddiqui, an anarchist who does not deny railway sabotage against the Russian war efforts in Ukraine. This first aired on episode 75 of B(A)D News: Angry Voices From Around The World from the A-Radio Network.

Solidarity Zone Links

Finally, you’ll hear Sean Swain reading from an incomplete list of people killed by law enforcement in the USA during the month of April 2023.

Announcements

Red Onion Hunger Strike Phone Zap

The saga at Red Onion continues, with more than 30 participants. Participants are asking supporters to call the Governor and the Virginia Department of Corrections to demand that the Red Onion follows state restrictions on solitary confinement. Kevin “Rashid” Johnson is additionally requesting his treatment for congestive heart failure and prostate cancer that he be moved from Red Onion to a facility like Sussex I or Buckingham that are near to large medical facilities.

You can hear a recent interview we had with a comrade of Rashid and see a roundtable of comrades of Rashid on Black Power Media recently talking about his situation. Here’s a social media post with all of the pertinent information: https://kolektiva.social/@BlueRidgeABC/111868911724769356

  • VADOC Central Administration USPS P.O. Box 26963; Richmond, VA 23261
    David Robinson
    Phone: 804-887-8078
    Email: david.robinson@vadoc.virginia.gov
  • VADOC Director, Chadwick S Dotson Phone: 804-674-3081
    Email: Chadwick. Dotson@vadoc.virginia.gov
  • VADOC Central Administration Rose L. Durbin Phone: 804-887-7921
    Email: Rose. Durbin@vadoc.virgina.gov
  • Beth Cabell, Division of Institutions Phone: 804-834-9967
    Email: beth.cabell@vadoc.virginia.gov
  • Governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin Phone: 804-786-2211
    Email: glenn.youngkin@governor.virginia.gov

Sample script: I am calling in support of the hunger strikers at Red Onion State Prison. I am concerned about the serious health effects of long-term solitary confinement and other illegal and brutal methods of confinement including sensory deprivation. Please end the use of these practices. I am also seriously concerned for the health of Kevin ‘Rashid’ Johnson, as he is being prevented from accessing care for his health conditions. Please move him back to Sussex I or to Buckinghm, near a major medical facility, so that he can resume cancer and cardiac treatment. Thank you.

Support Guarani M’Bya in Brazil

from FireFund.Net:

This campaign aims to support two native land in São Paulo south and also, others in state interior and coastal zones.
Our goals is to restore and expand the prayer house (Opy’i) and communal kitchen, plant native trees and subsistence foodsuch as corn, rice, potato and others, distribute water and generate clean energy collected from surrounding rivers, support the cerimonies, and other constructions such as houses and other demands that the comunitie brings to us.
Also carry out the construction of ecological bathrooms and support the school located in the land. These are some of the missions and commitments we have to native people here in São Paulo.

. … . ..

Featured Tracks:

  • Get It Together (Buck Wild Instrumental) by The Beastie Boys
  • High Water Everywhere, Part 2 by Charlie Patton from Complete Recordings 1929-1934

Continue reading Free Alex Stokes + Russian Anti-War Saboteur Ruslan Siddiqui →

activism, Colonialism, General, Housing, Israel, Middle East, Nonviolence, Palestine, repression, Transcribed, zine

Mohammad Hureini of Youth of Sumud

Mohammad Hureini of Youth of Sumud

A black and white photo of Mohammad Hureini in a jacket with a Nehru collar in an olive orchard plus the words "TFSR 1-28-24 | Mohammad Hureini of Youth of Sumud"
Download This Episode

This week, we’re featuring a conversation with Mohammad Hureini (twitter / instagram), a young activist from Masafer Yatta, an area in the hills south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank in Palestine. Mohammad is a member of a non-violent group called Youth of Sumud that struggles to hold on to the sites and lives of Palestinian villages despite displacement by the Israeli military occupation as well as the illegal zionist settlements (like the neighboring Havat Ma’on) and their routine violence and impunity. For the hour, Mohammad speaks about the work of Youth of Sumud, their recent report co-published with The Good Shepherd on increased settler violence entitled Indigenous Erasure: How the zionist movement is using state sanctioned violence to eliminate the Palestinian communities of the West Bank, the South African genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice and other topics.

Organizations Mohammad names doing on the ground support:

Recent interviews about the conflict in Palestine

Announcements

B(A)D News #75 is out!

Check out the January 2024 episode featuring updates on support for antifascists facing charges in Budapest from February 11, 2023; reflections from an Autonomist on the ’80s-’90s journal “Radikal”; a portion of our interview with Israeli refuser Yuval Dag; and an interview from Solidarity Zones on the case of accused Russian war sabateur, Ruslan Siddiqui

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • Building Steam with a Grain of Salt by DJ Shadow from Entroducing….

Continue reading Mohammad Hureini of Youth of Sumud →

activism, Anarchist, Colonialism, General, Hunger Strike, Israel, military, Palestine, Prisons, Protest, Rashid, repression, Transcribed, Virginia, zine

Hunger Strike at Red Onion + Military Refuser in Israel

Hunger Strike at Red Onion + Military Refuser in Israel

This week on the show, we’re featuring three segments.

Image of Yuval Dag holding a poster, prisoner holding a license plate reading "Red Onion Prison Hunger Strike" with the text "TFSR 1-21-24 | Hunger Strike at Red Onion Prison + Yuval Dag, Israeli Military Refuster"
Download This Episode

First up, you’ll hear an interview with Shupavu wa Kirima, General Secretary of the Revolutionary Intercommunal Black Panther Party, comes on to talk to us about the ongoing hunger strike among prisoners at Red Onion State Prison in Virginia protesting the abuse of solitary confinement and the medical status of hunger striker Kevin “Rashid” Johnson. More at https://RashidMod.Com [00:01:18 – 00:25:47]

Then, Yuval Dag, an Israeli anarchist member of Mesarvot recently imprisoned for publicly refusing conscription, talks about draft refusal, opposing the war on Palestinians and the occupation and undoing zionist ideology. More at https://linktr.ee/meaarvot [00:27:31 – 01:06:13]

Finally, you’ll hear Sean Swain reading the names of people killed by US law enforcement during February 2023 [01:06:15 – 01:12:02]

Call-in / Emails For Red Onion Hunger Strikers

Who To Contact:

VADOC~ Central Administration; USPS—
P.O. Box 26963
Richmond, VA 23261

Virginia DOC ~ Director, Chadwick S Dotson,

VADOC ~Central Administration

Rose L. Durbin, Phone~804-887-7921
Email: Rose.Durbin@vadoc.virgina.gov

Beth Cabell, Division of Institutions
beth.cabell@vadoc.virginia.gov
(804)834-9967

Gov. Glenn Youngkin
(804)786-2211
glenn.youngkin@governor.virginia.gov

Red Onion Hunger Strike Participants last we heard:

  • Kevin “Rashid” Johnson – #1007485
  • Jason Barrett – #1092874
  • Rodney Lester – #1429887
  • Charles Cousino – #2213403
  • Eric Thompson – #1208012
  • Joe Thomas – 1193196
  • Nguyen Tuan – #1098070
  • Demetrius Walllace – #1705834
  • Gregory Binns – #1157265
  • P. Williams – #2103207
  • DeQuan Saunders – #1458253
  • J. Hilliard – #1988319
  • Ray Galloway – #1407902
  • Gregory Azeez – #1421616

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • One Man Army (instrumental)  by Rage Against The Machine

Continue reading Hunger Strike at Red Onion + Military Refuser in Israel →

activism, Art, Cartoons, Comics, Transcribed, zine

Cypher Human Rights Comics with Adam Shapiro

Cypher Human Rights Comics with Adam Shapiro

Book cover of "We Are Many" featuring a cartoon march of a women in purple shirts with flags with the feminism symbol + the text "TFSR 12-24-23 | Cypher Human Rights Comics with Adam Shapiro"
Download This Episode

On this episode, Ian spoke with Adam Shapiro, Co-editor of We Are Many, a comics anthology released as part of the Cypher Zine project (@cypher_comics on Instagram) and published by Radix Media. The book pairs artists and activists to create narratives around the defense of women and sex workers around the globe.

Among other topics, the conversation touches on the process of matching local artists with the activists on the ground, notions of human rights defense (as defined by UN guidelines) as it relates to autonomous, self-directed struggle. They also speak about the strengths and limitations of NGO-led initiatives, and the effects of emergent disasters on long-term organizing initiatives.

But first, a Sean Swain shares his book reviews of 2023.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • Glaciers of Ice by El Michels Affair

Continue reading Cypher Human Rights Comics with Adam Shapiro →