This week we are rebroadcasting an interview that William and Disembodied Voice conducted with Walidah Imarisha, who is an Oregon based writer, educator, public scholar and spoken word artist about her book Angels With Dirty Faces: Three Stories of Crime, Prison, and Redemption, her 2016 book out from AK Press and IAS, which highlights three distinct experiences that are all in different degrees tangential to the realities inherent to the prison industrial complex. This book won the Creative Non-Fiction Award in the state of Oregon earlier on in 2017.
In this interview we got to touch on a wide array of topics, mostly centered on Angels With Dirty Faces but also on accountability processes and what might have to change in order for them to feel more effective, her relationship to anarchism, and some upcoming projects and appearances.
We also get to touch on the book Octavia’s Brood, a compilation of speculative fiction that Imarisha co-edited with Adrienne Maree Brown, who also wrote the book Emergent Strategy.
First tho, for all of you who enjoyed our interview with Mango and Marin about anarchist approaches to psychiatry and mental health, there is going to be an Anarchist Mental Health Conference in New York City on Saturday February 23rd 2019 at Judson Memorial Church at 55 Washington Square South, New York NY 10012
The call for proposals reads as follows:
“1. Are you an anarchist (or other leftist anti-capitalist anti-authoritarian)?
2. Are you a mental health provider (psychotherapist, counselor, peer specialist, or psychopharm prescriber)?
3. Do you have something to share with anarchist mental health workers? (a critique of the field, a skill you have, or a resource we need to know about)?
If the answer to these questions is yes, please email an accessible language abstract of 100 or so words to nycamhc@protonmail.com describing what you want to share, why it’s important, and what conference participants will take away from the presentation. Separate from the abstract, please also specify how much time you need (45 minutes max) and what format you’ll be using (lecture, workshop, roundtable, longtable, etc)
Thanks to everyone who reached out to us about the interview about anarchist mental health, your comments and feedback were truly wonderful to hear! Keep an eye out for further interviews with Mango and Marin, on this and other anarchist and anti authoritarian media platforms.
Support the Vaughn Prisoners!
We also would like to report on a very concerning and terrible event which took place recently. For the second time this month, someone connected with the James T. Vaughn prison uprising trials has died.
For a bit of context, from a support flyer at It’s Going Down, “On February 1st, 2017, inmates at the Vaughn Correctional Center in Delaware took control of their unit and held staff hostage in an uprising that lasted 18 hours. They called the media, released a list of demands, and explained their actions as motivated by their conditions of confinement as well as the election of Donald Trump as President. One prison guard, Steven Floyd, was killed by inmates during the uprising.”
The remaining prisoners are still facing charges associated with the riot.
Kelly Gibbs, the man who passed, was not a defendant in the first trial, but his name was mentioned during that time in connection with the uprising. The implications of these two deaths are all too apparent; prison workers and wardens often take matters into their own hands in retaliation for acts of prison rebellion. Now it’s important to support the Vaughn uprising! We will link to an updated flyer that includes all the names and addresses of the remaining people, as well as to articles for further reading.
From the Philly ABC, calling for court support of the Vaughn 17 back in October:
In many ways the demands of the Vaughn 17 anticipated the 2018 National Prison Strike, calling for increased wages for their mandatory labor, and the introduction of rehabilitation and education programs. These comrades positioned their struggle inside against the threat posed by Trump’s election, which has now been realized in the increasing detention of immigrants and the rise of fascism on the outside. Since the occupation’s end, they have been subjected to extreme repression and violence, including beatings and the denial of basic necessities, including having their water shut off. Yet in the face of these hardships and the betrayal, 17 of the defendants are standing together, unwavering in their solidarity.
This is episode number 17 (11/2018) 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:
* Radiozones of Subversive Expression (Athens, Greece): Local news
* 105fm (Lesbos, Greece): Local news
* Črna Luknja (Ljubljana, Slovenia): Situation in Palestine
* A-Radio Berlin (Germany): Interview on the struggle in the Hambach Forest
* The Final Straw Radio (North Carolina, USA): Interview on the Nationwide Prison Strike in the US
You can play the audio directly or download it from Archive.Org here
This week, we feature three segments. First, we’ll feature a statement about recent doxing of a number of anti-racists in the Asheville area by far-right keyboard warriors.
After that, we feature an interview with Dee, an anonymous incarcerated organizer affiliated with Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. In this conversation we ask about the effectiveness of the #August21 2018 Nationwide Prisoner Strike, the push to move prisoners under storm threat as these increase under climate change, repression and changes in response to the strike, mail limitations in PA prisons, standardization of increased security in Ohio, outside support and organizing, critiques of the methods of NPS2018, and more. Check our show notes for links to more info concerning the strike.
If prisoners want to communicate with and/or join JLS, Dee suggests in some words near the end of the show that they reach out to:
And you can find JLS on fedbook or twitter to keep up with their organizing
Hambach Forest Updates
In our final section of the show, you’ll hear a report by audio comrades in Germany about the recent resistance to the destruction of the Hambach Forest by authorities. The clearing of the ancient forest is to create the largest open-pit lignite coal mine in Europe on behalf of the corporation RWE, which sells to Netherlands, Germany & the UK. Lignite has a carbon content of around 60-70%, has a low energy yield, and is responsible for 1/3 of CO2 emissions in Germany. This segment shows up in the November 2018 episode of B(A)DNews, Angry Voices from Around The World from the A-Radio Network, of which we’re a proud member. Keep an eye on our podcast stream and website for a link to this episode coming out in the next couple of days.
Local Doxxings
Within the last week, over 15 people were doxxed by white supremacists in our community. Here is most of a collective statement released a day or two after the fact by some of those folks:
They’ve targeted more than twenty people they believe are involved in anti-racist organizing in North Carolina. They’ve posted information such as our home addresses, places of work, family members, license plates, social media profiles–whatever information they could find. They seem to be fixating on trans and nonbinary people in particular, and delight in trying to deadname and misgender us whenever possible. Some of us, and some of our family members, have received harassing messages.
They wrote about us like it’s some big secret that we oppose fascism, that we oppose racism, that we oppose all forms of bigotry and oppression. It’s not a secret. We weren’t hiding. We are not ashamed.
This isn’t a plea for sympathy. Our friends and immediate community have been amazing. Rather, this is a message to let you know that if you ever find yourself targeted by neo-Nazis and the far right, you are not alone. None of us need to face this rising tide of fascist scum alone. We have each other.
Robert Bowers, the Pittsburgh Synagogue shooter, actively and publicly chatted with alt-right trolls who had doxxed anti-racist activists. He even discussed violence against anti-racists in our region. This is probably a good time to think seriously about your online security and that of your family members and friends. But staying safe isn’t just a matter of changing your Facebook settings or making your Instagram private. It’s a matter of us showing up for each other. Of us not letting them intimidate us, not letting them isolate us. Not letting them stop us from our work. Especially when the work is stopping fascism.
To read the full statement, you can visit https://ashevillesolidarity.tumblr.com/ , where you can also see a list of bands and businesses which have been included in the current harassment. And of course, there are ways to donate and send support!
For an article about this (released just as our radio show was airing), including a statement by Firestorm Books contextualizing the specific harassment they’ve received, you can visit The Asheville Blade, which you can donate to here! To support Firestorm Books, our local anarchist community space and bookstore, you can join their Community Sustainer’s Program or leave them a positive review on Facebook, Yelp, wherever you can.
Additionally, for a really excellent walk through of how to help prevent this kind of thing happening to you or your crew, you can visit the Smiling Face Collective guide to preventing doxxing. This site can be easily adapted into an interactive workshop, because let’s face it, wiping your presence off the internet is a tedious, upsetting, and grueling process which is designed to wear you down. It’s always better to do this in groups! You can write to us about your experiences with internet hygiene, good, bad, or whatever, at tfsradioshow@protonmail.com
Rural Organizing Against Racism Benefit
For those in the Western NC area, there will be a Fall Fundraiser to benefit rural organizing and resilience on Friday November 30th at 6pm at the Marshall Container Co. which is located at 10 South Main Street, Marshall, NC. The event will center around a cornbread and chili dinner and will include several surprise musical guests!
Support Anti-Fascist Protestors in Philly
And finally, if you are in the position to donate to those injured yesterday fighting the Proud Boys in Philly and elsewhere, you can go to this rally.org page. Remember that if you donate to do so anonymously!
This week, I spoke with Sahar Francis, the Director of Addameer. Addameer is a non-governmental organization, or NGO, based in Ramallah in the West Bank in occupied Palestine that focuses on human rights advocacy, political prisoner support & public education efforts like Know Your Rights trainings. Addameer is one of the projects that is receiving a portion of the profits of the 2019 Certain Days: Political Prisoners Calendar that we’ve you’ve heard of in past episodes. For the purposes of broadcast, we had to cut some portions of this chat for the radio. If you’re listening to the radio version, check out our podcast version for a few more minutes of chat. More instructions below.
For the hour, Sahar tells us about aspects of the Palestinian struggle of the last 70 years against the domination of the Israeli state and a little about the refugee situation of the 10 million Palestinians in the region as they await their Right of Return to their homeland. Addameer (which translates to “Conscience” from Arabic) works to highlight the treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories by the military court system of Israel, in particular the situation of youth as young as 12 years old who face harassment and torture, administrative detention of months and years on end with seemingly no end, and the impunity of the military system’s use against Palestinians, and the unequal treatment of Palestinians and Israeli Jewish Settlers in the Occupied Territories. We also speak of the movement towards widening the death penalty under military law and the difficulty of Palestinian lawyers offering defense in the Israeli military courts who aren’t usually fluent in Hebrew or proficient in Israeli law, as they study Palestinian law in college. Addameer, as a human rights organization, frames it’s work in terms of International Human Rights law as enshrined in the United Nations (UNRWA, The Geneva Convention in hopes of eventual international intervention against the ongoing genocide at the hands of the Israeli government. We even cover the incarceration of Palestinians (in Israel or the Occupied Territories) for publishing critique of the Israeli occupation on social media (1,000’s, including Tareen Tatour in 2015). In a segment comparing Settler-Colonialism in the U.S. & Israel/Palestine, Sahar speaks about two Bedouin villages under threat of demolition by Israel, Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank as well as Umm al-Hiran in order to clear way for Israeli colonial design.
If you visit our website, thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org you can find all of our episodes going back to 2010. To never miss an episode, click the “podcasting” link, where you can find instructions on how to subscribe to our podcast using iTunes or whatever music app or program you like, including our soon-to-be resurrected Error451 podcast, an occasional tech security podcast from an anarchist perspective. In the near future we hope to bring you perspectives on encryption from the pEp (or Pretty Easy Protection) Foundation, LEAP(or Leap Encryption Access Project) and more.
Stay tuned next week for an overview of the 2018 Nationwide Prison Strike with an incarcerated organizer named Dee from Jailhouse Lawyers Speak.
Announcements
Phone Zap for Comrade Malik Washington
This didn’t make it into the recording for today, but this Tuesday, November 13th, BRABC with the backing of IWOC is inciting a phone zap in support of Keith “Comrade Malik” Washington to get Malik out of segregation. Malik has been continuously punished and persecuted, including instances of medical endangerment and solitary confinement with out reason given or recourse. He’s also had his property, including legal documents, taken and his communication is greatly stifled at the moment (including legal). Read more by visiting the above links.
Digital Security Self-Defense at Firestorm
If you’re in the Asheville area coming up, on Saturday, November 17th from 4-6pm at Firestorm Books and coffee, Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross will be giving a free, interactive presentation on online hygene and security self-defense threat modeling the far-right. But, whether you’re concerned about what info’s online that might fall into the hands of the fash, a stalker or just want to tie up loose ends, a lot of the tools and tips are the same. Bring a laptop, tablet or phone to work on. And a few hours later there’ll be a concert by Nomadic War Machine at the Bottle Shop, an electronic assault by Margaret Killjoy that you’re welcome to swing by.
SF Bay View Newspaper Updates
In an update to our past episode featuring Mary Ratcliff of the SFBayView National Black Newspaper from August, we have good news! Amani Sawari, who we interviewed in July about the Nationwide Prison Strike as an outside spokesperson for Jailhouse Lawyers Speak prisoner organization, will be stepping up to take on the editorial position at that paper and giving Mary and Dr. Willie Ratcliff a long-deserved break. There’s an online fundraiser to help get Amani situated in the Bay Area where you can support the transition and hopefully long next phase for the paper. You can find out more at https://www.patreon.com/sfbayview
Anti-Anti-Semitism Action
In light of the murder of eleven people at the Tree of Life synagogue, Anti-Anti-Semitism Action is asking for your support to take action against anti-Semitic organizers and to defend Jews. We are raising funds which we need to spotlight specific anti-Semitic organizers—especially those who use platforms that cater to the Alt Right such as Gab—to spread their toxic conspiracy theories. Funds will be used to expose and run public campaigns against activists who spread anti-Semitism, as well as those promoters who bring anti-Semitic speakers to their towns.
Remaining monies will be used to provide security and protection for Jewish activists who are targeted by anti-Semites. This includes hiring security for public appearances, and arranging security measures at activists’ residences.
The ADL raises millions of dollars a year to “fight anti-Semitism” but they refuse to do the nuts and bolts work of taking action against anti-Semitic organizers or protecting Jews who are targeted. 100% of your donations will go directly to this.
Dayvon Person is a prisoner being accused of inciting a riot on September 24 at the Craggy Correctional Institution, just outside of Asheville, NC, where he was just about to reach minimum security levels. It’s requested that people call officials to press them to hear is appeal of innocecence. He is asking that folks on the outside call with persistence, and ask these persons to hear his appeal for this false accusation.
You can call:
Kenneth E. Lassiter (Director of Prison Facilities):
This week, we spoke with Nani Ferreira-Mathews. Nani is the author of “Birthright?: Travelogue of an American Radical in Israel / Palestine”, published by On Our Own Authority (or OOOA) Books, out of Atlanta, earlier this year. Nani has indigenous Hawaiian and Jewish heritage and talks and in 2013 went on the Taglit-Birthright tour to Israel, which is offered to Jews raised outside of Israel, in this case mostly of those on the trip were from the U.S., Canada & Europe.
Going into it, she already had some misgivings but throughout the tour she became more and more aware of the trip as a means to erase Palestinian and Indigenous perspectives from visibility to the tourists, who are being groomed for populating the spaces seized by the Israel as a Jewish-only territory and state. We talk about Zionism as a nationalist movement, the manipulation of the tourists on this free trip including setting up romantic situations among the guests and IDF soldiers and sleep deprivation, funding sources for Taglit-Birthright, and comparisons between the erasure or commodification of non-hegemonic ethnic and religious identities in the history and culture of the United States of America and Israel. We also talk about the BDS (or Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movement, a Palestinian-led protest movement to economically and culturally push Israel to end the occupation.
Next week we’ll be airing a conversation with activists working on political prisoner and human rights issues in Palestine, so stay tuned!
In an update to the International Days of Action against Fascism and Anti-Semitism that we read an announcement from last week, in the crimethInc HotWire weekly podcast #43 from last week you can hear an interview with members of the Outlive Them Network who are calling for the day as well as an anarchist from the Tree of Life synagogue where the terrible anti-semitic attack happened in Pittsburgh last week. Also, though this didn’t make the audio for this week, the ItsGoingDown podcast #38 from early November also includes an interview with an anarchist involved in If Not Now, an anti-Zionist organization of young, American Jews.
Birthright in the U.S.
But first, dear listeners, We would be remiss to leave the fact of birthright citizenship coming under fire recently here in the so called US without comment. Birthright citizenship, which was established by the 14th amendment to grant citizenship to freed slaves, and is characterized by the idea that all people born in the United States are U.S. citizens, regardless of race or where their parents came from. Despite this being a practice which had been reinforced by law – namely the constitution and the courts, more about that in a minute – white supremacists have often tried to tie the concept of “US citizenship” into an understanding of “whiteness” by restricting birthright along racial lines, citing non white people as “unassimilatable”. You can read more about this in a Raw Story article entitled “This isn’t the first time white supremacists have tried to cancel birthright citizenship.”
This is also not the first time that the current voices on top of this garbage pile that we call a government have utilized othering strategies to further attempt to divide and stratify the thinking regarding non white, non cis, and non papers having folks. We don’t have to think very far back for examples of this kind of behavior, and I don’t really think that they bear repeating here.
Back to the laws tho, citizenship as we know it is a very problematic structure. It is so closely wrapped up in colonialism and overwhelming biases toward the wealthy and white so as to be practically indistinguishable. If any of the components which make up citizenship were to be in any way compromised, the whole system might topple. It’s colonizer nature, which is at the same time very established with many supporting structures but also very fragile and riddled with internal contradictions, is also to point here: the US government in our view should not have the right to determine who is legitimate on stolen land.
If you or someone you know have a perspective on citizenship which is anti colonial and would like to talk about it with us for a future radio piece, please get in touch at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net or tfsradioshow@protonmail.com and make the subject heading “Anti Citizenship”. We’re seeking to trouble and nuance this conversation in any way and would love to hear from you!
Announcements
Phone Zap Monday for Hunger Striking Toledo Prisoners
Seven people incarcerated in Toledo Correctional Institution went on strike Saturday, November 2nd). They refused to be moved into the yard for recreation time until a SWAT or SRT team moved them, and are going on hunger strike and refusing food. SWAT and SRT teams have used rubber bullets against protesters in Toledo before. They are protesting renovations to add more solitary confinement wings. In the past 2 months, the state has been trying to turn the entirety of Toledo into a lockdown institution. As a result, people have been sent to solitary because other units didn’t have room, and for minor infractions that wouldn’t have been reason to send someone to solitary confinement otherwise.
Call to protest the expansion of solitary confinement, racist harassment, and the denial of food at the whims of abusive officers. On Saturday, prisoners were maced and refused the ability to wash the chemical weapons off of their body overnight.
The details of this callup can be found, including numbers and more, at the IWOC website.
This week we had the chance to talk to Sascha, who is a community organizer in the triangle area of North Carolina, about ongoing organizing to help rebuild and continue to aid folks after the multiple hurricanes recently hit this region. This interview went in directions that we couldn’t have predicted, and really went on a deep dive of how to conceptualize of disaster relief in our changing climate, in addition to more practical topics. We hope you enjoy it!
To get in touch with the project that our guest is talking about, and if you have extra monie$ to spare, you can visit maddistronc.org for ways to donate or drop by to 800 Henderson Street in Durham if you’re in the area.
To hear the interview that we referenced about halfway through, you can go to our website and search “Indigenous Activist”, it should be the first item in the search results. You can also hear a 10 minute edit of this interview with Vanessa on how to be better accomplices to Lumbee folks in Lumberton NC in the October episode of B(A)D News, Angry Voices From Around the World which you can find both at our website or at aradio.blogsport.de.
B(A)D News is a monthly news collaboration between projects in the A-Radio Network, which includes anarchist radio from Chile, various places in Eastern and Western Europe, and right here on Turtle Island. Keep your eyes peeled to our feed for when this show updates!
Announcements
Blue Ridge ABC events in Asheville
If you’re in the Asheville area this week, Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross has two upcoming events.
TROUBLE showing at Firestorm
On Friday, November 2nd at 6:30pm at Firestorm Books & Coffee, BRABC will be airing the latest episode of Trouble, the mini-documentary series by sub.Media. This month’s episode is focused on the J20 inauguration conspiracy case that ended some months back. This’ll be followed by a brief chat about the film and the case. This event happens the same time, same place, on the first Friday of every month and is a great way to start of your weekend.
Political Prisoner Letter Writing
On Sunday, November 4th at 5pm, just a little after next week’s episode of our show of this show, BRABC will also be hosting their monthly Political Prisoner letter writing night at, you guessed it, Firestorm! ABC will be bringing info on prisoners whose birthdays are upcoming or who are facing repression or coming up on parole, will provide the materials and a friendly atmosphere and help in writing letters to prisoners. If you’ve ever thought of writing someone in prison before but been overwhelmed by the prospect of it, this is a great way to get started.
Recent Violence from the Far Right and What to Do
We don’t frequently comment on this show about ongoing events we aren’t either announcing or featuring on the episode, but this is a rare example. This last week saw a couple of racist attacks that we want to mention in case you missed them, in order to point to the continued and intensifying need for anti-racist and anti-fascist organizing, research and street presence. On October 24th, a white man named Gregory Bush allegedly failed to break into a black church in Louisville, KY, and instead decided to shoot a black man (Maurice E. Stallard) inside of a Kroger and a black woman (Vickie Lee Jones) in the parking lot, killing them both. The shooter told a witness “Whites don’t shoot whites.”
Yesterday, on Saturday October 27th during shabbat services, a gunman with white nationalist ties named Robert D. Bowers, entered the Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA, and killed 11 congregants while wielding an AR-15 and two handguns, injuring 3 more congregants. These are just two recent examples of white rage acting out against others, a visible trend and not out of sync with the settler-colonial and anti-black violence of the United States, yet undeniably horrendous. The victims families are in our hearts, as are all of the many unmentioned victims of reactionary violence. On this note, we’re including a couple of anti-racist announcements folks can join in on if they care to.
To literally steal a line from the latest Hotwire episode from crimethInc, “To mark the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht and to push back against the uptick in anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and xenophobic violence around the world, there’s a Jewish call for International Days against fascism and anti-Semitism.” The call reads:
“On November 8–11, we will sing out and celebrate the survival of our peoples. We will say Kaddish for those who gave their lives in the fight against fascism. We will engage in acts of Kherem and ritually excommunicate those Jews who aid and abet the fascists of our time. And we will march on the institutions, the political parties, and the private businesses that collaborate with their genocidal agenda. At the same time, we will show the world that the real threat to our security as Jews isn’t our Muslim neighbors, but “Western Chauvinists,” Christian supremacists, and white nationalists – the would-be pogromists of our day. Starting now and continuing through [the year] 5779 and beyond, we will (re)build an international network of anti-fascist Jews and our allies. From the streets where we live to the places we work and play, we will organize to defend all of our communities from those who would exterminate us. We invite you to join us in the fight: For a world without pogroms. For a future without fascism.”
Atlanta Antifascists are asking folks to contact Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School about one of it’s students, Casey Jordan Cooper. Cooper has made explicit lynching threats against black students, has organized Alt-Right efforts around the school and has documented connections to white nationalists like Sam Dickson. Alongside a bunch of really amazing research that AFAinATL has done, you can find more about Casey Jordan Cooper, including a video and 500+ page dossier on him, the request for a call-in on Monday, October 29th to the University and a script up at atlantaantifa.org. We don’t need anymore nazi lawyers and this school should be ashamed to continue to hold Cooper as a student considering it’s lip service to the importance of it’s students providing non-prejudicial service to their clients.
WNC undercuts Patriot Front
A big ups to comrades in WNC who, very carefully and soberly, infiltrated a new chapter of the white nationalist grouping Patriot Front and were able to disrupt their activities during an attempted banner drop. This sort of high level of engagement is dangerous and not to be taken lightly, but can be quite effective at gaining intelligence on the enemy and ruining their days. More info on this can be found on this IGD post!
Support Malik and Rashid!
In prisoner news, two affiliates of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party Prison Chapter are in the news. Keith “Malik” Washington, whose supporters we’ve had on the show before, shared that he’s on a hunger strike at the McConnell Administrative Segregation Unit in protest against his continued repression and repeated medical endangerment. More info can be found at comrademalike.com. Also Kevin “Rashid” Johnson who we spoke to in September. He has been refused medical aid by guards at Sussex II, denied the ability to send or receive mail, including legal mail. He has been threatened with dogs while chained up, kept in his cell 24/7 and other terrible circumstances. Visit rashidmod.com for more details and the numbers and officials that you can call to protest on his behalf.
This week on The Final Straw we’ll be airing the second half of our interview with anarchist, author and cartoonist nonagenarian, Donald Rooum from Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Donald has written introductions to anarchism and has been a leading organizer in movements in the U.K. against nuclear war, the death penalty and the use of corporal punishment against children in schools. This summer, Bursts and William found their way to London and were delighted to sit down and chat with Donald in the East End hear his stories.
In the first portion of this chat, which aired on July 29th, 2018, Donald spoke about his beginnings in anarchism, his art studies, his time creating the Wildcat comics for which he’s best known, anarchists of his time from the 1940’s through today and his activism mentioned above.
Now, you’ll hear about Donald Rooum’s “15 minutes of fame” in which he was nicked on his way to a demonstration against a visit to London by King Paul of Greece and Queen Frederika in 1963 and charged by Detective Sergeant Harold “Tanky” Challenor for carrying a brick to the demonstration. The problem for Donald is that the brick was placed in his pocket by Challenor while he was in police custody. The problem for Challenor is that Donald was smart enough to realize this, collect the proof of the framing attempt and successfully defend himself in court against the charges. In what became known as the “Challenor Affair”, Donald’s self-defense shook the public trust in policing in the U.K. and lead to the Detective Sergeant’s downfall for corruption. Donald also talks about the case that overshadowed the “Challenor Affair” at the time, known as the Profumo Affair. After that, Donald defends the work of Max Stirner on Egoism, Benjamin Tucker’s translation and it’s mistakes, Eddie Shaw (mentioned in this libcom article) and the Glasgow anarchists of the 1940’s, multi-generationality in anarchism, human nature and anarchism, Rojava, and Murray Bookchin. Of note, Donald confuses Murray Bookchin’s “Social Ecology” ideas with the “Deep Ecology”, which Bookchin railed against.
Check out our website. There you can find our past episodes going back to 2009, as well as easy ways to subscribe to our podcast so that you never miss an episode of The Final Straw, our occasional tech security podcast Error451 or B(A)DNews: Angry Voices From Around The World (our latest here), an English-language podcast from the A-Radio Network of which we are a part. You can also find our contact information, info about following us on the various anti-social medias, as well as how to donate.
Announcements
Support The Virgin Island 3
Philly Anarchist Black Cross is asking people to write letters in support of the Virgin Island 3. The Virgin Island Five (aka Fountain Valley Five) are group of activists wrongly convicted of murdering eight people in 1973 at the Rockefeller-owned golf course in St. Croix. They were all in their early twenties when they were rounded up with hundreds of others and forced confessions were obtained. Because now only three are held in prison, they are now referred to as the Virgin Island 3. There is a campaign to commute the sentences of Abdul Azeez (aka Warren Ballentine), Hanif Shabazz Bey (aka Beaumont Gereau) and Malik Bey (aka Meral Smith) as they have been in prison for 46 years for a crime they deny committing. You can find more on this, including addresses to write and numbers to all and more about the campaign at https://phillyabc.wordpress.com/vi3-campaign/
This month on B(A)DNews: Angry Voices From Around The World, participants in the A-Radio Network provide you with the news & views from our homes for the month of October, 2018.
You can hear the audio by clicking this link to the mp3 or you can play or download the audio directly from Archive.Org here alongside the English-language transcript (linked soon).
Sounds from outside Chelmsford Crown Court, Essex, England on the first morning of the trail of 15 anti-deportation activists for ‘terrorism’ related offences
music 3 -part1 (gather “total liberation”) 37:25,5 – 39:15,0
interview with Vanessa Bolin who is an indigenous artist, community organizer, and activist about theflood rescue and rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Florence in Lumberton, North Carolina
conversation with comrades from cluj, in romania, about general anarchist situation, important topics for the movement there and about initiatives in city of cluj with special attention to the newly established printing collective.
This week on The Final Straw Radio, we feature a conversation with Pearson, an anarchist resident of Tallahassee, Florida, and is involved in storm relief mutual aid work in the wake of Hurricane Michael. Pearson is also the co-host of the leftist podcast “Coffee With Comrades”.
For the hour we talk about Hurricane Michael, which just passed through the Florida Panhandle and up through the Carolinas, affecting Georgia and Alabama as well. Within a 36 hour period, the hurricane ramped up from a Tropical Storm to a category 4 or 5 hurricane (depending on who you talk to). Michael was the strongest hurricane to hit that part of Florida ever on record, making landfall on Wednesday, October 10th in the morning and may be the third largest to hit the U.S. mainland with winds surges of up to 175 miles per hour and sustaining at 150. Because of the quick increase, localities in the storms path found themselves under prepared for such a devastating catastrophe. The state of Florida Department of Corrections refused to evacuate about 12 prisons that were in the Mandatory Evacuation areas in the path of Hurricane Michael despite a call-in campaign by Fight Toxic Prisons.
For the hour, we talk about the immediate response efforts in Tallahassee, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, anthropogenic or human-caused Climate Change and it’s various impacts on the residents and environs of Florida, and a bunch of other related topics. Later, Pearson shares about his podcast, “Coffee with Comrades”, available at http://coffeewithcomrades.com/
Here are a few links for info if you’re in Florida as well as ways to donate from a distance:
Florida People’s Advocacy Center in Tally is a safe space for people to come for disaster relief (trans inclusive and very supportive of undocumented individuals)
On Saturday, October 13th in Greenville, SC, there was a racist “Build The Wall” anti-immigration rally organized in support of Trumps xenophobic policies. Naturally, there was a counter-demonstration. Two anti-racists were arrested for picketing ordinances and another for disorderly conduct. If you’d like to help them, there’s a paypal where donations are being collected for legal and any medical fees attached to this at paypal.me/upstatesc
Connor Stevens post-release fund
First, Connor Stevens, one of the convicted Cleveland 4, is up for potential parole as soon as November, 2018! From the fundraizr for Connor:
“Connor Stevens is one of the Cleveland4. He is being released soon so we’re raising funds to help get him basic necessities when he is released! It’s possible he’ll even be released by November!
Click here if you are out of the US and would like to donate via Paypal
The Cleveland 4 were four Occupy Cleveland activists who were were arrested on April 30th, 2012, accused of plotting to blow up a bridge. But it was the FBI, working with an informant, that crafted the plot, produced the “explosives,” and coerced these four into participating.
Connor took non-cooperating plea deals and pled guilty to all charges. The judge applied a “terrorism enhancement” to their sentences, elongating their sentences as well as subjecting them to harsher prison conditions. Connor served 8 years 1 month—all to be followed by lifetime supervised release.”
To hear our past coverage of the Cleveland 4 case, including an interview with Connors mother, you can check out (our website and search Cleveland 4)
Zak Kostopoulos
Zak Kostopoulos, an 33 year old lgbtq+ drag performer and activist who worked against prejudice faced by folks who are HIV positive was beaten to death in a homophobic attack near Omonia Square in Athens, Greece on September 21st. Zak lept into a jewelry store in order to avoid a nearby brawl when the emergency shutters descended, trapping him inside. He was then set upon by the owner of the shop and others who were heard uttering homophobic and hate statements against those with HIV. After escaping the store, by smashing through the window with a fire extinguisher, he was followed out by the owner and another thug. Zak was beaten to the ground while surrounded by mostly male onlookers. When police showed up, they handcuffed Zak. The murder was captured on camera. The shop owner was only arrested after the video went viral and he was only charged with manslaughter, not murder, as he claims to have been protecting his property, which is absurd. Following news of the murder, an emergency anarchist assembly was called and a march of 500 took the streets of Athens with smaller marches happening in nearby cities. Marches followed that week.
Apologies for the wait in announcing this sad news which a listener sent us after the murder took place. We are thankful for being informed.
Mumia Abu-Jamal
There is a call for supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal to fill the court room and the streets on October 29th from 8am til 11am in Philadelphia at the Criminal Justice Center, 13th & Filbert. Mumia is a former Black Panther, is a journalist and Political Prisoner who was put on death row for decades for the killing of a cop he says he did not commit. Mumia’s trial has been recognized internationally, including by Amnesty International, as a political show trial. More info up at http://mobilization4mumia.com
Certain Days Calendar benefit show
On October 19th at the Pine Box Rock Shop, 12 Gratton Street in Brooklyn, NY, there’ll be a benefit for post-release funds by the organizers of the Certain Days: Freedom For Political Prisoners Calendar.
From Certain Days:
In the last year, we have been fortunate enough to welcome home a handful of political prisoners from US prisons. Our movements have not exactly been prepared for this good fortune, and so support committees, families and friends of these folks have been forced to scramble for funds for basic living expenses. In addition to that, many of these people have been targeted in the media and beyond by various law enforcement unions and organizations, making open fundraising online a difficult proposition.
We need to step up our game and aid not only the handful of political prisoners that have been released this year but also, the people who may be leaving prison soon.
The show will feature performances by Despairwolf, MAAFA_Hardcore, High Cost, and Trophy hunt, and we understand that the door fee will be VERY reasonable for a show in NYC.
This week we had the opportunity to connect with Vanessa Bolin, who is an indigenous artist, community organizer, and activist who has been helping with flood rescue and rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Florence in Lumberton, NC, which is in Robeson County. In this interview we talk about what still needs to be done in this area, how to help out, some important parallels between post hurricane relief and anti pipeline organizing, and the importance of foregrounding marginalized voices in mutual aid efforts.
Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is also coordinating a bunch of efforts, you can learn more about this group at mutualaiddisasterrelief.org or look them up on any social media platform. If you have 4-14 days spare and want to get down to Robeson County to help out, especially if you have proficiency in Spanish and skills in logistical coordination, you can send them an email to get networked in at WeKeepUsSafeVC@protonmail.com.
To connect with EcoRobeson, the group which is doing anti pipeline work in Robeson County that is mainly affecting already disenfranchised people, you can follow this link.
Somethings we’d like to mention:
When Vanessa talks about the struggles of the Dine people (who are sometimes known as Navajo) where she mentions uranium mining, this is a huge issue that spans many generations. You can visit Black Mesa Rezistance, which is an organized effort in Black Mountain and Big Mesa (also known as Arizona) on the part of the Dine and Hopi people to defend themselves and their existences. You can learn more about this effort at https://blackmesa.rezist.org/ and follow the links for further material to learn about the history and present day projects and struggles.
And finally, for a look into some of the truly amazing legacy of the Lumbee Tribe in so called NC, we at The Final Straw recommend the book To Die Game by William McKee Evans. This book details a resistance movement at a time when Lumbee youth were being targeted for conscription into the Confederate army, and how they along with a diverse coalition of other resistors, eluded capture in the swamps of eastern NC for over 5 years. You can also read about this in the book Dixie Be Damned, along with many other lesser reported moments of resistance in the American Southeast.
Announcements for Prisoner Support
Jalil Muntaqim
Jalil Muntaqim, former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army is facing the parole board in November as his August visit was postponed due to clerical issues. He’s going to be getting a lot of pushback from the Policeman’s Benevolent Association, Fraternal Order of Police, Corrections Guards associations and the rest of the gallery of reactionary so-called unions for cops. Those groups are on alert, as we’ve seen with the tug of war around the release of Herman Bell, any time an aging political prisoner, especially one accused of involvement in the killing of a cop, comes up for parole. The parole boards are often made up of former judges, D.A.’s, Prosecutors and law enforcement, forming an added blue wall for prisoners facing parole boards. So, Jalil needs us to write letters of support for his release. Although some of the links are dead from the earlier parole push, you can check this IGD link (see our shownotes at thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org for the link) for a list of achievements Jalil has since his incarceration.
Also, Jalil’s birthday is October 18th, so feel free to send him a separate birthday greeting!
Also, also, check out our website to hear past episodes featuring interviews with Jalil conducted by buddies at Prison Radio on CKUT in Montreal.
To support Jalil, follow these instructions passed on from National Jericho NY:
Write a letter in you own words in support of parole for Jalil, address to:
Senior Offender Rehabilitation Coordinator
Sullivan Correctional Facility
325 Riverside Drive
Fallsburg, New York 12733
BUT SEND TO:
Nora Carroll
The Parole Preparation Project
168 Canal Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10013
The subject line should be “Anthony Bottom 77-A-4283”
We are making an effort to include letters of support for Jalil that are personalized and from people who are familiar with him and his work. If you want further instructions for how to write a strong, personalized letter of support, please email carroll.nora@gmail.com.
Also, please send a copy of your letter to Jalil for his files:
Casey is an anarchist political prisoner who also has a parole hearing coming up, his one and only for his 12 year stint for the stabbing of the president of a university in Missouri. Casey recently got married to a woman being held in another Missouri prison. He’s studying calculus so he can go to school to be an aerospace engineer once he’s released. He goes before the parole board November 2018. He’s unsure of exactly when he gets out, but knows he isn’t eligible until November 2020. He’s currently saving his money (and asking for help) to afford a cheap vehicle when he gets out in order to transport himself to work and school. His intentions are to parole out to the St. Louis area and attending a community college until he gets his basic credits and can transfer to a university. His eyes are set on the Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Casey suffers from depression and has a history of schizophrenia. he describes himself as socially awkward and says he often feels misunderstood. He has a kind heart and he looks forward to getting out relatively soon and getting to see all of those who have shown him support over the years. He thanks you all.
Casey was recently transferred to the Farmington Correctional Center in Farmington, Missouri. In November, he will go before the parole board for the first and ONLY TIME and he needs your help!
Thoughtful and professional letters to the parole board by people who care about Casey and are willing to offer support to him during his transition back to life outside of prison can make it more likely that Casey will be released.
*Even though the letter should be addressed to the parole board, all letters should be sent directly to Casey and he will deliver them to the parole board:
Casey Brezik #1154765
Farmington Correctional Center
1012 West Columbia Street
Farmington, MO 63640
Anarchist prisoner Sean Swain is still being silenced by the state of Ohio and could use your letters. He’s potentially in the process of being transferred in an inter-state deal which will make his life way harder. Sean has communicated that he was at one point on hunger strike and is extremely isolated. You can write to Sean at :
Sean Swain #243-205
Warren CI
P.O. Box 120
Lebanon, Ohio 45036
It’s suggested that concerned listeners call
ODRC Director Stuart Hudson (614) 387-0588
Governor’s Counsel Kevin O’Donell Stanek (614) 466-3555
Callers should voice concern over Sean’s health, access to communication and the blocking of counsel from his recent RIB hearing that threatens to transfer him out of Ohio.
On IGD you can read the list of demands specific to NC prisoners that Joseph Stewart wrote back in July. He was transferred after the outside published his statement in support of the strike and has intermittently been left off of prisoner support call-ups so he can surely use some supporting letters at Polk CI where he is currently housed. You can write Joseph at :
Joseph D. Stewart
#0802041
Polk CI
Box 2500
Butner, NC 27509
Three other prisoners in NC, are held within the Hyde Correctional Institution, a facility in Fairfield, NC, are being threatened with retaliation for their active support and organizing in solidarity with the national #PrisonStrike. They’re facing threats of administrative repression, as are any other fellow prisoners connected to the national strike. More info in our show notes
From a statement by the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement (RAM) and Vaughn17 Support in Philly:
On Feb. 1, 2017, after a series of peaceful protests yielded no results, incarcerated comrades took over a building at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Delaware to demand slight improvements in their treatment. After a 20-hour stand-off, the prison’s response was to literally bulldoze their barricades and figuratively bulldoze their demands, retaliating with constant beatings, destruction of prisoner property, and denial of food and medical care.
Furthermore, the state has accused 17 of the incarcerated with egregious offenses even though these charges have no basis in reality. The state’s response shows once again that any prisoners standing up for themselves, to regain dignity and achieve decent treatment, is a threat. And the state will collectively punish everyone and anyone to hide its barbarism. The only role of prison guards, wardens and the Department of Corrections (DOC) is the perpetuation of slavery and subjugation.
There is a call for court support for the 17, who will be attending trail in small groups, at New Castle County Courthouse, 500 N. King St., Wilmington, DE 19801. The first trial starts on Monday, October 8th and the last is slated for February 11th, 2019. People in the area interested in helping volunteer for court support can learn more by reading this IGD article.
A pdf of a poster with addresses, pictures and info on the 17 prisoners pulled into this case can be found here
