All posts by The Final Straw Radio

The Final Straw Radio is a terrestrial radio show and podcast started in 2009 featuring information by, for and about anarchists and other anti-authoritarians. The show airs weekly on Sundays from 2-3pm EST out of Asheville, NC, USA.
activism, AmRen, Anti-Racist Action, Antifa, Charlottesville, Nazis, Racism, Tennessee

Confronting the suit & tie White Nationalists: Nashville ARA organizing against the AmRen Conference

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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.

For an interview from 2012 with Daryl Lamont Jenkins on AmRen & a lot of these topics, check out our archives.

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! You can hear this interview in alls it’s glory by going to http://itsgoingdown.org and searching “From LaZAD with Love“. Tell us what you think by writing to us at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net!

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 Unicorn Riot

Dane Powell has been sentenced, but his address is yet to be released. Once it is available, we will point folks to that information because the importance of getting mail while in prison cannot be overstated. If you would like to donate to his support fund, which will go to his commissary and support for his family while he’s inside, you can visit his fundraising support site here

This also seems like a good time to mention that CrimethInc is calling for an upcoming week of solidarity with J20 defendants. From their website “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. The case has finally begun to receive the media attention it warrants; with this court date approaching and the cases underway, this is a crucial time for a second Week of Solidarity. Send report-backs, photographs, and inquiries to J20solidarity@protonmail.com.”

More information can be had at crimethinc.com.

NC Defend J20 benefit events

As relates to the recent shout out for fund and awareness raising solidarity events for the upcoming week of Solidarity from July 20th-27th, 2017, we’d like to highlight a few North Carolina events:
July 20th, at Firestorm in Asheville, there will be a free showing of TROUBLE #4, from subMedia, about repression and movement building as well as #2 of Channel (A)!, a collection of anarchist representations in popular media. This starts at 6:30pm.
On July 22nd, there’ll be a benefit concert in Asheville starting at 6pm with a bbq and bake sale and suggested donations. Bands include: Mutual Jerk (from Atlanta), Poor Excuse, Clyde Conwell & a SECRET SPECIAL GUEST (I really hope it’s performers from “Now Thats’ What I Call Kerkhophony Vol 1”). Look for the address for this show on http://ncj20defense.com soon
On July 25th at the Nightlight in Chapel Hill, NC, at 9pm there’ll be benefit concert for the J20 defendants. Bands include: Institute, Drugecharge, Decoy & Dead On The Vine.
More on events around the world for the week of solidarity can be found at http://defendj20resistance.org/ and a good writeup with updates on the subject is up from crimethinc

Denver Fundraising

From Denver, there’s a call out for fundraising for folks who caught charges counter-demonstrating the Islamophobic antics of “ACT for America” last month. They have some quite humorous shirts, particularly for our insurrectionary herbalists of the Laurel Luddite variety, as a fundraiser on a fundly page.

Update from Keith “Comrade Malik” Washington

Another update from Keith “Malik” Washington, a spokespersyn for the End Prison Slavery in Texas Movement:

Prisoners located in Lovelady, Texas, have filed their § 1983 Federal Civil Complaint in the Eastern District of Texas – Lufkin Division. TDCJ has the largest state prison system in the United States. Most of the 110 prison units are not air conditioned, and toxic water supplies are becoming a pervasive and systemic problem. At Eastham Unit, multiple prisoners have been diagnosed with h. pylori disease from the water. Due to the Heat Index, especially in the summer, prisoners must drink this contaminated water that’s causing h. pylori. The prison store known as the commissary sells us “hot pots” which heat water but don’t boil it. If we alter our Hot Pots in order to make them boil, they get confiscated and we are given a disciplinary case for contraband.

This issue raises 8th Amendment concerns, and the US Supreme Court has held that unsafe conditions that pose an unreasonable risk of serious dangers to a prisoner’s future health. Several prisoners have been diagnosed with h. pylori disease which destroys the lining of the stomach. There is no known cure.
Malik, in a recent statement from which we’re selectively quoting, and which is available at https://comrademalik.com/, goes on to compare the governments utter disregard for the prison population in Texas Department of Correction’s jurisdiction, mainly made up of poor white, black, native, latinx and other marginalized peoples, to that of the administration in Flint, Michigan. In particular, the sick and the elderly are endangered by this while wards of the state in what may rightly be considered cruel but sadly maybe not so unusual circusmstances. The main prisoner involved in the case is a jailhouse lawyer named William Wells and the case can be found as: William Wells et al. Vs Bryan Collier et al. Cause #9:17-cv-80

For those of you who don’t know, Bryan Collier is the Executive Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).
If you’d like to learn more, send Malik some mail at:
Keith ‘Comrade Malik’ Washington, TDC# 1487958, 2665 Prison Road #1, Lovelady, TX 75851
And check out his writing on the support fedbook page or his website: http://comrademalik.com

Houston Anarchist Bookfair

Also related to Texas, we’d also like to inform folks that submission periods have begun for the Houston Anarchist Bookfair! The bookfair will be taking place on Sunday, September 24, 2017
From their www.generosity.com page, which can be found by visiting that site and entering in the phrase “Houstan Anarchist Bookfair”:
“Houston Anarchist Black Cross will host a one-day convergence to network, grow, and celebrate anarchist and anti-authoritarian projects in Texas and the surrounding region, and we need help to make it happen!

This gathering will be entirely free as part of our commitment to accessibility, and because of this we need lots of help with funding from those who can support us. The event itself will be free, we will be providing lots of services at the bookfair for free with the help of volunteers, it is free to table or present a workshop, and we want to be able to help as many folks from out of town as possible with their travel expenses and housing needs. This event will have books, publishers, distros, zinesters, exciting workshops, and discussion to celebrate and expand our southern radical communities of resistance!

Money raised will go towards booking and renting our space, bringing people in from out of town, feeding people who attend the bookfair, buying supplies to set up the space, and funding accessibility for the space. If you’re planning on coming to the bookfair, or coming to table or present a workshop, or are generally excited about this radical southern space happening, and you can help us raise the funds to make this event happen and keep it free, we need your help!
Solidarity, Feed The Possums, All that good stuff 🙂
-Houston ABC”

This’ll be the first anarchist bookfair in Houston since 2011! If you’d like to participate in the bookfair more directly, they’ve opened up the submissions period for vendors and presenters, and they’ve put up a page for reaching out if you have housing or accessibility needs for the bookfair. Those links and more can be found at the events website, https://houstonanarchistbookfair2017.wordpress.com or reach the organizers at htxanarchistbookfair2017@gmail.com!

Playlist

activism, Anarchist, Drug War, General, Immigration, Mexico, Neoliberalism, Racism

No More Deaths: Border Abolition And More

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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 here
– Designed to Kill via CrimethInc as well
– The Disappeared Report
– Dispaches from the Borderland thru the anarchist media collective It’s Going Down here

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

IWOC, IWW, Labor, Prisons, Sept 9 Strike

August 19th Solidarity with Prisoners: Ben Turk of IWOC

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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.

This August 19th there is a call for another prisoner-led show of resistance supported by folks on the outside as well.

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, Stonewall Commemoration Week 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, Stonewall Commemoration Week 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

Capitalism, community, communization, Environment, Euskal Herria / Basque Territory, Housing, North Carolina, Petroleum, Pipeline, repression, Squatting, Virginia, West Virginia

Anti-Pipeline Action Camp in VA & Errekaleor Bizirik squatted neighborhood in Euskal Herria/Basque territory

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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)

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.

If you want, 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

105fm, A-Radio Berlin, Dissident Island Radio, Radio98, Rosas Negras

B(A)d News #1: Angry Voices From Around The World 17/06

Download This Podcast Special
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. If you have trouble with accents, give a second listen and it’ll be easier to get what folks are saying!

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

Download This Podcast Special

General, Germany, Hamburg G20, J20, repression

Defend J20 Resistance & Hamburg G20 Invite (Welcome To Hell)

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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

Antifa, Autonomy, Chicago, Feminism, Health, Queer, Self-Defense

Podcast special: Haymaker Gym in Chicago

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Welcome to a podcast special release of The Final Straw’s interview of two members of The Haymaker, a gym project underway 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. This audio will make it into a full episode coming up soon.

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?

activism, Anarchist, NYC, Police, Prisons, Racism, Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement

Burn Down the American Plantation: a conversation with folks from The Base

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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 Combustion Books, 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 anti-racist who stepped up to try to stop the harassment of two women of color wearing head scarfs 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. https://haymakergym.org

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

Anarchist, Eric King, Music, Political Prisoner, Prisons

Support Eric King and interview with Dawn Ray’d (UK based anarchist black metal band)!

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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.

activism, Dissident Island Radio, Environment, North Carolina, Security Culture

Heartwood Forest Council in NC and Riseup! bird speaks about gag order

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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

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 http://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.”

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