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.

Bend the Bars conference, plus updates on AntiFenix, justice for Jerry Williams, and new music from Asheville

Bend The Bars Conference

bendthebars.noblogs.org
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This week we spoke with Alex about Bend the Bars conference which is taking place in Columbus OH on the weekend of August 26th-29th. This is a gathering which was called for in direct support for the September 9th national prisoner work strike, and is one of the only gatherings that we know of which explicitly centers the work of people doing direct support with incarcerated folks as opposed to NGOs and non profits. In this conversation we speak about the intentions for the conference as well touching on the prison condition in the US, the National Work Strike, and many other things.

 

You can learn more about this event by visiting https://bendthebars.noblogs.org/, and you can RSVP to this event or correspond with the organizers by emailing bendthebars@riseup.net

And, to visit the news sources that our guest mentioned, and to learn more about the upcoming national prisoner work strike to be called on September 9th, you can visit the following websites:
http://freealabamamovement.com/
https://supportprisonerresistance.noblogs.org/
https://iwoc.noblogs.org/

Additionally there is https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/, which is a resource for folks who want more
information about the day to day litigation that affects convicts and their families.

Announcements

AntiFenix

But first here is an announcement regarding AntiFenix by our comrades in the so called Czech Republic:

“Last week the appeal court hearing took place in the High Court in Prague. Russian, vegan, straight-edge anarchist Igor Ševcov, who was appealing his sentence – a 2 year expulsion from the Czech Republic for video recording someone else graffitiing prison walls during a support demonstration (complicity to criminal damage) – was given a new sentence.

The judgement remained the same – the high court still finds him complicit in criminal damage, but the judge changed the penalty. The new sentence: Igor is banned from attending any sporting or cultural event or any event like a manifestation, demonstration, benefit, mobilization, protest or any other action within the anarchist movement.

We do not know yet what it means exactly, but it’s likely that Igor will have to visit a probation office any time there is a big action, and he will be surveilled during any other event by under cover state agents and spies. If he violates his sentence he can be put behind bars for up to 3 years.

We do not know if Igor will follow this sentence, try to oppose it legally or just follow his own agenda and feelings and see what happens in the future. In any case, he has our full support.

If you want to support Igor, rather than congratulating him on his “better” sentence, ask him what kind of support he needs, for he is in a very uncomfortable situation. And mostly, keep changing your environment into a world where repression, exclusion and borders are exchanged for mutual solidarity and freedom.”

To learn more about this situation, you can visit their support website at https://antifenix.noblogs.org

Jerry Jai Williams

While national coverage continues surround reactions to police killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Philando Castile in Minneapolis, and so many other people of color, and significantly black men killed by police, protests continue here in Asheville around the police killing of Jai “Jerry” Williams on July 2nd of this year. Jai was shot 7 times and killed by Sgt. Tyler Radford at the Deaverview Apartments in West Asheville on July 2nd. Since then family, community members and activists have continued acting in public to make sure the police account of what happened July 2nd does not go unchallenged. This activity includes presenting a different version of the story, working to support family and make space for their needs, marches downtown, flyering, interceding at public meetings, vigils outside of the Asheville Police HQ and also a sit-in that ran for about 36 hours in the HQ lobby and leading to the arrest of 7 on July 22nd. The demands of the sit-in included the firing, arrest and indictment of Sgt. Radford for the murder of Jai Williams.

Support and resistance events continue. If you’re in the Asheville area and want to help out and draw attention to the case and bring home the message that this touristic mountain town suffers the same plague as the rest of the U.S. in terms of police unaccountability and systemic racism, you can join folks in the streets in vigil outside of the downtown police headquarters at the daily vigils at 6pm and plug in.

Much respect to those resisting, solidarity with the family. Shut it down.

A conversation with Keep Hoods Yours and on the July 25th International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners

KHY and Intl Antifascist Prisoners Solidarity

nycantifa.wordpress.com
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The first segment is a short conversation with members of NYC Antifa, an antifascist group in New York City. In this conversation we talk a bit about the history of this day of solidarity plus the state of fascism in the US and abroad. This conversation was transcribed and re-recorded to protect the folks’ identities. To learn more about this, you can visit https://nycantifa.wordpress.com/, and to donate to the international defense fund you can visit https://intlantifadefence.wordpress.com/about-2/

A large portion of this episode is a conversation with a member of Keep Hoods Yours. Keep Hoods Yours, or KHY, is a radical graffiti crew based in the SF Bay Area that organizes against gentrification, against sexual predators in the scene, against racism and more. During the conversation, we’ll hear about the rebel cultural car events called Sideshows, the police killing of Richard
Perkins during one of these Sideshows, KHY participation in uprisings against the Ferguson verdict, resistance to Fast Agent and poning of Kenny Truong and the shutdown of racist, gentrifying business “Locals Corner” in the Mission District. You can find KHY on Instagram or in the
streets. This interview was formatted into a zine by 1312 Distro and is available for printing thanks to IGD.

Announcements

Luke O’Donovan Solidarity

On July 25th at 9 am Luke O’Donovan will walk out of Washington State Prison after serving two years there. We are thrilled to see our friend free from behind prison walls. He is in high spirits and very excited to be released. As many of you who have been in touch with him know, he has occupied his time with a rigorous workout routine, lots of reading, and correspondence with all those who took the time to communicate with him.

Unfortunately he will not be allowed to return to his home and life in Atlanta. Due to the judge adding a banishment condition to his probation, Luke will have to move all the way to the West Coast for the next eight years, or until the conditions of his probation are changed. Moving forward, here are some ways to continue to support Luke as he starts life on strict probation.

Money– Luke will need money in order to cover his living expenses while he gets on his feet and moves his belongings and life to the West Coast. He will also need money to cover the probation and drug testing fees that he will be subject too. You can donate or set up recurring donations by visiting their paypal site.

Care Packages– Luke will need lots of little things, like clothes to rebuild his wardrobe, delicious vegan food, and other items that you are not allowed to have in prison. If you would like to send a care package please email letlukego@gmail.com to work out details on where and what to send.

Solidarity and Support- Throughout Luke’s case and subsequent imprisonment the support and solidarity he has gotten has been overwhelming. From the solidarity marches and actions to the mountain of mail and the hundreds of postcards sent to the judge we have been thrilled by all those who have taken action for him. Once things are more clear we will begin trying to get his banishment condition appealed, check back for updates. For now any and all actions are appreciated. As Luke’s new living situation isn’t worked out yet we can’t provide contact info at this time, but email us at letlukego@gmail.com if you want to get in touch.

Luke is set to be free from prison, but there is still a lot to do. Thanks everyone for your past and future support.

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Playlist

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Transcription

What follows is the transcript from an interview with Keep Hoods Yours (KHY) that appeared on The Final Straw Radio (TFSR). KHY is an anti-authoritarian, anti-gentrification, anti-sexist, anti-racist and so forth, graffiti crew based in the San Francisco Bay Area. This interview talks about organizing in youth culture, radical potentials in graffiti, some of the struggles that KHY has been involved in and more. The Final Straw is a radical radio program out of Asheville, N.C. and their episodes can be found here: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/. This interview was transcribed in an effort to broaden conversations around radical organizing and antagonism within vibrant subcultures that anarchists and other radicals find themselves involved in. Ultimately, it also serves as a proposal and a challenge to punks, graffiti writers, skateboarders, dancers, musicians and artists of many forms to never pass up on an opportunity to strategically target our enemies and fire at will, and to explore the creative cultures we find ourselves enmeshed with for spaces to attack from. Or, in the words of the KHY interviewee, to “develop an antagonistic, decentralized, popular culture of resistance that can hopefully develop our capacity to identify and attack the various forces which exploit poor and working class spaces, including gentrifi cation, police violence, rape culture and local white supremacist and fascist efforts.”

TFSR: Well first off let’s talk about, what is a graffiti crew? For those people listening who may know nothing about graffiti culture, what is it and how does it operate?

KHY: Well they vary from crew to crew, but for the most part a graffiti crew is a semi-formal grouping of graffiti writers that have similar styles, aesthetic choices and a philosophy towards the craft. They group up and collaborate in order to do graffiti, to exchange styles, knowledge, strategies, and supplies and generally have each other’s backs. Since it’s a culture that’s rooted in the streets, anything can happen. And it being illegal, we can’t really rely on mainstream institutions to solve conflicts. But it varies. For some crews, they’re just drinking buddies. For others, they are very serious, formal, tight-knit and organized. It definitely varies.

TFSR: I guess the first thing people would think of when they think graffiti-crew; they think it’s automatically connected with a gang.

KHY: It’s actually not, it’s often the other way around actually. Especially in working-class neighborhoods, some youth do graffiti instead of falling in the gang trap. In some cities, gangs and graffiti crews get along or just don’t beef, while in other cities it’s much different. In some crews there’s overlap in gang affiliations and graffiti crews. But for the most part they’re two very separate worlds that sometimes conflict.

TFSR: So sense of place seems pretty central to the idea of KHY. Could you tell some of our listeners about, generally speaking, the upbringing of many of the people involved? What do you think drew them to become involved in KHY? And, what kind of drives people to be engaged in this activity that could potentially be legally dangerous for them?

KHY: All of the people involved in this project at this time were born and raised in the Bay Area. Part of what’s driven folks to become involved in KHY is just been seeing the blatant gentrification, police violence and other problems in our neighborhoods. And also seeing how liberal non-profit efforts at changing things fail completely. These efforts usually end up alienating folks in the hoods that are probably attracted to things like KHY, because they see it as a way to engage with the oppressive things happening in their neighborhoods without committing themselves to reformist or legal means. It’s potentially dangerous, but the reality for folks is that the problems they’re dealing with are already dangerous. They face a larger danger from losing people in their community to police violence, to gentrification, to having families split apart, to the erasure of their culture and the loss of dignity that comes with it, that kind of thing. So really, the risk of catching a misdemeanor case for writing on a wall, it doesn’t feel all that dangerous compared to our daily reality.

TFSR: And let’s talk specifically now about KHY and how, when did it form, and overall what are it’s goals? And also, as both a radical project and a graffiti crew, how did it evolve over time since it first started?

KHY: KHY formed at about 2008-2009 with just a couple of us, and it’s grown over time. It’s grown at a much faster rate in the last three years or so. It’s really just a graffiti crew that’s rooted in radical ideas, including anti-capitalist, anti-authoritarian and anti-colonial thought. KHY aims to highlight the anti-property values of graffiti culture by exploring how targeted graffiti application could be used as a form of direct action. Also using culture, like active youth culture and radical organizing, to help develop an antagonistic, decentralized, popular culture of resistance that can hopefully develop our capacity to identify and attack the various forces which exploit poor and working class spaces, including gentrification, police violence, rape culture and local white supremacist and fascist efforts.

TFSR: Great, thanks for sharing that. And let’s talk about what kind of campaigns you all have been involved in. To me, the first thing that pops up in my mind is Local’s Corner, which obviously wasn’t something that was started by you guys but is something you were involved in. If you could talk about that, and just what happened (Local’s Corner is closed now, it was a restaurant in the Mission District). Also, you’re involved in a campaign around Fast Agent, so if you could just talk to us about what both of those were, and why you chose those as targets.

KHY: The Local’s Corner campaign, it was a very obvious example of the blatant colonial white supremacist mentality behind some of the gentrifiers in the mission district. For folks who don’t really know the story behind it, it involves the owner refusing to seat people of color. There’s one specific incident where they denied a Latina mother and her kids a table, claiming that there weren’t enough seats, and then sat down a group of customers of the same size right after. There’s another incident where some local students carried out a test, where they had a group of white students come in, and they were given seating, and then they had a group of students of color come in, and they weren’t given seating. There was already a lot of local anger at that business, but the mainstream liberal attempts to hold them accountable were failing. Folks had a petition floating around, they had some protests, but none of that really put enough pressure alone on Local’s Corner to really do anything. KHY targeting Local’s Corner was the tipping point for their business. The bad publicity along with the mainstream legal pressure, then on top of that the repeated vandalism, which became popularized as other folks not involved with KHY in any way began replicating the strategy themselves, it was just the final straw. And they closed, they called it. We did that to show that direct action can be accessible to folks who don’t feel as familiar with it, ya know? It doesn’t necessarily need to involve a high-risk action, like burning something down. It can be creative, accessible, less of a risk than folks assume. And it can be effective, it can shut things down. You can make a gentrifying business get the fuck out of your town.

TFSR: I would assume for younger people that would be like a big tipping point, like “Oh we actually shut this thing down.”

KHY: Yeah, and I think that a lot of people saw that, even some of the liberal people gave us credit, they said that KHY had a lot to do with it, that they wouldn’t have closed without our efforts. And I think that legitimized direct action and more militant, illegal tactics n the eyes of the community, because it was effective. It was a small victory, but people were glad to see them leave. It also engaged a lot of folks who had never been involved in direct action before. Once other graffiti writers began vandalizing it, writing messages, their names, just scribbling over it, whatever, they became engaged in that process. They were able to build their confidence in attacking what essentially attacks them.

TFSR: Yeah, and I also think that’s interesting with the Fast Agent thing, which basically are a bunch of ads that are on bus stop benches, I see it as you are targeting things that are in the social landscape, like “Hey, get this!”

KHY: Definitely. It’s essentially what graffiti’s always been about. It’s been a battle for the public visual landscape. There’s something inherently very antagonistic, anti-property, and anti-capitalist about graffiti. So Fast Agent is an advertising campaign for the real estate agent who has the highest record for flipping properties in the neighborhoods being targeted by gentrification, the number one real estate agent in the East Bay. His name is Kenny Trong, and he, like Local’s Corner, already faced a lot of resentment from the locals. He wasn’t very strategic about it either. He did a lot of talking shit to people online and instigating and being condescending to folks. And part of that entitlement was blasting West Oakland and parts of East Oakland with these Fast Agent ads to take up space and show his presence, to assert his economic power.

So we started targeting him, and encouraging other folks to do so. At this point it’s been our campaign that’s had the widest participation than any other. I mean there’s been hundreds of other people from all walks of life who’ve tagged on them, vandalized them, ripped them out, far more than we ever did. It’s normalized, decentralized, has a life of it’s own, has little to do with us. And again, it goes to show that you don’t necessarily have to be a part of a group or organization. You don’t have to go through legal means or follow the law. You don’t have to ask for anything, you can just take resistance into your own hands, at your own pace, even if you’re isolated and even if you don’t want to be a part of anything formal. And at this point it’s been going on for over a year.

TFSR: Let’s talk a little bit about; if people are going to look at KHY stuff, primarily they do that through instagram. So how do you find, through engaging in social media, have you been able to build relationships with other projects through this? And also, what is it like using social media as a means to show people what the crew has been doing, but at the same time obviously the police use that as a means for surveillance?

KHY: So far, social media has been a means to highlight some of our ideas of resistance to folks who aren’t already involved in radical circles. Folks that are already radicalized, that are already involved in radical movements, don’t need social media to get informed. So the social media thing was really meant as a way to engage folks in the hood who were on social media anyways. So far, it has helped build some solidarity. We’ve reached out to folks in other cities across the west coast, the U.S., even in other countries. Just as far as exchanging some inspiration, news, strategy, ideas, just making those connections between similar struggles in different cities. There’s been a lot of sharing too, folks will send us photos of them doing politicized graffiti in their cities, things that are going on in other places. We’ve had folks use politically targeted graffiti in application and send us reports about it, stuff like that. Now that we’ve got a strong social media presence, we focus more on highlighting other struggles that might be isolated. It’s also helped to build some relationships that have materialized from real life, outside of social media. There’s definitely limitations to using a medium like social media that’s always surveilled. But, in reality, only very specific things are communicated through instagram. The photos that we post about Fast Agent for example, 90% of them come from folks that have absolutely nothing to do with KHY. At this point it’s more about documenting recent and ongoing struggles. At most, there’s just pictures of KHY graffiti, unfortunately social media became part of graffiti culture. There’s hella accounts documenting graffiti, and it’s just not as hot as other forms of direct action.

TFS: ‘Cause you hear all the time these horror stories of how someone goes and steals a bunch of paint, and then their next picture is of their job, and then police go to their job and arrest them.

KHY: Yeah but, in the Bay Area graffiti is just so widespread and so ingrained out here that it’s so easy to get away with it, that they’re not really prosecuting graffiti in the same way that they would in some small town. And if you’re not prepared to deal with the potential consequences, you shouldn’t even be doing it.

TFSR: Is that something you all think about too? ‘Cause it’s not just some instances, but it’s everywhere, it’s integrated into the landscape, like it’s murals, it’s advertisement, graffiti is part of not only working class communities but also capitalism itself. I guess, what does it mean to be a graffiti artist but also to make that radical connection?

KHY: Well most of the time, graffiti isn’t even that radical or political, but it is inherently, and that’s what we’re trying to highlight. We’re trying to highlight that this culture that a lot of youth from all walks of life participate in, is already inherently radical. It already has revolutionary potential, and folks that participate in this culture already have the tools necessary to carry out resistance. People do graffiti every day, and people do graffiti on everything, anything, all it takes is strategic placement, and if desired some messaging, and then it becomes a form of direct action.

TFSR: Well that kinda brings us to my next question, but has the politics of KHY affected other street organizations or graffiti crews that are in this general area? And has the stance that you all have taken pushed people that are in the graffiti scene in a more political direction? Or has it already just been going that way because of the gentrification and police violence in San Francisco and Bay Area?

KHY: As far as other street organizations and other crews, there’s been a lot of mutual respect. Our goals have kept us out of the usual and petty conflicts that exist in graffiti, and that’s given us a lot of room to focus on what we’re doing. We’re not engaged in the usual beef dynamics in graffiti politics, even though some of us might have been involved in before. We’re more interested in exploring potentials for unity, collaboration, and focusing on common enemies. And for the most part, other writers see this and respect it, or just leave it alone. We’re also not pushovers, and have our own histories out here that some people aren’t aware of. Graffiti was beginning to take a slightly more political direction in the Bay Area, but it was very minor. Graffiti is full of problematic people and oppressive behaviors, and so we’ve helped to push local graffiti in a more political direction as far as people becoming more involved, as far as people becoming strategic with what they do graffiti on, about what they paint, and also about bringing up dynamics in the culture, of how to carry themselves, solidarity, things like that. Calling out rape culture and misogyny, highlighting different issues that affect writers. There’s a drug addiction epidemic in graffiti that’s hard to talk about that has cost a lot of heavy hitters and good people. We’re definitely trying to radicalize graffiti writers, while using graffiti to radicalize folks that don’t do graffiti.

TFSR: When you are all engaged in that, do you feel like there’s some push-back? Because I would imagine that that kind of political stance almost seems like a cliché, to bring that stuff up in any sort of youth culture. I imagine people would just respond with “Oh I don’t care about that. For me it’s just about destroying shit and that’s what it is.”

KHY: The only push-back we’ve really felt is a few misogynistic individuals feel threatened by us highlighting a lot of predators in the Bay Area, calling out rape culture and being really explicit about that. It’s almost unheard of for a graffiti crew, for a project that mostly consists of males in a culture that’s male dominated, to explicitly call for fighting patriarchy and pushing rapists out of their scenes and spaces in a militant way.

TFSR: That it is pretty crazy, because historically graffiti has been so male dominated.

KHY: Yeah, so really that’s been most of the push-back. So far as our broader politics in this project, there hasn’t been much push-back because we’re actually graffiti writers in the first place. We’re not people who aren’t a part of graffiti and aren’t just using graffiti to try to reach out to youth or whatever. We’re already graffiti vandals, we have styles, we have history, we have legitimacy, we have these relationships already. And now we’re choosing to use our momentum to try to radicalize the culture and folks that have access to it. All of our campaigns have been about things that are blatantly a problem locally and that most people relate to regardless. People are already mad about them, we don’t really deal with abstract political concepts. We’re not out here putting out academic rants and things like that. We’re acknowledging what people are already well aware of; police murdering people, gentrification, and the recent rise in white supremacy organizing in the Bay Area. These are problems that people are already pissed about.

TFSR: We’re gonna talk a little bit about of the rebellion in the Bay Area against police violence in late 2014 in a second, but I just wanted to ask, you know we’re talking about social media, do you see any interest to create a KHY magazine, or something basically that’s off the internet? Obviously there’s this presence that’s online, I don’t know what you think about this, but how do you feel about graffi ti zines, magazines, publications, basically anything else that’s outside social media?

KHY: Even though social media has helped reach a broader audience, we understand that it’s pretty limited and temporary. We’re working on a zine project which should hopefully be coming out soon.

TFSR: Well that’s awesome to hear. I know there’s a lot of graffiti nerds out there that are rubbing their ears. So let’s talk a little bit about, in fall of 2014 and in the wake of Darren Wilson basically being let off for the killing of Michael Brown Jr. in Ferguson, M.O. There were a series of riots that erupted in the Bay Area, and graffiti writers in my opinion played a huge role in that rebellion. Can you talk about the experience you thought of overall of the members of KHY in that revolt? How did it affect the crew in general? And how do you feel like the revolt changed people, especially those that were kind of like new to either “political action” or anything like that?

KHY: There were some folks involved in this project that were out in the streets. These demonstrations had a positive, energizing affect on most of the youth that came out. The revolt was very empowering for most people, for a lot of newly radicalized folks to feel that power, and to be able to hold space in the streets, to be able to push back cops, to be able to target things that they disagree with or don’t want in their neighborhoods, within the protection of a larger crowd. I think it also helped to establish radical politics within local youth cultures. You saw a lot of cultures being represented, you saw a lot of graffiti writers painting while there were riots in the background, you saw musicians, skateboarders, dancers, etc. A lot of the revolt was very youth-led, very youth involved. I think it was successful in bringing a lot of people out into the streets, being radical and having fun.

TFSR: I was telling people from out of town, I said that I felt that the graffiti writers were kind of like the Bay Area version of the soccer hooligans in Egypt, they kind of played a central role. It seems like a lot of the media, even radical media, overlooked that. It was really interesting to see people writing everywhere, a lot of different things.

KHY: Yeah, graffiti writers were definitely out during the revolt. And so many people do graffiti now; it’s just so widespread. A lot of graffiti crews were out during that. Your comparison of graffiti writers to soccer hooligans as an antagonistic cultural force is a good one, it’s interesting that that dynamic isn’t highlighted much.

TFSR: To our next question, could you talk about the recent sideshows that have taken part in East Oakland, and you might want to talk about “What is a sideshow?” for people listening who have no idea what that is. And KHY’s reaction to the police killing of Richard Perkins, who was killed outside of the sideshow in East Oakland, C.A., and more over what is your view of sideshows in general?

KHY: Well sideshows are a long-standing tradition in Oakland, and they’re essentially car-shows in the street where folks who space in the street and perform stunts with their cars. They do donuts, things like that. It’s like an outdoor, moving car-sport-party. They are a rebellious, self-organized activity of the working class and have a lot of valuable dynamics. In East Oakland, there’s not a lot for the youth to do, and we all know that there’s violence, all that, and these shows alleviate some of the anxiety, depression, and alienation that come with living through all that shit. Sideshows are empowering because they give the youth something to do in the streets collectively, and they give ownership over the streets that they live in while having fun and being rebellious. They’re unique because they’re decentralized, they’re organized without any permits or any formal hierarchy or leaders, and they easily and quickly gather a lot of people. They’re militant and very anti-police. When police come by, they don’t get taken seriously or they’re literally attacked. And often sideshows don’t end until the participants want them to; bottles get thrown at them (the cops). If they catch a lone cop; windows are getting smashed, hoods are getting stomped. Sideshows are usually so big that police can’t get to the center of the sideshow because of all the cars that are taking up the streets for a few blocks. I mean, some of them have hundreds and hundreds of participants, there’s a strong solidarity and a sense of unity when cops show up. Folks don’t snitch on each other and try to avoid internal violence. Sideshows have an insurrectionary potential. They’re often accompanied by graffiti, general public rebellion and sometimes riots. People are militant and often armed. These shows are very fluid and flexible at being able to move from hood to hood, from city to city, very efficiently. Some folks involved in this project are a part of sideshow and car culture in the Bay. Some of us were around, just keepin’ it lit, kickin’ it, when Richard Perkins was murdered. Everyone saw the murder of Richard Perkins as police retaliation for a nonstop weekend of huge sideshows that the police could not control, and for attacks on a couple of police cars also. Everyone saw that as a way for them to try to assert their dominance over Oakland and to scare folks into going back home. The police lied as always, they always do, they claim that he randomly drove up to them and pulled out a gun on them, a fake gun at that. Everyone knows that’s not true. He was at a sideshow having fun, he was not gonna randomly run up to cops and pull out a fake gun on them. This is not the first time this has happened in Oakland, where the pigs say that somebody pulled out a fake gun on them so they had to shoot them. Some are thinking that it may be easier for the State to frame people in Oakland with fake guns that you can’t trace. People were at the scene where the cops show him, they said that he wasn’t doing anything and that once he was shot down, they saw the cops kicking him, moving his body around carelessly. It’s just blatant white supremacist state violence. It was in response to the lawlessness of the sideshows and how they made the police look like they didn’t have any control. Especially with an increasingly gentrified Oakland, the police are really trying to kill that culture and oppress it. It’s really just repression.

TFSR: Let’s switch gears a little bit. Can you talk about the kind of support that KHY’s gotten? Specifically from the Mission District, but also the Bay Area in general. I’ve seen a lot of different articles and stuff being written, kids handing out KHY stickers and stuff like that. Cause it is kind of impressive that KHY has gotten sort of the notoriety within the Bay Area and the Mission District specifically for kind of a taboo activity so to speak. And can you talk about this positive feedback, but also the negative receptions as well?

KHY: I think the support really comes from the fact that again, our campaign and the issues that we’ve been addressing have been things that a lot of people in our hoods already care about. And this moment is kind of a downtime for radical struggles in the Bay Area, so a lot of responses to police murders, gentrification, etc. have mostly been dominated by liberal ideology and pacified nonsense, which folks are alienated from and can see that it usually brings no kind of results. It feels like a slap in the face when the only response to someone in your hood being executed by a racist pig is a so-called “peaceful protest” in which every detail is so micro-managed that the lame ass protest security in yellow vest is staring at you because the message on the sign you’re holding is “too-militant.” The fact that we’ve been engaged in struggles that people are feeling hopeless about in a refreshing, creative way while bringing a militant radical ideology to the forefront definitely has to do with the support we have, despite using a taboo activity. We haven’t really had any negative reactions aside from folks who obviously wouldn’t be down with our project, like yuppies and cop apologists and occasional whining, delusional liberals but who cares about them. At first we thought that we’d be accused of being a gang, but that hasn’t happened much. Most folks are just actually excited to see graffiti writers use creative application to inspire the community and educate folks by discussing revolutionary ideas. They usually are highlighted by the existing liberal left, while also creatively targeting things in the community that everyone hates, whether it be banks, gentrifier businesses, corporations, cop cars, crossing out white supremacist graffiti, the sort of things within the public landscape for all to see, showing that they aren’t untouchable.

TFSR: You mentioned that a couple times, could you just touch on that? White power graffiti in the Bay Area…

KHY: Historically there hasn’t been, aside from the obviously established white supremacy that it’s inherent in a settler state, an open-public-white-supremacist movement in the Bay Area for various reasons. Possibly in relation to gentrification and all these new-comers from new places , there’s been an obvious rise in white-supremacist graffiti. Whether it be swastikas, “white power,” anti-Black messages, anti-Mexican messages, etc. So we decided that was a very easy thing to gather support for targeting, and it’s something that can bring folks together around a common enemy. Despite differences in the community in conflict and divisions, everyone can agree that we don’t want Nazis, we don’t want white supremacists, and by us taking the initiative to start crossing out those messages, we’ve inspired other folks to do so. So now all kinds of people, even those that don’t do graffiti, are buying markers and crossing out these markers where they see ‘em. It’s empowering people to take matters into their own hands, instead of waiting on the liberals or police to do something. They’re engaging with that on their own, because they should, because these are their streets and their struggles.

TFSR: Well let’s talk a little bit about, you mentioned the Bay Area’s kind of been in a down-tide, you’ve all really continued to push since the revolt of late 2014, can you talk a little bit about the kind of different organizing things you guys have done, different community outreach events, and just talk a little more about as you were saying the need to build in these down moments?

KHY: That’s another main focus of this project, to use culture and community organizing to help those ideas actually materialize in our neighborhoods. We can’t just wait for the next uprising or the next series of riots, we can’t just wait for the next police murder and hope this will be the one that will trigger an uprising. In the meantime, between these peak points in struggle, we need to be doing a culture of resistance and building collective capacity. We need to be establishing and normalizing radical thinking within the cultures that make up our communities. We need to be educating and learning from each other. We need to be building relationships, meeting each other, strengthening those relationships, building trust so that when there are peak points in the struggle again, when folks are in the streets, they’ll already have stronger relationships, they’ll trust and recognize each other. And do this cultural work, this grassroots work; we’re also able to bring in new folks and branch out of these closed circles of radicals. We don’t need to wait for peak points in struggles; oppression is always there, exploitation is always there, alienation is always there. So even if there’s nothing going on, or if you’re isolated, or if the city you live in doesn’t have a very established radical movement of any kind, anyone can grab a marker or a spray can and go target and challenge things in their neighborhood that are problematic, spread ideas and creatively take back public space.

TFS: Well I’m really curious, what do you think the possibilities for bringing radical politics into, as you said cultural things. I’m thinking specifically youth culture, from hip-hop to graffiti, to punk, to motorcycle crews, to sports, to anything. What kind of advice would you give to anybody that’s looking to do this style of activity? It doesn’t even have to be graffi ti, but something culturally oriented that doesn’t really kind of have the auspices of political activity.

KHY: I think it’s very possible to bring radical politics into more traditional forms of youth culture. Most of these cultures already have inherently antagonistic aspects, but it needs to be done in a way that carries legitimacy. It needs to be done by folks that are already participants in these cultures. It’s hella see-through when folks who aren’t apart of the culture haven’t put in the work, time, risk, energy, etc. pop their heads up in said culture and try to use it to make politics cool or something. It comes off as corny, opportunistic and insincere. I think it’s really up to those who are already a part of these cultures to bring radical perspectives into them. We’re actually graffi ti writers in the fi rst place, and we’re able to maneuver in a way that allows us to reach a lot of people while remaining authentic and rooted in real graffiti.

TFSR: So for anybody that’s listening to this that is involved in graffiti specifically, and they are like ‘Wow this is great, I have these political ideas and am into graffi ti…’ Is there any advice you’d give them to form something like KHY in their own towns or cities?

KHY: Just do it. Do it. You already have the tools, skills and desires to do graffi ti, and you’re already pulling it off. Just think about placement, strategy, what’s important to you, and see if anyone else is down. That’s our point, that it’s really that easy.

TFSR: ‘Cause I think that’s a really key point that you hinted on, fi nding targets that people already know are like this huge bone of contention, that kind of thinking and strategy is something that’s often missing. Do you wanna just tell people how they can get a hold of KHY stuff, online? Or they can go on instagram and other places?

KHY: Yeah, folks can check us out at keephoodsyours on instagram, or just run into us in the streets. Shout out to all of our Bay Area people in the struggle and all the vandals putting paint where it ain’t, keepin’ it rooted in the streets.

Waupun CI prisoners on Hunger Strikes

Waupun CI Hunger Strike

https://solitarytorture.blogspot.com/
Download This Episode

This week, you’ll hear an interview with Ben Turk about ongoing prisoner hunger strikes at Waupun Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. The hunger strikes have been running since early June and have involved almost a dozen prisoners, who have faced repression including force feeding, further isolation, transfers and beatings for participation. The hunger strikes were initiated to protest the use of long term solitary confinement at the institution. For the majority of the show, IWOC activist Ben Turk talks about the cases of the men involved and the circumstances they’re facing. We also speak about the upcoming National Prisoner strike on September 9th, 2016 and how to get involved in that.

 

https://solitarytorture.blogspot.com/
http://supportprisonerresistance.net
https://iwoc.noblogs.org/

We’ll be hearing, near the end of the show, 2 musical tracks. Firstly, “Anguish Symmetry by With The End in Mind off of their 2016 release, “Unravelling, Arising”

But first a few announcements…:

Jerry Jai Williams killed by Asheville police

On July 2nd, Asheville Police officer Tyler Radford shot and killed a 35 year old, African American man named Jerry Williams at the Deaverview Apartments in Asheville. The following week has seen daily demonstrations and vigils in support of Jerry’s family, and the black communities of Asheville and in solidarity with protests against the killings of Philando Castille and Alton Sterling by police in Minneapolis and Baton Rouge, respectively. Today there will be three more events capping off the week of resistance that listeners are urged to attend if their hearts are in it.

at 2 PM – Community Healing and Release Ritual at the River (Carrier Park)

5 PM – Car Ride Through – Riding in Solidarity from Pisgah View Apartments to Deaverview apartments.

6 PM – Vigil at the Police Department in Pack Square in downtown Asheville.

Tuesday July 12, there are these:

A 2pm rally at the Asheville Mall (Wear all white or all black)
6pm vigil at Asheville Police Department
8pm Jerry Williams Birthday Bash / fundraiser for funeral and other support costs

More events available in the photo area of
https://www.facebook.com/Justice4JerryWilliams
http://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/files/2016/07

A statement from supporters of Justice4Jerry: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/files/2016/07/13592775_10154411662867958_8878929642182786346_n.jpg

Manuel Salas To Be Released

Manuel Salas, a vegan animal rights activist who was arrested for arson (unrelated to his animal rights activism) a few months before his 19th birthday, is scheduled to be released from prison on August 20th, 2016 after more than a decade in prison. In addition to his initial 12-year sentence, Manuel was sentenced to an additional 4.5 years after being charged with felony criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct stemming from an escalation of a protest against the facility for denying him vegan food.

Manuel has been active in struggling for vegan rights within prisons during his incarceration and is the founder of the National Animal Rights and Anarchist Network. Manuel’s writing was featured in Issue #2 of Wildfire.

Manuel is requesting support as his release date approaches. Please take a moment to send Manuel a card of encouragement and include your contact information so he can stay in touch after his release. Or donate some money to his release fund. You can find the link up on our blog post.
(https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PWXYSNRZ7KDYN)

We have set up an email account for Manuel to use after he’s released. Starting in late August, you can send a quick email to Manuel to see how he’s doing and stay in touch at manuelsalas(a)riseup.net

A word from Manuel:

“Hello to all. My name is Manuel Salas. I have been an Animal Rights activist and vegan for a long time. I have helped to make positive changes to the prison vegan diet. I’m going to be getting out of prison in August and I’m looking to get in touch with some new people. In a way I’m looking for some friendly support.

I’m into the understanding that life is a gift and that we must get all we can out of it. I’m looking for friends who understand that everyone in life sometimes makes mistakes but can grow from them. There are also those, like me, who have made sacrifices for their friends’ in my case those friends are not humans, but the animals I fight so hard to save from their oppressors.

I want to move on and grow as I have over the year. I want to be able to share life with people who understand life as a gift, who can take the bad and work to make it good. To take the negative and make it a positive. To just have fun and enjoy life. I would appreciate a letter or a card. Thank you and I hope you all have a good day.”

Write to Manuel:
Manuel Salas #504212
Columbia Correctional Institution
PO Box 900
Portage, WI 53901-0900

Playlist

Intl Solidarity with Russian Anarchist and Antifa Prisoners

Moscow ABC on Solidarity w Russian Anarchists & Antifa

Download This Episode

This week’s episode features a conversation with Antii, a member of Moscow Anarchist Black Cross about the call-out for solidarity with Russian anarchists and anti-fascists. This starts off with a description of the cases of: Dmitry Buchenkov (accused of participating in anti-Putin protests in Bolotnaya square on May 6th, 2012); Alexei Gaskarov (accused of anti-police violence and riotting in anti-Putin protests in Bolotnaya square in 2012); Alexei Sutuga (a Siberian street-level antifascist accused of brawling with neo-nazis); Ilya Romanov (anarchist former prisoner accused of attempted terrorism to stop the development of Kulibinsky park in Nizhny Novgorod); Alexander Kolchenko (Crimean antifascist accused of attempting to resist the Russian takeover of the region formerly of Ukraine); & Elizaveta Tsvetkova (accused of hate-crimes against police for posting up anti-police leaflets). Each of these prisoners are inside because of their activism and are considered political prisoners locked in the Putinist prison system.

During the hour Antii, who was exiled from Russia, talks about the cases of these 6, a more general context of anarchist and antifa action in Russia these days and about the prison system Russia.

The original callout can be found up at the Autonomous Action in English, Spanish and other languages here: http://avtonom.org/en/news/anarchist-black-cross-moscow-1st-10th-july-2016-join-international-days-solidarity-russian

Announcements

Kara Solidarity

Kara Wild is an artist, comrade and resilient force of nature, currently being detained in France for her alleged participation in a protest against draconian labor reforms and police repression. She is a trans woman and is currently being held in a mens jail without access to hormones. She is also a U.S. citizen and has been denied bond because French authorities consider her a flight risk.

On May 18th, thousands of people converged in Paris to defy an ongoing siege of police violence and to oppose a new neoliberal labor reform. During one of these marches a police car was attacked and set on fire. Kara was brutally arrested in connection to this incident more than a full week later, at a separate event. She is currently being accused of attempted voluntary manslaughter of a person holding public office, destruction of property, group violence and participating in a masked armed group.

Kara is among 6 people currently facing charges in connection to this incident. To make matters worse, Frances Prime Minister, Manuel Valls is vowing to execute unrelenting punishment, in order to set an example and de-mobilize protests.

You can learn more about this situation and donate to Kara Wild’s support effort by visiting the website https://freekarawild.org/

Eric King Sentenced to 10 Years

Eric King was sentenced to 10 years in prison this last week. His sentencing statement and updates can be found here: https://supportericking.org/2016/06/28/statement-from-the-eric-king-support-crew-regarding-his-sentencing/

An interview with members of DAF, an anarchist collective in Istanbul, plus words from Sean Swain

Turkish Anarchists of DAF, pt 1

anarsistfaaliyet.org/
Download Pt 1

Here, we present both parts one and two of an interview with Merve Arkun, Hüseyin & Özgür, members of Devrimci Anarşist Faaliyet, or DAF. DAF translates to Revolutionist Anarchist Action and is a network of overlapping collectives in Turkey. They are based out of Istanbul and run an office and two cafe’s, both called 26A, which is a meeting space and employer for collective members. This conversation was conducted on March 19, 2016, a few short hours after a DAESH (ISIS) bombing occurred in the Beyoğlu neighborhood of Istanbul, on the touristy street called İstiklal Avenue, just a few blocks from one of the collective’s cafe’s and their newspaper office.

The bomb killed 5 people (4 tourists plus the bomber), and injured some 36 more. The tension in the city in the days before the bombing was palpable as trucks of riot police roved around the neighborhood, and embassies and foreign schools closed for security reasons. The approaching Newroz celebrations, or Kurdish New Years, were slated to take place a mere 2 days after this attack in the contentious Taksim Gezi Park so recently after the resumption of military and legal hostilities between Kurdish groups and aligned leftists and the Turkish government headed by the AK Party of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. This decision most certainly would promise demonstrations and conflict
between security forces and civil society around the right to the contentious park, and against the war on the Kurds both in Syria and Turkey by Erdoğan’s government.

Besides the 26A cafes, DAF includes an Anarchist Women’s collective, a publishing project in the form of the Meydan Gazette (published monthly in paper form), and a youth collective, the Lycee (or High School) Anarchist Federation called LAF. In addition it organizes arts events and projects, and participates in labor organizing and solidarity with Kurdish resistance and the Rojava Revolution. DAF also organizes in tandem though autonomously with anti-militarist and anti-conscription activists in Turkey.

Merve is an active member of the Meydan Gazette publishing crew, the Anarchist Women’s collective and also in a seperate but related anti-militarist group. Hüseyin is a main editor of the Meydan Gazette and involved in the 26A cafes. Özgür is involved in Meydan & the self-defense program and the PATIKA ecological collective.

Throughout this first hour: Merve, Hüseyin & Özgür talk about the collectivized economic and living structures of DAF and how that pans out to support collective members and build collectivized models for survival within and against capitalism.

In the second podcast episode, the interviewees discuss: PATIKA Ecological Collective and their publication, organizing with communities in the Black Sea region against a hydro-electric dam, and more; Merve’s work with the Conscientious Objector Association against militarism and conscription; Meydan Gazette and their other publication projects; the modern anarchist movement in Turkey since 1989; solidarity with Kurdish populations in Turkey; organizing material support for the Rojava Revolution and aiding in helping anarchists join the struggle there; and more. Download Pt 2

To see an article (in Turkish) about Esra Ankan, you can visit the Meydan Gazette’s article here:
http://meydangazetesi.org/gundem/2016/02/trans-tutsak-esrayla-dayanismaya/

. … . ..

Announcements

Vigil for The Pulse Shooting

******A quick announcement: There will be a vigil tonight at 9pm at Firestorm Books and Coffee at 601 Haywood Rd in West Asheville for the victims and community affected by the shooting that occurred last night in Orlando, Florida. The shooting occurred at the Gay dance club called The Pulse and media outlets are announcing that there were 50 people killed in what appears to have been a targeted attack by someone from outside of the area wielding an assault rifle and a handgun. The hostage situation that developed was ended by a SWAT invasion at 5AM this morning (6-12-1016). Come out tonight and support this community.******

Notes From Sean’s Segment

Sean Swain speaks about a comrade of his in his facility, a trans woman who was put away for defending herself against an assaulter. Her government name is Adam Bockerstette, and while she can receive mail

under her chosen name (which is Kara), we were unsure about how to spell that. So if you do choose to write to her, your letters can be addressed to Kara Bockerstette, but note that your envelopes should be addressed to:

Adam Bockerstette
#606000
PO Box 120
Lebanon, OH 45036

Also keep an eye peeled at http://seanswain.org/ for more updates about Kara and her situation.

. … . ..

Oso Blanco

Good news for our comrade on the inside, Oso Blanco, who was sentenced to 80 years in maximum security prison for a series of bank robberies and a firearms violation. Oso Blanco is someone of Cherokee descent, and has been politicized during his time in prison and before. Recently there has been a massive fundraising effort on the part of his support team to get him transferred out of his former facility, and for legal fees to get his sentenced reduced. Both of these efforts have been
successful!

Thanks to fundraising efforts and donations, they have reached their fundraising goal at this time. Of course, money will always be needed until Oso Blanco is completely free – donations are always welcome. The support in donations and spreading the word was fast and amazing! Oso Blanco has been assigned a lawyer who he feels comfortable with and he is moving quickly to make sure the motion is filed by June 25th, 2016. Communication with Oso Blanco has been iffy at best. Please write him to
show support. If you donated, write and let him know as it will help immensely to raise his spirits. If you would like to donate further, and for guidelines on what mail will and won’t get into his facility, you can visit his support website at: http://freeosoblanco.blogspot.com/

To write Oso Blanco at his new location, you can address letters to:

Byron Chubbuck
#07909051
USP Lewisburg
PO BOX 1000
Lewisburg, PA 17837

Firehawk on Female incarceration, ‘rehabilitation’, and promising radical strategies

http://unstoppable.noblogs.org/

Download This Episode

This week we spoke with Firehawk, who is an anarchist and anti prison/anti carceral state organizer based out of Colarado. In this interview we talk about her zine “Governing Bodies, Governing Souls: Female incarceration, ‘rehabilitation’, and promising radical strategies”, which came out of her experiences conducting research into increasing rates of incarceration in women’s prisons in the US. We talk about those experiences, about the zine in general, and about possible ways to be a support to incarcerated people and to anti-carceral struggles. We also talk about the various ways in which incarceration of transgender people are represented or thought about, a topic not necessarily included in the zine.

If you have any opinions about how we discussed this topic, we would love to hear them. Additionally, if you have a take on this issue that we did not touch on, or more information that we didn’t consider, please don’t hesitate to drop us an email at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net, or you can email William Goodenuff at stormwater(a t)riseup.net, *or* you can email Firehawk at firehawk666(aat)riseup.net.

You can go check out and download a printable version of the zine, “Governing Bodies // Governing Souls” at http://insurgenttheatre.org/hackett.pdf.
If you are interested in interfacing with the WEBS class, visit the facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/websofsupport/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel. And for the Unstoppable Publication, again you can visit http://unstoppable.noblogs.org to order a copy and to learn more about this project.

. … . ..

Announcements

TRANZMISSION

There will be a volunteer interest meeting for the Asheville based group the Tranzmission Prison Project, Wed June 29th at 7pm sharp in the upstairs room of the west asheville Izzy’s at 373 Haywood Road. The Tranzmission Prison Project is a volunteer run group which sends books and zines to LGBTQI prisoners, all free of charge. To get in touch with them, you can email them at tranzmissionprisonproject@gmail.com or search for them on facebook.

. … . ..

ANTIFENIX

This was communicated to The Final Straw from our comrades in the so called Czech Republic, who have been facing government and police oppression in the form of an initiative called “Operation Fenix”, which specifically targets anarchists.

“As “Czech” Anarchist Black Cross and the AntiFenix Collective, we call for international solidarity actions against the repression of anarchists in the so-called Czech Republic. This repressive wave is labeled Operation Fenix – 8 people are accused or charged, some with possible life sentences, and with many more harassed by police, interrogated, raided, devices confiscated.

Our call for international solidarity is to support all of charged and affected, but also in particular to support Martin, an anarchist who was entrapped and accused of preparation of a terrorist attack, all planned by two state infiltrators. He has been locked away already almost 14 months in terrible conditions, and in response, he has just gone on hunger strike. Especially in places where you have Czech embassies or consulates, you can show that borders can’t stop anarchist solidarity.”

To learn more about this you can visit antifenix.noblogs.org

. … . ..

Eric King

The sentencing date for vegan anarchist prisoner, Eric King has been set for Tuesday, June 28th at 11:30am at the US District Court House in Kansas City, Missouri. Eric accepted a non-cooperating plea to federal arson charges. He was convicted of attempting to set fire to a congress-member’s office. If you’d like to attend his sentencing, it’s suggested that you arrive by 11am to Courtroom 8A at 400 East 9th St in Kansas City with a valid, state-issued ID and plan to go through a metal detetctor. There is a request for fund-raising for his expected 8-year sentence, support t-shirts, his current mailing address, details on his case and more that can be found at http://supportericking.org

. … . ..

Call in to Waupun CI in Wisconsin

The Industrial Workers of the World Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee is requesting folks to email and call Waupun Correctional Institute in Wisconsin on today and Monday, June 20th. The hunger strike involving at least 5 prisoners is focused on an end to the practice of long term solitary confinement in the state of Wisconsin. As of Sunday, today, people have been on hunger strike in Waupun for 13 days. One of the hunger strikers, Cesar De Leon, announced 6/15/16 that he is now also refusing water because Waupun’s water supply is contaminated by lead, he vomits up their water and experiences stomach pain and heart-burn when he drinks it.

Email brain.foster@wisconsin.gov
Phone 920-324-5571

If you wish to write to participating prisoners to make message of support to hunger strikers, please write to: Cesar Deleon #322800, Lamar Larry #293906, Rayshun Woods #390831, LaRon McKinley #42642, at:
Waupon Correctional Institute
P.O. Box 351
Waupon, WI 53963

Norman Green #228971 has recently been transferred to Columbia, and can be written at
Columbia Correctional Institute
P.O. Box 900
Portage, WI 53901

More details can be found on the facebook page entitled phone and email zap: support wisconsin prisoners’ hunger strike day 13 & 14: https://www.facebook.com/events/1900430210184456/

Or at https://solitarytorture.blogspot.com/

. … . ..

Playlist

June 11th: Marius Mason, according to daughter Arianna Staiger

June 11th, Marius Mason

june11.org
Download This Epside

This week’s show features a conversation with Arianna Staiger, daughter of long term eco-anarchist prisoner in the U.S., Marius Mason. Marius Mason is serving 22 years for destruction of a GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) research facility at the University of Michigan as well as pieces of logging equipment. Marius was a part of the so-called Green Scare, the FBI and U.S. government’s hunt and repression of eco-activists. In Marius’ case his ex-husband, Frank Ambrose, was coerced into snitching on Marius about their eco-defense activities in exchanged for a partially deferred sentence. Marius is also a trans man, who transitioned while incarcerated, and is being held in women’s facility. Marius is frequently put into isolation for his continued organizing around issues of trans prisoners and access to vegan food.

This conversation is taking place on the weekend before the annual June 11th day of Solidarity with long term Marius Mason and other long term eco and anarchist prisoners. June 11th, formerly the day of solidarity with Jeff “Free” Leurs, has for years now been an opportunity for discussion, organizing, fundraising and active solidarity with those on the other side of the bars, in hopes of continuing their struggles towards a world without bars and without cages. More on June 11th, the prisoners involved and the like can be found at http://june11.org/

In this hour, Arianna, who was 16 at the time of Marius’ arrest, talks about her relationship with him, about activism, music, incarceration, family and time. We’ll hear some of Arianna’s music in this hour, but if you want to hear a more complete interview, including more of Arianna’s music, check out our podcast version of the show . If you’d like to check out Arianna’s music, you can visit http://soundcloud.com/ariannastyger

This week in Asheville, there will be 2 June 11th events. On Friday, June 10th at French Broad River Park at 6:30pm there’ll be a potluck bbq with some free and benefit materials available, plus food and conversation on prisons, longterm prisoners and solidarity. And probably tempeh.

On Saturday, June 11th at 6:30pm at Firestorm Books and Coffee there will be a showing of the Critical Resistance documentary, “Visions of Abolition: From Critical Resistance to a New Way of Life” followed by a discussion of the prison industrial complex and prison abolitionism. This event is free, bring some friends.

If you can make it to Washington D.C., this week there will be actions against the Bureau of Prisons and other targets, as well as community gatherings in parallel with June 11th against the ecological and health damages caused by prisons, in particularly focusing on actions against the construction of a prison on a Kentucky former mountain top removal site. For more info, check out our interview with folks from Fight Toxic Prisons or check out http://fighttoxicprisons.wordpress.com

Announcements

Before we get going with our Sean Swain segment and the interview, a few quick announcements:

Update on Detroit Eviction Defense

On June 2nd, we released a podcast episode with folks from Detroit Eviction Defense about the situation of Jennette Shannon, a single mom from Detroit who was facing eviction and which DED hoped to stave off through active solidarity. Sadly, on June 4th the house was overwhelmed by Sheriffs, movers & Bailiff and the ground was lost. To check out the podcast, follow this link.
More updates to come on how to support Jennette and those injured during the defense as well as plans for the future at http://detroitevictiondefense.org
Fundraising for Jennette & her son can be found here: https://www.youcaring.com/jennette-shannon-and-her-16-year-old-son-580529

. … . ..

Alexander CI in Taylorsville, NC

Several inmates being held at Alexander Correctional Institution in Taylorsville, NC have recently gone on hunger strike in protest of their conditions of confinement. They are on strike due “the denial of medical treatment, the denial of food and officers spitting in food trays, the denial of adequate materials to clean their cells, the denial of recreation, sexual and racial discrimination against African-Americans in restrictive housing (seg), and the constant denial of incoming mail.”
The prisoners on strike are Stanley Corbett, Jr., Jermaine Spellers, and Andrew S.

The inmates are also protesting the recent beatings of prisoners in facility “blind spots,” areas where no cameras are present. This includes the beating of Brian K McKoy on 2/3/2016, Johnathan Toolin on 3/22/2016, Karl Covington on 1/5/2016, Devin Hyman on 2/4/2016, and Robert McFadden on 4/1/2016.

This protest comes at a time of increase prisoner organizing, which includes recent riots at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, mass hunger strikes in Michigan facilities, work stoppages at multiple
facilities in Texas, and the announcement of a national, coordinated prisoners’ strike on the 45th anniversary of the Attica uprising on September 9th.

Media is encouraged to contact the administration at Alexander to make inquiries. Those links can be found at http://www.ncdps.gov/Adult-Corrections/Prisons/Prison-Facilities/Alexand…

Resist Fascists in Sacramento

A National Mobilization is being planned in Sacramento in several weeks and we need your help to make it possible.

In the past year, the anarchist movement has seen the rise of the far-Right and the growth of white nationalism and fascism, not only in the US but throughout the world. From Neo-Nazis marching to support the police in Olympia, mass shootings carried out by white nationalists, to people almost getting shot in Minneapolis outside of a protest encampment, to everyone from the KKK and the militia movement coming back in a real way.

On Sunday, June 26th, the Traditionalist Worker Party, headed by white power rising star Matthew Heimbach will be leading the Neo-Nazi gangs that make up the Golden State Skinheads (GSS) in an “Anti-Antifa” rally at the State Capitol. They will be joined by members of the KKK, the National Socialist Movement, and skinhead groups such as Blood and Honor. We believe that this will be the largest west coast white power mobilization in many years. As Heimbach stated on a recent podcast, “If we can do it here, we can do it anywhere.”

In response, there is a call for people to shut down the rally starting at 9 AM sharp on the west steps of the state capitol in Sacramento. The permit for the fascist rally starts at 11 am and they are planning on arriving at the West steps of the capital at 12 Noon.

If you are not able to attend, we ask that we please help us by:

1.) Share this with trusted comrades and tell those that might want to be a part of such a mobilization.

2.) Helping spread the word on social media and on any media project you have, by sharing online flyers and images about the upcoming showdown and also inviting people on the facebook event, for which the guest list is private. The event will be linked in our blog post at ashevillefm.org.

[[For blog: Event is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1727446437527487/

3.) Look out for opportunities to donate to the bail support fund and convergence space, to help those that may be arrested.

This summer is looking like it is going to be a hot one. From Native blockades against fracking, bloody battles outside of Trump and Hilary rallies, the upcoming RNC and DNC, and the ongoing local struggles happening all around us. We hope that the mobilization on the 26th is another part of a wider push towards becoming more of a force against capital, the State, white supremacy and patriarchy, and industrial destruction.

More background information with links can be found at https://itsgoingdown.org/national-mobilization-blockade-shut-white-supre…

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playlist

podcast: Jennette Shannon of Detroit Eviction Defense

Detroit Eviction Defense

http://detroitevictiondefense.org
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This is a special podcast release from The Final Straw Radio, airing weekly on WSFM-LP in Asheville, North Carolina and elsewhere.

On June 1st, 2016, Jennette Shannon and members of Detroit Eviction Defense held a block party in a neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. Jennette, a resident of this neighborhood for decades, and her teenage son have been in immediate danger of eviction due to legal wrangling and financial violence done by the vulture fund sometimes known as Thor Real Estate. Jennette has paid tens of thousands of dollars in fees to cover the company’s tax debts and to lawyers, has had her backyard parcelled and mortgaged by the company multiple times over and has been offered potentially fraudulent deeds and other paperwork. The block party was well attended by neighbors and activists from a plethora of community organizations from around Detroit to kick off the defiant struggle against eviction.

Today, June 2nd marks the beginning of that occupation, in which community members and folks from Detroit Eviction Defense are holding the space in solidarity. More on this house defense and the work of Detroit Eviction Defense can be found at http://detroitevictiondefense.org.

For other episodes of our show, check out thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org or find the current episode at http://ashevillefm.org/the-final-straw and feel free to drop us a line at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net

Portions of this content will air in the episode of The Final Straw Radio for Sunday, June 5th, alongside part of an interview with Arianna Staiger, daughter of eco anarchist prisoner Marius Mason. In the interview, Arianna talks about her father, his incarceration, their relationship, about activism and shares some of her music.

**Update** On June 4th, after struggling, the Bailiff kept good on their promise and overwhelmed the resisters with Sheriff’s and movers. A few defenders were injured in the process and Jennette and her son were dislodged from the house. A fundraiser is online to get her and her teenage son into a new house here: https://www.youcaring.com/jennette-shannon-and-her-16-year-old-son-580529

An interview with a member of Koko Lepo – an autonomous youth collective in Belgrade -, an update on AntiFenix, and words from Sean Swain

Koko Lepo – Belgrade, Serbia

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This week we feature an interview with Freddy, who is a member of the autonomous youth collective in Belgrade, Serbia known as Koko Lepo. We speak about the origins of the collective as growing out of a self organized kindergarten primarily for Roma children, about solidarity between anarchists and Roma people in Belgrade, about some history of the region, and about the complex nature of solidarity itself.

 

It should be mentioned though, that due to a very unfortunate technical error, we lost the final 13 or so minutes of this interview, many apologies both to you – dear listeners – and to our guest. Just to give you a broad picture of what we talked about, we touched a bit more on the complex nature of actual solidarity, and made the point that sometimes so called “real” solidarity can look somewhat ordinary or boring. We also spoke more about the tour that Freddy just concluded with a stop in Asheville, and about challenges that the various audiences brought to the talks he did, in particular the question of race, racism, and ally complexes. Our guest brought up the point that there have been various conversations about this topic in the US that have not happened – or have not happened in the same way – as they have in Belgrade. He was particularly excited to engage with American audiences about this issue, and said a lot of really cool and poignant things which we are unfortunately unable to share with you. Though if you would like to write to this project you can email them at kokolepo(aat)riseup.net and get in touch with them on facebook by searching kokolepoav

However, all of this perhaps gives us the opportunity to share more in depth than we may originally have been able some of the musical projects that our guest recommended. It also bears mentioning that mutual aid in the form of money donations most often happen for this project in the form of music shows, punk, metal, hardcore, or other varieties. If you feel so moved to, please feel free to make a solidarity show in your town!

The first project we’ll share is a Roma language hip hop project called Lord Kastro with Djelem Djelem. The next is a track from a hardcore project called Katma, the singer of which is one of the co-founders of the original kindergarten. The third is another track from Gipsy Mafia (an antifa Roma hip hop group, a track from which opened up the show as well) with “Ava Kari”.

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Announcements

Operation Fénix

Here is an update from comrades in Czech Republic:

On Friday 5-27-2016 in Pankrác remand prison anarchist Martin Ignacák accused of terrorism went on hunger strike. He did this because on 4-29-2016 the City court in Prague ruled in favour of his release from remand and the state’s attorney appealed this decision to the High court in Prague. On friday 5-27-2016 the High court in Prague extended the remand. Therefore the anarchist has decided to protest by going on hunger strike and has stopped taking in nutrition and liquids. This type of hunger strike threatens the life of the hunger striker after a week.

During the year long investigation of the preparation of a supposed terrorist attack the imprisoned anarchist has exhausted all legal options, to achieve objective procedure of the respective organs active in the criminal proceedings. None of them were taken into account. This is why he now chose this radical form of expression, to draw attention to this manipulated police case. “I consider the approach of the investigators and the police to be very problematic, it is a threat to the freedom of every human being, a threat to freedom of speech, a threat to activism that tries to lead to a better world , and this doesn’t just involve anarchists.”

Martin has been prosecuted in the so called Fénix case since April 2015, in which 5 people altogether were accused of the preparation and the failure to notify of a terrorist attack on a train. Martin is the only one who has been in remand prison this whole time and his detention has now been extended after the intervention of the state’s attorney. As a reason for the extension of remand the state’s attorney used the testimony of a police agent who infiltrated the anarchist movement in 2014. From his testimony the state’s attorney drew the conclusion that Martin might attempt to escape to Spain. Another reason, according to him, was that Martin “is connected to the so called Sít revolucních bunek/ The Network of Revolutionary Cells (SRB) and therefore also to similar organizations abroad.” The police spoke about SRB when they began Fénix and provided information to the media.” Any connections between the 5 attacks ascribed to SRB and all the detained and accused have been refuted. The investigators themselves have ruled it out” says Martin.

At the moment Martin is the second longest detained prisoner in the Pankrác remand prison. For 13 months he has been living there under conditions that negatively affect his psychological and physical state. For example he has been refused food free of animal products, which means he practically doesn’t have access to hot food. Friends, who have come to visit him have been mentioned by name in the indictment. Police from the Department for combating organized crime have started to collect information on Martin’s sister, only because she tries to support her brother in whichever way she can.

For Martin parole would mean that after 13 long months he would again see his friends, family, nature, that he wouldn’t be exposed to emotional deprivation and physical hardship.

Update Sunday, May 29th: Martin’s sister Pavla B. joined her brother in the protest and this morning she has started hunger strike herself as well.

For more information follow https://antifenix.noblogs.org/

Our past interviews on AntiFenix can be found here: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/?s=antifenix

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playlist

Hasan on prison organizing + Free Ohio Movement; Istanbul ABC on Turkey + vegan anarchist prisoner Evcan Osman

Hasan on Free Ohio Movement + Istanbul ABC on Osman Evcan

abcistanbul.blogspot.fr/
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This week Bursts spoke with Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan, one of five defendants in the Lucasville Uprising case from 1993 facing the death penalty known collectively as the Lucasville 5. Hasan, calling from Ohio State Prison supermax in Youngstown, Ohio, took the time to talk about the newly formed Free Ohio Movement, a prison organizing movement based on the Free Alabama Movement which centers on the claim that prisons in the U.S. are the current site of a continuation of slavery supposedly abolished but really upheld by the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Hasan talks about prisoner labor & recidivism, claims of rehabilitation by the state and the organizing towards the September 9th nationwide prisoner strike on the 45th anniversary of the Attica Prison Uprising of 1971. More on Hasan’s case can be found at http://lucasvilleamnesty.org and you can hear our previous interviews with Hasan here.

After that you’ll hear a conversation with a member of Istanbul Anarchist Black Cross, in Turkey, that Bursts conducted. The conversation talks about the political prisoner situation in Turkey, the work of IABC, and the case of vegan anarchist prisoner Osman Evcan, who
recently succeeded to win rights from the state after a 45 day hunger strike. More on IABC, in Turkish, at http://abcistanbul.blogspot.fr/

Announcements

Stanley Corbett at Alexander CI, NC

At the request of prison organizers in North Carolina, we’d like to share the following information:

Politically active prisoner Stanley Corbett (0716025) has been repeatedly harassed by COs at Alexander CI, in Taylorsville, NC, and is being denied full food portions. Upon Corbett complaining, one CO said, “Y’all n-words always complaining about something.” Then later, after filing a grievance, a different CO yelled, “Suck my (BLEEP) n-word, write that up!” Please call in to the prison at (828) 632-1331 and request the administration to feed Corbett and stop this harassment.

Again, that number is 828 632 1331 and Stanley Corbett’s number is 0716025, held at Alexander CI in Taylorsville, NC.

Save Our Roots

Here is a brief announcement from Save Our Roots: An Indigenous People’s Campaign to Protect the Sacred Biodiversity of our Natural Forests:

“[Genetically Engineered] trees pose a very real and significant threat to our natural forests and all Life on … Earth. It violates Indigenous peoples’ fundamental rights to live in harmony with nature and to practice our cultural and spiritual beliefs … The propagation and use of GE trees as a natural resource and commodity for increased pulp and energy production will compromise and destroy the delicate regenerative biodiversity and life-cycles of [the] Earth . The growing of GE trees is a risk towards: the Rights of the Earth; land tenure and subsistence rights of Indigenous Peoples; depletion of precious ground water reserves; increases the use of deadly herbicides and pesticides; continues the release of greenhouse gas emissions and microscopic pollutants; and are a false solution towards mitigating climate change.”

To learn much more about this topic, for updates on current situations and campaigns, and for interview opportunities for your media project, you can visit http://saveourroots.org/

Koko Lepo Solidarity Tour

On Thursday, May 26, 7-9pm Firestorm Books & Coffee (610 Haywood Road) will host the Anarchy & Anti-Fascism in the Balkans: Koko Lepo Solidarity Tour!
Suggested Donation (no one turned away) to help presenter with travel costs. During this time, a member of Koko Lepo autonomous youth solidarity program in Belgrade, Serbia, attendees can hear from a Koko Lepo member who is visiting the U.S. on a tour to spread awareness of autonomous, anarchist and anti-fascist/anti-racist projects and organizing going on in Belgrade and beyond!

The presenter will narrate the evolution of Koko Lepo from a free kindergarten in the defunct InexFilm squat to a broader youth program. The discussion will focus on issues of anti-ziganism (a term for prejudice against Roma/gypsies), autonomous solidarity efforts in Belgrade, the difference between charity and mutual aid, and the struggle against hierarchy; the presenter welcomes challenges and suggestions for continued solidarity and new connections.​

Koko Lepo youth solidarity collective is a mutual aid program working with the residents of “the Dump”, a ‘favela-type slum’ in Belgrade inhabited by people usually referred to as “Roma” or “Gypsies”. The collective is founded on the principles of equality and mutual aid. It is closely tied to the anarchist and antifascist scene in the Balkans and beyond.

Koko Lepo began in 2013 as a free kindergarten program in the InexFilm squat in the Karaburma neighborhood of Belgrade. Its students were picked up three to five days a week from their homes in the settlement and walked to the kindergarten where we had a three to four hour program with them before walking them back home. The program was focused on autonomy, respect for others, and making a safe space for the young children to explore their identities. We placed a strong emphasis on undermining ‘traditional’ gender dynamics and breaking down other divisions in the settlement. Over time, we developed very strong ties with our families in the settlement which allowed us to start a broader program for older children. This was called Školica and began as a weekend study program. This quickly expanded however and started to host film nights, excursions, and other activities.

When the squat was taken from us in October last year, we lost our ability to do the kindergarten so we redoubled our efforts with Školica. Now Koko Lepo occurs at least once a week all over the city with either our younger group (aged 7-10) or our older group (11-14) totaling around 50 kids (the kindergarten had another 20 or so). All of our funding comes from anarchist and antifascist groups in Europe as well as some odd individual donations here and there.

Check it out

Wild Roots Feral Futures

From http://feralfutures.wordpress.com:

We are very happy to announce that, for the 8th year running, the Wild Roots Feral Futures (WRFF) eco-defense, direct action, and rewilding encampment will take place in the forests of Southwest Colorado this coming June 18-26, 2016 (exact location to be announced). WRFF is an informal, completely free and non-commercial, and loosely organized camp-out operating on (less than a) shoe-string budget, formed entirely off of donated, scavenged, or liberated supplies and sustained through 100% volunteer effort. Though we foster a collective communality and pool resources, we also encourage general self-sufficiency, which lightens the burden on communal supplies, and which we find to be the very source and foundation of true mutual sharing and abundance.

We would like to begin by acknowledging that Wild Roots Feral Futures takes place on occupied/stolen indigenous territory, primarily of the Nuutsiu (occasionally spelled Nuciu or Nuchu, aka “Ute”) people, as well as Diné [“Navajo”], Apache, and others. In recognition of this reality and as a first step in confronting it, we seek to establish proactive working relationships with those whose stolen land we gather upon, and open the space we temporarily gather in to the centering and amplification of indigenous voices and struggles. Our understanding is that any community of resistance that doesn’t center the voices of indigenous people and put their leadership in the forefront is a movement that is part of the problem. [Read more here…]

We would like to invite groups and individuals engaged in struggles against the destruction of the Earth (and indeed all interconnected forms of oppression) to join us and share your stories, lessons, skills, and whatever else you may have to offer. In this spirit we would like to reach out to frontline community members, local environmental groups, coalitions, and alliances everywhere, as well as more readily recognizable groups like Earth First!, Rising Tide North America, and others to come collaborate on the future of radical environmentalism and eco-defense in our bio-regions and beyond.

We would also like to reach out to groups like EF!, RTNA, and the Ruckus Society (as well as other groups and individuals) in search of trainers and workshop facilitators who are willing to dedicate themselves to attending Wild Roots Feral Futures and sharing their skills and knowledge (in a setting that lacks the financial infrastructure to compensate them as they may have come to expect from other, more well-funded groups and events). We are specifically seeking direct action, blockade, tri-pod, and tree climbing/sitting trainers (as well as gear/supplies).

Regarding the rewilding and ancestral earth skills component of WRFF, we would like to extend a similar invitation to folks with skills, knowledge, talent, or specialization in these areas to join us in the facilitation of workshops and skill shares such as fire making, shelter building, edible and medicinal plants, stalking awareness, tool & implement making, etc. We are also seeking folks with less “ancestral” outdoor survival skills such as orienteering and navigation, etc.

Daily camp life, along with workshops, skill shares, great food, friends, and music, will also include the volunteer labor necessary to camp maintenance. Please come prepared to pitch in and contribute to the workload, according to your abilities. We encourage folks who would like to plug in further to show up a few days before the official start of the event to begin set-up and stay a few days after the official end to help clean up.

Site scouting will continue until early June, at which point scouts and other organizers will rendezvous, report-back their scouting recon, and come to a consensus regarding a site location. We are also planning on choosing a secondary, back-up site location as a contingency plan for various potential scenarios. Email us for more info on getting involved with scouting and site selection processes.

WRFF is timed to take place before the Earth First! Round River Rendezvous, allowing eco-defenders to travel from one to the other. Thus we encourage the formation of a caravan from WRFF to the EF! RRR (caravans and ride shares can be coordinated through our message board at feralfutures.proboards.com.

We are currently accepting donations in the form of supplies and/or monetary contributions. Please email us for details.

Please forward this call widely, spread the word, and stay tuned for more updates!

For The Wild,

~The Wild Roots Feral Futures organizers’ collective

Email: feralfutures(at)riseup(dot)net

June 11th Day of Solidarity

And now the call-out for this year’s June 11th: International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason and All Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners

The podcast version of this episode includes a reading of the June 11th Statement for 2016, a rather lengthy one at about 20 minutes, prior to us playing the interview with Hasan. The text from that announcement can be found here.

For a zine version, check out this link.