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, Anarchist, Author, CounterInsurgency, Earth & Animal Liberation, Earth First!, Environment, General, Grand Jury, History, Police, Prisons, repression

Lelsie James Pickering on surveillance and radical history

L.J. Pickering & Co
L.J. Pickering + Fam
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This week Bursts spoke to Leslie James Pickering about a range of different subjects. Mr. Pickering worked for the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office (NAELFPO), acting to spread the message and communiques of the ELF, from 1997 to 2002. Obviously, he experienced heavy state oppression during that period of time. And recently, it’s become apparent that the state hasn’t forgotten him.

Leslie James Pickering is no longer allowed to enter Canada (despite no relevant arrests in the last decade and a half) and has found that he’s got a “Mail Cover” via the Post Office where his mail is photocopied and tracked by an as yet unidentified Law Enforcement Agency. He’s also had friends on the West Coast contacted by the Buffalo (NY) FBI Office and asked if Leslie has enemies or do direct action and business contacts of Leslie’s have been subpoenaed to Grand Juries around Burning Books Radical Bookstore. Leslie is an owner of that radical bookstore in Buffalo, which carries books, zines and hosts political events and via which, according to the FBI, Leslie is “stirring up the youth.”

We spend most of the hour talking about government surveillance in his case in particular and in general in the U.S. and also about the prosecution of Jeremy Hammond. Leslie shares some thoughts on parts the forgotten history of radical resistance in the U.S. In particular, he talks about his recent book on the Evan Mecham Eco Terrorist International Conspiracy (EMETIC), a predecessor to the ELF, as well as his earlier book on a radical, white, working class radical named Sam Melville who bombed government and capital centers in New York and inspired the Weather Underground. Melville, who’s the focus of Pickering’s book “Mad Bomber Melville”, went on to organize at Attica before and die during the Attica Prison uprising in 1971. In Pickering’s view, the importance of recognizing and learning from radical history allows us to better strategize for current and future struggles.

Lastly, we briefly touch on the story of Martin Sostres, who’s ideological journey brought him from Nation of Islam through Black Nationalism to Anarchism. Sostre was framed up on drug charges in order to silence his organizing and shut down his bookstore in Buffalo, NY, in 1967 and served 10 years before having his case overturned. Martin Sostre now lives in New York City. There was a 1974 documentary about his case called “Frame-Up!: The Imprisonment of Martin Sostre” (Pacific Street Films). The film HAS been available for streaming at christiebooks.com, alongside MANY other films in many languages.

http://lesliejamespickering.com where you can find news of, updates on and writings/speeches by L.J. Pickering

http://burningbooksbuffalo.com/

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Anarchist, General, Police, Prisons, repression, Sean Swain

Sean Swain, Blackjack + The Army of the 12 Monkeys

Sean Swain
Sean Swain
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This week’s show is about the case of two prisoners in Ohio. In 2011, the staff at Mansfield Correctional Institution (MANCI) became aware of a nascent guerilla sabotage movement starting among prisoners called the Army of the 12 Monkeys (A12M). A12M sabotage and organizing manual and propaganda began circulating among prisoners. Cells were searched in detail and James “BlackJack” Dzelajlija was found to have angry hiphop against prison he’d written and also a book on Ericco Malatesta, the long-dead Italian anarchist. Sean Swain, an outspoken anarchist prisoner and jailhouse lawyer at the same institution, was found to have an article he was writing criticizing the privatization of the prison system. Neither were found with A12M materials. As time passed, 2 other prisoners were accused and assented to membership in A12M and that Swain and Blackjack were unaffiliated. Ohio’s prison court, however, disagreed. Now this movement has spread throughout multiple facilities in Ohio, such as Noble, Lake Eerie and Toledo.

This episode is a conversation with Blackjack and Sean Swain, both serving in high security at Youngstown (OSP), and also with Ben Turk of Redbird Prison Abolition and supporter of Sean Swain. We talk about Sean’s activism and writing, how the A12M case has effected Sean & Blackjack, the targeting of anarchists within prisons and more.

http://seanswain.org for Sean’s articles, posts, zines, comics and news on Blackjack, A12M as it relates to Sean and Blackjack and more!

http://www.redbirdprisonabolition.org for info on prisoners in Ohio and prison abolition.

Sean Swain 243-205
Ohio State Penitentiary
878 Coitsville-Hubbard Rd.
Youngstown, OH 44505

James Dzelajlija 530-144
Ohio State Penitentiary
878 Coitsville-Hubbard Rd.
Youngstown, OH 44505

activism, Anarchist, Art, Ben Turk, General, Police, Prisons

Ben Turk on Insurgent Theatre + Prison Abolition (October 27, 2013)

Ben Turk in "Know Your Enemy"
Ben Turk in “Know Your Enemy”
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This week’s episode is a conversation with Ben Turk. Ben’s a co-founder of Insurgent Theatre, the decade-old theater troop that has presented a number of original and refurbished theater workshops and performances around the country. Topics of IT’s works have ranged from discussions around Militancy framed through Homer’s Odyssey to Administrative Segregation to a Terrorists Fairytale.

Insurgent Theatre’s current play is called “Know Your Enemy.” The play is a one-person presentation based around a community liaison cop with a liberal heart of gold. As the play goes on, the cop begins to question whether he can actually do his job and help the community. A psychological study into the head of the “good cop” and community/cop relations, it also serves as a history of policing in the United States (ala “Our Enemies in Blue by Kristian Williams) and a discussion of safer practices when interacting with cops (a sort of Know Your Rights presentation).
http://insurgenttheatre.org/acab/acab.html

“Know Your Enemy” is touring with the second film by D Jones in the “The Great Incarcerator” series. That film, “The Shadow of Lucasville” includes some eye opening just came out and a preview can be found online at:
http://darklittlesecretmovie.com/the-great-incarcerator-part-2-the-shadow-of-lucasville/

We also talk a bit during the hour about art and theater in the modern U.S. and how they can and/or do(n’t) intersect. He has a theatrical and theoretical project meant to play out his views on the role of art in revolution. http://artscab.net/

Finally, we speak about prison abolition. Ben has been involved in Redbird Prison Abolition, doing support work for and with prisoners (and those in revolt in particular) in Ohio where the project is based. These include the Lucasville Uprising prisoners, Sean Swain and others. http://www.redbirdprisonabolition.org/

Playlist

General, Hasan, Lucasville Uprising, Ohio, Prisons, Racism

A conversation with Hasan, who survived the Lucasville Prison Uprising

Hasan and Bomani
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This week, we spoke with Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan who is facing the death penalty for his role as a negotiator during the prisoner uprising at the SOCF facility in Lucasville in April of 1993. Hasan, as well as 4 other prisoners, have become known as the Lucasville 5. 4 of them are charged with the death of a prison guard by the name of Bobby Vallandingham as well as 9 inmates considered to be snitches.

The riot began as negotiations between Sunni prisoners, of which Hasan was one of the leaders, took guards hostage in hopes of bringing state attention to the problems at the prison. In particular among their concerns was the imposition of a TB test that was in contradiction to their religious beliefs and for which an alternative was readily available. Soon, other prisoners began to take space and control. Fearing a bloody outcome like was seen at Attica in New York, representatives of the Sunni community, the Aryan Brotherhood and the Black Gangster Disciples at Lucasville began negotiations with the state to bring a peaceful resolution to the uprising. Graffiti displayed within the prison began speaking of “Convict Race” and “Black and White Unity”.

After the end of the uprising, the state, under pressure from Vallandingham’s family, railroaded the five. The call for blood was great, but since the Lucasville Disturbance, so have been the calls for justice in the case of the Lucasville 5.

www.lucasvilleamnesty.org/ is a great site listing info on the case and how to help.

http://www.redbirdprisonabolition.org/ is a group in Ohio involved in supporting the Lucasville 5

http://www.re-examininglucasville.org/ is the website for the conference that happened this year around the case

http://darklittlesecretmovie.com/category/projects/ is the website for the recent documentary on the subject, which is touring the country

activism, Anarchist, Author, General, Nonviolence, Occupy, Peter Gelderloos, repression

Peter Gelderloos on the Failure of Nonviolence

The Failure of Nonviolence
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This week’s episode features an interview with Peter Gelderloos. Peter is the author of “How Nonviolence Protects the State”, “Anarchy Works” and most recently of “The Failure of Nonviolence: From the Arab Spring to Occupy.”

In this hour Peter discusses the arguments in “The Failure…”, surmises the efficacy of nonviolent civil disobedience mass movements since the end of the Cold War, looks at some of the main and most visible supporters of the NVCD and what a more verdant struggle might look like.

Check out the book on the left banks website

For more of Peter’s writings, check out The Anarchist Library

activism, Ed Mead, General, George Jackson Brigade, Hunger Strike, Political Prisoner, Prison Strike, Prisons, repression

CA Prisoner Hunger Strike roundup with Ed Mead

Court Rally Flyer
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This week William talks with Ed Mead, editor of CA Prison Focus magazine to discuss the results of the hunger and work strikes that swept west coast prisons since July, resulting in one prisoner death and at one point including the participation of 30,000 hunger strikers. The strike, the third over two years, was meant to bring attention to and pressure against the state for it’s practices of indefinite detention in solitary confinement without recourse, the silencing of prisoner activists, lack of programs for prisoners to prepare for the outside world, the institutionalization of snitch-culture through “debriefing”, group punishments and not providing adequate and nutritive food. More info can be found at: http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/

This Thursday in Oakland, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) will be holding a press conference following a legal hearing around posing a class action lawsuit around inhumane conditions in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay. Show up if ya can! Details at: http://ccrjustice.org/pelican-bay

http://www.prisons.org/
http://www.prisonart.org/

The second half of the show features new metal and punk tracks from Primary Stress, ANCST & more.

Playlist

Anarchist, Assassins, Author, General

Nihilist Anarchism (July 21, 2013)

Attentat
Cover of a new Nihilist Anarchist journal
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This week’s show features a conversation with one of the editors of the recently released journal of Nihilist Anarchism called Attentat, available from Little Black Cart.

We explore some of the history of the term nihilism and some of the philosophical underpinnings to it, as well as what intellectual nihilism today and active nihilism today look like around the world and in the U.S. in particular. The editor speaks about what they think nihilism can bring to anarchism and vice-versa.

More info on the journal can be found at http://pistolsdrawn.org .

Playlist

activism, Anarchist, Earth First!, Environment, Fracking, General, Grand Jury, North Carolina, Police, Prisons, repression

When THE MAN knocks, health in the coal fields of West Virginia and METAL/PUNK!

FBI cartoon
freeze…
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This week’s show features two interviews. The first is a conversation is with Mark of Croatan Earth First! about the recent visits by JTTF/FBI to anti-fracking activists on the East Coast, climate-change activists on the West Coast and and GJ-targetted Anarchist communities in NYC.

The second conversation takes place between our friend, Wren Awry (AFM news hour) and Dustin Steele about Dustin’s work with the Beards Fork Health Survey to gather information on the health effects of surface mining in West Virginia with an eye toward mutual aid.

The last half of the show features new songs from Bellicose Minds (PDX), Anniversary (D.C.), Wiccans, and Criminal Damage. And more!

http://www.croatanearthfirst.com
http://www.jerryresists.net
http://ccrjustice.org/if-agent-knocks-%28-booklet%29
https://www.nlg.org
https://nopoliticalrepression.wordpress.com/
http://www.sals.info/

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activism, General, Immigration, North Carolina, Prisons, Racism

Luis Leon of the Dream 9 (August 25, 2013)

Protest in Charlotte to release Luis Leon
Protest in Charlotte to release Luis Leon
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Luis Leon was born in Veracruz, Mexico but has been living in the U.S. since the age of 5 with his parents. In 2011, after graduating high school in Marion, NC, Luis self-deported to Mexico because of the high cost of higher education to undocumented immigrants here. In July, he and 8 other immigrants who’d been living in the U.S. attempted to publicly re-enter from Mexico.

This week’s episode features a conversation with Luis about his experiences in Western NC, moving back to Mexico, being detained in Arizona and now being back in the U.S. and fighting for the chance for higher education.

The National Immigrant Youth Alliance: http://theniya.org/
NC Dream Team: ncdreamteam.org

Playlist

activism, ALKQN, Anarchist, CounterInsurgency, Drug War, Greensboro, North Carolina, Police, repression

ALKQN + Richmond CopWatch: Gang-jacketing of radical doing anti-cop organizing (10/14/2012)

All cops are, in fact....
All cops are, in fact….
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This weeks show features 2 interviews. The first is with Savannah, an anarchist working on solidarity with members of the North Carolina tribe of the Almighty Latin Kings & Queens Nation. ALKQN members are facing RICO charges in Federal Court. The trial begins October 22nd, 2012. More info can be found at alkqnsolidarity.com

The second part of the show, we speak with Jeremy, an Anarchist who was invovled in copwatch in the South Barton Heights neighborhood in the north of Richmond, Virginia. Jeremy asserts that he faced increasing harassment and eventually imprisonment for being a vocal and visible proponent of holding cops accountable and spreading the practice of copwatching. For more about Richmond CopWatch, check out wingnutrva.org

The third part of the conversation will concern efforts by law enforcement at many levels to label political organizers as gang members, including those recently arrested in the San Francisco protest against Christopher Columbus Day, Jeremy and those doing support work with ALKQN.