Category Archives: activism

activism, General, Political Prisoner, Prisons, Transcribed

Prisons and Prisoner Solidarity with Eric King, Jake Conroy and Josh Davidson

Prisons and Prisoner Solidarity with Eric King, Jake Conroy and Josh Davidson

collage of photos of Eric King smiling with his book, Josh Harper and Jake conroy
Download This Episode

This week we’re sharing a discussion recorded some months back in the pacific northwest featuring former political prisoners Eric King, who went in for actions in solidarity with the Ferguson Uprising in 2014, and Jake Conroy, who was convicted for coordinating successful anti-vivisection divestment campaigns against Huntington Life Sciences as one of the SHAC7. They are joined by Eric’s co-author of Rattling The Cages, Josh Davidson. We hope you appreciate the wisdom and passion of the discussion.

You can find Jake’s youtube channel The Cranky Vegan for a long-running and ongoing commentary on animal liberation topics. And you can follow Eric’s panels with other former prisoners and supporters on the instagram for Rattling The Cages and past media and articles by and about Eric (including past interviews we’ve done with or about him) at SupportEricKing.org and find more from Josh at linktr.ee/JoshDavidson..

Prior interviews:

There are two upcoming Firestorm Books political prisoner panel talks in November, both of which you won’t want to miss.

  • Saturday, Nov. 9th, 7:00pm – 8:30pm ET, Eric King will be talking with Jason and Jeremy Hammond. Register now!
  • Saturday, Nov. 23, 7:00pm – 8:30pm ET, Eric will be talking with Linda Evans, Laura Whitehorn, and Nicole Kissane. Register now!

A few other things (per Josh):

  • BPP/BLA comrade and former NY Panther 21 defendant Dhoruba bin Wahad needs our support. Help if you can!
  • The 2025 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar is now available, and it’s beautiful. Get one or 100 today!
  • If you missed the last panel talk with Eric, Jake Conroy, and Claude Marks – or any of the previous 6 Firestorm Books panel talks – watch them here.
  • Don’t stop talking about Gaza, genocide, and US imperialism. Long live all those dying every day for Palestine.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • Walking Is Still Honest by Against Me! from Crimes As Forgiven By…

Continue reading Prisons and Prisoner Solidarity with Eric King, Jake Conroy and Josh Davidson →

activism, Appalachia, Asheville, California, community, Environment, Homelessness, Housing, North Carolina, Oakland, Rural Organizing And Resilience, Transcribed, United States, zine

Homeless Organizing in Oakland and Rural Relief After Helene

Homeless Organizing in Oakland and Rural Relief After Helene

Collage of black and white photo of man holding sign to a tent reading "Oakland Homeless Union" + banner reading "Y'all Means all - Rural Organizing and Resilience" on a realtree background
Download This Episode

This week on the show we’re featuring two inteviews. First up, you’ll hear from Freeway, a houseless activist in Oakland, CA, about the recent series of sweeps of homeless being promoted by Governor Gavin Newsom. Freeway has been a member of Wood Street Commons and is now a member of Oakland Homeless Union (IG or donate).

Then, Janet of Rural Organizing and Resilience (IG or donate) in Madison County, speaks about post-Hurricane Helene organizing and disaster preparedness in the mountains of Western North Carolina. More and links to be added soon.

Other groups mentioned by Janet of ROAR include:

Announcement

Phone Zap for Buncombe County Jail

Members of the Asheville Community Bail Fund have announced a phone zap concerning conditions in the Buncombe County Detention Facility where reports are coming out of a lack of clean water, irregular bathroom breaks and other lack of access are leading to calls for those in the jail to be released or transferred to a facility with more humane conditions.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • I Wanna Know If It’s Good To You by Funkadellic from Free Your Mind… And Your Ass Will Follow

Continue reading Homeless Organizing in Oakland and Rural Relief After Helene →

activism, Anarchist, Colonization, Deutsch, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, Protest, repression, Transcribed, war, zine

ISM in the West Bank and the Assassination of Ayşenur Eygi

ISM in the West Bank and the Assassination of Ayşenur Eygi

photo of destroyed West Bank street with a blurry, foregrounded figure holding a Palestinian flag and obscuring their face with a keffiyeh
Download This Episode

This week on the final straw we’re featuring a conversation with Tom and Miriam of the International Solidarity Movement, a Palestinian-led network of activists standing in solidarity with Palestinians on the ground in the occupied territories. For the hour we talk about the organization, its history, what got these folks involved, the recent and tragic murder of Ayşenur Eygi in Beita in the West Bank which Miriam witnessed, and how conditions have changed as the war by the Israeli settler state has expanded.

To hear our prior conversation with Tom about the uprising in Bristol, check out this interview.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • Long Live Palestine pt1 by Lowekey from Long Live Palestine Parts 1 & 2 (single)

Continue reading ISM in the West Bank and the Assassination of Ayşenur Eygi →

activism, Anarchist, European Union, Immigration, Poland, Politics, repression, Transcribed, zine

Border Repression + Resisting Growing Nationalism in Poland

picture of many modes of transportation with the words "freedom of movement is everybody's right!"
Download This Episode

This week, we’re featuring two conversations relating to the so-called Green Border in Podlaskie region of eastern Poland, on the Belarus border concerning topics of migration, repression, militarization, nationalism and solidarity among residents and people on the move into Fortress Europe.

First up, you’ll hear Alex, a member of the feminist anti-repression group, Szpila Collective, about the H5Poland case of 5 activists facing charges for aiding people in need in what could be a landmark case in Poland and Europe. More at Szpila.BlackBlogs.Org or on Mastodon: @Szpila@kolektiva.social [ 00:01:34 – 00:15:08]

Then, you’ll find a chat with an anarchist who grew up in this border region and returned in adulthood and whose affinity group does solidarity with people on the move through the Białowieża forest. [00:19:58 – 01:32:18]

To hear past interviews about this border, check out our chat with two folks from Grupa Granica, or other chats where we’ve covered / carried chat about the border at Calais, the Mediterranean, the Balkan Route, Australia or the US / Mexico border.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

Continue reading Border Repression + Resisting Growing Nationalism in Poland →

activism, Arizona, Autonomy, California, Frontera, General, Health, Immigration, Mexico, Mutual Aid, New Mexico, Police, Politics, Racism, Texas, Transcribed, United States, zine

No More Deaths / No Más Muertes on the Mexico / US Frontier

No More Deaths / No Más Muertes on the Mexico / US Frontier

a photo water jugs left in the desert with kind notes scrawled on them
Download This Episode

This week, I spoke with two members of No More Deaths, a 20 year old humanitarian organization operating in the borderlands between Mexico and the USA. We talked about the organization, the work it does, how the border has changed, the political legacy of the Republicans and Democrats in the current situation for immigrants, deaths at the border and ways to get involved in supporting people on the move. Here’s a chat from 2017 we did with NMD as well.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • La Frontera by Lhasa from The Living Road

Continue reading No More Deaths / No Más Muertes on the Mexico / US Frontier →

activism, Anarchist, Deutsch, Disaster Relief, General, Health, Israel, Mutual Aid, Palestine, Transcribed, United States, war, zine

Reflections on Medical Conditions in Gaza by a Recently Returned Nurse

Reflections on Medical Conditions in Gaza by a Recently Returned Nurse

Photo of a bombed hospital in Gaza with rescue workers approaching from the street
Download This Episode

Our chat with Louis, an anarchist emergency room nurse who has just returned from a second tour doing healthcare work in Gaza and is about to leave again. During this difficult conversation, we talk about medical conditions that he encountered in Gaza, what aid is getting in and how it’s being distributed, health infrastructure and how this relates to his prior mutual aid and anti-border work in the so-called USA. You can find a prior interview with Louis from Living and Fighting blog.

Continue reading Reflections on Medical Conditions in Gaza by a Recently Returned Nurse →

activism, Belarus, European Union, Immigration, Poland, Politics, repression, Transcribed, zine

Grupa Granica Activsists Speak About Perils on the Belarus / Poland Border

Grupa Granica Activsists Speak About Perils on the Belarus / Poland Border

"TFSR 7-28-24 | Grupa Granica Activists Speak About Perils on the Belarus / Poland Border" featuring a photo of masked Polish soldiers and border guards looming over people on the move, centrally two children, in Bialoweza forest
Download This Episode

This week, we’re featuring an interview with Dominika Ożyńska (Egala Association) and Aleksandra Chrzanowska (Association for Legal Intervention [polish: Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej SIP]), two human rights activists in eastern Poland near the Belarus border who speak about the situation with the migrant route through the Białowieża forest in the midst of increased militarization on both sides of the border through this ancient forest and through the region. Both are active in the umbrella Grupa Granica, or border group, movement supporting people on the move.

In coming weeks we hope to feature more conversations with activists on the ground in this region and elsewhere speaking on similar topics, including locals who’ve seen social and environmental changes as tensions build between the neighboring nation-states and international alliances and how it impacts people seeking asylum and engaging their freedom of movement.

Grupa Granica (Border Group) & Related Links:

. … . ..

Continue reading Grupa Granica Activsists Speak About Perils on the Belarus / Poland Border →

activism, Cascadia, Climate Change, Earth & Animal Liberation, Forest Defense, General, Oregon, Rising Tide, Transcribed, United States, zine

Views from the “Rogue Gold” Tree Sit (with Cricket and D)

Views from the “Rogue Gold” Tree Sit (with Cricket and D)

"TFSR 6-16-24 | Views From The 'Rogue Gold' Tree Sit (with Cricket and D) featuring a photo from 100 feet up in the Douglas Fir named Goldie
Download This Episode

This week you’ll hear an interview we conducted with Cricket, a tree sitter in a tree called Goldie in southern so-called Oregon as well as D of Siskiyou Rising Tide. The two talk about the experience and efficacy of tree sits, about the land threatened by the Bureau of Land Managements plan to have Boise Cascade and other timber companies log this area they’re calling Rogue Gold, recent success of a tree sit at Poor Windy, revelations of police surveillance and some of the history of forest defense in this region.

You can find more at TreeSittersUnion.org , donate via venmo to @Cascadia-Defenders or see lovely pictures on the instagram accounts @TreeSittersUnion or @Siskiyou_RisingTide

Continue reading Views from the “Rogue Gold” Tree Sit (with Cricket and D) →

activism, Author, LGBTQ, Mutual Aid, Palestine, Queer, Transcribed, zine

“I Don’t Think You Could Have A Resistance Movement Without Poetry”: A Chat with Yaffa As

“I Don’t Think You Could Have A Resistance Movement Without Poetry”

Photo by María Del Río of Yaffa with hands raised above their head grasping the branch of an tree in autumn
Photo by María Del Río
Download This Episode

We spoke with Yaffa, a Palestinian poet, author and activist living in the diaspora about two recent collections published by the Trans and Queer Muslim publishing house she founded called Meraj. One of the two books is entitled Inara: Light to Queer And Trans Palestinian Utopia and the second a collection of her own poems written during the last lunar eclipse visible on Turtle Island, Blood Orange. We spoke about the importance of poetry and world building, the importance of community care and mutual aid, as well as supporting queer and trans Palestinians escaping genocide at the hands of the Israeli military. You can find more from Meraj publishing as well as how to obtain these titles at https://merajpublishing.com/

Continue reading “I Don’t Think You Could Have A Resistance Movement Without Poetry”: A Chat with Yaffa As →

activism, Asheville, Autonomy, Capitalism, Colonization, community, Education, Farming, Food Sovereignty, Gentrification, Mutual Aid, North Carolina, Racism, Transcribed, U.S. South, United States, zine

Asheville’s Southside Community Farm

Asheville’s Southside Community Farm

"Support Southside Community Farm." faeturing a hand holding daisies and the logo SCF logo featuring a hand holding leafy greens
Download This Episode

This week, we’re sharing a recent interview with Chloe Moore, a steward, farmer and educator at the Southside Community Farm, in the historically Black neighborhood of Southside in Asheville, NC. The farm has been serving the neighborhood and the region with free and inexpensive, fresh produce for a decade, providing educational opportunities, grocery deliveries, an herb garden and a BIPOC farmers market. The farm sits on land owned by the public Housing Authority of the City of Asheville (HACA) and there is currently a threat that HACA will destroy the farm. For the hour we talk about the work of the farm, the legacy of a community farm in the wake of government policies that destroy Black communities, and ways that community members can support the SCF and help it thrive.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • Rise Above by Ibeyi from Spell 31

Continue reading Asheville’s Southside Community Farm →