This week, we’re sharing an interview with Heatscore and Nuke of sub.Media about their new documentary series, InterRebellium. The first episode, entitled El Estallido Social about the social uprising that flared up in 2019 in lands controlled by the state of Chile featuring anarchist and Mapuche voices on the conditions in which the uprising developed, experiences of it and its aftermath. You can view the film for free at sub.Media/InterRebellium alongside materials for discussion. We also speak about the role of film and media production in radical organizing and critique and upcoming episodes of the series.
This week, an interview with Clifton Ariwakhete Nicholas and Franklin Lopez about about the film currently in production via Amplifier Films, A Red Road To The West Bank: An Indigenous journey of resistance and solidarity. The conversation covers some about relationships between the people of occupied Palestine and Kanehsatà:ke in so-called Canada, histories of settler colonialism and resistance of it. Clifton and Franklin are attempting to raise $10000 CAD for the film.
This week on the show, we’re sharing two interviews.
First up, Dulce, a member of Companeros Inmigrantes en las Montanas en Accion, or CIMA, a local organizing and advocacy group by and for immigrants in western NC about her experience working for dignity and solidarity in light of the current and past administrations. More on CIMA can be found at CIMAWNC.Org
This week, you’ll hear my conversation with Mutt, editor of a new and incomplete Black Autonomy Reader, contributor to Muntjac Magazine, Organise! Magazine and Seditionist Distro. We speak about Black Anarchism, intellectual property, community self-defense in response to the racist riots that spread around the UK in August of 2024 as well as other topics. And keep an ear out for an interview on the ItsGoingDown podcast with Mutt as well.
This week we’re featuring three segments. First up, you’ll hear a conversation I had with Asphalt, a supporter of a recent federal grand jury resister in Charleston, South Carolina. [00:04:53 – 00:36:28]
After that Cyprus Hartford, the grand jury resister, speaks for herself and reads her statement of resistance. [00:36:28 – 00:40:39]
Finally, you can find an interview that Ian did with Marisa Holmes and Molly of the Metropolitan Anarchist Coordinating Committee about their recent anarchist film festival. [00:42:32 – 01:01:29]
Then you’ll hear Sean Swain’s review of the presidential debate [01:02:06 – 01:09:16]
By way of introduction to this first segment, I’d like to remind people that none of the people speaking about grand juries here are lawyers, but we are sharing information we’ve gotten from lawyers and legal experts to the best of our abilities. I’m going to read a bit from the website NCResistsTheGrandJury.Wordpress.Com:
What is a Grand Jury?
In the federal legal system, the grand jury is used to decide whether someone should be charged (“indicted”) for a serious crime. The grand jury hears evidence presented by the prosecutor: the U.S. Attorney. The grand jury uses subpoenas to gather this evidence. It can subpoena documents, physical evidence, and witnesses to testify. The “special” federal grand jury, created in 1970, can be used to investigate “possible” organized criminal activity rather than a specific crime. The California legal system also has grand juries, but it is optional whether criminal prosecutions are initiated by grand jury indictment, or by a complaint by the District Attorney and preliminary hearing before a judge.
How is a Grand Jury Different Than a Trial Jury?
Unlike the “petit” jury, which is used to determine guilt in a trial, a grand jury consists of 16 to 23 jurors who are not screened for bias. The purpose of the grand jury is not to determine guilt or innocence, but to decide whether there is probable cause to prosecute someone for a felony crime. The grand jury operates in secrecy and the normal rules of evidence do not apply. The prosecutor runs the proceedings and no judge is present. Defense lawyers are not allowed to be present in the grand jury room and cannot present evidence, but may be available outside the room to consult with witnesses. The prosecutor and the grand jury members may not reveal what occurred in the grand jury room and witnesses cannot obtain a transcript of their testimony.
How Has the Grand Jury Been Used by the State?
Because of their broad subpoena powers and secretive nature, grand juries have been used by the government to gather information on political movements and to disrupt those movements by causing fear and mistrust. The grand jury lends itself to being used for improper political investigation due in part to the prosecutor’s ability to question witnesses without regard for rules that prohibit irrelevant, unreliable or unlawfully obtained evidence. Those called before the grand jury may be compelled to answer any question, even those relating to lawful personal and political activities. That information has been used by the government as a basis to conduct further surveillance and disruption of political dissent. When used against political movements, the grand jury causes fear and mistrust because persons who refuse to answer questions about their First Amendment political activities, friends and associates may be jailed for the life of the grand jury: up to 18 months. If a witness asserts their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, they may be forced to accept immunity or go to jail for contempt. Even a witness who attempts to cooperate can be jailed if minor inconsistencies are found in their testimony. Such a perjury charge may stand even when the grand jury fails to hand down any indictment for what it was ostensibly investigating.
The grand jury is a complicated and opaque process, by design. Our movements have decades of experience resisting grand juries, and there are resources available to learn more and support those who resist.
If you have been contacted by federal law enforcement, the National Lawyers Guild has a national federal defense hotline at 212-679-2811.
. … . ..
Featured Track:
Setting Sun (instrumental) by The Chemical Brothers from Setting Sun
This week, you’ll hear our chat with Simón Sedillo, author of Weapons, Drugs & Money: Crime, Corruption, and Community Based Liberation in the U.S./Mexico Neoliberal Military Political Economy. Simón talks a little about his early days in media near the start of the Indymedia world, his documentary that became the news website El Enemigo Común (which translates to “the common enemy”) which covered grassroots, indigenous led movements in southern so-called Mexico, and about his book with a focus on intervention and integration from capitalist and military powers in the US, multinational banking and big pharma and the violence against and resilience of indigenous communities under that nation-state.
Check out the website https://www.weaponsdrugsandmoney.org/ for more info on how to order a copy, and the chapters are being posted and translated into castellano at https://elenemigocomun.net/ , where you can find two decades + of really interesting content. Simón suggests people follow Avispa Mídia https://avispa.org/ as a project following in the legacy of El Enemigo Común.
A big thanks to Mitchell Verter for the suggestion.
. … . ..
Featured Track:
Get It Together (Buck Wild Instrumental) by Beastie Boys from Get It Together
This week on the show, Ian talks to Sara and Josh, organizers from the Certain Days Collective on the publication of this year’s certain days calendar. The two discuss the creative and administrative processes involved in producing one of the most consistent projects in the abolition space. They also discuss the past, present, and future of the project and the constant need to balance short term emergent issues against the long term abolition project. [ 00:02:37 – 00:33:14]
You can learn more at CertainDays.org, find them on a bunch of social media platforms, and order calendars for deliver in Canada via LeftWingBooks.Net or in the USA via BurningBooks.Com and you can find our past conversations with Josh by searching Josh Davidson on our website, including a recent interview about Rattling The Cages.
“A scholar-activist with over 60 years of experience in the Civil Rights, Black Power, Pan-African, and Social Ecology movements will discuss the role of critical historiography in the study and documentation of directly democratic communities across human history. Modibo Kadalie’s presentation will touch on ideas discussed in his two most recent books, Pan-African Social Ecology and Intimate Direct Democracy. Dr. Kadalie will also discuss his upcoming book, tentatively titled State Creep: A Critical Historiography.”
Sean Swain
Sean‘s segment on destabilizing the economy with flash mobs can be heard from [ 01:32:32 – 01:40:28 ]
This week we’re sharing a recent interview with Elia J. Ayoub, host of The Fire These Times podcast to talk a bit about #solarpunk. He was on the show with Leila Al-Shami some years ago to speak about revolution and civil war in Syria, uprisings in Lebanon and Iraq.
For the hour, we speak about the importance of radical imagination, the artistic genre known as solar punk, technology and it’s role in societies based on pleasure and leisure, utopian movements of the past and the decentering of the imperial cores in an anti-imperialist visioning.
On October 9th, join comrades for a youtube stream to help fundraise for our incarcerated comrade and homie GZ’s legal fees. This is a great way to participate in Indigenous Peoples Day from home- the stream content will being centered on connecting between decolonization and abolition, featuring dialogue and performances by artists and MCs including Bigg Villainus and Ant from Savage Fam, as well as FD Signifier, and poetry by GZ. Stay tuned for more info and the full schedule, and please help us boost this and circulate the fundraiser: https://tinyurl.com/gzlegalfund
. … . ..
Featured Track:
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy by Cannonball Adderley from Rock Instrumental Classics, Vol 4: Soul
First up, former co-host on the show Scott talks about the upcoming Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair happening the weekend of August 11 – 13th, some of the content and notes on access, as well as mentioning some new projects their involved with. You can learn more about the bookfair by visiting ACABookfair.noblogs.org , the project’s instagram, facebook or mastodon.
Then, Fern from the International Anarchist Defense Fund (AFund.Info) talks about the upcoming International Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners from August 23-30th, taking place wherever you make it happen. You can find the call-out, materials, supported prisoners, some anti-repression groups involved and info on past actions and events at https://Solidarity.International .
Hybachi Lamar, an incarcerated Black, Kemetic anarchist being held at the Cook County Jail talks about the conditions in the jail in an audio message that is shared alongside links to his writings and info on how to help South Chicago Anarchist Black Cross support him. All of this can be found at https://southchicagoabc.org/helpcompa/
. … . ..
Featured Track:
Everything In Its Right Place (by Radiohead) by The String Quartet from Strung Out On Kid A – The String Quartet Tribute To Radiohead
First up, Dulce, a member of Companeros Inmigrantes en las Montanas en Accion, or CIMA, a local organizing and advocacy group by and for immigrants in western NC about her experience working for dignity and solidarity in light of the current and past administrations. More on CIMA can be found at 
