Category Archives: Anarchist

Anarchist, Ferguson, General, Missouri, Police, Racism

On the uprisings in Ferguson

http://antistatestl.noblogs.org/
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It’s been a week since the police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. The images and sounds of the struggle in the streets have ripped open the mainstream media to dialogue around police use of force, discrepancies between how different races and classes in the U.S. experience that force and the lack of transparency and legitimacy on behalf of law enforcement. Solidarity has been expressed from communities around the world, even by folks in Gaza, with the people of Ferguson and the family of Mr. Brown who’ve suffered this loss and continually live under the gun of the state in Missouri.

This week we talk to Luka, a white anarchist from St. Louis who’s been going to Ferguson and meeting folks and being in the streets with them, building relationships. Ferguson is a majority black city whose police force is 94% white. Luka talks about their experience of conversation with and struggle alongside of folks from a personal more than political standpoint, across racial lines. Luka gives a narrative of the days between the shooting of Mike Mike through Friday evening (08/15/14), when we spoke. There’s discussion of police and protest tactics and how they’ve changed in the face of a week of gassing and rubber bullets met with molotovs and rocks.

To catch perspectives from anarchists in the St. Louis area, check out http://antistatestl.noblogs.org

Playlist

5E3, Anarchist, Canada, General, Luke O'Donovan, Mexico, Political Prisoner, Prisons, Quebec, Queer, repression

Luke O’Donovan + The case of the 5E3

http://letlukego.wordpress.com/
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This week, we have two conversations to share with y’all.

First, an update on the case of Luke O’Donovan and a quick conversation with a support person of his. Adam talks about the last-minute announcement of a change of the beginning of Luke’s trial to Tuesday, August 12th and gives a brief synopsis of the case. More info and updates can be found at http://letlukego.wordpress.com, including how to help to pack the courtroom in support of him.

Following that, you’ll hear a conversation with a supporter of the 5E3 and friend of Amélie Trudeau and Fallon Rouiller, the two Quebecois anarchists who, along with Carlos López Marin, make up the 5E3. The 5E3 are 3 anarchists arrested on the 5th of January and accused of taking part in a molotov cocktail attack on the Ministry of Communication and Transportation and a neighboring Nissan Dealership in Mexico City. We’ll talk about the mexican prison system, the political context within which insurrectional anarchism in mexico is traversing, about Prisoners’ Justice Day in Canada and abroad and much more. We’ll also touch briefly on the case of Nyki Kish, an anarchist convicted of stabbing and killing a college student while among a group of college students who were attacking homeless folks in Toronto. More on Nyki’s case can be found at http://www.freenyki.org

More on the 5E3 can be found at http://www.abajolosmuros.org

Donations to the 5E3 can be found here: http://www.clac-montreal.net/mx#_1 (make sure to include a note that it’s for the 5E3)

Many of their letters can be found at: http://www.sabotagemedia.anarkhia.org/tag/5e/

Also, more updates to come here: http://waronsociety.noblogs.org/?tag=5e-case

More on Prisoners’ Justice Day:
http://www.prisonjustice.ca/politics/1014_history.html

A-Radio Berlin, Anarchist, Antifa, Coal, Elk River, Environment, General, Greece, Health, Music, Nazis, Neoliberalism, Prisons, Racism, repression, Water, West Virginia

WV Prisoners + the Water Crisis / Hip Hop + Antifa in Greece

http://storiesfromsouthcentralwv.com/
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This week’s episode is LITERALLY packed solid. We start off with an announcement about the case of Luke O’Donovan’s trial beginning on August 11th at 9AM at the Superior Court of Fulton County, 136 Pryor Street, S.W., Suite C-640, Atlanta, GA. Luke’s support is asking for folks who want to get his back to show up in court attire and be present for the court date. Luke is facing 5 attempted homicide charges stemming from injuring the 5 men attacking him as he was being queer bashed in Atlanta on New Years of 2013. More info and the callout can be found at http://LetLukeGo.wordpress.com

Next, a quick announcement about an upcoming benefit for and presentation about the 5E3, three anarchists (Amelie, Fallon and Carlos) accused of using molotov cocktails to damage a Nissan dealership and the Ministry of Communication and Transportation in Mexico City on the 5th of January. A supporter of the 5E3 will be speaking about their case on Sunday, August 10th at Rosetta’s Kitchen (Upstairs) at 8pm. August 10th is also known as Prisoner’s Justice Day and witnesses yearly hunger strikes across the convict race serving time across Canada in remembrance of all prisoners who’ve died of unnatural causes while incarcerated. More info at http://fuegoalascarceles.wordpress.com/in-english-information/

Our first segment (after Sean’s words of wisdom) is a conversation with D, an anarchist and prison abolitionist from West Virginia to update us about the Elk River chemical spill from January of this year. We talk about the West Virginia Clean Water Hub and the project it recently spawned, Voices From South Central WV. Voices from South Central is working to amplify the voices of prisoners at the main jail in Charleston, WV. The project began as a way of gauging and presenting (in prisoners own words) the effects of the water crisis on those incarcerated and how the administration dealt with health effects it caused and worked (or didn’t) to provide clean water to those they jailed.
http://storiesfromsouthcentralwv.com/
For our past coverage of the spill, check out:
http://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/?s=west+virginia

Finally, we air another great segment from Anarchistisches Radio Berlin. This time A-Radio speaks with members of the Greek political Hip Hop group Social Waste. The discussion ranges from chat about the development of Hip Hop in Greece, where it overlaps with politics, immigrant solidarity, anti-capitalism and anti-fascism as currently practiced in Greece.

A-Radio Berlin, activism, Anarchist, Calais, Capitalism, Environment, European Union, Fracking, France, General, Germany, Immigration, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey

Migrant solidarity and squatting in Calais, France

http://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com/
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Calais is a port city in France that sits as the major nexus of migrants attempting to leave the French (and thus European) mainland to reach the U.K. in seek of asylum. These migrants are fleeing the effects of imperialism (sometimes war, always capital) in their home countries. They hail from Pakistan, Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan, Chad, Nigeria, Sudan and many other places and seek peace and stability in the EU. The irony is that the EU, like the U.S., is a major exporter of the troubles the migrants seek to escape. In many ways, the “immigration crisis” in the U.S. mirrors the reality of the “immigration crisis” in the EU.

This week’s episode of the Final Straw features a conversation with Greta, a No Border Activist living in the UK about struggles of immigrants in Calais, where over the last 2 months there have been raids that have netted hundreds of migrants seeking to leave the mainland and land in the UK with expectation of receiving a refugee status. Greta tells us about the immigration structure of the EU’s Shengen Zone (of which the UK is not a part), about the recent raids and squat evictions in Calais, and the new squat “Impasse de Saline” outside of the city. She also touches on the plight of immigrants in the UK.
http://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com/

The second half of the episode features a segment recorded by our audio-comrades at A-Radio Berlin, entitled “Europe and beyond: the resistance against mega-projects”. From the A-Radio blog:

“We pre­sent an in­ter­view with Bog­dan, an ac­tivist from Ru­ma­nia. The main topic is the re­cent 4th Forum against un­ne­cessa­ry im­po­sed me­ga-​pro­jects, a net­work of major strugg­les against in­fra­struc­tu­re, mi­ning and fra­cking pro­jects (in Eu­ro­pe an bey­ond). The last mee­ting took place in May in Rosia Mon­t­a­na, Ru­ma­nia. The pre­pa­ra­ti­on, the sub­ject of the in­vol­ve­ment of po­li­ti­cal par­ties in such mo­ve­ments as well as the fu­ture per­spec­tive of this par­ti­cu­lar co­or­di­na­ti­on are at the heart of the in­ter­view, but it also gives a quick over­view of the de­ve­lop­ment of the local strugg­le against the pro­po­sed big­gest open-​cast gold mi­ning pro­ject in Eu­ro­pe.”
More at http://aradio.blogsport.de/

For past shows dealing with anti-dev struggles like the ones mentioned above, see the following links:

Playlist

activism, Anarchist, Antifa, Canada, Feminism, General, Nazis, Poland, Police, Queer, Squatting

Olga + Kuba on Anarchism and Squatting in Poland today

https://www.rhythms-of-resistance.org/
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This week, Olga and Kuba speak with William about anarchism in Poland and their experience of living in Canada. Olga is from Poznan, a city in Western Poland where anarchists have been able to open 2 squats in the city center, and a member of the musical network, Rhythms of Resistance. Kuba is a member of Tektura collective, Autonomous Social Center “Cicha4″ collective and Rhythms of Resistance Lublin, based out of Lublin.

The conversation, sprouting from Olga and Kuba’s presentation at the 2014 Montreal Anarchist Bookfaire, ranges from talking about squatting, resistance to the rise of nationalism, intersections of anarchism with feminism and queer existence, and homogeneity all within the context of modern Poland.

Due to the length of the conversation, it didn’t make sense to include Sean Swain’s commentary for this week, however his Bastille Day message to the world can be found here: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/76396

Anarchist, Anonymous, Anti-Civ, Author, gender, General, Hacking, Layla AbdelRahim, Prisons, Quebec, Racism, repression

Layla AbdelRahim on education + civilization, plus prisoner announcements

http://layla.miltsov.org/
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This week’s episode features the rest of a conversation with Layla AbdelRahim about her recent book, Wild Children – Domesticated Dreams: Civilization and the Birth of Education. We played the start of this conversation near the end of last week‘s show and continue it throughout this hour. Layla talks about education, domestication, patriarchy, capitalism, instrumentalism, empathy and much more. More of her writings can be found at http://layla.miltsov.org/

Sean Swain’s segment this week talks about ISIL/ISIS, the crisis in Iraq and revisits the stupidity and cruel ignorance of U.S. intervention into Iraq since the 1980’s.

We also announce two things regarding prisoners:
1st, The MOVE9’s supporters are trying to get them paroled by pressuring the Philly D.A. via a weekly call-in on Mondays. More on that can be found at: http://move9parole.blogspot.com/2014/06/move-9-mondays-hold-seth-williams.html;
For some background, check out our interview with Orie Lumumba, a supporter of the MOVE9 about the case and history of the MOVE Organization: http://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2014/02/27/update-on-the-g20-extraditees-the-move-9-parole-push-02162014/;

2nd, “On March 21st, 2012 Higinio Ochoa III aka w0rmer, was arrested and charged with hacking law enforcement agency websites and posting the personal information of police officers online, as well as being accused of defacing a government website in Alabama. Hig was part of an Anonymous crew called the Cabincr3w.” (Anon-Sweden support page). w0rmer will be released into a halfway house after 2 years of incarceration this August, however he’ll be forced to live in Austin, TX, 4 hours from where his wife and now-1-year-old son live. Support folks are trying to raise $6,000 to help cover the move and some living expenses until both find gainful employment in Austin. More info at: http://www.youcaring.com/other/help-the-ochoa-family-to-reunite/190052

Anarchist, British Columbia, Canada, Capitalism, Earth & Animal Liberation, Fracking, General, History, Indigenous, Quebec

Part 2 of Mel Bazil on Decolonization, Anarchism, Solidarity and Indigeneity (June 15, 2014)

new_brunswick_soli
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Before we announce the show, we want to announce our presentation of
Sean Swain’s voice on our show for the first time in 8 weeks. Sean’s
GTL (GlobalTelLink, privatized prison phone company) and JPay (private company Sean’s critiqued before which handles, among other things, emails/commisary and other profitized elements of incarceration) accounts were suspended by the OSP administration, the office of Governor Kasich & the Ohio Highway Patrol/State Police. During those 8 weeks, Sean’s segments on The Final Straw (which were ostensibly a reason for his blackout) never stopped, as Sean smuggled scripts out of the Super-Duper-Uber-Mega-Ultra-Max in Youngstown. Congrats, Sean!

This week we play part two of Mel Bazil’s presentation from the 2014 Montreal Anarchist Bookfaire. He covers an array of concepts. He talks about the Non-Profit Industrial Complex, Decolonization, infrastructure, false alternative energies and capitalism.

Mel also touches on the ideas around self-knowledge, Free Prior and Informed Consent between individuals and communities (http://unistotencamp.wordpress.com/free-prior-and-informed-consent-protocol/), and the framework of human/indigenous Rights versus Responsibilities to
the earth and to each other and to ourselves. This broadcast comes on the day that Mr. Bazil and other people struggling with the Unist’ot’en Action Camp expected an injunction against the action camp by the B.C.
government. Anarchists have been invited over the years to build relationships and struggle alongside this community and project, which brings interesting questions of overlaps and differences between anarchism(s) and indigenous cultures in resistance.

Keep informed about the camp: http://unistotencamp.com/

Warrior Publications has been publishing informative and beautifully illustrated works on decolonization, resistance and anarchism for over a decade now: http://warriorpublications.wordpress.com/

Vancouver Island Community Forest Action Network is a gateway for outside anarchists and activists to get involved in helping at Unist’ot’en: http://forestaction.wikidot.com/

This audio is from an almost hour and a half presentation that Mel gave on Saturday the 24th of May at the Montreal Anarchist Bookfaire, entitled “Anarchy, Indigenous Sovereignty, and Decolonization.” Many thanks to CKUT Radio in Montreal for sharing this content with the Final
Straw. More info on CKUT can be found at www.ckut.ca

Anarchist, Canada, Earth & Animal Liberation, Environment, Fracking, General, Indigenous, Neoliberalism, Pipeline, Quebec, Racism

Mel Bazil on “Anarchy, Indigenous Sovereignty, and Decolonization”; Imprisoned Kevin “Rashid” Johnson denied medical care

unistotencamp
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This week’s episode features a workshop by Mel Bazil, an indigenous Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en organizer, sovereigntist, and anarchist of the Unist’ot’en Action Camp. For folks in the listening audience, Unist’ot’en is located on unceded native lands in so-called British Colombia, Canada. More about the Unist’ot’en Action Camp can be found at unistotencamp.com

This audio is from an almost hour and a half presentation that Mel gave on Saturday the 24th of May at the Montreal Anarchist Bookfaire, entitled “Anarchy, Indigenous Sovereignty, and Decolonization.” Many thanks to CKUT Radio in Montreal for sharing this content with the Final Straw. More info on CKUT can be found at www.ckut.ca

This week we’ll be presenting the first of two parts of Mel’s presentation, the second will be aired in coming weeks and linked together on the Final Straw website soon.

Firstly though, an announcement about the health of longterm political prisoner, Kevin “Rashid” Johnson. The following text was found at http://rashidmod.com, where one can seek further updates on the situation.

For anyone in the Durham area of North Carolina, there is a call-out on June 13th for a Noise Demo at the jail. More info can be found at (http://prisonbooks.info/2014/05/30/jail-demo-june-13th-solidarity-with-l…)

For more info on the prisoner hunger strike at Polk CI in Butner, NC, including their demands, check out: (http://prisonbooks.info/2014/06/02/prisoner-hunger-strike-hits-polk-corr…)

Playlist

Anarchist, Anti-Civ, Asheville, Earth & Animal Liberation, Earth First!, Environment, Eric McDavid, General, Hacking, History, June 11, Labor, Marius Mason, Music, NATO3, Prisons, repression, Sean Swain

June 11th announcements then METAL

neveralone2014
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This week’s episode features a couple of announcements about the upcoming June 11th Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason, Eric McDavid and Longterm Anarchist and Eco Prisoners. For info on the cases of Eric & Marius and other folks needing support, along with ideas of what solidarity might look like, check out http://june11.org [Please note that Marius Mason’s deadname is used as this is before he publicly announced his transition]

Here in Asheville, there will be a 4pm picnic at Carrier Park where folks will talk about June 11th, Eric & Marius’s cases, solidarity and prison realities. Food will be present, but bring your own sides to share, especially if you have dietary restrictions.

At 9pm on June 11th, there’ll be a show at the Odditorium. The benefit requests a $5-20 donation. Bands include Aneides and Uninhabitable from Asheville, Burnt Books from South Carolina and Harsh Words from Georgia. Items’ll be raffled off and there’ll be plenty of info available and folks to chat with. On Fakebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1452424341665913/

For more events in your town, check out june11.org. Also announced was the online art exhibition curated by the Earth First! Prisoner Support Project and featuring the work of 23 different artists, many of whom are eco-prisoners. Check out http://neveraloneart.org for flyers and more info. It’ll be up and online from June 11th to June 30th.

Bursts read a statement by Sean on this episode concerning the U.S. economy and the role that counterfeiting money plays in it. Very informative, as always.

Following the announcements, we heard Cervidae, Ancient Oak, Deafest and more! Check out the playlist here

Anarchist, General, Grand Jury, PNW, Sean Swain

Steve Jablonski on exile against the PNW Grand Jury (05/04/2014)

http://pnwgjresistance.storenvy.com/(Post Script, April 2015:  It has come to our attention at The Final Straw, and within the wider North American Anarchist scene, that Steve Jablonski’s story of evasion of a Grand Jury in the PNW was a false one.  It’s regrettable that someone would choose to gain social and economic capital by posing themselves as bravely resisting the state and it’s harassment.  As has been verified to us here at the show, Steve not only lied on this show, but in tons of personal interactions in the U.S. and Canada and took advantage of good intentions and trust while also soaking up resources that could have been used to support others actually resisting Grand Juries and otherwise experiencing State repression.  The audio of this episode has been removed.  For further clarification: http://anarchistnews.org/content/regarding-steven-jablonskis-deceptions-grand-juries-and-sensible-solidarity)

This week’s show features a conversation with Steve Jablonski, recently returned from a period of self-imposed exile in Canada as avoidance of receiving a Federal Grand Jury subpoena in relation to anti-police organizing in the pacific northwest and the May Day spree of 2012 in Seattle. Steve talks about the choice he made, the circumstances that allowed him to return, the support he received while abroad and his return to the U.S.

This week’s Sean Swain segment is read by a supporter. Sean has resumed his meals but is still being denied phone and email access. It is suggested that you take a minute and give a call to Chief Inspector Gary Mohr in Columbus Ohio at (614)752-1671 or (614)752-1677 and request that Sean be given those accesses so that he can more easily communicate with his new legal counsel, Richard Kerger. Seanswain.org also suggests calling ODRC Legal Services at 614-752-1765 and requesting to speak to Counsel Trevor Clark. Sean believes that Trainwreck Trevor is the source of his silencing.

We also announce a request by the Move9 Parole supporters that people call the Pennsylvania Parole Board from the 5th to the 9th 24/7 at (717) 772-4343 and request that the Board parole Debbie (Sims) Africa (#006307) on the grounds that Debbie has:
1.) received a positive recommendation from both the Warden and Superintendent of her prison for parole;
2.) employment and housing both set up for her if she is paroled
3.) an excellent prison conduct record.
More info can be found at http://move9parole.blogpsot.com
Hear our interview with Orie Lumumba about the Move9 case here: http://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2014/02/27/update-on-the-g20-extraditees-the-move-9-parole-push-02162014/

A great way to support legal fees and such for resisters, including Dennison Williams and Kerry Cunneen who are still in exile, as they evaded the Grand Jury AFTER being served with subpoenas, and make your walls pretty, check out http://pnwgjresistance.storenvy.com/ or http://nopoliticalrepression.wordpress.com/ and specify donations for Dennison and Kerry. Hopefully money will get to them.

Also, Steve wanted me to include info about his buddy, Amelie, who is caught up in the 5E3 prisoners in Mexico: http://fuegoalascarceles.wordpress.com/in-english-information/