First up, you’ll hear an interview with Shupavu wa Kirima, General Secretary of the Revolutionary Intercommunal Black Panther Party, comes on to talk to us about the ongoing hunger strike among prisoners at Red Onion State Prison in Virginia protesting the abuse of solitary confinement and the medical status of hunger striker Kevin “Rashid” Johnson. More at https://RashidMod.Com [00:01:18 – 00:25:47]
Then, Yuval Dag, an Israeli anarchist member of Mesarvot recently imprisoned for publicly refusing conscription, talks about draft refusal, opposing the war on Palestinians and the occupation and undoing zionist ideology. More at https://linktr.ee/meaarvot [00:27:31 – 01:06:13]
Sean Swain is an anarchist prisoner who’s serving an indeterminate sentence in Ohio for a self-defense killing. Sean has authored 3 books (one co-authored with Travis Washington) and released an album of his music (with collaboration of a number of artists) while behind bars. Sean is also a dear friend and collaborator on The Final Straw for 10 years, now. We’re sharing here a conversation Bursts had with Sean Swain to mark the 10th anniversary of Sean’s (mostly) regular segments on the show, You Are The Resistance.
The show notes will be chock full of links to segments and articles worth checking out, but you can find a full rundown of Sean’s audios on the first link labeled “You Are The Resistance”, our first interview with him about the Army of the 12 Monkeys linked in the first paragraph and a whole bunch more writings and audio at SeanSwain.Org and at our website. You can find contact info there to reach out to Sean if you want to strike up a conversation.
Links to materials as they come up in the conversation:
This week on the show, you’ll hear part of our conversation with Eric King and Josh Davidson. Josh has been on a few times to talk about collaborative inside-outside projects he works on such as the Certain Days calendar, the greeting cards he helped make of Indigenous political prisoner Oso Blanco’s artwork to benefit Zapatista schools in Chiapas, and the Rattling The Cages book that he co-edited with Eric King.
Eric was just released in December 2023 into a halfway house in Colorado after nearly 10 years in Federal prisons across the country. Eric is an anarchist who was incarcerated for an attempt to molotov the office of a Democratic Party official in Kansas City in solidarity with the then-going Ferguson Uprising following the murder of Michael Brown by police there. An antifascist and antiracist, Eric was moved around a lot during the 10 years he was inside and pitted against nazi prisoners in fight scenarios in a few instances, and near the end of his bid he was accused of assaulting an officer and successfully defending himself from a possible 20 year addition to his time inside but suffered intense isolation, insecurity, mail / phone and visitation blocks, moves across the country and physical restraint, ending up at the federal prison system’s most intense prison, the supermax ADX in Florence, CO.
For the hour, the guests speak about prisoner support, putting the book together, the implications and effects of long term isolation related topics. You can find more of Erics thoughts and updates at SupportEricKing.Org and similarly named social media accounts.
Prisoners at the Red Onion State Prison in Virginia have been on hunger strike since December 26th against the illegal and cruel use of solitary confinement at the facility in spite of procedures put into place last summer by the Virginia government. Here’re some words from the support site for Minister of Defense of the Revolutionary Intercommunal Black Panther Party, Kevin “Rashid” Johnson. From rashidmod.com :
“On Tuesday, December 26, 2023, several prisoners confined at Virginia’s Red Onion State Prison began a hunger strike to protest the continued use of long-term solitary confinement within the institution.Despite critical concern, outcry from the public and prisoner populations in the state, incarcerated people are still subjected to this brutal practice which has been renamed “restorative housing” since July 1, 2023 when measures were passed to limit its use in the state.
Leading these prisoners in this effort is longtime prison activist, revolutionary writer and artist, Kevin “Rashid” Johnson. Rashid has stated that no one will take any food at all until demands are met. Some of the strike participants have underlying health concerns that make the undertaking of such a demonstration particularly risky. Rashid, himself, is recovering from multiple rounds of radiation to treat prostate cancer as well as suffering from untreated heart disease/congestive heart failure. This is why the public’s support is especially needed. We are asking that calls, emails, and letters be sent to the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) officials as well as Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin’s office voicing support for the strikers and condemnation for the inhumane use of long-term solitary confinement/restorative housing.”Red Onion Hunger Strike Participants:
Kevin “Rashid” Johnson – 1007485
Jason Barrett – 1092874
Rodney Lester – 1429887
Charles Cousino – 2213403
Eric Thompson – 1208012
Joe Thomas – 1193196
Who To Contact:
VADOC~ Central Administration; USPS—
P.O. Box 26963
Richmond, VA 23261
This week on the show, we dig into the pre-trial hearings and jury selection for Ayla King, Stop Cop City movement’s first and only co-defendant so far to be granted a speedy trial. First up, we’re joined by Silver, an on-the-ground correspondent among many in Atlanta focused on supporting the collective defense against the State of Georgia’s RICO indictment. Stay tuned for future coverage of the trials as they unfold.
We will be focusing on the pretrial proceedings of defendant Ayla King, who has bravely flexed their right to a speedy trial and whose case we will be following more in-depth when opening arguments begin on January 10th. To help us unpack some of the media and legal intricacies in this case we will hear from Jewel, a North Carolina based lawyer (member of NLG Mass Defense) followed by an interview with Matt from Atlanta Community Press Collective. Jewel will help us understand some of the strategy of exercising a right to speedy trial while Matt will speak as one of the only members of local media to actively cover jury selection.
First, some background to this case for listeners less familiar:
On August 29th the State of Georgia filed an indictment against 61 people in the movement to Stop Cop City and defend Weelaunee people’s park. The state alleges that music festival attendees and protestors engaged in racketeering, domestic terrorism, arson and money laundering– all as part of a so called mob conspiracy to halt construction of the massively unpopular expansion of police traning grounds in Southeast Atlanta– also known as Cop City.
This indictment follows a years-long, powerful and popular struggle against the city of Atlanta and their Police Foundation’s attempts to build the 90 million dollar training grounds. The expansion of this site not only follows the widespread anti-police movements of 2020 but further bolsters US backed military training such the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (aka GILEE) – a direct exhange program between Atlanta police and the Israeli Occupational Forces, who are currently waging genocide in the occupied Gaza strip of Palestine.
We have experienced the unrelenting and escalating criminal charges (such as domestic terrorism charges for so called trespassing on public land, racketeering charges for mutual aid), raids of collective organizing and healing spaces, and even the assassination of a beloved comrade, Tortuguita. Not only have these atrocities failed to stop the movement against Cop City, but they have inspired renewed resistance and solidarity from across the country and across the world.
Announcements
Noise Demo on NYE at Buncombe Jail
If you’re around Asheville on Sunday, December 31st, you’re invited by a coalition of abolitionist crews to attend the New Years Noise Demo, gathering at 7pm at the ampitheater at 630 Pack Square and to bring things for making some noise. The Asheville Community Bail Fund will be selling Certain Days Calendars and folks will also be bailing out and welcoming folks to start their new year outside the walls of the Buncombe County Detention Center. It’s a great event to meet folks and learn about local projects dreaming of and working towards a future without prisons! More at Blue Ridge ABC’s website.
If you’re in another area of Turtle Island, you can scan your social media for noise demos to participate in or make one up yourself. Often there’s a list of things to get involved in available at ItsGoingDown.Org
Anticapitalist Bookfair in Small Town Oregon
If you’re in the Corvallis, Oregon area in early January, the folks organizing the Heart of the Valley Anti-Capitalist Bookfair have announced their programming and entertainment schedule for events January 19th to 21st. A few of our past guests on The Final Straw are listed there if you want to brush up on the topics. More info at Hotvbookfair.noblogs.org
Eric King in Halfway House
Anarchist and antifascist prisoner, Eric King, has been released to a halfway house as he finishes the last portion of his nearly-decade-long incarceration. You can donate to his post-release fundraiser via his GoFundMe, read updates and words from Eric at SupportEricKing.org or on Instagram
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Featured Tracks:
Take It To Trial by Young Thug, Yak Gotti & Gunna (instrumental sample)
This week on the show, you’ll hear an interview with Lala an anarchafeminist in the Azerbaijani group Feminist Peace Collective about the recent war against and expulsion of ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, about the Aliyev regime and patriotic elements in Azerbaijan’s reaction against anti-militarist voices, conspiracy theories and real critiques of non-profit NGO’s versus grassroots lgbtq+ and feminist organizing, and other topics. You can learn more about Lala’s group at FeministPeaceCollective.Com.
On December 19th at 8pm Caucasus time / UTC+4 (or 11am Eastern Standard or 8am Pacific Standard time) Feminist Peace Collective is hosting an online discussion with Dr. Chiara Bottici via zoom called “Anarchafeminism in troubled times” and with a focus on antifeminist and anti-queer backlash and war in the South Caucasus, central Asia, Turkey and Russia. There’s a registration link here.
Links from Lala
Antidoqma, posts in English, Russian and Azerbaijani
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’s show features four segments: an announcement from IGD Podcast; an anti-Zionist Jewish voice from Palestine; an interview of two anti-repression activists on the harassment of two antifascist activists in Budapest, Hungary; Sean Swain’s segment.
Reflections of a Jewish Anti-Zionist from Palestine
First up, we’re featuring the voice of a Jewish anti-Zionist anarchist living in lands occupied by the Israeli state. We speak about some of his experiences of trying to resist the ongoing war against Palestinians, collaboration with Palestinian comrades against the occupation, the silencing of dissent during the escalation by the Israeli state and other topics. [ 00:07:28 – 00:50:13 ]
For a very thoughtful series of podcasts about the situation in Palestine, check out the two recent episodes of the Its Going Down podcast (1st and 2nd).
Following this, you’ll hear a segment by A-Radio Berlin (a co-member of the Channel Zero Network as well as the A-Radio Network with The Final Straw) about repression of antifascists recently under the far right Hungarian administration of Victor Orban. This also appeared in the November 2023 episode of Bad News, the monthly English-language podcast of the A-Radio Network. [ 00:52:10 – 01:05:53 ]
We’re sharing here a recent conversation that I had with Thomas Meyer-Falk, an anarchist who just finished a 27 year prison stint in Germany to speak about his life, his incarceration and his hopes now that he’s out. Thomas was involved in a bank robbery in 1996 as a young RASH anarchist skinhead who hoped to fund above ground and underground leftist organizing and continued to be incarcerated for the threats he made upon his capture. While inside he toned it down a bit, became a jailhouse lawyer of sorts and built connections with publishing projects, support groups and a radio station on the outside.
He’s now out and working at that radio station in Freiberg, RDL, and hopes to be come involved in helping immigrants navigate the legal system in Germany. You can find his blog, mostly in German, at https://freedomforthomas.wordpress.com.
Announcement
Fundraiser for Zolo Azania
A quick reminder, there’s a fundraising effort ongoing to help former Black Liberation Fighter and political prisoner, Zolo Agona Azania (who we’ve featured a couple of times on this show) could use some support. Since he’s been out of prison after 35 years inside, he’s been an active community organizer on projects including re-entry for formerly incarcerated folks and offering pro bono legal help to folks still behind bars. He’s in need of some support with car repair payments to help him keep his wage job and keep doing his support work. You can donate to him on cashapp via the handle $ZoloAzania5, on zelle using azaniazolo5 at gmail dot com or on venmo using @zolo-azania
To find more anti-repression fundraisers needing support and boosting, check out the column on ItsGoingDown.Org called In Contempt, where you can also find info on prisoners who’ve just been moved, have upcoming birthdays or who are in need of other help.
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Featured Track:
Hetzjagd (Auf Nazis!) by Alec Empire ( of Atari Teenage Riot) from Riot Beats comp
This week on the show, we’re featuring an interview I did recently with Sona, an anarcha-feminist from Yerevan, Armenia, about her experience of anarchism and some of the solidarity efforts related to supporting Armenians expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave within the borders of the neighboring country of Azerbaijan.
The space Letters and Numbers and the Armenian Food Bank have opened a humanitarian aid collection point. Please bring non-perishable food items and clothing to St. Tumanyan, 35G, Yerevan.
Volunteer fund for helping victims of the war “Ethos” St. Khorenatsi 30, Yerevan.
Sasha Manakina’s collection can be found at this link. Sasha is one of the heroines of the new zine Alarm!
The Viva Charitable Foundation has been providing medicine, rehabilitating the wounded, and helping Artsakh since 2016.
We call for solidarity with our comrade Jorge Esquivel, Yorch, to demand his immediate release and the dismissal of charges against him.
Attending the rally during their next hearing on Monday, October 23. The appointment is at 9 a.m. in front of the Orient Prison
Organized to make noise and agitation
Spread your case
Go, call or write to nearby Mexican embassies and consulates to demand their freedom
Or any way they like to stand in solidarity so that we can rip our comrade from the clutches of the state and its prisons.
Yorch is imprisoned for crimes fabricated against him as part of a montage that seeks to criminalize the Che Squat / Okupache and its members. He has been held hostage by the Mexican state in Mexico City’s East Reclusion for more than 10 months.
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Featured Track:
Wishing (instrumental) by Pete Rock from My Own Worst Enemy (Instrumentals)
Hey listeners, this mid-week release features the words of anarchists involved in or doing support for the December 8th Affair in France, in which 9 people were arrested at the end of 2020, following Movement for Black Lives protests took place around the world to challenge police impunity and racism. The French state is asserting, based on some pretty flimsy arguments, that 7 radical and anarchist folks were a part of a conspiracy to engage in terrorism based on their common connection to an activist recently returned from the supporting the YPG’s fight against Daesh or ISIS in Rojava. This activist goes by the name Libre Flot, or Free Flow, and he shares some words here as well.
The court case runs from October 3rd until 27th and can use international solidairty demonstrations, support for those defending themselves, and more that you can find information below:
