Category Archives: Antifa

activism, Anarchist, Antifa, Autonomia, Capitalism, European Union, Feminism, gender, General, Hunger Strike, Immigration, Italy, Music, Prisons, Sweden

“Feminism in the Crisis” at Connecting European Struggles Conference; Julnel of Ü on anti-fascist Black Metal and social organizing

Feminism In The Crisis + Antifa Black Metal

http://connectingeuropeanstruggles.tumblr.com/
Download This Episode

This week we feature two segments concerning struggles in Europe:

Firstly, we speak with Linus. Linus is a member of an autonomous socialist group based in Malmö, Sweden, and is an organizer of the upcoming Connecting European Struggles conference in Malmö. The theme of the CES conference this year is “Gender and Crisis” and invites anti-state & anti-capitalist individuals and groups from around and beyond Europe to attend from September 18-25th to have discussions, watch films, attend presentations and engage towards a more integrated system of autonomous action and ideas. Bursts and Linus discuss the conference, the prior year’s, Crisis Politics, feminism, anti-capitalism, reaction and more. More on the conference can be found at http://connectingeuropeanstruggles.tumblr.com

Next, Bursts chats with Julnel, a member of Ü, an anarchist black metal band from Potenza, in Basilicata, southern Italy. Julnel is a founder of the The Black Metal Alliance anti-hate metal and punk collective, as well as a founder of Dark Skies Above Us Collective and Ü has contributed music to benefit compilations for both of those collectives as well as Crust or Die distro.

Recipients of the benefit funds, earned by selling albums of donated songs by similarly anti-nationalist, anti-racist, feminist, pro-LGBT (and so on) metal and punk projects and include: http://caravana43.com; Emilio (anti-fa resistor beaten by a crowd of fascists) and Dordoni Social Center in Cremona which was attacked in January of 2015 by hooligans from CasaPound; Eric McDavid; http://www.womenonwaves.org providing info, contraceptives, safe and legal abortions and more by sailing ships into intl waters around coastal countries where abortion access is prohibited; and 350.org.

These collectives (DSAU/BMA/CoD) include bands from Europe, North America, Australasia and South America. We spend about 20 minutes talking about uses of subcultures like punk and metal to engage politically by both revolutionary (for instance, RABM) and reactionary ideologies (in particular RAC & NSBM).

There is no Sean Swain segment for this week, but stay tuned for our next episode which will feature a conversation on the No New Animal Labs tour and initiative out of Washington State to stop the building of an animal testing lab at UW and fight against animal testing. We’ll also be speaking with a supporter of Jessica Burlew, an 18 year old girl diagnosed as schizoeffective and autistic, who has been held in isolation in Estrella Jail in Phoenix, Arizona, since January, 2014. She is being charged with 2nd degree murder for the accidental death of Jason Ash, a 43 year old man who was sexually exploiting her as a 16 year old. http://freejessieb.org/

Announcements

The following is an update on the Resist 450 event in St. Augustine Florida, which was written on Tuesday September 8th and posted to the EarthFirst! Newswire at http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire. It should be stated that all who were arrested are now free, but the bail fund website is still active and accepting donations.

From EarthFirst!: Six people were arrested today for demonstrating against the celebration of the 450th anniversary of the Spanish invasion of so-called Saint Augustine, Florida. Arrestees are being held at the St Johns County Jail with misdemeanor charges. So far, three have been released. The support team does not have enough support to bond out all arrestees. Donations to the legal/bail fund can be sent to https://www.everribbon.com/ribbon/donate/22383

Tribal elders and the Council of the Original Miccosukee Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples called for resistance demonstrations months ago. The Council asked Saint Augustine city officials not to glorify the rape, torture, displacement, enslavement, and genocide that accompanied European colonization but they were repeatedly ignored.

“Acts of genocide and crimes against humanity conducted on our ancestors by Spain is nothing to honor, glorify, commemorate or celebrate,” said clan and spiritual leader Bobby C. Billie. Billie led tradition prayers in defiance of a reenactment of a colonial landing this morning.

Other protesters took to the water. To the chagrin of haughty actors dressed in shiny hats and other aristocratic regalia, protesters held signs and chanted from kayaks, canoes, and pool floaties in the water surrounding the rowboat and forcing the boat back several times and finally reaching land with reenactors only under heavy police boat escort. More picketers disrupted the opening countdown ceremonies. They delivered messages like “celebrating 450 is celebrating genocide,” “heal the past,” “no honor no pride” and “conquest is not discovery.”

Police officers singled out and arrested four canoers participating in the water protest. On land, officers arrested two other people who interrupted a procession of dignitaries and escorted away others who called attention to the grotesque nature of the festivities.

Protester Libelula commented

“Today’s demonstrations seek to unmask St Augustine’s romanticized version of conquest as a vile glorification of the horrific and heinous acts committed against the original people’s of this territory by the Spanish Conquistadors. I’m from an indigenous background and celebrations like this one are not only offensive but also attempt to erase indigenous people’s suffering. This makes our demands for emancipation and dignity invisible. This is a blatant celebration the murder, rape, and torture of the original peoples of Turtle Island. It’s important to not let this go unchallenged.”

From Denver Anarchist Black Cross

Anarchists across the US have been taking part in events to raise funds for the Anarchist Black Cross in cities from Denver, New York, and LA. The events, called ‘Running Down the Walls’ raise funds for the ABC Warchest, which goes to help ABC Chapters send money and literature to political prisoners across the US. The runs are conducted in US cities and inside prison walls, building solidarity between incarcerated prisoners and those on the outside. Bill Dune, anti-authoritarian political prisoner imprisoned for an attempted 1979 prison break from the King County Jail in Seattle,Washington wrote on the occasion:

“Running Down The Walls has become a fine and honored tradition on our side of the barricade. I could run like the wind in past RDTWs even where I ran alone because the sense of solidarity took away the pain of physical exertion and of distance from my community – from you all. This year, unfortunately, I will be unable to physically run with you. I’ve been relegated to FCI Herlong’s dungeon because in the agency of repression’s mythology, an anonymous note purports that I’m planning to run from them. It was most likely written by a person of the porcine persuasion actually worried I might be planning more litigation. But so it goes in life with big brother! I will be with you this day nevertheless, if not in person, in mind, in heart, in solidarity as you – as we – run, walk, roll, move however we can down the road to revolution. See you closer to the finish line!”

To write to Bill Dunne, address letters to:

Bill Dunne #10916-086
FCI Herlong
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 800
Herlong, CA 96113

To donate to Running Down the Walls, go to http://www.youcaring.com/u-s-political-prisoners-406831

Ashker v. Governor of California

The Final Straw sees fit to mention a court decision – which we wouldn’t normally do, this being a somewhat anti-state anarchist radio show – but this little number highlights a few things which interest us and relates back to the interviews we conducted in 2011 & 2013 around the hunger strikes that spread up from California prisons to include prisoners in other states and even Canada in solidarity against solitary confinement. The case in question is called Ashker v. Governor of California, and it is a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of prisoners held in the Security Housing Unit, or SHU, at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison who have spent a decade or more in solitary confinement. The case was settled by the Governor’s office on September 1st, 2015.

From The Center For Constitutional Rights at https://ccrjustice.org:

“The case charges that prolonged solitary confinement violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, and that the absence of meaningful review for SHU placement violates the prisoners’ rights to due process. The legal action is part of a larger movement to reform conditions in SHUs in Calfornia’s prisons that was sparked by hunger strikes by thousands of SHU prisoners in 2011 and 2013; the named plaintiffs in Ashker include several leaders and participants from the hunger strikes. The case is part of the Center for Constitutional Rights broader efforts to challenge mass incarceration, discrimination, and abusive prison policies.”

From https://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com

“This settlement represents a monumental victory for prisoners and an important step toward our goal of ending solitary confinement in California, and across the country. California’s agreement to abandon indeterminate SHU confinement based on gang affiliation demonstrates the power of unity and collective action. This victory was achieved by the efforts of people in prison, their families and loved ones, lawyers, and outside supporters.”

This case represents to us a huge and interesting step in our United States, which happens to be the country with the most percentage of incarcerated citizens in the world. Prison visibility in the media is at unprecedented levels, from the prison themed TV show “Orange is the New Black” to NPR coverage of prison strikes and the deleterious effects that incarceration and solitary confinement has on people. Since this particular case could not have occurred so successfully in a more apathetic social environment – support from families and on social media have been instrumental to any steam its gained – it yet again highlights to us the importance of sticking to your guns, to having strong solidarity with your comrades, friends, family, and neighbors, wherever and whenever it makes sense. So listeners, keep on talking to each other. It could lead in some great directions.

Anarchist, Antifa, Asheville, Transcribed, zine

They ran the KKK out of town, in fact (exclamation point)


Download This Episode

This week we spoke with John, an anti-racist insurrectional anarchist who grew up in the U.S. South. John discusses the anti-klan rally that happened on July 18th in Columbia, SC, what he saw, implications, who was there and why. Next week’s episode we’ll discuss media representations of the rally, such as positing it as a showdown between the KKK and the “Black Panther Party” (meaning in actuality the New Black Panther Party, an organization unconnected to the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense around during the 60’s and 70’s). We’ll also talk about violent opposition to racists and the concept of the New South. If you CAN’T wait to hear that, check out our podcast file version of this episode, which will bring you one and a half hours of the conversation plus our regular announcements, Sean Swain segment and some dirty south jams.

OR, here’s a youtube video that friends made for the audio. For those in the radio audience, the second portion of our conversation with John will be aired next week along with other material.

Please note that John wished us to inform y’all that he’s the kinda guy who doesn’t do interviews normally and was nervous, so his laughter during serious points is not a sign of levity or lack of seriousness, but more of a sign of discomfort.

In relation to today’s episode, those with internet access may choose to visit the new anarchist news site, http://itsgoingdown.org, to check out a story entitled “all the news you didn’t even know was going down.” That story describes and links to examples across Canada and the U.S. of events over the recent past of people defacing confederate monuments, protesting the cops in response to deaths in detention, the shortcomings of labor unions and the fight for $15, Recent arrests in Oakland of 2 folks accused by the FBI and charged under the Animal Enterprise and Terrorism Act for freeing Minks and so much more

Announcements

A reminder to listeners with graphic skills. We here at The Final Straw have gotten some great submissions for sticker, poster and merch designs for the show but would love to see what else y’all could throw our way. If you have an idea or an image that could include the: show name, ashevillefm.org/the-final-straw and some kind of thematically related title (like, A Weekly Anarchist Radio Show) or imagery. You can email designs to bursts@ashevillefm.org or mailed to:
The Final Straw c/o AshevilleFM
864 Haywood Rd
Asheville, NC 28806

If you’re in the Asheville area, consider volunteering at AshevilleFM, WSFM-LP. It’s a great chance to learn skills, share skills, make friends and more. Whether you want to end up behind the mic or behind a table, drop us a line at volunteer@ashevillefm.org or, better, fill out the application at visiting http://www.ashevillefm.org/volunteer.

Call for Solidarity from Turkey

From http://anarchistnews.org we get this headline:
“Turkish-based anarchist group Anarşi İnisiyatifi (Anarchy Initiative) are calling on the global anarchist community to hold worldwide demonstrations outside Turkish consulates on July 26, 2015 at 7PM in response to the government of Turkey’s complicity in the Suruç, Massacre. 32 young people were murdered in the suicide bombing committed by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/Daesh) including 2 anarchist comrades: Alper Sapan from Anarşi İnisiyatifi Eskişehir and Evrim Deniz Erol. The 32 comrades from various socialist, communist and anarchist youth groups were planning to cross the border from Turkey / North Kurdistan into Kobane in Rojava to deliver gifts for the war-affected children of the city and to participate in the reconstruction of war-ravaged Kobane.” Short notice, but there ya go. http://www.anarchistnews.org/content/anarchy-initiative-call-worldwide-solidarity-demonstrations-against-turkish-state-july-26

Eric King

On a separate tip, the main topic of our conversation on the last episode, anarchist prisoner Eric King of Kansas city, will be having a birthday on August 2nd. Drop him a line, share some of your own poetry, make friends… whatever.
You can write Eric at:
Eric King
#27090045
CCA Leavenworth
100 Highway Terrace
Leavenworth, KS 66048

Also, he has an amazon wishlist where you can buy books online and get them shipped to this voracious reader. Details on that or direct deposits into his commissary can be found at http://supportericking.wordpress.com“

Michael Kimble

Michael Kimble is a self described black, gay anarchist who is currently serving a life sentence in a maximum security facility in Alabama for the self defense killing of a “white, homophobic, racist bigot”. Mr. Kimble is a writer and is part of the Free Alabama Movement, which is a group that organizes against prison work conditions by putting together work strikes and work stoppages around the state of Alabama. More about them at http://freealabamamovement.wordpress.com

Michael Kimble has a parole date set for December of this year, and it’s been a long time in coming! Stay tuned for any support that he needs, as well at to read his writings, at http://anarchylive.noblogs.org

Receiving mail while incarcerated has been shown to be very important, firstly to help combat the brutal isolation which prison forces people to undergo and secondly to demonstrate to prison officials that people’s cases do not go unnoticed. To write Michael Kimble, address your letters to:

Michael Kimble
#138017
3700 Holman Unit
Atmore, AL 36503

Tyler Lang

On Wednesday, July 22, Tyler Lang plead guilty (in a non-cooperating plea agreement) to a single count of conspiring to travel in interstate commerce with the purpose of damaging an animal enterprise. Specifically, Tyler’s charges stem from the mink release and vandalism of a fur farm carried out by him and Kevin Olliff (aka Kevin Johnson) in August of 2013.

Tyler, like Kevin, faces a maximum of 5 years in prison and 3 years of supervised release. He also faces the possibility of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and restitution. Tyler is currently not in custody, though his sentencing has been set for November 9th, 2015 at the Federal Courthouse in Chicago, IL. Please stay tuned for info on court support at that time! A show of community support for Tyler in the courtroom on that day would help lift his spirits and keep him strong. You can see updates and information about his and Kevin’s case at http://supportkevinandtyler.com

MOVE 9

August 8th 2015 marks 37 years of unjust imprisonment for the MOVE 9, who are part of the MOVE organization founded by John Africa. The MOVE organization is a multi faceted group whose tenants include: anti slavery, anti racism, anti industry, anti colonialsm, and pro-revolutionary-ism among many others. The MOVE 9 are a group of men and women who have been in prison since August 8, 1978, following a massive police attack on them at their home in the residential neighborhood of Powelton Village in Philadelphia. The government and Philadelphia police dropped a bomb on their house, killing 11 people, including 5 children. One officer died in this attack, and it’s since been proven that none of the MOVE 9 were responsible. Despite this evidence they are still held captive by the state.

On Saturday August 1st there is a call for support at a community town hall meeting to demand the Justice Dept take action to investigate the case and wrongful imprisonment of the MOVE 9. This meeting will take place in Philadelphia, PA from noon to 4PM the African American Museum located on 701 Arch Street Downtown Philadelphia. Topics to be covered will include: the destruction of the house, the beating of Delbert Africa, the trial of the MOVE 9, and the illegal practices of the Pa Parole Board.

For more information about this organization and about the MOVE 9’s case, people can go to http://www.onamove.com

To hear our past episodes on the case of the MOVE 9 click here.

FAMM

As a final little heads up to folks in the listening audience, I’d suggest you check out the July 9th 2015 episode of the blogtalk Free Alabama Movement podcast. The show is produced by prisoners within the Alabama and Mississippi prison system and connects them with the folks on the outside and folks incarcerated across the U.S. This episode features a convo between members of FAMM, Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan of the Lucasville Death Row prisoners currently held at OCF Youngstown, as well as Alex, of Prison Legal News newsletter. You can find links to this episode and tons of other interviews and resources up on the site http://supportprisonerresistance.noblogs.org.

Continue reading They ran the KKK out of town, in fact (exclamation point) →
Anarchist, Antifa, Eric King, General, Klan, Missouri, North American ABC Conference, Prisons, Racism, repression, South Carolina

Anarchist prisoner Eric King; NAABC Conference; Trouncing KKK in Columbia, SC

supportericking.wordpress.com
Download This Episode

This week we spoke with a supporter of Eric King. Eric is a 28 year old vegan anarchist in Kansas City, Missouri, who’s facing possibly life plus 20 years in federal prison for allegedly attempting to molotov a Senator’s office. No one was inside the building or in danger of direct injury. He has been held in Solitary confinement at CCA Leavenworth in Kansas for 6 months as a July 14th due to his potential life sentence. Eric’s trial has been pushed back to October 26th, 2015. More on Eric’s case can be found at http://supportericking.wordpress.com .

We also speak about the upcoming North American Anarchist Black Cross conference which is currently in it’s fundraising phase. The NAABC conference brings together advocates of political prisoners, prison abolitionists and other troublemakers once a year in order to better share skills and network. More on fundraising for this event can be found at http://www.youcaring.com/north-american-political-prisoners-366217

Click here for a firsthand account of anti-KKK actions that occurred Saturday, July 18th in Columbia, South Carolina that we received and wanted to share.

Interesting video and pictures from this event can be found at It’s Going Down, a new anarchist news site focusing mostly on North American struggles.

Now, an update from the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee about the complaints of forced medicalization and medication of concerned prisoners at SECC outside of Charleston, Missouri. Sadly, time constraints made it so we couldn’t announce this in the episode, but here it is anyway:

“Update 7-15-15 ~ FINALLY!! A month and a half after receiving the first letter of complaint about psychological and medical torture, we received a letter from one of the people involved saying that things are getting better and they are working their way off the forced medication now. Many, many thanks to everyone who has participated in this calling campaign. This would not be getting better without all of your help. Please continue to stay in touch with us by liking the IWOC fakebook page here https://www.facebook.com/incarceratedworkers “

Also from IWOC:

“You may be familiar with Ricky Kidd’s case of innocence and his request to have DNA from the crime scene tested is being considered in Jackson County Courts. To find out about his case you can go to http://freerickykidd.com

In the meantime, Ricky is fighting another battle with the MO Department of Corrections that could lead to losing a leg or even his death. Ricky is a diabetic and has a soft tissue sore that has gotten into the bone of his leg and created a condition that is potentially life threatening. He was diagnosed with Osteomyelitis about four months ago, a condition that if it had been properly treated at the time would have healed by now. The proper treatment is a 6 week course of very strong antibiotics administered via an IV. The DOC has been giving Ricky an Oral antibiotic every other week and now the infection has moved from the tissue to the bone and is putting him at risk of losing his leg. The medical personnel have told him his situation is dire and must be properly addressed immediately as there is not only the risk of amputation but a risk of death if this infection migrated to his bloodstream.

Please call the Missouri Department of Corrections at 573-751-2389 and request to speak to Adrian Hardy in the Medical Division. You must reference Ricky Kidd # 528343, he is housed at Crossroads Correctional Center. They probably will not transfer you and will tell you that Harriett Clark is the contact person for this case. Register your concern and then call again the next day. We cannot allow this innocent man to be maimed or killed by the DOC by neglect or malfeasance.

Please forward this to your friends, associates and State Representatives, as well as post to FB where you can. We need a flood of calls to help get Ricky proper treatment.

Find out more about Osteomyelitis at this link – Osteomyelitis: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment at http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/osteomyeltis-treatment-diagnosis-symptoms“

Playlist

Continue reading Anarchist prisoner Eric King; NAABC Conference; Trouncing KKK in Columbia, SC →
activism, Anarchist, Antifa, California, Olympia, PNW, Police, Racism, Squatting, Student, Transcribed

Che Café still stands and Confrontations with Nazis in Olympia, WA

http://thechecafe.blogspot.com/
Download This Episode

This week we have three segments for the audience.

First, we bring you segment from Sean Swain, an anarchist prisoner in the Ohio prison system. You won’t be hearing Sean’s voice on this recording despite Sean having his communication reinstated. The segment is about calls by members and supporters of the Free Alabama & Mississippi Movement of incarcerated workers for a boycott of McDonalds due to some of their exploitation of prison labor. More on FAMM can be found at https://freealabamamovement.wordpress.com/2015/03/24/f-a-m-s-step-3-mcdonalds-initiative-s-to-p-the-school-to-prison-pipeline/

Next, William spoke with folks involved in the struggle to save the Che Café, a social space present on the University of California in San Diegos La Jolla campus. The Che Café is a 25 year running co-op space and venue that is now in danger of eviction by the University and is currently squatting their location. Check out the website for The Che Café http://thechecafe.blogspot.com. What you’ll hear is an anonymized version of the conversation for the safety of those in struggle with the campus. Thanks to the folks at the Ex-Worker for putting us in contact with the folks at the Café. You can find the text from William’s conversation later in this post.

Finally, Bursts & William spoke with an anarchist resident of Olympia, Washington about the shooting of Bryson Chaplin & Andre Thompson, two unarmed young Black men by Officer Ryan Donald of the Olympia PD and some events that followed. Chaplin & Thompson, in two incidents on the night of the 20th of May, shot and seriously injured the men for allegedly trying to steal beer from a convenience store. The men were shot in the back, Bryson Chaplin being left paralyzed from the waist down. Over the next few days, rallies took place under the monicer of Black Lives Matter with hundreds entering the streets of Olympia. In response pro-cop rallies under the name of Blue Lives Matter (not a pro-smurf movement, sadly), in small numbers, countered the anti-murder demonstrations. As time went on, White Supremacists became more visible in attendance, which the police tried to distance themselves officially from. As more White Supremacists, some openly carrying guns, attended these events an Anti-Fascist march was called for.

This escalated into the night of May 30th when police held back their presence and the anti-fascist march collided with the White Supremacists, including armed Citizens Patrols Militia members, Neo Nazis, and Third Positionists. As conflict ensued, the racists were chased from the streets of Olympia for the night and their manifestation has been resisted by Anti-Fa patrols. We spend a good portion of the hour talking about police power, institutional White Supremacy, anti-fascist organizing and some of the potential pitfalls of de-centering struggle away from a critique of institutional power and towards the fringe reactionaries.

Related-ly, there has been a call-out for folks to engage in the July 25th 2015 International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners. From the call-out:

“Antifascists fight against those who—in the government or in the streets—dream of imposing their fascist and other Far Right nationalist nightmares on the rest of us. Throughout the world, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, and racist bigotries are on the rise. Antifas are on the frontline in confronting these reactionary politics, and we will not forget our comrades imprisoned in the course of this struggle.”

More can be found at nycantifa.wordpress.com

Also, to relate this to local issues to Asheville North Carolina, well-known character from the so-called National Youth Front, Daxter Reed has been attempting to recruit at our local community college, ABTech as well as around town and in the punk and metal scene. The goofball even tried to show up at the May Day rally holding a sign for NYF and was summarily run off. It should be made apparent that these nazis and their foolish antics are not welcome here.

First, though, The Final Straw is soliciting folks in the audience with design skills to submit sticker and poster designs to us. We’re hoping these stickers and posters can make their way out to bookfairs, conventions, manifestations and the walls and un-smashed windows of the world, widening our audience and spreading some audio-anarchy further. We’re looking for the designs to include the show name, our website at thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org and either imagery or words pointing to the nature of the show. If you have a design, you can send a mockup or completed version to thefinalstrawradio(at)riseup(doot)net in pdf format. Designers of chosen images will receive some free swag from the Anarchyland.

Playlist

. … . ..

Continue reading Che Café still stands and Confrontations with Nazis in Olympia, WA →

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/
Download This Episode

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.

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/
Download This Episode

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

activism, Anarchist, Antifa, Euromaidan, European Union, Feminism, General, History, Nazis, Racism, Russia, Ukraine

Euromaidan: An Ukrainian Anarchosyndicalist perspective on these protests

Image of nationalists and pro-Euro activists in Kiev in early December
Download Episode

In late November of 2013, Kiev and other parts of Ukraine saw the building of spontaneous plaza occupations and street demonstrations against President Yanukovych apparent decision to stall steps towards integrating Ukraine into the European Union. The protests, known as Euromaidan or EuroPlaza in Ukrainian, called on the ruling government to move forward with the integration, fearing that the stalling was a sign that the Ukraine was giving in to pressure from the competing Customs Union (made up of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan) which had been courting Ukrainian participation. The protests are ongoing, despite the signature of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych into a deal with Russia for promised purchases of billions of dollars of Ukrainian products and a 30% discount on Russian Natural Gas. Euromaidan have been compared in scale, and sadly in lack of critical debate about issues among the populace, to the 2004 Ukrainian Orange revolution which saw the rising to power of those who would become the status quo today.

This week on the Final Straw, we’ll be speaking with Denys. Denys is an organizer and activist with the Kiev Local of the Autonomous Worker’s Union, a Revolutionary Syndicalist turned Anarchosyndicalist organizing and propaganda group in the capital of the Ukraine. We’ll spend the hour discussing the political system in that country, the spectrum of parties, influence of media and oligarchs and radical groups on the far left and far right. Later on in the hour, Denys will address his philosophy, Anarchosyndicalism via Synthesist Anarchism, and what the AWU in Kiev and elsewhere has been able to achieve. More on the AWU can be found at avtonomia.net .

We’ll also speak briefly about a protest in Kiev in solidarity with struggling workers in Kazakhstan on the anniversary of the Zhanaozen Massacre of December 16, 2011.

A partial transcript is now available for this episode thanks to folks at Rev-News & Nihilist.li

A-Radio Berlin, activism, Anarchist, Antifa, Feminism, gender, General, Germany, History, Labor, Marxism, May Day, Nazis

Black Bloc: The legacy of the Kreuzberg Riots of 1987

May Day in Kreutzburg, 1987
May Day in Kreutzburg, 1987
Download This Episode

This week’s episode of the Final Straw features a conversation on a divisive and spectacular tactic that for many outside of the movement defines what an anarchist is: the black bloc. We speak to a comrade who was present in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin on May Day of 1987 when thousands of autonomous activists (of the Autonomen movement of which our guest was and is a member) and erected burning barricades while physically resisting the state. This date is pointed to by many as the beginning of the tactic as it’s practiced in it’s modern form. We also talk about beginnings of the Autonomen, how it differed from other movements before and after, gender and class in the inflammatory May Day riots in Berlin and more.

This episode was made possible by the comrades at A-Radio Berlin who translated our questions, conducted the interview and sent us transcripts and even overdubbed the audio. Much thanks. Check out their project, as they do at times produce content in English, Spanish and French in addition to their work in German.

The playlist for this episode can be found here

activism, Anarchist, Antifa, Feminism, gender, General, Nazis, Police, Prisons, Queer, repression, Russia

The Struggle Against Fascism in Russia, pt 2

Free Alexey Gaskarov
Download The Episode

This week’s show features the second half of the conversation with Ukrop. Ukrop is a longtime anarchist, antifascist activist and documentarian from Moscow. This show features conversations about the rise of the new “Cossacks” movement in Russia, a rural militia with anti-Semitic and xenophobic perspectives receiving support from the government. We also talk about who participates in Antifa in Russia, specifically relationships between the Antifa movement and Feminist movements, LGBTQ movements and Immigrant populations.

The first show can be found linked here

http://avtonom.org/en
http://en.gaskarov.info/

activism, Anarchist, Antifa, Environment, Feminism, gender, General, Immigration, May Day, Nazis, Prisons, Queer, Racism, repression, Russia

The Struggle Against Fascism in Russia, pt 1

Antifascist Attitude
Download This Episode

This week we speak with Ukrop, an anarchist, antifascist activist, and maker of the documentaries “Antifascist Attitude” & “Actions vs. Repressions”. This is part 1 of a two part interview, in which they talk about the history and context of Nazi influence in formerly-Soviet Russia and the rise of radical anti-fascism. Ukrop also discusses how the internet effected punk and anarchist subculture in Russia in the 1990’s and the first decade of the 21st century. In the conversation we cover overlaps between police and prisons and nazi’s as well as how the education system in that country feeds into nationalism and capitalism.

To keep updated about ongoing things in Russia, check out the following websites:

http://avtonom.org/en
http://khimkibattle.org/?lang=en

Stay tuned for part 2 next week!

The playlist for this episode can be found here