Category Archives: Capitalism

Capitalism, community, communization, Environment, Euskal Herria / Basque Territory, Housing, Interview, North Carolina, Petroleum, Pipeline, repression, Squatting, Virginia, West Virginia

Anti-Pipeline Action Camp in VA & Errekaleor Bizirik squatted neighborhood in Euskal Herria/Basque territory

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This week we featured two conversations in the episode.

“Stop The Pipelines Action Camp”

Firstly, Bursts chatted with Erin. Erin is a resident of the Blacksburg VA area and an affiliate of Blue Ridge Rapid Response Project (or BRRRP) and is helping to organize the “Stop The Pipelines Action Camp” in that area from July 13-17th, 2017. The action camp is being organized in hopes to spread resistance to the Mountain Valley & Atlantic Coast Pipelines that are traversing Appalachian West Virginia, Virginia and, in the MVP’s case, North Carolina. We talk about what it is to live in a place and defend your home, to get to know your neighbors, to build the skills needed to resist ecocidal, capitalist infrastructure projects. More info at https://blueridgerapidresponse.wordpress.com. The event is being co-sponsored by Smokey Mountain Eco-Defense (SMED)

Erin mentions pipeline security pursued by mercenary groups like TigerSwan as well as industry-sponsored astro-turf (or fake grassroots) group YourEnergy meant to muddy the water of community resistance to pipeline expansion and other infrastructural projects.

Errekaleor Bizirik!

After that, Bursts chatted with 2 residents of the squatted neighborhood of Errekaleor Bizirik in the Basque territory within the borders of so-called Spain. The residents talk about the history of Errekaleor Bizirik, feminism, energy infrastructure, recent attacks by police on the project and pre-figuring a post-capitalist life-way in the rubble of the existent. For more info on the project, which translates to Dry River (Errekaleor) Lives (Bizirik)!, check out:
The draft wikipedia page;
An IGD post about the project with links and context;
Their Coopfunding page.

From their post on igd, is this quote:

For those of you that are too far away to personally attend, feel free to make a quick call to the mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz Gorka Urtaran at +34 945 16 13 82 or +34 945 16 13 83 or send us a message at errekaleorbizirik@gmail.com!”

We wanted to also state that the folks at Errekaleor reached out to us for the interview, which was super awesome. If you have a project, a book, an article, a fight that seems like it’d be interesting to us and our listeners, send us an email at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net and get the ball rolling.

If you want, find us on itunes and subscribe for free. You can rate us there as well, to help others find us more easily.

Announcement

The Arizona based humanitarian aid group No More Deaths (No Mas Muertes in spanish) has been under semi constant surveillance by Border Patrol for the past week. This is unprecedented attention; since its foundation in 2004 this group has had a written agreement, essentially a non interference good faith contract, with Border Patrol that names the group as a health aid and humanitarian group that has every right to be doing the work it’s doing. NO More Deaths is a group based on certain faith principles (it is an official ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Tuscon) and on critical engagement with policy reform, nevertheless it is a group that has a high degree of anarchist involvement and solidarity with what could be called anarchist principles. It is most famous for desert aid; volunteers hiking out and leaving supplies such as water – essential in the 100 plus degree heat – food, socks, blankets, other supplies, and directed first aid where needed along remote corridors in the Sonoran Desert. The group also engages with legal aid, abuse documentation, searching for missing or disappeared people, helping getting belongings back from Border Patrol, networking with other border solidarity groups in the area, and consciousness raising and education to subvert the extremely stale narrative that immigration has in the US.

A couple of days ago, after almost a week of constant surveillance, Border Patrol raided a camp “in an unprecedented show of force, [with] approximately 30 armed agents raided the camp with at least 15 trucks, two quads, and a helicopter to apprehend four patients receiving medical care.” We hope to talk with someone about this situation soon for the radio show; the fact that this raid is coming now is a clear sign of the administrations attitude toward this kind of work. For more information on this issue and to keep up with No More Deaths, you can go to their website https://nomoredeaths.org

Playlist

Anarchist, Capitalism, Feminism, Gentrification, Interview, Lisbon, Portugal

Anarchy in Portugal w/ Sylvia and Mário

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Due to concerns of the ability of the interviewees to speak on behalf of BOESG & Disgraça Collective, we’re pulling this audio to remove the portions speaking on behalf of those projects. We may repost an edited version in the near future and we hope to have a discussion with members of the collective soon to hear their side of things. Thanks -Bursts

In this episode of The Final Straw, we’re playing a conversation recorded at the Paris Anarchist Book Faire about a month ago. I spoke with Sylvia and Mário, two anarchists from Lisbon, Portugal. Sylvia and Mário give a history of anarchism since the fascist dictatorship in 1926 under Antonio Salazar through 1974, when the government fell, and since. Sylvia and Mário are involved in a workers library founded during the dictatorship that was taken over by anarchists in the 1990’s and has continued, called B.O.E.S.G., or the Library and Obstacle Course Of the Global Society. B.O.E.S.G. also shares space with a bookstore and social center called Tortuga and sits atop a D.I.Y. music venue.

For the hour, Sylvie and Mário talk about their experience of the social anarchist scene in Portugal, history, other spaces and movements around right now, publishing projects, gentrification of the city, the continuing economic crisis, institutional left political parties.

The portions we cut from this broadcast conversation touch on Mário and Sylvias perspectives on sexism in the anarchist scene in Portugal, gender pronouns and on feminist organizing. The discussion shows a difference of cultural perspective and experience between languages as well as the personalities of those involved, but also the mental wrangling people do when methods of resistance are transplanted to new soil. Hopefully at some point in the future we can have a more in depth conversation on this topic. The reason we cut them from broadcast was constraints mostly on length of the time we have on the airwaves, but we’ve included it in the podcast version. I believe it’s through conversations like this that we can come to better understandings of where other peeps are coming from.

Here’s a link for Map Journal that Sylvia talks about.

Announcements

A Few Upcoming Things in Asheville
May 17th in Asheville, peeps are organizing a People’s Council to propose
alternative usage for the $1million dollars per year that Asheville Police Chief Tammy Hooper is proposing from the city budget. 5-7pm @ Pack Memorial Library .

On May 19th, Firestorm will be presenting back to back showings of documentaries about anarchist urban guerrilla groups in the UK in the 60’s and 70’s. Starting at 6:30pm with “The Angry Brigade” and followed by “Persons Unknown” and narrated by Stuart Christie.

Sunday May 24th at Firestorm, the Queer Linux Users Group, or QLUG, will host a discussion on device security at 3:30pm. Bring your device along.

June 11th
Annually on June 11th, people get together and offer solidarity to long term anarchist and ecological prisoners. I’d like to take a moment to mention a few. Marius Mason is scheduled to be in prison until 2030 for involvement in activities of the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front which hurt no animals or people but did $4 million dollars in damage through sabotage and arson. Marius is a trans man who came out inside of prison and uses his voice and renown to shed light on the plights of prisoners, including queer and trans prisoners. Other prisoners being organized around include Jeremy Hammond, the hacker who brought to light right wing spying on unions and back room deals around Dupont worming its way out of responsibility for the Bhopal Tragedy that still gives cancer to thousands in India. Also, Sean Swain, who’s segments you hear on this show. Then there’s the comrades suppressed in the Italian government’s Operation Scripta Manent, Alfredo, Nicola, Danilo, Valentina, Anna, Marco and Sandrone still being held in high security and with much mail censorship. Or Pola Roupa and Konstantina Athanasopoulou, members of Revolutionary Struggle in Greece, who have themselves and their families faced repression from the state and still staged solidarity with others in the fight.

Solidarity can take many forms, from continuing the struggles comrades are ostensibly behind bars for, or sharing the information about the prisoners cases and organizing inside. It can be organizing your own discussions or groups to push against the carceral state or to send books to prisoners.

On Sunday, June 11 at 6pm here in Asheville, the Odditorium at 1045 Haywood Rd, will be hosting an afternoon cookout sponsored by Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross, Smokey Mountain Eco Defense and Tranzmission Prison Project. Vegan and Gluten-Free options will be present, but bring food to share! There’ll be discussions on trans and queer prisoner realities, tons of free lit on political prisoners, chats about the upcoming national prisoner work strike on August 19th, info on ecological organizing against the prison industrial complex and more!

Starting at 9pm, there’ll be a benefit concert, bands to be announced. Check out http://brabc.blackblogs.org soon for details as they come.

If you’re not in Asheville, keep an eye on http://june11.noblogs.org/events for things in your area to plug into. Don’t see anything near you, set something up and let the good folks at june11 organizing committee about it!

IWW call-out to push back against Neo-Confederates
An announcement from the Triangle IWW here in North Carolina: Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County, a neo-confederate hate group, is holding a rally at noon at the Alamance County Courthouse in Graham, NC. IWW has been working with Alamance County locals since November 2016 to keep this group out of the streets and public squares of *all* our communities. Thanks to the efforts of some of these amazing Alamance community members, ACTBAC has now been declared a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.” The Triangle IWW is calling for people to join them on Saturday, May 20, as we rally to shut ACTBAC’s event down at 102 N. Maple St in Graham, NC at 11am.

Certain Days Calendar submissions

There is also a call for art and article submissions on Awakening Resistance for the 2018 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar.

Deadline extended to May 21, 2017

The Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar collective is releasing its 17th calendar this coming fall. The theme for 2018 is ‘Awakening Resistance,’ reflecting on organizing in the current political climate.

They are looking for 12 works of art and 12 short articles to feature in the calendar, which hangs in more than 2,500 homes, workplaces, prison cells, and community spaces around the world.

Contributors are encouraged to submit both new and existing artwork. They are also seeking submissions from prisoners – so please forward this suggestion on to any prison-based artists and writers. More info can be found at www.certaindays.org

Jaan Laman in the hole
Jaan Laman is currently serving a 53 year prison sentence for his role in the bombings of United States government buildings while a member of the United Freedom Front, an American leftist group which robbed banks, bombed buildings, and attacked law enforcement officers in the 1980s.
Jaan K. Laaman is currently solitary confinement (“the hole”). Jaan has been in solitary confinement since his birthday on March 21, 2017 simply for issuing two political statements, a clear violation of free speech and human rights. The first statement was in support of the March 8th 2017 International Women’s Day and was in support of the Day Without A Woman Strike and was published by NYC Anarchist Black Cross. The second statement was his “Farewell Thoughts to My Friend, Lynn Stewart”, thoughts on the radical activist American leftist lawyer who died this year. The farewell thoughts were recorded by Jaan and broadcast via the Prison Radio project with Noelle Hanrahan.

Jaan has no access to news and almost no access to phone calls. It’s important we send him some letters right now. Send him articles, so that he gets some world news.

Jaan Karl Laaman #10372-016
USP Tucson
P.O. Box 24550
Tucson, AZ 85734

Write and call the Warden and ask him to end the repression against Jaan.

Please write and call the Warden at USP Tucson and ask that Jaan be released from solitary confinement and that he not be punished for expressing his support for women’s rights and for writing a statement mourning the passing of his friend, Lynne Stewart. Remind the Warden that Jaan is an elder prisoner, and you’re concerned about his health in solitary confinement and you would be concerned about his safety if he is moved to another prison.

Warden
United States Penitentiary – Tucson
9300 South Wilmot Road
Tucson, AZ 85756
Email: TCP/ExecAssistant@bop.gov

Phone: 520-663-5000
Fax: 520-663-5024

You can also contact:
Mary M. Mitchell, Regional Director
BOP Regional Office
7338 Shoreline Dr
Stockton, CA 95219
Regional email: wxro/execassistant@bop.gov

Thomas R. Kane, Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Central Office HQ
320 First Street, NW
Washington, DC 20534

#NoDAPL, activism, Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Capitalism, Environment, Fracking, Mid-Atlantic, Mountain Valley Pipeline, North Carolina, Petroleum, Pipeline, Protest, Virginia, Water

Resistance to the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines

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This week, we spoke with Whitney about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline, two pipelines flowing through mid-Appalachian and the mid-Atlantic region on Turtle Island and both connect Transco pipeline in Pennsylvania County, VA. The pipelines are 48 inches in diameter and are made for transporting dangerous compressed and pressurized natural gas through many watersheds, towns and farmlands. In addition to fears of contamination of waterways and soil, through possible leaks and explosions, many people are concerned the pipeline will be carry gas for export , not even for domestic consumption.

Whitney is also involved in an upcoming podcast series to inform folks in Virginia about the history and aspects of the pipelines to be released in the run-up to the decisions by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on whether or not these projects can move forward.

As of now, there is no website address for our guest’s podcast, but their podcast’s mission statement is as follows:

“‘End of the Line’ is a pre-recorded podcast created by local Richmonders, following the developing story of two proposed pipelines in Virginia – the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Over the past year, the subject of fossil fuel “pipelines” has reached a high point of saturation in the national consciousness. While the nation watched major milestones unfold around the rejection of Keystone XL by President Obama and Standing Rock’s struggle to protect water against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, resistance to pipelines in Virginia has been building as well. Residents and landowners in mostly rural parts of the state have taken on an uphill battle to try and stop two high pressure natural gas pipelines from going through their land as well as some of Virginia’s most treasured places.

Featuring the voices of those directly affected by the proposed infrastructure, this ongoing series will examine every aspect of the local pipeline struggle, episode by episode, starting at the very beginning and working our way to the present. Through voices of those on the frontlines, we will touch on issues such as eminent domain, energy policy, industry influence on local politics, environmental impacts, and the mental health aspect of how residents are coping with this tremendous burden. Our goals are to provide listeners with the stories of Virginians who have been and are currently resisting both proposed natural gas pipelines and build a wider audience of people throughout our region who may not be familiar with all that has occurred since the summer of 2014 when the pipelines were first introduced. The built-in question we will be posing to listeners is the same many landowners are facing, “Are these pipelines a ‘done deal’?” To that end, as our episodes begin to meet up in real time with the decision-making process at state and federal levels, “End of the Line” will continue to report on developments as the pipeline saga unfolds”.

We will announce a website for this project as soon as we know!

———————–

Other, regional upcoming events related to the ACP & MVP pipelines may consider attending include the following: Beyond Extreme Energy will be putting on a convergence in Washington DC from April 26-28th. BXE was a co-sponsor of the walk across NC areas that may be affected by the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline. More info on the conference and other stuff by BXE can be found at http://beyondextremeenergy.org Delaware River Keepers have compiled “People’s Dossiers” on shortcomings of studies in the economic and environmental harms of the ACP & MVP by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or FERC. http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/ongoing-issues/peoples-dossier-ferc-abuses-economic-harms

Another site of interest worth check out is http://www.apppl.org for the Alliance of People to Protect the Places we Live.

If you’re in the South East (or wherever), you are cordially invited to attend the 1st Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfaire, also known as ACAB2017 from May 5-May 7th in Asheville, North Carolina. The weekend of events kicks off with an a welcome table at firestorm books at 610 Haywood Rd from 3pm until 6pm with a schedule of events and ways to plug in. There are multiple musical events Friday and Saturday night. Featured speakers include Shon Meckfessel, Jude Ortiz of Tilted Scales Collective, members of the crimethInc collective as well as from the Water Protectors Anti-Repression Crew and a special appearance by author and activist Ward Churchill. Vendors over the weekend will include PM Press, AK Press, Little Black Cart, Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness, Combustion Books and many more. Consider the daytime events to be all ages. Check out https://acab2017.noblogs.org/ for updates and info.

activism, Autonomy, Črna Luknja, Capitalism, Colonization, community, communization, DAF, Interview, Protest, Race

Kamua Franklin on #ungovernable + Repression in Turkey

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https://www.ungovernable2017.com/
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This week we feature two interviews in the show

Kamua Franklin on #ungovernable
First, we spoke with Kamau Franklin, who is a radical activist, the political editor for the online publication Atlanta Blackstar, and former attourney based out of Atlanta, GA. We are speaking today about Ungovernable, which is a radical organizing platform rooted in anti state Black and POC autonomy, how it began, its directives and ideals, and how to best move forward in this political moment among many other things.

From their website:
“We pledge to create a resistance movement that makes Trump unable to govern our oppression; unable to deceive the people, to make the people accept his reign of hatred. We refuse to give hatred a chance to govern, a chance to roll back civil and human rights, a chance to deport millions of people, a chance to create camps and registries for Muslims, a chance to expand the prison industrial complex, a chance to expand its drone wars, or a chance to turn back the gains won by our struggles.”

To learn more about Ungovernable, you can visit their website at https://www.ungovernable2017.com/, also you can hit them up on fedbook by searching “Ungovernable 2017 and Beyond”, our guest has also invited people to message him on the FB too, you can do that by searching his name spelled Kamau Franklin.

Repression in Turkey
The second segment is an interview conducted by audio comrades from the Slovenian anarchist radio project called Crna Luknja with a member of the Turkish anarchist group DAF & an editor of their newspaper, Meydan.
As we announced recently on the show, the main editor of Meydan, Hüseyin Civan, has just been sentenced to 15 months in prison in relation to 3 articles in their December 2015 issue dealing with the struggles of Kurdish minorities and the resistance they offer to the Turkish state’s slow genocide.

The conversation was published on January 5th of 2017. Though most of Crna Luknja’s interviews are conducted in Slovenian, they do produce interviews in English when it’s the common language shared with their guests. More content from Crna Luknja can be found here

Announces

First, though a few quick, mostly prisoner announcements:

Sean Swain
Sean Swain, an anarchist prisoner who’s generally got a featured segment on this show and has for 3 years as of this week, has been on hunger strike at Warren Correctional Institution in Ohio since December 26th and has been placed in a suicide cell.

Although details are still murky, we know that Sean has been without food since December 26th. He was charged with extortion of a deputy warden and had begun a disciplinary process when he began his hunger strike and was placed in a suicide cell.

We know that the prison is recognizing his hunger strike and following the associated procedures, which include taking him to the medical unit every day and weighing him and taking his vital signs. It is unclear whether they are attempting to negotiate with him in any way.

Please take a moment to write a letter of encouragement to Sean and to call the following prison administrators and encourage them to negotiate with Sean and help him end this hunger strike as quickly as possible.

Deputy Director of Operations Casey Barr (513) 932-3388 ext. 2005
Warden’s Assistant Greg Kraft (513) 932-3388 ext. 2010

Updates on Sean can be found at http://seanswain.org

Clemency Pushes


There are pushes by the support crews in these last days of the Obama presidency to request clemency or commutations for the sentences of long standing political prisoners here in the U.S. The few that we’ve caught wind of specifically are the following:

Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier, an indigenous activist and prisoner in his 70’s is continuing to serve in federal prison as his health declines despite his denial of guilt in the shooting death of 2 fbi agents during the raid on the American Indian Movement’s encampment on the Pine Ridge Reservation in North Dakota in 1975. The case has been hotly debated since it was held, with many contesting the possibility of Peltier’s guilt. Recently, one of his prosecutors from that case said that it was time to let him go due to his age and health. More on his case can be found at http://whoisleonardpeltier.info
Reach out to US AG:
The Honorable Loretta Lynch
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
Comment Line: +1 202 353 1555
Contact form: https://www.justice.gov/doj/webform/your-message-department-justice

Chelsea Manning
Chelsea Manning is a former intel analyst for the U.S. Military who was convicted of sharing documentation of military abuses with Wikileaks and is serving a 35 year sentence. She is also a Trans Woman who transitioned inside of military prison and because of her poor treatment on the inside has been very depressed and attempted suicide. There is hope that in his last days, Obama may commute her sentence for trying to do the right thing and to protect against the increased cruelty of the upcoming regime. Visit chelseamanning.org for details on how to support her

Resisting the Inauguration, J20
An extensive list of anti-inaugural activities are set for January 20th around the Empire. Check out a partial list by finding the post: https://itsgoingdown.org/disruptj20-actions-across-us-trump-regime/

Here in AVL: https://j20asheville.noblogs.org/

Playlist: http://www.ashevillefm.org/node/18858

activism, Anarchist, Capitalism, Colonization, Immigration, Interview, Protest, Racism

Discussion on the election with two Asheville area anarchists

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This week we spoke with two Asheville area anarchists, May and Julie, about THE ELECTION of all things. We talked about anarchist strategy in this day and age, the tactic of a general strike and what might prevent or incite some folks’ participation, some things which are missing from anarchist and other discourse right now, the role of social media, and much much more. If you are listening to an hour long version of this conversation and want to hear more, please consider checking out the podcast version of this show, which is available via iTunes by searching The Final Straw Radio in the iTunes store or on any podcatcher device, or via our website thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org.

Here is the reading list that May mentioned at the end of the interview, for people who are interested in further ideas:

*Taking Sides: Revolutionary Solidarity and the Poverty of Liberalism (ed. Cindy Milstein, available as a free e-book, along with two other pertinent titles, from AK Press until 11/30 http://us7.campaign-archive1.com/…)

*Pacifism as Pathology (Ward Churchill)

*Nonviolence Ain’t What It Used to Be (Shon Meckfessel)

*How Nonviolence Protects the State (Peter Gelderloos)

*or, for something slightly more current from the above author: The Failure of Nonviolence

*Three-way Fight: Revolutionary Antif-fascism and Armed Self-Defense

*This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible (Charles E. Cobb)

And for a super solid source regarding anti blackness that Julie recommends, check out: Frank B Wilderson III’s interview from IMixWhatILike

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After the election of Trump as POTUSA, cities around the U.S. have seen huuuuge protests. Portland, OR, in particular has seen over week of intense protracted street action in which people faced off with police and reactionaries in the streets. As such there have been many arrests and some are facing felony charges. There is a request for assistance in fund raising for arrest support.

Mateen Abdul Shaheed is a 20 year old youth of color who was arrested on a felony warrant and is currently being held on alleged charges of 6 accounts of criminal mischeif in the first degree, which is a class c felony in relation to ongoing events in Portland.

Please consider raising some funds and donating to a PDX-ABC gofundme

https://www.gofundme.com/support-fund-antitrump-activists

This is a great time to start developing regular fundraising strategies to support resistance and up our game. For ideas on soli-parties you could hold to raise funds and where you can raise awareness, drop us an email at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net or check out fundraising needs at itsgoingdown.org

activism, Blockade, Capitalism, Environment, General, Indigenous, Interview, North Dakota, Oil, Petroleum, Pipeline, Water

Resisting The Dakota Access Pipe Line: LaDonna Brave Bull Allard of the Sacred Stone Camp

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https://www.gofundme.com/sacredstonecamp
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Main Content

This week a new member of The Final Straw, Gil O’Teen, spoke with LaDonna Brave Bull Allard of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, also a historian and geneologist for that tribe, and the owner of the Sacred Stones Camp. Our guest and interviewer speak about the Sacred Stones Camp, which is a group of people who are standing in active opposition to Dakota Access’s attempts to build a crude oil pipeline (DAPL) whose proposed route would go from North Dakota to southern Illinois, traveling through 50 counties and 4 states. They speak about the impacts that this pipeline would have on the people who live in the area, which is also a sacred site for the Lakota folks, how the media has been portraying this issue, the media blackout which has recently been imposed on the camp, and many more topics.

But first, a few announcements:

Update on the Blocking of the DAPL in North Dakota

An update as of Friday: Governor Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota issued a restriced emergency declaration to make additional state resources available to “manage public safety at the Dakota Access Pipeline protests near Cannon Ball, ND.” This executive order does not include activation of the National Guard, but does make available other state resources which have previously not been used.

You can keep up with the Sacred Stones Camp and donate to this cause by visiting their Go Fund Me site at https://www.gofundme.com/sacredstonecamp, and you can see lots of photos and videos of this camp by going onto facebook and searching “No Dakota Access in Treaty Territory”.

To get in touch more directly with this resistance, you can call them at (701)301-2238, or write to them at:

Sacred Stones Camp
PO Box 1011
Fort Gates, ND
58538

Hunger strikes by Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan & others at OSP

A quick update on the case of Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan, a prisoner who’s been organizing with the Free Ohio Movement and towards the September 9th National Freedom Movement prisoner strike. Hasan has a long history of organizing, including being one of the main negotiators in the 1993 Lucasville Prison uprising for which he currently faces the death penalty. Hasan’s been doing media work including an interview on this show about the September 9th 2016 prisoner strikes and last week had his cell raided and was put into the hole at Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown. He is being denied access to the email and phone kiosk, accused of some pretty ridiculous things by a competing Imam, Imam S. Ishmael.

In response, Hasan and other muslim prisoners have gone on hunger strike.

From Lucasville Amnesty

The Free Ohio Movement has come to Hasan’s aid, “It is important that we stand up to this repression and terror-baiting as soon as it rears it’s head,” says Tahiyrah Ali.

Tahiyrah and The Free Ohio Movement are requesting supporters call the director of the ODRC, Gary C. Mohr, at 614-752-1150 immediately and daily until the hunger striker’s demands are met.

“Ask to speak to the Director Mohr and demand that the bogus conduct report against Hasan be dropped and that the Muslim prisoners be allowed real faith services from an imam they can trust.”

Hasan’s attorney Rick Kerger is also investigating the matter. “Our system of locking people up has not and is not working.” He said, “To capitalize on it through what is effectively slave labor just makes matters worse.”

For More Information Contact:
Free Ohio Movement
1623 Dalton Street, #14939
Cincinnati, Ohio 45250
FreeOhioMovement@gmail.com
Twitter: @MovementOhio
Phone: 330-366-6838
www.freeohiomovement.org
www.generosity.com/community-…/the-people-s-freedom-movement”

Sept 2nd event, Asheville

There will be a discussion at 7pm on Friday, September 2nd at Firestorm in West Asheville around solidarity with the National Freedom Movement September 9th prisoner strikes. Bring ideas. This will be followed by a 10pm Dance Party with AFM’s own DJ Malinalli for a suggested donation.

iTunes

Finally, The Final Straw is up on the iTunes library for easy and free download. Never want to miss an episode… ever… really…, just set your podcatcher on your mobile or immobile device to search the itunes library for The Final Straw for a weekly topical discussion of anarchist ideas and actions. If you get up on there, give us feedback, rate the podcast and share it with others.

Playlist link: http://www.ashevillefm.org/node/17272

activism, Capitalism, Detroit, General, Gentrification, Housing, Interview, Racism

podcast: Jennette Shannon & Detroit Eviction Defense

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http://detroitevictiondefense.org
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**Update** On June 4th, after struggling, the Bailiff kept good on their promise and overwhelmed the resisters with Sheriff’s and movers. A few defenders were injured in the process and Jennette and her son were dislodged from the house. A fundraiser is online to get her and her teenage son into a new house here: https://www.youcaring.com/jennette-shannon-and-her-16-year-old-son-580529
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This is a special podcast release from The Final Straw Radio, airing weekly on WSFM-LP in Asheville, North Carolina and elsewhere.

On June 1st, 2016, Jennette Shannon and members of Detroit Eviction Defense held a block party in a neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. Jennette, a resident of this neighborhood for decades, and her teenage son have been in immediate danger of eviction due to legal wrangling and financial violence done by the vulture fund sometimes known as Thor Real Estate. Jennette has paid tens of thousands of dollars in fees to cover the company’s tax debts and to lawyers, has had her backyard parcelled and mortgaged by the company multiple times over and has been offered potentially fraudulent deeds and other paperwork. The block part was well attended by neighbors and activists from a plethora of community organizations from around Detroit to kick off the defiant struggle against eviction.

Today, June 2nd marks the beginning of that occupation, in which community members and folks from Detroit Eviction Defense are holding the space in solidarity. More on this house defense and the work of Detroit Eviction Defense can be found at http://detroitevictiondefense.org.

For other episodes of our show, check out thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org or find the current episode at http://ashevillefm.org/the-final-straw and feel free to drop us a line at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net

Portions of this content will air in the episode of The Final Straw Radio for Sunday, June 5th, alongside part of an interview iwth Arianna Staiger, daughter of eco anarchist prisoner Marius Mason. In the interview, Arianna talks about her father, his incarceration, their relationship, about activism and shares some of her music.

Language English
Collection opensource_media

activism, Anarchist, Author, Capitalism, Earth & Animal Liberation, Environment, General, History, Immigration, Interview, May Day

May Day with Peter Linebaugh

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Happy May Day
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To friends we’ve met, and to those we have yet to meet, I’d like to wish everyone a happy May Day. As we’ll hear in the following hour, this day has a long celebrated history. From its many European pagan roots as a celebration of fertility as the fruits of the spring planting season began to… uh, spring forth. Then on to the repressive winter that fell early on May 3rd and 4th of 1886 in Illinois with, first, the killing of workers striking for an 8 hour work day at the McCormick Works and then the repression of anarchist and socialist workers and organizers following the bombing at Haymarket Square in Chicago of that same year. From there to the taking up of May 1st as International Workers Day by struggling groups around the world and the U.S. adoption of a sanctioned Labor Day in September of the year.

To divide an international working class, The U.S. government, repressers of that May Day 1886 sanctioned a Labor Day to be celebrated in September, declared the first of May both Law Day (an obvious testament to Irony in respect to the Haymarket 8, all jailed and 4 executed) and, for some, it’s celebration as Americanism Day. Whatever that means. In 2006 & 2007, immigrants rights marches were seen on and around May Days that, for many, re-sparked the importance of this day. The protests and festivals swelled to numbers nearly unmatched in the history of protest on Turtle Island, and were accompanied by school and work walkouts and boycott days.

This hour we’ll be hearing Peter Linebaugh, author of the recently printed book “The Incomplete, True, Authentic & Wonderful History of May Day” to present some of his meditations from the last 30 years but covering ancient times, through the first May Pole on Turtle Island, through to today.

The rest of the hour will feature songs that made myself and William, cohost of The Final Straw, feel a bit in the spirit of the day. Whether you’re out there today taking direct action, in repose from the horrors of wage slavery, resisting the carceral state, gardening, dancing around a May Pole or otherwise celebrating the possibilities of this year to come when, hell, we might as well end this system of exclusion and extraction: We wish you a fire on your tongue, love in your heart and free land beneath you.

May Day Across North America

Bloc Party: Fire of Beltane

Playlist: http://www.ashevillefm.org/node/16121

activism, Anarchist, Capitalism, General, Housing, Interview, Neoliberalism, North Carolina, Racism, Student

UNControllables: UNC Chapel Hill anarchist student group on organizing, austerity & community

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https://www.facebook.com/carolinaUNControllables
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This week, Bursts spoke with members of the University of Chapel Hill-based student group called The UNControllables. Created in 2012, the UNControllables regularly present anarchist, feminist, anti-racist and anti-authoritarian presenters from around the world to speak to the student body and members of the community, organize around student issues, incarceration, reproductive health, and much more. For the hour, members of the group talk about what they’ve done and upcoming events they’ll be hosting, in particular an upcoming event with CeCe McDonald, a Black Trans Woman & LGBTQ activist who went to prison for defending herself against a hate attack by a white man with a swastika tattoo on his chest and served about 19 months. She’ll be at UNC Chapel Hill at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture & History for free on Monday, March 21st at 7pm. Check the UNControllables’s fedbook page for details and updates.

A major focus of the discussion is the student and faculty opposition to the incoming president of the UNC systems, Margaret Spellings (#SpellCheck) this Tuesday at 11AM. The UNControllables knew of students at 7 of the 17 universities in the UNC system where student walkouts would lead to teach-ins and or protests around privatization of education and university services, threats to the continued cultures of Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) and Native Universities in the UNC system. Spellings past as former Secretary of Education under President George W. Bush and was a prime mover in the No Student Left Behind project, a former Senior Advisor at the Boston Consulting Group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a former Board member of the University of Phoenix (facing lawsuits by former students), advisor to Ceannate (a for-profit student loan collection agency)… wow. There’s also a discussion of current relations between UNC system and faculty, adjuncts and employees in these times of growing precarity. Aramark Industries, which provides “services” within the many prisons, detention centers and jails around the U.S. produces the food at UNC Chapel Hill, interestingly.

Some faculty and adjuncts in the UNC system have been organizing under the name of Faculty Forward – NC.

We also present a couple of announcements:

Anarchist prisoner Eric King has accepted a non-cooperating plea deal, which he;ll sign on March 3rd. If you’re in Kansas City, MO & want to attend his hearing on Thursday at 1:30pm (or for other updates on his case) check out http://supportericking.wordpress.com

A request for letters supporting parole for accused former Black Liberation Army militant and New Afrikan activist and accupuncturist, Dr. Mutulu Shakur (written by the doctor) is up on http://mutulushakur.com along with information of his recent denial of release after serving 30 years since his arrest on February 12th, 1986.

Thursday, March 3rd at 6pm at Firestorm , 610 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC 28806, the Political Prisoners Letter Writing Night will be holding a do-over for the January 22nd Trans Prisoner Day of Solidarity letter-writing night that was cancelled due to snow storms. Envelopes, paper, pens & postage will be provided. Check out the facebook event put on by Tranzmission Prison Project for more details.

Finally, there is a request for folks to seign a petition to Attorney General Loretta Lynch on behalf of Eddie Africa of the Move 9 following his 2 year hit during his recent parole hearing. The petition demands a federal investigation into the injustice and endangerment faced by the Move 9 To check it out, go to http://causes.com/campaigns/92454-free-the-move-9

Playlist: http://www.ashevillefm.org/node/15461

activism, Anarchist, Capitalism, General, Interview, North Carolina, Student

Breaking Loose: a conversation with Ron Sakolsky

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http://littleblackcart.com/books/anarchy/breaking-loose
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This week’s episode features a conversation with Ron Sakolsky. Ron is a poet, an anarchist, a surrealist, a pirate radio broadcaster and author and more. Recently, Little Black Cart published a small book by Ron Sakolsky entitled Breaking Loose: Mutual Acquiescence or Mutual Aid? The essay is an anarcho-surrealist critique in which Ron levels a challenge to readers to move past (or break free) from the limitations we internalize from engaging with and within (as well as with others within) the systems of domination. In the conversation, Ron revisits the essay, breaks down some terminology and eggs the listener on to exercise their imagination and act from places of inspiration to apply direct action against the status quo. The essay it’s built off of can be found in Modern Slavery #1.

During the hour, we discuss that book, we chat about radio and Ron’s 30 years of radio experience starting in college radio in IL, later involved in the pirate station called Black Liberation Radio, publishing and promoting the building of micro-broadcast transmitters, and currently with Radio Tree Frog in the forests of Coast Salish Territories AKA British Colombia. He contributed to and edited the titles Seizing The Airwaves: A Free Radio Handbook (AK Press, 1998) and Islands of Resistance: Pirate Radio in Canada (New Star Books, 2010). A sample of featuring mostly content from the “Old Pal” show on Tree Frog radio is found here: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=tree+frog+radio&t=ffsb&ia=videos&iai=CACQMFIi9Pk

But first this announcement:

From <a href="http://angola3.orgThe International Coalition to Free The Angola 3 we have some breaking news on Albert Woodfox, aka Shaka Cinque:

From Friday, April 19, 2016
“Just moments ago, Albert Woodfox, the last remaining member of the Angola 3 still behind bars, was released from prison 43 years and 10 months after he was first put in a 6×9 foot solitary cell for a crime he did not commit. After decades of costly litigation, Louisiana State officials have at last acted in the interest of justice and reached an agreement that brings a long overdue end to this nightmare. Albert has maintained his innocence at every step, and today, on his 69th birthday, he will finally begin a new phase of his life as a free man.

In anticipation of his release this morning, Albert thanked his many supporters and added: “Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no-contest plea to lesser charges. I hope the events of today will bring closure to many.”

Over the course of the past four decades, Albert’s conviction was overturned three separate times for a host of constitutional violations including prosecutorial misconduct, inadequate defense, racial discrimination in the selection of the grand jury foreperson, and suppression of exculpatory evidence. On June 8th, 2015, Federal Judge James Brady ordered Albert’s immediate release and barred the State from retrying Albert, an extraordinary ruling that he called “the only just remedy.” A divided panel of the 5th Circuit Court of appeals reversed that order in November with the dissenting Judge arguing that “If ever a case justifiably could be considered to present ‘exceptional circumstances’ barring re-prosecution, this is that case.” That ruling was on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court when news of his release broke.

On behalf of the Angola 3 – Albert Woodfox, Robert King, and in memory of Herman Wallace – we would like to sincerely thank all the organizations, activists, artists, legal experts, and other individuals who have so graciously given their time and talent to the Angola 3’s extraordinary struggle for justice. This victory belongs to all of us and should motivate us to stand up and demand even more fervently that long-term solitary confinement be abolished, and all the innocent and wrongfully incarcerated be freed.”

For our 2014 interview with Malik Rahim about the case of the Angola 3, check out our blog thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org

Playlist: http://www.ashevillefm.org/node/15381