Category Archives: Feminism

There Is No Liberation Until The Borders Are Gone: Bruno from CIMA and Members of IAF Speak

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This week we are super pleased to share an interview that William did a few weeks ago with two members of the Indigenous Anarchist Federation, Bombshell and insurgent e! We got to talk about a lot of topics in this episode, which was recorded on about the year anniversary of the formation of the Indigenous Anarchist Federation. Bombshell and insurgent e talked about their histories as anarchist people, about the formation of this Federation, what true decolonization of anarchism could look like, and about the upcoming Indigenous Anarchist Convergence which is happening from August 16th-18th in Kinlani, Navajo land, occupied Flagstaff AZ, plus many other topics!

William really appreciated getting to connect with Bombshell and e, hearing their words on the topics at hand, and also really appreciated their patience with me as he stumbled thru my sentences with them.

To learn more about them you can follow them on Twitter, where they post active updates, news, and analysis @IAF_FAI
or go to their website iaf-fai.org where they post more in depth articles about Indigenous struggle all around the world.

If you do the Twitter follows, just note that there is an active fake account that is attempting to badmouth and discredit the work of the IAF, and this account has the handle @fai-mujer; their interventions have been confusing to followers of the IAF in the past. To see a full account of this situation, plus of course many more topics that are like not about internet trolls but are about the work, you can visit them at iaf-fai.org! To learn more about the Convergence, to register, and for tips for outsider participation, you can visit taalahooghan.org.

If in listening to this you are curious about whose land you were born on or live on, a fantastic resource for this is native-land.ca which provides a world wide map, insofar as it’s possible, of indigenous lands and the names of their people spanning thousands of miles.

For more great interviews with members of IAF, including words from Bad Salish Girl and Green City:

Rev Left Radio

Coffee With Comrades

A list of recommendations from B and e:

-Do some digging and research to find a bunch of recent authors who have done the work to center Indigenaity and decolonization,

-read the complete works of Cutcha Risling Baldy on Decolonized and Indigenous Feminism,

-Talk to and listen to Indigenous people, do the necessary research to not ask folks to perform unnecessary emotional labor.

Books:

Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano (en Espanol Las Venas Abiertas de América Latina)

Indigenous Peoples History of the United States by Roxane Dunbar-Ortiz

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann

Our History Is The Future by Nick Estes

500 Years of Indigenous Resistance by Gord Hill

Some good podcasts, recommended by William of TFS, from Indigenous folks, while not being politically anarchist identified are good to listen to!

All My Relations by Matika Wilbur and Adrienne Keene

While Indigenous by the NDN Collective

Stay tuned next week for an interview with Kanahus Manuel, a Secwepemc woman fighting a pipeline thru her lands in so called BC!

CIMA Speaks about ICE Raids

But first up Bursts spoke with Bruno Hinojosa Ruiz of the local immigrants advocacy group, CIMA, about the threatened raids by ICE and  CPB, ways for folks to get plugged in wherever they are with defending  their communities and helping those most targeted and strengthening our  bonds. More about CIMA can be found online by searching C I M A W N C on  facebook or at their site cimawnc.org. After the conversation,  Bursts learned that there’s a wiki page that’s compiling ICE offices and companies profiting from Immigrations police and Border Patrol. That  wiki can be found and added to at https://trackingice.com/wiki/Main_Page

Rest In Power, Willem

In related news to the ramping up of ICE repression of people around the so-called US, protests, sit-ins and sabotages of profiteers have been on the rise. Much of this can be tracked by visiting https://itsgoingdown.org/closethecamps/. Of note, in Asheville someone claimed responsibility for damaging an atm owned by PNC and claiming it anonymously on IGD. Also, on Saturday, July 13th, a 69 year old, northwest anarchist named Willem Van Spronsen was gunned down by authorities outside of the North West Detention Center in Tacoma, WA while attempting to destroy buses used by GEO group to transport detainees to and from the center. Van Spronsen was allegedly armed with a rifle and  was attempting to arson the buses when pigs opened fire and ended his life. There’s a statement by a local group focused on shutting down the facility, La Resistencia, up on fedbook and linked in our show notes. We’re sorry to lose you,  comrade and mourn your loss, but are inspired by your motivation.

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Music for this episode:

Affinity by Shining Soul off of We Got This

Look of Pain by Soul Position

Carolina Abortion Fund, Reproductive Justice and Autonomy

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This week we had the opportunity to connect with Ash Williams, who is the Volunteer Coordinator for the Carolina Abortion Fund, and is also one of the architects of the Charlotte Uprising which they’ve been on the show before to talk about. I felt very lucky to get to talk with them again about the work they’ve been doing with Carolina Abortion Fund, but also about abortion in general and about expanding the meaning of reproductive justice work to encompass de-colonial views on care and healthcare work, environmental racism such as is going on in Flint Michigan, climate catastrophe, how this topic fits into a broader scope of reproductive capabilities being stolen from people, and many other aspects.

They also spoke on how we talk about abortion from their own perspective as a Black trans person, and how transmisogyny, the erasure of transfeminine experience, and transphobia can play into how this issue is thought of. They also give suggestions for folks already doing reproductive justice work moving forward to create intentional access for all who need or want that.

To help support this fund, to learn more about them and to donate if you can, you can visit their website https://www.carolinaabortionfund.org/

Shout Your Abortion, this is a consciousness raising project which has a new book out which you can see at their website.

We Testify which is in collaboration with the National Network of Abortion Funds is a project that seeks to normalize abortions by helping folks tell their stories, can be found at we testify dot org

National Network of Abortion Funds, a list of all independent and local abortion funds.

Here is an article on Marshae Jones, who is a woman in Alabama facing felonies for the termination by gunshot wound of her pregnancy. The shooter is not being charged with anything as of the writing of this post. Yellowhammer Fund is doing bail support for Marshae!

For a radio clean version of this show of 58 minutes in length, you can visit our collection on archive.org!

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Playlist includes:

Ni Una Menos by Rebeca Lane

Georgina by Chumbawamba

Surviving and Re-thinking Our World Without the Government; Comunidad Colectiva on ICE in NC

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This week we had the chance to interview Lelia, who is a community activist and a part of the group Comunidad Colectiva, an immigrant rights group based in Charlotte NC. We got to talk about a lot of things in this interview, the work that they and other groups do with immigrant and undocumented communities, about the February ICE raids that got national attention, what effective rapid response can look like, and the challenging tension associated with both being anti state and being in the position of having to negotiate with police and sheriffs for safety reasons, plus many more topics.

We wanted to mention something called 287(g) and give a bit of information for listeners who may not have heard of this before. 287(g) was a contract between local officials and ICE which essentially made police forces extensions of ICE, and also instituted deportation proceedings as part of run of the mill arrests. More is explained about this contract later on in the interview, but it gets mentioned fairly heavily before that time.

You can keep updated on this group’s work by hitting them up on Facebook and if you have a few dollars you’d like to throw them to recoup the costs associated with their rapid response network, their Venmo is @comunidad-colectiva.

Next week on The Final Straw, stay tuned for an interview with a member of the Montreal based group Ni Frontiers Ni Prison (which is No Borders, No Prison) about fighting a proposed new migrant prison, decolonization, the rise of far right sentiment in so called Canada, and many associated topics, plus a possible other interview.

Update on Kinetic Justice

In a brief update to last week’s interview on the hunger strike by Kinetic Justice of the Free Alabama Movement, we’d like to share the following news. On March 20th, Kinetic Justice Amun (aka Robert Earl Council) resumed his hunger strike as he was transferred briefly to segregation housing at Limestone prison, but ended his hunger strike within a few days and was transferred to general population at that prison. He can be written at the following address:

Robert Earl Council #181418

28779 Nick Davis Rd
Harvest, AL 35749

Consequently, 8 of the prisoners transferred with Kinetic in the middle of the night, began engaging in a hunger strike in response to their own incarceration in solitary. In response to the hunger strike, administration cut off water to the cells they were held in, giving them bottled water.

The 8 prisoners ended their hunger strike on March 22nd, and administration claims they’ll be transferred to general population in the Alabama prison system as they’re not under investigation currently.

Their names are as follows:

Kotoni Tellis (#223155)

Marcus Lee (#175056)

Mario Avila (#259514)

Corey Burroughs (#207639)

Earl Taylor 3rd (#168616)

Tyree Cochroan (#172306)

Earl Manassa (#175099)

Antonio Jackson (#246560)

and they can be written at:

Holman “Correctional” Facitily

1240 Ross Rd.
Atmore, AL 36502

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Playlist here.

Solidarity with the Migrant Caravan; 2 on the ground perspectives

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This week William had the opportunity to speak with two people who are doing active support work for the folks involved in what’s being called the “migrant caravan”, a group of 7,000 or so people primarily from Honduras fleeting violence of many kinds. Firstly we’ll hear from Chris, who is an organizer with Enclave Caracol, a social center which stands in solidarity with migrants in Tijuana. This center sprang from Tijuana Food Not Bombs, and you can learn more about them via their Facebook page or via their wordpress site.

To donate to them, you can visit the Al Otro Lado donate page and mark a donation for Enclave Caracol!

In this interview, we get into how it’s been for Enclave Caracol (The Snail Enclave in English) to do support in Tijuana, some of the history regarding this particular situation, how the various cop organizations in the area have been treating folks, responses by the public and the government alike, and basic ways of how to support. Let us know what you think or if you have a perspective on this issue by writing to us! You can also write us here.

The second interview is with Elana, who is an anarchist lawyer doing support for the people in the caravan. In this interview we talk about their experiences and some about the complex legal situation that a lot of asylum seekers are faced with, plus ways to re-contextualize this caravan in anti-imperialist terms.

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The audio quality cuts out in some portions of these interviews, so apologies in advance for that.

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To learn more about the history of what is going on right now, and
specifically the recent history of Honduras which gave rise to this
present day situation, we recommend the Alliance for Global Justice’s webinair on Honduras, which was passed to us by a comrade. It is a longer listen, and brings voices together who have been paying attention to this situation for many years, some of whom are directly impacted by it.

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Show playlist here.

Kevin Rashid Johnson on the #PrisonStrike + Two Audio Zines

Kevin Rashid Johnson on the Prison Strike

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This week on the Final Straw, we’re featuring two main events, both themed around the Prison Strike ongoing across Turtle Island until at least September 9th.

First, an interview we conducted with Kevin “Rashid” Johnson. Rashid is a co-founder of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party and is the Minister of Defense from within it’s Prison Chapter. He is the author of two books available from Kersplebedeb, Defying the Tomb & Panther Vision, both collections of Rashid’s art and essays on capitalism, racism, imperialism and his view of a road towards liberation. Rashid is a Maoist and presents some interesting arguments in his writings. In this interview, Rashid talks briefly about his own case, his politicization behind bars, organizing the NABPP-PC, it’s split from the New Black Panther Party, cross-racial class organizing, the #PrisonStrike and more. We hope to be able to bring more of Rashid’s voice in the future. To check out his writing and and his quite literally iconic art, check out rashidmod.com. And at the moment you can write to Rashid at the following address:

Kevin Johnson #1007485
Sussex 1 State Prison
24414 Musselwhite Dr.
Waverly, VA 23891

Next, we’ll hear an audio post-card that some friends put together, interspersing words of encouragement and audio from a noise demonstration outside Hyde prison in Eastern North Carolina on August 20th. Prisoners at Hyde CI met the outside supporters in the yard and from across lines of razor wire they unfurled three banners with simple statements: “parole”; “better food”; & “In Solidarity”. To read an article about the noise demo, see some pictures and hear about NC specific demands, check out the article, Community Shows Support as NC Prisoners Rally With Banners on ItsGoingDown. Make some noise!

To close out the hour, we will hear some words of encouragement to striking prisoners in #Amerikkka from comrades incarcerated in #Klanada!

If you’re in Asheville today (Sunday September 9th), consider dropping by Firestorm at 610 Haywood Rd at 5pm to join #BlueRidgeABC for the monthly political prisoner letter writing night. Supplies will be free as well as info on writing prisoners, names and addresses, and comradery.

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Show playlist here.

Continue reading Kevin Rashid Johnson on the #PrisonStrike + Two Audio Zines

Şoreş Ronahi on Turkish assaults on Afrin Canton, Rojava, Syria

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This week, Bursts spoke with Şoreş Ronahi of the Youth Movement of Rojava (Yekîtiya Ciwanên Rojava), an autonomous movement within Tev-Dem, the movement for Democratic Confederalism in Rojava (located within Northern Syria).    Mr Ronahi speaks about the Turkish assaults, aided by ISIS/DAESH forces now flying the so-called Free Syrian Army flag, to attack defense forces and civilians in the Efrînê Canton (also spelled Afrin or Efrin elsewhere).  We talk about the political stance of the Turkish government as relates to Kurdish people within and without the borders of Turkey, with the Social Revolution in Rojava, the shifting U.S. relationship to the YPG & YPJ militias under the control of the PYD administration in Rojava, the Revolution’s approaches to engaging and fighting patriarchy and ethnic hatred in Syria and the region and more.

As a side note, although Rojava is not an explicitly anarchist project, it is an anti-nationalist, anti-state movement that holds as its pillars ecology, anti-capitalism & feminism and is in part inspired by American former Anarchist turned Communalist, Murray Bookchin. Beyond Bookchin’s impact, Bursts personally feels that Rojava adds an IRL experiment in combat and revolutionary organizing that many anarchists have engaged in in the form of the International Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces, The Queer Insurrection and Liberation Army, within other elements of the International Freedom Batallions as well as in the PYD administered YPG & YPJ militias on the front lines fighting DAESH.

The fallen YPJ soldier that Şoreş mentions at the end of the interview is Avesta Xabûr.

For past episodes on #Rojava on this show, check out our conversations with Kurdish feminist Dilar Dirik (pt 1 & pt 2), our conversation with American anarchist Guy McGowan Steel Steward fighting with the YPG (pt 1 & pt 2) and our discussions with anarchist and writer, Paul Z. Simons after his study and visit to Rojava (pt 1, pt 2 & pt 3)

The track finish with is Euphonik with the song Y.P.J. from their album, Inconnu Mais Reconnu II.

Playlist

Betsy Raasch-Gilman on Anarchism, Organizing and Movement for a New Society

Betsy Raasch-Gilman on Anarchism, Organizing and Movement for a New Society

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This week, we share a conversation that Bursts had with Betsy Raasch-Gilman. Betsy is a lifelong Quaker, feminist and anti-capitalist. She talks about her experiences organizing as an anarchist during the Cold War with Movement for a New Society, difficulties of critiquing capitalism within the peace movement, anti-nuke organizing, modeling consensus and affinity group organizing, alternative and cooperative models, attempting to ground organizing in anti-racism, separatism, organizing with the Marxist Left and more. Later in the conversation, Betsy talks about her engagement in the RNC Welcoming Committee against the 2008 Twin Cities Republican National Convention, the conspiracy trial that she almost got roped into, security culture and police spies and what she’s excited about now in the current terrain.

You can find out more about the work that Betsy is doing these days, check out Training For Change.

Playlist

Continue reading Betsy Raasch-Gilman on Anarchism, Organizing and Movement for a New Society

Podcast special: Haymaker Gym in Chicago

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Welcome to a podcast special release of The Final Straw’s interview of two members of The Haymaker, a gym project underway in Chicago, IL. The Haymaker’s principles of unity are as follows:

As organizers, we believe in Autonomy, Strength, and Solidarity. Because we believe in autonomy, we know that we must learn to fight our enemies without relying on institutions that disempower us and macho gym cultures that weaken us. We must learn to fight for ourselves. Because we believe in strength, we know that we must be stronger than those who want us to suffer or wipe us out completely. We must learn to be unafraid as we become a force capable not only of self-defense, but of social transformation. Because we believe in solidarity, we know that our personal transformation is at once collective transformation and that an injury to one is indeed an injury to all. We will learn how to keep each other safe as we become dangerous together.

If you want to toss them some duckets, find their indiegogo. If you’re inspired to work on something like this in your town, hit them up at haymakerchi@riseup.net or on the fedbook or twitter by their handle @haymakerchi. This audio will make it into a full episode coming up soon.

So, if you feel like passing the hat or holding a fundraiser or hitting up Daddy Warbucks himself, George Soros, for them please do.

If you enjoyed this episode and you get our show from the itunes library, drop us a review, rate us 5 stars and help spread this show. Also, if you like hearing our podcast and want our interviews to make it to the cars, trucks, jail cells, basement apartments and everywhere else in your area, consider hittin us up and help us figure out how to get on your local community radio. Our shows are an hour weekly, are free for stations and people to download and are radio clean. Right now we’re airing in Columbus (OH), Asheville (NC), Olympia (WA), Santa Rosa (CA) & Fairbanks (AK). Why not YOUR home town?

Anarchy in Portugal w/ Sylvia and Mário

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

Anarchist Radio DJ’s from Slovenia and El Salvador

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This week we’re just back from a few weeks in Europe, most recently attending the 3rd International Anarchist Radio Conference at Radio98FM, an anarchist pirate radio station of 14 years in the squatted studios at the Polytechnic University in Zografu neighborhood in Athens, Greece. In coming episodes we’ll be releasing some of the interviews that we had with folks who we met between that event and the Paris Anarchist Bookfaire the week before. Here is the live radio show we helped conduct on April 30th with the participation of all of the attending projects on topics ranging from misogyny in the anarchist scene to discussions of technology, from eco-struggles around the world to prisoner resistance. Soon, we’ll have an Intl Anarchist Radio website, following will come a streaming radio station and a monthly 1.5-2 hour news blast from all of the projects called B(A)D N(E)WS. More info soon on that.

This week features 2 conversations Bursts conducted at the radio conference. First, we spoke with 2 buddies from Crna Luknja, an anarchist radio show in Slovenian and English broadcast on Radio Student in Lubljana, Slovenia. The friends talk about their organizing with the Balkan-based Federatin of Anarchist Organizations, affiliated with the synthesist International of Anarchist Federations, sometimes called IFA. An Anarchist Bookfaire is being organized by the friends next weekend in Cerkno, Slovenia as well. Since Asheville just hosted it’s first bookfaire we thought this’d be a timely audio to play.

The second segment was with Elisa. Elisa is an Anarcha-Feminist organizer in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. She talks about her radio project, Rosas Negras found at the online feminist radio station, La Radio de Todas. She speaks about Feminist organizing in El Salvador, the state of anarchist organizing there, the Anarchist Federation of Central American and Caribbean (FACC), organizing to change abortion laws in El Salvador, and a lot more.

Before we start the episode, I’d like to say a special hello to friends new and old visiting Asheville for the Anarchist Book Faire we are just finishing up today. We are only getting stronger by joining together in this way and sharing our skills and hearts. If you’re still in town, check out the last few workshops at Firestorm. At 3pm there is LGBTQ Advocacy as Abolition by Tranzmission Prison Project, followed at 4pm by a screening of the documentary ProjektA and discussion called Mutual Aid: New Bonds, New Revolts and this will be capped off by the Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross (yaaaay) prisoner letter writing from 6-7:30pm.

Because the conversations are in English with people who are not native English speakers, the conversations may be hard to understand. But, their English is better than my Slovenian or Spanish, so it’s in English! If you misunderstand the chat, consider listening to the archive or podcast later with headphones.

There’s no Sean Swain segment for this week, but stay tuned for future outbursts by the main Swainiac himself.