Category Archives: History

activism, Anarchist, Anarchist Media, Anti-Racist Action, Antifa, Author, Chicago, History, media, Minneapolis, PM Press, Police, Portland, Protest, Racism, repression, Transcribed, United States, Youth, zine

“It Did Happen Here” with Mic Crenshaw and Moe Bowstern

“It Did Happen Here” with Mic Crenshaw and Moe Bowstern

"TFSR, 4-30-23, Mic Crenshaw + Moe Bowstern" and the book cover of It Did Happen Here: An Anti-Fascist Peoples History featuring 3 bars descending to the right and a grainy photo of anti-racist protestors yelling at or beyond police
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This week, we’re sharing an interview with 2 contributors an amazing history of anti-racist organizing in the late 1980’s through the mid 1990’s in Portland, Oregon, and with ripples across the so-called USA & beyond. In 2020 KBOO radio released a serialized podcast which became the basis for the book.

It Did Happen Here:

Mic Crenshaw:

Moe Bowstern

People Mic mentioned who were attacked for being white anti-racists in Pdx:

Mic Crenshaw was born and raised in Chicago and Minneapolis and currently resides in Portland, Oregon. Crenshaw is an independent hip hop artist, respected emcee, poet, educator, and activist. Crenshaw is the lead US organizer for the Afrikan Hiphop Caravan and uses cultural activism as a means to develop international solidarity related to human rights and justice through hip hop and popular education. Crenshaw was a founding member of the Minneapolis Baldies and Anti Racist Action. He was a coproducer and narrator of the podcast version of It Did Happen Here. Moe Bowstern is a alum of the anarchist space in Chiacgo known as the @-zone that lasted from 1993 to 2003. She’s also a writer, laborer, Fisher Poet, and DIY social practice artist. Moe is the longtime editor of many publications, including the commercial fishing zine Xtra Tuf. She contributed to the writing of the book version of It Did Happen Here and lives in Portland, OR.

For the hour, we talk about the book and podcast, the reach, the resonance to anti-racist struggle today in Portland and beyond. We also talk about the toll of the violence faced and engaged by folks pushing back the organized white supremacy of the day, police and institutional violence and other, related topics. If you would like people featured in this book to come and speak at your institution, you can reach them at ItDidHappenHerePodcast at gmail dot com, through PM Press, or via the IDHH instagram.

This book was published by PM Press as a part of the Working Class History series. Another featured title in that series that was recently released was a similar documentary history with a really good narrative on the history of Anti-Racist Action in the 1990’s and early 2000’s throughout the midwest of Turtle Island, both in so-called Canada and the USA, and bits of other areas. Hopefully we’ll feature a chat with one of the contributors to that book entitled We Go Where They Go: The Story of Anti-Racist Action soon on this show.

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Featured Tracks:

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Anarchist, Author, Capitalism, History, Politics, Rebroadcast, Transcribed, zine

Anarchist Historian, Barry Pateman (Rebroadcast)

Anarchist Historian, Barry Pateman (rebroadcast)

Barry Pateman, a white man bald on top with long, grey hair down the sides and a white mustache, looking over his glasses "Anarchist Historian Barry Pateman (Rebroadcast) | TFSR 4-9-23"
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This week, we’re sharing part of our April 26th, 2020 interview with Barry Pateman. Barry, born in the early 1950’s, grew up in a working class coal mining town of Doncaster in the UK and became an anarchist in the 1960’s in London. He is a longstanding member of the Kate Sharpley Library which covers histories of little-known anarchists and events in history. Barry has also contributed to and edited numerous books including “Chomsky on Anarchism”, a two book document collection with Candace Falk and many more titles, many on AK Press. We talk about anarchist history, community, repression, defeat, insularity, popular front with authoritarian Marxists, class analysis and how to beat back capitalism. Find Kate Sharpley Library at KateSharpleyLibrary.Net

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Featured Track:

  • Traditions by Los Hooligans from Traditions
  • I Never Gave Up (Rondo Remix) by Chumbawamba from the I Never Gave Up single

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activism, Anarchist, Asia, Author, Autonomia, Communism, History, Korea, North Carolina, PM Press, Prisons, Protest, Rebroadcast, repression, Transcribed, zine

South Korean Social Movements in the 20th Century with George Katsiaficas (rebroadcast)

South Korean Social Movements in the 20th Century (rebroadcast)

[ 00:02:09 – 00:50:03 ]

Book cover of "Asia's Unknown Uprisings Volume 1: South Korean Social Movements in the 20th Century by George Katsiaficas" + "TFSR 2-26-23, Rebroadcast from 2012"
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This week we’re re-airing our 2012 interview with Dr. George Katsiaficas, author and contributor to over a dozen books on Peoples Movements and the elucidator of the Eros Effect. For over a decade, Dr. Katsiaficas has been studying the culture and history of South Korea and it’s culture and has published the a two volume set, the first of which is  entitled Asia’s Unknown Uprisings: South Korean Social Movements in the 20th Century from PM Press.

For more of Dr. Katsiaficas’ writing, check out his website at www.eroseffect.com

Shine White

[ 00: 56.41 – 01:19:33 ]

Supporters of Joseph “Shine White” Stewart conducted an interview with him about conditions in the NC prisons, violence and his views on organizing. Shine White is an anti-racist, white,  maoist prisoner.

You can find our 2021 interview with Shine White here.

You can write to Shine White at:

Joseph Stewart #0802041
Granville Correctional
PO Box 247
Phoenix, Maryland 21131

Continue reading South Korean Social Movements in the 20th Century with George Katsiaficas (rebroadcast) →

AK Press, Antifa, Asia, Author, Colonialism, gender, History, Immigration, India, Politics, Racism, Transcribed, United States, zine

Maia Ramnath on Resisting Hindutva

Maia Ramnath on Resisting Hindutva

book covers of "Decolonizing Anarchism" & "Art For Life" and the text "TFSR 2-19-23 | Maia Ramnath on Resisting Hindutva"
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This week, we spoke with Maia Ramnath about her essay contribution to ¡No Pasarán!: Antifascist Dispatches From a World in Crisis. The essay was entitled “The Other Aryan Supremacy: Fighting Hindu Fascism in the South Asia Diaspora”.

 

For the hour, we talk about about Hindutva, a brand of Indian ethno-religious-nationalism some have called fascism, the organizations that carry it in India and in the sub-continental or Desi diaspora around the world, some of the ideas and actions attributed to it, Islamophobia, Hindutva’s connections with the project of Israel, also it’s overlaps with far right, Nazi-inspired ideologies and how non-Desi anti-fascists can stand in solidarity against it.

Some publications by or including Maia Ramnath:

Other interviews on related topics:

Bursts also recommends Azadi by Arundhati Roy, which includes lots of thoughts on these topics. And you can hear our 2020 interview with Pranav Jeevan P. in Karela state in India which covers many of these same topics, which is also transcribed.

Phone Zap for #StopCopCity Arrestee, Emily Murphy

#StopCopCity protestor Emily Murphy has been in jail for almost a month since being arrested 1/22 following the protest against the police killing of Tortuguita. Emily has been vegan for many years, but the Atlanta City Dentention Center has not been giving them food they can eat. They describe being emaciated and having physical problems after a month of starvation. We are asking that you listen to Emily’s statement, participate in our call in campaign, and show up at Atlanta City Dentention Center at 7pm this Friday (2/24/23) to voice your discontent. We present Emily in their own words

You can find info on this in Blue Ridge ABC’s mastodon post on the subject.

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AK Press, Anarchist, Author, History, Kristian Williams, Philosophy, Prisons, Queer, Rebroadcast

Resist Everything Except Temptation (Rebroadcast)

Resist Everything Except Temptation (Rebroadcast)

book cover of "Resist Everything Except Temptation" with a cartoon of Oscar Wilde + a text bar on the right "TFSR, Rebroadcast, 02-12-2023"
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We’re re-airing Scott’s 2020 interview with Kristian Williams about his book, Resist Everything Except Temptation: The Anarchist Philosophy of Oscar Wilde.

From the original post:

I found this interview extremely illuminating, perhaps like many other people who might not have strong ties to either academia or popular education models of learning, I had sort of written Oscar Wilde off as this kind of white dead rich guy who carried little to no relevance apart from a model of queerness that we could look back on. This interview very much proved that this isn’t the case, and that he and the circumstances around him very much influence how we as queers and as anarchists can sense historical threads that pull on our lives very tangibly today. Thanks a million to Scott for researching and conducting this interview!

You can learn more about the author, Kristian Williams, who is most known for his book Our Enemies in Blue, which is a critical history of American policing and police, at his website kristianwilliams.com.

You can hear our past interviews with Kristian on:

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AK Press, Anarchist, Author, General, History, Mexico, Prisons, Transcribed, United States, zine

The Legacy of Ricardo Flores Magón

The Legacy of Ricardo Flores Magón

A sketch of Ricardo Flores Magón at Leavenworth Prison, writing while looking out the window with the US flag flying, "Ricardo Flores Magón, TFSR, 12-4-22"
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We just passed the 100th anniversary of the murder by incarceration and hounding of Mexican Revolutionary anarchist communist Ricardo Flores Magón on 21st of November. For this hour or so, I spoke with Mitchell Cowen Verter, co-author of the 2005 AK Press book, Dreams of Freedom: A Ricardo Flores Magon Reader (also free from archive.org). We talk about RFM’s life, ideas and legacy.

Apologies for the sound quality, Mitchell was on wifi at a hostel in Cambodia for the conversation.

Other RFM Writings

Other pieces by Mitchell Cowen Verter

Xinachtli

Chicano anarchist communist prisoner of war Xinacthli, held by the State of Texas on some BS charges, had a support rally in Austin, Texas, on November 21st this year. There’s a link in these show notes to a recording someone passed us of him telling his story like a decade ago. You can learn more on his case at FreeAlvaro.Net.

Sean Swain’s segment on marriage starts at [ 01:15:00 – end]

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Antifa, fascism, History, Matthew N Lyons, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Sexism, Transcribed, United States

Matthew Lyons on Christian Nationalism(s)

Matthew Lyons on Christian Nationalism(s)

"TFSR 11-20-22 | Matthew Lyons on Christian Nationalism(s)" over a photo of January 6th 2021 participants carrying a picture of Jesus wearing a MAGA hat
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This is a conversation with Matthew Lyons, antifascist researcher, contributor to Three Way Fight Blog and author of, among other books, Insurgent Supremacists: The U.S. Far Right’s Challenge to State and Empire and contributor to the recent AK Press compilation, No Pasarán: Antifascist Dispatches from a World in Crisis (edited by Shane Burley). For the hour, Matthew talks about Christian Nationalist and theonomic tendencies and movements like New Apostolic Reformation, Dominionism, reactionary Catholicism and Christian Reconstructionism to learn more about how they interrelate or conflict with other far right tendencies in the so-called USA and the ongoing assault on bodily autonomy, abortion access and cis-hetero-patriarchy. More of Matthews work can be found at MatthewNLyons.Net

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AK Press, Anarchist, Anarcho-Syndicalism, Author, Capitalism, Communism, History, Labor, Marxism, Philosophy, Politics, St-Imier, Transcribed

The First International and the Birth of the Anarchist Movement (with Robert Graham)

The First International and the Birth of the Anarchist Movement (with Robert Graham)

book cover of "We Do Not Fear Anarchy, We Invoke It!" featuring a woman holding a torch and red flag in what appears to be a scene of chaos
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I’m happy to share this interview with anarchist author and historian, Robert Graham about the split in the historic left that led to the birth of the anarchist movement. Robert published the book We Do Not Fear Anarchy, We Invoke It!: The First International and the Origins of the Anarchist Movement with AK Press in 2015.

As I say in the interview, I was excited to have this conversation with Robert since the 150th anniversary of the first anti-authoritarian International hosted by the anarchist watchmakers in St-Imier, Switzerland. I’m definitely not a history or theory head, so I’ve been pleased to take this opportunity to broaden my horizons and areas of study. To hear about the 150th Anniversary gathering, check out the segment by comrades at A-Radio Berlin from August 2022’s Bad News podcast. And check out Anarchy2023.Org for info on next year’s gathering.

Part 1: [00:11:45 – 01:11:58]

Part 2: [01:14:32 – 02:13:22]

The interview begins at after Sean Swain’s segment on the protests in Iran [00:03:20 – 00:11:45]

The book is available from Firestorm at the above link, also from the publisher at AKPress.Org, and you can check out an online version from Archive.Org for free as well. Or now at TheAnarchistLibrary.Org for easy & free download.

Here’s a link to an archive of Open Road, the anarchist journal Robert participated in in the 1970’s

For a related historical interview we conducted in 2014 with Andrew Zonneveld of On Our Own Authority! on an anarchist historical compilation called “The Commune: Paris, 1871”, linked in our show notes. Also of note, Coffee With Comrades just conducted an interview Jim Yoeman on his recently published AK Press book, Print Culture and the Formation of the Anarchist Movement in Spain, 1890-1915

Continue reading The First International and the Birth of the Anarchist Movement (with Robert Graham) →

General, History, Indiana, Political Prisoner, Prisons, Racism, repression, Transcribed, zine

Too Black on the Case of the Pendleton 2!

Too Black on the Case of the Pendleton 2!

Cartoonized image of Naeem and Balagoon, "Free The Pendleton 2! | TFSR 10-16-22"
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This week, we’re airing a conversation with Too Black, communications representative for the defense committee to Free the Pendleton 2. Too Black also hosts the Black Myths podcast. For the hour, Too Black talks about the case of the Pendleton 2, two Black men incarcerated in Indiana who had decades added to their sentences, including decades in solitary confinement, for defending another prisoner from a white supremacist guard officer formation in the Pendleton Prison Uprising, February 1st 1985. Too Black talks about Christopher “Naeem” Trotter and John “Balagoon” Cole and the struggle to free these elders.

You can find out more about the case by visiting the links at LinkTr.ee/FreedomCampaign (the form Too Black mentioned in particular can be found at this link) see the documentary They Stood Up about the Pendleton 2 at youtube, and you can hear Black Myths Podcasts at libsyn.com

We sometimes forget to add in content warnings, but since we’re talking about racialized brutality behind bars, there are some descriptions of violence and racist quotes read.

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A-Radio Berlin, A-Radio Network, Anarchist, B(A)D News, conspiracy, History, Labor, Political Prisoner, Prisons, Racism, St-Imier, Switzerland, Transcribed, United States, zine

Free Mutulu Shakur + St-Imier Weekend Libertaire

Free Mutulu Shakur + St-Imier Weekend Libertaire

This week on TFSR, you’ll hear two a conversation about the push to free Dr. Mutulu Shakur from prison and an interview about the 150th anniversary of the Jura Federation gathering in St-Imier, Switzerland. The first portion of this episode will be in a stand-alone zine available soon, the second will sit beside an interview with Robert Graham about his book on the history of the split in the 1st International and the beginnings of the anarchist movement, hopefully in early October.

Button featuring Mutulu Shakur reading "Compassionate Release | Free Dr. Mutulu Shakur", image of the Weekend Libertaire poster from St-Imier + "TFSR 8-28-22"
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First up, Watani Tyehimba of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and a supporter and comrade of New Afrikan political prisoner Dr Mutulu Shakur speaking about Dr. Shakur’s life, activism and the struggle for his release since he’s been diagnosed with serious bone cancer.

Then, you’ll hear portions of the latest episode of Bad News, the monthly podcast from the anarchist and anti-authoritarian radio and podcast network, A-Radio. The segments included are an interview by A-Radio Berlin with an organizer of this July’s Weekend Libertaire on the 150th anniversary of the 1872 Anti-authoritarian International of Working People that happened in July in St-Imier, Switzerland. We hope to have an in depth conversation on the split in the International and the early days of the anarchist movement to share in the near future. You’ll also hear a shoutout for the International Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners, August 23-30th. You can hear more from this and other episodes of BAD News at a-radio-network.org or linked in our show notes. Finally, we’ll be finishing up this episode with Sean Swain’s weekly segment. Enjoy!

We hope to be releasing an interview with Tim (aka Sole) and Aaron from the Propaganda By The Seed podcast next week. Patreon supporters can keep an eye out for the release a few days early.

Continue reading Free Mutulu Shakur + St-Imier Weekend Libertaire →