Category Archives: Police

Anarchism in Post-Revolutionary Spain, pt2

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This week’s episode of the final straw picks up where last week’s left off. The features speakers are Ana and Pablo, two anarchists living in Barcelona, and they’ll be discussing the rise and struggle of Anarcha-Feminism in Spain since the social revolution of the 1930’s through to current times. We’ll also be discussing intersections of anarchist struggle and healthcare in the age of austerity and visions of autonomous and anarchist forms of health care. This show also features a scene report of Anarchists in Spain today by Pablo and Ana presents some closing thoughts on struggles to engage in.

Following the discussion, you’ll be hearing some new metal tracks from Brighton’s own Light Bearer. Light Bearer is a 4 album project themed around the fall of Lucifer. Light Bearer shares members with the band, Fall of Efrafa, an epic crust band themed around the novel Watership Down. The 2nd album in the series, Silver Tongue, has just been released by the band to a mediafire file.

We’ll also hear a metal track posthumously released from the Austin Texas anti-civ anarchist sludge project, Ecocide. For archives of this and other episodes of the Final Straw, check out radio4all.net and search the show title.

The playlist can be found here

Anarchism in Post-Revolutionary Spain, pt1

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For many Anarchists, the history of Anti-authoritarian and Anti-capitalist resistance in Spanish serves as a laboratory in which to discuss the successes and failures of that political trajectory in application. The communes, the vibrant difference and debates that existed, and the resistance to the rise of fascism, bourgeious social democracy and statist communism: these are elements that find echoes in struggles prior (such as the Russian Revolution) and since (the struggles in the sixties through to today).

This weeks speakers, Ana & Pablo, present a slightly different narrative. By covering a critical (if brief) history of the Anarchism existant from the beginning of the Social Revolution ongoing when Franco’s military coup of 1936 was engaged, through the era of dictatorship, through the spectacular democratization of Spain in the 1970’s and into today, the speakers propose that the strongest that Anarchist movements have been was during periods of critical heterodoxy and debate within, as well as mutual aid and support in the face of restistance.

This show, due to it’s length, is split into two episodes. The first aired 2013-02-03. Following interviews, there’s about 20 minutes of metal tracks from Usnea and others! The playlist can be found here.

In Luke O’Donovan’s Defense: A conversation with a member of his support committee

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On the night of New Years Eve this year, there was an incident of violence that occurred at a party which left six people stabbed and/or beaten in the Reynoldstown neighborhood of Atlanta. One man, Luke O’Donovan, was taken to the hospital with multiple bruises and also stab wounds on his back, was arrested. The police and media narrative, based on the words of those present at the party, states that Luke left the party angry, returned with a knife and, as we’ve seen portrayed in recent coverage of mass shootings in the U.S., returned to attack those who enraged him.

The Support Luke Defense Committee and Atlanta Anarchist Black Cross, however, have been working to change that narrative. Friends, families and Allies of Luke claim that Luke was actually the target of a homophobic attack by a group of young men, and succeeded in defending himself and maybe saved his own life before police came. This week, we speak with Esme of the SLDC about Luke and Luke’s case, and how folks can support him.

http://letlukego.com/

Playlist for this show can be found here

Continued updates on the PNW Grand Juries

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In march of 2012, the Federal Government initiated a Grand Jury in the Seattle Area to focus on Anarchists. FBI began tailing Anarchists in Portland around this time, and probably in relation. This Grand Jury will likely continue to carry on through at least September of 2013, if not March 2014. Houses have been raided in Olympia/PDX/Seattle, folks have been jailed, some have been pressured into snitching and breaking bonds of trust. Two people are currently being held for refusing to speak to the Grand Jury and a third, Maddy, stands strong on the outside.

This week we speak to 2 people, Corey and Sophie, from the Pacific Northwest about how this case is proceeding, how people keep themselves safer, how we support each other and what solidarity looks like.
https://nopoliticalrepression.wordpress.com/
http://saynothing.noblogs.org/
http://cldc.org/
http://grandjuryresistance.org/educational_materials.html
https://www.wepay.com/donations/33405

Victoria Law on the Struggles of Incarcerated Women

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This week’s show features a conversation with Victoria Law.

This week we speak to Vikki about the second edition of her book, Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women.” We discuss patriarchy, criminalization & invisibility that is faced by those held in women’s prisons. We also talk about resistance, organizing, support and engagement of those on the inside and about the organizing that formerly incarcerated people do to help their comrades on the inside.

From her PM Press Author’s page:

“Victoria Law is a writer, photographer, and mother. After a brief stint as a teenage armed robber, she became involved in prisoner support. In 1996, she helped start Books Through Bars-New York City, a group that sends free books to prisoners nationwide. In 2000, she began concentrating on the needs and actions of women in prison, drawing attention to their issues by writing articles and giving public presentations. Since 2002, she has worked with women incarcerated nationwide to produce Tenacious: Art and Writings from Women in Prison and has facilitated having incarcerated women’s writings published in larger publications, such as Clamor magazine, the website “Women and Prison: A Site for Resistance” and the upcoming anthology Interrupted Lives.”

Grand Jury Resistance in PNW/ Mountain Top Removal in West VA

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This week’s show features a conversation with Will Potter about political repression against accused Anarchists in the Pacific Northwest. Later, we’ll speak with Bryan of Katuah Earth First! about his participation in a recent action in West Virginia against Mountain Top Removal.

Our first segment of this weeks show is a conversation with Will Potter, award-winning journalist, author and blogger at www.greenisthenewred.com about the JTTF & FBI raids on suspected Anarchists in the Pacific Northwest and the series of Grand Juries now being convened around participation in the May 1st protests in Seattle of this year.

Also, we’ll be speaking with Bryan, a member of Katuah Earth First!, based out of Asheville. Bryan was arrested on July 28th during a non-violent direct action under the banner of Radical Action for Mountain People’s Survival (RAMPS). This action briefly shut down and brought attention to the Mountain Top Removal style of strip mining being used at the Hobet mine, operated by Patriot Coal in Lincoln County, West Virginia. We talk about the Katuah bioregion, Fracking in North Carolina and getting involved to save our landbase.

as re: Grand Jury Resistance:
Green Is The New Red
Pacific Northwest Grand Jury Resistance
Donate to Committee Against Political Repression

as re: Mountain Top Removal
RAMPS Campaign
Katuah Earth First!
Earth First! Journal
Dustin Steele of RAMPS speaking out before the action

Playlist for the show can be found at AshevilleFM.

Montreal Student Strikes (part 2)

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This week’s show features the second part of my conversation with Maria about anarchist perspectives on the student strikes in Montreal,
Quebec. Maria continues to draw the history of this last year of student strikes that have developed into a nascent social strike and talks about the call to help block the start of the next semester in early August of this year

The second half of this episode features music from and about the struggle of Miners against the bosses and the state and for survival and self-determination. The playlist can be found here.

Call Out to
block the next semester

Greve
Montreal

STUDENT STRIKE! POPULAR STRUGGLE! / GRÈVE ÉTUDIANTE! LUTTE POPULAIRE!

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This week’s show features a conversation with Maria, an American-born anarchist and former University student living in Montreal, Quebec. Maria shares with us the context of the student and social strikes of earlier this year in this conversation.

Some more resources on the subject include:
Greve Montreal
Montreal Counter-Info
Bloquons la Hausse
Call Out to block the next semester
a good piece on the student movement
The blog of one of the neighborhood assemblies
Sketchy Thoughts

What if we could swish AND fight? (2012 Redux of Stonewall show)

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This week’s show is a conversation with Parks (a member of Tranzmission Prison Project) about Stonewall, the cooptation of it’s rememberance in the form of Pride marches, the split of the liberation movement into the pride movement and continued radical struggles.

The playlist for the show can be found here

Dean Spade on Critical Trans Politics; Freedom For Chris French

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This week features a conversation with attorney, educator and trans activist, Dean Spade about his new book, “Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics and the limits of law”, just out from South End Press. Normal Life is a finalist for the 2012 Lambda Literary Awards. Follow Mr. Spade’s writing at http://www.deanspade.net/

Before hearing from Dean Spade, though, we hear from Bailey, who’s doing support for Christopher French, an Atlanta Anarchist who’s facing multiple felony charges and has to raise $25,000 to be bonded out in relation to the recent anti-NATO demonstrations in Chicago. More information about Christopher’s case can be found at:
http://freedomforchris.wordpress.com