Category Archives: Political Prisoner

Social Justice and Struggle in Lebanon and Syria: Elia J. Ayoub and Leila Al-Shami

Social Justice and Struggle in Lebanon and Syria: Elia J. Ayoub and Leila Al-Shami

Photo taken from Al Jumhuriya

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This week on The Final Straw we’re featuring a chat with Elia J. Ayoub and Leila Al-Shami. In this conversation, Elia J. tells us of some of the history of Lebanon, since the civil war that ended in 1990 and up to the current demonstrations against the clientelist warlords in power in that country. Intertwined with this, Leila speaks about the sparking of the resistance to Bashar Al-Assad in Syria, the tumult of the civil war, and the state of anti-authoritarian and social justice organizing and media work in that country. Then the two talk about the experience of countering disinformation, conspiracy thinking and poor solidarity in the so-called Left in the West and ways to combat ignorance.

This is another long conversation, covering a lot of the last 30 years in these two neighboring nations.  The guests proposed speaking about the interrelations across that border because of the similarities, differences, and shared experiences between the two places.  Lebanon has Syrian refugees, it was occupied by Syria until 2005. Both spaces share Palestinian refugees, experienced war with Israel, are politically influenced from Hezbollah, mostly speak Arabic and even the flames of the recent wildfires that ignited anti-regime sentiment in Lebanon last fall crossed the border between Lebanon and Syria. We hope to have future chats that play with borders in this way to explore ways we can bridge these borders in our understanding in hopes of increased solidarity.

Elia J. Ayoub is a Lebanese-Palestinian writer, editor and researcher. He publishes frequently on https://joeyayoub.com/ as well as on the blog https://hummusforthought.com/ and the related podcast by the same title.

Leila Al-Shami is a British-Syrian activist and co-author of ‘Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War‘, a founder of the international solidarity site, TahrirICN and writes on http://leilashami.wordpress.com/ .

Below are links to some resources that Joey and Leila suggest interested listeners check out to for perspectives by folks on the ground in the region:

Lebanon links:

Syria Links:

Timestamps:

  • Sean Swain [00:02:32 – 00:09:34]
  • Intro to Lebanon & Syria [00:09:34 – 00:21:35]
  • Lebanese Protests of 2015 & 2019 [00:21:35 – 00:31:40]
  • Syrian Revolution to Civil War [00:31:40 – 00:41:34]
  • Current Social Justice Struggle in Syria [00:41:46 – 00:45:56]
  • Daesh / ISIS and Syrian Civil War [00:45:56 – 00:49:56]
  • Solidarity with Syrians in Lebanese Protests [00:49:56 – 01:05:38]
  • Leila on Tahrir-ICN [01:05:50 – 01:09:18]
  • Educating Ourselves on Syria and Lebanon [01:09:18 – 01:23:07]
  • White Helmets and other Conspiracy Theories [01:23:07 – 01:32:59]
  • Syrian Diaspora and Western Left [01:32:59 – 01:37:19]
  • Rojava and the Syrian Revolution [01:37:19 – 01:41:56]
  • Better Practice in Solidarity with people in Syria and Lebanon [01:41:56 – 01:53:38]

Announcements

Michael Kimble Benefit

Last week we announced a fundraiser for Michael Kimble.  Because of issues with the platforms, the fundraiser for Michael Kimble’s legal benefit to help raise money for his fight to get him released from prison has been moved.  Now you can find it at ActionNetwork.org/Fundraising/Support-Michael-Kimble . Because the fundraiser had to be moved a couple of times, some of the initial push to get word out and initial donations may be irreplaceable. So, folks are asking for an extra push to help rasie this money to get our comrade out and organizing on the outside after 33 years behind bars.

BADNews February 2020 (#31)

This month, the A-Radio Network released it’s monthly, international English-language podcast featuring voices from anarchist and anti-authoritarian radio shows, pirate stations and podcasts from around the world. The episode is up at A-Radio-Network.org by clicking the B(A)DNews. If you’re interested in joining the network or learning more, info’s up on that site.

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Playlist

Continue reading Social Justice and Struggle in Lebanon and Syria: Elia J. Ayoub and Leila Al-Shami

Project FANG on Combating Isolation + the Politics of Crypto-Anarchy

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This week we bring you two different segments. First, Cypress spoke with Jenny from Project Fang, a project that financially supports visits to earth and animal liberation prisoners. Since 2016, Project Fang has worked to combat the isolation of incarceration these prisoners feel by providing a fund for financial assistance for visits. The prisoners and their loved ones can apply to the fund to help pay for prison visits, which is one of the most important ways of supporting prisoners. Project Fang is currently in the middle of a fundraising push as they look to double their annual budget to continue their work.

Much has been said about the vital importance that visits from friends, family, and loved ones can have for folks forced to undergo incarceration at the hands of the state. Jenny goes into detail about the work she and the project do to help turn isolation around, and about how this work fits into a broader whole of creating sustainable communities of rebellion.

Folks can support their campaign through December 4th at fundrazr.com/project_fang. Head to the Project Fang Twitter or to the New York City Anarchist Black Cross website at nycabc.wordpress.com/fang/ to learn more.

All funds go directly to supporting visits for incarcerated animal and ecological defenders who have committed to not cooperating with the state.

Project Fang Twitter: https://twitter.com/project_fang

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Our second segment is a talk by Tyler on the techno politics of Crypto-Anarchy. This talk was recorded at the 2019 North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Music for this episode:

Written in Red –  Words by Voltarine DeCleyre — Unwoman

Pepe on Preparing for Freedom

Preparing for Freedom

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Today you’ll hear Bursts interview Pepe, an anarchist from so called Connecticut. As of September 4th 2019, Pepe has been sentenced to 5 years in prison on federal charges. In this interview he speaks on a range of topics related to the prison industrial complex, from detailing how prosecutors operate within the “criminal justice” system, to his personal experience in preparing with his family for his incarceration. Folks can support Pepe and his family by visiting his record label at diybandits.bandcamp.com.

He will be releasing his own podcast soon at preparingforfreedom.org. We will announce when these episodes drop so stay tuned!

To get in touch with The Final Straw, for feedback or suggestions, you can follow us on all social media, we are @thefinalstrawradio on Instagram, @StrawFinal on Twitter, and The Final Straw Radio on Facebook. You can also email us at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net or @protonmail.com, and send us letters at

PO Box 6004

Asheville NC

28816

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Music for this episode by:

J Dilla – Y’all Ain’t Ready (instrumental)

Ramsey Lewis Trio – The ‘In’ Crowd

We Need To Keep That Spirit Alive: anarchist prisoner Eric King and partner speak

We Need To Keep That Spirit Alive: anarchist prisoner Eric King and partner speak

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***Update: Eric King started a 5 day trial on August 26th, 2019, in Denver, CO on the charges of assaulting Lieutenant Wilcox at FCI Florence. Here’s background on that here in Eric’s own words. Court and legal fund support is being requested and updates are up on his support site, as of now the latest update is here.***

This week on The Final Straw, we feature two main guests, anarchist prisoner Eric King and a member of his defense committee who is also Eric’s partner. This podcast is being released on the 3rd day of the International Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners from August 23-30th. The dates relate to the execution date of Italian-American anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, August 23, 1927. More info on the week, including materials and ways to share your solidarity are up at Solidarity.International and you can donate to the International Anarchist Defense Fund at afund.antirep.net.

While the majority of the show will be filled by anarchist political prisoner, Eric King, we’ll be wrapping it in words from his partner, who also sits on his support committee. Eric was incarcerated in 2014 for an attempted night-time arson on the Kansas City office of Missouri U.S. Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver. Eric claimed this was in solidarity the community of Ferguson that was in revolt in response to the killing and desecration of young Mike Brown at the hands of the police, known as the Ferguson Uprising. Eric has been generally without phone access for 3 years.

Eric, who just had his 33rd birthday, recently suffered a stroke. He’s been at 9 facilities in the last year. He has visible anti-fascist tattoo’s and because of this and his anarchism and outspoken perspectives, he has been pitted against antagonistic correctional officers and nazi gang members and force to fight for survival. Eric frequently loses his commissary funds when he is moved. He hasn’t read a book in 6 months because he hasn’t been allowed any.

For the hour of our broadcast, Eric talks about his health, his political stance, dealing with nazi’s on the inside, his views on the anti-fascist struggle on the outside, the loss of Tom Manning and supporting political prisoners, counter-recruiting nazi’s and other topics. You can find his writings, art, and updates on his situation at SupportEricKing.org. The message that we are building off of can be found archived in video form here.

The other main voice you’ll hear is that of Eric’s partner, who’s a member of his support committee. What you’ll hear in the radio broadcast is only a tiny, iceberg tip, of this person’s words, what we could fit in an hour. If you’d like to hear more of what they have to say check out the podcast. We speak about changes in the Federal Bureau of Prisons system, specific things that BOP prisoners and their families and supporters have to deal with, the culture of shortcomings in how people engage family and loved ones of prisoners, increasing use of communication management units (also known as CMU’s) and in particular Administrative US Penitentiary Thomson, in Thomson, IL, which is used as a holding facility where prisoners awaiting CMU status decisions basically sit meanwhile in CMU status while they wait. This marks a continued growing in the logic of incarceration in our civilization towards more isolation, new sweetheart prison building contracts, more contol, more beds to fill, more punishment of what might be mental health distress and trauma responses among prisoners. The guest speaks about the potential impact on ICE detainees who are speculated to be put in this facility.

As Eric gets transferred from county facility to county facility of Federal overflow, his commissary doesn’t move with him. So, his support committee is handling purchases of communication access, medical funds, moneys for buying vegan foods and supplements and other needs on his behalf. A new fundraiser has gone up and can be found at: . Please consider donating.

Eric just got moved before this broadcast. As he moves around and things change, info on his case can be found at SupportEricKing.org. You can write him, for the time being, at:

The books that Eric mentions being excited to read are:

Announcements

Black Jewel Miners Blockade Solidarity

Blackjewel is the 6th largest coal operator in the United States, and on July 1st of this year, it declared bankruptcy. On July 29th, five miners set out to blockade a Blackjewel train carrying one million dollars of coal in protest of being denied their last three weeks of wages and retirement funds. The blockade has since bloomed into an active camp site made up of miners, their families, and supporters. The camp is committed to blocking the train until Blackjewel pays the miners.

To stay up to date with the camp, follow blackjewelminersblockade on Instagram, or @minerblockade on Twitter.. Listen next week to hear from folks on the ground in Harlan County.

Stay tuned for the latest member of TFSR, Cypress, bringing audio from the support efforts there.

Delbert Africa

The latest we’ve heard about one of the two remaining MOVE prisoners, Delbert Africa, who’s up for parole in September is that his health is on the mend. MOVE organization supporters are requesting solidarity in pushing the PA parole board and the governor to release this aging prisoner, the oldest of the MOVE 9 prisoners, to help him integrate and heal in the outside world. 41 years is far too much. More info at onamove.org or on the various social media sites.

Russell “Maroon” Shoatz

Former Black Panther and political prisoner Russell Shoatz, who goes by the name Maroon, has stage four colorectal cancer and his family and supporters are requesting funds be raised to help pay for his care. Maroons’ earthday was August 23rd, 2019. You can find out are at russellmaroonshoatz, with a ‘z’ dot wordpress dot com and searching for update 08 22 2019, of in our show notes. And you can donate to his care at by clicking the donate/ tab on his support site.

BADNews

Here’s a link to the latest episode of BADNews, the monthly, English-language podcast from the A-Radio Network of which we’re also a member.

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playlist pending

Move 9 Speak, Yellow Finch Tree Sitters, and Pansy Fest//ACAB 2019

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This week we feature three segments. As it is literally packed with jam, we suggest you check out our podcast for free online at our website or any number of streaming sites for longer, more detailed conversations on the topics plus, again, Sean Swain’s segment for this week.

Move call for support for Delbert Orr Africa

First we have a couple of shorter segments. Respectively, you hear the voices of Janine Phillips Africa, Janet Holloway Africa and Eddie Goodman Africa of the Move 9, a political and religious group that follows the teachings of John Africa and have faced heavy repression from the state of Pennsylvania over the last 50 years, who are recently released after 40 years in prison on some bull charges. The three are requesting peoples support calling in to the prison administration in Pennsylvania and to two hospitals to get contact with their fellow Move 9 prisoner, Delbert Orr Africa. Delbert has a parole hearing in September and has suddenly been heard to be suffering from swelling and possible prostate cancer. His blood daughter, his lawyer and his family members in the Move organization are concerned that so-called authorities aren’t letting Delbert communicate with them. As they say, two other members of the Move 9, Phil and Merle, died under mysterious circumstances in the dungeons of the PA prison system that has sought to bury Move and it’s supporters like Mumia Abu-Jamal, with an announcement of sickness that quickly turned to the death of their family members. It’s also good to note that Chuck Africa of the Move 9, while support in this moment is not being directed at him, is also still incarcerated after more than 40 years. More info at OnAMove.Org, OnAMove.com, Move9Parole.blogspot.com or the fedbook page, “Justice For The Move 9

There’s a statement from Move in our show notes, near the bottom of the post for this episode with more details. Those notes don’t include the number for Wilkesbury Hospital at 5708298111

Yellow Finch Tree Sit Against MVP

Then, we’ll hear from an anonymous tree-sitter and Dusty who are both in trees blocking the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline cutting through Appalachia and threatening the immediate health of the forests, waterways and communities it passes by as well as the the wider future of life on earth as a project to pull fossil fuels for burning out of the soil for the profit of a few hucksters. More information on the Yellow Finch Tree Sit at AppalachiansAgainstPipelines on fedbook, InstaGram and Twitter or send them some money at bit.ly/SupportMVPResistance.

As a quick update, the efforts by EQT’s attempt at extending an injunction around the Eminent Domain for the Mountain Valley Pipeline to also criminalize tree-sitters, their supporters and lawyers have failed and the federal judge, Elizabeth Dillon, meaning that the construction will have to move from Cove Hollow around to the other side of Poor Mountain, ostensibly increasing the cost of building the pipeline by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Consider visiting them and congratulating the tree-sitters

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Pansy Fest and Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair 2019

Third up, we got to talk with members of the fast approaching Pansy Fest and Asheville Anarchist Bookfair, which is an exciting collaboration happening over the weekend of August 23-25. We got to talk here about this colab and many more things, if you are listening to the radio version and want more content that will be up at our blog thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org.

To get in touch with these projects, for logistics and information, you can go to pansycollective.org and email them at pansyfestavl@gmail.com.

To donate to Pansy Fest, you can Venmo @cecilia-martuscelli

Instagram: @pansyfest

fedbook: facebook.com/pansyfestavl/

For the bookfair, their website is acab2019.noblogs.org, email acab2019@riseup.net

To see those shirts and totes, go here!

Instagram: @acab.2019

Facebook: facebook.com/AshevilleACAB2019

For housing inquiries for both events email housing.avl2019@gmail.com !

Announcements

Sean Swain Address

We want to share that the wrong address for writing to Sean was up at his support site and announced in his segments. You can actually write to him at:

Sean Swain #2015638
Buckingham Correctional
PO Box 430
Dillwyn, VA 23936/

Tom Manning

This week saw the passing of long-time political prisoner, alleged member of the Jonathan Jackson Unit and the United Freedom Front and revolutionary, Tom Manning. Tom’s death came after literally years of medical mistreatment and neglect at the hands of Federal Bureau of Prisons, ending at USP-Hazelton in West Virginia. The system had it in for Tom, that he would die inside, for even though he only had about a year left in the Federal System, he was bound upon release for the NJ state prison system, a system renown for it’s vendetta against prisoners accused of killing cops. We’ll link in our show notes to a recent writeup by Ray Luc Levasseur on It’sGoingDown.org. If you want to hear our interview with Ray Luc which touched on his relationship with Tom and Tom’s treatment by prison officials, we’ll link that in the show notes, too.

Jason Renard Walker on Kite Line

So, you heard the Kite Line jingle today. Due to this episode being a behemoth already, we’d like to direct you to hear the voice of prison organizer and Deputy Minister of Labor for the New Afrikan Black Panther Party (Prison Chapter), Jason Renard Walker on the August 2nd episode of Kite Line. In the future we may feature some of Mr. Walker’s audio essays to get them on the airwaves further. You can also find his articles, for which he’s been punished by the Texas prisoncrats, at the SF Bay View Newspaper.

Delbert Orr Africa

ONA MOVE

The MOVE Organization would like to bring to people’s attention a very dangerous situation that is currently occurring with our Brother Delbert Africa . For the past two weeks Delbert has been suffering from severe swelling from the bottom of his waist all the way down to his toes . For the past two weeks prison officials at SCI Dallas has ignored Delbert’s request for medical until this past week when several calls were made to his counselor . A medical visit was finally scheduled for this past Wednesday 7/31/2019 where it was explained to Delbert that he has a fluid build up which required to be drained Delbert was immediately taken to an outside hospital, where as of today 8/3/2019 we still do not know where Delbert is .

For several days now Delbert has been kept incommunicado from calling his MOVE Family , His Blood Daughter, and even his lawyer . Prison officials and also hospital officials will not give any one information pertaining to where Delbert is at . Something very suspicious is happening here and it appears the same pattern that occurred with Phil Africa in 2015 where a simple stomach virus turned to A weeklong trip to the outside hospital held incommunicado from family and friends to return back to the prison and be placed in hospice care and to only die a day later. In 1998 Merle Africa who had a stomach virus was forced in her cell and told she was dying only to die a couple of hours later .

This system has no issue with murdering MOVE people and that’s what they are trying to do with Delbert now . They have already given ground by letting innocent MOVE people out on parole and they do not want to do this with Delbert . As we said before this system has always saw Delbert as the leader and isolated him and this latest tactic is no different . Delbert is set to go before the board this September after winning his appeal now this happens . As of now we have heard from Delbert’s attorney where he has stated based on the medical report given from Outside medical they are stating that Delbert has Anemia , High Potassium , High Psa’s , Acute malignancy of lower intestines , Kidney Trouble , and Suspicion of prostate cancer . The only thing that Delbert has agreed to with any treatment or exams is the submission of a catheter to be used Delbert has requested a phone call to his MOVE Family which the prison and Also Hospital will not allow . We are highly suspicious that this prison has done something to Delbert to bring on these symptoms on so quick . They could not kill Delbert August 8th after the brutal beating they gave him and now they want to finish the job before he can come home on parole .
These officials are so arrogant this is the same way they murdered Phil Africa and Merle Africa .

As we have stated before they have isolated our Brother So they can kill him. They won’t let know one speak to him and this is very Dangerous we need people now to call

SCI Dallas Superintendent Kevin Ransom 570 675- 1101

Geisenger Hospital 570 808-7300

We want people to demand that Delbert Orr Africa Am4895 be allowed to call his MOVE Family and let them know what’s going . Even Though it’s the weekend we are still asking people to call and Monday we are going full blast .

The MOVE Organization

People can reach
Sue Africa 215 387-4107
Carlos Africa 215 385-2772
Janine Africa 610 704 4524

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This episode, we feature WIMP from Boston, MA, with the track AlwaysForwardNeverStraight. WIMP will be performing at PansyFest 2019 in Asheville.

Playlist

Fire Ant Journal: Anarchist Prisoner Voices

Fire Ant Journal

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In this June 11th special, we’re releasing an interview with some anarchist prisoners in the so-called U.S. and some of the folks who support them. June 11th, for people who don’t know, is a day of solidarity with Marius Mason and other long term anarchist prisoners. You can find bits of the history of the importance of the date up at crimethinc.com and interviews with and about anarchist prisoners up at our website and at june11.org . The framing of this special is to focus on a publishing project currently being undertaken inside and outside of the prisons that many long-term anarchist prisoners in the so-called U.S. participate in called Fire Ant.

First up, Sean Swain shares his views on Fire Ant and prisoner support. [2min 20sec , followed by Surrounded by Matador from the album The Taking, Black Powder Records]

Then we hear Michael Kimble sharing his views on the publication and recent experiences in the Alabama prison in which he’s held, which was a part of the interview we aired with Michael a few weeks back. [10min 56sec, followed by The War On The Imagination by Sole from Let Them Eat Sand]

After Michael speaks, a supporter and partner of Eric King talks about their impressions of the impact of June 11 and Fire Ant on their partner’s life. We’ll be sharing more from Eric’s partner in coming weeks about his situation, changes coming in the BOP and about the types of support federal prisoners and their supporters need. [42min 52sec]

After the Eric section, we are happy to share a musical track by the project, Realicide, called “Decide Today = Free Marius Mason” about the long-standing Earth Liberation, anarchist, Animal Liberation prisoner. There’s a link to youtube for the audio in our show notes.

Finally Robcatt, one of the folks on the outside shares some of the history of Fire Ant zine, some of his past support experience and a provocation on how we as anarchists need to shift how we do support work. [52min 17sec]

You can find issues of Fire Ant, which are written and adorned by anarchist prisoners, at the website for Bloomington ABC and for a list of June 11 events around Turtle Island, check out https://itsgoingdown.org.

Other music in this episode:

Black Star Dub Collective, Dissident Dub

Who Is Leonard Peltier?: Paulette D’auteuil of the ILPDC

A Story of Leonard Peltier

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This week, Paulette D’auteuil speaks about the life and case of Leonard Peltier. Peltier is one of the best known political prisoners currently held in the U.S. Paulette is the Director of the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, based near Coleman, FL, where Leonard is incarcerated and also is an advisor to the National Jericho Movement.

For the hour, Paulette tells about Leonard’s life, his case, his health, the resistance that Leonard was and continues to be a part of, COINTELPRO, and Leonard’s art. You can learn more about Leonard Peltier by visiting the ILPDC’s website, http://whoisleonardpeltier.info, where you’ll find lots more info, Leonard’s artwork, ways to plug in and do events to raise awareness of Leonard’s case and keep up on updates. You can also find the ILPDC on twitter and fedbook.

Interview begins at 9 min, 14 sec

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playlist

Support the NoDAPL Prisoners!: A chat with Jess and Olive

Support NoDAPL Prisoners

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This week, we’re excited to share the voices of Jess and Olive, who both did legal support, and do prisoner solidarity with the folks facing Federal prison time from the struggle at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline. This episode was heavily edited for radio, so I suggest you find our audio at our website or in itunes or soundcloud or youtube or ideally our podcast stream and listen to the podcast version, cuz it is crammed full of great information and perspectives we don’t have time to include in the radio version of the show this week.

Jess did legal work supporting the struggle in Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and into 2018 and continues to support political prisoners in the case. Olive lived in camp, engaging in nonviolent direct action and working security during the winter (late november-february), survivor of water crises in West Virginia and as a Sundancer. Olive stayed through the raid on Oceti near the end of February 2017 and became a paralegal afterward and doing legal support for their loved one, Rattler.

At the end of these notes I’ve included a few post-scripts from Olive about the folks who caught sentences, Akicita and prophecies of the “Black Snake”.

We speak about L’eau Est La Vie camp in so-called Louisiana is continuing the struggle against the southern endpoint of the Dakota Access Pipeline from Enbridge.  Visit the site to learn more and how you can get involved, they need help!

Support sites for the Federal Prisoners from Standing Rock

www.freerattlernodapl.com

www.standwithredfawn.org

www.freelittlefeather.com

www.facebook.com/Justiceforangrybird

www.facebook.com/justice4dion

www.facebook.com/freelittlefeather

www.facebook.com/freeredfawn

www.facebook.com/freerattler

www.waterprotectorlegal.org

Announcements

NYE Demo in AVL & beyond!

The day after this airs is New Years Eve and cities around the U.S. and abroad will be continuing the, I believe Greek anarchist, tradition of noise demonstrations outside of jails and prisons. Check out itsgoingdown.org for a list of places holding these where you can join in and be heard behind bars. In Asheville, folks’ll be meeting up on College St in front of the court house and jail at 7pm and will bring noise makers, warm clothes, banners and signs.

Upcoming BRABC events in Asheville

Also this week, Blue Ridge ABC will be showing the latest Frontline/PBS documentary called “Documenting Hate: America’s New Nazi’s” about the Atomwaffen Division at 6:30pm on Friday, January 4th at Firestorm Books. Also, on Sunday January 6th at Firestorm, BRABC will host it’s monthly letter writing event from 5pm to 7pm at Firestorm. No experience necessary.

Autonomy, Resilience, Freedom: #J20 Call to Action

Finally, The Final Straw Radio alongside It’sGoingDown, crimethInc and Mutual Aid Disaster Relief are calling for a week of action around the weekend of January 20, 2019. With the charges from January 20, 2017 dropped, we can focus on other forms of long-term solidarity and mutual aid, creating a fertile soil for future resistance and creativity. You can find the challenge and ways to plug in at cwc.im/survival

Episode Notes from Olive

As an aside, I want to share a little more information from Olive about Akicita:

“…Traditionally, Akicita would go to battle as a last resort and were always the last to leave, but they acted as protectors and to hold people accountable and dispense consequences when necessry, one example being on Buffalo hunts; people were not allowed to take more than they needed or to hunt by themselves because it hurt not only other tribal members but the Buffalo population. Akicita made sure the hunts happened with integrity. They also kept Nacas, elders, and the people informed. They were mediators of conflict. They were recognized for acts of bravery and selflessness. “

Also, Olive had these notes to share about the Federal Defendants who’ve been sentenced:

“Little Feather’s mother is part of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians in California, so I forgot to mention he is also Morongo in addition to also Lakota and Chumash.

Rattler is a descendant of the war chief Red Cloud, who also signed the Ft. Laramie Treaty of 1868, one of the treaties we were defending with our occupation through camp.

Rattler’s Lakota name is Mato Tanka (Big Bear). Angry Bird’s Lakota name is Sunka Wakan Sica (Bad Horse).

Not everyone with federal charges are Akicita or Ikce Wicasa. Rattler, Little Feather, and Angry Bird are Akicita and Ikce Wicasa camp security. RedFawn and Dion had other responsibilities and ties to the camps. “

Olive also had this to add about their own participation at Standing Rock:

“If it’s relevant, I didn’t mention another responsiblity I had while being in camp. I formed with two other femme people Two Spirit and Women’s security branches so gender queer folks like myself and women/femme people could deal with our own safety/decolonizing issues within camp. This is how I began to work with Akicita security directly.

The role of Akicita, the several councils that made up camp for collective decision making, and the ceremonies we participated in were all ways we were actively decolonizing our daily lives and DEFYING state intervention in disputes among our community (concepts of transformative justice try to exert the same concept of “don’t call cops, be accountable” but don’t necessarily have the structures to do it like traditional indigenous societies have) “

Another addition to the audio that I’d like to include is a short write-up that you can find in our show notes about the concept and Lakota and Standing Rock prophecies of the “Black Snake” which has been applied to the Dakota Access Pipeline

“I didn’t feel we had the time, but I wanted to at least tell you about some Lakota prophecies related to the “black snake” and historical context of where camp was located. All of this information I have is from Standing Rock elders and Lakota that know their lands well, including Tim Mentz, a Lakota archaeologist from Standing Rock, as well as my own experience from living in camp.

Grandfathers, some in the early 1800s, had visions of a “black ribbon on top of the Earth to separate all people…the people wouldn’t gather anymore…when the black ribbon goes underneath the Earth there will be no more Lakota.” This “ribbon” is seen as pavement and fossil fuels. Prairie Nights Casino was built on top of a known site where ceremonial fasts were held. Cannonball River has buttes, all with names known to the Lakota one being Tipi Butte near the Backwater Bridge. Near Backwater Bridge (where cops kept up barricades after North Camp raid), there are remnants of old Sundance ceremony arbors. October 22nd arrests happened partly because we were protesting the 27 burials that were uprooted for DAPL’s access roads that were across from HW 1806. Cannonball Ranch, which was eventually bought by DAPL, had Bear effigies, burials in the four cardinal directions, with at least 82 other sacred sites and ancestral sites of the Lakota. Southwest of where Oceti camp is Horshoe Bend, along the Standing Rock border is Treaty ground where men gathered to discuss the 1851 Treaty (North Camp was actually 1851 Treaty Camp). Spotted Tail (Sicangu band) and Big Head adopted one another around the year 1851 in the same location of Oceti camp. “

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Playlist

Sahar Francis of Addameer on Palestinian Prisoners

Sahar Francis of Addameer

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This week, I spoke with Sahar Francis, the Director of Addameer. Addameer is a non-governmental organization, or NGO, based in Ramallah in the West Bank in occupied Palestine that focuses on human rights advocacy, political prisoner support & public education efforts like Know Your Rights trainings. Addameer is one of the projects that is receiving a portion of the profits of the 2019 Certain Days: Political Prisoners Calendar that we’ve you’ve heard of in past episodes. For the purposes of broadcast, we had to cut some portions of this chat for the radio. If you’re listening to the radio version, check out our podcast version for a few more minutes of chat. More instructions below.

For the hour, Sahar tells us about aspects of the Palestinian struggle of the last 70 years against the domination of the Israeli state and a little about the refugee situation of the 10 million Palestinians in the region as they await their Right of Return to their homeland. Addameer (which translates to “Conscience” from Arabic) works to highlight the treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories by the military court system of Israel, in particular the situation of youth as young as 12 years old who face harassment and torture, administrative detention of months and years on end with seemingly no end, and the impunity of the military system’s use against Palestinians, and the unequal treatment of Palestinians and Israeli Jewish Settlers in the Occupied Territories. We also speak of the movement towards widening the death penalty under military law and the difficulty of Palestinian lawyers offering defense in the Israeli military courts who aren’t usually fluent in Hebrew or proficient in Israeli law, as they study Palestinian law in college. Addameer, as a human rights organization, frames it’s work in terms of International Human Rights law as enshrined in the United Nations (UNRWA, The Geneva Convention in hopes of eventual international intervention against the ongoing genocide at the hands of the Israeli government. We even cover the incarceration of Palestinians (in Israel or the Occupied Territories) for publishing critique of the Israeli occupation on social media (1,000’s, including Tareen Tatour in 2015). In a segment comparing Settler-Colonialism in the U.S. & Israel/Palestine, Sahar speaks about two Bedouin villages under threat of demolition by Israel, Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank as well as Umm al-Hiran in order to clear way for Israeli colonial design.

If you visit our website, thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org you can find all of our episodes going back to 2010. To never miss an episode, click the “podcasting” link, where you can find instructions on how to subscribe to our podcast using iTunes or whatever music app or program you like, including our soon-to-be resurrected Error451 podcast, an occasional tech security podcast from an anarchist perspective. In the near future we hope to bring you perspectives on encryption from the pEp (or Pretty Easy Protection) Foundation, LEAP (or Leap Encryption Access Project) and more.

Stay tuned next week for an overview of the 2018 Nationwide Prison Strike with an incarcerated organizer named Dee from Jailhouse Lawyers Speak.

Announcements

Phone Zap for Comrade Malik Washington

This didn’t make it into the recording for today, but this Tuesday, November 13th, BRABC with the backing of IWOC is inciting a phone zap in support of Keith “Comrade Malik” Washington to get Malik out of segregation. Malik has been continuously punished and persecuted, including instances of medical endangerment and solitary confinement with out reason given or recourse. He’s also had his property, including legal documents, taken and his communication is greatly stifled at the moment (including legal). Read more by visiting the above links.

Digital Security Self-Defense at Firestorm

If you’re in the Asheville area coming up, on Saturday, November 17th from 4-6pm at Firestorm Books and coffee, Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross will be giving a free, interactive presentation on online hygene and security self-defense threat modeling the far-right. But, whether you’re concerned about what info’s online that might fall into the hands of the fash, a stalker or just want to tie up loose ends, a lot of the tools and tips are the same. Bring a laptop, tablet or phone to work on. And a few hours later there’ll be a concert by Nomadic War Machine at the Bottle Shop, an electronic assault by Margaret Killjoy that you’re welcome to swing by.

SF Bay View Newspaper Updates

In an update to our past episode featuring Mary Ratcliff of the SFBayView National Black Newspaper from August, we have good news! Amani Sawari, who we interviewed in July about the Nationwide Prison Strike as an outside spokesperson for Jailhouse Lawyers Speak prisoner organization, will be stepping up to take on the editorial position at that paper and giving Mary and Dr. Willie Ratcliff a long-deserved break. There’s an online fundraiser to help get Amani situated in the Bay Area where you can support the transition and hopefully long next phase for the paper. You can find out more at https://www.patreon.com/sfbayview

Anti-Anti-Semitism Action

In light of the murder of eleven people at the Tree of Life synagogue, Anti-Anti-Semitism Action is asking for your support to take action against anti-Semitic organizers and to defend Jews. We are raising funds which we need to spotlight specific anti-Semitic organizers—especially those who use platforms that cater to the Alt Right such as Gab—to spread their toxic conspiracy theories. Funds will be used to expose and run public campaigns against activists who spread anti-Semitism, as well as those promoters who bring anti-Semitic speakers to their towns.

Remaining monies will be used to provide security and protection for Jewish activists who are targeted by anti-Semites. This includes hiring security for public appearances, and arranging security measures at activists’ residences.

The ADL raises millions of dollars a year to “fight anti-Semitism” but they refuse to do the nuts and bolts work of taking action against anti-Semitic organizers or protecting Jews who are targeted. 100% of your donations will go directly to this.

Donate to this fundraiser here

Support Craggy Prisoner, Dayvon Person

Dayvon Person is a prisoner being accused of inciting a riot on September 24 at the Craggy Correctional Institution, just outside of Asheville, NC, where he was just about to reach minimum security levels. It’s requested that people call officials to press them to hear is appeal of innocecence. He is asking that folks on the outside call with persistence, and ask these persons to hear his appeal for this false accusation.

You can call:

Kenneth E. Lassiter (Director of Prison Facilities):

919 838 4000

919 838 3755

David Rogers (State Representative):

919 733 5749

Ralph Hise (NC Senator representing District 47):

919 733 3460

Express your concern through calling or writing the North Carolina Department of Public Safety:

512 North Salisbury Street
Raleigh, NC 27604

919-733-2126

. … . ..

Playlist

Former Political Prisoner Zolo Azania

Zolo Agona Azania

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This week on The Final Straw radio we are sharing a chat that Bursts had with New Afrikan, former Black Panther and political prisoner, Zolo Agona Azania. Zolo is  from Gary, Indiana where he lives now, working a job and also doing re-entry work with the formerly incarcerated and community service to break cycles of trauma. After 7 and a half years in prison from ages 18-25 where Zolo engaged in political education with members of the Black Panther Party from Indianapolis, he was released. In 1981 he was re-arrested, picked up by the Gary police while walking around the city after a bank robbery took place, resulting in the death of a Gary police lieutenant. Because of his political views and circumstantially being on the street at that time, Zolo was convicted by an all white jury and sentenced to death.

Zolo beat that death penalty from within prison twice and blocked a third attempt by the state to impose it. For the hour, Zolo talks about his life, his parents, his art, his education, his time behind bars, his political development, the Republic of New Africa, and his legal struggle.

To get in touch with Zolo you can email him at azaniazolo5( at)gmail(dot )com or you can write

Jumpstart Paralegal and Publishing
PO Box 64854
Gary, Indiana 46401

To see more of Zolo’s art you can visit this support page!

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