We’re happy to share our recent chat with Matilda Bickers, co-editor and contributor to the recent PM Press collection Working It: Sex Workers on the Work of Sex. For the hour we talk about labor organizing in the erotic industries, Matilda’s past experiences in publishing, hangups around sex work in radical communities and related topics. [ 00:01:00 – 00:43:02]
Then, Črna luknja shares an interview with a comrade who’s been living and active in solidarity with the Zapatista communities in Chiapas, so-called Mexico, about increasing violence and fears of civil war. This segment appeared in the June 2023, the 69th episode of BAD News from the A-Radio Network. [ 00:43:02 – 01:01:56[
You can hear some live audio this week starting on July 19th and until July 23rd from the St-Imier anarchist and anti-authoritarian gathering in Switzerland, including audio from the A-Radio Network. More info on that at https://anarchy2023.org/en/radio
This week, we’re sharing a conversation with Rose and Crystal, two comrades involved in the struggle against the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a 304 mile, 41 inch in diameter liquified so-called natural gas pipeline with a possible 75 mile extension crossing many delicate waterways, slopes and communities across Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina.
This project has been off and on under construction since 2018 and was recently forced through at a Federal level as part of the debt ceiling deal by the Biden administration and Democrats. For the hour we talk about the project, the land and water it threatens, the history of resistance and how to get involved in stopping this mess.
Just a headsup, there are some audio quality issues throughout the conversation with both guests, so if you have trouble hearing consider checking out the upcoming transcript or meanwhile watching on youtube with the subtitles on.
You can find more from the folks resisting the MVP by searching Appalachians Against Pipelines on various social media platforms or check the links in our show notes, where you can also find links to our various interviews with folks from this initiative from the last 5 years.
The channel called Political Prisoners on youtube, linked in our show notes, has begun a series of short documentaries about Sean, the first of which you can find entitled “Part One: A Visitation Dispute”. Check it out!
Disability Pride Art Show
The Disability Pride Art Show aims to celebrate the rights of disabled individuals through the power of art. This one-day event will take place on July 30 at the vibrant venue, Different Wrld, located in 801 Haywood Rd. The show embraces the core values of acceptance and inclusivity, emphasizing the inherent worth and talents of disabled individuals. Presented by DIYabled, a local nonprofit organization, and with This Body is Worthy.
Featuring a diverse lineup of 25 talented artists, writers, video artists, and dancers, the Disability Pride Art Show promises to captivate audiences with a rich variety of artistic expressions. Attendees will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the thought-provoking documentary “Disability on the Spectrum,” created by local artist Priya Ray. The film sheds light on the experiences and perspectives of disabled individuals, fostering greater understanding and empathy within our community.
Rashid’s Continued Denial of Cancer Treatment
Check our show notes for Rashid’s message, but as noted last week, incarcerated revolutionary of the Intercommunal Black Panther Party, Kevin Rashid Johnson, is continuing to be denied his rounds of cancert treatment for prostate cancer and has been shoved in a solitary confinement cell without working lights. In the show notes and at our website you’ll also find contacts for prison officials in Virginia who need pressure applied to get Rashid the medical treatment he needs, outside of the dungeon they’ve stuck him in.
Comrades:
This is Rashid. I need all possible SUSTAINED and immediate support.
Here is a statement of my situation.
OFFICIALS DEVISE TO STOP MY CANCER TREATMENT AND BLOCK MY COURT ACCESS
(2023)
By Kevin “Rashid” Johnson
I have been going out daily since early April 2023 for radiation
treatment at the Medical College of Virginia – a total of 40 treatments – which is ongoing. On 6-29-23 upon returning to the prison from the hospital I was thrown in solitary confinement without explanation, where I remain, without any property including all my legal property.
I was put in cells without working lights, where I remain.
After constant complaints all I’m being told is I am under
investigation, but not by prison investigators. I spoke with a prison
investigator, a Lieutenant Spencer, on July 1 when she delivered me
legal mail, asking about my status and access to my legal property. She informed me, while her body camera was recording, that I am under investigation by other state prison investigators and the prison was not withholding my legal property. She said any supervisor could get my property for me which was in the property department.
Despite this everyone refuses to deliver my belongings and I have been kept in an empty cell ever since. This despite that the VDOC is under court orders to not interfere with my access to and use of my legal property and I have numerous court deadlines and a pending federal civil trial in one of my lawsuits.
On 6-30-23 officials refused to allow me to attend my cancer treatment.
My numerous written emergency complaints about this went unanswered and unprocessed.
On 7-3-23 after days in an empty cell without my things I declined to go for my treatment that one day to try and call the courts to explain and seek intervention. Officials including the warden and assistant warden refused me a legal call and are now refusing all my future cancer treatments.
The entire claim to have me under investigation is facially invalid and illegal. As any legal authority recognizes, law enforcement officials must perform investigations consistent with the search and seizure provisions of the 4th Amendment. And any “unlawful search or seizures” renders any evidence gathered therefrom illegal. Both the seizures and searches of me and my property have been unlawful from the outset. My belongings, my legal property in particular was taken and searched outside my presence, which is illegal. Prison officials may only open our legal mail and search our legal property in our presence. That is constitutional law. Here in Virginia we may only be removed from General population and put in solitary if written notice is given within 24 hours. I received no such notice.
People to contact:
CLARKE, HAROLD W(804) 887-8080 HAROLD.CLARKE@VADOC.VIRGINIA.GOV
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION (DOC/CA, 701)
ROBINSON, DAVID N (276) 524-3685 DAVID.N.ROBINSON@VADOC.VIRGINIA.GOV
WALLENS RIDGE STATE PRISON (WRSP, 735)
Here we are presenting Ian’s interview with members of Strangers In a Tangled Wilderness, a collectively run publisher of radical podcasts, fiction, zines, games, and much more. We discuss the kickstarter fundraiser the group just launched to fund their tabletop RPG, Penumbra City, their history with games and with each other, world building, the value of goal-free play, and how it might be applied to projects and organizing. You can watch a playthrough of the game on youtube.
This week, you’ll hear an interview with Matthew Scott, a journalist with ACPC in Atlanta to talk about recent developments with the struggle against Cop City, the building of a giant police training facility with a simulated cityscape for urban counter insurgency training for law enforcement from around the USA & around the world in a forest in Atlanta, Georgia. You can read Matthews work at ATLPressCollective.Com.
We review the development of the project and the organizing against it, touch on the current situation for the 41 people facing domestic terrorism charges from the state of Georgia, talk about the SWAT raid and financial crime charges against the Atlanta Solidarity bail fund, the vote by city council to move forward with tens of millions of dollars of funding despite 15 hours of public comment against and take a look at where the project is now that clearcutting has happened.
Here’s our interview with Shannon Clay, co-author of We Go Where They Go: The Story of Anti-Racist Action. For this episode, Shannon and I walk through the book, covering some of the history of the network, how it evolved, challenges it faced, and invitations to discuss current day anti-fascist and anti-racist organizing on Turtle Island.
This audio was released earlier to Patreon supporters of $3 or more a month. It’s one of the thank you gifts, alongside tshirts, zines, stickers and updates on the project. If you’d like to support our ongoing transcriptions help to make these conversations more accessible to a wider audience, give yourself that warm and fuzzy feeling by visiting tfsr.wtf/support for a link to ways to support our project with your pocket book.
. … . ..
Featured Track:
Rude Boys Gone To Jail by Desmond Baker from Rude Boy Gone To Jail / Don’t Fool Me
This week we chatted with Jasmine, an anthropologist and activist involved in the migrant solidarity and freedom of movement cultural organization called Maldusa which is based in some of the southern most reaches of Italy in Palermo, Sicily, and the island of Lampedusa and in the Mediterranean Sea. We speak for the hour about migration across the sea, what drives and draws people to make the treacherous journey, state, para state and civil institutions on both sides of the sea engaging the issue of crossings and other topics.
In this discussion, we talk with two trans organizers in Missouri about the recently withdrawn emergency rule made by the state Attorney General Andrew Bailey. At the time, the emergency rule, which was one of the most far reaching bans on trans access to affirming medical care, had been stayed by the courts and was awaiting further hearing.
The Attorney General withdrew the ruling, claiming that it was no longer needed because the Missouri legislature had passed two bills that removed access to trans care for youth. The situation on the ground in Missouri is still dire, but the particular extremity of the rule has at least temporarily been dodged. (Just after, Gov. DeSantis in Florida introduced a flurry of new anti-trans legislation as if to outstrip Missouri in hateful targeting). During this conversation, we discuss the specific details that made this rule significantly threatening, as well as the various reactions and organizing efforts that it provoked. Though the situation has changed in Missouri, the discussion still holds important insight for those of us committed to the struggle against the state’s gender fascism, since this is a coordinated effort by the Republican party across state lines to wield violent power against specific populations deemed disposable. I will also read a statement by the organizers written in the wake of the withdrawal of the rule.
You can find the guests at Mid Missouri Trans Folks on instagram and venmo.
Scott talked with members of Femboys Against Fascism, a group based in Liverpool countering anti-migrant protests. The local far right, along with Patriotic Alternative and other ghouls, have been trying to displace refugees being housed in hotels in and around Liverpool in the UK, using the usual fearmongering tactics about crime and danger. The Femboys have been at the forefront of making it known that migrants are welcome in Liverpool, an historically left wing city. In our discussion, we talk about different confrontations, the response of locals and the police, and the role trans people have played in facing off with the fash. Twitter: @FemAntifa
We shared this weeks ago on our patreon as an early release and in the near future we’ll be sharing this on the radio. If you want to get earlier access to chats like that or our chat with Shannon Clay, co-author of the recent history of Anti-Racist Action called We Go Where They Go, alongside many other thank-yous, check out patreon.com/TFSR and consider pledging $3 or more a month. The money goes to support our webhosting, printing and postal costs and, most of all, our monthly transcription work that helps get these interviews translated, printed as zines and sent in to prisoners.
First up, after some announcements concerning a local case of police brutality and jail issues in Buncombe County, NC, we’ll hear a statement from Mark “Mustafa” Hinkston, a politicized prisoner we first heard from some years back, who is being held in Ohio about the cruelty of his keeping. His letter can be found below.
[ 00:07:07 – 00:23:57]
Then, we’ll hear a reading out of Against Oblivion, Against Despair: A Call for June 11th , an invitation to the 2023 celebration of the June 11th International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason and All Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners. More on that, including translations of the statement, statements by prisoners, artwork, action reports, can be found at June11.org.
[ 00:24:47 – 01:00:24 ]
Finally, we’ll hear a chat with Chazz, an anarchist participating in continued support of prisoners from the George Floyd Uprising. You can find more on some of these prisoners at UprisingSupport.Org, and info for other political prisoners at PrisonerSolidarity.Com.
If you’ve been seeing our social media presence, you’ll note that we’ve been releasing interviews into our patreon stream early. You’ll start seeing some of those soon appearing in our podcast stream in the near future, including Scott’s interview with trans antifascists from Liverpool about migrant solidarity and a sort of scene report in that town. If you want to get earlier access to chats like that or our chat with Shannon Clay, co-author of the recent history of Anti-Racist Action called We Go Where They Go, alongside many other thank-yous, check out patreon.com/TFSR and consider pledging $3 or more a month. The money goes to support our webhosting, printing and postal costs and, most of all, our monthly transcription work that helps get these interviews translated, printed as zines and sent in to prisoners.
Bail Limbo
On Wednesday, May 17th Asheville Community Bail Fund posted a secured bond for someone currently incarcerated in Buncombe County Detention Facility.
They have still not been released.
After spending hours and days trying to get answers, we’ve learned that this bureaucratic nightmare revolves around an order for an electronic ankle monitor.
The court has been instructed to pause these orders, but did so anyway, putting them in legal limbo.
Their bail is paid, but they are trapped because the county is requiring something the county no longer provides…
Call the DA’s office (828) 259-3410 from 9-5pm to demand they stop ordering electronic monitoring and drop existing orders, otherwise it’s just a dishonest way of denying people access to pretrial release.
Devon Whitmore Fundraising
Devon Whitmore, an African American man in Asheville, was arrested by Asheville police under violent and questionable circumstances, with police claiming Devon had a gun that never materialized and for a misdemeanor warrant for communicating threats. The police were filmed kneeling on Devon’s neck and was possibly spared serious injury by intervention from neighbors at Livingston Apartments. As a result of this, Devon and his fiance were evicted from their apartment and need help renting an apartment and bailing Devon out of jail. You can find articles and video about the interaction as well as ways to show up in support or to donate at https://linktr.ee/applythepressurecommittee
Mark “Mustafa” Hinkston
Mark Hinkston #707-808
SOCF
PO Box 45699
Lucasville, Ohio 45699
This is none other than Comrade Mustafa… And I’m reporting “live” from the other side of Amerikkka!
Here in the infamous “Lucasville” (which these tyrants refer to as SOCF), and where I’m currently being held against my will, those filthy pigs have created an isolated torture chamber in the K2 cellblock, which is designed specifically to destroy the mind and the soul of Black men!
There’s 40 cells on the K2 cellblock —- 1 through 40 ranges — that are filled with Black faces, with the exception of 3. And the white faces are becoming less and less as these racist (and self-hating) administrators continue to produce new elements of a fake program that will no doubt allow them to stereotype and profile Black prisoners.
I n the K2 cellblock, prisoners are subjected to the harshest of living conditions: most of the cells should be labeled as “out of order” since there are plumbing and electrical issues.
In some cells the toilets don’t have water-pressure enough to flush the urine and feces after these facilities are used.
This leaves prisoners to live with the smell, germs and bacteria in their immediate living quarters, day in and day out, as they perform daily rituals such as eating, praying, sleeping, etc.
In some cells the lights don’t work, so prisoners don’t have adequate lighting to read or write. To add to this, the cellblock isn’t operative!
There’s no laundry services provided – period!
The prisoners are not allowed to property groom themselves, there’s no barber services provided.
And the corrupt prison-officials refuse to give prisoners razors on the appointed days of Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Further, when they do give razors, they commit unthinkable deeds like they’ll place someone else’s used razor into the bag with your cell number on it, which is unsanitary and subjects you to contracting a disease.
The food trays always have less food on them than that which is nutritionally appropriate by the “healthy heart diet” standards. And this is the type of diet being enforced by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. Yet, the prisoners in K2 cellblock are NOT allowed to buy food items from the commissary to compensate for the lack of nutrition provided.
In essence, the captives of K2 are being starved as a torture tactic.
And to further add insult to injury, the oppressed brothers in K2 cellblock are not provided with any mental stimuli. There is no TV, no radio, very few books to read. There’s no library services at all!
We can’t use the phone for months at a time, and the commissary services won’t sell US postage or embossed envelopes either, so we can’t communicate with our family and loved ones or comrades for months at a time!
This creates a state of depression within the K2 cellblock that’s so thick that it can be cut with a knife.
The temperature is freezing in this torture chamber, cold as ice! But the prisoners won’t attempt to get the windows closed because ultra aggressive, corrupt prison-officials continuously use excessive force on prisoners via chemical agents like riot canisters of mace, which cause everyone in the cellblock to choke and get sick.
Add all of this, along with the element of racial-imbalance and it equals Black torture!
The oppressed brothers of the Lucasville torture chamber are appealing to the “people’s army” for aid and assistance now!
To get involved, contact Annette Chambers-Smith, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections Director.
Also, you can contact Governor Mike Dewine at 624 466 3555
This week, we’re sharing a recent chat with Devi Machete, an anarchist involved in the Tijuana mutual aid project known as Contra Viento y Marea Comedor Comunitario which distributes clothing, medical supplies, meals and boxes of stable food throughout the week at the border with the USA. The project, known for short as El Comedor Comunitario is launching a free school and art laboratory on June 17th. For the hour, we talk about the migrant caravan in 2018 that gave rise to El Comedor Comunitario, the self-organized work around the project and resisting the dehumanization of the border through solidarity and community.
Since the US allowed the Trump-Era Title 42 Covid-based restriction on immigrants entering the country to expire and has moved back to Title 8, so in a post-script Devi talks about concerns of a surge at the border and the further difficulties this change creates for migrants and refugees seeking asylum in the north.
You can also check out our prior interview with Elements of Mutual Aid directors Leah & Payton to get some visuals of El Comedor Comunitario, which is a featured project in that docu-series.
Announcement
Phone Zap for Shine White
All power to the people,
As I’ve pointed out in my previous writings, Hepatitis C kills more Amerikans each day than HIV and sixty other infectious diseases combined, making it the deadliest infectious disease in the United States. It is a viral infection, caused by the Hepatitis C virus (“HCV”) that affects the liver and can result in serious, life-threatening complications.
On February 15 of this year blood tests revealed that I had Hepatitis C. In contrast to NCDAC’s Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) for the treatment of Hepatitis C, I was sent back to my cell, instead of having further blood testing done to determine my fibro-scores.
I was provided no further information, other than that I had Hepatitis C and that I would be seen by the facility’s healthcare provider at a later date. The following days were mentally exhausting.
Only after consulting with a prisoner who was receiving treatment for HCV at the time, did I become aware of the procedures that are in place for evaluating and treating prisoners who have the Hep-C virus. Before treatment can be started, additional blood testing is required to determine one’s level of fibrosis.
After becoming aware of the aforementioned, I immediately began to submit sick calls requesting the required blood testing be done to determine my Fib-4 index score. My sick calls went unanswered, only after those of you on the outside made calls to the prison on my behalf was I taken to medical to have the Fib-4 test done. The test results revealed that my Fib-4 score was 5.7, which indicates that I am at risk of cirrhosis, liver disease and/or liver cancer. However, the health care provider has yet to begin my treatment.
These scores were revealed to me on March 3, subsequently I’ve not been assessed by medical personnel since, despite submitting multiple sick-calls due to the complications I am experiencing caused by the hepatitis-c virus.
Since early March I have lost approximately 30 pounds, I have various pock-like scores on my lower legs, rashes cover my elbows and knees, and the sharp pains in my lower back and side make it difficult to sleep at night. When I inquire about my treatment, the response I receive is that it is out of their hands.
I am firmly convinced that they have no intentions of treating me. Combined with the recent continuation of my term on supermax, it’s evident that their intentions are to hold me incommunicado and hope that the hepatitis-c will do what they have been unable to do – silence me!
Having to openly admit that I am at the mercy of my overseers infuriates me. I feel helpless and I am scared. I’m witnessing what is being done to Komrade Rashid, I witnessed the late elder Maroon Shoatz languish with cancer for years, Mumia Abu-Jamal continues to suffer from complications caused by hepatitis-c, the names go on and on. I feel as if my twenty-year prison sentence has become a death sentence.
I entreat that calls be made and emails be sent on my behalf, demanding that I be treated immediately. Only if pressured by those of you on the outside will these miscreants act with professionalism.
I am deeply grateful for the support. I conclude this as I began,
Daring to struggle, daring to win
All power to the people,
Joseph “Shine White” Stewart
Below is the contact information for those who should be contacted:
NCDAC’s Deputy Secretary – Comprehensive Health Services
Gary Junker
919-838-4000
gary.junker@dac.nc.gov
