Category Archives: United States

Ketino of the Black Rose/Rosa Negra Anarchist Federation on Anarchism, Anti-Imperialism and Internationalism

A picture of a red war ship with a US flag on the ocean, "TFSR 01-18-26 | Ketino of the Black Rose Federation on Anarchism, Anti-Imperialism & Internationalism"
Download This Episode

This week on The Final Straw Radio, we’re featuring a conversation with our guest, Ketino, to speak about Especifist anarchism and anarchist approaches at anti-Imperialism. Ketino is a member in Florida of the Black Rose / Rosa Negra Anarchist Federation and they grew up in Cuba. You can learn more about Black Rosa, or BRRN, at BlackRoseFed.Org

Other links:

First up, here are a few prisoner struggle updates

Announcements

Prisoners For Palestine

It was announced on January 14th that members fo the Prisoners For Palestine hunger strike, from the Palestine Action case in the so-called UK, ended their strike after 73 days without food after a key demand was met with Elbit Systems being denied an important government contract. You can read their statements at PrisonersForPalestine.org and check out our November 30, 2025 episode for some background on the cases.

Xinachtli

From Xinachtli’s support crew (Instagram at @FreeXinachtliNow):

On January 1, Xinachtli (state name Alvaro Luna Hernandez) was transferred to the Carol Young Medical Facility. In the moment, this was a major victory getting him moved from McConnell, and Xinachtli shared that he felt the power of the people!
However this victory was short-lived. The transfer was carried out without any notice to his attorney, and made Xinachtli unable to communicate with them before his latest court hearing on January 6, effectively blocking his right to counsel.
Within days of the transfer, we also learned that Xinachtli had been placed in a cell with no running water, and a broken sink and toilet.
In Xinachtli’s words: “They bring me a bowl of water. I first use it to drink, and then I use the rest for hygiene for the remainder of the day. I also have not been able to flush the toilet in days.
Prison conditions in the U.S. are deeply dehumanizing. For Xinachtli, who is attempting to recover after months of medical neglect, these conditions risk further delaying his recovery and compounding the harm he has already endured.
We know that applying pressure works. A director of TDCJ called organizers earlier this month begging for an end to the “hundreds of calls.” Contrary to their request, we will not stop until Xinachtli is FREE.
Xinachtli’s current demands are:

  • That he be moved to a cell with running water and functioning plumbing.
  • That he receive his ID card so he can purchase needed items and receive his commissary order from January 2.
  • That he receive all of his personal property from the McConnell Unit.

Contacts:
• Carol Young Medical Facility TDC): (409) 948-0001
◦ WARDEN: (**129)
• Region III Director Jerry Sanchez: (281) 369-3736
• TDC) Executive Director: (936) 437-2101
You can sign up for slots and find tips for making calls, including scripts, at https://bit.ly/xphoneblast

Repression in Alabama Prisons

In the last few days, according to supporters of the Free Alabama Movement as we approach the February 8th call for a statewide work stoppage Kinetic Justice, Hannibal Ra Sun and Raoul Poole have been transferred to another prison and prisoners across the ADOC have had food rations cut. To learn how to advocate for these three FAM leaders now at Kilby CI and read the press release announcing the upcoming strike actions, check our shownotes :

following their announcement of an upcoming labor strike, Melvin Ray, Robert Earl Council (Kinetik Justice), and Raoul Poole — three prominent voices in the film “The Alabama Solution” — were taken to Kilby Prison.

In anticipation of the strike, the AL Dept. of Corrections has also reduced access to food in its prisons. This is a dangerous violation of [prisoners] constitutional rights.

Call Kilby: (534) 215-6600

Demand they keep these men — and all those in state custody safe.

The Press Release announcing the strike is here:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2025
FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT (FAM)
ANNOUNCES STATEWIDE SHUTDOWN ADOC 2026
Effective February 8, 2026
Alabama — The Free Alabama Movement (FAM) announces a coordinated, statewide shutdown of Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) facilities beginning February 8, 2026. This nonviolent action comes in response to decades of unconstitutional sentencing practices, forced prison labor, and the ongoing humanitarian crisis throughout Alabama’s prison system.
With the release of the documentary The Alabama Solution, state officials can no longer deny or ignore the overwhelming evidence that Alabama’s prison system is in catastrophic failure and requires immediate, sweeping reform. The documentary exposes systemic corruption, violence, and deliberate neglect that incarcerated people have endured for generations. The truth is no longer hidden behind prison walls — it is publicly available, undeniable, and morally urgent.
Despite federal investigations, DOJ findings, and repeated warnings, the State of Alabama has failed to enact meaningful change. Therefore, incarcerated people across the state are exercising their lawful right to peaceful protest through a statewide shutdown and work stoppage.
LIST OF DEMANDS

  1. Repeal Alabama’s Habitual Felony Offender Act (HFOA)
    Abolish the outdated and excessively punitive enhancement statute that has produced life and virtual-life sentences far beyond any rehabilitative purpose and out of step with modern standards of justice.
  2. Make the Presumptive Sentencing Guidelines Retroactive
    Apply current presumptive sentencing standards to all eligible prior convictions so that people sentenced under older, harsher laws can receive the same fair and consistent treatment as those sentenced today.
  3. Make HJR 575 Retroactive (Drive-By Shooting Statute Reform)
    Apply the legislative clarification of Alabama’s drive-by shooting statute retroactively so that individuals who were improperly charged or enhanced under the statute can receive review and relief.
  4. First-Time Offender / Capital Murder Reform Bill
    Create revised sentencing options for first-time offenders and end Juvenile Life Without Parole by providing parole eligibility after 20 years, recognizing the capacity for growth, change, and rehabilitation.
  5. Parole Board Reform and Clear, Objective Criteria
    Mandate transparent written standards, meaningful hearings, and review procedures that ensure fair, non-arbitrary parole decisions for every eligible incarcerated person.
  6. Medical Furlough & Compassionate Release Expansion Expand and enforce mechanisms for the release of elderly, terminally ill, severely disabled, and medically fragile individuals so they can receive appropriate care in the community instead of dying in prison.
  7. Establish a Statewide Conviction Review Unit
    Create an independent conviction review body with the authority and resources to investigate wrongful convictions, excessive sentences, and cases involving prosecutorial or judicial misconduct.
  8. Abolish Forced Prison Labor
    End uncompensated and coerced prison labor by guaranteeing fair wages, voluntary participation, safe working conditions, and basic labor protections for incarcerated workers.
  9. Strengthening Families Act (Including Conjugal Visits)
    Implement policies that protect and strengthen family bonds, including conjugal and overnight family visits, expanded contact visitation, increased access to phone and video communication, and parenting and family-support programs.

STATEMENT FROM FAM
“For decades, incarcerated men and women in Alabama have lived in conditions that violate human rights, constitutional protections, and basic dignity. With the undeniable evidence now in the open, we are left with no alternative but to demand justice through collective, peaceful action. This shutdown is not an act of hostility — it is an act of survival, truth, and human rights.”
Bennu Hannibal Ra-Sun
Kinetic Justice Amun
CALL TO ACTION
We call upon:

  • Civil rights and justice organizations
  • Faith-based institutions
  • National human rights observers
  • State and federal officials

Families, supporters, and the public to stand in solidarity and demand immediate reform of Alabama’s prison system.

PRESS CONTACT

  • Free Alabama Movement (FAM)
  • Email: freealabamamovement@gmail.com
    #StatewideShutdownADOC2026

. … . ..

Featured Track:

Black Arms To Hold You Up (with Ben Passmore)

In this episode, we have two segments.

Ben Passmore

two hands holding the book "Black Arms To Hold You Up" featuring two cartoon figures running in the bottom corner and the words "TFSR 12-28-25 | Black Arms To Hold You Up (with Ben Passmore)"
Download This Episode

First up, Ian talks with Philadelphia-based cartoonist Ben Passmore about his new book, Black Arms to Hold You Up: A History of Black Resistance. They discuss the research and making of the book, Passmores anarchism, the themes of inter-generational struggle, contextualizing history through lived experience, and the pitfalls of mythmaking. In addition, they spend some time discussing Ben’s martial arts practice and the legacy of Assata Shakur in light of her recent passing.

Other titles by Ben:

Mikolo Dziadok

Then we’ll hear a brief interview with Mikola Dziadok, a Belarusian journalist, anarchist activist, blogger, and former political prisoner. Mikola is now about 3 months out of prison and starting a new life in exile. The interview was conducted in mid-November by comrades from Frequenz-A and appears in the December 2025 episode of B(A)D News from the A-Radio Network. Check our show notes for links on how to support Mikola’s next stage of life

Follow Mikola’s Channel in YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Radixbel

Support Mikola financially (it is needed for setting up life in a new country):

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • Keep On Keeping On by The Impressions from Dead Presidents OST

Continue reading Black Arms To Hold You Up (with Ben Passmore)

Signal Contingency Plan (Delta Chat with Fanny and Mary)

Delta Chat logo featuring a lower case Greek delta in a speech bubble
Download The Episode

This week, an interview we did with a couple of smart friends about the question: what would those of us who rely on Signal encrypted messaging do if that service were disabled in the US. First up, all participants in this discussion agree that Signal is amazing and always getting better, so this is not a take down of that app or it’s developers. But the buds do think that the weakest point for Signal is the centralization of infrastructure with US-based companies. My friends did some thinking and research and put it into a website called Signal-Contingency-Plan.Info and made a zine discussing it and what they consider the best alternative for their needs an app called Delta Chat.

  • Transcript
  • PDF (Unimposed) – pending
  • Zine (Imposed PDF) – pending

So, for this discussion, they’ll talk about how encrypted apps work, what works so great about Signal, some ups and downs of other available encrypted chat apps and how folks might rebound if Signal got choked out in this manner. As a reminder, at the end of 2024 large parts of the region I’m in lost cellular and internet service and it came back in starts and staggers over a number of months, similar for running and potable water, roads and other infrastructure we rely on. Our hope in sharing this conversation is that people will consider threat modeling to develop social plans for contingency and alternatives for the infrastructures they rely on.

Delta Chat & having a backup for Signal:

Some reporting mentioned:

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • Creep (Instrumental) by TLC
  • Sad React by Emperor X from Sad React _ United Earth League of Quarantine Aerobatics

Continue reading Signal Contingency Plan (Delta Chat with Fanny and Mary)

Voices in Brazil for Radical Ecological Struggle (feat. Peter Gelderloos and Gah Te Iracema)

This week, we’re featuring three segments.

Peter Gelderloos of Weaving Paths to Ecological Revolution

A picture of a march of various communities of people behind a Teia Dos Povos (Web Of The Peoples) banner, plus “TFSR 11-23-25 | Voices In Brazil for Radical Ecological Struggle”
Download This Episode

First up, you’ll hear from anarchist and author Peter Gelderloos speaking about his ongoing trip to Brazil as a member of Weaving Paths to Ecological Revolution to listen to and network with indigenous, anarchist, autonomous, ecological and land reclamation projects in that country, coinciding with the COP30 UN climate conference.

Gah Te Iracema of the Kaingang

Then, we hear an interview with Gah Te Iracema of the Kaingang people from southern Brazil, speaking about their land reclamation, reforestation, their post-flood water distribution mutual aid in 2024 and other topics.

Links

Anti-Maersk Action for Palestine, Copenhagen 2025

Finally, Črna luknja from the November 2025 episode of B(A)D News spoke with a Danish activist about the February 2025 Cut Ties With Genocide action camp in Copenhagen which included an action against Maersk, a Danish shipping and logistics company facilitating arms transfers from the US to Israel. You can hear the rest of this interview in the upcoming B(A)D News, Angry Voices from Around The World, episode 96 for November of 2025 from the A-Radio Network.

Links

  • Cut Ties With Genocide Action Camp: https://cuttheties.ukrudt.net/
  • Mask Off Maersk: https://www.maskoffmaersk.com/
  • B(A)D News: https://www.a-radio-network.org/bad-news-angry-voices-from-around-the-world/
  • Crna Luknja: http://radiostudent.si/druzba/crna-luknja

Announcement

Prisoners for Palestine Hunger Strike

Collective members of Prisoners for Palestine (PrisonersForPalestine.Org), a prisoner-led collective in Britain representing all those detained under charges related to Palestinian liberation, have entered their fourth week of their hunger strike as of the day of this podcast, with participation of Qesser, Amu, Heba, Jon, T, and Kamran. This week, the first of the Filton 24 trials began as well. From a press release of the collective’s website:

While suffering physically due to the effects of the hunger-strike, the six prisoners currently taking part in the protest remain strong, defiant, and committed to winning their… demands:

  1. An end to the censorship of letters and books, and freedom of expression.
  2. Immediate bail.
  3. The right to a fair trial.
  4. The deproscription of Palestine Action.
  5. The closure of all Elbit weapons factories in Britain.

We hope to conduct an interview soon with members of the Prisoners for Palestine on the proscription of Palestine Action, Elbit Systems, the conditions of confinement case and the hunger strikes.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

Continue reading Voices in Brazil for Radical Ecological Struggle (feat. Peter Gelderloos and Gah Te Iracema)

Updates on the Prairieland Case (with NLG and DFW Support Committee)

Updates on the Prairieland Case (with NLG and DFW Support Committee)

photo of a mockingbird resting on barbed wire with the words "TFSR 11-16-25 | Updates on the Prairieland Case (with NLG and DFW Support Committee)
Download This Episode

This week, we’re featuring two interviews.

First up, you’ll hear form Xavier de Janon, NLG Director of Mass Defense who’s worked on the Stop Cop City case and is currently also working on the DFW case where Federal and Texas prosecutors have been seeing prosecution of 18 people (so far) related to the noise demo of July 4th, 2025 at the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas. We speak about the case and about the wider web of repression being pushed by the Trump administration in the name of battling ANTEEFAH. For more info, check out nlg.org

Then we’ll speak to two members of the DFW Defendants Support Committee following the announcement last Wednesday by the committee concerning pressure on the defendants to take plea deals and some updated perspective on the case. For more info and updates, you can visit DFWDefendants.wordpress.com. Support resources for Des Revol, check out Instagram @free-des-revol on instagram

  • DFW Support Committee PDF (Unimposed) – pending
  • DFW Support Committee Zine (Imposed PDF) – pending

Links

Past Episodes Referenced:

Announcement

Malik Muhammad Fundraiser

One quick announcement is that Malik Muhammad, 2020 Uprising prisoner you heard in August 17th, 2025 episode, has spent the better part of a year in solitary confinement and could use some support. There’s a post with more information plus a new fundraiser up at their support website, MalikSpeaks.NoBlogs.Org: https://malikspeaks.noblogs.org/post/2025/11/15/support-malik-with-funds/

. … . ..

Featured tracks:

Continue reading Updates on the Prairieland Case (with NLG and DFW Support Committee)

Assessing The Israeli Ceasefire (with Abdaljawad Omar)

photo of Abdaljawad Omar in front a view of Bethlehem and “TFSR 11-09-25 | Assessing the Israeli Ceasefire (with Abdaljawad Omar)”
Download This Episode

This week, we’re sharing two segments: a chat with Palestinian writer and assistant professor Abdaljawad Omar and a segment of the October 2025 B(A)D News with network participants discussing thinking-through resisting the rise of fascism.

Assessing The Israeli Ceasefire

First up, an interview with Abdaljawad Omar, a writer, analyst and an Assistant Professor at Birzeit University in Bethlehem in the West Bank in Palestine. For the hour we speak about the status of the ceasefire, the continued killing by the Israeli state and the lack of significant humanitarian supplies of food and medicine in Gaza, ongoing violence in the West Bank and settlement expansion and settler impunity, representation of Palestinian resistance in Western media and meaningful solidarity from abroad.

Mr Omar’s writing is frequently featured on Mondoweiss and the newly launched Equator Journal and other journals listed in our show notes. He can be found on X and Bluesky and has a couple of books due out in the near future.

Appearances in:

Playing Out Resistance

The next segment was recorded at the annual A-Radio Network gathering that happened in Freiberg, Germany, by participants in the network in attendance. For this segment, you’ll hear people discuss a workshop they participated in about thinking through preparation for rising authoritarianism, keeping safe while preparing for social revolution. Feel free to reach out to projects on the participants page for the A-Radio Network website (we suggest you first try A-Radio Berlin as they’re quite good at answering their email) if you would like the materials used in the workshop to host one with your community.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

Continue reading Assessing The Israeli Ceasefire (with Abdaljawad Omar)

Southerners Against Surveillance Systems and Infrastructure (with Ed)

black and white drawing of a cat wearing a balaclava with the word "SASSI" near the bottom + "TFSR 11-2-25 | Southerners Against Surveillance Systems & Infrastructure (with Ed)"
Download This Episode

Ed, co-founder of SASSI (Southerners Against Surveillance Systems & Infrastructure), speaks to The Final Straw Radio about the proliferation of surveillance infrastructure in the South (and more broadly in United States), methods of researching and a little into resisting them.

We speak about topics such as the increasing cooperation between the state and corporate surveillance companies, the desire of these companies to extract ever-increasing amounts of data from the public, the way the state uses private databases to sidestep traditional warrant processes, some of the specific technologies that cities in the south have contracts with and their efficacy. We also touch on how folks at SASSI investigate these topics, and what can be done to help with this effort and ways to think about individual and community safety.

Also of interest to listeners may be our prior episode, Pushing Back On Flock Cameras with Kate Bertash, which Ed references during the chat.

The following links provide more information about topics we briefly touch on in the chat.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • Push by Liquid Liquid from Discography (1981-1984)

Continue reading Southerners Against Surveillance Systems and Infrastructure (with Ed)

The “Gen Z” Uprising That Rocked The Nepalese State + 1st PGH Anarchist Book Fair

This week, the show has two segments.

Pittsburgh Anarchist Book Fair

"TFSR 10-19-2025 | Anarcho of Movement in Nepal and The Gen Z Uprising That Rocked The State" and a photo of someone climbing the gilded gates of the Nepalese parliament building, hanging a flag with a skull and crossbones and wearing a straw hat, with the parliament burning in the background
Download This Episode

First up, you’ll hear a brief interview with M, an organizer of the first Pittsburgh anarchist book fair, happening October 24-26 across a few venues in the Steel City

As is anarchist book fair tradition, everything will be free.
We’re renting a few spaces, and expecting a few other costs. Sharing that info here so folks can get a sense of what that looks like. If you/others are inclined and able to support, would be grateful for that.
Attached is an image of the break down as of today, and below is a link we’ll update live time as to what costs look like.
https://pad.riseup.net/p/r.ca0a70f3bd595bb58b9daab4e6d9a576
You can buy a beautiful book fair shirt (design by the illustrious N.O. Bonzo), or simply donate. Venmo: @pghbookfair. (If you’d like a shirt, indicate size in the note – S-3XL; if yr just donating, any emoji or strange note is fine!) Feel free to message for other ways to donate.

“Gen Z” Uprising In Nepal

Then, an interview that I conducted with Anarcho, a member of the Black Book Distro collective out of Kathmandu, Nepal, about the protests and aftermath of the September 2025 “Gen Z” anti-corruption protests that ousted the prime minister, released prisoners and left the parliament in smoldering ruins.

Because we don’t follow a strict chronology of events, we’re including a few articles linked in our show notes for further study. We worked heavily off the interview with members of the Black Book Distro and CrimethInc, which is among those in our show notes.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

. … . ..

Continue reading The “Gen Z” Uprising That Rocked The Nepalese State + 1st PGH Anarchist Book Fair

Tariq D. Khan on Americanism and Red Scares

book cover of "The Republic Shall Be Kept Clean" featuring the text "TFSR 10-12-25 | Tariq D. Khan on Americanism & Red Scares" over a political comic of a greek soldier labeled civilization attacking a woman with serpentine qualities labeled Anarchy
Download This Episode

A conversation with Tariq D. Khan, author of The Republic Shall Be Kept Clean: How Settler Colonial Violence Shaped Antileft Repression, out from University of Illinois Press in 2023. In this conversation we talk about the connections between the anti-Indigenous motivations of the genocidal frontier wars in the US and the inward turn to heretical movements pushing for freedom for the laboring classes through the great upheavals of the period known as the Nadir, between the end of post-Civil War Reconstruction and the 1920’s. We talk about the roots of anti-Leftist violence of the various Red Scares and intersections with the institutions and psychology of white supremacy settler colonialism as well as the importance of resistance and education.

We hope you enjoy, and thank you for supporting this project!

A couple of podcasts we like (that have patreons where you get extra goodies) that have with related episodes:

. … . ..

Featured Track:

Continue reading Tariq D. Khan on Americanism and Red Scares

Signals Rising On DIY Radio Infrastructure

logo of signals rising featuring a radio tower with 7 radio bolts emanating from it
Download This Episode

This week, an interview with members of Signals Rising, who provide education and support around radio technologies including meshtastic networks as alternative communications or in disaster relief scenarios. Check out their website for resources and ways to get in touch.

A project Signals Rising is collaborating with:

Continue reading Signals Rising On DIY Radio Infrastructure