Category Archives: zine

Episodes we’ve transcribed and formatted for easy printing

General, IWOC, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, Political Prisoner, Prison Strike, Prisons, Protest, Texas, Transcribed, United States, zine

Shut ‘Em Down 2024 + Monsour Owolabi

Shut ‘Em Down 2024 + Monsour Owolabi

A photo of Monsour Olowabi and a graphic promoting the 2024 Abolitin Shut 'Em Down Demonstrations
Download This Episode

An interview with Courtney of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee & Millions For Prisoners New Mexico and Roc, communications bridge for Jailhouse Lawyers Speak and residential manager at the JLS housing center to speak about the JLS call for Shut ‘Em Down strikes inside and outside of prisons in December of 2024. We talk about abolitionism, the organizing that JLS is doing including that transitional housing project and other topics. You can find a past interview with Courtney here.

Then, you’ll hear Monsour Owolabi, incarcerated New African political prisoner in the Ferguson Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system sharing some perspectives on inside-outside collaboration, the role of isolation in prisons as counter-insurgency and the importance of transitional housing projects. Monsour has been involved in Prison Lives Matter, the website https://www.texasletters.org/ has published his writings, and supporters have an instagram @FreeMonsourOwolabi

By putting these segments together, we are not proposing any organizational overlap between Mr Owolabi and JLS.

Shout out to Marylin’s Children for inspirational praxis.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • Remember Rockefeller at Attica by Charles Mingus from Changes One

Continue reading Shut ‘Em Down 2024 + Monsour Owolabi →

activism, Cascadia, Climate Change, Earth & Animal Liberation, Forest Defense, General, Oregon, Rising Tide, Transcribed, United States, zine

Views from the “Rogue Gold” Tree Sit (with Cricket and D)

Views from the “Rogue Gold” Tree Sit (with Cricket and D)

"TFSR 6-16-24 | Views From The 'Rogue Gold' Tree Sit (with Cricket and D) featuring a photo from 100 feet up in the Douglas Fir named Goldie
Download This Episode

This week you’ll hear an interview we conducted with Cricket, a tree sitter in a tree called Goldie in southern so-called Oregon as well as D of Siskiyou Rising Tide. The two talk about the experience and efficacy of tree sits, about the land threatened by the Bureau of Land Managements plan to have Boise Cascade and other timber companies log this area they’re calling Rogue Gold, recent success of a tree sit at Poor Windy, revelations of police surveillance and some of the history of forest defense in this region.

You can find more at TreeSittersUnion.org , donate via venmo to @Cascadia-Defenders or see lovely pictures on the instagram accounts @TreeSittersUnion or @Siskiyou_RisingTide

Continue reading Views from the “Rogue Gold” Tree Sit (with Cricket and D) →

Anarchist, Antifa, Author, Communism, fascism, History, National Liberation, Politics, Transcribed, Yugoslavia, zine

Anarchist Perspectives on Nationalism (with Rey Katula)

Anarchist Perspectives on Nationalism (with Rey Katula)

cover of Antipolitika 3 featuring a waiter serving nationalist leaders Slobodan Milosevic and Franjo Tudjman
Download This Episode

This week, we’re sharing our interview on the Balkan anarchist journal, Antipolitika which released it’s Nationalism issue last July. It’s now available via PM Press (USA) and Kersplebedeb (Canada) on Turtle Island, alongside the back issues. Our guest is Rey Katula (an editor of the journal and a co-host of the awesome antifascist podcast The Empire Never Ended) talks about the journal, about fascism, nations from an anarchist perspective and, surprising to some, nationalism as a project of socialist Yugoslavia..

To hear a past interview we aired (recorded by comrades at FrequenzA) an interview about issue #1 of Antipolitika with Rey from 2017, audio comes in at around [00:46:30]

. … . ..

Support

If you want to support the show, for $3 or more a month at patreon.com/tfsr you can get early access to episodes like this one, or the recently released chat with outside supporters of Jailhouse Lawyers Speak’s 2024 Shut Em Down protests. Soon we’ll be releasing our chat with the editors of the recent Three Way Fight book on antifascism from PM Press & Kersplebedeb and another with members of Antifa International about the July 25th Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners.

We’d love to see an infusion of cash to be able to do some much-needed promotion of the show, like replenishing our stickers for distribution by radical publishers with their book orders, or even to be able to pay an artist for a new shirt design. If you don’t want to do the patreon but have some money to share we also have links for merch and donation points at tfsr.wtf/support

. … . ..

Featured Track:

Continue reading Anarchist Perspectives on Nationalism (with Rey Katula) →

Anarchist, General, History, June 11, Marius Mason, Political Prisoner, Prisons, Transcribed, zine

Memory, Movement and June 11th 2024

Memory, Movement and June 11th 2024

June 11th 2024 poster in black & white featuring mirrored images of a plant and the words "An International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason and Long-term Anarchist Prisoners" "There are no separate worlds" "June11.org" and "TFSR 6-2-24 | Memory Movement & June 11th 2024"
Download This Episode

This week on The Final Straw, we’re sharing an interview we conducted in recognition of the upcoming celebration of June 11th International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason and other long term anarchist prisoners. This week you’ll hear Julie Herrada, a long time anarchist activist, comrade of Marius Mason and worker at the Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan. Julie is joined by Matthew Hart, another longtime anarchist involved in labor organizing, historical research with the Dockstadter Mutual Aid Society and the Los Angeles Anarchist Black Cross chapter of the Federation. We speak about history, memory, prisoner support and continuing the struggle.

If you’d like to hear more about the history of June 11th and voices of anarchist prisoners and those who support them outside, we’ve taken the opportunity each year to have at least one show focusing on specific cases or concepts related to ongoing struggle and anti-repression work.

But first up, you’ll hear a comrade reading the 2024 call entitled No Separate Worlds and you’re hearing a conversation between anarchist historians and prisoner supporters about memory and the upcoming June 11th international day of soldiairty with marius mason and longterm anarchist prisoners. More info at June11.noblogs.org

Announcement

Fundraiser for Oso Blanco’s Family

There’s a fundraiser for the family of Cherokee anarchist prisoner, Oso Blanco, as they recently suffered a housefire that destroyed their home. You can learn more and find where to donate at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-political-prisoners-family-cherokee-rebuild-after-fire

. … . ..

Featured Track:

Continue reading Memory, Movement and June 11th 2024 →

A-Radio Berlin, Anarchist, Colonialism, games, General, Israel, Palestine, Prisons, repression, Transcribed, war, zine

Addameer on Palestinian Prisoners + new TTRPG “Oceania 2084”

This week, we’re sharing two segments.

Addameer on Palestinian Prisoners

Montage of the log of Addameer featuring a dove flying up from barbed wire and "Addameer" in Arabic, as well as part of the book cover of "Oceania 2084" featuring an eye peering down
Download This Episode

First up, we spoke with Tala Nasser of the Palestinian prisoner human rights group, Al-Addameer which has offices in Jerusalem or Al-Quds, as well as in Ramallah. We speak about the report they released on Palestinian Prisoners day, April 17th, on the conditions of Palestinian prisoners, particularly since October 7th, 2023 including in Gaza since the invasion. More info on the group and their findings can be found at addameer.org

A-Radio Berlin on new TTRPG “Oceania 2084”

Then, we’ll hear a segment by our comrades at A-Radio Berlin speaking with Johan Eriksson, an anarchist game designer has recently published such an RPG called “Oceania 2084“, based on George Orwell’s novel “1984”. You can find more of about the game including a free austere pdf of the gameplay at jocher-symbolic-systems.itch.io , and you can hear more audios from A-Radio Berlin at aradio-berlin.org .

Sean Swain’s 2024 Presidential Run

For the sake of anyone in the office of Attorney General of Ohio if they’re listening: this segment is political satire. We feel it’s necessary to make this disclaimer as they referenced a spoof press conference for Sean as governor in exile of Ohio on the January 18th, 2015 radio segment in court filings to prove how dangerous Sean is, while actually just showing how stupid hierarchs are.

Midweek Release: Yaffa As

In case you missed mid-week release of our interview with Yaffa As, a queer and trans Palestinian poet, author, publisher and activist living in the diaspora about two recent collections they published as well as mutual aid and fundraising to get queer Palestinians out of range of Israeli genocide.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

Continue reading Addameer on Palestinian Prisoners + new TTRPG “Oceania 2084” →

activism, Author, LGBTQ, Mutual Aid, Palestine, Queer, Transcribed, zine

“I Don’t Think You Could Have A Resistance Movement Without Poetry”: A Chat with Yaffa As

“I Don’t Think You Could Have A Resistance Movement Without Poetry”

Photo by María Del Río of Yaffa with hands raised above their head grasping the branch of an tree in autumn
Photo by María Del Río
Download This Episode

We spoke with Yaffa, a Palestinian poet, author and activist living in the diaspora about two recent collections published by the Trans and Queer Muslim publishing house she founded called Meraj. One of the two books is entitled Inara: Light to Queer And Trans Palestinian Utopia and the second a collection of her own poems written during the last lunar eclipse visible on Turtle Island, Blood Orange. We spoke about the importance of poetry and world building, the importance of community care and mutual aid, as well as supporting queer and trans Palestinians escaping genocide at the hands of the Israeli military. You can find more from Meraj publishing as well as how to obtain these titles at https://merajpublishing.com/

Continue reading “I Don’t Think You Could Have A Resistance Movement Without Poetry”: A Chat with Yaffa As →

activism, Asheville, Autonomy, Capitalism, Colonization, community, Education, Farming, Food Sovereignty, Gentrification, Mutual Aid, North Carolina, Racism, Transcribed, U.S. South, United States, zine

Asheville’s Southside Community Farm

Asheville’s Southside Community Farm

"Support Southside Community Farm." faeturing a hand holding daisies and the logo SCF logo featuring a hand holding leafy greens
Download This Episode

This week, we’re sharing a recent interview with Chloe Moore, a steward, farmer and educator at the Southside Community Farm, in the historically Black neighborhood of Southside in Asheville, NC. The farm has been serving the neighborhood and the region with free and inexpensive, fresh produce for a decade, providing educational opportunities, grocery deliveries, an herb garden and a BIPOC farmers market. The farm sits on land owned by the public Housing Authority of the City of Asheville (HACA) and there is currently a threat that HACA will destroy the farm. For the hour we talk about the work of the farm, the legacy of a community farm in the wake of government policies that destroy Black communities, and ways that community members can support the SCF and help it thrive.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • Rise Above by Ibeyi from Spell 31

Continue reading Asheville’s Southside Community Farm →

activism, Asheville, Capitalism, community, General, Homelessness, Law, Police, Transcribed, zine

“Clean For Who? Safe For Who?”: Asheville Business Improvement District

“Clean For Who? Safe For Who?”: Asheville Business Improvement District

Anti-Business Improvement District flyer from Asheville “Show up to City Council on May 14th for the first of two votes on the proposed B.I.D. Bring a friend! B.I.Ds are bad for • Democracy • Business • Residents Don't take the CRAP NO AVL BID Tell City Council SPEAK UP! MAY 14TH 5PM CITY HALL”
Download This Episode

We sat down with three local activists to talk about the proposed Asheville Business Improvement District, a model of service provision using public funding to increase policing in downtown by an unelected and unaccountable body of largely business and property owners. For the hour, Grace, Madison and Elliot talk about attempts to ram the BID through public process, some of the businesses and individuals behind it, how bids have panned out in other cities around the country and what space there is left to oppose this further privatization of public space in Asheville.

We didn’t mention it here, but there have also been rumblings of the BID model, a version of which was fought and never funded in 2012, being applied to other parts of Asheville, for example West Asheville. You can find more information and ways to get involved with folks organizing against the Business Improvement District at AshevilleBID.com and on Instagram at @NoAVLBid. This is our show for the week of May 12th.

As a quick note, there are a few acronyms frequently used in this conversation. One is RFP, which stands for Request for Proposals and is a process of contracting out an element of a project. Another acronym is ADA, in this case Asheville Downtown Association which is an independent pressure group made up of individuals, business and property owners. Not to be confused with the Asheville Downtown Commission, which was created by the City Council and contains appointed representatives from the ADA, city council, Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and few other community members including business owners.

. … . ..

Featured Tracks:

  • Asheville BID song (unknown artist)
  • Moving Through The Streets (instrumental)

Continue reading “Clean For Who? Safe For Who?”: Asheville Business Improvement District →

activism, Alabama, Autonomia, Autonomy, Bologna, General, Italy, Prison Strike, Prisons, Protest, StopCopCity, Transcribed, United States, zine

Don Bosco Park Defense in Bologna + Bernard Jemison on Conditions and Resistance in AL Prisons

This week, two segments plus Sean Swain

Don Bosco Park Defense in Bologna

An image of park occupation in Don Bosco in Bologna, Italy with tree sits and a shack, buildings in the background. Also a photo of Bernard Jemison. "TFSR 5-5-24 | Don Bosco Park Defense in Bologna, Italy + Bernard Jemison on Conditions in Holman and other Alabama Prisons"
Download This Episode

First up, an interview submitted by audio comrades in Italy about the struggle against the cementization of the city of Bologna and the defense of Don Bosco park from the expansion of a university, highways… the whole urban landscape without the input of the residents so the city can move a school rather than renovate it. This struggle, including the occupation and defense of the park, represents an innovation in urban struggles in Italy which consciously takes inspiration from the struggle to Stop Cop City in so-called Atlanta and the activities of the park defenders has forced the left-leaning municipal government and mayor to temporarily suspend the cutting of trees. [00:02:04 – 00:27:10]

Bernard Jemison on Conditions and Resistance in AL Prisons

Then, you’ll hear Bernard Jemison, an incarcerated activist held in Holman prison in Alabama talking about conditions inside the ADOC recent calls for prisoner strikes in the state by the Free Alabama Movement and their outside supporters, as well as his views on the demands being made. [00:27:57 – 01:05:10]

The demands that we mention are the following:

  1. BILL TO REPEAL THE HABITUAL OFFENDER ACT ON THE TABLE
  2. CIVIL CLASS ACTION LITIGATION FOR PAROLE ALREADY FILED. EVERYONE NEEDS TO SIGN UP.
  3. PAROLE BILL ON THE TABLE
  4. WE NEED TO ABOLISH LWOP AND CREATE AN AVENUE FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS.
  5. NO MORE NITROGEN GAS EXECUTIONS..
  6. STOP SELLING OUR ORGANS.

A few articles on the subjects worth reading include:

Social media accounts Bernard thinks are doing a good job covering these issues:

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • On Point (instrumental) by House of Pain

Continue reading Don Bosco Park Defense in Bologna + Bernard Jemison on Conditions and Resistance in AL Prisons →

Anarchist, Anarchist Media, Author, Autonomy, Capitalism, Colonialism, History, Indigenous, media, Mexico, Neoliberalism, Transcribed, United States, war, Zapatista, zine

Crime, Corruption, and Community Based Liberation in the U.S./Mexico Neoliberal Military Political Economy

Crime, Corruption, and Community Based Liberation in the U.S./Mexico Neoliberal Military Political Economy

Book cover of the "Weapons, Drugs and Money" featuring a snake eating it's own tail, ringed by bullets encircling a US flag made of lines of cocaine and razors with a dead eagle clutching an assault rifle
Download This Episode

This week, you’ll hear our chat with Simón Sedillo, author of Weapons, Drugs & Money: Crime, Corruption, and Community Based Liberation in the U.S./Mexico Neoliberal Military Political Economy. Simón talks a little about his early days in media near the start of the Indymedia world, his documentary that became the news website El Enemigo Común (which translates to “the common enemy”) which covered grassroots, indigenous led movements in southern so-called Mexico, and about his book with a focus on intervention and integration from capitalist and military powers in the US, multinational banking and big pharma and the violence against and resilience of indigenous communities under that nation-state.

Check out the website https://www.weaponsdrugsandmoney.org/ for more info on how to order a copy, and the chapters are being posted and translated into castellano at https://elenemigocomun.net/ , where you can find two decades + of really interesting content. Simón suggests people follow Avispa Mídia https://avispa.org/ as a project following in the legacy of El Enemigo Común.

A big thanks to Mitchell Verter for the suggestion.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • Get It Together (Buck Wild Instrumental) by Beastie Boys from Get It Together

Continue reading Crime, Corruption, and Community Based Liberation in the U.S./Mexico Neoliberal Military Political Economy →