Jul 23, 2017
This week William got to speak to two people about the anti KKK
demo in Charlotesville VA on July 8th, plus about the resistance to
a Unite the Right gathering proposed for Charlotesville on August
12th. We speak about what went down on J8, plus things to keep in
mind for A12 and who all may be attending the event.
Here is some intro text from our guests that lays the groundwork
for some of the things we will speak about:
In the wake of the Charleston
Massacre in 2015, the Confederate flag saw a drastic change in
social tolerance, and its removal from public institutions sparked
widespread reaction from scores of White Southerners, even leading
to further terrorizing and violence. Donald Trump's campaign and
election saw these fires stoked further, now emboldening the more
explicit White Supremacist dialogue that so many had attempted to
distance the flag from a year earlier.
In late April of 2017, the city
council of Charlottesville, Virginia voted to remove its statues
depicting Confederate generals Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee,
and rename the downtown parks that hosted them as Justice Park and
Emancipation Park, respectively. Local Confederate advocates such
as the VA Flaggers and politicians like Corey Stewart had already
inserted themselves into the dialogue, but they did not stop when
the City's decision was cast.
With the assistance of local white
activists a court injunction was filed to challenge and halt the
removals, and only a few weeks later, White Power figureheads from
across the U.S. descended on Charlottesville's parks unannounced
for a day of rallies and photo-ops, in a calculated move to insert
themselves into the conflict. Since May, the people of
Charlottesville have been dogged by intermittent rallies,
harassment, stalking, threats, and outright violence from these
forces, all the while fighting to resist this fascist
creep.
Just two weeks ago, on July 8th, the
infamous Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan held a rally in
Justice Park. Many from the city and across Virginia assembled for
a peaceful counter-demonstration that sought to block the Klan from
entering the park. This time, the police led a violent and
one-sided escalation against those protesting white supremacy that
included 23 arrests.
As the far-right and so-called
Alt-Right's campaign in Charlottesville continues, August 12th has
been set for what they hope to be a culminating event, a rally to
"Unite the Right" in Emancipation Park.
With a special guest line-up
featuring the worst of the worst, they are counting on even greater
numbers of alt-righters, Neo-Nazis, white nationalists,
neo-confederates, militia groups, and even biker gangs to converge
from all corners of the country, with aims not only of unification
but of violent retribution against those who oppose
them.
A call to action for A12 resistance
and detailed information chronicling this struggle, including how
to support those arrested on July 8th, can be found at solidaritycville.com, and you can contact Defend.Cville@protonmail.com for more. Use
#DefendCville and #TheNewKKK for news and conversation before,
during, and after A12; and most importantly, show up to support
Charlottesville and help send these Nazis packing!
To support those who were arrested resisting the KKK on July 8th
please visit https://fundly.com/virginia-anti-racist-bail-fund.
98FM podcast coming out
soon
Keep an ear out for a special podcast segment we’ll release this
week about 98Fm, Radiozones Of Subersive Expression in Athens
Greece. This is the squatted pirate radio station we were
going on and on about during the interview on Its Going Down.
Well, as you may have heard on B(A)D News: Angry Voices From Around The
World #2 last week, they’ve been having some issues with the
Telecommunication Ministry, the police, a commercial pirate station
and the University where they squat. So, we chat about it for
about 45 minutes and they tell us about what’s going on in Greece
these days. Take a peek at our website mid week for this
interview.
Announcements
Updates from Comrade Malik
Washington
Now a quick announcement from the dungeons of the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice:
Comrades incarcerated in the "Ad-Seg"--that is, solitary
confinement"--block at the Eastham Unit in Texas are reporting that
mentally ill prisoners who are unable to care for their own
physical health and hygiene are being utterly neglected by prison
COs, and even by mental health personnel supposedly tasked with
oversight functions at the prison.
Comrade Kado is an occupant of the Ad-Seg unit who has seen this
neglect firsthand, related in a recent communication that his
concern for one particular individual on the block has become
acute. He writes, "It is known that this man is mentally ill.
If engaged directly in conversation, he is able to respond,
although only in very short sentences. He knows he is from
Nebraska, and that he is here for “trespassing too much”... when
asked why he's in solitary, he states “they want me to do work and
it's too hard” or “the guards yellin' all the time, I get upset”.
Each time Comrade Kado tried to engage the prison staff about
getting some assistance for this man, who had been living for
months in his own filth, in a roach-infested cell, he was ignored
or told he can't advocate for fellow inmates. Well-known
prison activist and human rights advocate Comrade Malik Washington,
who also resides on this unit, similarly tried to speak out on
behalf of this person, and he, too, was promptly told to mind his
own business.
A major concern is that this man could become ill from the deadly
heat people in Texas prison are regularly exposed to; this is a
concern for ALL Texas prisoners, but especially those who no longer
(or maybe never did) possess the cognitive ability to advocate for
themselves. As Comrade Malik writes, "[This man] lives only 3 cells away from me. He
has no fan and really doesn't know or understand how to ask for
one, so he suffers more than the normal prisoner in ad seg...And
yet from the senior warden all the way down to the lowest-ranking
correctional officer, no-one sees the importance or urgency of
obtaining a fan for this mentally ill humyn being!"
Officials at Eastham will not succeed in destroying solidarity
amongst imprisoned people. Comrades Kado and Malik will continue
speaking out for their fellow incarcerated brothers and
sisters--and they need our help!! Take a minute to call Bryan
Collier, Executive Director of the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice, at (512) 463-9988, to tell him that mentally ill
prisoners need to be properly cared for. And if you want to
learn more about this pressure campaign and about prisoner
advocacy, write to Comrade Kado at:
Noah Coffin
#1795167
Eastham Unit
2665 Prison Road #1
Lovelady, TX 75851
Dare to struggle! Dare to win! All power to the people!
J20 Week of
Solidarity
This is the week of solidarity with the over-200-people arrested
during the protests against the inauguration of Donald Trump on
January 20th, known as the J20 defendants. Among the ways to
get involved, one could thrown a fundraiser, attend a fundraiser,
do graffiti, drop a banner, have an info-session to teach people
about it, re-socialize your local Fox News outlet and read a
statement on the air, plaster your social media, talk to your
awkward manarchist uncle Jerry, and otherwise raise awareness that
might support the support lawyers in their attempt on July 27th to
get the charges against the J20 defendents dismissed. More
info on events ongoing can be found at defendj20resistance.org.
Za in NYC with the Wobs for
J20
If you’re in New York and wanna have some pizza about this, the New
York City General Defense Committee of the Industrial Workers of
the World is organizing a pizza dinner as a benefit of the over 200
people who were arrested in Washington D.C. on Inauguration Day.
Here's a fedbook post for the event, and
here's where the funds are being
collected if you can't make it but wanna give.
WHEN: Saturday, August 5, 2017 from 4 P.M. to 4 A.M.
WHERE: Rebecca's, 610 Bushwick Ave., Brooklyn NY 11206
Fire Inside Zine &
Tour
From FireInside.noblogs.org, we read an announcement
about Firehawk & Ben's upcoming rust-belt tour with a zine
compiling the experiences of prisoners of the September 9th
#PrisonStrike from last year in the prisoners own words, as well as
info about the August 19th Millions for Prisoner Justice march this
year.
July 25th day of
International Solidarity with Antifascist
Prisoners
From IGD:
Tuesday, July 25th, marks the 3rd Annual International Day of
Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners. In the aftermath of the
fiery protests against the G20—and the arrests of hundreds of
comrades—we are again reminded that the embers of direct action
need long-term prisoner support in order to keep the flame of
resistance strong. Some forty G20 protesters remain in prison in
Hamburg and need our solidarity.
Here's a list of prisoners
needing support.
Mike
Williams
Also from IGD:
Longtime Sacramento activist and indigenous elder Mike Williams
is one of three people of color who face charges stemming from the
antifascist mobilization which shut down a neo-Nazi rally in June
of 2016. Only one neo-Nazi, William Planer, is facing charges, and
he was only arrested after vandalizing a synagogue in Denver, CO.
Mike is currently facing massive charges and a high bail. Please
support him here and share the fundraising link far and wide along with this
article to raise awareness of his case.
Check out the full post for more details.
Playlist here