The Final Straw Radio

On March 21st, 2021, thousands entered the streets of Bristol in the UK to vent their anger at deaths in police custody, police violence on the streets, as well as a slate of repressive laws including the SpyCops Bill, increasing impunity for government officials breaking their own laws, as well as the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, or simply The Bill, targeting Roma people, Travelers, lengthens youth prison sentences and criminalizing dissent and protest amidst some of the harshest Covid-19 lockdowns the UK had seen. What became known as the Kill The Bill riot led to running fights with police, burnt cop cars, a dizzying disinformation campaign by police centering themselves as victims, and over 80 people arrested to date, with more being detained and some facing years in prison. From Monday the 25th & Wednesday the 27th of October 2021, defendant Ryan Roberts will be facing trial and is calling for international solidarity. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) For the hour, Tom and Nicole of Bristol Anarchist Black Cross talk about the #KillTheBill, police violence in the UK, the radical scene in Bristol, anti-repression work of Bristol ABC & Bristol Defendant Solidarity, the legacy of former Bristol resident Anna Campbell, the cases of the Colston 4 as well as that of Toby Shone, prison expansion in the UK and more. To learn more about their work and how to support and write to Ryan Roberts and other #KillTheBill defendants, visit BristolABC.Wordpress.Com, and to you can search that hashtag on social media for a demo in your area to join in on or to advertise your solidarity action! If you happen to be in Manchester, there's a demo on the 27th at 5pm at the Crown Court. And check the ongoing fundraiser for the defendants at GoFundMe! Check our show notes for more links, including our conversation with Dónal O'Driscoll from November of 2020 about the SpyCops case. There's also a new podcast out called SpyCops Info that includes folks who had been part of groups infiltrated by undercover pigs in the UK in past decades talking about individual cops and the ongoing inquiry that's worth giving a listen to: https://tfsr.wtf/spycops Also, check out this audio from Radio AvA, (a podcast by and for sex workers) with their coverage of the demonstration after the rape and killing of Sarah Everard by on-duty London Metropolitan pig Wayne Couzens: https://www.radioava.org/episodes/avashowmarch2021part1. We found that audio, shared by our comrades at Dissident Island Radio. We're releasing this interview a bit early so as to get word out about Ryan Roberts' trial, so it'll be a little longer of a wait between episodes. Annoucements New Eric King Solidarity Poster There is a really cool poster available in solidarity with anarchist and antifascist prisoner, Eric King, who is facing trial in a Denver court on a frameup right now. The poster was produced by Radix Media and here's what they had to say: To support Eric King, we are releasing a limited edition of 35 posters carrying one of his revolutionary poems. All profits generated from the sale of the broadside will be sent to Eric's support fund. The print is approximately 12.5″ x 20″ and was letterpress printed in multiple passes on our vintage Vandercook proofing press. You can find the poster at https://radixmedia.org/product/eric-king-support-letterpress-broadside/ Sean Swain Phone-Zap Sean Swain is in danger of being out-of-state transferred again, to who knows where. His support crew are asking that folks call Ohio State Senator Teresa Fedor and Ohio State Representative Lisa Sobecki to express concern about Sean's safety, access to his legal counsel as well as family and support network in Ohio, and to question the legality of sending Sean out of state without the legally required hearing with Sean attending, (which they skipped when he was sent to Virginia in 2019). Check SeanSwain.Org for a basic script in the next day or so. If you're returning to these notes to find Sean's segment, good on you! It's in the current iteration of the show and can be found on it's own here: https://archive.org/download/youaretheresistance001/youaretheresistance20211024.mp3 Asheville Cover Band Show A reminder that if you're in the Asheville area on October 30th (and vaccinated) and want to participate in the annual Prison Books & Tranzmission Prison Project halloween cover band show, it's taking place at the outdoor and covered venue, Sly Grog! There's a door fee and the list of bands is extra-ordinary! Check it out: . ... . .. Featured track: Riot by 3-D Production from The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978​-​1983 (http://www.bristolarchiverecords.com/)

This week I am very excited to present an interview with Autumn (she/her/hers), who is an anarchist and scholar-activist, on Fat Liberation in all its many nuances, the pervasive, classist, racist, and colonial nature of fatphobia both in mainstream society and in far left spaces and thought, and the roots of Fat Liberation as a structure which originates and lives with Black, Indigenous, and brown, trans and disabled people. We also speak about Autumn's syllabus entitled "Fat Liberation Syllabus for Revolutionary Leftists: Confronting Fatphobia on the Left AND Liberalism within the Fat Liberation Movement". In this document, she compiles writings on the many aspects of fatphobia and gives her own analysis in bulleted form. This document is available for public use, and you can find it at https://tinyurl.com/FatLiberation! Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) People, works, and resources named by our guest in this episode: - Da'Shaun L. Harrison book "Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness" - Dr. Sabrina Strings book "Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia" - Hunter A. Shackleford "Hunter Ashleigh Shackelford (they/she) is a Black fat cultural producer, multidisciplinary artist, nonbinary shapeshifter, and data futurist based in Atlanta, Georgia ... They are the creator and director of a Southern body liberation organization, Free Figure Revolution, which focuses on decolonizing antiblack body violence … Hunter illustrates the relationship between Blackness, fatness, desire, queerness, and popular culture." (Instagram: @huntythelion) - Jervae (Instagram: @jervae) - Dr. Dorothy Roberts' work on CPS and how anti-Black racism and fatphobia infect this institution. - Health At Every Size, evidence based medical paradigm that heavily critiques the social constructions of "obesity" and diet culture, and aims to present folks with a compassionate and inclusive framework for taking care of themselves. - Books by Dr. Lindo Bacon (founder of Health At Every Size) - podcast Food Psych with Christy Harrison - Marquisele Mercedes article "How to Recenter Equity and Decenter Thinness in the Fight for Food Justice" - Caleb Luna (Instagram: @chairbreaker Twitter: @chairbreaker_) "Caleb Luna (they/them) is a fat queer (of color) critical theorist, performer, poet, essayist, cultural critic, and performance scholar. As a Ph.D. candidate in Performance Studies at UC Berkeley, their research focuses on performances of eating, and historicizing cultural representations of fat embodiment within the ongoing settler colonization of Turtle Island. - Sonalee Rashatwar (Instagram: @thefatsextherapist) - podcast Maintenance Phase with Aubrey Gordon (Instagram: @yrfatfriend Twitter: @yrfatfriend) - Fat Rose Collective (Instagram: @fatlibink) Announcement 2022 Certain Days Freedom for Political Prisoner Calendars Just a heads up that the pre-orders for the 2022 Certain Days has begun. You can bulk order copies to distribute, you can order individual ones from Kersplebedeb (Canada) or Burning Books (USA), and you can order them for prisoners through the site, CertainDays.org. Check out our past interviews on the calendar: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/category/certain-days/ . ... . .. Music for this episode: Reality Check by Noname (Instrumental)

This week we're sharing a chat that Scott Branson had about Transgender Marxism (2021, Pluto Press) with Jules Gleeson (co-Editor, Contributor) and M.E. O'Brien (contributor). Transgender Marxism brings together Transgender Studies and Marxist theory, exploring Transgender lives and movements and surviving as Trans under Capitalism. In the end, the claim of the book is that for Trans Liberation, Capitalism must be abolished. In this interview we talk about the: collective, material process of transition; trans visibility, assimilation and liberation; the history of Gay Liberation and Trans movements; being Trans in the workplace; care work and family abolition; and Trans solidarities against Capitalism and the State. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Jules Joanne Gleeson is a writer, comedian and historian. She has published essays in outlets including Viewpoint Magazine, Invert Journal and VICE, and performed internationally at a wide range of communist and queer cultural events. She can be found on Twitter at @SocialRepro and Patreon (QueerCom). Check out her awesome interview with Judith Butler that the GuardianUK censored due to critiques of TERFs, found in full at IllWill.Com. M.E. O'Brien writes at the intersection of communist theory, trans liberation, LGBTQ social movement studies and feminism. Michelle is a co-editor of Pinko, and her writing has appeared in Social Movement Studies, Work, Employment & Society, Commune, Homintern, Endnotes and Invert. Found on Twitter at @GenderHorizon & on Patreon (MEOBrien). Update on Sean Swain This week, instead of words from anarchist prisoner, Sean Swain, I'd just like to share the info that Sean has been transferred back to Ohio, his state of capture, from Virginia where he was held at a Medium security facility for the last 2.5 years. It's assumed that he's back at the Supermax, OSP Youngstown for 2 weeks of quarantine and determination of status to decide what prison he will go to inside Ohio from there. When he was leaving Ohio for Virginia, he was close to graduating to a lower security, medium level, than where he was held and has not had any serious breeches of conduct since his transfer, so hopefully he'll be heading to an easier and more comfortable facility. For the moment you can write him at his old address where I'm sure he'd love some kind words or some books, posted in our shownotes and at SeanSwain.org: Sean Swain #A243205 OSP Youngstown 878 Coitsville-Hubbard Rd Youngstown, OH 44505 You can donate to his legal case to challenge his denied parole by sending money via cashapp to $Swainiac1969 and you can follow @Swainiac1969 for info on the upcomnig online raffle to help fundraise for Sean's legal fees. To donate items for raffle, also contact the instagram mentioned above and keep an eye out for more info. As an update to prior mentions of Swainiac-fest, it was a success but is only a step on the way to covering his legal fees to get him the best legal defense possible. And remember, you can fundraise toward the $12,500 needed by the lawyer on your own or in community and if you want to send it to the TFSR venmo or paypal or a money order made out to us via our PO Box, feel free to do so and make sure you note Sean's defense in the comment. . ... . .. Featured Tracks: Gemini (instrumental) by Princess Nokia from Everything Is Beautiful

This week on The Final Straw, we spoke with Vasili and Maria, two Belarusian anarchists living abroad about the aftermath of the 2020 Uprising in their country of birth, lessons learned, the current political prisoners and the Lukashenko regime's attempts to attack dissidents abroad. Maria is also a member of Belarus Anarchist Black Cross, which does anti-repression education and prisoner and legal support for anarchists in or from that country. More on that group and these topics can be found at ABC-Belarus.Org, including a form to send letters to prisoners in Belarus from the website and a link to a brand new fundraising campaign to help BABC to support their anti-repression efforts Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) You can find links to our social media at TFSR.WTF/links. Belarus-ABC can be followed via their: Mastadon Twitter Instagram Facebook Telegram Announcements Eric King Trial Antifascist and anarchist prisoner, Eric King, has had his trial pushed back to October 14th at 9:30am. If you can show up to court with an ID and your dapper court wear, you can show up to the Alfred A. Arraj Federal Courthouse in Denver to show Eric some support and that he's not alone. For a good read, check out the recent article by Vice about the allegations from Eric's legal team that the BOP deleted video of the incident in question in order to cover up his setup and torture. Protest AmRen The annual American Renaissance conference, or AmRen, a gathering of vile ethno-nationalist hucksters is slated to occur in Montgomery Bell Park at the Inn and Conference Center, outside of Burns, TN, from Friday, November 12th to the 14th. Opposition is being organized from all over and you can participate with your crew. For a good intro to what's expected this year, visit the calendar at OnePeoplesProject.Com. . ... . .. Featured Track: Johnny Ryall (instrumental) by Beastie Boys from Dub The Boutique

The Mountain Valley Pipeline, or MVP is planned to be a 300 + mile pipeline 42 inches in diameter being built to transport compressed so-called Natural Gas from the Marcellus formation in the Appalachian Basin, from northern West Virginia to southern Virginia for export. The pipeline started being built in 2018 and is slated to cross over 1,000 waterways, posing a danger to countless human and non-human animals and plants along the way as well as being responsible for 19 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to 19 million passenger cars or 23 average U.S. coal fired power plants each year. It's being built by a number of corporations involved in other fossil fuel infrastructure like ConEd & EQT. As of November 2020, the project was 3 years behind schedule and over $3 billion over budget because of a coalition of on-the-ground grassroots direct action and resistance, geographically dispersed solidarity actions and court challenges determined to keep this Marcellus Shale gas in the ground. This week, we'll speak with Toby and Emily, two longtime activists resisting the MVP's construction about the pipeline, some of the resistance history, MVP's attempt in federal court to intimidate and identify folks who run the social media accounts called "Appalachians Against Pipelines" and how to get involved in the struggle to fight climate change. You can find thorough coverage of the topic, and piss off the extraction industry, by following @AppalachiansAgainstPipelines on fedbook and instagram and the @StopTheMVP on twitter. You can support the ongoing resistance by throwing money at the effort's fundraising page: bit.ly/supportmvpresistance. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) You can find our past interviews about the MVP, including with folks actively in tree-sits and mono-pods at our website (by searching Mountain Valley Pipeline), and as well as our interviews about the water crisis in West Virginia generally and in WV prisons (by searching "Elk River"). To learn more about the struggle at Line 3 and folks who are doing anti-repression work around it, check it this link and the related site: https://www.planline3.com/support-the-resistance In about a week, you can a transcribed and easily printable version of this conversation for free at https://TFSR.WTF/Zines. You can follow us on social media and find our streaming platforms at TFSR.WTF/Links. You can support our transcription and publishing efforts monetarily, if you appreciate our work, by visiting patreon.com/TFSR or checking out other methods at TFSR.WTF/Support. And you can find more about our radio broadcasts, including how to get our free, weekly, hour-long broadcast up on a community station near you, by visiting TFSR.WTF/Radio. Announcement Eric King Trial Support Antifascist, vegan and anarchist prisoner Eric King will be heading to trial soon and his support is inviting folks to show up at the Alfred A. Arraj Federal Courthouse in so-called Denver, CO, October 12-15th to support him. You can find filings on his behalf and background on the case at the Civil Liberties Defense Center at CLDC.org, and find updates on the case at SupportEricKing.Org, and the support crew Twitter and Instagram. . … . .. Featured Track: Elk River Blues performed by Rachel Eddy from Hand on the Plow

This week on the show, we spoke with folks involved with Comrade Center, a leftist project focused on accessible education around armed self-defense in so-called New Hampshire. They were formerly known as Southern New England Socialist Rifle Association and while they're no longer a chapter of the SRA, they are working with groups like that and individuals to purchase and maintaining a space for armed self-defense education outside of the right wing milieu in their area. For the hour we talk about mainstream, reactionary gun culture in the US, the impact of the NRA, the importance and empowerment of education around fire arms and other topics. You can learn more about the project at ComradeCenter.Org Transcript PDF (unimposed) Zine (imposed PDF) Comrade Center links: To sign up for the free LTC course: https://comradecenter.org/course-calendar GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/comradecenter Twitter: https://twitter.com/ComradeCenter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/comradecenter/ Other organizations we would like to shoutout: Arm Your Friends: https://www.armyourfriends.com/ Guerilla Tactical: https://guerrilla-tactical.com/ Tenacious Unicorn Ranch: https://www.tenaciousunicornranch.com/ Tenacious Unicorn Ranch on IGD podcast: https://itsgoingdown.org/alpacalypse-now-how-a-trans-anarchist-homestead-defended-itself-from-far-right-attacks/ Yellow Peril Tactical: https://www.instagram.com/yellow_peril_tactical/ . ... . .. Featured Tracks: K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) [instrumental] by Diamond D from Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop (Instrumentals) ‎(2xLP) All You Fascists Bound To Lose by Nina Hagen from Personal Jesus, cover of Woody Guthrie

On February 12th, 1994, Ernest Lee Johnson and his ex-girlfriends two sons participated in the botched robbery of Casey's General Store that took three victims' lives: Mable Scruggs, Mary Bratcher and Fred Jones. Mr Johnson has no recollection of the murders, was in despair and had been drinking and smoking crack in the hours after his ex-girlfriend broke up with him. A Black man with intellectual disabilities and no former, violent convictions, he was convicted by an ill-informed, all-white jury with the help of Boone County, Missouri, Prosecuting Attorney, Kevin Crane. Ernest Johnson now faces an execution date of October 5th, 2021. This week, we spoke with Elyse Max, State Director of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty about the life of Ernest Johnson, the media and court situation he faced, his twice overturned death penalty, the links between the lynching of Black people in the US and the current death penalty, intersections of race and class in who are the victims of capital cases and who sit on death rows, the mishandling of Ernests intellectual disability in the case and other topics. Transcript Unimposed PDF Zine (Imposed PDF) You can learn more about Ernest's case, including ways to help press Missouri Gov Parson for a commutation of Ernest's execution and the work of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty by visiting MADPMO.org. You can follow their work on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram via the handle @MADPMO. Some other useful links: Ernest Johnson petition at Change.org: http://www.change.org/save-ernest-johnson The Community Remembrance Project of Missouri: https://www.crp-mo.org Death Penalty Info: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/ Equal Justice Initiative: https://eji.org/ "Broken Heart of America" by Walter Johnson: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780465064267 Just Mercy documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7MxXxFu6fI More info on Swainiac Fest available on Instagram (@Swainiac1969) . … . .. Featured Tracks For Pete's Sake (instrumental) by Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth from For Pete's Sake Hangman by Al Dean from The Hangman's Blues: Prison Songs In Country Music Reflections (instrumental) by Diana Ross & The Supremes from Reflections

This is the second segment of a series of political discussions focused on building support for Jalihouse Lawyers Speak 2021 National call to action #ShutEmDown2021 along with support for the 2022 National Prisoner' Strike & Boycott. In this segment "Interpreting Realities: Aligning Fragments Within the Prison Resistance Movement" moderated by Brooke Terpstra – a longtime resident of Oakland and co-founding member of Oakland Abolition and Solidarity, which has been active since 2016 in the abolition and prisoner solidarity movements–we are joined by two panelists located within the belly of the beast– a conscious New Afrikan Komrade, located within kalifornia koncentration kamps, who is serving a longer than life sentence due to prosecutorial abuse of power, along with Komrade Underground–3rd world rebel, urban guerrilla, student of dragon philosophy and member of JLS–to discuss myths and misconceptions of the us prison structure and how these misconceptions create fragmented understandings about the prison-carceral state and forms of abolition. We also hear how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has further isolated prisoners from the outside world. Transcript Unimposed PDF Zine (imposed PDF) More about JLS at http://www.iamweubuntu.com/ or by finding their accounts on Twitter (@JailLawSpeak) & Instagram (@jailhouse_lawyers_speak). You can hear all three panels supporting #ShutEmDown2021 at https://shutemdownsolidarity.wordpress.com/ You can find a transcript of this interview in the near future at TFSR.WTF/Zines, and you can support our transcription costs at TFSR.WTF/Support ** This episode, including Sean Swain's segment on the 50th anniversary of the Attica Prison Uprising and the massacre that follows, detail abuse and brutality against people in prisons, including of a sexualized nature, so listener discretion I advised ** . ... . ... Featured track: Somethin' That Means Somethin' (instrumental) by J Dilla

Resisting state repression and surveillance is one of the cornerstones of The Final Straw and has been since the beginning of this project. Over the years we've featured interviews with support committees, political prisoners, defendants in ongoing cases, incarcerated organizers, radical legal workers and lawyers and others to talk about how power strikes at those who it fears constitute a threat. For those of us caught up in cases, navigating self-defense through the courts, penal system and mainstream media can be treacherous, as we attempt to balance our political and personal goals with our lawyer's desire to have us do as little time and pay as little money as possible to the courts. Winning in these circumstances can sometimes seem to pit a well-meaning lawyer or legal worker against their own client. Enter the Tilted Scales' new book, "Representing Radicals." This week, you'll hear Jay from the Tilted Scales Collective talk about this book out from AK Press and the Institute for Anarchist Studies, about anti-repression work, and about this book's attempt to shift the culture of legal representation by intervening with arguments by radical lawyers, more intimately inviting clients and their supporters into the fray and new frameworks for approaching cases. Transcript Unimposed PDF Zine (Imposed PDF) You can find their guide for defendants and other resources, as well as contact, at TiltedScalesCollective.Org. You can hear our 2017 interview with another member of Tilted Scales about their defendants guide. And you can follow the group on instagram or twitter. . ... . .. Featured Track: The Wrong Side Of The Law by Mick Jones from Mick Jones

This week on the show, we share an interview with Sonja, an antifascist activist and researcher based in the state of Hessen, Germany, and involved in the network known as NSU-Watch. For the hour, we talk about the case of the National Socialist Underground terror group which killed 9 immigrants of Turkish, Greek and Kurdish immigrants between 2000 and 2006 and were only discovered in 2011. Sonja tells about organizing with those who lost their loved ones in the attacks, the uncovering of government knowledge of the networks that produced the NSU and the milieu and international nazi scene it arose from, autonomous antifascist research. We then speak about the ongoing case of Franco Albrecht, the former German military officer who is presumed to have been planning a false flag attack to draw ire to immigrant communities in Germany, as well as the network of military and police involved in the coordinated "Day X" plot to overthrow the German state. In some ways this interview was meant as a corrective to the New York Times podcast entitled Day X, one which de-centers state agency, opacity and collusion in the plot. Transcript Unimposed PDF Imposed PDF (Zine) Many thanks to the comrade at Anarchistisches Radio Berlin for support in researching this interview! You can find more about NSU-Watch's work at NSU-Watch.info/en/ or follow them on Twitter (@NSUWatch) and Instagram (@NSUWatch). More links in our show notes Links: Forensic Architecture: the murder of Halit Yozgat Short film about the NSU trial from NSU Watch exif recherche (one of the best antifascist research collectives in germany, deeply in need of help for translating the last texts about the Hammerskin Nation) Apabiz (longstanding, autonomous anti-fascist research group in Berlin. Site in German) A.I.D.A. Archive (longstanding, autonomous anti-fascist research in Munich. Site in German) . ... . .. Featured Tracks: Bist Du Wach? (Solisong für Hanau) by Azzi Memo Angst frisst Seele auf by Feine Sahne Fischfilet (a song about a friend receiving deaththreads and how to deal with it) Avanti populo by Microphone Mafia and Esther Bejerano

On this special midweek release, you'll hear Swift Justice, incarcerated Abolitionist in Alabama affiliated with the Alabama Resistance Movement and Unheard Voices OTCJ. Swift talks about some current situations in the Alabama Department of Corrections, legislation ongoing around prison slavery due to the exception clauses at the state and federal level (specifically the 13th Ammendment), covid-19 behind bars, groups doing well in the struggle and organizing that needs to go further and actually engage with incarcerated comrades and updates on the recent attack on Swift's mentor, Kinetic Justice. Check out some of Swift's writings on his supporters blog at SwiftJustice4Freedom.wordpress.com. You can hear our past interview with Swift here as well as our interview with Kinetic and Bennu on the founding of the Free Alabama Movement. For more Alabama prisoner perspectives from over the years, you can search Alabama on our site. Announcement Solidarity demonstration outside Green Bay CI from ABOLISHmke.com: Protesters will take action against increasingly torturous and fatal conditions at the prison in Green Bay (GBCI) at noon on Saturday, August 28, 2021. The protest will include a march to the prison, speeches from advocates and people who've done time at GBCI, and relaying messages from people currently held there. The demonstrators will use large banners, loudspeakers and noisemakers to attempt to reach and express solidarity with people confined in the prison. WHERE: Green Bay CI, 2833 Riverside Dr, Allouez, WI 54301 WHEN: 12:00 Noon on Sat August 28, 2021 Conditions at prisons across Wisconsin have deteriorated in recent years, and GBCI is one of the worst. Money that was intended to repair and improve the 123 year old prison is instead being used to create more solitary confinement cells and control units. People held there describe it as a conversion into a supermax style prison. Staff at GBCI frequently neglect medical emergencies and drive their captives to self-harm and suicide. Those held in the restrictive housing unit (RHU) often express fear for their lives. When summoned to investigate deaths or litigate suits against the prison, local law enforcement and judges support the prison, enabling continued atrocities. Read more about conditions, neglect, and abuse at GBCI here: https://abolishmke.com/2021/08/18/march-on-gbci/ The demonstration at GBCI is part of the national SHUTEMDOWN2021 mobilization called by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak (JLS), a prisoner-led organization. The goal of SHUTEMDOWN2021 is to raise awareness of the prison strike JLS plans for next year, and their 10 demands to end slavery and improve conditions in prisons across the US. Wisconsin organizers are also planning educational events in Milwaukee, and a large demonstration at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (MSDF) on September 9. Read more about JLS and SHUTEMDOWN2021 here: http://www.iamweubuntu.com/shutemdown.html Read more about solidarity plans in Wisconsin here: https://abolishmke.com/2021/07/29/shutem-down-wisconsin/ . ... . .. Featured Tracks: Not Afraid by Eminem from Not Afraid (single) Kinetic describes this as his anthem Digging For Windows by Zach de La Rocha from Digging For Windows (single)

This week on the show, you'll hear our conversation with Mwalimu Shakur, a politicized, New Afrikan revolutionary prison organizer incarcerated at Corcoran prison in California. Mwalimu has been involved in organizing, including the cessations of hostilities among gangs and participation in the California and then wider hunger strikes against unending solitary confinement when he was at Pelican Bay Prison in 2013, helping to found the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, or IWOC, Liberation Schools of self-education and continues mentoring younger prisoners. He was in solitary confinement, including in the SHU, for 13 of the last 16 years of his incarceration. For the hour, Mwalimu talks a bit about his politicization and organizing behind bars, his philosophy, Black August, the hunger strikes of 2013, the importance of organizing in our neighborhoods through the prison bars. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) You can contact Mwalimu via JayPay by searching for his state name, Terrence White and the ID number AG8738, or write him letters, addressing the inside to Mwalimu Shakur and the envelope to: Terrence White #AG8738 CSP Corcoran PO Box 3461 Corcoran, CA 93212 Mwalimu's sites: https://wireofhope.com/prison-penpal-terrance-white/ https://ajamuwatu.wixsite.com/ajamuwatu To hear an interview from way back in 2013 that William did former political prisoner and editor of CA Prison Focus, Ed Mead (before & after the strikes). Other Groups Mwalimu Suggests: Initiate Justice: https://www.initiatejustice.org/ Critical Resistance: http://criticalresistance.org/ California Prison Focus: http://newest.prisons.org/ Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC): https://incarceratedworkers.org/ Malcolm X Grassroots Movement: https://freethelandmxgm.org/ Revolutionary Intercommunal Black Panther Party: https://www.facebook.com/RIBPP Jailhouse Lawyers Speak: https://jailhouselawyerspeak.wordpress.com/ San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper: https://sfbayview.com/ True Leap Press: https://trueleappress.com/ Announcements Shut 'Em Down 2021 This year marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Jonathan Jackson at the Marin County Courthouse, the assassination of his brother George at San Quentin in California and the subsequent uprising and State massacre at Attica State Prison in New York. Black August has been celebrated at least since 1979 to mark these dates with study, exercise, community building, sharing and reflection by revolutionaries on both sides of the bars. In the last decade across Turtle Island, you've seen strikes and protests and educational events take place around this time of the year as we flex our muscles. This year, as you've heard us mention, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak is calling for weeks of action for Abolitionism under the name "Shut 'Em Down 2021". You can find out more at JailhouseLawyersSpeak.Wordpress.Com and follow them on twitter and instagram, linked in our show notes, alongside links relating to this weeks chat. You can hear our interview with a member of JLS from earlier this year about the "Shut 'Em Down" initiative, or read the interview, at our site and in these show notes. Also, check out our interview with the remaining member of the Marin Courthouse Uprising, possibly the oldest living political prisoner in the US, Ruchell Cinque Magee. Shaka Shakur Hunger Strike New Afrikan prison rebel, co-founder of the New Afrikan Liberation Collective and IDOCWatch organizer, Shaka Shakur has been interstate transferred hundreds of miles away from his support network to Buckingham Correctional Center in Virginia (recognize that name?). There was a call-in campaign this week focused on VA Governor Northam, director of VADOC Harold Clark, VADOC central regional director Henry Ponton and Warden Woodson at BKCC. This was in support of Shakur's hunger strike in protest of the transfer, his time in solitary prior in Indiana for having his prescription medication, being moved into solitary at BKCC with minimal hygiene and no personal materials. As noted in the transcript about his hunger strike at IDOCWatch's website, the transfer interrupts civil and criminal litigation Shaka Shakur had pending in Indiana and has caused him to be halfway across the country after his own surgeries, the loss of his family matriarch and another aunt, the hospitalization of mother and other health hardships. You can find ways to support via VA Prison Abolition twitter and fakebook IDOCWatch twitter and instagram New Afrikan Liberation Collective twitter and fakebook . ... . .. Featured Tracks: Blues For Brother George Jackson by Archie Shepp from Attica Blues George Jackson by Dicks from These People

This week on the show, William and Scott are presenting an interview with Alice and Dolly, who are two people working toward Disability Justice and Mad Activism (among other things), about the prevalence of movement misogyny in antifascist currents, world building as antifascist and as community defense, ways to rethink harmful patterns in movements, and some things we can do to make each other safer. The show initially got in touch with these guests based on a Twitter thread that they co-authored about these issues. Check out our podcast at our website later today for a longer conversation. Transcript Unimposed PDF Imposed PDF (Zine) You can follow Alice on Twitter @gothbotAlice. Further reading Intentional Peer Support (alternative mental health support structure) adrienne maree brown also our recent interview with them Audre Lorde Tema Okun's essay "White Supremacy Culture" Announcement Phone Zap for Rashid from RashidMod.com ​On July 12 Kevin "Rashid" Johnson was transferred from Wabash Valley prison in Indiana to the custody of the Ohio Department of Corrections, being brought directly to their intake center in Orient. He would remain there for less than three weeks before being sent to Lucasville prison on July 30th. ... More details in the actual post, listed above at Rashidmod... For Virginia: #1007485 For Indiana: #264847 For Ohio: #A787991 Demands: 1. 𝘼𝙣 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙨 30 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙡. 2. 𝘼𝙣 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙨 30 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙍𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚. 3. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙇𝙇 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 $400 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙒𝙑𝘾𝙁 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙉 𝘿𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝘾𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨. 𝙄𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩. PHONE NUMBERS AND EMAIL ADDRESSES TO CONTACT: Joseph Walters, Dep. Director VADOC [email protected] (Proxy for Harold W. Clarke, Director of the Department of Corrections) (804)887-7982 James Park, Interstate Compact Administrator [email protected] Annette Chambers-Smith, Director of Ohio Depart of Rehabilitation and Corrections please contact: Melissa Adkins (Executive Assistant) via email: [email protected] 614-752-1153. Ronald Erdos, Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, Warden (Lucasville) (740)259-5544 [email protected] Charlene Burkett, Director DOC Ombudsman Bureau (Indiana) (317) 234-3190 402 W. Washington St. Room W479 Indianapolis, IN 46204 [email protected] Richard Brown, Warden Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, Indiana (812) 398-5050

The city of Asheville likes to make headlines. The Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, or TDA, has been working alongside other tourism industry groups, to make an impression in the minds of people worldwide and entice you to visit this little mountain city with it's big fuck-off estate, the Biltmore, the beautiful mountains for hiking, waterfalls for swimming, artsy and craftsy culture for consuming and rivers of beers for tourists to tube down. But in the last year, Asheville has, once again, let its "crisis in policing" also reach national and international audiences with two New York Times stories (1, 2, which are pay-walled fyi), one reaching the front page, which spoke about a 34% attrition rate of the Asheville Police Department since the George Floyd Uprising and renewed, local efforts to defund or decrease the police in Asheville in favor of social and restorative infrastructure. The article spoke mostly from official viewpoints. According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, to deal with the bad press, the APD hired a public relations firm called ColePro Media for $5,000 a month to shift narratives and bring the veneer of progressive policing back to our fair, "land of the sky." This week, we spoke with local journalist, activist, abolitionist and anarchist, Ursula Wren of the AvlFree.Press about Asheville's "crisis in policing", a brief blooper roll of Asheville police foibles over the last decade, homeless camp evictions, prior and current efforts to restructure public safety, the reactionary business effort to bolster the police with blue ribbons of support, housing issues and other fare. Transcript Unimposed PDF Zine (Imposed PDF) Here are a few links to sites and events mentioned: AVLWatchDog Syndicate Press screen printing collective Zine about why the Asheville police was called in 2020 (Imposed, Unimposed) BlackAVLDemands DefundAVLPD Racial Justice Coalition, Asheville To hear our conversations on struggle against the opioid crisis and overdoses in Western NC, check out our interviews with members of the Steady Collective (2018 & 2020) You can find a transcription of this interview as well as an imposed pamphlet for easy printing in about a week on the blog post for this chat or alongside many of our past episodes at the link TFSR.WTF/zines . You can find ways to stream the lengthier podcast of this and all of our episodes or follow us on social media by visiting TFSR.WTF/links. You can support our ongoing transcription efforts, which get topical and timely anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist and all the other good anti's texts into a format for easier digestion for folks with hearing difficulties, easier mailing into prisons, easier translation as well as searching by search engines by checking becoming a patron at patreon.com/tfsr or making a one time donation or purchasing tshirts, stickers or other merch. More info on that at TFSR.WTF/support. And if you want to hear us up on your local community or college radio station, more info is up at TFSR.WTF/radio. . ... . .. Featured Tracks: The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Burl Ives from The Big Rock Candy Mountain USA by Reagan Youth from A Collection Of Pop Classics

This week, we're excited to (re-)present a 2015 conversation with Saralee Stafford and Neal Shirley, editors and authors of their book out from AK Press entitled "Dixie Be Damned: 300 years of Insurrection in the American South". The book is a study of Maroon, Indigenous, White, Black, worker, farmer, slave, indentured, women and men wrestling against institutions of power for autonomy and self-determination. All of this in a region stereotyped to be backwards, slow, lazy, victimized and brutal. The editors do a smash-bang job of re-framing narratives of revolt by drawing on complex and erased examples of cross-subjectivity struggles and what they can teach us today about current uprisings in which we participate. Transcript Unimposed PDF Zine (Imposed PDF) Throughout the hour we explore some of the examples that became chapters in the book, critiques of narrative histories and academia and what new ways forward might be towards an anarchist historiography. Announcement Benefit for Pepe from DIY-Bandits Asheville-based punk collective called Bandits Never Die, in conjunction with the DIY-Bandits label, is doing an online fundraiser for Pepe, the founder of DIY-Bandits who is doing time in Federal prison. We interviewed Pepe before he went in in 2019, you can find a link in the show notes about his reflections of preparing for prison and what he'd learned about the realities of families of people serving time in the BOP. The benefit is a limited time print of a t-shirt and or poster and 100% of proceeds will go to support Pepe while he's in prison (https://banditsneverdie.bandcamp.com/merch/i-want-to-believe-t-shirt-poster-combo). You can also see Q&A's and some videos of Pepe before he went inside at his blog, https://preparingforfreedom.org Giannis Dimitrakis Anarchist bank robber and prison rebel in Greece is still healing from the attack he suffered at Domokos prison at the hands of guards under the New Democracy administration. G. Dimitrakis was held for a period in solitary confinement after the attack rather than be transported to a hospital to help treat his serious wounds, likely as an attempt to inflict permanent damage or kill the rebel. There is a new letter from Mr Dimitrakis that was kindly translated into English by comrades in Thessaloniki available on June11.org that we invite listeners to check out and will link in our show notes, alongside the original Greek. You can also find his firefund to raise court costs to argue for a quick release for Giannis Dimitrakis at firefund.net/giannis. Our Passion for Freedom is Stronger Than Their Prisons! TFSR Housekeeping As a quick reminder, you can find transcripts of each weekly episode of our show at our website by clicking the Zines tab, as well as on each episode's page. We also have choice past episodes transcribed and available for easier reading, translation, printing and mailing. If you want to support TFSR's transcription work, you can visit TFSR.WTF/support and find a few ways to donate to us, one time or recurring, or by buying stickers or shirts as merch. If you sign up to support us via patreon.com/tfsr you can find thank you gifts as well. Thanks to our transcribers, zinesters and those who support us by sharing us with their communities and on social media. We also air on a dozen or so radio stations around the country, more on how to tune in or how to help us get on more airwaves at TFSR.WTF/radio.

This week we re-air an interview done with Aishah Shahidah Simmons, who is a writer, community organizer, prison abolitionist, and cultural worker who has done just an immense amount of work over the years to help disrupt and end the patterns of sexual abuse and assault within marginalized communities. In this interview we talk about a lot of things, her background and how she came to be doing the work shes doing right now, how better to think about concepts like accountability, what doing this work has been like for her as an out lesbian woman, and about her book Love WITH Accountability, Digging Up the Roots of Childhood Sexual Abuse which was published in 2019 from AK Press. This interview feels very important right now, because we are in a time of overturn, tumult, stress, and uncertainty, and I think that in order for us to really be able to knuckle down and go in this for the long haul itll be imperative for our radical communities to take solid care of ourselves and of each other. I hope you get as much out of hearing Aishah's words as I did conducting and editing this interview. Before we get started, as a content notice: we will be talking about some difficult topics in this interview. I will do my best to repeat this notice at regular intervals, but please do take care and treat yourself kindly (however that looks). Transcript Unimposed PDF Zine (Imposed PDF) To keep up with Aishah, for updates on future projects and more: @lovewithaccountability Instagram @afrolez on Twitter Love WITH Accountability FaceBook page Aishah Shahidah Simmons Cultural Worker FaceBook page To support our guest, in a time where much if not all of her income is in peril: PayPal: to Afro Lez Productions Venmo: @afrolez CashApp: $AfroLez Some more ways you can see our guest's past work: NO! The Rape Documentary, streaming for $1 on her website Queering Sexual Violence: Radical Voices from within the Anti-Violence Movement book that she is in. No Name Book Club where Love WITH Accountability was picked as one of the books for March. https://lovewithaccountability.com And so many more links on her website! . ... . .. Featured Tracks: Philip Glass – Metamorphosis 1 (mixing by William) Clutchy Hopkins – LAUGHING JOCKEY – Story Teller 2012

The collective we spoke to for this episode began as a series of remotely-hosted blogs and communication methods among Iranian anarchists at home and abroad. By 2015 anarchists from Afghanistan had started to join and in 2018 the comrades from within Iran and Afghanistan and those living internationally founded Anarchist Union of Afghanistan and Iran. Since, more individuals and groups have joined up from around North Africa, the middle east and other places in the world and they in 2020 re-organized themselves the Federation of Anarchism Era. Last January, after the assassination by the US Trump administration of the murderous Quds leader Soleymani we spoke with members of the then-named AUAI about the network, living under 19 years of US war and 40 years of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This week, Aryanam, a member of the Federation of Anarchism Era, shares collective answers to some of our questions and a few personal insights to ongoing events in Iran and Afghanistan. He talks about the recent election of Ebrahim Raisi to the Iranian presidency, a man who helped to oversee the death committees that executed thousands of political prisoners, as well what the election of Biden in the US and the two governments agreements on nuclear development and the sanctions the international community is imposing on Iran. You'll hear about the course of covid in Iran, the release of prisoners last year, the outcomes of the 2019 uprisings against the government and those in 2020 after the Iranian government downed a Ukrainian jetliner, as well as viewpoints of members of the FAE in Afghanistan on the Taliban expansion as the US withdraws troops and words of solidarity for many places around the world in revolt against authority. You can read reports by the FAE on their website, asranarshism.com, and keep up by following the project on twitter, fedbook, instagram, youtube and telegram (all listed from their website in the upper left hand corner). Keep an eye out for a fundraiser soon to support survival and defense needs of anarchists in Afghanistan as the Taliban takes back more territory and other initiatives. You can hear our 2020 interview with a member of the Anarchist Union of Afghanistan and Iran on our website, where it is also transcribed. Transcript Unimposed PDF Zine (Imposed PDF) Announcement Week of Solidarity with Abtin Parsa, July 12-19, 2021 As a related announcements, this week the Federation has announced a week of solidarity with queer Iranian anarchist Abtin Parsa from July 12-19th, 2021. Abtin was persecuted by the Iranian government in 2014 for outspoken atheism (a state crime in a theocracy) and anti-state speech, imprisoned for a year and a half at 14 years old. In 2016 he escaped to Greece and was harassed and threatened while abroad by organizations affiliated with the Iranian state. Though given a limited political asylum in Greece, he was arrested multiple times for organizing and protesting, tortured and imprisoned for periods. Abtin was forced to leave Greece and he applied for asylum in Netherlands. In April of this year, Abin Parsa was charged by Dutch police with organizing among immigrants and now faces extradition back to Greece and possible extradition from there (after a prison sentence) to Iran. More on his case and his own words can be found linked in our show notes and on asranarshism.com and the Federation of Anarchism Era's various social media. . ... . .. Featured Track: Opening Theme by The RZA from Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai (Music from the Motion Picture) For Once In My Life (Instrumental) by Stevie Wonder

Joshua Clover is the author of seven books including Riot.Strike.Riot (Verso, 2016), which has been translated into six languages. Scott and Joshua talk about proletarian resistance to the capitalist economy through struggles against circulation of commodities and to fix their prices (riots) and struggles against exploitation and to set the price of wages in the workplace (strikes), how these methods are not as indistinguishable as we are told and the future of struggle against capitalism and extraction, for a new communist world. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Joshua also has the forthcoming book Roadrunner coming from Duke University Press. It's about exactly what you think it's about (but, if you're not familiar with or from Boston, or haven't ever seen a Stop&Shop at midnight from the beltway, it's about placing one particular song from one particular band within a wide and fascinating context. This'll be out in September!) Here are some relevant links from Clover: "I think the best writing on the George Floyd Uprising has been by Idris Robinson, How It Might Should Be Done, and Shemon and Arturo, Theses on the George Floyd Rebellion. I am always trying to get people to read the poetry of Wendy Trevino and Juliana Spahr, both of whom take riots and insurrections as a main topic. Both of the books linked too are free. Speaking of riots, people should always read Gwendolyn Brooks, RIOT. I am always trying to get people to read Red Skin, White Masks by Glen Coulthard, which is a theoretical consideration on Indigenous struggle that eventually arrives at the fact and the logic of land blockades; it was written before Standing Rock. I mentioned the work of Charmaine Chua on logistics, circulation, and decolonial struggle; here's one useful essay. Here is a link to the book I have coming out soon. Here is a link to the Introduction if anyone wants a sample." Announcement Support Uprising Prisoner David Elmakayes, who is being charged because of his participation in last summer's George Floyd uprisings in Philadelphia, needs money to hire a new attorney. Currently, his public defender is trying to get him to snitch on other defendants to benefit his own case and David wants no part of it.

This week, we're featuring two main portions of the show. You'll hear updates from Greek comrades at 1431 AM free social radio in Thessaloniki and Radiozones Of Subversive Expression, 93.8 FM pirate radio in Athens. Both of these were featured on the latest episode of Bad News: Angry Voices from Around The World, available the middle of each month at A-Radio-Network.org. Prior to that, you'll hear anarchist prisoner Xinachtli talk about his life and his case. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) This segment was first aired on TFSR in 2013 and then again in 2015. We thought it was time to share some of the story of Chicanx, anarchist-communist political prisoner Xinachtli, in his own words. Throughout the segments original audio, I used his state name of Alvaro Luna-Hernandez as he had not yet adopted the moniker Xinachtli, which means "seed" in Nahuatl. Xinachtli is a collective member at and editor of the Certain Days political prisoner calendar. Xinachtli is serving a 50 year sentence since 1996 in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for aggravated assault on a Sheriff in Alpine, Texas. The Sheriff was serving a warrant for Xinachtli's re-arreast at Xinachtli's home. When questioned on the nature of the warrant, the Sheriff pulled a gun and Xinachtli was able to disarm him and make an escape without harming the Sheriff significantly. After a few days of man-hunt, his mothers house was surrounded by numerous local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and the house was beseiged. It was only a 9-1-1 call from Xinacthli made stating that he was not being allowed to surrender that caused the troops to stand down and he allowed himself to be taken into state custody. The grounds for the arrest warrant have since been overturned, but based on the post-facto word of the Sheriff that Xinachtli had pointed the gun at him, Xinachtli was sentenced to 50 years. He's been determined to be a political prisoner based on his participation in multiple cases against abuse by prison officials and police, his jailhouse lawyering, advocacy for Latinx and other marginalized people in Texas and his political stance that the US and state governments occupying the Southwest of Turtle Island is a racist and illegitimate regime. Here is featured an interview with Xinachtli that we received from comrades in the Anarchist Black Cross who were doing support work for him. The original interview was incomplete, missing the voice of the interviewer, so we did our best to edit and reconstruct the audio to better fit a conversational format and present his conflicts with the Prison Industrial Complex, his views on his political prisoner status at the time of this interview and his views on his case. More info on his case, plus his writings and ways to get involved in his support campaign can be found at FreeAlvaro.Net. You can write to Xinachtli by addressing your envelope to: Alvaro Luna Hernandez #255735 W.G. McConnell Unit, 3001 Emily Drive, Beeville, Texas 78102 Be sure to use Xinachtli only in written content meant for him, prison staff likely won't deliver envelopes with Xinachtli written on them. . ... . .. Featured track: Cutthroat by Syndrome, editing by William

This week, we air a conversation between Scott and anarchist, author and organizer Cindy Milstein. The conversation is framed around the most recent compilation that Milstein has edited and contributed to, "There Is Nothing So Whole As A Broken Heart: Mending The World As Jewish Anarchists" (AK Press, 2021). During the conversation, they speak about walking through the world as queer, non-binary Jewish anarchists, Palestine and Israel, Milstein finding increasing healing and ritual among diasporic Jewish anarchist and other communities, antisemitism from the right and the left, argumentation and Cindy's relationship with Murray Bookchin and more. [00:10:28 - 01:44:47] Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) And Sean Swain speaks about the recent meeting between Vlad Putin and Joe Biden [00:01:48 - 00:10:26] Announcement BAD News #46 Just to briefly mention, the latest episode of BAD News: Angry Voices From Around The World for June 2021 from the A-Radio Network is now up and downloadable. Hear anarchist perspectives in English from Thessaloniki and Athens in Greece as well as Colombia and Ethiopia! Keep an eye out the middle of each month for the next episode! Thanks for your support! Thanks to the those who support our project! We have a new update on our patreon about prisoner support and the transcriptions. If you want to, you can share us on social media or in person, contact us with show ideas, buy merch, donate or support us on Patreon or Liberapay (more on that at tfsr.wtf/support), or contact your local radio station to get us on the air (more at tfsr.wtf/radio). Your support keeps the episode going, keeps us paywall and paid add free, and the transcriptions rolling. . ... . .. Featured Track: Sun Is Shining by The Upsetters from Soul Revolution Part 2 Dub

One thing that sets anarchism aside from other radical, egalitarian critiques of Power developed in the modern West is the conception of the State as an enemy. But what is the State, how does it work, why and how do we as anti-authoritarians and anarchists oppose it? These questions and more are the focus of the recent book, The Operating System: An Anarchist Theory of the Modern State (AK Press, 2021). This week, we air Scott's conversation with Eric on the book, theorizing the State as computer operating system, the necessity of social revolution prior to a political revolution and other heady topics. Transcript PDF (unimposed) Zine (imposed PDF) You can follow Eric on Twitter (@EricLaursen) and he has written for HuffPost, Z Magazine, In These Times, The Nation, The Village Voice, Counterpunch and The Arkansas Review. He also authored The People's Pension: The Struggle To Defend Social Security Since Reagan and Duty to Stand Aside, The: Nineteen Eighty-Four and the Wartime Quarrel of George Orwell and Alex Comfort as well as Understanding The Crash. The introduction of Operating System was written by Maia Ramnath, a historian and author of Decolonizing Anarchism and Haj to Utopia. . ... . .. Featured Track: Tempted by James Brown from Grits & Soul

June 11th is the international day of solidarity with Marius Mason and all long-term anarchist prisoners. This year we want to explore the connections between long-term prisoner support and anti-repression efforts around recent uprisings, a sharp reminder to us that the difference between a status of imprisoned or not is often tenuous and temporary. With thousands of arrests for protesting, rioting, and property destruction from last summer's George Floyd uprising, we must be preparing for the possibility that more of our friends and other rebels may end up in prison. We're also seeking to find ways to facilitate interactions between our long-term prisoners and uprisings in the streets. Transcript PDF (unimposed) Zine (imposed PDF) We were happy to share the production of this episode with the lovely folks at June11.Org. To this end, we speak with: Cameron and Veera, who are part of a group that have been supporting prisoners from the Ferguson uprising for the last 7 years; Earthworm from Atlanta Solidarity Fund and ATL jail support ; Jeremy Hammond, formerly incarcerated anarchist and hacktivist, and his twin brother, Jason Hammond, who works with the Chicago Community Bond Fund. They produce the podcast, TwinTrouble They share with us their experiences with state repression, what motivates them, and some thoughts on what we can be doing to make us, our communities, and our liberatory movements more resilient. The speakers responded to questions in the same order throughout the conversation but didn't identify themselves much, so remember that the order and the projects they're involved in can be found in our show notes. You can learn more about Marius Mason and how to support him at SupportMariusMason.org. You can see past podcasts by June 11th, prisoner statements, artwork, info about the prisoners supported by the effort, a mix-tape they curated last year and events listed for various cities you can join at June11.org. We're releasing this audio before June 11th to entice folks to consider a potluck, an action, a letter writing event, a banner drop, a postering rampage or something to share the day with folks behind walls. Hear our past June 11 episodes here. You can also hear the June 11th statement for this year alongside other info on prisoner support from comrades at A-Radio Vienna in the May 2021 BadNews podcast! Announcements BRABC Letter Writing Today If you're in Asheville, join Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross today, June 6th for a letter writing from 5-7pm at West Asheville Park on Vermont Ave. BRABC meets every first Sunday at that time, provides info on prisoners with upcoming birthdays or facing repression, stationary, postage and company. Never written a letter? Don't know how to start? Swing by and share some space! Fundraising for Sean Swain Parole Sean Swain is fighting to be paroled after 30 years in prison and 316 podcast segments. You can find more about how to support his efforts here: https://www.anarchistfederation.net/sean-swain-is-up-for-parole/ David Easley needs help Comrade David Easley, A306400 at the Toledo Correctional Institution, who has in previous months been viciously assaulted by prison staff at the direction of the ToCI Warden Harold May, as well as number of other inmates also who have been isolated for torture and other oppressive, covert, and overt retaliatory actions at that facility, denied adequate medical care for speaking out against the cruel, inhumane treatment at that Ohio facility. More and more comrades are reporting occurring throughout the ODRC, and across this country for any who dare stand up and speak up for themselves, and the voiceless within the steel and concrete walls. This is a CALL TO ACTION to zap the phone at the U.S. District Court in Toledo, Ohio and demand that Comrade David Easley be granted a phone conference with Judge James R. Knepp II, and the Attorney General because Comrade Easley's lawyer of record has decided to go rogue by not filing a Memorandum Contra Motion as his client requested and now the State has presented a Motion to Dismiss his case to that court. Plaintiff: David Easley, A306400 Case No: 3:18-CV-02050 Presiding Judge: James R. Knepp II Courtroom Clerk: Jennifer Smith Phone No: (419) 213-5571 Also, reach out to Comrade Easley using the contact info he like many of our would appreciate the concerns, and love from us on the outside to stay the course, and not get discouraged in his Daily Struggle. David Easley #A306400 Toledo CI PO Box 80033 Toledo, OH 43608 Fundraiser for David Anarchist Bank Robber and Prisoner, Giannis Dimitrakis Healing from Attack the following was received from comrades at 1431 AM in Thessaloniki, Greece, a fellow member of the A-Radio Network. We had hoped to feature an interview they would facilitate with Giannis Dimitrakis for June 11th, however you'll see why this hasn't been possible. We hope he heals up quickly and would love to air that interview for the Week of Solidarity with Anarchist

First, you'll hear from Koby Bluitt talking about her father, Leon Benson and his struggle for release after 23 years in prison, 10 of which was in solitary confinement, for a murder charge in 1998 that he has consistently claimed to have not committed. More on Leon at freeleonbenson.org or leonbenson-freeleonbenson on facebook. The Mass Release & Clemency for Leon rally in Indianapolis is July 25th at Tarkington Park. [00:04:44] Then, youll hear from Landis Reyonolds, a founder of IDOC Watch currently held in Westville Correctional Institution and whos been in since he was a juvenile, and Ray, an outside organizer with the South Bend, Indiana chapter of IDOC Watch. They talk about their work to start study groups in prison, promote Prison Lives Matter, support jailhouse lawyers and recruit outside lawyers through the Prison Legal Support Network alongside the NLG and more. More info at IDOCWatch.Org or find them on twitter, instagram or fakebook. You can support them via their patreon as well! [00:38:08] Transcript PDF (unimposed) Zine (imposed PDF) PLSN contact info If you are or know an incarcerated paralegal in IDOC: Please send a letter to: IDOC Watch P.O. Box 3322 South Bend, IN, 46619 or leave us a voicemail at (423) 281-5009 with your name, DOC #, a brief introduction, and legal training/experience. We will contact you by GTL. If you are an abolitionist-minded lawyer, law student, paralegal, or have legal expertise and would like to assist: Email Ray (PLSN outside facilitator) @ [email protected] Prison Lives Matter: Visit us at www.supportprisonlives.org Write to us at PO Box 9383, Chicago IL, 60609 Sean Swain on Texas abortion laws at [01:19:58] Announcements Abolitionist BBQ in Richmond Join abolitionists on June 5th, 2021 at Chimborazo Park from 2-6pm for an Aboliton Assembly & BBQ, hosted by the VA Prison Abolition Collective and Prison Lives Matter. You can find that and more events across Turtle Island at ItsGoingDown's Upcoming Events page. Drop The Charges in PDX The Portland Anti-Repression Defense League, or PADL, is launching a campaign to demand all charges from the 2020 BLM protests get dropped. You can find a link to the press release in the One Year Rebellion post of the IGD column, In Contempt. And you can contact the organizers at [email protected]. International Solidarity with Palestinians Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement and the Muslim-Jewish Anti-Fascist Front have called for weeks of actions in support of the people of Palestine under the title "International Solidarity Is The Weapon of the People." We'd like to remind you that while occupied Palestine is no longer in the news as Hamas and Israel signed a ceasefire: the everyday brutality of the blockade on Gaza has been going since 2007 Israeli courts, cops, military and settlers continue to displace and ethnically cleanse Palestinian Muslims, Jews, Christians, Atheists and others from the occupied territories as they have since the Nakba began the US government ok'd more weapons sales to Israel during this recent assault that left dozens of Palestinian adults and children dead, destroyed water treatment, housing, media, medical and other infrastructure Eric King & CLDC Are Suing BOP The Civil Liberties Defense Center, on behalf of incarcerated antifascist, vegan and anarchist prisoner Eric King has filed a lawsuit about the ongoing cruelty and torture Eric has faced since he was incarcerated in 2014 for an act of sabotage in solidarity with the then-Uprising in Fergusson, MO, after the brutal murder of Mike Brown, Jr, by police. Eric cannot be abandoned or forgotten, notably since he's in the crosshairs of the state and white supremacists for his anti-racist and anarchist views. You can find an announcement of the lawsuit at the CLDC website, you can find a great writeup on the situation by Natasha Leonard on The Intercept, and you can hear our interview with Eric and his partner from 2019 at our website. Skelly of CLE4 In A Halfway House Joshua "Skelly" Stafford, a part of the Cleveland 4, 4 young anarchist men recruited out of Occupy Cleveland and entrapped by a paid FBI informant into a conspiracy, was released to a halfway house recently. We are excited to see Skelly on his way to full release. Keep an ear out for more details and possible ways to support Skelly post-release. . ... . .. If you want to support The Final Straw, our ongoing transcription and spreading of these topics and guests voices, here are a few suggestions: make a onetime donation via paypal or venmo, an ongoing donation via paypal or liberapay, grab some merch on our bigcartel store, all of that can be found at TFSR.WTF/support. You can also become a patreon supporter and receive benefits, more info at patreon.com/tfsr rate us on itunes and other such things, share our podcasts, print our zines and leave them in public places or mail them into prisoners you support, follow us on social media. You can find our social media at TFSR.WT

This week on the show we are pleased to present an interview with María Kamila, who is a teacher and a popular journalist who works with the anarchist Colombian journalism and counter-information collective in Bogotá called Subversión. We originally reached out to talk about the current wave of protests and riots in Colombia, and this interview covers many topics, ranging from a historical contextualization of the current moment, who are on the front lines of the protests, Indigenous solidarity with anarchist accomplices via the Minga – which is a pre-colonial term for collaboration, meeting or communal action – , and many more topics. Much thanks to our comrades at Radio Kurruf, doing anarchist media in the Biobío bio-region of so-called Chile in occupied Wallmapu, for putting us into touch with Subversión. Transcript PDF (unimposed) Zine (imposed PDF) Paypal donations for supporting frontline protestors: [email protected] Social media: Instagram: @subversion_cc Twitter: @ccsubversion_ Further reading and research topics: [00:20:00] min Mention of Carlos Pizarro Leongómez of 19th April Movement, assassinated Guerrillero [00:24:00] minutes Minister of Finance Alberto Carrasquilla Barrera who was forced to resign [00:28:00] minutes Guarda de Cauca , an ongoing struggle of Indigenous people fighting for land sovereignty [00:40:00] minutes: Minga (or Minka), Indigenous, pre-colonial term for collaboration, meeting or communal action Good articles in English: "Colombia Has Lost It's Fear" by CrimethInc (2021-10-5) "National Strike in Colombia" by AMW (2021-10-17) "Instead We Became Millions" by CrimethInc (2021-10-20) . ... . .. Featured Tracks: Talkin : Indie Punk Rock Instrumental - Morgan Matthews, edited by William Cuerpos de Paz - CHAOSTRECORDS

This week on the show, we're airing a portion of our 2018 interview with filmmaker and activist Yousef Natsha about his film about his hometown, Hebron, and the Israeli occupation of Palestine. We invite you to check out our full interview with him from March 25, 2018, linked in our show notes and we're choosing to air this right now because of the flare up in violent evictions, home destruction and the assassination of around 100 Palestinian residents of Gaza by the "Israeli Defense Forces". Podcast image by Yousef Natsha. [00:10:24] Then, we'll be sharing a panel from the 2021 UNC Queer Studies Conference called "No Blank Slates: A Discussion of Utopia, Queer Identity, and Settler Colonialism" featuring occasional Final Straw host, Scott Bransen alongside E. Ornelas and Kai Rajala. This audio first aired on Queercorps, on CKUT radio in Montreal. If you'd like to engage in this project, reach out to [email protected] [00:24:05] Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Also, Sean Swain on aparthied [00:01:48] No Blank Slates: A Discussion of Utopia, Queer Identity, and Settler Colonialism Presenter(s) Scott Branson, E Ornelas, Kai Rajala Abstract Under the neoliberal regime of multiculturalism, the settler colonial project has relied on the assimilation of certain subaltern communities into its project for the effective dispossession and control of indigenous lands. This discussion will present ideas from a book project we are collaborating on in order to invite conversation around the intersection and tension around ideas of liberation and forms of appropriation and oppression. Our main challenge for radical queers is to rethink the kinds of futures we try to include ourselves in, and how our liberatory work can subtly replay exclusion and erasure. How do neoliberal utopian gay politics perpetuate settler colonial erasure and genocide? How do politics that seek inclusion and representation--in other words assimilation--disavow the work by indigenous self-determination movements, which are also poised on the frontlines of planetary self-defense? The workshop will be divided up into short presentations by each writer, followed by a structured discussion facilitated by the presenters. Description: The utopian project that underwrote the Canadian/American settler colonial states that still exist today was eventually transmuted into a neoliberal utopian sense of identity. The entire concept of space and self that we inherit is imbued with utopian longing for a time and place that we can fully be ourselves. This kind of rhetoric is largely at play in mainstream identity-based movements, like gay rights. But this longing often works in favor of the regime of violence and dominance perpetrated by the modern nation state. We can see how the attempt at inclusive representation of queer cultures leads to assimilation and appropriation. What gets included in regimes of representation ends up mimicking the norms of straight/cisgender heteronormativity, in terms of class aspirations, behaviors, and family structures. This therefore contributes to systematic erasure of Black and Brown queer folks, who are still the most targeted "identities" for state violence and its civilian deputies. With images of diversity that appeal to bourgeois urban gays, businesses and governments can pinkwash their violence. A radical queer politics that relies on unquestioned utopian and dystopian visions risks aligning itself with a settler colonial imaginary of terra nullius or "blank slate" space. On the one hand, dystopian and apocalyptic visions perpetuate the unquestioned assumption that a societal collapse is impending, as if the continual degradation of human and more-than-human communities has not already arrived. Particularly dangerous in this assumption is the kind of crisis rhetoric that fosters opportunities for settler colonial sentiments of insecurity and, in the face of this insecurity, assertions of belonging and sovereignty in land and lifeways. Furthermore, visions of radical utopias as-yet-to-be-realized (or, as-yet-to-be-colonized) discount the ongoing presence of Indigenous alternatives to the current settler colonial dystopian reality, and instead preserves a view of geographic and social space as blank and ready to be "improved" with a "new" model. Here we have a problem of erasure of the oppressions and resistances that have been ongoing in different iterations, in favor of the blank space of the utopian frontier. We argue against these linear progression narratives of societal and environmental collapse which promise to bring about a future idealized world of rainbow-diverse identities. Instead, we propose ways for radical politics, particularly those espoused by non-Indigenous people, to disavow such settler colonial mindsets. There are a few ways to offer a glimpse into the lived realities—what we might still call utopian moments—that make up the non-alienated, revolutionary life: queer and indigenous h

This week, we present a conversation with Shane Burley, author of the new AK Press book, "Why We Fight: Essays on Fascism, Resistance, and Surviving the Apocalypse". For the hour, we speak about the contents of the book, anti-fascism, toxic masculinity, pushing racists and fascists out of cultural space, antisemitism (including in the left), conspiricism, right wing publishing and other topics. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Bursts references a couple of podcasts at various points: Black Autonomy Podcast: Black Anti-Fascism And Armed Self-Defense 12 Rules For What #36: Antifascist RPGs and Nerd Cultures w/ Postcards from Cable Street You can find Shane's writings at shaneburley.org, support them and get regular articles on patreon.com/shaneburley or find them on twitter at @Shane_Burley1 David Easley Fundraiser Friend of the pod and prison organizer David Easley could use some support and someone's collecting money to help him out. You can find more at gf.me/u/zscmgw . ... . .. Featured tracks: Viva Boma by Cos on Funky Chicken: Belgian Grooves from The 70's Andy is a Corporatist by Newtown Neurotics from Kick Out!

This week, you'll hear Scott's chat with Max Fox, editor of the late Christopher Chitty's book, "Sexual Hegemony: Statecraft, Sodomy and Capital in the Rise of the World System", published by Duke University Press in 2020. Max Fox is an editor of Pinko Magazine, a former editor of New Inquiry Magazine and translator of Guy Hocquinguem's novel "The Ampitheatre of the Dead". You can find Max on twitter at @mxwfx. Christopher Chitty was a phd candidate in the History of Consciousness at the University of Califronia, Santa Cruz. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) For the hour they spoke on the failures of Gay Liberation, connections between sexual identity, class and the state and how sexuality ties into current liberation movements. Some of the thinkers mentioned during the chat include Silvia Federici, Karl Marx, Guy Hocquenghem, Michel Foucault, Samuel R. Delaney and Giovanni Arrighi. Fox also notes that workers at the publisher, Duke University Press, are currently struggling to unionize. You can find out more about that struggle at DUPWorkersUnion.orgj Announcements Oso Blanco Postcards Revolutionary, Indigenous political prisoner, Oso Blanco, is marketing the first in a series of full-color postcards based on his paintings to fund-raise for children's schools in Zapatista territories and Turtle Island. More at BurningBooks.com Certain Days Calendar Call-Up The Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar collective (CertainDays.org) will be releasing our 21st calendar this coming autumn. The 2022 theme is "Creating a New World in the Shell of the Old," looking at collective approaches at creating a more inclusive and fulfilling world through mutual effort. Read the invitation up at their website! . ... . .. Featured Track: Punks Instrumental by Odd Nosdam from Kenny Dennis LP Instumentals Soul Silhouette (instrumental) by Funky DL

This week we are very happy to present an interview with Pranav Jeevan P, who is a student, a writer, an anti-caste activist, and an Indian anarchist living in the state of Kerala. You are listening to the full extended audio from this conversation, where you'll hear Pranav explaining how he got into anarchism, how anarchistic praxis unfolds in India, some about the origins of and worldwide implications of the caste system, anti-caste organizing and how anarchism feeds it, and about how the BJP and Hindutva have real influence on people's lives and destinies. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) He further touches on the struggle of Dalit and Other Backwards Caste folks and how this tendency has always had solidarity with Black liberation here on Turtle Island, much more information about the anti-CAA protest and the Farmer's Protest, a little bit about the ongoing military occupation of the state of Kashmir, and many more topics. There is already a lot of really good anti-caste hip hop out there, mostly performed by those in oppressed castes, and I'll be including a bunch of those tracks which have been recommended by our guest, plus providing links in the show notes. There are a lot of terms in this episode which may be unfamiliar to all listeners, and we warmly invite folks to take a look at our show notes for this episode to see links for further reading and research. Please also look forward in the coming week to this show being transcribed in full, if you would like a copy to send to a friend or to read along while listening. Send Solidarity while India fights the pandemic! Also you may have heard that covid is spreading out of control in India right now, in no small part due to government mismanagement. Please also take a look at this ongoing list of donations compiled by the group Students Against Hidutva Ideology. You can follow this group on Twitter @Students_A_H to see their updates and events. You can also follow India Solidarity Network on Instagram for updates on COVID in India. We will link to a form for mental healthcare workers to donate their time and services to Indian frontline healthcare workers, who are really struggling right now. All that plus links from our guest (including how to follow him on social media) and more can be seen at thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org or in the show notes. You Are the Resistance, Words from Anarchist prisoner Sean Swain: Please be aware that in this segment, Sean speaks about the Derek Chauvin trial and the murder of people at the hands of police. If you would prefer to skip this subject matter, you can skip forward about 8 and a half minutes. This segment occurs at the end of the interview. Pranav's social media links: Instagram Twitter Facebook Links to articles by Pranav Jeevan P: Liberty without Equality is Privilege and Injustice, Equality without Liberty is Slavery and Brutality Annihilation of Caste: Can an Anarchist Perspective Work? Ruling Class' Stupidity and Privilege Re-Imagining Justice: From Punitive to Transformative Begumpura: The Anarchist Commune Anarchism, Mutual Aid, and Self-Organization: From the George Floyd Uprising to India's Farmer Rebellion Okupa Cuba Casa Refugio: The Shaheen Bagh of Mexico Mutual Aid and Self-Organization in Anti-CAA and Farmers' Protests Myth of Brahmin Merit: Refutation of Superiority Incomplete list of people and topics mentioned by our guest, for further reading: Kerala state Anti-CAA Protests (Citizenship Amendment Act passed 19 December 2020) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Dalit professor and author of the current Indian constitution Har Dayal, mentioned as someone who was an Indian anarchist in the Freedom Movement MPT Acharya another Indian anarchist who organized abroad Shaheen Bagh Protests led by Muslim and oppressed caste women Jyotiba Phule, anti caste and education-for-all organizing in Maharashtra in the late 1800's Periyar anti caste organizing in Tamil Nadu in the early-mid 1900's OBC: Other Backwards Castes Cisco caste case, California based lawsuit of a Dalit worker against their privileged caste employers Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, current Hindu nationalist dominant political party in India) BJP politician promotes drinking cow urine to fight covid Hindutva the far right, nationalist, and classically fascist ideology of the BJP, the RSS, and the VHP the Dalit Panther Party was explicitly allied with the Black Panther Party through the Black Panther newspaper Dalit Lives Matter Muslim Lives Matter Delhi Pogrom Mohenjo-daro first known instance of (for example) indoor plumbing in this ancient Indus Valley city UAPA (Prevention of Atrocities Act in Kashmir) NSA (National Security Act in Kashmir) Article 35 in Kashmir Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) . ... . .. Featured Tracks: "Karma" Indian rap beat by Maxxbeats (intro music) (00:30:41) Enjoy Enjaami – Dhee ft. Arivu (Prod. Santhosh Narayanan) (00:45:48) Ladai Seekh Le - Sumeet Samos August 2018 (ends track by saying Jai Bhim, which is to

Veronza Bowers, Jr: 47 Years of Justice Denied This week, we're airing a conversation recorded by Eda Levinson on September 12th, 2002, with political prisoner Veronza Bowers, Jr. It originally aired on Youth Speaks Out on KZYX in Modesto County, California, and we re-air this with permission of Veronza and the current producer of the Youth Speaks Out. The show continues to produce youth focused and progressive content available at YouthSpeaksOut.net. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) For the hour, you'll hear former Black Panther Party member Veronza describe to the audience in his own words his upbringing, his experiences of racism, his time in prison, his case, his views on the burgeoning War on Terror, and the situation of political prisoners in the US. You'll also hear some recordings of Veronza playing the shakuhachi bamboo flute. Veronza was convicted of the death of a US Park Ranger on the word of two prison informants who were paid and received reduced sentences. Veronza continues to claim his innocence and he has been illegally held beyond his mandatory release date of June 21, 2005, based on political pressure by GW Bush appointed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales apparently on behalf of the Association of National Park Rangers, the widow of the dead ranger and the Fraternal Order of Police. The conversation is very much a product of it's time, for instance the discussion of the implications of the one year anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Sadly there is a timelessness in their discussion of the brutal war against the people of Afghanistan as well as the continued incarceration of Veronza, Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier, alongside many other long term, leftist and liberation political prisoners held by the US government. Currently, the Biden administration is discussing some sort of pull out of US troops from Afghanistan on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, in the last year we've seen the deaths due to medical neglect and decades of incarceration for political prisoners like Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald, deaths right after release like Delbert Africa, and the endangering of aging political prisoners in their 70's and 80's who've had bouts with covid and cancers inside like Sundiata Acoli, Dr Mutulu Shakur and Russell "Maroon" Shoatz. Veronza was successfully treated for lymphoma and pneumonia in 2017 and 2018, having hip surgery in 2019 but his death by incarceration only looms a larger possibility day by day. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) He is currently being held at FCI Butner in North Carolina and can be written at: Veronza Bowers, Jr. ##35316-136 FCI Butner Medium II P.O. Box 1500 Butner, NC 27509 You can learn more about his case as well as see pictures of Veronza and loved ones, read his writings, poetry and interviews at Veronza.Org. Some of this is also available by viewing his page on PrisonerSolidarity.Com and you can read many articles about his situation on the SFBayView.com. Other Veronza Audio Recordings These are a collection of audio recordings of spoken word and musical pieces featuring Veronza Bowers, Jr, political prisoner since 1974 and former Black Panther Party member in the US. These are being posted with the permission of Veronza and we hope to have them more available for streaming in the future. Healing Heart is performed by Jah Roots (a band of imprisoned musicians featuring Veronza on shatuhachi bamboo flute) Birthing Song is performed by Veronza Bowers, Jr, on shatuhachi flute with overlaid ocean sounds Song for Alexis is performed by Jah Roots (a band of imprisoned musicians featuring Veronza on shatuhachi bamboo flute) To Touch the Spirit is performed by Jah Roots (a band of imprisoned musicians featuring Veronza on shatuhachi bamboo flute) Eulogy was recorded by Veronza "Butch" Bowers, Jr, in memory of his Mama's passing. As Veronza was unable to participate in his mothers funeral so with the allowance of the then-Warden at USP Coleman, alongside comrades Rev. "One Love" and another comrade,Siakatame "Mountain Heart" Hafoka, the three speak their goodbyes to Dorothy Woodruff and Veronza performs poetry and music in his mother's memory and family. Sean Swain talks about the FBI [01:05:16] :D Announcements BadNews #44 Out! The A-Radio Network has released the 44th monthly episode of our Angry Voices From Around The World, English-language podcast. Check it out! Updates from Bristol & the wider UK, Mare Liberum about resisting deadly anti-refugee practices in the Mediterranean, hunger striking anarchists and prisoners of the Uprising in Chile, interview with a Myanmar Food Not Bombs activist, the student movement and trial of the anarchist Vaggelis Stathopoulos from Greece, anti-dam resistance in Aragon (Spain), and notes on repression and struggle against the state in Greece! All Out for Mumia's Birthday It's notable also, that Mumia Abu-Jamal, prolific author and journalist, form

This is a conversation with Geoff Aung (@Rgnhardliner on twitter), a Burmese American Marxist anthropology Phd candidate at Columbia University living abroad, about the current uprising, repression and revolutionary potentials in Myanmar. We discuss the evolution of tactics on the ground as revolutionaries adapt to the brutal murders of protesters by the state. Geoff also talks about the ways in which this movement is different from similar current movements in Asia and some of the historical context of struggle in Myanmar. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) The host, John, wishes they'd had more time to dig into further questions. There are some links below of news sources and articles on the struggle in Myanmar. For further anaylsis from Geoff Aung, please refer to the below articles as well as his twitter. Geoff's latest articles on the subject: https://nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/dead-generations/ https://spectrejournal.com/keep-the-streets-coup-crisis-and-capitalism-in-myanmar/ https://chuangcn.org/2021/02/until-the-end-of-the-world-notes-on-a-coup/ Some good sources for news on Myanmar: myanmar-now.org https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/ irrawaddy.com https://aappb.org/ https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/like-karaoke-fascism-all-over-again-the-military-coup-in-myanmar-and-the-global-rise-of-the-far-right/ Some interesting contextual podcasts on Myanmar/Burma from "The Arts of Travel" podcast: Chu May Paing: On the Feminism & Feminists of Myanmar's Freedom Struggle Geoff Aung: On The Capitalist Dreamworlds and Nightmares of Myanmar Ways to show solidarity from abroad include: focus on companies internationally doing business with the Burmese Military Junta: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56133766 Show attention to Myanmar government offices in North American cities US:DC, NYC and LA Canada: Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver Mexico: DF Donations to the movement in Myanmar https://www.isupportmyanmar.com but be aware that when the regime shuts down the internet it makes it impossible to get money and it has been difficult getting money there. Announcements Support Zolo Azania Organizer and former Black Liberation political prisoner Zolo Agona Azania has been fundraising for assistance in these hard times and could use some love. If you have some extra money you'd care to offer up, you can send it via cashapp to $ZoloAzania5. You can hear our interview with Zolo from some years back as well. Michael Kimble Shirts Also, we've still got Small, Medium and Large shirts designed by anarchist prisoner Michael Kimble. They feature the logo of Fire Ant Journal, to which he's a contributor. The shirt sales go to benefit Michael and can be found at TheFinalStrawRadio.BigCartel.Com alongside our merch. You can also hear our interviews with Michael (1 & 2) and with Fire Ant Journal. Support Anti-Fascist Projects Pressured off of Patreon The awesome "This Week In Fascism" column up on ItsGoingDown and working on producing a regular podcast has been deplatformed by Patreon due to the efforts of members of the far right street gang The Proud Boys. You can support this project now via the independent platform Liberapay, where you can make the recurring donation that suits you. Also, Patreon has kicked off Colorado Springs Antifascists who were pressing the platform on why they were continuing to allow fascist youtubers "Way of the World" to continue fundraising on the platform. You can ask Patreon why they're aiding and abetting white nationalists by contacting their support and social media sites. . ... . .. Featured Tracks: Dust In The Wind by Kansas The Night Will Not be Silenced by Cacelorazo (members of Yangon punk bands The Rebel Riot, Kultureshock, The Outcast, The Slingshot and other international bands), mixed by Joe Clayton. Kabar Ma Kyay Bu (We Won't Be Satisfied Until the End of the World) composed by Niang Myanmar

This week on the show, we bring you the audio of an activist panel from the recent Queer Conference held online by University of North Carolina, Asheville, in March of 2021. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) The conference was titled Fitting In and Sticking Out – Queer [In]Visibilities and the Perils of Inclusion. From the panel's description for the conference: This panel brings together 4 local (Asheville, NC) and regional groups working at different intersections of queer community support. We will learn about the work these groups do, the particular issues that affect southern queers, the changes in visibility and inclusion for queer community, and the building of larger coalitions of liberation. Representatives from four organizations will be part of the panel: Youth OUTright (YO) is the only nonprofit whose mission is to support LGBTQIA+ youth from ages 11-20 in western North Carolina. Learn more about their work on their website, and support them financially here. Southerners on New Ground (SONG) is a nonprofit aimed at working towards LGBTQ liberation in the south. Find out more about their work on their website, and support them financially here. Tranzmission Prison Project (TPP) is a prison abolition grassroots organization that provides literature and resources to incarcerated members of the LGBTQ community. Learn more about their work on their website and donate here. Pansy Collective is a decentralized, DIY, queer, music and arts collective that created Pansy Fest, an annual queer music festival showcasing LGBTQ musicians from the south and rural areas, prioritizing reparations for QTBIPOC artists and community members, and community education and organizing around the principles of autonomy, mutual aid, antifascism, love, and liberation for all. Learn more about their work on their website, or donate here. Announcements: Phone Zap for Florida Prisoners in Mandatory Toxic Evacuation Site From Florida Prisoner Solidarity on Twitter and Instagram: Over 2,000 prisoners in Florida are trapped inside an evacuation zone less than a mile from a retention pond that is in imminent danger of failing, sending 800 million gallons of acidic radioactive waste water flooding over the local area. According to Deputies, the local jail has no plans or intentions to evacuate prisoners. Please CALL AND SHARE NOW demanding the safe evacuation of all prisoners at the Manatee County Jail. Sheriff Rick Wells 941-747-3011 ext. 2222 [email protected] Twitter- @ManateeSheriff Central jail information 941-723-3011 Ext. 2915 County Commission 941-745-3700 EMAIL FOR ENTIRE COMMISSION: tinyurl.com/EmailAllCommissioners Emergency Management 941-749-3500 [email protected] Twitter- @MCGPublicSafety . ... . .. Featured tracks: Let Me Be The One You Need (instrumental) by Bill Withers from Managerie Mah Nà Mah Nà by Piero Umiliani

This week on the show, I spoke with Comrade Chux, a member of Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. JLS is an autonomous network of incarcerated activists from across the so-called US. They have been engaged in organizing and calling for the 2016 & 2018 Nationwide Prison Strike activities. Chux and I chat about the call for this year for folks on the outside to engage for Abolition on August 21 and September 9th, we talk about Abolition, Black August and other topics. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) You can learn more by following JLS on Twitter and Instagram or checking out their website, Jailhouse Lawyer Speak, lawyer is singular in this, dot wordpress dot com. You can also find out there about their fundraising, the JLS Mothers Day fundraising effort through Blackstone Career Institute to sponsor paralegal courses for people in Women's Prisons, prisoners they're supporting and more. Also, another podcast that was a great listen with JLS members speaking about the strike, other initiatives and realities of incarceration, check out this Millenials Are Killing Capitalism. Chux mentions: Reverand Joy Powell, incarcerated Black feminist activist and political prisoner in the interview. You can learn more about her at FreeJoyPowell.Org. They also mentioned the firing of Garrett Felber from UM, author of "Those Who Know Don't Say:The Nation of Islam, the Black Freedom Movement and the Carceral State," for his pro-Black Liberation, abolitionist twitter comments criticizing university ties to racists and stymieing efforts to fund an inside / outside abolitionist study program called Study and Struggle. Some Outside Anti-Prison and Abolitionist Groups Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement Critical Resistance Oakland Abolition and Solidarity Florida Prisoner Solidarity Anarchist Black Cross Federation and unaffiliated crews exist, too numerous to name Fight Toxic Prisons Amend The 13th Comrade Chux also mentions Amend The 13th. From JLS's website: "Amend the 13th: Abolish 'Legal' Slavery in Amerika Movement" is an all-inclusive, coalition-based national campaign and community-based organizing effort which is determined to remove the "legal" and social basis for the dehumanization of those subject to the judicial machinery of the United States – and finally abolish slavery in Amerika once and for all. " More can be found at AmendThe13th.org. 1 Million Families for Parole, April 3rd Another prisoner initiatives similar to JLS that have been mentioned and supported by the group that are worth checking out include the National Freedom Movement, which is calling for an April 3rd "1 Million Families for Parole" rally across the country to extend the following demands: We demand that federal parole be immediately reinstated. We demand the creation of a mandatory parole criteria and curriculum based on the specific educational, rehabilitative and re-entry needs of every parole-eligible person. You can learn more by reading SF Bay View's story authored by Bennu Hannibal Ra-Sun, or more about National Freedom Movement by listening to or reading our interview with Mr Ra-Sun from January, 2021. Sean Swain on Dimitris Koufantinas Sean speaks about supporting Dimitris Koufantinas, prisoner from the 17 November group in Greece who just ended a hunger strike. You can read a translation of his statement ending his hunger strike at EnoughIsEnough14.org. To hear an insightful interview by a comrade in Greece and another in the diasporic Greek community about the situation with Koufantinas and the aftermath of his hunger strike, check out episode #254 of Dissident Island Radio. Announcements Love Zap for Comrade Z There's a weekly call-in to support incarcerated anarchist, Julio "Comrade Z" Zuniga at Darrington Unit in Texas. Supporters are invited to call the Prison Show on KPFT radio in Houston at 713 526 5738 Mondays after 9:30pm CST to give a shoutout to E-Line and B-Line Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee members standing in solidarity with Comrade Z and all of the incarcerated folks at Darrington. There's an image in our show notes for social media, suggesting to keep the message short and sweet, under 15 seconds. You can find our interview with Z on our website, as well as his writings at Mongoose Distro and #Prisons Kill as well as this just published on AbolitionistMediaWorldwide. You can find our interview with Z on our website, as well as his writings at Mongoose Distro and #Prisons Kill as well as this just published on AbolitionistMediaWorldwide. Bring Sundiata Acoli Home There is a currently a petition circulating to press the governor of New Jersey, Phil Murhpy, to grant release for elder Black Liberation political prisoner Sundiata Acoli who is 84 years old and has contracted Covid-19. At his advanced age, Sundiata has developed dementia and has ailing health and is not a threat to anyone. He should be allowed to live out his days outside of prison walls with family and c

It's been nearly half a decade since thousands of indigenous water and land defenders and their accomplices and allies weathered a difficult winter and attacks by law enforcement and private security attempting to push through the Dakota Access Pipeline through so-called North Dakota. The DAPL was eventually built and has already, unsurprisingly damaged the lands, waters and sacred sites of the Standing Rock Sioux and other people native to the area. Resistance has also continued to this and other extractions and pipeline projects across Turtle Island and the defense against DAPL surely inspired and fed many other points of opposition in defense of the earth and native sovereignty. On one night in November, 2016, as government goons leveled fire hoses and "less-lethal" armaments at water defenders in freezing temperatures, Sophia Wilansky suffered an injury from an explosion that nearly took her arm. An Indigenous and Chicano former employee of another pipeline project named Steve Martinez volunteered to drive Sophia to the hospital in Bismark. For this, he was subpoenaed to a Federal Grand Jury, which he refused to participate in. Now, almost 4 and a half years later, Steve is being imprisoned for resisting another FGJ in Bismark. For the hour, we hear from Chava Shapiro with the Tucson Anti-Repression Committee and James Clark, a lawyer who works with the National Lawyers Guild, talk about Steve's case, the dangers of Grand Juries, and why it's imperative for movements to support their incarcerated comrades. More info on the case and ways you can support Steve, plus more info on Grand Juries can be found at SupportSteveMartinez.com and you can also follow the campaign on Twitter via @SupportSteveNow, Instagram via @SupportSteveMartinez and donate at his GoFundMe. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) . ... . .. Featured Track: Deep Cover (instrumental) by Dr Dre

This week, we spoke with Anner, an Ethiopian member of Horn Anarchists, an anarchist group based in east Africa, particularly in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian diaspora. The group has been around for about a year and hopes to organize and spread anarchist ideas and organizing in the horn of Africa. Horn anarchists is a newer group planning to do work with refugees and introduce anarchist ideas to east Africa. For the hour, Anner talks about the group, the history of post-Junta Ethiopa, the context of the ongoing armed conflict in Tigray, the fighting factions and the displacement and violence suffered by residents of the region as well as the ethnic hatred against Tigrayans by the government of Abi Ahmed and his Prosperity Party. You can hear more perspectives from Horn Anarchists by checking out @HornAnarchists on twitter or visiting their website, HornAnarchists.NoBlogs.Org, which is mostly in Amharic and Tigrayan but readable in English via online translation services. *** There is a content warning from 48:58 until 51:01 of discussion of sexual violence in the conflict. *** Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Links from Anner: tghat.com is a good source of news from Tigray as well Dengelat Massacre https://twitter.com/katie_polglase/status/1365442094790279170 Axum Massacre: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/02/ethiopia-eritrean-troops-massacre-of-hundreds-of-axum-civilians-may-amount-to-crime-against-humanity/ Ethnic Cleansing: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/world/middleeast/ethiopia-tigray-ethnic-cleansing.html Ethiopia Map on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MapEthiopia . ... . .. Featured Tracks: Tium Zena by Solomon Bayre, a Tigrigna song Askari by Awate (a song about African conscripts fighting for colonial powers)

This week we are re-airing a conversation that Bursts had last year with Aric McBay, who is an anarchist, organizer, farmer, and author about his most recent book called Full Spectrum Resistance published by Seven Stories Press in May 2019. This book is divided into 2 volumes, and from the books website [fullspectrumresistance.org]: "Volume 1: Building movements and fighting to win, explores how movements approach political struggle, recruit members, and structure themselves to get things done and be safe. Volume 2: Actions and strategies for change, lays out how movements develop critical capacities (from intelligence to logistics), and how they plan and carry out successful actions and campaigns." This interview covers a lot of ground, with topics that could be of use to folks newer to movement and ones who have been struggling and building for a while. McBay also talks at length about the somewhat infamous formation Deep Green Resistance, some of its history, and tendencies within that group that led him to break with them. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Links to Indigenous and Migrant led projects for sovereignty and climate justice, and some for further research: Wet'suwet'en Strong, which includes extensive educational material on allyship, racism, settler colonialism, and decolonization. Interview on TFS with Smogelgem, a Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chief of the Likhts'amisyu clan, on ongoing struggles against pipelines and moves to create a Wet'suwet'en lead climate change research facility on their lands at Parrot Lake. Indigenous Environmental Network [ienearth.org] Migrant Rights Network [migrantrights.ca/about] Igniting a Revolution, Voices in Defense of the Earth [akpress.org/ignitingarevolutionak.html] eds. Steven Best & Anthony J. Nocella, II Judi Bari, Revolutionary Ecology [judibari.org/revolutionary-ecology.html] Links for more reading from Aric McBay: fullspectrumresistance.org aricmcbay.org Aric McBay on Facebook (search "Aric McBay Author") Announcements Xinachtli Parole Letters Chicano anarchist communist prisoner, Xinachtli, fka Alvaro Luna Hernandez, has an upcoming parole bid and is hoping to receive letters of support. Xinacthli has been imprisoned since 1997 on a 50 year bid for the weaponless disarming a sheriff's deputy who drew a pistol on him at his home. The last 19 years of his incarceration have been in solitary confinement. Details on writing him letters and where to send them can be found at his new support site, FreeAlvaro.Net, as well as his writings and more about him. He is also one of the main editors of the Certain Days political prisoner calendar, author and a renowned jailhouse lawyer. Parole support letters are requested no later than March 20th, 2021. Mumia has Covid-19 It was announced last week that incarcerated educator, broadcaster, author, revolutionary and jailhouse lawyer Mumia Abu-Jamal has been experiencing congestive heart failure and tested positive for covid-19. There are actions scheduled in Philadelphia before the airing of this broadcast, but you can find more info and ways to plug in at FreeMumia.Com Transcription, Zines, Support... Thanks to the folks who've been supporting this project in various ways. You can pick up merch or make donation that support our transcription work with the info at TFSR.WTF/Support. Our transcripts are out a week or so after broadcast and we're slowly starting to transcribe older episodes. Zines can be found at TFSR.WTF/Zines for easy printing and sharing. You can find our social media and ways to stream us at TFSR.WTF/links and learn how to get us broadcasting on more radio stations at TFSR.WTF/radio! Thanks! . ... . .. Featured Tracks: kidsnextdoor – Carmack Stackin That Brass (Creative Commons) Fennec Beats – I just feel sometimes (Creative Commons) (loop created by William) Angels Sing by Apollo Brown from Trophies U.N.I.Verse at War by The Roots from Instrumentals Album

In Defense of Looting with Vicky Osterweil This week we are getting the chance to air a conversation that we had with writer, anarchist, and agitator Vicky Osterweil about her recently published book In Defense of Looting, a Riotous History of Uncivil Action published (Bold Type Press, August 2020). We get to talk about a lot of different topics in this interview, how the book emerged from a zine written in the middle of the Ferguson Uprising of the summer of 2014, its reception by the far right and by comrades, her process in deciding what to include in this book, the etymology of the word "loot" and ensuing implications thereof, why you should totally transition if that's the right thing for you to do, and many more topics! Transcription PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Links to more work by Vicky Osterweil: In Defense of Looting zine, published August 2014 on New Inquiry Stealing Away in America, a coversation with Vicky Osterweil by Zoé Samudzi pdf verision Vicky Osterweil on Twitter Cerise and Vicky on Twitter, podcast page and soundcloud Announcements Dimitris Koufontinas Hunger Strike Dimitris Koufontinas, a political prisoner of about 30 years in Greece and member of the Novemeber 17 movement that struggled against the Greek capitalist state for decades has been on hunger strike for roughly 53 days and is in danger of dying. His hunger strike is in part in protest over being transferred to a more intense prison, Domokos, despite reforms in the penal code stating he should be sent to Korydallos prison in Athens. No doubt this decision is based in part on the grudge of the reactionary current Greek regime, New Democracy, which suffered the 1989 assassination of then-Prime Minister Bakoyannis at the hands of N17. Solidarity actions have spread across the world. An easy place to keep up and get some inspiration in English is at Enough Is Enough, linked in our shownotes. Malik rally in SF On March 7 from 12-2pm at 111 Taylor St in San Francisco, there'll be a rally in support of SF Bay View National Black Newspaper Editor Comrade Malik. Malik is currently suffering punishment at the hands of the private prison corporation, Geo Group, which runs the half-way house he's remanded to at the end of his federal sentence. Geo Group has silenced Malik not only as a human speaking out about an outbreak of Covid-19 at the halfway house, but also as a journalist who has had his work phone taken away and threatened him with a return to prison. You can make donations and learn more at linktr.ee/FreeMalik Political Prisoner Letter Writing Sunday, March 7th in West Asheville Park, Blue Ridge ABC will be hosting a political prisoner letter writing event from 5-6:30pm. They'll provide postage, names and addresses as well as stationary for those who want to come by and write to political prisoners with upcoming birthdays or prison rebels facing repression. A little letter goes a long way. Support Thanks again to all of the folks supporting this project in various ways. We're about to send out our second batch of zines to patreon supporters and have been building our transcriptions and zine formatting thanks to diligent work of comrades. You can learn more about supporting us monetarily by visiting TFSR.WTF/Support, we invite you to send zines of our conversations available roughly a week after broadcast at TFSR.WTF/ Zines, you can share us on social media with more info at TFSR.WTF/Social and learn about how to help spread these ideas on more radio stations by visiting TFSR.WTF/Radio. Fire Ant T-Shirt Benefit A quick reminder, we're still selling Fire Ant Journal T-Shirts to benefit anarchist prisoner Michael Kimble, which can be found at thefinasltrawradio.bigcartel.com alongside our other merch. . ... . .. Featured track: Flying Low by Bojkez from Instrumental EP vol 3

The last year has been a trying time for everyone. Hardest hit have been prisoners who have seen increasing infections of the covid-19 virus brought in by guards who live off site or other prisoners transferred in from other institutions, prisoners who don't have the luxury of free movement during the incessant lockdowns their wardens employed as a band-aid measure to limit transmission, prisoners who don't have effective healthcare in non-pandemic times and who across the board have had limited to no access to personal protective equipment. In many cases, incarcerated people have had their lives put on hold, the hard-fought programs they rely on to earn earlier releases paused during this emergency situation, access to the outdoor for exercise and socializing with others in their institutions unavailable because of under-staffing or concerns of spread. This sort of situation, hearing about the spread and deaths on the outside and being unable to defend yourself or loved ones, undoubtedly has a lasting impact on our psyches. For this hour, I spoke with a member of the Perilous Chronicle about their report "First 90 Days of Prisoner Resistance to COVID-19" concerning the spike in measured prisoner resistance in the forms of work and hunger strikes, fights with guards, riots and escapes from facilities ranging from county jails, state prisons, ICE detention facilities and federal prisons across the so-called US and so-called Canada. The report begins coverage of events on March 17, 2020, when protests occurred at facilities on either coast naming concerns of the approaching pandemic as impetus. Our guest speaks about the data they've been able to gather, their approach and specific incidents. The report, published November 12, 2020, will soon be followed with more information concerning the trend as it spread, including overlaps with the Rebellion for Black Lives of the summer of 2020. Transcription PDF (Unimposed) Zine (imposed PDF) You can find the report and more writings as well as how to support them or get involved at PerilousChronicle.Com. Their podcast is available there and wherever you get podcasts, they're active on twitter via @PerilousPrisons, can be emailed at [email protected] and they can be written at: Perilous P.O. Box 381 Tuscon, AZ 85702 Soon after this conversation was recorded, on February 6th 2021, prisoners at the St. Louis so-called Justice Center, aka The Workhouse, engaged in an uprising, taking over the fourth floor of the facility, flooding toilets, setting items on fire, busting out windows of the facility and waving banners. This was the 4th and 5th protest at The Workhouse since December and had escalated after mismanagement, lack of proper PPE, covid-19 screenings, warm clothing, access to recreation, price gouging, people awaiting trial in the postponed court hearings for months because they lacked money to pay the bail, filling meals and the lack of medical care of prisoners known to currently have the novel corona virus among other reasons that echo a lot of what our guest today talked about. You can find a good summary, including prisoner statements, in an article entitled "This Is Genocide": St. Louis Inmate Issues Statement on Horrific Conditions Behind Revolt on It'sGoingDown.org Prison Escape video, Yakima County Jail Announcements A-Radio Broadcast In case you missed it, the A-Radio Network broadcast it's 6th Transnational Live Broadcast of Anti-Authoritarian and Anarchist Radios and Podcasts, this year from studios around the world cooperating via the internet (thanks to the magic of audio comrades in Thessaloniki and others). You can now hear members of the A-Radio Network (producers of the BAD News: Angry Voices from Around The World) discussing various topics with international perspectives from Slovenia, Greece, Germany, Russia, Belarus, the UK, Turtle Island (specifically us at The Final Straw), and occupied Walmapu (aka Chile) speaking on various topics around the pandemic and repression, mutual aid organizing, prison and resistance and a Spanish-language section specifically with updates from Abya Yala, in so-called Chile, broken down into topics of 1-2 hours of audio for ease of listening. More at the A-Radio Website. Funrdaiser for E E is a Black trans comrade who went through a critical medical emergency. A fundraiser for resources after their release from hospital is ongoing. You can support them at Venmo (@SolidarityMachine) or CashApp ($SolidarityMachine) with a note saying "Comrade E". Support If you like the work that we do here at TFSR and want to support us, you can find ways to donate or purchase our merch by visiting TFSR.WTF/Support. Funds from our patreon go to support our transcription efforts to get conversations like this one you just heard more easily into the hands of prisoners and folks with hearing difficulties as well as making the chats more translatable and legible to search engines. You can find printable pamphlets and more of

This week on The Final Straw, we feature a conversation between our occasional host, Scott, and adrienne maree brown. For the hour, Scott and adrienne speak about "We Will Not Cancel Us and Other Dreams of Transformative Justice", her latest booklet available through AK Press, as well as sci-fi, abolition, harm, accountability and healing. adrienne maree brown is the writer-in-residence at the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute, and author of Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good, Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds and the co-editor of Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements and How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office. She is the cohost of the How to Survive the End of the World and Octavia's Parables podcasts. adrienne is rooted in Detroit. More of their work can be found at adriennemareebrown.net Transcription PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) If you like Scott's interview style, check out their interviews with Kristian Williams on Oscar Wilde and Eli Meyerhoff on higher education and recuperation. Also, to hear an interview with Walidah Imarisha, who co-authored "Octavia's Brood" with adrienne. Transcription and Support So much heartfelt thanks to the folks continuing to send us donations or pick up our merch. We're almost at our goal of sustainability, but still not quite there, but the one-time donations have definitely cushioned that need. If you've got extra dough, check out our Donate/Merch page. As an update on the transcription side of things, we're still rolling forward, comrades have gotten each episode so far this year out and we've imported the text into our blog posts and imported links into our podcast after the fact about a week after the audio release! Also kind soul has done the immense work of making zines and downloadable pdf's of almost all of our already transcribed interviews up until last week! Those posts are updated and linked up to the text and you can find more by checking out the zine category on our site.

Building Working Class History [00:05:53] This week, I spoke with John from the Working Class History collective and host of their WCH podcast. We spoke about the new book, "Working Class History: Everyday Acts of Resistance", that WCH has published through PM Press, their archives, methodology, the project of popularizing working class, movement and human-sized history and a bunch more. More info on Working Class History at their website, WorkingClassHistory.Com, in their podcast and on twitter, instagram and facebook in a growing number of languages. If you thirst for more conversation with John, you're in luck as Firestorm Books will be hosting a presentation with him about the book on February 25 from 7-8:30pm eastern or UTC – 5. You can find out more at Firestorm.Coop/Calendar. Transcription PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Announcements Transcription & Support As an update on our transcription project, we've sent our first batch of zines to patreon subscribers over $10. Much thanks to everyone who is contributing at whatever level. We are still $75 short of covering our minimums for the transcription and podcasting fees, so if you think you can become a sustainer consider visiting patreon.com/TFSR. If you don't like patreon, we can receive ongoing donations from liberapay or paypal, as well as one-time donations via paypal and have merch for sale in our big cartel store. If you don't have cash but want to help out our project, that's great! Reach out with show ideas, tell some friends in meet space or on social media, rep our content, print out some zines and send them into prisoners, rate us on podcasting sites, translate our work, or if you have a community radio station in your area you want to hear us on, get in touch and we'll help you. We have some notes on our site under the broadcasting tab as well, for our weekly, 58 minute FCC friendly episodes. Letters for Sean Swain Our comrades continues to be denied access to regular communication with the outside by the Department of Corrections in Ohio as well as Virginia where he's being held. It's also notable that his website is currently down. Sean has a complaint pending before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission for the torture he suffered at the hands of the state of Ohio. He is also collecting support letters for his bid for clemency. You can find more details on instagram by following Swainiac1969, SwainRocks.Org, our Swain tab or by checking out the script up at https://cutt.ly/Hkph3KY. Thanks to Linda from Subversion1312 for reading this week's Sean script. [01:18:02] BAD News #42 The latest episode of BAD News: Angry Voices from around the world by the A-Radio network has just been released. You can find find past BadNews episodes at the A-Radio site. This month, you'll hear calls for support for the evicted ROG squat in Ljubljana, Slovenia, prisoner and prisoner solidarity updates from Greece, excerpts from a discussion of Russian anarchists about the current protests across that country and Alexei Nawalny, and a short piece highlighting the 100th anniversary of the death of Piotr Kropotkin. NoDAPL Grand Jury for Steve Martinez From fedbook FREE OUR COMRADE & RELATIVE STEVE MARTINEZ! Thank you for the birthday wishes, let's use this energy to Free & Support Steve! He resisted a Grand Jury for the second time in regards to alleged events from the NO DAPL struggle in Standing Rock, is currently NOT cooperating with authorities, & is awaiting federal extradition! Steve needs our support! Steve helped save our friend Sophia Wilansky's arm from gettin blown off by military weapons, & he is a solid & brave Indigenous warrior! We are asking our comrades to call the jail to DEMAND they release Steve who is wrongfully in custody at: 701-255-3113, & PLEASE WRITE STEVE in Burleigh Morton Cty Jail at: Steve Martinez Po Box 2499 Bismarck, ND 58502 money orders can also be sent to him in his name at that address, as well as to his government name above on jail.atm.com Loren Reed We're sharing a short rap by imprisoned indigenous, emo man, Loren Reed. Loren is facing years in prison for poorly chosen words in a private message on facebook during last summer's uprising. We've mentioned his situation before. You can learn more by following Tucson Anti-Repression Crew and you can hear a great interview on Loren's case done by fellow CZN member, the ItsGoingDown podcast. You can donate to his support by cashapp'ing TARC ($TucsonARC) or paypal'ing to paypal.me/prisonsupport, don't forget a note saying "For Loren". Daniel Alan Baker In the run-up to the January 20th presidential inauguration, the far right around the US was threatening large, armed and violent rallies at US state capitols across the country. Daniel Alan Baker, a US army vet, former YPG volunteer combat medic, yoga instructor and leftist activist called for people to counter what could have been seen as the deadly sequel to January 6th events in DC. He was pre-emptively arrested by the

The Security State, Far Right and Media Post-January 6th This week on the show, you'll hear two segments: chat with Spencer Sunshine on the far right and the government's reaction following the riot on January 6th in DC and some perspectives on political content removal and social media from anarchist media platforms ItsGoingDown and crimethInc. Spencer Sunshine Transcription PDF (unimposed) Zine (imposed PDF) First up, anti-fascist researcher Spencer Sunshine talks about the aftermath of the January 6th putsch attempt in DC, mainstream media and Democrat narratives of concerning domestic terrorism, reporting of participation of law enforcement and military in the riot, anti-fascist research, what the stepping down of Trump has meant for his radicalized base and Spencer's thoughts on claims of rehabilitation by former White Nationalists like Matthew Heimbach. There was a good article published by IGD on the state's response to January 6th and what it can mean to anti-repression activists here. Also, a great place to keep up on what's going on in the far right in the so-called US, check out IGD's "This Week In Fascism" column, soon to be a podcast. CrimeThinc. and ItsGoingDown Transcription PDF (unimposed) Zine (imposed PDF) Then, you'll hear the main host from the ItsGoingDown Podcast and a comrade from CrimethInc (both affiliates of the Channel Zero Network) talking about implications for anarchists and antifascists of the silencing of far right platforms and accounts and how similar moves have silenced the anti-authoritarian left. We talk about perspectives the media may have missed around "deplatforming" by tech giants like Patreon, Facebook and Twitter and how easily the normalization of ejecting non-mainstream narratives follows the trail of profit and power, and the importance of building our own platforms and infrastructure. Patreon Updates A little housekeeping note. For those listeners able to support us on Patreon with recurring donations, we are still fundraising to pay comrades to transcribe and format our episodes into zines moving forward. We've started with January 2021, putting out a weekly transcript for translations, search-ability, access to non-aural learners and those with hearing difficulties as well as making it easier send these interviews into prisons where broadcasts and podcasts may not reach. We are still $120 behind our base goal for this. So, if you have some extra dough you can send our way, it'd be much appreciated. We won't paywall our content ever, but for those who donate at our patreon above the $10 level, you'll get a monthly zine in the mail sent to you or a prisoners of your choosing in the US as curated by us, plus some one-time gifts. Other ways to support the project include sending us show ideas, giving us feedback, sharing us with your friends and enemies, or talking your local radio station into playing us on the airwaves! Get in touch with more questions… Announcements Fidencio Aldama From the Fidencio Aldama Support Fund: We're raising funds for Fidencio Aldama, an indigenous Yaqui prisoner framed for murder and locked up in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico, for his participation in a struggle against a gas pipeline. Fidencio has been in prison since October 2016, was railroaded through the courts, and is currently appealing his conviction. Support will be ongoing, but right now we need funds to get a copy of the case file, help pay for communication, and potentially cover some legal fees. You can donate here: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/fidenciolibre, or get in touch at [email protected] A website with more info will be forthcoming, but for now you can read more about Fidencio's case here: https://itsgoingdown.org/free-fidencio-aldama-political-prisoner-yaqui-tribe/ Saludos solidarios, Fidencio Aldama Support Fund Political Prisoner Updates Xinachtli, aka Alvaro Luna Hernandez, is an anarchist communist Chicano political prisoner in so-called Texas. His supporters have put together a new website for him that can be found at FreeAlvaro.Net. He's got a bid for parole coming up this year and could use letters of support! Please check for updates on other prisoners and how to support them in the monthly Prison Break column on ItsGoingDown. . ... . .. Featured track: "Let Me Be The One You Need" (instrumental) by Bill Withers from Managerie - Remastered

ShineWhite on Turning Razor Wire Plantations Into Schools of Liberation The following is a conversation with ShineWhite. ShineWhite is the former spokesperson for the National White Panther Organization, a part of the United Panther Movement. There was quite recently a split in the UPM and ShineWhite is now affiliated with the Revolutionary Intercommunal Black Panther Party. In this conversation, ShineWhite talks about the White Panther Organization that he was representing at the time of this chat, how he became politicized in North Carolina Prisons, the terrible conditions amidst the covid pandemic and beyond, anti-racist and anti-capitalist organizing in the NCDPS system, the use of the Security Threat Group status in NC prisons and reprisals he's faced for his call out in 2018 for NC prisoners to participate in a Prison Strike which dovetailed well with the Nationwide Prison Strike of that year as well as other organizing. You can write ShineWhite at the time of this publication at the following address, using ShineWhite only on the inside of the letter: Joseph Stewart #0802041 Alexander CI 633 Old Landfill Rd, Taylorsville, NC 28681 And you can check out more of his writings at ShineWhite.Home.Blog and you can contact his comrades at [email protected] You can hear the Sean Swain segment, read with the help of Nichole of Pynk Spots podcast (member of the Channel Zero Network) starting at [00:45:43]. More info on the subject can be found at KilledByPolice.Net Social Media & Transcription Just a brief announcement. TFSR is continuing it's Patreon push to pay for transcription work of our episodes to allow our guests voices to get further. If you want to help in the process and have some extra moneys, for every recurring donation of over $10 we get we are closer to paying for another week a month of transcription. You can learn more at our Patreon. For people that donate at that level and above, we'll be sending a zine a month, plus other thank-yous. Transcription PDF (unimposed) Zine (imposed PDF) We are also going to experiment with a couple of new social media platforms. While we don't suggest people join the Telegram Platform for organizing on, if you're already on there you can find our telegram channel to find our episodes, found at T.Me/TFSRadio. Soon, we will be starting to post to Kolektiva video platform, similar to our youtube account. . ... . .. Featured track: The Rosenbergs by the RJ Phillips Band [00:58:39] William's commentary starts at [00:52:02]

Organizing To End Prison Slavery with Bennu Hannibal Ra Sun [starts at 00:02:37] This week, Bursts spoke with Bennu Hannibal Ra Sun, co-founder of the Free Alabama Movement and the National Freedom Movement, which is helping coordinate prisoner-led organizing across the so-called US. Bennu just finished a 5 year period in segregated housing for his organizing efforts. For the hour, they talk about the National Network coordination, the continuation of slavery from chattel slavery in which black and brown bodies were private property to the modern slavery of mass incarceration, pandemic behind bars, the importance of platforming prisoners in their struggles, the January Boycott FAM is conducting against prison industries, reform efforts and more. Transcription PDF (unimposed) Zine (imposed PDF) You can learn more and get in touch with Free Alabama movement by visiting their websites at http://FreeAlabamaMovement.Org and https://FreeAlabamaMovement.wordpress.com/, email them at [email protected] and find them on Twitter and Facebook. You can check out some of their radio shows at AbolitionToday.org You can reach the National Freedom Movement via [email protected]. National Freedom Movement is now on Twitter as well. Inspirational revolutionaries we wanted to remember at the end of this chat: Bennu describes Richard Mafundi Lake as an "Ancestor, political prisoner and Panther for Life" Bursts mentioned Karen Smith and Rebecca Hensley, who both had memorials written up in the December 2020 SF Bay View Newspaper by comrades. Sean Swain Sean Swain's segment will be at the end from [starts at 01:04:17] Announcements [starts at 00:00:00 til 2:37] Likht'samisyu Village Fundraiser We'd also like to share a fundraiser being hosted by the Likht'samisyu Clan in so-called Canada for the purpose of expanding their sovereign village construction and to help pay for ongoing maintenance. You can find out more at their GoFundMe. TFSR Transcription The Final Straw is beginning to use our Patreon to fund comrades transcribing the episodes. Subscribers to our Patreon for $10 or more a month, will receive an episode a month as a zine in the mail alongside other thank-you's. For every $120 we raise in donations above $10 we will commit to another monthly episode transcribed up til our goal of $480 in those kinda donations. Transcriptions of our episodes allow for easier searching of content, so our chats will show up in search engines more quickly and completely, it'll also aid in translation, help folks for whom comprehension in English or audio is difficult and make it easier for abolitionists to send our chats into prisoners for discussion! You can find out more at our Patreon. . ... . .. Track used in this episode: La La (instrumental) by Slum Village

Prison Bars Won't Stifle These Hearts This week, we're presenting three segments, all related in some way to prison. We hear an essay by an anarchist prisoner in Chile about a prison massacre on it's 10th anniversary, the voice of David Easley reporting from within a covid outbreak in an Ohio prison, and the voice of someone who's protest against nuclear weapons was leading her to incarceration. And Sean Swain. If you want to cast a vote for one of his nicknames, you can send an email to us at TheFinalStrawRadio(at ) riseup( dot) net, with 'Nickname' in the subject header until January 10th. [00:05:05] David Easley on Outbreak at Toledo CI [00:11:03] First up, Comrade David Easley at Toledo Correctional Institution in Ohio talks about the covid-19 outbreak there, which he is still recovering from, that has knocked out one in five guards and forced the state to bring in National Guard to act as screws at the prison. The administration hasn't been proactively testing prisoners and so doesn't have data on infections besides symptomatic cases. When prisoners have tested positive, the only treatments they get are non-asprin Tylenol and cough drops, unless their health degrades to the point of getting onto a ventilator. David also talks about his inside/outside abolitionist study group he's been working with over instagram. Comrade Easley is seeking outside supporters to help run the Abolition Study Group instagram and also his personal social media so he can report to the outside world on the conditions in Toledo CI. He is also seeking lawyers in Ohio that can help sue the ODRC on behalf of prisoners for the negligence and harm that has led to so much sickness and death, inside and outside of the barbed wire. You can reach him via mail at: David Easley A306400 Toledo Correctional Institution 2001 East Central Avenue Toledo, OH 43608 and you can email him by creating an account on jpay.com and reaching out to him by his facility and number, David Easley A306400 at Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. Martha Hennessey of Kings Bay Plowshares 7 [00:30:46] Next up, Tali Moon from the occupied land in the PNW of the so-called US shares with us a conversation of Martha Hennessey of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, 7 white, Catholic anti-militarism activists who just went to prison for trespassing and symbolic damage to Trident nuclear missiles at a military base in Georgia. Hennessey, aged 62, is an anarchist and the grandaughter of the founder of the Catholic Worker movement, Dorothy Day. You can find out more about the Martha and others from her case at KingsBayPlowshares7.Org. You can write to Martha at: Martha Hennessy #22560-021 FCI Danbury Rt. 37 Danbury, CT 06811 Mónica Caballero on San Miguel Prison Massacre [00:56:11] Finally, you'll hear a segment from the December episode of Bad News: Angry Voices from Around The World from the A-Radio Network, magnificently produced this month by Crna Luknja in Ljublana, Slovenia. The Anarchist Assembly of Valparaiso (so-called Chile) presents a text about the 10 year anniversary of the massacre of 81 prisoners at the San Miguel Prison in Santiago de Chile written by anarchist prisoner Mónica Caballero. This was but a small portion of the audio in this months' episode. Announcements Land Project in Davao, Philippines Comrades from Feral Crust collective in the province of Davao in the Philippines (aka Maharlika) are requesting monetary support to purchase a minicab or small truck to help transport people and materials to their land project in the forests of Marilog in Davao where they are working on implementing ideas and practices related to permaculture, rewilding and nature restoration/conservation. The project has a fedbook page and you can hear an interview from July of 2015 that we conducted with folks from FC. Surgeries for Activist Returning from Syria There is also a fundraiser for surgeries for Autumn, a transgender comrade from the US who volunteered in Syria, and suffered injuries during the civil war while doing solidarity work there. They are trying to raise $10k.

Organizing in "No Chance Alamance" County This week on the show I'm speaking with three folks engaged in organizing in the rural Alamance County, North Carolina, and it's capital of Graham. All three work with the 501c4 political non-profit, DownhomeNC which in Alamance has been working on a range of engagements including running local candidates for office, doing get-out-the-vote work, sparking conversations with rural residents of the county, running a bail fund and working on bail reform, rent relief and operating food distribution. Dreama Caldwell, one of our guests, ran on a platform of bail reform to be the first Black woman elected to the County Commission, though she was not elected, is a mother, and as an Abolitionist has been working to abolish cash bail and change the condition for people of Color and poor folks as relates to the Alamance courts and jail. Sugalema is an organizer, a mom, and the daughter of undocumented parents from Mexico who's been living in Alamance for the last decade. Gwen is a mother from a white, working class background who has also worked to support Alamance organizers through Downhome on a number of campaigns. You can learn more about the organization at DownhomeNC.org and their various social media pages. As a side note, the folks who produce The Final Straw do not endorse electoralism as a strategy for lasting change or community power. We are anarchists. There are plenty of places you can go to find anarchist critiques of engaging in electoral politics, sometimes with anarchists or anti-authoritarians advocating limited engagement in elections but usually calling for abstention. Even though DownhomeNC is not an anarchist organization, we do feel like the experiences of Sugalema, Dreama and Gwen are important to share because they talk about the work of changing minds and building relationships in the rural south where an autonomous left or anarchist movement doesn't exist… like most of the world. They are intelligent and impassioned women doing hard work to grow community resistance and engagement. Abolition also includes the complicated work of decreasing the harm caused by systems of oppression like the police, courts, borders, white supremacy and capitalism while simultaneously building discourse against those institutions that impose harm. We really hope that listeners will get a lot from this conversation. Announcements Eric King updates Anarchist and antifascist prisoner Eric King caught covid at FCI Englewood, alongside over a hundred other prisoners, thanks to the ineptitude of his captors at the BOP who have been moving staff between Englewood and FCI Florence where an outbreak had been ongoing. His trial for defending himself from an attack by a prison officer has been pushed back to April of 2021. In good news, his mail ban appears temprorarily lifted and his website hosts his book list again. He's been able to receive letters, magazines and books for the first time in years. Check out the update at SupportEricKing.org and send Eric some love. To hear our interview with Eric from last year, visit our website. Xinachtli Parole Support "Xinachtli," as. many of you know, means literally in English, "Seed," or, as Comrade "X" likes to phrase, it from a prisoner's perspective, "Germinating Seed" and s/n Alvaro Luna Hernandez, is a Chicano/Mexicano-Anarchist Communist and Anti-Imperialist Internationally-recognized Political Prisoner, has suffered long enough from a (50-year) bogus Aggravated Assault conviction rife with racist civil rights abuse and judicial misconduct. The contrived & trumped-up Aggravated Robbery charge brought by Sheriff McDaniel without the authority of a warrant, was thrown out later at trial, but through prosecutorial chicanery, allowed the assault charge to stick being a paroled felon. The so-called Aggravated-Assault charge, which should've amounted to a 'misdemeanor,' occurred with his near-term pregnant wife nearby in their own front yard, as he, showing no demonstrative violent aggressive behavior, correctly disarmed the Sheriff as he drew his service revolver in anger as "Xinachtli" challenged his authority to attempt an arrest in a situation that could've proved lethal for all three, mother, baby, and most surely "Xinachtli" himself. The local authorities hated him and his family and his labor organizing in Brewster County, Alpine, Texas. Many of you already are familiar with this abuse of authority yarn, but, does bear repeating, as he is still held captive for this injustice in 'STG' (Security Threat Group) status, studying law and assisting other prisoners with their appeals, while continuously sharing, and germinating his revolutionary thoughts and ideals in cocoon-like solitary confinement, at the repressive TDCJ-CID James V. Allred Unit, 'Supermax' Gulag, in Iowa Park, Texas, marooned in the North Texas' Red River Valley. Texas prisons are now one of the nation's COVID-19 virus' 'hotspots,' and the courts are refusing to inte

This week, you'll hear Kiran and Marco of the Angry Workers, a collective of anti-authoritarian communists struggling to think through and build workers autonomy from the UK. For the hour, they talk about their organizing and the book they just published, "Class Power On Zero-Hours" (available from PM Press in the US & UK, currently at a 50% discount if purchased from the publisher using the discount code 'GIFT'). Over 6 years, the Angry Workers got jobs in West London in factories, warehouses and logistics, building relationships with coworkers and neighbors from origins worldwide, and getting their hands dirty building working class power alongside other precarious and gig workers. The book documents attempts at building a solidarity network, their newspaper to open dialogue (called Workers Wild West) and engagements in workplace action and organizing. They worked inside and outside of trade unions and the IWW, assessing victories, defeats and lessons to move forward with and sharing glimpses into the struggles and ideas of the people they worked and lived with. This book is an amazingly detailed exploration of building solidarity, learning from mistakes and working towards a collective vision for liberation amongst the labouring classes at the points of production and reproduction. Announcement Jason Renard Walker Parole Incarcerated journalist and author Jason Renard Walker, minister of Labor for the New Afrikan Black Panther Party (Prison Chapter) will have a parole hearing coming up soon in Texas. Jason has faced serious backlash from white supremacist gangs and guards due to his activism and reporting while held by the TCDJ, so much so that he was recently transferred to a new prison, apparently because of the threats he was facing at Clements Unit. Jason's book,about which we got to interview him earlier this year, "Reports from Within The Belly Of The Beast: Torture and Injustice Inside Texas Department of Criminal Justice", is now available in paperback as well as digital via Amazon, and his writings have regularly been published by the SF Bay View National Black Newspaper. Letters of support for his parole will go a long way toward getting the parole board to release Jason so that he can finish his Federal stint and get back to the outside. Check our show notes for details on where to write and suggestions on content. Here's some information about supporting Jason in this effort: Dear Supporters of Jason Renard Walker, Jason's parole hearing is coming up and we urgently need your help with writing letters. Here is a guide on how to write a persuasive parole letter if you need it: https://pigeonly.com/pigeonly-blog/how-to-write-a-parole-support-letter/ Letters should be sent right away to: Board of Pardons and Paroles 8610 Shoal Creek Blvd. Austin, TX 78757 Things to mention (per Jason): * Your relationship to Jason, * Any credentials you have, * Positive things you know about Jason, When Jason is paroled from Texas he will immediately begin a minimum six-year federal prison sentence. Jason said that the most common reason for denial of parole is that the prisoner is a threat to the community, and that his continued incarceration will prevent him from any contact with the general community. He is also worried because TDCJ has poor covid prevention measures. As many of you know, Jason was facing problems with a white supremacist gang recently and in response, he has been moved to another prison. Jason's current address is: Jason Renard Walker #1532092 Michael Unit 2664 FM 2054 Tennessee Colony, TX 75886 . ... . .. Featured music: 'Anotha One' by Apollo Brown from Trophies (instrumentals) 'Class War' by The Dils

This week, you'll hear a full show, including a segment by Sean Swain [00:01:38 - 00:07:54] Defend DC, 12/11-12/12 [00:07:52 - 00:51:28] Our main content is a conversation with antifascist organizer Daryle Lamont Jenkins of the One People's Project and IdaVox to talk about his views of the state of the far right at this time in the US, their Stop The Steal rallies and the November 14th Million for MAGA March in DC at which three BLM and anti-racists activists were stabbed, what the shift in regimes will mean for anti-racists and the importance of our participation in December 11th and 12th to counter a rally called for by the Proud Boys. You can find Daryle's work up at OnePeoplesProject.com and at IdaVox.com and more about the December 12th counter demo at DefendDC.Org B(A)DNews November 2020 [00:51:28 - 01:07:01] Then, you'll hear some audios from the latest episode of BAD News, the montly, English-language podcast from the A-Radio Network, of which The Final Straw Radio is a member. In that block, the first audio is an update from Greece by Radio Fragmata, a longstanding pirate station based in Athens. Then, Črna Luknja shares updates from Slovenia, including notes on the repression of the autonomous squatted factory, Rog, in the center of Ljubljana. You can hear the whole episode, plus any past ones, up at A-Radio-Network.Org and finding the BAD News link. A few links to subjects mentioned: Antifascist Unity Coalition's Days of Unity site where they talk about their January 2nd mobilization to bring in donations to foodbanks nationwide POPMOB, a Portland-based group building a mass movement against Fascism The documentary "Alt-Right: Age of Rage" which features Daryle Lamont Jenkins can be watched on Netflix or Amazon and likely elsewhere. The feature film "Skin" in which Jenkins is depicted while attempting to help a former white supremacist move out of that milieu is available on youtube for rental. There is also a short film by the name of "Skin" by the same director from the same year that features Daryle which can be viewed on YouTube for free. . ... . .. Tracks featured during this episode: "Kick Push (instrumental)" by Lupe Fiasco "It's Gonna Be Me (instrumental)" by N'Sync

This week, I spoke with Dónal O'Driscoll, an animal rights activist and anarchist from the UK talking about the work of the Undercover Research Group to investigate possible SpyCops in the UK, share resources by those harmed by the lies of long term undercovers in activist communities and the current Inquiry that activists are using to unearth the legacy of police infiltration since the 1960's. Helpful sites: http://undercoverresearch.net/ "Was My Friend A SpyCop?" guide to engaging investigation published by and free from the Undercover Research Group: http://undercoverresearch.net/2017/07/06/friend-spycop-publication-now/ The wiki URG has been compiliing with data about known undercovers and infiltrations: https://powerbase.info/index.php/UndercoverResearch_Portal A project digesting the SpyCops scandals: https://www.spycops.info/ A site related to the campaign for justice by activist women with whom undercovers had relationships under false pretenses: https://policespiesoutoflives.org.uk/ An alliance of people spied on by Britain's political secret police: http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/ A support group for those blacklisted in the UK construction industries from info provided by secret political police: https://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/ The Monitoring Group has been working for nearly 3 decades in Southall in West London to challenge racism through family led empowerment and justice campaigns: http://www.tmg-uk.org/ A support group for individuals targetted by political police spies in the UK: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spycops/ . ... . .. Track Heard In This Episode: SpyCops by Armoured Flu Unit from Crusading Nations

Belarus is continuing to experience a revolt against the 26 year dictatorship of the post-Soviet dictator, Alexander Lukashenko. The situation came to a boil, fueled by yet another election rife with administration corruption, the creation of mutual aid infrastructure in the face of a government that abandoned public health measures in the face of the corona virus pandemic, decreased economic quality of life… people found each other and the state turned on them. In response to the police violence, regular folks came out into the streets to oppose the dictatorship and the system threatened collapse. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? For the hour, we speak with Ivan, a Belarusian anarchist living in Germany, about the uprising, doxing cops, the part that anarchists have played, the distinctions between pro-Democracy and anti-dictatorship activity, the upcoming week of solidarity with anarchist and anti-fascists of Belarus from November 23-30th, 2020 and how comrades from abroad can support not only those repressed but the activist efforts to sustain the resistance to the Belarusian dictatorship. You can learn more about the week of solidarity, including where to send solidarity funds and communiques at ABC-Belarus.Org. You can support wider protest infrastructure by donating at FireFund.Net/Belarus. A great news source that Ivan mentions to keep up on anarchist perspectives from Belarus (sometimes in English) is: Pramen.io/EN/Main/ Ivan also mentions, when talking about international solidarity, US corporations that are supporting the Belarusian dictatorship during this repression. They include: Apple has attempted to pressure Telegram to close the channels where protesters in Belarus have been sharing details on the police Sandvine (founded in Canada, funded in part from the US) was providing equipment that Belarus used to block access to Twitter, Facebook and international news sites. The country has a pretty bad history ala likely use by the governments of Egypt, Turkey and Syria to repress the populations of those countries, but in this instance (and pressure from the US Gov and Human Rights Watch) they appear to have canceled their contract with Belarus in September. Skype (owned by Microsoft) has been providing court infrastructure, as the trials of those arrested during the uprising is taking place over the video conferencing platform. Announcements Russell "Maroon" Shoatz Black liberation fighter Russell "Maroon" Shoatz has tested positive for COVID-19. Maroon, a former member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, is a political prisoner/prisoner of war held by the state of Pennsylvania. Maroon has been imprisoned since 1972, when he was given a life sentence for an attack on a police station, He was held in solitary confinement from 1991 to 2014, when he was allowed to return to the general population. Maroon is already being treated for stage-four cancer and is forced to live in inhumane prison conditions. Given his positive COVID-19 diagnosis and his already compromised health, we demand his immediate release and the release of all elderly prisoners. From a Facebook post on the page of Russell Shoatz III: Maroon "is a political prisoner enslaved for his efforts to liberate our people. He is the father of my dear friend, Russell Shoatz III. In addition to Covid-19, Maroon is also suffering from stage 4 colon cancer. He is living in tremendous pain, in unhygienic conditions where 30 inmates are being held in one room sharing one toilet. It is a violation of their human rights and Maroon's agreement with the state. Maroon is asking that all supporters call the office of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and demand his immediate, unconditional release, as well as that of ALL elderly prisoners infected with COVID-19. Please call (717) 787-2500 beginning the morning of Monday, November 16, and keep the pressure on!" Free Russell "Maroon" Shoatz and all political prisoners!" More, including a call script, at https://kersplebedeb.com/posts/urgent-take-action-for-russell-maroon-shoatz/ Jeremy Hammond Anarchist and Anonymous hacker, Jeremy Hammond has been released to a half-way house in his hometown of Chicago after over 10 years in prison, resisting a grand jury alongside Chelsae Manning and two bouts with Covid-19. Welcome home, Jeremy! Not sure when their next episode is due out, but Jeremy and his brother Jason both produce a podcast called "Twin Trouble", a member of the Channel Zero Network and you can hear an interview that we did with Jeremy for June 11th this year. . … . .. Featured tracks: Gun (Instrumental Slow) by Chuck Berry from Have Mercy: His Complete Chess Recordings 1969 To 1974 Наш выбор – свобода! ("Freedom Is Our Choice") by ЭлектропартиZаны (ElectropartyZans) Стены ("The Walls") by Группа Аркадий Коц (Arkadiy Kots band) [rec 2012 original version L'Estaca, by Luis Llach (1968), translated into Russian by Kirill Medvedev, arranged by Arkady Kots band]

This week I got the chance to sit down with Olive and Yousef of the Durham NC based eviction defense group HEDS-Up! HEDS-Up! stands for Housing Eviction Defense Solidarity and is a group which formed in Durham North Carolina when COVID was first hitting the area and folks' housing was becoming more and more unstable. We get to talk about a lot of topics in this episode, among which are gentrification in Durham, what the NC eviction process might look like, and about the group's handbook the Eviction Defense Handbook, vol. 1312, as well as their all points call for autonomous, abolitionist jail support, on their website https://cantpaywontpaydurm.org/. The Eviction Defense Handbook is extensively written and researched, and was put together by HEDS-Up! for educational and empowerment purposes. It covers topics from abolition, to how one might structure an eviction defense team, pertinent information regarding COVID and evictions, how to look up information on a specific property, a step by step of what to expect in eviction court, and many more topics. Eviction Defense, Community Resiliency, and Getting Free This week I got the chance to sit down with Olive and Yousef of the Durham NC based eviction defense group HEDS-Up! HEDS-Up! stands for Housing Eviction Defense Solidarity and is a group which formed in Durham North Carolina when COVID was first hitting the area and folks' housing was becoming more and more unstable. We get to talk about a lot of topics in this episode, among which are gentrification in Durham, what the NC eviction process might look like, and about the group's handbook the Eviction Defense Handbook, vol. 1312, as well as their all points call for autonomous, abolitionist jail support, on their website https://cantpaywontpaydurm.org/. The Eviction Defense Handbook is extensively written and researched, and was put together by HEDS-Up! for educational and empowerment purposes. It covers topics from abolition, to how one might structure an eviction defense team, pertinent information regarding COVID and evictions, how to look up information on a specific property, a step by step of what to expect in eviction court, and many more topics. You can email HEDS Up! at [email protected] Announcements Wabanaki Community Herbal Apothecary Support The Wabanaki Community Herbal Apothecary in so-called Maine is working to support their tribal communities during these Covid-19 outbreaks. They are asking for herbal medicines and medicine making supplies or monetary donations to support these efforts. The supplies list can be found on their fedbook page, linked in our shownotes, and monetary donations can go to their fiscal sponsor WhyHunger, via https://whyhunger.org/ewrematriation/. You can contact [email protected] for coordination or more details. Loren Reed Loren Reed, a 26 year old Diné (Navajo) man residing in the small town of Page, AZ, is facing ten years for comments left on facebook during the nationwide protests because some dumb ass white with no scruples or sense of humor reported him to the cops. There is a breakdown of the case available at ForgiveEveryone.Com/blog . At the end of that, you can find Loren's address and tips for writing him, as well as how to put money on his commissary, how to make donations to Tucson Anti-Repression Crew via cashapp ($TusconARC) or paypal (PayPal.Me/prisonersupport), noting "For Loren Reed" in the comments. Santos Torres From PhillyAntiRepression on Twitter via the website, PHLAntiCap.Noblogs.Org: "As of last week, Santos Torres-Olan (#ML7947), a comrade of Dwayne Staats of the #Vaughn17, is on hunger strike at SCI Albion. He's protesting the physical, psychological, and emotional abuses at Albion — the prison administration uses meals, showers, rec and mail as a form of punishment, retaliation, and psychological torture. His protest is against the prison system as a whole. Santos has also been charged with assaulting a guard, and the courts, public defender and prosecutors are trying to railroad him. He ended up having to go pro se in order to fight his case. Help out Santos's struggle against the prison system by calling SCI Albion at (814) 756-5778. Ask to speak to the superintendent and make sure they know people on the outside are paying attention to their torture and abuse of prisoners. Our incarcerated comrades are struggling against prisons on a whole different level — we MUST support them from the outside when they ask us for help!" Jay Chase Jay Chase, the last of the defendants of the 2012 NATO3 conspiracy case, is free! Support his post-release fund to get him on his feet: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jay-chase-of-the-nato3-is-free Jorge Cornell and Covid-19 at FCI Fort Dix Since late October, there appears to be a spike of Covid-19 at the Federal BOP's prison at Fort Dix, jumping from prior reported numbers of 57 infections to at least 127 cases. The BOP is exacerbating the problem by moving all of the folks with infections onto a singl

This week on the The Final Straw you'll hear me speaking with Cora Borradaile, who sits on the advisory board of the Civil Liberties Defense Center and works around issues of tech security in movements and is an associate professor at OSU. We discuss the use of phone cloning by US Marshall's and other law enforcement while engaging protestors in Portland, OR. We talk about UpTurn's recent report concerning widespread use of cellphone extraction tools to copy and search the contents of cell phones captured during interactions with cops. Finally, we talk about Keyword Searches, where (often without warrants) google hands over information from peoples google searches to law enforcement. Transcription Hellbender Zine (begins p7) PDF (Unimposed) Zine (standalone PDF) Sean Swain Update We'll also be presenting a segment by Sean's fiance, Lauren, about his current silencing and the injustice of his case. More on president-in-exile Sean Swain can be found at Swain2020.Org and SeanSwain.Org.