Posts by Philly Anti-Cap

Locked Down, Locked Out with author Maya Schenwar

  • December 1, 2014 12:01 pm

From Decarcerate PA

Decarcerate PA and Wooden Shoe Books presents…

Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn’t Work and How We Can Do Better looks at how prison tears families and communities apart, creating a rippling effect that touches every corner of our society. Through the stories of prisoners and their families, as well as her own family’s experience of her sister’s incarceration, Schenwar shows how the institution that locks up 2.3 million Americans—and decimates poor communities of color—is shredding the ties that, if nurtured, could foster real collective safety.

The destruction does not end upon exiting the prison walls: the 95 percent of prisoners who are released emerge with even fewer economic opportunities and fewer human connections on the outside than before. Locked Down, Locked Out shows how incarceration takes away the very things that might enable people to build better lives.

Looking toward a future beyond imprisonment, Schenwar profiles community-based initiatives that foster antiracist, anticlassist, prohumanity approaches to justice. These programs successfully deal with problems—both individual harm and larger social wrongs—through connection rather than isolation, moving toward a safer, freer future for all of us.

“This book has the power to transform hearts and minds, opening us to new ways of imagining what justice can mean for individuals, families, communities and our nation as a whole.” -Michelle Alexander, Author of The New Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

—

Maya Schenwar is Editor-in-Chief of Truthout, an independent social justice news website. She has written about the prison-industrial complex for Truthout, The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Jersey Star-Ledger, Ms. Magazine, Prison Legal News, and others. She is the recipient of a Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Chi Award and a Lannan Residency Fellowship, both for her writing on prisons. Previous to her work at Truthout, Maya was Contributing Editor at Punk Planet magazine and served as media coordinator for Voices for Creative Nonviolence.

Sunday December 7th
7pm
Wooden Shoe Books
704 South St

Poster

Open letter to masked comrades

  • November 29, 2014 7:31 pm

submitted to Philly Anticap

As solidarity with Ferguson demonstrations have taken place in Philly we’ve noticed more and more people attending demonstrations wearing masks (some in all black, some not). This always makes us smile; the more of us wear masks the stronger our anonymity, and the more normalized anonymous attendance to demonstrations in Philly becomes. As we already know, there’s no point in having a face at these events. Maybe we’re wrong, but, part of why seeing more masks in the street is exciting to us is because we see it as building a more combative street presence.

Even though it seems that more people are wearing masks at demonstrations, we’re scattered throughout the demo. As we continue to attend demonstrations masked it can be useful to congregate and march together as a masked bloc. There are a lot of potential benefits to this. A bloc allows for people to more safely change into their disguises in a complicit and non-hostile crowd, away from cameras. A bloc acts as an opaque place where we can coordinate action, share relevant information, generally communicate quickly, and act together. By coming together we can collectively push demonstrations we take part in in more radical directions; chanting revolutionary slogans, antagonize the police, and creating space for people to take other action from within a sympathetic crowd. Within a bloc we can create a culture of autonomy, resistance and direct communication within larger demonstrations and during our own events.

See you in the streets,
masked comrades

Keystone United Exposed – Anthony James Olsen

  • November 28, 2014 8:36 pm

from Philly Antifa

Note: This will be a regular feature. Check back for more updates about scum operating in our area.

AJ Olsen at Leif Erikson Day 2013

Anthony James (AJ) Olsen is a longtime Neo-Nazi who co-founded a short lived bonehead crew called the South Jersey Skinheads. SJS was essentially a Keystone State Skinheads (KSS) satellite crew with only 2 members. Since relocating to Philadelphia from Sicklerville, NJ, Olsen has risen through the ranks of KSS and become their main organizer in Philadelphia.  Olsen also organized an counter-protest the The March Against Racists and Rapists, bringing a dozen Neo-Nazis into the city to help him harass and threaten people for being against Racism and Rape.

Undercover Police at Ferguson Verdict Demo

  • November 27, 2014 3:25 am

Submitted to Philly Anticap, attached photos are below the cut
Last night [November 25th] during the Ferguson protests in Philly there were at least two
dozen people in full bloc mixed throughout the march. In addition there
were dozens of people with bandannas, or scarves covering their faces. A
friend pointed out two undercover cops early on. I hadn’t even noticed them
yet, but I am positive that I would have known they were cops immediately.

From Occupy to Ferguson

  • November 21, 2014 2:53 am

from Crimethinc.

 

In early 2011, in response to austerity measures, protesters occupied the capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin. It was a localized struggle, but it gained traction on the popular imagination out of all proportion to its size. This clearly indicated that something big was coming, and some of us even brainstormed about how to prepare for it—but all the same, the nationwide wave of Occupy a few months later caught us flat-footed.

Beehive Design Collective presentation: Mesoamerica Resiste

  • November 18, 2014 1:03 pm

from Beehive Design Collective presentation: Mesoamerica Resiste

Please join us Saturday, November 22nd at 7pm for a special arts and storytelling performance. Free and open to all ages. [At Wooden Shoe Books 704 South St]

Members of the Beehive Collective (based in Maine) will present their latest graphic work, entitled Mesoamérica Resiste. It is the third and final image in the Beehive’s trilogy about globalization in the Americas, focusing on resistance to mega-infrastructure projects that are literally paving the way for free trade agreements that devastate local economies and communities. After nine years in the making, the Bees are now touring and distributing posters of the graphic as tools for storytelling, popular education and movement building.

The Beehive Design Collective is an arts and activism organization. This dizzyingly detailed, hand-drawn, 300-square foot mural comes alive through storytelling, illuminating how single issues are interconnected and part of bigger systems. With a cast of characters that includes over 400 species of insects, animals, and plants, the Bees share stories of collective action and inspiration.

For more information, visit http://www.beehivecollective.org/

Holiday Cards to Prisoners!! People’s Paper Co-op and Decarcerate PA

  • November 17, 2014 3:32 pm

from Holiday Cards to Prisoners!! People’s Paper Co-op and Decarcerate PA

[November 18th 6pm-8pm

Temple Contemporary 2001 N 13th St, Philly]

Please join the People’s Paper Co-op and Expungement Project Decarcerate PA and Temple Contemporary for a rare night of paper making, letter writing, and reflections from former prisoners and criminal justice reform activists.

Hear amazing speakers, make paper, and send holiday cards for prisoners to mail to their families and friends!

The People’s Paper Co-op has been working with Temple students and community members to create hundreds of handmade blank paper cards. During the event we will be packaging these cards and sending them to prisoners across Pennsylvania. These cards can be used by prisoners to send something special, something that took many hands and a transformative process to make, to their friends or family members. This will create points of exchange across the state while acting as a vehicle for bringing students, former prisoners, and community activists together to discuss these issues.

Poster

Taking Insurrection too far?

  • November 17, 2014 3:15 pm

from Taking Insurrection too far?

The manhunt for Eric Frein lasted nearly two months, draining the resources of both local and federal policing agencies as he quickly climbed to the FBI’s number one spot on their most wanted list. This came after his alleged September 12th ambush on Police Barracks in Pike County, PA. In Eric Frein’s own account from journals police recovered – “I Got a shot around 11 p.m. and took it. He dropped. I was surprised at how quickly he dropped. I took a follow-up shot on his head and neck area. He was still and quiet after that. Another cop approached the one I just shot. As he went to kneel, I took a shot at him and (he) jumped in the door. His legs were visible and still”.

Beyond Passions & Survival: 2 presentations by Matt Dineen

  • November 12, 2014 1:00 pm

from Beyond Passions & Survival

2 presentations!

Wednesday Nov. 12th at 7:00 pm
Wooden Shoe Books and Records

Thursday Nov. 13th at 7:00 pm
A-Space Anarchist Community Center

A presentation on the dilemma of artists and activists in (and beyond) capitalist society by Wooden Shoe staffer Matt Dineen. It will be based on his recent masters thesis through Goddard College on the prospects for meaningful work, livelihood, and radical social transformation in the cracks of capitalism.

Philly to Ferguson, Rebels to the streets!

  • November 9, 2014 8:39 pm

As the Ferguson grand jury’s decision draws ever closer, many are already making plans. we hope to help publicize and facilitate coordination between responses to the end of the grand jury, regardless of an indictment of Darren Wilson.

Day of the grand jury decision

Day after the grand jury decision

We Stand with Ferguson: the day after the grand jury decision

  • November 7, 2014 10:37 am

from We Stand with Ferguson: the day after the grand jury decision

PURP DEMO POSTER

4pm the day after the grand jury decision at Broad st and Cecil B. Moore ave.

After Mike Brown was murdered in cold blood by racist cop Darren Wilson, the people of Ferguson rose up to demand justice. Their struggle inspired people all across the country and even the world.

Now, a decision from the grand jury is expected any day. Recent leaks suggest that it may make the outrageous decision not to indict. Regardless of the result, PURP is calling for a demonstration the day after a decision is announced.

We will rally at Broad and Cecil B. Moore Ave. We also hope to work with groups around the city to coordinate an even larger response. From Ferguson to Philadelphia, we will resist the war on Black people.

Poster
Quarter-sheet flyer

Keystone United Exposed – Bob Gaus

  • November 7, 2014 10:30 am

from Philly Antifa

Note: This will be a regular feature. Check back for more updates about scum operating in our area.

Bob Gaus, KSS co-founder. Lives in Harrisburg.

Robert Gaus has been a Neo-Nazi bonehead since the late 80’s. He co-founded the Keystone State Skinheads (KSS), also known as Keystone United (KU) or the Be Active Front (BAF). We have written extensively on here about KSS and their members’ history of assault, rape and murder all while publically representing themselves as a non-violent organization.

Help Andy Raise Legal Funds!

  • October 30, 2014 4:37 pm

Donate here

Andy is a queer-identified 20 year old West Philly resident, environmental activist, and volunteer at LAVA community center.

On August 23rd Andy was arrested while attending a demonstration in solidarity with those protesting in Ferguson, MO following the murder of Michael Brown. While walking on the sidewalk during the protest, he was tackled to the ground and kicked by multiple officers, arrested, and non-consensually brought to the hospital for injuries that the police had inflicted. Because the police took away the bandages he had been given in the ER, he had to take care of his injuries on his own, while in jail. He has since been slapped with a large emergency room bill. He was held for around 28 hours with little food or water, and was subject to intimidation and threats of multiple felony charges and federal involvement. Instances like this are not unusual.  In fact, these circumstances – violent arrests, legal threats, withholding medical treatment and intimidation – are common in suppression of dissent against police brutality.

Andy now faces six misdemeanor charges, for which the DA’s office has already demanded at least $1,500 in damage.

In addition, the publication of Andy’s legal name and residence by local media outed him as transgender to the community, violating his privacy and potentially putting his safety at risk.

We have been making every effort to fundraise for Andy and have already raised some money.  However, we still have a large amount left to raise.  Please help us out to whatever extent you are able!  If you would prefer to mail a check, please contact us for a mailing address.  Thank you!

Donate here.

Victory: KSS Quietly Cancels Leif Erikson Day Event, Rallies Against Immigration in Suburbs

  • October 25, 2014 8:36 pm

reposted from Philly Antifa:Antifa Philadelphia

The Leif Erikson Day Celebration was an event held in Philadelphia every year since 2007 that brought Neo-Nazis from all over the country to our city under the guise of celebrating a Nordic Explorer.   It was, in reality, an attempt by the Keystone State “Skinheads” to hold a public presence in Philadelphia, if only for one day a year, while pushing their “family friendly” brand of Neo-Nazism.

Antifa Philadelphia is pleased to announce that, following their embarrassing defeat last year, KSS did not hold their Leif Erikson Day event in 2014, choosing instead to rally against illegal immigration in Mossic, PA alongside local republicans and militia members. Daryl from One People’s Project has more info about that event and a grassroots opposition already developing out there to KSS.

This is a significant victory. This event was a feather in the cap of KSS. In previous years it drew upwards of 75 hardcore Nazi Boneheads and some years it drew little to no opposition at all. Groups that had attended the event in the past included the Vinlanders Social Club, Blood and Honour, Advanced White Society, The Hated Skins, The Aryan Terror Brigade, Volksfront the Blood and Honour. Unlike most public events organized by Nazis, KSS was able to avoid large opposition to Leif Ericson Day by carefully hiding their real affiliations and goals. Until last year.

Antifa Philadelphia made it a goal to put a stop to Leif Erikson Day for good. We participated in a coalition of groups known as Residents Against Racism who rallied over 200 people to protest KSS. A blockade of Antifascists stopped the Nazis from holding their traditional “march” down Lemon Hill, forcing them to break ranks and be marched down hand in hand by Philly PD.  Sources within KSS tell us the event was considered a huge embarrassment and waste of resources by most of the Nazis who attended. But that was only the beginning.

Following LED, Antifa Philadelphia launched “Operation: Full Consequences.” We exposed almost every person who attended the event. We outed the band that played the after-party and who are Nazis themselves, Norsewind, and got them removed from at least one show, with more to come. We took the fight to KSS where they live and exposed them to their neighbors, driving one of their members to renounce the group entirely and another 2 members to move out of the city. It’s no surprise that when October rolled around again this year, KSS would quietly post a “Happy Leif Erikson Day” message on their blog with no mention of the event having ever existed.

It is important to recognize and savor these victories. However, this was just one battle in a war against racism and fascism. Antifa Philadelphia will continue to expose, oppose and confront these groups and their supporters. This fight can be won, and we intend to win.

Love,

Antifa Philadelphia

West Philly Interests Meeting/Soldarity Network Strategy Session

  • October 23, 2014 12:09 pm

reposted from West Philly Interests Meeting/Solidarity Network Strategy Session

The West Philly branch of Philly Socialists will meet this Friday, 6pm at A-Space to introduce the group to interested newcomers and to relaunch our solidarity network.

We’ve got two promising fights on our hands. In the first, we’d be fighting with an active supporter to help him recover $800 of his security deposit wrongfully denied him. In the second, we’d be fighting with a senior citizen who has been without adequate heat for several years, has a deteriorating ceiling, and has been discriminated against for their gender identity, all while living in subsidized housing.

We can win both these fights so long as we can build a core group of committed volunteers. This meeting will help determine our capacity to do it.

Come on out and help make these campaigns the capstone of a year of great work on the part of our branch.