A Nuanced Anti-civ Stance

  • December 31, 2014 2:10 pm

from Deep Green Philly

Regarding some of the contradictions of being anti-civ or critical of industrial society (or, how to negotiate certain “facts on the ground”):

There’s an Upworthy video making the rounds on facebook entitled ‘5 Years’ Worth Of Photos Show How Testosterone Affected One Person’s Life’. This heartwarming video shows a FTM trans person’s journey of self-realization. Of course a medical marvel like this would not have been possible 40 years ago, and yet here’s the thing – it’s not clear if it will be possible 40 years into the future if climate disruption, global warming, and resource wars take the huge toll that many are predicting.

Grounded in Resistance Winter Speaking Tour: Grassroots Mobilizing for Animal Liberation

  • December 28, 2014 12:00 pm

reposted from Grounded in ResistanceAnimals in captivity or whose habitats are being destroyed live in a constant state of resistance. When their lives are threatened, they kick and bite and scream. When their homes are taken, they attempt to rebuild and regroup. When they are confined, they desperately grasp for an existence beyond captivity. Animals fight to live, to be wild, and to be free, and their fight is always urgent. If we are fighting in solidarity with animals, where is our urgency? What are we missing in our movement for animal liberation?

An effective movement for animal liberation must challenge the systems in which animal use is rooted — capitalism, colonialism, imperialism, and patriarchy. Our organizing must be informed by solidarity and inspired by the passion with which animals fight. We need a path forward that is forged through on-the-ground actions, movement building, strategic campaigning, a diversity of tactics, and coalition organizing. We need a movement that is grounded in the urgency of the animals’ own resistance.

Join us for a presentation and discussion about effectively resisting the use of animals and embracing the urgency of the fight for animal liberation. We will explore the recent history of animal advocacy and share our experiences of organizing within the context of the current state of the movement, and discuss ideas about how we can work together for a stronger animal liberation movement — a movement that is driven by grassroots activism, resistance against all of the systems that support animal exploitation, and solidarity with the animals and others who fight for liberation and self-determination. We will also share our plans for next summer and invite you to take part. We are working to create a summer of regional campaign development and nationwide mobilization of grassroots activists, and we look forward to talking with you about how your community wants to be involved.

Tour Schedule:

Dec 13: Bay Area
Dec 14: Southern California
Dec 16: Phoenix, AZ
Dec 18: Denver, CO
Dec 20: Salt Lake City, UT
Dec 22: Reno, NV
Dec 31: Florence, MA
Jan 2: Philadelphia, PA & Washington, DC
Jan 4: Charleston, SC
Jan 5: Gainesville, FL
Jan 7: South Florida
Jan 9: Dallas, TX
Jan 11: Seattle, WA

Contact us:

TheBunnyAlliance.com
thebunnyalliance@riseup.net

ResistanceEcology.org
info@resistanceecology.org

[January 2nd, 12pm to 2pm at Wooden Shoe Books 704 South Street]

Statement on Philadelphia Police Department Intimidation and Surveillance of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement

  • December 16, 2014 1:41 am

From Up Against The Law

Recently several actions by the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) have targeted local organizers in the movement against police terror. It is clear to us that they are intentionally trying to cultivate an atmosphere of paranoia and create a chilling effect on this growing movement. We have several comments on the matter and intend to take dead aim at these tactics that seek to instill fear and distrust – two elements that are like kryptonite to peoples’ movements.

To All Those Who Cant Breathe

  • December 6, 2014 5:51 pm

A call by comrades in New York City

 

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

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/

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.

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