Join us at 3:30pm on Sunday, January 28th at Iffy Books for the premier release of freshly published, The Blue Agave Revolution: Poetry of the Blind Rebel. Collaboratively written by indigenous anarchist political prisoner Oso Blanco and Michael Novick, The Blue Agave Revolution is a joint work of speculative/magical realist fiction containing tales of the Mexican Revolution, analyses of contemporary Indigenous struggle, engagement with the work of other political prisoners including Leonard Peltier,Mumia Abu-Jamal, and Jessica Reznicek, art, poetry, and meditations about what struggles for freedom may look like in the future.
After introducing the book and hearing a piece from Oso Blanco himself, we’ll jump into a multimedia program on contemporary aspects of the Zapatista movement and other topics related to Oso Blanco’s wholehearted connections to indigenous autonomy in Turtle Island. We will be joined by author and journalist Scott Campbell to shed light on the role of Magonismo in the early Mexican revolution.
$20 suggested donation (includes a copy of the book). No one turned away for lack of funds.
Remote participation is welcome! If you can’t make it in person, we’ll ship it to you so you can follow along. We also encourage those who are joining in person, to purchase and familiarize yourself with the book ahead of time, but that is completely up to you. Cash donations at the event are welcome too!
Philadelphia, PA — On November 23, around 11 a.m., Black and Indigenous and anti-Zionist Jewish activists hung banners along Interstate 676, just blocks away from the Thanksgiving Day Parade on occupied Lenapehoking land, otherwise known as Philadelphia. They collaborated to highlight the ongoing injustice and struggles of Indigenous people in the U.S. while also displaying solidarity with those against occupation in Palestine.
Parade floats accompanied by police escorts on all sides sped below the 10th Street overpass just moments before the first banner was hung. It served as a timely punctuation as east bound traffic watched the banner unfurl to read, “The Pequot Remember the Massacre.”
The Pequot Massacre occurred on May 26, 1637. Settler-colonial Puritan soldiers, organized as the Massachusetts Bay Colony Militia, aimed to steal the tribe’s traditional land in a surprise ambush that murdered 700 Pequot adults and children. During the massacre, settlers set fire to the village burning any remaining people alive. Governor John Winthrop declared a celebration of this massacre later that year that some consider to be the first Thanksgiving. The following year, white settlers outlawed the Pequot language and name, seized tribal lands, and forced some surviving Pequot people into slavery. This further galvanized the massacre into a genocide.
The second banner to be dropped from the overpass faced west bound traffic and revealed the words “End Genocide from Turtle Island to Palestine.”
The following day, Black Friday, other autonomous groups got to work hanging banners along this same interstate which runs like a river through the city center. However, on that morning, similar anti-colonial and anti-Zionist messages could now be read throughout this corridor of the city in defiance of erasure.
These banner drops follow acts of nonviolent civil disobedience, direct actions, and marches that have been happening all over Philadelphia on a near-daily basis since Israel began bombing Gaza after October 7.
They also occur within a broader movement framework of autonomous actions across the country that commemorated November 23 as the Indigenous National Day of Mourning — a day that serves to highlight centuries of atrocities committed against Indigenous people and to correct present myths in history texts taught in American schools.
For the last 53 years on the fourth Thursday of November, the Indigenous National Day of Mourning has taken place to“honor Indigenous ancestors and Native resilience. It is a day of remembrance and spiritual connection, as well as a protest against the racism and oppression that Indigenous people continue to experience worldwide.”
Since its first treaty, the U.S. government has continually broken each and every written agreement signed with Indigenous Nations as more white settlers wanted their land. Starting with the Treaty With the Delawares/Treaty of Fort Pitt in 1778 with the Lenni Lenape peoples.
In Pennsylvania in 1782, an American Revolutionary War officer and his militia slaughtered nearly 100 Lenape (mostly women and children) at the village of Gnadenhutten after wrongly believing they were responsible for attacks against white settlers. This led to more settler-colonialists moving onto Lenape territory, before the Treaty of Greeneville in 1795 forced the Lenape and other nearby tribes to surrender most of their lands.
All of this erasure, murder, and forced relocation continued to shrink and control the spaces where Indigenous people could inhabit. Thirty-five years later, in 1830, U.S. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act which codified the violent removal of Indigenous people from their ancestral lands en masse, in what’s known as the Trail of Tears. Today, data shows that Indigenous people in the United States have lost nearly 99% of the land they historically occupied.
Unicorn Riot heard about the aspirations of some of those involved in bringing the anti-colonial and anti-Zionist messaging into Philly’s downtown corporate Thanksgiving space.
UR: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Why do you think it’s important for this action to take place on Thanksgiving in the US?
“As an Indigenous activist it’s important to keep reminding people of the brutal history of ongoing displacement and genocide. My heart breaks for people all over the world who are actively displaced for the nation state war machine.
To have traditional food and practices whitewashed and fed back to us as if we should be grateful for the nod to our history while ignoring the part the capitalist U.S. state has played in killing us and our traditional practices is frankly disgusting.”
– K
“Much like we are seeing genocides in Palestine, Congo, Armenia, and Sudan be denied and erased in real time, colonizers have erased the continued and active genocide of Indigenous peoples in the so-called United States. They have taken our feasts and our foods, and have created a celebration from our suffering. They throw parades to commemorate their military victories while our people go hungry on our reservations and in our cities, homeless and in need in our own homelands. But we are here to remind them that we have not forgotten and we will not be silently erased.“
– F
UR: How did you bridge the gap between occupation in the U.S. and occupation in Palestine? What about the Pequot massacre did you want to invoke in this moment?
“To see the defense of Palestine is beautiful, but to condemn one genocide while celebrating another is not justice. Over 700 Pequot women, children, and elders were murdered in a surprise raid while many of their warriors were away. That is the true history of Thanksgiving. That is what is being celebrated today. Regardless of whether you can call it Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, or your fall feast, if you are not telling the true history & feeling it’s full weight then you are commemorating our genocide. “
– F
UR: What did you want people to take away most from this action?
“I hope that the banners incite conversations that question colonialism here and in Israel. For non-Native people like myself who are gathering with family or friends today, I hope they talk about how to be part of initiating repair and reparations for Indigenous people in the US. Similarly, as an anti-Zionist Jewish person, I hope Jewish families talk about the way our identities and trauma are being manipulated for colonial purposes, and how we can resist that to stand with Palestinians.”
– R
“We should stand against occupation and genocide around the globe, and that begins with the land beneath our feet. We must examine our own role in continued genocide and settler colonialism, and we must take responsibility for ending all States at war with the People, including our own. We are not free until we are all free, and we are not all free until every oppressive force has fallen to the ground. Start where you are, start today, and don’t stop til we free them all.”
Just us at Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St. #2I) at 6:30pm on Monday, March 13th to send letters of solidarity to American Indian Movement elder and boarding school survivor Leonard Peltier . February 27th to March 8th of this year marks 50 years since the Lakota standoff with oppressive colonial forces at Wounded Knee. Wounded Knee is also where, on December 29, 1890, the 7th Calvary massacred approximately 200 unarmed Lakota of Chief Bigfoot’s band. The gathering in 1973 was in response to the oppressive conditions forced on indigenous communities by the Bureau of Indian Affairs– the escalation into a standoff typifies the aggressive stance of government agents towards native people advocating for themselves.
Leonard was a member of the American Indian Movement active in the 1970s. It is his involvement in supporting rights for indigenous people that set the stage for the accusation that he participated in the killing of FBI agents. It’s unconscionable that he’s been left to rot in a federal penitentiary for nearly half a century after being convicted on false evidence . In 2009, Leonard had his first and only parole hearing. He was given a 25-year hit, an exorbitant length that is rarely, if ever, given. His legal team and many supporters worldwide are now seeking executive clemency for him. Let’s send him some love to fortify his strength and resilience, and lend support for his fight for freedom.
Snacks and letter-writing supplies will be provided. If you cannot make the event, drop Leonard a line at:
Leonard Peltier #89637-132 USP Coleman I P.O. Box 1033 Coleman, FL 33521
We will also send a birthday card to another elder political prisoner born in March: Ruchell Magee (the 17th).
On the night of November 5th, a small group of Anti-colonial Anarchist settlers in Lenapehoking blockaded a chokepoint of a high frequency railway in Solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en resisting drilling in the Wedzin Kwa and all those resisting colonial capitalist development and infrastructure all across Turtle Island and the World!
It was a very simple and easily replicable action using commonly found blockade materials that were near the tracks already.
We hope to inspire many more and frequent railway blockades as an effective action to disrupt colonial and ecocidal infrastructure all across Turtle Island and Globally.
Shut down Canada, Colonialism, and Capitalism everywhere!
Faint traces of Indigenous people and their histories abound in American media, memory, and myths. Indigeneity often remains absent or invisible, however, especially in contemporary political and intellectual discourse about white supremacy, anti-Blackness, and racism in general. In this ambitious new book, Kevin Bruyneel confronts the chronic displacement of Indigeneity in the politics and discourse around race in American political theory and culture, arguing that the ongoing influence of settler-colonialism has undermined efforts to understand Indigenous politics while also hindering conversation around race itself.
By reexamining major episodes, texts, writers, and memories of the political past from the seventeenth century to the present, Bruyneel reveals the power of settler memory at work in the persistent disavowal of Indigeneity. He also shows how Indigenous and Black intellectuals have understood ties between racism and white settler memory, even as the settler dimensions of whiteness are frequently erased in our discourse about race, whether in conflicts over Indian mascotry or the white nationalist underpinnings of Trumpism.
Envisioning a new political future, Bruyneel challenges readers to refuse settler memory and consider a third reconstruction that can meaningfully link antiracism and anticolonialism.
After a short lecture, KevinBruyneel will be in conversation with Chenjerai Kumanyika and Jaskiran Dhillon.
The National Native Day of Mourning (so-called Thanksgiving) marks the invasion, theft of land, and genocide committed against the Indigenous Native People by European colonialists and later by their Amerikan descendants. UFF Ohio 7 comrades, Kazi Toure and Jaan Laaman, will be conducting a 24 hour fast on Nov. 25th and ask you to join:
This fast is to recognize and highlight the genocide of Native People and the theft of Native land. This is NOT just a historical horror – it continues today with all the injustices, abuses and ongoing land and resources theft committed against Native People all across this imperialist – colonialist USA state. In particular we focus on and demand the immediate release of Leonard Peltier – Native Elder, AIM activist, teacher, mentor, sun dancer and our dear friend and brother. Leonard is a political prisoner, in captivity over 44 years! Leonard must be freed – all U.S.-held political prisoners must be freed! Many Native Councils and governments have long called for Leonard’s release. Very recently, 10 US Senators and Representatives have called for President Joe Biden to release Leonard Peltier. We welcome everyone, each one of you, to join Kazi and Jaan in fasting, however long and in whatever way is meaningful for you, on Nov. 25th. Also do all you can, to get Leonard out of captivity NOW– see Leonard’s website for how you can help! FREE LEONARD PELTIER! FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!
– Jaan Laaman
Philly ABC is hosting an anti-colonialist letter-writing in solidarity with imprisoned indigenous freedom fighter Oso Blanco. Join us Monday, November 29th, 6:30pm online! We’ll be sharing some information on Oso Blanco’s case, as well as updates on several political prisoners. As we write letters, the film ‘Zapatista’ will be streaming since Oso Blanco is being held captive for expropriating funds to support the Zapatistas. We also encourage folks to send birthday greetings to political prisoners with birthdays in December: Fred “Muhammad” Burton (the 15th) and Casey Brezik (the 30th).
Fidencio Aldama Perez is an indigenous Yaqui land defender and political prisoner from the northern Mexican state of Sonora. He was arrested on October 27, 2016, and later sentenced to fifteen years and six months in prison on trumped-up charges related to a death in the community of Loma de Bácum, Sonora. It is believed that he was targeted due to his support for the indigenous community’s opposition to a gas pipeline that was to pass through Yaqui territory.
Before his imprisonment, Fidencio loved playing soccer with his children and the community. His favorite team is C.F. Pachuca. He is a talented singer and musician, playing the guitar, bass, accordion, and flute. He has long been involved in practicing, teaching, and strengthening the culture and traditions of the Yaqui people, including playing guitar in traditional Yaqui ceremonies and participating in communal dances. For Fidencio, his identity as indigenous and Yaqui is extremely important, something he has passed on to his children. His vision is for a Yaqui territory that fully belongs to the Yaqui people and from which no one can be displaced.
Please join us this coming Monday in Clark Park (stone platform near 45th and Chester) for letter-writing and art-making in participation of the international week of letter-writing and artwork in solidarity with Fidencio Aldama Perez!
We will also send birthday cards to a political prisoner with a birthday in July: Gage Halupowski (the 1st).
Two Saturdays. October 10th & 17th. 12-3pm. Online.
Join Incite Seminars for a two-part workshop to explore counter-mapping as a tool for what Anishinaabe scholar Jean-Paul Restoule calls the twin goals of “decolonization” and “reinhabitation.” In Part I (October 10), we will introduce the practice of counter-mapping and explore an example of a decolonial map of Lower Manhattan in a manner that engages the past as present. In Part II (October 17), we will dig into histories of resistance in our own local communities in an embodied way. This portion of the workshop will invite you to unearth your lived experiences of displacement and rooting and to incorporate them into the mapping process. We will co-create a map that traces the ways some of our predecessors not only managed to inhabit uninhabitable times and places, but actually transformed them into spaces of liberation.
Facilitator: Rebecca Manski is an independent educator, curriculum designer and researcher. She writes and teaches about the fortresses, walls and detention centers in one of this country’s first borderzones, New York’s financial district. You can find her at Unsettling Wall Street/Borderless Walks and Social Justice Tours.
Discounted pricing for Educators & Activists! For more information and to register, visit the event page.
This week we used copper wire to disrupt rail traffic on two different tracks here in occupied Lenapehoking. Solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en nation, and all those blockading and sabotaging the economy and the state.
They are trying to extinguish our spirits. Keep a strong heart. Keep your heart burning bright. Reconciliation is dead, insurgency is alive!
from Facebook
During this week’s open hours, we are going to be watching short films about the Unistʼotʼen Camp.
To our north, this month has witnessed an explosion of actions intended to “shut down Canada” with blockades of rail lines cancelling passenger service trains across the country and paralyzing freight shipment. In the cities, protests have blocked streets, highways, and bridges. The present wave of resistance can be traced to the Unistʼotʼen camp’s decade-long battle against proposed pipelines in unceded Wetʼsuwetʼen territory. We will watch films and discuss this history to get a clearer picture of what has been happening.
RAM-Philly will be hosting our second reading group on Sday, March 1st at 6pm! We will be reading chapter 7 “Liberation” of “Our History is Our Future” by Nick Estes. Please email us for information!
Trouble 21 looks at anti-colonial struggles in Turtle Island and Palestine
From the genocidal aftermath of Columbus’ accidental “discovery” of the New World, to the ever-deeper encroachments of Israeli settlements into the West Bank — five hundred years of European colonialism has cast a long shadow over this world. Colonization, in its supreme arrogance, carved up the globe according to the imperial logic of accumulation, imposing artificial borders on foreign lands and seeking to subjugate restive native populations through religious indoctrination and force of arms. But despite their military superiority, ideological warfare and constant recourse to savage brutality, colonial regimes have consistently failed to crush the will of colonized people to fight back. And the reason for this is simple. Occupation breeds resistance.
Anarchists, especially those of us who have never experienced the sharp edge of colonization, have much to learn from those waging this resistance. We also have a principled imperative to align ourselves with those facing acute forms of state violence and dispossession. To this end, this episode of Trouble draws on two examples of contemporary anti-colonial struggle – those waged by the Palestinians and the Mohawks of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy against their respective oppressors, the Israeli and Canadian settler-colonial states, in hopes of drawing out lessons and increasing our capacity for producing meaningful solidarity.
[August 28 from 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM at Wooden Shoe Books and Records 704 South St]
The monument to celebrated colonizer, murderer, and initiator of indigenous genocide, Christopher Columbus, was covered in blood red paint during the late hours of Thursday, November 22nd. This act was taken in solidarity with the national day of mourning. Why should we celebrate a holiday where the theme is so baseless that the affects of its deceit can still be seen today in the suffering, deep poverty, alcoholism, and lack of health care on indigenous reservations… thanks to European settlers like Columbus!
Stop teaching your children to worship monsters. We are tired of your lies. We are coming after your monuments, and it won’t just be the confederate ones in the South! We will continue to paint, topple and toss into rivers all statues that glorify oppressors. Frank Rizzo’s granite head will roll past city hall soon enough.
