from Instagram
Signals of solidarity from Philly.
from Instagram
Signals of solidarity from Philly. ????:@radicalgraffiti .
Graffiti for George Floyd
Wildcat Strike at Milk and Honey cafe
from Instagram
Wildcat walkout at Milk and Honey! “We as the employees of Milk and Honey Market have been called back to work without consultation about our needs in this moment of crisis, leaving many of us in precarious situations with regards to health, housing and safety. We have demanded that the owners acknowledge outlet group for collective bargaining, and have made a list of demands for what we need to keep ourselves and our customers safe. These demands included:
Adequate PPE for all staff at all times, and the ability to stop service if this is not available.
Appropriate signage for customers and employees about government guidelines regarding safety during the Covid 19 pandemic.
Resources for navigating interactions with customers or staff who do not follow these guidelines
An emergency plan in place should an employee show signs of or test positive for Covid 19
15$/hr minimum pay for all employees moving forward.
In response to these demands, the owners posted a sign today seeking new employees with a starting pay of 17$/hr, 2$ more than they offered to pay longtime staff who were willing to return to a safe environment. We as a staff have collectively decided not to return to work until the owners acknowledge our group and meet all of our demands. We have also updated our demands to ask for 17$/hr to reflect the wages they are offering new hires. We encourage others in the community not to accept employment or shop at milk and honey until these demands have been met.” #SolidarityForever #AnInjuryToOneIsAnInjuryToAll
from Twitter
The workers at @milkandhoneymkt on Baltimore Ave are forming a union. Please support them as more information and action steps come out.
The workers declare CLASS WAR IS BLACK LIBERATION! SOLIDARITY WITH MINNEAPOLIS! REST IN POWER, GEORGE FLOYD!
from Instagram
@eat_milk_and_honey workers went on strike. Instead of listening to reasonable demands, and out of hatred of employees asking for safer working conditions and a fair wage, they are attempting to hire scab replacements at a higher rate then the workers were asking for. DO NOT CROSS THE PICKET LINE! Demo to support the workers at 7:30am tomorrow @milkandhoneyrelief
Anathema Volume 6 Issue 4
from Anathema
Volume 6 Issue 4 (PDF for reading 8.5×11)
Volume 6 Issue 4 (PDF for printing 11×17)
In this issue:
- Lockdowns & Incarceration
- What Went Down
- Homelessness
- Resource Extraction Updates
- The State Of Surveillance
- Interview With A West Philly Rent Striker
- When Things Get Rough We Ride Together
- A Short Timeline Of PA ELF Actions
- Loving Anarchy (LA)
- A Quick Rant On COVID
- Expropriationist Anarchy In Crisis Times
- Philly Bingo Card
- Chapter Report Background
Letter Writing to Marius Mason (5/25)
from Philly ABC
Our letter writing event for this month will be for Marius Mason, who has unfortunately been recently diagnosed with COVID-19 and will be fighting the virus from behind bars. Marius was chosen both because of his diagnosis and also because of the fast-approaching June 11th International Day of Solidarity with Marius and all long-term Anarchist prisoners.
The event will be held on May 25th at 6:30 PM. Due to COVID-19, this event will be held online using the secure open source video conferencing platform, Jitsi. Privacy is encouraged – no one is expected to share their camera. The meeting details will be posted here a day before the event.
Background: Marius Mason is a transgender, environmental and animal rights activist. In 1999, in the name of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) he set fire to a lab at the University of Michigan that was conducting research on genetically modified organisms (GMO). After Marius’ husband turned states-evidence, Marius was threatened with a life sentence for the arson and other acts of sabotage. With little financial stability and fear of dragging his family into a costly legal battle, Marius pled guilty and was given an extreme sentence of nearly 22 years. No one was ever harmed in any of his actions.
Marius lived and worked in the Detroit area for most of his life. Like the late Earth First! (EF!) organizer, Judi Bari, he was part of a generation of radicals who worked to link the environmental and labor movements, and was jointly active in both EF! and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). It was this alliance which led to the initial success of the anti-globalization movement such as at the 1999 anti-WTO demonstration in Seattle. Mason was an editor of the Industrial Worker, the IWW newspaper, and a musician who recorded a neo-folk album, Not For Profit, with fellow EF!er Darryl Cherney in 1999. He also worked with numerous political as well as traditional charity groups.
If you are unable to join us on Jitsi, please send Marius a letter anyways:
Marie (Marius) Mason #04672-061
FCI Danbury
Route 37
Danbury, CT 06811
United States
Proud Boys Go A.W.O.L. As #RefuseFascism Steals the Show at Philly’s Branch Covidians Car Caravan
From Ida Vox
The anti-fascist group, along with independent political actors blocked, diverted and diminished the caravan away from the City Hall roundabout.
Philadelphia, PA– Anti-quarantine and pro-Trump activists sought a successful anti-quarantine car caravan protest around City Hall Friday. But the demonstration ended with a whimper as opposing protesters caused problems for them.
In addition, the Philadelphia chapter of the neo-fascist Proud Boys, who announced a three hour joint protest time for a rally outside City Hall’s Dilworth Plaza that was supposed to start at noon, ended up not showing up at all.
The car caravan moved en mass from the south at Broad and Oregon Streets, towards City Hall. At the intersection of Chestnut and Broad Street, they were stopped by activists who went into the street and blocked them for up to 15 minutes. The car caravan was able to proceed when police arrived and cleared the roadway.
The caravan made a few spins around City Hall but it was again disrupted once again on the west side of City Hall where Market Street intersects with 15th Street when a line of roughly a half-dozen cars that were a part of a counter-action organized by Refuse Fascism intercepted the caravan at the stop light and blocked the intersection. After paralyzing the caravan, they got out their cars to chant and “banner drop.” One side of the banner said “Trump-Pence Must Go” and the other side said “REOPEN = DEATH.”
After another 15 minutes or so the Refuse Fascism contingent left this major intersection, and left the anti-quarantine caravan seriously irritated. One caravan supporter reportedly threatened to slash the tires of the counter-demonstrators’ cars. No damage was observed however.
Soon after, police re-“routed” traffic away from City Hall, taking it off JFK Boulevard and moving it on to North Broad Street, and, Arch Street for a three block detour. This severed the caravan’s mass as it was fractured into small groups. Further aiding in this were counter-demonstrator elements within the caravan who instigated further interference. After approximately 80 minutes of a 180 minute-planned demonstration, large swaths of the car caravan were seen driving away from City Hall, heading in the direction of South Philadelphia.
The rally was organized by ReOpen Philadelphia, which was started by Victor Della Barba and his mother Jody, both longtime right wing activists in the city, Jody working as a secretary for Former Mayor Frank Rizzo, who was known for his racially polarizing efforts against the Black community. In addition to their Facebook page, there is another called ReOpen Philly, of which Proud Boy Zach Rehl is an administrator. The Philadelphia Proud Boys announced on their Telegram page that they were holding their rally at City Hall “to protest the unethical actions of tyrannical government arresting people for not closing their businesses!” At noon, there was no activity on Dilworth Plaza where they were supposed to hold their rally. At the time of this posting, the Proud Boys have not explained their absence.
Tensions flared on the ReOpen Philadelphia page over ReOpen Philly’s activities, prompting some there to disavow any association with the Proud Boy-related page. In 2018, Facebook banned the Proud Boys and any pages related to the group from its platform, but some like Sports, Beer and Politics, also maintained by Rehl, still remain, and they still create new ones such as ReOpen Philly.
This was one of the first times there was a counter to the ReOpen rallies that have been taking place across the country in the wake of the pandemic shutdown. “We stood up for science over willful ignorance, humanity first, not ‘America first;’ and chanted ‘Humanity, not Me-Me-Me.’” Refuse Fascism Philly posted to their Facebook page. “We are facing the immediate prospect of hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths from this regime’s handling of the pandemic alone, and they are using this to advance their fascist, genocidal agenda. It’s time to get organized to drive them from power.”
Pennsylvania has seen over 50,000 cases of Covid-19 and almost 3,500 deaths. Gov. Tom Wolf has said the shut down could extend into July.
UPDATE: 5/11/2020: This article was updated to note Jody Della Barba’s history with former Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo.
Information on ReOpen Philly Attendees
from Twitter
Let’s check in with some of the fine people who are attending the “Proud Boy” rally in Philly today…
These are the “Proud Boys” running this shitshow. First is Zach Rehl phillyproudboys.noblogs.org/…
Another “Proud Boy.” He goes by “Jesus Tsirch” on FB and he is the main admin of the group.
Jack Gillespie. Former Philly Cop and owner of the bar that invited Nazi metal bands and hosted “Proud Boy” recruiting events. Also, big mad that Muslims can vote. 6abc.com/vandalism-racism-we…
Eviction Defense of Center City Squatters
from Instagram
We heard about another totally outrageous eviction looming, so we showed up with a number of other people from like minded groups and stopped the city from booting out two individuals currently residing the grounds of the old Philadelphia Housing Authority headquarters in center city. In case you haven’t been following their scheme, the PHA was in theory created to keep lower economic status Philadelphians in decent houses and in their own neighborhoods. Instead, the PHA uses eminent domain to seize poor people homes, demolish them and either build luxury condos or sell them to developers who do the same thing. Casting poor people out of their homes and destroying communities to let affluent outsiders live tax free in these devastated areas that were once vibrant blocks. The PHA is some other level of vile. So l, some folks that needed a roof over their heads started squatting the old PHA headquarters in rather ironic fashion. There is a big habitable building that is not in use when so many are on the streets, and people desperately need housing. In our version of a “Service Day”, we showed to actually support the people that need it by standing up to the cops, gentrifying cop callers, and city workers who were about to forcibly evict our neighbors. They backed down for now but we will keep calling them out and challenging them-until they open up the thousands and thousands of empty properties that are not even in private hands; the houses owned by the PHA that could be housing our neighbors this very minute. #endtheabatement #stoptheevictions https://whyy.org/articles/housing-activists-stop-rittenhouse-encampment-cleanup-likening-it-to-eviction/
Local Groups #givingtuesday
from Instagram
Hey y’all we heard it was giving Tuesday! Here are a few of the projects we’ve been working on. If you would like to donate our venmo is @ramphilly & the security code is 4970 just write in the description what fund you would like to donate to!
.
????The Indigenous Solidarity fund has been used to give money to Indigenous liberation projects across Turtle Island as well as send sacred medicine. ????The Commissary Fund for people on the Inside is to help comrades on the inside buy materials to keep them healthy when they are trapped in prisons where social distancing is not a possibility ????Locks for Eviction Defense is to help people facing illegal eviction put new locks on their doors to protect themselves from landlords trying to force them out during this pandemic ????Mutual Aid Fund we are working on a few projects such as doing a care package serve in North Philly (other places doing amazing stp work in North Philly are Prevention Point and @northphillypeacepark). We are also working on establishing a community garden .
from Instagram
[Video Here]
Apparently it’s #givingtuesdaynow so if you got the funds throw some our way (on Cashapp) or to other mutual aid projects that are doing the work that the state never provides. So many awesome projects out there, give if you can! #givingtuesday
[North Philly Food Not Bomb’s Cashapp handle is $NPFNB]
MayDayFun
Submission
In a time where COVID-19 is sweeping it’s way through workplaces, shelters, and prisons.. wholefoods, amazon, and other large corporations are silencing their workers and trying to think of ways they can capitalize off of this pandemic. Houseless folks are being evicted from encampments regardless of the logical recommendations of the CDC. Prisons are death camps and our friends in cages are making masks in crowded conditions without the privilege to even wear one.
As a gesture of solidarity and an expression of our rage, we drop this banner for those on the inside fighting to get out, for the workers under the boot of the corporate masters at amazon and elsewhere, and the importance of practicing mutual aid. Not just now, but always.
Open squats!
Loot the Wholefoods!
Free the prisoners!
#Mutualaid
Philadelphia: Anarchist Group ‘Bristling Badger Brigade’ Burns Cell Tower (U$A)
from 325
Another May Day, another cell tower set alight. A small act in the earliest hours, but an escalation beyond the norm. And we never want to return to ‘normalcy.’ We don’t know the difference between 4G and 5G. All we know is we want none of it.
The tower’s proximity to a train yard, a major pharmaceutical company’s office, and other military/mercenary enterprises in the Philadelphia Navy Yard was intended to interfere with their operations, however small the impact. It should also be a reminder that no one is untouchable if you have the appropriate determination. And this particular act was quite easy.
The first flame was a warm hug for the comrade Badger, allegedly on the run after a series of similar incidents in Bristol. Stay free!
The ensuing smoke a signal to the comrades undergoing the Scripta Manent persecution in Italy… we stand with you!
For freedom,
for anarchy!
Bristling Badger Brigade
may day
Submission
Just before our May holiday began someone cut comcast cables beneath an access panel in the sidewalk outside of the “Real Time Crime Center.” Located in the Quartermaster Plaza in South Philly, these chumps sit around watching us, monitoring police cameras all over the region. Get a life! Stop trying to suppress ours!
No way to confirm or deny the impact, but we hope it poked them in the eyes and blinded them to the life-affirming actions that anarchists may or may not have taken that night.
bingo
Submission
Figured we should mention some contributions we made toward our bingo card:
Money and letters were sent to some friends that are locked up, ran off with a couple of american flags, a couple more ring cameras were disposed of, helped a friend begin living inside a newly established squat, and a cart full of groceries was expropriated from the amazon overlords. I know that last one isn’t necessarily looting, but I’ve heard that another crew counted something to that effect. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
GOOD MORNING PHILADELPHIA
From Twitter
image description: banner over 95 reads
“No More Death By Incarceration
Free Bomani
FREE THEM ALL”
#bomanishakur #freethemall #freeourpeople #philadelphia #philly #abolitionist #deathbyincarceration #deathrow #freedomfighter #lucasvilleuprising #fttp
Lucky 13
Submission
Who knew this anarchist would be so excited to stumble upon a luxury car?! The other night I took a walk to a rich part of town. There I went hunting for luxury vehicles, and punctured 1-4 tires on 13 cars. Tons of Mercedes, BMWS and a brand new Range Rover (heart eyes). Cover up, use an awl for quiet flattening, and make sure to scan the surrounding cars, as people like to hang out in their cars these days.
Until next time,
Bingo Baller
