Audio Interference

On April 30th, 1970, US President Richard Nixon announced the expansion of the Vietnam War into the neighboring country of Cambodia. This resulted in a wave of student strikes across the country throughout the month of May, 1970.

On May 4th, the US National Guard opened fire on student protesters at Kent State University in Ohio. Eleven days later, Mississippi state police opened fire on student protesters at Jackson State University, a historically black college. Together, six students were killed in the shootings.

In this episode, an Interference Archive volunteer, Jen Hoyer, interviews activist Dennis O'Neil. Dennis grew up in New York City and was a student at New York University in May, 1970. He tells us about the events leading up to the student strike, as well as the aftermath of the shootings at Kent and Jackson State.

This episode is part of a forthcoming exhibit at Interference Archive about the 50 year anniversary of the student strikes of May, 1970. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this exhibit has been moved online. For updates about the exhibit, subscribe to our mailing list at www.interferencearchive.org.

To read more about the student strikes of May 1970, You can read series of retrospective articles written by Dennis at: firemtn.blogspot.com/2010/04/may-70-finally-on-our-own.html

Music: Rompamos Los Carteles Electorales by Joaquin.

Produced By Interference Archive.

This Episode is a recording of the event “We the People won’t go: LES Artists on the Squatter Movement.” Amy Starecheski moderates a discussion with Seth Tobocman, Fly, and Maggie Wrigley. They share their experiences as both squatters and artists in the LES of NY in the 80’s. They talk about the role of art in the fight to stay in the neighborhood, in the fight for affordable and safe housing for themselves and their neighbors.

To see more of Seth Tobocman's work: https://www.sethtobocman.com/

To read about Maggie's book: An Architecture of Change, Building a Better world: https://unmpress.com/books/architecture-change/9780826346865

To see more of Fly's work: http://flyoart.blogspot.com/

This panel was a part of an exhibition and series of events at the archive in Oct 2019-Feb 2020 called Building for Us: Stories of Homesteading and Cooperative Housing.

Audio Interference is produced by the Interference Archive, an all volunteer run archive of social movement material.

Music: "Stuck in New York" Three Chord Monte with Joe Block, live at WFMU September, 2005

"We don't want to have to put up ghost bikes anymore."

27 cyclists were killed in New York City in 2019, more than twice as many as in 2018. In this episode of Audio Interference, we speak with volunteers Ellen Belcher and Steve Scofield from the New York City chapter of Ghost Bikes, who install street memorials for cyclists who have been killed in traffic violence. We travel with them up to 125th to install a bike and learn about the history and current movement of Ghost Bikes. For more information on the memorials in NYC and around the world, check out their website: http://ghostbikes.org/

Thank you to Steve Scofield and Ellen Belcher for speaking with us. To learn more about the 27 cyclists who lost their lives in 2019, we recommend this profile by Gothamist: https://gothamist.com/news/2019-was-extremely-deadly-year-nyc-cyclists-here-are-their-stories

Music and Audio in this Episode:

- Detailing by Blue Dot Sessions

Produced by Interference Archive.

“Areas that are now very affluent in London like Notting Hill or Camden Town, these would have been full of squatted places. Literally streets, like whole blocks of terraced housing that were squatted. From the 1960-70s onward there’s lots of people that ended up in possession of properties having initially squatted there.”

Dissident Island is an anarchist radio show broadcasting on the first and third Friday of every month from the London Action Resource Centre. Since 2007, Dissident Island has covered anarchist life in London, including the rise and fall of squatted social centers, and the Dissident Island archives offer a picture of the way squatters have changed the city, and the ways in which they’ve been affected by new laws and policing. Dissident Island also presents benefit shows in squatted venues, produces a zine, and offers radio workshops. This episode includes excerpts from an interview with Patrick Evans, one of the creators of Dissident Island, as well as clips from the show.

The voices you heard in this episode included Phoenix from Raven’s Ait, Paul from ANAL, Ben Rampart and Ben 52 from rampART, Lou and Matt from Made Possible by Squatting, and Dissident Island hosts John, Chick Pea, Bryn, Patrick IW. Thank you to Patrick Evans and everyone at Dissident Island for making this audio available to us.

Music: “Cataclysm” by the Flying Luttenbachers, “Hundred Years in Helheim” by Tri-Tachyon, and “The Pharaos Theme” by The Pharaos, all from the Free Music Archive.

Produced by Interference Archive.

LINKS

Dissident Island: http://www.dissidentisland.org/

Squatted Social Centres in London, 2007-2017, with Dissident Island Radio:

https://socialcentreslondon.wixsite.com/interferencearchive

This episode was created by Patrick for the recent Interference Archive exhibition, Resistance Radio: The People’s Airwaves. (http://interferencearchive.org/resistance-radio-the-peoples-airwaves/)

For more on the history of squatting in London, you can listen to Episode 20 of Audio Interference: http://interferencearchive.org/audio-interference-20-squatting-in-london/

Raven’s Ait: “Squatters in the Stream,” on BBC News:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7999287.stm

“Green-living Squatters: Revolution in Surbiton,” on the Independent:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/green-living-squatters-revolution-in-surbiton-1671326.html

Social Centre Plus: “Anti-cuts jobcentre squatters resist bailiffs,” East London Lines: https://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2011/04/unti-cuts-squatters-resisted-eviction-from-deptford-jobcentre/

ANAL:

“Squatters turn oligarch's empty London property into homeless shelter,” The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/27/squatters-open-oligarchs-empty-london-property-as-homeless-shelter?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Facebook

rampART on squat!net: https://en.squat.net/tag/rampart/

Made Possible by Squatting: Blog post and lots of pictures on urban75.org: http://www.urban75.org/blog/made-possible-by-squatting-exhibition-15-dock-street-london-e1/

London Action Resource Center: http://larc.space/

Advisory Service for Squatters: https://www.squatter.org.uk/

In this episode of Audio Interference, we speak with Vanessa Nosie, activist, and Carrie Curley, activist and artist, about the Apache Stronghold and their spiritual movement to protect Oak Flat from the foreign mining company Resolution Copper.

A huge thank you to Carrie Curley, Vanessa Nosie, Naelyn Pike, Wendsler Nosie, and the Apache Stronghold for their important and determined fight to protect their land, and for the important message this has for indigneous communities around the world, and for all communities, regarding the way we should respect and relate to our land, environment, and to each other. Thank you Amy Harwood for your support and audio from the walk that is part of this episode. Thank you Cruz for your production help.

We encourage you to call your Senators and Representatives to be sure they support the protection of sacred sites. Ask them to sign on as sponsors of the Save Oak Flat Act, which would repeal the land exchange bill.

Save Oak Flat Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/665

To learn more about the Apache Stronghold, visit their website and social media platforms:

Website: www.apache-stronghold.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Apache-Stronghold-802193869856079/

Instagram: @protectoakflat

For additional articles and resources about Oak Flat, we recommend:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oak-flat-arizona-apache-mining_n_5dfa9a7be4b006dceaa7e48c?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cDovL2FwYWNoZS1zdHJvbmdob2xkLmNvbS9hcnRpY2xlcy5odG1s&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFgF1vqhkwFfVe_3oyVFi0zdK_cTjnyOBmO73vuidVgZzWT690YSD1yPZJgEQDMrQ1B9ijdALkhZeYuPydSelgsBaY1udpOhLbZAUbigMZLmOYPf6rq_SoPh9jgLE99oGrB0nB8mMQq4WFxJE_qyJzQ6N5jGu1SPL_F9CXUyOXW2

https://kairoscenter.org/wendsler-nosie-save-oak-flat/

https://truthout.org/articles/the-apache-way-the-march-to-oak-flat/

https://vimeo.com/120753081

https://tucson.com/opinion/local/local-opinion-speak-up-for-oak-flat-before-a-copper/article_3b43fa5f-40c6-5761-afe1-05f6aad17aa6.html

https://truthout.org/articles/the-apache-way-the-march-to-oak-flat/

http://www.indianz.com/News/2015/07/20/interview-san-carlos-apache-tr.asp

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/29/opinion/selling-off-apache-holy-land.html

https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/02/12/oak-flat-solidarity-walk/?fbclid=IwAR1kwVmHR_EupbVWOyT45hmcpZEj7wG7R6IXez9JLpVpZofGb5Wa0RhXlKk

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/aejjxg/fighting-to-protect-oak-flat

https://sacredland.org/oak-flat-united-states/

https://www.democracynow.org/2015/7/17/apache_stronghold_caravan_calls_to_protect

To learn more about the mural by Carrie Curley on the water tower in Oak Flat: https://www.globemiamitimes.com/san-carlos-mural/

Music and Audio in this Episode (in order):

Into the Sea by Macroform (intro music)

In a Pinch by Macroform (transition music)

Tina Anderson walking during the 5th Walk to Oak Flat, recorded by Amy Harwood

Drumming and walking during the 5th Walk to Oak Flat, recorded by Amy Harwood

Speech by Naelyn Pike during the 5th Walk to Oak Flat, recorded by Amy Harwood

Into the Sea by Macroform (outro music)

Produced by Interference Archive.

AK Thompson is an author, activist, and social theorist. Over the summer, he came to Interference Archive to speak about his newest book, Premonitions. Drawing on that material, he explored the relationship between citation and social movements and brought out a new understanding of the political role of archivists.

For accompanying slides, visit: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Vrn2-lsRpR-zKhHye8apmWj-6D8NLR4Do7Aeaf25VNI/edit?usp=sharing

Music: Better Things by Cool Runnings

Produced by Interference Archive

Audio Interference 69: What a DJ really is —- Microbroadcasting with Radio CPR and Prometheus Radio Project

The following is a recording of an event that happened in july of 2019. Archive volunteer Colin moderated a conversation with founding members Marnie Brady, Amanda Huron, and Athena Viscusi of radio CPR a pirate radio station in Mt. pleasant D.C. and Petri Dish, of Radio Mutiny and Prometheus Radio Project.

Speaker Bios: Marnie Brady / DJ Poinsettia launched the Neighborhood Power Hour as part of Radio CPR, Washington, DC where she converged her work in community organizing for immigrant rights, land, & housing with action research interviews & mix tapes over the airwaves. As part of Radio CPR, Marnie started a tech club to learn more about how sound travels. Now in Brooklyn, Marnie is part of the organizing committee for the national Homes for All campaign. She’s starting a job as assistant professor in politics & human rights at Marymount Manhattan in the fall.

DJ Maude Ontario (AKA Amanda Huron) is a co-founder of Radio CPR, a community radio station that broadcast from D.C.’s Mt. Pleasant neighborhood, 1998-2018. She currently works as an associate professor of interdisciplinary social sciences at the University of the District of Columbia, the public university serving Washington, D.C. Her research interests are in urban geography, housing justice, and D.C. history. She plays drums in the bands Puff Pieces and Weed Tree, and is a native of Washington, D.C.

PeteTridish has built studios, raised towers, drafted regulations, passed a law through congress, been the plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against media consolidation, started non-profits, and been arrested as a protester on various occasions. He has been a radio pirate, a policy advocate for community media, a carpenter, an environmental educator, a solar energy system installer, a squatter, a homeless shelter volunteer and an activist in many social movements since the age of 16.

Athena Viscusi, Radio Free Mount Pleasant DJ and member of Stand for Our Neighbors.

You can’t see them, but the skies above New York City hold a tangle of transgressive, culture-bearing radio signals. They’re sent from secret rooftop transmitters and pulse imperceptibly across the five boroughs, bringing familiar sounds to simple FM radios in homes and shops throughout tight-knit immigrant neighborhoods. These underground stations are often called pirates for broadcasting on the FM band without a government-issued license.In this episode, we’re sharing excerpts from an event at Interference Archive in July, which featured a conversation between David Goren and Joan Martinez. The event was presented in relation to our summer exhibition, Resistance Radio: The People’s Airwaves, which looked at the history of radio as a medium for grassroots movements and their organizing work.

David Goren is an award winning radio producer and audio archivist based in Brooklyn, NY. He’s created programming for the BBC World Service, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Wall Street Journal magazine, NPR’s Lost and Found Sound series, On the Media, and Afropop Worldwide as well as audio-based installations for the Proteus Gowanus gallery, and the Ethnographic Terminalia Collective. In 2016 he was an artist-in-residence at Wave Farm, a center for the Transmission Arts. Over the past two years David has released “Outlaws of the Airwaves: The Rise of Pirate Radio Station WBAD” for KCRW’s Lost Notes Podcast and The Brooklyn Pirate Radio Sound Map which was featured in The New Yorker Magazine.

Brooklyn Pirate Radio Sound Map: https://www.pirateradiomap.com/

David Goren's audio documentary, "New York City Pirates of the Air": https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p076bp3y

"Outlaws of the Airwaves: The Rise of Pirate Radio Station WBAD": https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/lost-notes/outlaws-of-the-airwaves-the-rise-of-pirate-radio-station-wbad

Joan “Radio Free Joanie” Martinez is a Brooklyn-born-and-raised Haitian-American. She attended Brooklyn College twice as an undergrad and is currently working on her Master’s Thesis about “pirate radio” in Brooklyn. She’s laid the groundwork to becoming a successful on-air talent as a podcast host. Pegged as opinionated since a teenager and a smart alec, she brings a perspective that is usually elusive to the diaspora– a female voice that represents the children of Haiti’s “Lost Generation.” She straddles two worlds–the traditional Haitian household and an American growing up in America. She is an enigma at first. Her last name confuses the people she tries to talk to–she’s often pegged as a Latino that just happens to know Haitian-Kreyol. But after a minute of talking to her, people are at ease and fascinated that she is Haitian-American. She speaks the language though her name is Latino and her citizenship is American. Some are still standoffish to her and brush her off. She remains resilient however, a trait found in the Haitian people. They thrive from adversity and feed off obstacles. She is the product of her environment and brings this to her radio broadcasting.

Produced by Interference Archive.

Audio Interference is excited to be bringing you an episode from a guest podcast, Radio Survivor. Radio Survivor is a group of individuals organized to shed light on the ongoing importance of radio. They have a weekly podcast where they interview people involved in wide-ranging and international community radio efforts.

Back in July 2019, Interference Archive volunteers Celia Easton Koehler and Elena Levi spoke with Jennifer Waits and Eric Klein of Radio Survivor about our latest exhibition at Interference Archive. It’s called Resistance Radio: The People’s Airwaves and it’s about the history of radio as a medium for grassroots movements. They spoke with Radio Survivor about the stations, communities and contexts featured in the exhibition, and the process, labor, and networks involved. Some of the seeds of our research actually came from Radio Survivor interviews!

Resistance Radio is on view at the archive through September 29. If you are in New York, come check it out during our open hours: Thursday 1-9pm or Friday through Sunday 12-5pm. You can also check out our website for events or look out for recordings from some events in the fall season of Audio Interference.

A huge thank you to Erik Klein, Jennifer Waits, and everyone from Radio Survivor for speaking with us about Resistance Radio: The People’s Airwaves.

More information about Radio Survivor and the original interview:

radiosurvivor.com

http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2019/07/30/podcast-204-resistance-radio-the-peoples-airwaves/

More information about Resistance Radio: The Peoples Airwaves:

http://interferencearchive.org/resistance-radio-the-peoples-airwaves/

resistanceradio.online

Produced by Interference Archive.

In this episode, we’re speaking with activists, organizers, musicians and artists who are a part of The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. The movement is building on the Poor People’s Campaign of 1968, a national movement led by Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Junior to unite the poor. We focus our conversation on the role music and art plays, and has played, in this movement.

A huge thank you to Ciara Taylor, Pauline PIsano, and Charon Hribrar for speaking with for this episode.

To learn more about the Poor People’s Campaign, visit their website at https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/.

To download a copy of the songbook, produced by the Poor People’s Campaign with artwork by Justseeds collective: https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/SON001_Songbook.pdf

This episode coincides with the exhibition at Interference Archive Everybody’s Got A Right To Live: The Poor People’s Campaign 1968 & Now: http://interferencearchive.org/everybodys-got-a-right-to-live-the-poor-peoples-campaign-1968-now/

This is the last episode of spring 2019 Audio Interference season. We’re taking a break for the summer, but we’ll be back again in the fall with a brand new season that explores the culture of social movements globally. While we’re off enjoying the summer sun, we’d love to hear from you with feedback about our episodes so far, and about what you’re interested in listening to in the future! Please fill out this survey to tell us why you love audio interference, and what topics you would like us to cover in the year ahead: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1QUf3nPwdo7ewDaymPsgW73biPu-42iWwlF4Z-FI3QoE/viewform?edit_requested=true

Thanks, and have a nice summer!

Music you heard today is by:

50 Years After MLK’s Poor People’s Campaign, 2,500+ Arrested Over 6 Weeks Calling for Moral Revival, Democracy Now, June 25, 2018

Audio recordings from an action at Wall Street in March 2018, with help by Lu Aya from the Peace Poets and the Rude Mechanical Orchestra.

Ciara and Paulina sing “I want to Lift My People Up” by Vi Rose.