From Embers

Today's episode features a conversation with some members of Feminist Action Hamilton, an anyone-except-cis-men collective organizing around anarchist principles. We talk about some of the actions and workshops Feminist Action Hamilton has been organizing over the past year; feelings and motivations around creating an organizing space without cis men; intentions and desires to support each other, learn together, and take action, and some of the messiness and difficulties of organizing when you're not pretending to have all the answers.

Feminist Action Hamilton: Facebook

An interview with Craig Fortier, who is an organizer and academic based in Toronto. Among other things, Craig is involved with No One Is Illegal and helps coordinate the Field of Dreamers Cooperative Softball Association, which was featured on a recent episode of Talking Radical Radio. Craig is the author of the short book Unsettling The Commons: Social Movements Within, Against and Beyond Settler Colonialism which was published in 2017 by Arbeiter Ring. In it, Craig draws on more than 50 interviews with organizers within what he calls the "anti-authoritarian current" across Canada and the United States, and discusses what it means to "struggle for the commons" in the context of settler colonialism.

Craig's book recommendations include Undoing Border Imperialism, Red Skin White Masks & Mohawk Interruptus.

Music is by LAL and Test Their Logik.

SubMedia is an anarchist video collective based in Montreal. Founded in 1994, they have been putting out high-quality video for more than two decades, featuring satirical takes on the news, "riot porn", explanations of anarchist concepts, calls to action, and more, always with a strong dose of humour. Their latest project is called Trouble, and features in-depth interviews about a new theme each month. Check with your local anarchist community space to see if they are screening monthly screenings – if not, start your own!

I sat down with JR, a member of the SubMedia collective, to speak about the trajectory of the project, some philosophical questions about anarchist media, the spectacle of resistance and repression, their recent coverage of the crisis at Unist'ot'en, and more.

Today's episode features two interviews about solidarity actions with the Wet'suwet'en people currently defending their sovereignty, their lands and their waters by resisting pipeline construction through their territories.

In our first interview we speak with an urban Indigenous organizer about several different solidarity actions on unceded Coast Salish territories in Vancouver and some of the broader context, strategy and motivations behind those actions. Our second interview is with two Mi'kmaq land and water protectors in Unama'ki (so-called Cape Breton) about a solidarity action that shut down the Canso Causeway, related struggles against resource extraction throughout Mi'kma'ki, and some of the broader context and motivations behind those struggles as well.

Many different solidarity actions have taken place across this territory and around the world - too many to count! Actions and demonstrations have continued to flare up throughout so-called Canada - we encourage you to participate in solidarity actions happening in your area, and if it doesn't seem like anything is happening where you are, grab some friends and organize your own action! This is not over.

Solidarity actions and further updates and info:

We support the Unist'ot'en and Wet'suwet'en Grassroots Movement (facebook)

January 8th - International Day of Action (facebook)

Wet'suwet'en Access Point on Gidumt'en Territory (facebook)

Unist'ot'en Camp (blog)

Unist'ot'en Camp (facebook)

sub.media category: Unist'ot'en

This Is Not Over: Major Disruptions Continue in Support of Unist'ot'en Camp (itsgoingdown.org)

Another End of the World Is Possible: Indigenous Solidarity and Blocking Extractive Infrastructure in Canada (mtlcounterinfo.org)

North Shore Counter-Info: Posts tagged Unist'ot'en

North Shore Counter-Info: Posts tagged Wet'suwet'en

Alliance Against Displacement (facebook)

Warrior Publications: Posts tagged Unist'ot'en

#shutdowncanada #wetsuwetenstrong #thetimeisnow #notresspass

Music in this episode: A Tribe Called Red - Unist'ot'en Camp - Stadium Pow Wow (feat. Black Bear) Spoken word clips from Unist'ot'en spokesperson Freda Huson

This episode features two interviews with organizers of New Years Eve noise demonstrations in Hamilton and in Montreal. We talk about the rage and sadness we feel about the existence of prisons, noise demonstrations, building traditions and rituals, and our favourite New Years Eve stories.

Links:

Seven Years Against Prison (2015)

Montreal Against Prisons

International Call For New Year's Even Noise Demonstrations (English, 2018)

An interview with Andrew Crosby and Jeffrey Monaghan, co-authors of Policing Indigenous Movements: Dissent and the Security State, available from Fernwood Publishing.

The book is based on a series of government records obtained through Access to Information requests. The authors use these records to reveal how policing and other security agencies in Canada have been monitoring, cataloguing and working to silence indigenous land defenders and other opponents to extractive capitalism.

We discussed the revelations found in the book, the tricky politics of police accountability, some developments in the Canadian security apparatus in recent years, and some ideas about how movements can stay resilient despite state repression.

Music by Police Funeral

IWW organizers in Hamilton and Kingston discuss organizing solidarity pickets at mail processing facilities in Ontario and share different perspectives on supporting postal workers on strike who were recently legislated back to work.

Music in this episode:

Spanner - Work

Lee Reed - Get Mad

From Embers presents a two-part feature on the Locke Street Affair in Hamilton, Ontario. We sat down and interviewed a defendant in the case who will be in jail when this episode is released.

In March 2018, on the weekend of the Steel City Anarchist Bookfair, about 30 people marched through the Kirkendale neighbourhood of Hamilton. Some in the group lit fireworks, attacked luxury cars and smashed out the windows of gentrifying businesses on Locke Street, doing an estimated $100,000 in damage.

In the days, weeks and months that followed there was a massive backlash against anarchists in Hamilton, much of it against The Tower, an anarchist social space in Hamilton. 8 people were arrested and charged with a variety of offences including conspiracy, mischief, and "Unlawful Assembly While Masked". Last week, a non-cooperating plea deal was struck that will see two people spend some months in jail, one person on house arrest, and a mix of probation and stayed charges for the rest.

In Part One, we discussed the context of gentrification in Hamilton, the Locke Street demonstration, and the initial backlash. In Part Two, we explore the strategies of repression used against Hamilton anarchists, questions about navigating the court system, and the idea that resignation is worse than defeat.

Links:

Hamilton Anarchist Support Anarchist Texts on Gentrification in Hamilton Anarchist Texts on the Locke Street Affair

Music: Lee Reed - Kontrol

From Embers presents a two-part feature on the Locke Street Affair in Hamilton, Ontario. We sat down and interviewed a defendant in the case who will be in jail when this episode is released.

In March 2018, on the weekend of the Steel City Anarchist Bookfair, about 30 people marched through the Kirkendale neighbourhood of Hamilton. Some in the group lit fireworks, attacked luxury cars and smashed out the windows of gentrifying businesses on Locke Street, doing an estimated $100,000 in damage.

In the days, weeks and months that followed there was a massive backlash against anarchists in Hamilton, much of it against The Tower, an anarchist social space in Hamilton. 8 people were arrested and charged with a variety of offences including conspiracy, mischief, and "Unlawful Assembly While Masked". Last week, a non-cooperating plea deal was struck that will see two people spend some months in jail, one person on house arrest, and a mix of probation and stayed charges for the rest.

In Part One, we discuss the context of gentrification in Hamilton, the Locke Street demonstration, and the initial backlash. In Part Two, we explore the strategies of repression used against Hamilton anarchists, questions about navigating the court system, and the idea that resignation is worse than defeat.

Links:

Hamilton Anarchist Support Anarchist Texts on Gentrification in Hamilton Anarchist Texts on the Locke Street Affair

Music: Keny Arkana - Capitale de la Rupture

An interview with a member of the collective of prisoners and non-prisoners that produces the Certain Days: Freedom For Political Prisoners calendar. We talk about sharing projects with our imprisoned comrades, the importance of long-term projects and how our movements are doing when it comes to political prisoner support.

https://www.certaindays.org/