July 22, 2023

This Is America #188: Vishal Singh on Bloody Brawls Marking Pride in SoCal; Action Camp Kicks off in Michigan

2 hours 49 minutes

Welcome, to This Is America, July 21th, 2023.

On today’s episode we present an interview with antifascist journalist and researcher Vishal Singh about the bloody brawls erupting outside of school board meetings in Southern California and how the fight against the far-Right is evolving as gender fascists double down against LGBTQ+ communities.

We then feature an interview with members of the Black Rose Anarchist Federation about tenant and workplace organizing and their new position document.

Finally, we discuss the unfolding ecological situation and its implications in the ongoing fight against repression and Cop City in Atlanta, Georgia. All this and more, but first, let’s get to the news!

Living and Fighting

Y'all, if you weren't already convinced of the effectiveness of direct action yet, then check it out straight from the horse's mouth!

Atlas Consulting has dropped out of Cop City because protesters "broke all their fucking windows".@defendATLforest #StopCopCity pic.twitter.com/xzuLWPf20e

— @[email protected] #StopCopCity (@seanmc_eth) July 5, 2023

The recent week of action to stop Cop City and defend the Atlanta forest has come to a close. The week of action featured community events, rallies, protests, direct actions, and marches. Check out Living and Fighting for a day by day breakdown of the action. Solidarity demonstrations also took place across the US as did banner drops, along with solidarity actions in the bay area and beyond.

Protesters in NYC marched from Union Square to Delancey-Essex today in solidarity with Atlanta's #StopCopCity movement & to demand freedom for the #CopCity protesters & justice for Tortuguita. NYPD cops on foot, on scooters, & in NYPD vehicles surveilled & repressed the march. pic.twitter.com/APyDlX6n8D

— Ash J (@AshAgony) July 1, 2023

In other big news, the District Attorney of Dekalb County has “announced that after a formal review of the evidence, her office is withdrawing from the prosecution of 42 cases against individuals opposed to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center” which includes “[t]he 42 cases including [the] 29 counts of domestic terrorism charges stemming from arrests in December 2022 and March of this year.” Also, Atlas Technical Consultants has officially severed their ties with the Cop City project after officials told protesters in Minnesota during a recent home demonstration that they were pulling out of the project due to Stop Cop City activists being “fucking nightmares.”

Last Saturday, multiple Peet’s workers took a stand at our first rally to share our personal experiences of mistreatment in the workplace and why we are united in this fight for safety, livable wages, accessible benefits & more. PLU is proud to make space for stories like these. pic.twitter.com/9uD6z4e3vW

— Peet’s Labor Union (@peetslaborunion) June 25, 2023

Members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) continue to organize in the bay area. Recently, the anti-capitalist labor union has started a new campaign of union drives at Peet’s coffee locations in Oakland and Berkeley while also organizing pickets and rallies. Follow them on social media here.

Protests broke out during a panel discussion featuring US Senator Joe Manchin over his involvement in fast-tracking the Mountain Valley pipeline project.pic.twitter.com/BsfkXoJ0fb

— Ground News (@Ground_app) June 6, 2023

Resistance to the Mountain Valley Pipeline remains ongoing as the project continues to face legal challenges in the courts and may soon even head to the supreme court. Protests again picked up after Senator Joe Manchin attempted to ram the project through the courts, but recent lawsuits have been ongoing. A communique posted to Scenes from the Atlanta Forest also claimed credit for sabotage actions against various worksites involved in the pipeline’s construction. The communique read:

On the fourth of july, 20 machines across 6 sites of the construction of the mountain valley pipeline were sabotaged, using a variety of means to render them inoperable. Machines are often left unguarded, and when they’re not, the security are just prats. It was easy and fun. We gave a big cheer when these machines were seen being hauled off the mountains back to the industrial hellscapes they come from.

I have loved these mountains my whole life, and truly am a part of the forests. Mountain Valley Pipeline has been fought ferociously by locals every step of the last 5 years, but we need help. People have locked themselves to equipment and had their bodies maimed by police. People have precariously lived in treetops for years (literally, 2 and a half years at yellow finch). But MVP, supported by Joe Manchin and the full power of the US government does not care about the trees, the deer, the woodducks, the candy darters, or any one of us. Lockdowns and treesits are not enough anymore. I am inviting the full power and creativity of the movement to do whatever it takes to stop these fuckers from killing us all. Doom to the pipeline!

The “largest private landlord in the City of Milwaukee, and his company Berrada Property Management (BPM), brought a defamation case against the Milwaukee Autonomous Tenants Union” recently, over statements made in the local media and online. Help out the Milwaukee Autonomous Tenants Union by going here.

Strikes in Hollywood by writers and actors continue as another strike by UPS workers also looms. This week, union UPS workers held “warm-up” rallies demanding improvements to working conditions in the face of a massive heat-wave.

In so-called Michigan, a week of action is kicking off to fight against “National Guard expansion…defend the forest and decolonize the land…” Follow Stop Camp Grayling on Instagram to stay up on the movement and see how you can help.

Upcoming Events

July 25th: International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners. 6 PM, gather Irving Park. 7: 25 PM, leave for community bike ride. Portland, OR. More info here.

August 11th – 13th: Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair. Asheville, NC. More info here.

August 12th: Los Angeles Anarchist Bookfair. More info here.

August 17th – 20th: Midwest Dual Power Gathering. Chicago, IL. More info here.

August 26th – 27th: Seattle Anarchist Bookfair. More info here.

September 2nd: Halifax Anarchist Bookfair. More info here.

September 8th – 11th: Bash Back! convergence. Chicago, IL. More info here.

September 11th: Running Down the Walls, Philadelphia, PA. More info here.

September 30th: Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair. More info here.

October 1st: Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair. Oakland, CA. More info here.

October 21st: Pushing Down the Walls, benefit for political prisoners. Los Angeles, CA. More info here.

It’s Going Down

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