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May 1, 19

This Is America #71: Spring Is Here Again

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Welcome, to This Is America, May 1st, 2019.

Happy May Day! In this episode, we start off by speaking with antifascists from Long Beach Antifa about recent mobilizations against the far-Right in Southern California that took place last weekend. Please donate to help get two remaining comrades out of jail.

We then transition to a critical discussion on current events and the recent Zizek and Jordan Peterson debate.

All this and more, but first, let’s get to the news.

Living and Fighting:

  • Yet another Alt-Right mass shooting took place last weekend in Southern California, when a 19 year old man, after posting on 8chan, opened fire into a synagogue, killing one person and injuring several more. The shooting comes only days after President Trump doubled down on comments in support of Unite the Right marchers in Charlottesville, Virginia, and only weeks after Trump downplayed the threat of white nationalism following the New Zealand massacre.
  • Under pressure from the Trump administration, the Mexican state is blocking migrants from crossing its territory to get to the United States and is also housing migrants in its own detention facilities. According to The Guardian, last Thursday, “More than a thousand migrants broke out of a detention center in southern Mexico on Thursday evening, authorities said, in a fresh sign of how a surge in arrivals has stretched the country’s resources to the limit.”
  • In so-called Vancouver in Canada, a 71 year-old grandfarther is taking part in a tree sit against the Trans Mountain Pipeline. He lasted 34 hours in the trees before coming down and was then arrested. He stated in the press: “I’m more afraid of climate change than I am of jail, and I’m willing to risk arrest to send a message to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: Canada shouldn’t be building more dirty pipelines. This project doesn’t have the consent of many of the First Nations it passes through, and thousands of people, including myself, aren’t going to stand by and let it get built.”

https://twitter.com/unionthug1312/status/1120875368519487488

  • In Raleigh, North Carolina, there was a banner drop for Soheil Mojarrad, was was murdered by the police earlier in the month.
  • Students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina held a massive walk out and strike in the face of several students going to court over toppling the Silent Sam statue.

  • In San Jose, California, a call-in campaign was successful in kicking the Border Patrol off campus for an upcoming job fair.
  • In New York, members of the Metropolitan Anarchist Coordinating Council held a pre-May Day family friendly event in Tompkins Square Park.

  • Workers’ Initiative for Liberation and Defense in Colorado, who we have interviewed on the program before about their mutual aid program, held a massive event recently, with over 400 people coming out to their outside community meal, free store, and gathering.
  • In Seattle, antifascists organized a poster campaign to out two organizers for Identity Evropa/American Identity Movement.

As MVP keeps trying to bury the pipeline and undermine the resistance, spring in the mountains is bursting from the ground, twisting through the undergrowth, and whirling among the trees. We’re still in the canopy and along the streams, and still not backing down.

Today Holden is still in jail facing a ridiculous “threat of terrorism” charge after being arrested Thursday for locking down to welding equipment. The person sentenced for locking to a drill rig in Pittsylvania county is now on the fourth day of their hunger strike. Both have been able to communicate and say they’re doing fine.

Today the treesits on Yellow Finch remain, as they have since last summer, a confirmation of the resilience of this struggle.

Upcoming Events:

  • May 4th: All Out Against Pegida. Toronto, Saturday, 1pm. More info here.
  • May 4th: “Nazis Suck Potluck” at Silent Sam Home at UNC-Chapel Hill. More info here.
  • May 9th: Portland Anarchist Black Cross open house and letter writing night. More info here.
  • May 18th: Mobilize against American Renaissance conference. More info here.
  • Sunday, May 25th: Mobilize against the KKK in Downtown Dayton, OH. More info here.
  • May 18th – 19th: Come out to the Revolutionary Organizing Against Racism Conference (ROAR) in the bay area. More info here.
  • May 30th – June 3rd: Earth First! regional rendezvous in Hudson Valley. More info here.
  • In June be on the lookout for ‘Running Down the Walls’ events happening across the world to benefit Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) chapters.
  • June 12th – 19th: Save the Mattole Direct Action Convergence in Northern California. More info here.
  • June 14th-17th: Fight Toxic Prisons conference. Gainesville, Florida. More info here.
  • June 15th – 23rd: Wild Roots, Feral Futures in Southwest Colorado. More info here.
  • June 19th: Mobilize against Nationalist Solutions conference. More info here.
  • August 3rd-11th: Institute for Advanced Trouble Making in Worcester, MA. More info here.
  • August 16th-18th: Indigenous Anarchist Convergence in so-called Flagstaff, Arizona. More info here.

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In search of new forms of life. It's Going Down is a digital community center and media platform featuring news, opinion, podcasts, and reporting on autonomous social movements and revolt across so-called North America from an anarchist perspective.

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