This Is America #79: Now It’s Time to Fight

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Welcome, to This Is America, June 27th, 2019.

We have a jam packed show. First off, we talk with someone from No More Deaths, who speaks on the aftermath of the trial against Dr. Scott Warren, someone from the FANG Collective about their week of action against 287(g), which would allow sheriffs to deputize police as ICE agents, and lastly, someone from Jam City Antifa about the upcoming antifascist convergence against the ‘Nationalist Solutions’ conference. We then switch to discussion on dire need for resistance to the horror of ICE concentration camps.

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

Living and Fighting:

• This weekend will see major antifascist mobilizations. On Friday, there is a call to defend a trans Pride march from Proud Boys. Saturday there are mass mobilizations in Portland, Oregon against the Proud Boys and in Burns, Tennessee against the so-called Nationalist Solutions conference which will feature David Duke, Richard Spencer, and representatives of KKK groups. There is also a call-in campaign against the Nationalist Solutions conference which we encourage people to participate in.
• Also in Portland, members of the Industrial Workers of the World working at the fast-food restaurant, Little Big Burger are set to vote next week on whether their store will officially join with the union. Good luck!

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Tree-sitter Update June 23rd, 2019: It's been a real rollercoaster up here; especially with the two 5+ magnitude earthquakes that rattled the canopy last night! Ever since my supplies were raided, my food and water cut out of the tree in front of me, I've been receiving varying amounts of water at irregular times from the guards (Lear is just here to "keep everyone safe", after all – even if they got to tackle em to do it). Sometimes it's a few ounces, sometimes up to a litre and a half a day. Now it seems like they've eased up a bit and will send me "as much as I need". So far it's been happening – thanks to everyone who called in or came to rally at the gate in support! Food is a concern – I'm eating about 300 calories a day, carefully rationing the little bit of food I was able to save, or retrieve from branches where it got caught on the way down (Thanks, ya tree). My situation is still precarious, but it's this forest that needs your support most of all. Logging and roadwork is ongoing. Every day brings more destruction, fragmentation of habitat, erosion. Every day they work to convert this rare and unique ecosystem into a commercial tree farm. The repeat visits from a pair of Sonoma red tree voles are heartening. I hope that the presence of old growth dependant species in this area – the voles, the spotted owl nest cross the creek, the agarikon fungi in the forest downhill, will give strength to our assertion that HRC is attempting to log and convert exactly the type of high conservation value landscape which their sustainability certifiers have directed them to identify and set aside. Until then, we'll be out here slowin' em down. – Rook #savethemattolesancientforest #treesitter in a #treesit with #treevoles #agarikon #fungi #mattoleforest #defender #mattoleriver #lostcoast #stopoldgrowthlogging #banglyphosate #blockadia #extinctionrebellion #earthfirst! #directaction #climatechangeisreal #climateemergency #keepthemintheground #protectwhatyoulove #protectwater

A post shared by Blockade Babes (@blockade.babes) on Jun 24, 2019 at 10:16am PDT

• Land struggles continue to kick off. In Appalachia, the fight against the Mountain Valley Pipeline continues. Yesterday, a lockdown stopped construction for almost 8 hours, and the Yellow Finch tree-sit has now been in place for a total of 297 days. Meanwhile, in Northern California, the fight to save the ancient Mattole forest, a battle which has been unfolding for over 20 years, continues to intensify. Yesterday “a forest defender entered an active logging operation in the Rainbow Ridge region of the Mattole headwaters and locked himself to an excavator to stop logging and road clearing.” A tree sit operated by the land defender known as “Rook” remains ongoing. Check Save the Mattole on Facebook and Blockade Babes on Instagram for ongoing updates.

Wayfair workers joined by supporters.

• 100 flyers were mailed to neighbors of a member of Identity Evropa/American Identity Movement, alerting them of his involvment in white nationalist organizing.

On Tuesday, we exposed five Georgia members of the white nationalist org Identity Evropa.

Here's the flyer we mailed to 100 neighbors of Damian Stanfill in Lilburn, GA (unredacted version on our site).

Racist/antisemite Stanfill operates "Working Glass Window Cleaning Company" pic.twitter.com/dsIB2eTlJz

— Atlanta Antifascists (@afainatl) June 27, 2019

• On Wednesday, workers at Wayfair, a Boston based furniture company launched a walkout and wildcat strike once they learned that the store had filled an order with private prisons. Over 100 workers participated in the walkout, (over 400 signed a letter in protest), and joined a rally against ICE in Boston attended by many hundreds of supporters.

Until next time, here’s some upcoming events!

Upcoming Events:

• June 23rd-29th: Call for a week of action against 287(g). More info here.
• June 28th: Call to defend Seattle Trans Pride celebration from the Proud Boys. More info here.
• June 29th: Mobilize against Nationalist Solutions conference. More info here.
• June 29th: Call for antifascist mobilization against the Proud Boys in Portland. More info here.
• June 29th – 30th: Southern Regional Organizing Assembly of the IWW in Richmond, VA. More info here.
• July 1st: Mobilize against Dekalb County Jail outside of Atlanta, GA. More info here.
• July 3rd-10th: Earth First! Rendezvous in Utah. More info here.
• July 6th: Mobilization in DC against large Alt-Right rally. More info here.
• July 6th: Anti-ICE mobilization in Long Beach, CA. More info here.
• July 8th-12th: Week of Action against ICE profiteers. More info here.
• July 27th-28th: Anarcho-punk festival in Berkeley at the Gilman featuring workshops, bands, and speakers. 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.
• August 23rd-24th: Bend the Bars Conference in Lansing, Michigan. More info here.
• August 23rd-25th: Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair happening in Asheville, North Carolina. More info here.
• September 28th: Toronto (ON) Anarchist Bookfair. More info here.