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Jul 10, 19

This Is America #81: On Every Front

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Welcome, to This Is America, June 10th, 2019.

In this episode, we bring you an interview with someone involved in the current #BlocktheWall week of action against banks funding ICE, we also speak with members of the Long Beach Anarchist Collective about a recent rally and march against ICE that drew out hundreds, and finally, someone from Fight Toxic Prisons who discusses their recent successful campaign to stop the construction of a prison which was to be built upon a former coal site.

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

Living and Fighting:

Actions against ICE continue across the country. Jewish led groups across the country using the hashtag, #NeverAgainIsNow continue to pull off actions, shutdowns, and protests, while in the Pacific Northwest, the week of action against banks financially backing ICE has kicked of, with already SunTrust and Bank of America divesting from ICE. On Tuesday, an anti-ICE event was also interrupted by a man wielding a knife and threatening to stab people, although no one was hurt. Be sure to check out our #ClosetheCamps tab on the home page of IGD (or in the menu for mobile) for upcoming events, posters and zines to print off, and other materials.

In Philadelphia:

A group of families whose loved ones were among the roughly 3 million people deported under the Obama administration [held a] sit-in at Joe Biden’s campaign headquarters…

After an hour and a half of protesting in the building’s lobby using megaphones and signs, Philadelphia police arrested six activists from the group. When police arrived, undocumented families left the building to avoid being arrested and potentially sent into ICE custody. The protest continue[d] in front of the building, but so far, no one from Biden’s campaign has responded to the group.

In Ypsilanti, Michigan, the IWW marched in the 4th of July Parade.

Antifascist mobilizations took place over the weekend, first off in DC, where in the face of a massive disinformation campaign from lie-lords like Jack Posobiec and shitrag outlets like Big League Politics, a large scale mobilization still took place, bringing out over 600 people. The rally was organized by the All Out DC coalition, and featured a variety of local Go-Go musicians, a style of music that has been the heart of the #DontMuteDC movement. The Proud Boys rally only brought out about 150 people and was marked by infighting, both during the event and in the lead up too it. Many of the main speakers, from Roger Stone to Jack Posobiec, ended up not even showing, and a falling out between GOP hopeful Omar Navarro and Proud Boys leadership ended in the latter threatening to throw Navarro out of a helicopter.

Meanwhile, in Tacoma, WA, people marched against a neo-Nazi owned tattoo parlor, and in various towns near Chapel Hill, North Carolina, people squared off against members of neo-Confederate groups. On Twitter, Maya Little wrote:

Here [in Chapel Hill] are armed neoconfederate bikers brandishing pistols who came to unc who get handshakes free parking and escort from police threatening to come to my home. Thank you as always to the antifascists keeping me and others safe.

In other fashy news, the GOP chair of a rural county in Oregon will represent Joey Gibson in a lawsuit brought by Cider Riot, Trump will host a “Social Media Summit” this week featuring Alt-Right water boy Tim Pool and AstroTurf groups like Turning Point USA and PragerU, and lastly, the so-called Mother of All Rallies will not make it into it’s third year.

In so-called British Columbia, the struggle against the Trans Mountain Pipeline continues, as does construction of Tiny Homes to block its path. As the Tiny House Warriors wrote in an update on Facebook:

Tiny House Warriors has completed the tiny house#5 that will be used to house both land defenders on the Frontline of Pipeline Resistance as well as our Mobile Secwepemc Radio Station/youth recording studio.

We would like to give a special acknowledgement to the skilled builders, trades people & artists that have put energy and time into all 6 of the tiny houses so far. When this one gets deployed, then there will be all 6 tiny houses on wheels on the Frontline Pipeline Resistance.

 

 

In labor news, Amazon workers are planning a strike on Prime Day, which will take place on July 15th and 16th. According to Bloomberg:

Amazon.com Inc. warehouse workers in Minnesota plan to strike during the online retailer’s summer sales extravaganza, a sign that labor unrest persists even after the company committed to paying all employees at least $15 an hour last year. Workers at a Shakopee, Minnesota, fulfillment center plan a six-hour work stoppage July 15, the first day of Prime Day. Until now, Amazon’s U.S. workers haven’t walked off the job during key sales days.

In Pennsylvania, charges were dropped against seven pipeline protesters, while in Appalachia the Yellow Finch tree sit continues in the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. In Salt Lake City Utah, rowdy demonstrations erupted at the Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday evening against the proposal to build a so-called Inland Port, which as one local paper wrote:

[Is] being planned for the western area of Salt Lake City, [and would take] up [to] as much as a third of the land. The project has become highly controversial. Critics say it would be bad for the environment and air quality, and would take up too much land, among other things.

Another article wrote:

“It’s the system. It’s capitalism. It’s settler colonialism,” one protest organizer said. “It’s the way we’ve been pitted against each other in this killer system.”

Calling herself an “anarchist,” [she] and other protesters riled the crowd, saying the Inland Port represents a continuation of “colonial violence” that she said will aggravate air pollution, “poison” children, exacerbate climate change, destroy habitat surrounding the Great Salt Lake, and negatively impact life for Salt Lake City’s west-side residents.

Not to be outdone, Utah Governor Gary Herbert, long known for backing energy and mega-projects in exchange for lobbyist campaign cash, is now calling on Salt Lake City Mayor to label today’s protests where folks chanted and blocked doors “terrorism.”

 

Meanwhile in Vancouver, BC

[Local police are] threatening to displace over 50 homeless people, who are camping in a wooded area, which campers call ‘Sanctuary.’ [One camp] resident [said], “We have nowhere else to go. This is our home, it’s our sanctuary, and we won’t let them take it from us.” Homeless residents of Sanctuary Tent City are calling on supporters to speak out against the displacement and destruction of their home.

Info on the call-in campaign can be found here.

Lastly, at the border:

Asylum-seekers from African countries staged a protest on Tuesday in Tijuana. For hours, they blocked a van used by Mexico to bring migrants to the US border.

Solidarity:

Upcoming Events:

  • July 8th-12th: Week of Action against ICE profiteers. More info here.
  • July 14th: March in solidarity with indigenous communities facing repression in Mexico and against ICE in Portland, OR. More info here.
  • July 27th-28th: Anarcho-punk festival in Berkeley at the Gilman featuring workshops, bands, and speakers. More info here.
  • July 27th: North Texas Anarchist Bookfair in Denton, TX. 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 7th: Halifax Anarchist Bookfair. More info here.
  • September 28th: Toronto Anarchist Bookfair. 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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