A Short Guide For New Activists – Margaret Killjoy – Summer 2024-

how to get started by getting started

from thefreeonline on 15th July ’24 by MargaretKilljoy at Substack (on Telegram: t.me/thefreeonline)

A couple weeks ago, I was talking to my friends who run the podcast It Could Happen Here. “Summer is coming, and an awful lot of people are newly radicalized. You all should put out an episode about what the next steps are,” I told them..

“Perfect,” someone replied. “Write it and record it by May 20^th.”

So I wrote a short and incomplete guide for new activists. You can hear me present it in audio format if you’d like.

I’m coming with my own biases which I want to get out right up front: I’m an anarchist, and it’s also been decades since I broke into the movement, because I’ve been doing this stuff since 2002, when I dropped out of college to join the alter-globalization movement.

So my direct experience is not recent, and I have biases against authoritarian organizing and electoral organizing, biases towards direct action and autonomy.

I believe that the way that you build a freer and better world is by practicing freedom along the way.

That’s not to say I have any interest in guiding people towards specific paths, specific actions, specific issues and movements.

Exactly the opposite.

Right now, the world is in serious trouble. It’s always in serious trouble, sure, but it’s extra in serious trouble right now.

We are in desperate need of people who dedicate their time–part of it or all of it–to trying to stop the terrible things that are happening and to trying to build beautiful things, beautiful alternatives.

So how do you get started?

To start, I want you to think about a few separate things. First, what do you care about? Second, what do you want to do? Third, what risks are you willing to take? If you have a sense of those before you throw yourself into the fight, you’ll start off strong.

What Do You Care About?

What movements and projects speak loudest to you? A ton of causes are interconnected–the fight for Palestinian liberation is not, at its core, a separate project than the fight against policing in the United States, for example.

The rise of a global police state is everyone’s problem, and so is the US and Zionist imperial project. Causes are interconnected, but you can rarely start by just trying to fix, well, everything.

You don’t climb a mountain by just willing yourself atop the mountain. You climb it by picking a place and then starting to climb.

Maybe you’re concerned about the police state, or surveillance, or the erosion of abortion rights.

Maybe you’re looking to fight for Palestinian liberation, or for prisoners in the US to have access to books, or for LGBT rights, or for the safety of migrants at the border, or for the protection of the remaining natural ecosystems.

Maybe your concern something hyper-local, like the destruction of a park or the sweeping of homeless encampments.

Maybe it’s something a bit broader or more abstract, like you want to get involved in explaining the need for police abolition.

There’s something, though. Something you want to change. Everything is interconnected, but you still want to pick a place to start.

What Do You Want To Do?

What is your skillset, or what skillsets do you wish you had? What do you have to offer the revolution, or what do you wish you had to offer?

Are you in med school or have other first aid and medical experience? Maybe you want to plug in with your local street medics.

Are you studying law? Movement lawyers need paralegal help and there are groups that can use volunteers to get people out of jail or through difficult court cases.

Is graphic design your passion? Basically every group that exists needs help with their flyers or instagram slideshows or whatever.

Spend all day on twitter? Well, a lot of activist groups can’t find someone to run their social media.

Sometimes just being an extrovert is a super power… building strong movements means building strong communities, and every meeting and party needs someone willing to introduce themselves to the new people and help them figure out where to go.

Who are these Anarchists? and What the Hell do they Want? – The Free thefreeonline.wordpress.com

The best activist meetings I’ve ever been part of have someone who sits next to the new people and explains what’s going on.

If you can plan a party, you can plan a benefit party to raise money for bail funds.

The quickest way to sum all of this up is to say “think about what’s wrong and think about what you’re good at, then get together with other people and apply what you’re good at to stopping what’s wrong.”

Crass’ final gig in Aberdare..- One Little Independent release- free digital stream + videos TubThumping//AngryBrigade

from thefreeonline on 14 July ’24 by CRASS ( on Telegram: t.me/thefreeonline )

FORTY YEARS since Crass played the band’s last ever gig, a raucous miners’ strike fundraiser held at the Aberdare Coliseum on 11 July 1984

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The One Little Independent label has released an approved digital ‘bootleg’ live recording of Crass’ 55-minute set.

The show can be streamed for free from Crass Records’ Bandcamp site, or purchased as a digital download through a ‘name your price’ deal.

On July 11th, 1984 at Aberdare Coliseum, Crass would perform for the last time. Today marks the 40th anniversary of this event, a benefit show for the miner’s strike. A bootleg recording of this show has been restored and made available to download for free.

“This was to be the last Crass gig. Next day Andy said he wanted to stop and get back to painting. As each member of the band was a vital component, without Andy none of us wanted to continue. The decision was easy to make, we were all feeling we had done our best to share something we felt was important. The rest would be repeats, plus, we had become to much of a figure head.

So, the countdown to 1984, proved to be right and we all set out on various individual journeys.” – Gee Vaucher

BLOODY REVOLUTIONS 2
Aberdare. July 12. 1984.

It’s July 1984 and it’s raining in the valleys, a very Welsh rain, a kind of mist, very grey and very damp.

There are people huddled in doorways smoking soggy cigarettes and whispering consolations, ‘nid yn awr, gadewch i ni aros’.

But wait for what?

The clouds to clear? The political climate to change?

‘Dim siawns’, flicking crumpled dogends into the swirling river of what might once have been Aberdare High Street.

Inside the Coliseum (watch out for the mohawk gladiators), the crowd is gathering. Punks, who’d travelled from far and wide, all soaked through, edgy, self-conscious and somewhat intimidated by the locals who’d travelled nowhere; surly, burly, striking miners lining the walls (women and children in the balcony).

Two worlds, one purpose; ‘smash the system’. A poster on a noticeboard declares that ‘BIG MOTHER IS WATCHING YOU’ beneath a headshot of Margaret Thatcher with her eyes gouged out.

Angry Brigade 1971. «You can’t reform profit capitalism… Just kick it till it breaks»/ videos/ book pdfhttps://thefreeonline.com/2021/10/09/angry-brigade-1971-you-cant-reform-profit-capitalism-just-kick-it-till-it-breaks-videos-book-pdf/

Crass play fast and furious to a teeth-gritting crowd wildly pogoing or slipping off for a quicky in the alley.

Pumping out a stream of contradictions, the band plays on.

‘Yes, that’s right, punk is dead’, but by now pretty much everyone has seen too much to be taken in by platitudes, even their own.

‘Just another cheap product…’

The miners, still lining the walls, look on with tired bemusement.

Yeah, ‘power to the workers’, when all the while the workers are being ruthlessly crushed beneath the Iron Lady’s bother boots and those of the not so Old Bill (squaddies too).

‘Do they owe us a living?’

Sure as hell, but just at this moment I simply don’t know.

Steve Ignorant Band publishes ‘Doing It Our Way’ book//https://thefreeonline.com/2023/08/02/steve-ignorant-band-publishes-doing-it-our-way-book/

It’s as if we’ve all had enough, the players and the played; ‘seen it all before, revolution at my…’.

Well, as far as I can see just now, this revolution is over good and proper (despite it never having really started).

Oppression is becoming the name of the game (what’s new?), and don’t we all know it.

From behind the protective shield of the drumkit, I watch a miner stubbing out a cigarette on one of Thatcher’s gouged out eyes.

After the show, Andy gets presented with a miner’s lamp by a Union dignitary and is jokingly told to keep his eyes on the birdies (it took a couple of years to realise that this wasn’t a sexist remark.

No, he’d meant the canaries, but who’s laughing now?)

Steve Ignorant band to release ‘Crass songs live in Bristol’ CD

For all its ills, it was a great gig, but on the journey home, we all know it’s over. Andy is the first to mute it. ‘I think, think I…’ A raging storm is thundering down in torrents on the rooftop of the van. ‘I think I want…’ It’s deafening. ‘What?’ ‘I think I want…’, but I’m no lip-reader. ‘Yeah, well let’s talk it over in the morning.’ We never did because we all knew there was no point. It was over. We never played as a full band again.

Yup, ‘you can talk about your revolution, well that’s fine, but what are you gonna be doing come the time?’

(footnote) The miners’ strike (1984-1985) was an attempt by the miners and unions to prevent the closure of 20 collieries across the UK. The local colliery’s closure (including the mine and all additional buildings or offices) meant almost certain death for the mining communities built up around them. As these towns and villages were often built solely around employment in the mine, closures meant mass redundancy in an area with little-to-no other employment opportunities.

Penny Rimbaud. July 2024

Released July 11, 1984
Audio Restored by Paul PDub Walton

Thank you to Tony D and Mickey Penguin at KYPP, and also to Graham Burnett

Last Gig, July 11th, 1984, Aberdare, Miner’s Benefit

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Crass. 2024. Last Gig, July 11th, 1984, Aberdare, Miners’ Benefit. Available from One Little Independent from 11 July 2024.

Tub Thumping

The Untold Story of Chumbawamba with Dunstan Bruce: You are never gonna keep us down!https://thefreeonline.com/2022/05/23/the-untold-story-of-chumbawamba-with-dunstan-bruce-you-are-never-gonna-keep-us-down/

Iran sentences Kurdish trade unionist Sharifeh Mohammadi of the Kurdish left-wing party Komala to death.. English/catalan

Sharife Mohammadi was sentenced to death one day before the presidential election – ریاست‌جمهوری به اعدام محکوم شد شریفه محمدی یک روز پیش از برگزاری انتخابات

from thefreeonline juliol 07, 2024 by ۱۶ زندانی زن اوین خواستار (on Telegram: t.me/thefreeonline)

by http://kurdiscat.blogspot.com/

Iran has sentenced to death Kurdish trade unionist Sharifeh Mohammadi, from Komala, mother of a 9-year-old boy who has already been tortured in prison.

Social and labor activist Sharifeh Mohammadi has been sentenced to death by Iran, prompting widespread public condemnation, BBC Persian reported on Thursday.

According to unofficial reports, one of the charges against Mohammadi was his membership in the “Coordinating Committee for the Establishment of Labor Organizations,” BBC Persian noted.

However, reports highlighted that she has not been a member for years. Iranian courts accused Mohammadi of “armed rebellion against the state” and that the main proof was her membership in the labor organization.

In addition, Iran accused her of being a member of a banned Kurdish separatist party.

Mohammadi was arrested in December 2023 as part of Iran’s campaign to stamp out public dissent, and the regime has notably executed at least 22 women over the past year, Iran International reported.

The UN has called for an end to the “horrific wave of executions”. As a result of the state’s decision, activists have vowed to begin a hunger strike outside the Rasht Revolutionary Court until the ruling is overturned.

Activist Farhad Meysami declared: “If you want to execute Mohammadi, dig two graves.” Meysami has been imprisoned since 2018 by the Islamic theocratic regime.Civil Rights Defender Farhad Meysami at Risk of Death in Iranian Prison …

On July 10, up to 55 political prisoners in Evin went on hunger strike to protest the death sentence on Mohammadi: “This is not just Sharifa’s death sentence, but everyone’s death sentence” we” labor, political, civil, human rights and women’s activists”.

https://t.co/J5RUXP6rqf

sign here…. Online petition to stop the killing of Sharifeh Mohammadii

Petició en línia per aturar l’assassinat de Sharifeh Mohammadi

L’Iran condemnat a mort a la sindicalista kurda Sharifeh Mohammadi del partit d’esquera kurda Komala

L’Iran ha condemnat a mort a la sindicalista kurda Sharifeh Mohammadi, de Komala, mare d’un nen de 9 anys i que ja ha estat torturada a la presó. L’activista social i laboral Sharifeh Mohammadi ha estat condemnada a mort per l’Iran, fet que va provocar una condemna pública generalitzada, va informar dijous la BBC Persian.

Segons informes no oficials, una de les acusacions contra Mohammadi va ser la seva pertinença al “Comitè de coordinació per a l’establiment d’organitzacions laborals”, va assenyalar BBC Persian. No obstant això, els informes van destacar que fa anys que no n’és membre. Els tribunals iranians van acusar Mohammadi de “rebel·lió armada contra l’estat” i que la prova principal era la seva pertinença a l’organització obrera. A més, l’Iran la va acusar de ser membre d’un partit separatista kurd prohibit.
Mohammadi va ser arrestada el desembre del 2023 com a part de la campanya de l’Iran per extirpar la dissidència pública, i el règim ha executat, sobretot, almenys 22 dones durant l’últim any, va informar Iran International. L’ONU ha demanat que s’acabi la “horrible onada d’execucions”. Com a resultat de la decisió de l’estat, els activistes s’han compromès a iniciar una vaga de fam davant del Tribunal Revolucionari de Rasht fins que la sentència sigui revocada. L’activista Farhad Meysami, va declarar: “Si voleu executar Mohammadi, caveu dues tombes”. Meysami és empresonat des de 2018 pel règim teocràtic islàmic.

El 10 de juliol fins a 55 presos polítics d’Evin s’han declarat en vaga de fam en protesta per la condemna a mort sobre Mohammadi: “Aquesta no és només la condemna a mort de Sharifa, sinó la condemna a mort de tots “nosaltres” activistes laborals, polítics, civils, de drets humans i de dones”.

https://t.co/J5RUXP6rqf

Petició en línia per aturar l’assassinat de Sharifeh Mohammadi

Ukrainian doctors offering leg-breaking services – Support the Draft Dodgers!- Make Peace!

Several online ads touted the proposal as “a unique opportunity to avoid mobilization,” the outlet TSN has reported

from thefreeonline on 14 July, 2024 info – Home Russia / Agencies Telegram: https://t.me/thefreeonline

Ukrainians seeking to avoid being mobilized for the fight against Russia can now have their legs broken by medical professionals, local media reported on Wednesday, citing advertisements on social media.

Poland to help Ukraine hunt down 800,000 refugees for more cannon fodder

According to the Ukrainian outlet TSN, ads with the morbid offer appeared on several Telegram channels in the city of Dnepr, in the central part of the country, but were quickly removed.

**The ads touted what was called “a unique opportunity to avoid mobilization without leaving the country” and featured images of legs and arms wrapped in bandages, the article said.**

The postings claimed to be able to provide “quick and professional deferment” from military duty, adding that the services would be performed by medical professionals using high-quality anesthesia.

The ads also stated that patients would be provided with post-injury observation and assistance in filling out the necessary paperwork.

Photos of fallen – Ukraine chases draft dodgers

Moreover, the ads promise to inflict additional injuries at a discount rate if one fracture was not enough to avoid the draft campaign.

In commentary for TSN, lawyer Marina Bekalo warned that while bone fractures may indeed result in a deferment, intentional draft dodging could be grounds for criminal prosecution. She added that those who provide such services could be charged with intentionally causing bodily harm.

Nearly 13 million of Ukraine’s population has ESCAPED or DIED since 2010

Nobody wants to live in ‘basket case’ Ukraine. Estimates put the population at over 41 million in 2010, yet Reuters reported in 2023 that Kyiv-controlled areas crashed below 28 million, and falling fast.

Draconian Mobilization Law bans bank accounts and passport renewal to men who have fled the country

Support Russian and Ukrainian War Resisters – ‘Over Half A Million Ukrainian Men Fled To Escape Conscription’- EU

Ukraine announced a general mobilization shortly after the start of the conflict with Russia in February 2022, barring most men aged between 18 and 60 from leaving the country.

War to the last Ukrainian: Video evidence

Martial law was declared, all men of military age were ordered to be conscripted, all opposition parties and media were prohibited and Russian language banned in a country where 34% speak Russian.

Millions of people rejected the very idea of expanded civil war with their Slavic brothers and fled the country, either to Russia or the West though doing so was also made illegal.

650,000 flee Ukraine to escape forced draft – 74% happy to give up citizenship to avoid suicidal conscription

In spring 2024, faced with manpower shortage at the front, Kiev lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 and significantly tightened mobilization rules, jailing draft dodgers.

The draft campaign has been marred by widespread corruption and evasion, with recruiters often attempting to capture eligible men on the streets, in gyms, and in shopping malls.

In 2023 Zelenskyy ordered the sacking of all the country’s army recruitment chiefs for taking bribes to allow people to avoid the military draft on ‘medical grounds’.

Many have attempted to flee the country, either by passing through border checkpoints with forged documents, or by attempting to enter the EU through the sparsely guarded wilderness areas.Ukrainian Men Desperate to Escape War Are Drowning as They Flee

Still other draft-age men cross the Ukraine border in “green areas” such as those in the mountains and forests. One young Ukrainian man posted an Instagram video of his flight through such an area, including the moment he kissed a tree to celebrate crossing the border.

In texts with The Washington Post, he said he and his companion — whom he described as a deserter from active-duty service — crossed the frontier without a guide. He said he left because he thinks that wartime Ukraine has become as repressive as Russia, and that out of desperation for fighters, men were practically being snatched off the streets.

“Even if you’re missing a leg, they’ll say you can still fly drones,” he said. He, too, complained about corruption, saying that ordinary Ukrainians are fighting and dying while “members of parliament” and other elites cruise around in Mercedes and other fancy cars.

Nearly 30 Lives Lost In Illegal Escape Attempt,

Guides can be found on social media sites such as Telegram, where the fee starts at $1,200. Besides knowing the terrain, some guides use night-vision goggles and spend time observing Border Guard patrols to learn their habits and vulnerabilities, said Lesia Fedorova, a Border Guard spokeswoman in the detachment near the Romanian border.

Ukraine does not publish losses, but In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin estimated Ukraine’s losses as being at least 50,000 troops a month (dead and injured), a figure he said was five times higher than Russian casualties.

There is still no Martial Law in Russia and plans for new military call-ups have been cancelled as Army recruitment “exceeds 1,000 men a day“-

******

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Over 70 massacred, hundreds wounded in Israeli strikes on al-Mawasi ‘safe zone’ in south Gaza – Resistance leader “unhurt”

“Our children are in pieces, they are in pieces…”

from thefreeonline on 13th July 2024 by Al Jazeer a Al Mayadeen etc. (on telegram: t.me/thefreeonline)

Over 70 murdered and more than 100 Palestinian casualties in a new Israeli massacre in Safe Zone today

Horrific scenes are emerging from Khan Younis in Gaza after Israeli warplanes committed a gruesome massacre by bombing tents that sheltered displaced Palestinians.

The attack by Israeli warplanes targeted tents housing displaced Palestinians and a water distillation unit in an area that a Gaza civil defence spokesperson told Al Jazeera was designated a “safe zone” by the Israeli military.

After the Israeli occupation retracts its wild claims of killing Resistance leaders including Commander Muhammad al-Deif in the horrific al-Mawasi massacre in the Khan Younis area. Palestinian sources unanimously claim Al-Deif is alive and well. (see details below)

They will never build memorials for them, but history will remember. https://t.co/U80A2roLn1
— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾 (@Partisangirl) July 12, 2024

Al-Mawasi, where thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering, has been targeted numerous times since October.

“The al-Mawasi massacre in Khan Younis has been committed against an area that is crowded with more than 80,000 displaced people. This is an obvious and clear confirmation from the Zionist government that it will continuing its war of extermination against our Palestinian people, through repeatedly and systematically targeting the defenceless displaced civilians in tents, shelters and residential neighbourhoods,” Hamas said in a statement.

Horrific scenes from the “safe zone” in Al-Mawasi, Khan Yunis, where dozens of bodies are scattered following a series of airstrikes by the Israeli army. pic.twitter.com/R1kGgZa2E4
— War Watch (@WarWatchs) July 13, 2024