From Embers: Recent Episodes
From Embers
From Embers is a regular show about anarchist and anti-authoritarian politics in so-called Canada. We are part of the Channel Zero Anarchist Podcast Network.
Two anarchists from southern Ontario talk about 25 year climate projections in that region and what it might mean to take them seriously.
Related Links
Workshop Recap: The Coming Climate Catastrophe
Climate Atlas of Canada
Desert by Anonymous
Aric McBay Interview on Climate Crisis
It's Revolution or Death
The Long Emergency: A Discussion with Adam Greenfield
An interview with two settler anarchists in northern British Columbia who are active in a growing struggle against the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project or PRGT.
Resistance to the project has been heating up all summer as government approvals have been issued and construction work is expected to begin in the fall of 2025.
Discussions includes history and overview of the project, the changing context of the Canada-US trade war, anarchist-indigenous solidarity, and taking some lessons from Shut Down Canada.
Pipeline project updates at PRGT-news.ghost.io Anarchist reports at bccounterinfo.org (Tor Browser recommended)
For security reasons, this interview has been re-voiced by voice actors.
Music by Airtone
An interview with one of the collective members behind Black Oak Anarchist Social Space, which launched in Hamilton in Spring 2025.
LINKS
Black Oak Anarchist Social Space
Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair
North Shore Counter-Info
RELATED EPISODES
The Locke Street Affair (Part 1)
Queers Fight Back
Cedar on #FreeCedar
Five Years After The Brawl At Hamilton Pride
MUSIC
Ant.Survila - Nostalgic Reflections
A discussion with two organizers of this year's New Year's Eve noise demo in Laval. We discuss how things went, prisoner solidarity organizing in Montreal, the value of noise demos as an anarchist tactic and tradition, and where we might go from here.
Thanks to CKUT Prison Radio for the live footage.
Links:
Video from Clash MTL
Report from 2025 Hamilton Noise Demo
Seven Years Against Prison: On the practice of noise demos outside of prisons in Southern Ontario (pdf link)
It's Going Down Roundup of 2025 NYE Noise Demos
Rafales: An Anarchist Learning Camp
Constellation Anarchist Festival
December 2018 From Embers episode about noise demos
What Happened to Prisoners Justice Day?
Photo credit: scabby m
Five summers ago on June 15th 2019, a group of homophobic “street preachers” and their white nationalist allies attempted to enter and disrupt the annual Hamilton Pride celebrations at Gage Park.
Based on experience the previous year at Hamilton Pride and elsewhere in southern Ontario, anarchists and radical queers were expecting this and had organized to counter them. Wearing pink t-shirts over their faces and carrying a 30’ wide 9’ tall black banner nicknamed the Black Hole, the Pride Defenders confronted the bigots and formed a wall between them and the Pride festival.
The situation in the park quickly escalated into an all-out brawl, with several Pride Defenders sustaining serious injuries. Despite the chaotic scene, the banner held and the haters accepted a police escort out of the park.
Much of the fight was captured on right-wing livestreams and it created an immediate political scandal. The Pride Committee blamed the police for failing to intervene and the Police Board announced an independent investigation. For their part, the Hamilton Police attempted to frame the anarchists as outside agitators, attempting to link the (relatively popular) Pride Defence to the (very publicly unpopular) Locke Street affair from the previous year, where anarchists had smashed windows of gentrifying businesses along Locke Street.
Anarchists who were still on conditions related to that earlier demonstration were targeted and arrested in the days following. Our guest today, Cedar, had her parole pulled ostensibly for participating in the fight – when it became clear that she wasn’t even at Gage Park that day, the narrative changed to one of “incitement.”
The police strategy to regain control backfired and the repression kicked off a month-long campaign to #FreeCedar and drop the charges against all Pride Defenders. The city was covered in graffiti and posters and there were several rowdy anti-police demonstrations, along with solidarity actions around the world. For in-depth analysis and coverage during this time, see our show notes for links to various statements and reports on North Shore as well as our two previous episodes on the topic.
Today we’re sharing an interview with Cedar for the five year anniversary of the brawl and its aftermath. We discuss some of the ways anarchists in Hamilton have tried intervening in Pride over the years, the independent report and police recuperation, the problem with hate crime legislation, the worrying increase in anti-queer and anti-trans attacks from the post-Convoy far right in Canada, a predicted wave of reaction following the next federal election, and what we can do now to start preparing and practicing community defence.
With music from Deep Sixed
An interview with Ben Morea, recorded after an art show and talk he gave in Kingston, Ontario entitled "Revolutionary Animism – The Unified Field: Art, Politics and Spirituality."
Ben Morea is best known as a key figure in the Black Mask group, The Family (popularly known as Up Against The Wall Motherf**ker), and the Armed Love commune movement.
In this interview Ben recounts stories from his life, reflects on some of the challenges facing anarchists and revolutionaries of yesterday and today, and shares some thoughts on animism, indigenous ways of life, conflict, art, and more.
The No State Solution: A Dialogue with Palestinian sociologist Mohammed Bamyeh and Israeli political scientist Uri Gordon How can anarchist perspectives contribute to Palestinian liberation? Professor Mohammed Bamyeh, Department of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh, is author of Anarchy as Order: The History and Future of Civic Humanity (2009) Dr. Uri Gordon, author of Anarchy Alive!: Anti-Authoritarian Politics from Practice to Theory (2007), is an Independent scholar now based in the UK. This event took place on the unceded Territories of the Lekwungen-speaking peoples now known as the Songhees and Esquimalt in Victoria, BC Canada, and in the U.K. via Zoom on January 28, 2024. Sponsored by Camas Books & Infoshop, Anarchist Archive at UVic, Sunset Labs, Anarchist Network of Vancouver Island (ANVI)
An interview with Jordan House and Asaf Rashid, authors of the book Solidarity Beyond Bars: Unionizing Prison Labour.
We discuss the background of the book, some historical and legal precedents, the pros and cons of right-based approaches, the core strategic arguments for a prisoners union, and an exciting new initiative by prisoners in Laval, QC to form a union.
If you're around Montreal, check out their upcoming book launch at Concordia University on Friday, November 24th.
With music from David Parker & Stefan Christoff.
On this special edition of From Embers, we’re sharing a reading of Under New Management: Resistance to Prisons in Ontario & Quebec. Originally published in 2018 on It's Going Down under the title Our Neighbors to the North, this article discusses the establishment of the Canadian prison system and highlights some examples of prisoner resistance in Ontario and Quebec over the decades, with an emphasis on the widespread unrest throughout the 1970s.
This AudioZine was first broadcast by CFRC Prison Radio in Kingston and has been edited and republished with permission.
With music from Young Spirit, Christian Collins, Beatrice Deer and Cee Reality.
Our fediverse correspondent Lenny returns to discuss the FBI seizure of the servers of Kolektiva.social, the largest anarchist instance on Mastodon. We also talk about the continuing discrediting of big tech companies such as Twitter, Meta and Reddit, and what that might mean for people working to build an open-source, decentralized alternative to corporate social media platforms.
LINKS
Kolektiva.social Security Alert (Statement on seizure)
From Embers - Social Networks, Online Life and The Fediverse
From Embers - New Communication Infrastructure For Anarchists
F-91W Distro - Mastodon OPSEC guide
F-91W Distro - An anarchist introduction to federated social media
CrimethInc - Doxxing Prevention and Aftercare Guide
Anti-Hate.ca Story on Poast Leak
Reddit alternatives Lemmy & Kbin
With music from Deep Sixed
Talking with Louve Rose from P!nk Bloc Montreal about Quebec’s transphobic far right, drag defence, and building a revolutionary anti-capitalist queer organization for both community self-defence and to intervene against gay assimilationism.
Links
P!nk Bloc MTL – Instagram, Facebook, Linktree
August 12 Rad Pride (Facebook Event)
Montreal Antifasciste
MAF reportback from April 12 drag defence
From Embers - Anti-Fascism in Quebec
Revolutionary Trans Politics and the Three Way Fight
Submedia: Pride and Prejudice
Music
The Muslims - Fuck the Cistem
Interview with an anti-fascist observer about insights gained from the Public Order Emergency Commission hearings, a public inquiry into the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act to repress the so-called Freedom Convoy in February 2022.
Music: Lee Reed
Interview with the author of the PET Guide, a zine discussing secure digital communication tools from an anarchist perspective. We discuss Signal and its critics, and some new tools being released that incorporate peer-to-peer communication, end-to-end encryption and the Tor network.
Further reading:
How the U.S. Military buys location data from ordinary apps
The challenge of cracking Iran's internet blockade
Catholic bishop / Grindr / App data scandal
Signal
Interview with new Signal president Meredith Whittaker
Signal Warning? Why Moxie's Departure Is Not The End Of Signal
Signal Fails
PET apps
Briar Project
Cwtch
A conversation with two anarchists following a workshop they gave at the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair entitled 10 years since the strike: the place of nationalism within militant struggle. We discuss the history of Quebec nationalism and its influence in anarchist and radical milieus, responsibilities of settlers in anti-colonial struggle and in relating to land, possibilities and uncertain futures opened up by anarchism as a guiding practice, and more.
Further reading:
« Sauvage », « esclave » et « Nègres blancs d’Amérique » : hypothèses sur le complexe onto-politique québécois
Keshena Robinson - Québec Redux: Settler Coloniality and Reactionary "Decolonialism"
Robin Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson - Rehearsals for Living
William C. Anderson - The Nation on No Map: Black Anarchism and Abolition
Tuck and Yang - Decolonization is Not a Metaphor
Sever - Land and Freedom
Music in this episode:
Cris Derksen - Our Home on Native Land, Fires
Kae Tempest - Tunnel Vision
Escaping Tomorrow's Cages is a six-part essay being published throughout the month of May that lays out the coming wave of provincial jail expansions in Ontario and propose a strategy for how they might be opposed. We spoke with 3 anarchists involved with the project.
In this episode I chat with two members of Divest McGill, a student-led organization at McGill University in so-called Montreal. They are fighting to force McGill to divest from the fossil fuel industry and transform the university into something liberatory and accountable to the people whose lives it affects. This spring, they led a more than two-week-long open, social occupation of a university building. All music in this episode is from the 2012 anti-folk opera "What The F*ck Am I Doing Here?" about anarchist participation in the 2012 Quebec student strike. Check it out on Soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/whatthefuckamidoinghere/sets/what-the-fuck-am-i-doing-here
Learn more about Divest McGill here: https://www.divestmcgill.ca/
Conversation with the author of Addressing Russian Propaganda, available online at praleski.org. We discuss some of the political and historic context for Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine including Russian state mythology of anti-fascism, the importance of solidarity with people in Ukraine facing Russian imperial agression, and more.
Music in this episode is from a benefit compilation released by eastbloc sound titled We Stand With Ukraine. Also check out Albums Against the Invasion from Anarchist Black Cross Musical Solidarity Group
Links:
Operation Solidarity
Support Roma in Ukraine
The Solidarity Apothecary
Anarchist Black Cross Dresden
Autonomous Action – anarchists, libertarian communists, antifa
Commons (leftist journal from Ukraine)
Letters from Ukraine series published by Endnotes:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Everyday Anarchism – Bonus episode: A Report from Ukranian Anarchists
carla bergman is an artist, writer, unschooler and fellow podcaster.
We discuss carla’s backstory, being radicalized by parenting, unschooling, the Purple Thistle, pandemic school closures, learning to trust kids, and striving to bring more joy into our projects and lives.
Find carla on twitter, instagram and linktree
Music by Time
Artwork from Grounded Futures
A conversation with two members of Friends of the Attawapiskat River (Website/Facebook) about the Ring of Fire mining project and what's at stake.
Mining Injustice Solidarity Network: (Website/Facebook)
Song excerpt from Sounding Rock drum group, Webequie First Nation
We spoke with a transportation worker about the so-called Freedom Convoy currently occupying capital cities and border crossings across Canada. Links:
Naujawan Support Network
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Punch Up Collective (Ottawa)
Ottawa Trip Report
Three Way Fight
This week's discussion features an anarchist who is really into Mastodon. We talk about what's wrong with corporate social media platforms, what we like and don't like about spending time catching up online, and how Mastodon/the Fediverse feels different from hanging out on Instagram. We also get some tips for getting started on this alternative social media platform.
Links:
https://kolektiva.social https://joinmastodon.org
Forthcoming sub.media documentary about Facebook that our guest mentions in the interview:
https://thesocialempire.net/
Music in this episode is by Deep Sixed:
https://deepsixed.bandcamp.com/
This episode features an interview with Cid V. Brunet about their recent memoir "This Is My Real Name: A Stripper's Memoir. We talk about stripping, sex work, anarchist community, sex, gender and much more.
Buy the book at Arsenal Pulp Press.
In this interview, Ann Hansen, author of Direct Action: Memoirs of an Urban Guerilla and Taking the Rap: Women Doing Time For Society's Crimes, discusses her work with the Prison for Women Memorial Collective (P4WMC). The group is dedicated to having a permanent Memorial Garden and Gallery for all of the women who died in federal prisons, to be located inside the now-closed P4W Prison. It is their goal to exhibit art, writing and films about the women in prison, so they will be remembered as the fully fleshed-out human beings they were. Ann recounts recent challenges her group faced working with non-prisoner allies.
https://p4wmemorialcollectivedotcom.wordpress.com
The Fairy Creek blockades and other blockades on unceded Pacheedaht and Ditidaht territories continue under the invitation of Pacheedaht Elder, Bill Jones.
Please consider supporting the Defence of Indigenous Land BIPOC gofundme:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-indigenous-land-defenders-fairy-creek)
and the fundrazr for legal defense and front line support:
https://fundrazr.com/last_stand_for_forests?ref=ab_4psL41hKcg54psL41hKcg5
Jennifer Wickham, a member of Cas Yikh, the grizzly house, in the Gidimt'en Clan of the Wet'suwet'en people and media manager for the Gidimt'en yintah access point who is living on the yintah and working on a feature-length documentary film about Wet’suwet’en sovereignty as a creative producer. In this interview, Jennifer discusses recent developments in the Wet'suwet'en resistance against the Coastal GasLink pipeline construction, the effect of COVID-19 on her community, the legacy of the Residential School system, and the solidarity between Indigenous nations.
Learn more about how you can support the Gidimt'en on their website: https://www.yintahaccess.com/
Check out recent updates from the Gidimt'en resistance here: https://www.yintahaccess.com/news
Follow the Gidimt'en Checkpoint instagram @yintah_access
Listen to Sleydo' Molly Wickham's interview from the 2020 VABF last year here: https://victoriaanarchistbookfair.ca/gidimten-clan-spokesperson-molly-wickham-on-wetsuweten-anti-pipeline-resistance/
An interview on multiple intersections of art and activism with Stefan Christoff, a longtime community organizer and musician living in Montréal / Tiohtià:ke. This interview will highlight various forms of expression of the arts within social movements against systemic oppression, injustice and for collective liberation. Stefan will highlight active collaborations and efforts to build support within networks of artists and cultural workers for efforts to defend the rights of precarious workers within the context of the pandemic who are holding down frontline positions. Stefan has collaborated with artists and activists globally and this interview will focus on the intersections of his work within this sphere.
Sarah Marcha speaks to the revolutionary science of women's equality called Jineoloji that was developed in the autonomous region of Rojava. Jineoloji is an international movement spanning Europe and the Middle East. In this interview, Sarah discusses the leadership roles of women in the system of Democratic Confederalism, and provides examples of the transformative nature of womans' struggles against patriarchy in Rojava. Of particular importance in Sarah's discussion is her account of the all-encompassing role of self-defense in ensuring and maintaining the revolutionary women's struggle.
More information about the Jineoloji Academy can be found at: http://jineoloji.org/en/
If you have questions, feel free to email: jineolojicenter@riseup.net
*Theme music by AwareNess*
Hawaiian activist and land defender Kahala Johnson discusses anarchism through the lens of Indigeneity and shares insights regarding resistance struggles, including land reclamations and direct action blockades that halted the construction of a massive telescope on Mauna Kea, one of the most sacred volcanos in Hawaiian culture.
In this interview, Gord Hill discusses the making of his new edition of The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book and tactics and strategies the history of Indigenous resistance teaches us. He provides an analysis of present day resistance against the right wing, as well as an account of the difference between the ideology of pacifism and civil disobedience tactics.
For an archive of Indigenous resistance visit: https://warriorpublications.wordpress.com
Welcome to Day Two of the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair!
In this episode, Uri Gordon discusses some issues surrounding the use of the terms ‘prefiguration’ and ‘prefigurative politics.’ He is the author of several books and articles on contemporary anarchism, including Anarchy Alive!: Anti-Authoritarian Politics from Practice to Theory, and Prefigurative Politics between Ethical Practice and Absent Promise. He is co-editor of Anarchists Against the Wall: Direct Action and Solidarity with the Palestinian Popular Struggle, and The Routledge Handbook of Radical Politics. Uri co-founded the Anarchist Studies Network and his work has been translated into 13 languages.
The essay discussed can be found on Crimethinc's website: https://crimethinc.com/2018/06/12/prefigurative-politics-catastrophe-and-hope-does-the-idea-of-prefiguration-offer-false-reassurance
Welcome to the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair!
N.O. Bonzo is an anarchist street artist and illustrator whose work is much admired in the activist community. In this interview, Bonzo discusses their beautifully illustrated edition of Peter Kropotkin’s most famous book, Mutual Aid, and the politics of anarchy and art. Check out Bonzo's edition of Mutual Aid:
https://www.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1185
The Terrain Vague, which loosely translates into English as the "wasteland," is a large de-industrialized and partially wooded area on the outskirts of Hochelega, a neighbourhood in Montreal’s east end, and close to the Port of Montreal.
That space is under threat from several major development projects, and those who care about the Terrain Vague have been getting organized in the past years, connecting the developments to broader colonial-capitalist strategies at play by the Quebec government, making links with neighbourhood groups, and taking direct action to physically defend the space.
I spoke with a francophone anarchist from Montreal about the history and context of the Terrain Vague, the Quebec government vision for the St. Lawrence River, logistical hubs as points of anarchist intervention, questions around settler-led land defence and how it relates to indigenous land defence, and how this project might connect to a renewed push to “Shut Down Canada.”
Terms:
Terrain Vague - Wasteland
Avantage St Laurent - "Advantage St. Lawrence", formerly known as the Quebec Maritime Strategy
CAQ / Coalition Avenir Quebec, ruling right-wing nationalist provincial political party
Links:
Le terrain vague n'est à personne
Mobilisation 6600
Montreal Counter-Information
Contrepoints Media
With music from Total Nada and Blemish
An interview with Mike Gouldhawke about Truth and Reconciliation Day, the Canadian state, and #LandBack.
Find more of Mike's work here: https://mgouldhawke.wordpress.com/
Also check out his new chapter "By All Means, Anti-Politics" in the new Little Black Cart anthology "Not On Any Map."
Music in this episode by AwareNess.
Writer, researcher and teacher Dr. Alex Khasnabish talks about a recent workshop he gave at the Halifax Anarchist Bookfair called “You Can’t Police Yourself Out of a Pandemic: Anti-Authoritarian Strategies in an Age of Crisis.”
We discuss both state and far right responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the tensions surrounding vaccination, anti-authoritarian strategies for collective care, and questions about where to go from here.
In the later part of the episode, Alex briefly references an article he wrote for Roar magazine entitled "From white fragility to white power in the age of COVID-19" - you can read it here
Interview with Tawinikay about her essay released in spring 2021 Settlers on the Red Road: On Indigeneity, Appropriation and Belongingwhich addresses the problem of race-shifting in anarchist and anarchist-adjacent spaces.
Music from Snotty Nose Rez Kids.
This episode features an interview with two members of the Halifax Anarchist Bookfair collective. We talked about how and why to organize an anarchist gathering during the pandemic, anarchy in Halifax, and why we need anarchist bookfairs in 2021.
Music by Slow Man Tofu (Kingston) and Desperate Times (Halifax).
For this episode I sat down (in person!) with author, farmer and organizer Aric McBay. We talked about the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, what climate scientists are now saying about the future of the planet, whether it's still worth trying to stop climate change, and whether and how to maintain hope in the face of increasingly apocalyptic news.
To learn about Aric's most recent book, Full Spectrum Resistance, check out the full episode we did with Aric two years ago when the book came out. To find the book and more from Aric, check out https://www.aricmcbay.org/. You can also find his recent handbook on civil disobedience, co-authored with Pamela Cross, here: http://directaction.works/Direct-Action-Works-Mar-22-2020.pdf.
This episode features an interview with Skyler Williams of 1492 Land Back Lane, a land reclamation on the edge of the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve near Caledonia, Ontario. This week marks the one year anniversary of the camp which was reclaimed last July in response to plans to develop a subdivision on Six Nations Territory. Skyler speaks about a year spent at the camp, the recent announcement that the McKenzie Meadows subdivision has been cancelled by the developer because of Six Nations resistance, and what’s next for folks at Land Back Lane.
Music in this show is all from artists who have performed at Land Back Lane: Six Nations singer-songwriters Derek Miller and Logan Staats, as well as Ottawa-based “powwow-step” group The Halluci Nation, formerly known as A Tribe Called Red.
A discussion with an anarchist participant in the Fairy Creek blockades on so-called Vancouver Island.
Further reading:
Five Months of Direct Action... (No More City)
The Return of the War in the Woods? (BC Blackout)
Desert (The Anarchist Library)
After nearly a year on hiatus, we're excited to finally be re-launching From Embers. In this mini-episode we briefly explain our absence, reflect on why the show still feels important to us, and tease two upcoming episodes.
Tsastilqualus is an elder of the House Umbas from Ma’amtagila (Kwakwaka’wakw) territory. In this final episode of the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair's week of podcasts, Tsastilqualus speaks about her life and views on how Indigenous resistance can be combined with cultural renewal to realize ecological sustainability and Indigenous sovereignty. For years she has been involved in fighting fish farms and clear cuts in her traditional unceded territories to ensure the survivability of wild salmon. Currently, Tsastilqualus is in the process of rematriating the lands she calls home. She is the founder of the Matriarch Camp, located on unceded Ma’amtagila territory where she recently installed a tiny ‘Big’ house. Please support the Matriarch Camp by sending e-transfers to: matriarchcamp at gmail.com.
As in other places, unhoused people in Victoria face severe challenges in their daily lives ranging from a lack of food, sanitation and medical services to harassment by police and security. One particularly disturbing development are growing resentments and assaults by community members who are unwilling to share green spaces with those who need them for survival. In this episode we hear from a grass-roots front-line supporter and member of the Lived Experience of Homelessness Network (LEOHN) about the increased challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the importance of mutual aid and a caring community.
To support and donate visit or contact:
https://www.facebook.com/Indigenous-Harm-Reduction-Team-2268634883463900/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MutualAidVictoria
leohnetwork@gmail.com
https://solidvictoria.org/
https://www.safersexwork.ca/
http://avi.org/
For more information follow:
https://povertykills2020.ca/
https://twitter.com/BeaconHillFolks
https://www.facebook.com/LkwungenWSANEC
Ozlem Goner is a steering committee member of the Emergency Committee for Rojava, New York, and associate professor at the City University of New York. Her research interests focus on political sociology, ethnographies of the state and nationalism, comparative and historical sociology, race and ethnicity, social movements, qualitative methods, and classical, poststructural, postcolonial and feminist theory.
For updates concerning the situation in Rojava and to donate to the struggle, visit: https://www.defendrojava.org/rojava
Ruth Kinna is a world-renowned political theorist and historian of ideas who has authored numerous books on anarchism, nineteenth- and early twentieth-century socialist thought, utopianism and contemporary radicalism. She is a professor of political philosophy at Loughborough University and editor of the UK-based journal, Anarchist Studies.
Ann Hansen is former member of the anarchist organization Direct Action and served over 7 years in prison for her involvement with that collective. She is now living on a self-sufficient farm and works on prison-related issues as a member of the Prison for Women (P4W) Memorial Collective. Naphtali is a white non-binary trans Jew who is into prison abolition, anti-zionism, indigenous and black liberation, night-bouquets, and community care.
Queen Sacheen is co-founder of Ancestral Pride, with whom she has produced many zines. She has spent a great deal of time advising Settler-anarchists on how to be in solidarity with Indigenous resistance movements. She is a warrior who has taken part in many actions, including Standing Rock. Finally, Sacheen is a proud mother, Matriarch, doula and medicine woman.
Find Queen Sacheen (Nuu-chah-nulth & Coast Salish) on Facebook by searching for Sacheen Kinish, or Ancestral Pride and/or Xhopakelxhits Apothocary. Please support via e-transfer and PayPal to: mamazonscreatrions at gmail.com.
John Zerzan is author of numerous publications exploring the pre-modern dimensions of our being. His weekly radio program, AnarchyRadio can be found here: https://www.johnzerzan.net/radio/.
Kathy Ferguson is an US-American author, political philosopher, feminist, historian, anarchist, and professor of political science and women's studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She has authored one of the best critical biographies of renowned anarchist Emma Goldman: Emma Goldman: Political Thinking in the Streets.
Visit http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kferguso/ to learn about the 1000 women who helped build the anarchist movement during Emma Goldman’s life time.
Molly Wickham (Sleydo) is a member of the Gidimt'en Clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation. She has been tirelessly active in the Wet’suwet’en’ Nation’s assertion of sovereignty over their unceded territories. This interview discusses the current state of affairs regarding the Coastal GasLink pipeline’s pending extension under a pristine river and the RCMP’s continued harassment of Indigenous and non-Indigenous land defenders.
Visit yintahaccess.com to apply to join the fall work camp on Gidimt'en territory, or connect with them by email at yintahaccess@gmail.com. You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram.
From Embers will be collaborating with the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair over the next week to bring you some really great audio content that they're releasing in lieu of an in-person event. Their real-life bookfair is, like so many events, cancelled, but they've made the best of the situation and put together an impressive week of online events, many of which you'll find right here on the From Embers feed. To get us all ready and excited for the week, we put together this interview with three members of their collective. We talk about anarchism, bookfairs, COVID, how to make our events and actions meaningfully anticolonial, and much more. Stay tuned throughout this week as we host the virtual bookfair.
Radio Pandemic was founded by From Embers and friends just as the COVID-19 crisis hit Kingston, as many people were scrambling to figure out how to navigate the new uncertain terrain of physical distancing, government lockdowns and online organizing. We wanted to facilitate a conversation about the rapidly changing context in our city and beyond, and established a call-in show that airs on CFRC 101.9FM twice a week.
Someone from the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair was interested in the project and hosted a conversation with the collective as part of this year’s event. The following is an edited version of that discussion.
A conversation with a member of the It's Going Down collective about their pre-pandemic text "Livewire: Against Automation, Against UBI, Against Capital." We revisit the text in the context of the pandemic, ever-increasing trends towards automation of various sectors in Canada and the USA, and the Canadian government's emergency relief benefit (CERB), which many have compared to universal basic income.
Read the whole text as a zine here: https://itsgoingdown.org/new-zine-pdf-version-of-livewire-against-automation-against-ubi-against-capital/
In the context of ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks in Canadian prisons and jails, I was curious about other times in history that prisoners have faced similar situations and especially times when prisoners have been released as a result. Today’s interview is with a local prison historian about epidemics and public health in Canadian prisons, mostly about the 19th and early 20th century. Also some stories about prisoners being released, what health care was like inside and outside of prison walls, and what kind of world people were returning to.
Following the mass shootings in Nova Scotia last week, the federal government rushed to impose an extensive and immediate ban of semi-automatic firearms. We reached out to Ron in Edmonton, author of the article “The History of Gun Control in Canada” on the counter-info website North Saskatchewan Resistance. We spoke about the shifting regulatory context in Canada, the problem of mass killers from an anti-fascist perspective, arming the vulnerable and the oppressed, and the possibilities associated with anarchist interventions into gun culture.
Post-interview note from Ron:
At 41:29 I say 'Arm trans women' which has become a slogan for leftist and LGBTQ2+ firearms rights advocates. I then list other identity groups that those concerned with changing gun culture should endeavour to arm. Among these was women. This was not to imply in the slightest that trans women are not women. Defend equality and keep TERFs out of our spaces.
Article referenced in the discussion: “The Firearms Act and Canada’s First Nations”
A conversation with the folks behind Fagdemic ("Fag harm reduction for coronaworld")
Lots of practical harm reduction advice around sex, hookups, and substance use (or changes in your substance use) as well as talking about shame, negotiations around intimacy and care, reducing the harms of police, and individual and community autonomy in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We speak with Alexander McClelland and Zoë Dodd about criminalization in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2016, they published “An Anarchist Response to Hep C & HIV.” We spoke about the Canadian healthcare system, the problem with government approaches to “Public Health,” Hep C & HIV criminalization and what it can tell us about what’s happening in the present crisis.
Resources:
Toronto Overdose Prevention Society
“We can’t police our way out of a pandemic” by Alexander McClelland
Interactive map of charges and violations related to COVID-19
Cathy Crowe
How to Have Sex in a Police State
An interview with Montreal-based counselling and somatic therapist Parneet Chohan on the Covid-19 pandemic, anxiety, communication, reading the news, and caring for ourselves and each other through troubled times.
An interview with Salam, a member of the Syria Solidarity Collective based in Toronto. We talk about the Syrian uprising, anti-imperalism and the left, the ongoing need for international solidarity with the people of Syria, and more.
Talking with a non-native anarchist who spent time at Kanonhstaton in 2006, a land reclamation led by members of Six Nations blocking the development of a private subdivision on their territory.
We discuss his experience at Six, dynamics on the ground before and after the police raid, and the possibilities and complexities of anarchist-indigenous solidarity with the current wave of Wet'suwet'en solidarity in mind.
With music from Tru Rez Crew and Lee Reed.
This week's episode features an interview with Gord Hill, a member of the Kwakwaka'wakw nation whose territory is located on northern Vancouver Island and adjacent mainland in the province of "British Columbia." He has been involved in Indigenous people's and anti-globalization movements since 1990 and is the author of The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book and The Antifa Comic Book.
Music by Tribe Called Red, Iroqua WhiteWolf, Macka B and Snotty Nose Rez Kids.
Interactive Map of Wet'suwet'en Solidarity Actions
Tips For Staying Safe At Blockades To Come
Elsipogtog in Five Minutes
An interview with Dtsa'hyl, a hereditary chief of the Wet'suwet'en Nation. The Wet'suwet'en people have defended their land against pipelines for more than a decade. After an RCMP raid on their territory on February 6th, a national movement was sparked to shut down Canada and protest against the infringement of Indigenous sovereignty.
Music in this episode by Lee Reed and Snotty Nose Rez Kids
Conversation with an organizer of this year's Winter Fair in Montreal: a book/zine fair as well as discussions annd workshops around trauma, dealing with conflict, and building resilient and strong communities of struggle. This year's event is focused on the many ways to mitigate the harms that often accompany conflict - both from the state and from within our interpersonal relationships. Check it out if you're in the area: Saturday February 8, 1611 avenue d'Orléans, 11h - 20h. Free dinner (6 pm) and childcare available.
An interview with John Clarke, a founder and long-time organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty in Toronto. OCAP has played a key role in the anti-poverty movement in Ontario over the past three decades, deploying a creative variety of militant and confrontational tactics in the interests of meeting the immediate needs of poor and working class people.
Last year John retired as a paid organizer of OCAP, although he remains an active member. We spoke about the history and philosophy of the organization and what he believes is in store in the future for social movements in Ontario.
We referenced the book Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail.
Music by Bakunin's Bum with words from Shawn Brant and Sue Collis.
Conversation with an anarchist and anti-repression organizer about how conspiracy charges have been used against anarchists in Canada and the United States, some challenges and lessons learned from supporting J20 defendants and others, the Tilted Scales Collective's upcoming book project, Representing Radicals: A Guide for Lawyers, and more.
Check out the links below for more in-depth discussion of some of the cases discussed in the episode as well as related texts about repression, security culture, and conspiracy charges.
The Age of Conspiracy Charges
Guilt By Association – How the Prosecution of the RNC 8 Threatens Dissent and all Political Organizers (pdf)
Toronto G20 Main Conspiracy Group – The Charges and How They Came to Be (pdf)
We’ve Got Your Back: The Story of the J20 Defense: An Epic Tale of Repression and Solidarity
Confidence, Courage, Connection, Trust: A Proposal for Security Culture
Solidarity With Our Comrades in Hamilton: To Stop Gentrification, Destroy Capitalism
Matt Hern is a long-time writer and community organizer in Vancouver.
We discuss the projects and ideas he’s engaged with over the past several decades, including his upbringing and politicization, having kids and establishing alternative schools, a critical perspective on social ecology, community organizing and gentrification, and shifting focus to Surrey where he works with racialized youth to establish workers co-operatives.
Links: matthern.ca / solidstate.coop
Music by Warsawpack
A conversation with Stu, a founding member of Dragonfly Farm. Dragonfly is a rural communal land project near Bancroft, Ontario that was founded in 1978. We talk about how he and his friends got the land, how they've endured and navigated conflict over the years, and advice he has for folks wanting to live rurally and/or communally today.
Music by Perth County Conspiracy
Links for further reading:
Dragonfly Is 25 (2003)
Jim Campbell, Remembered (with links)
Someone's master's thesis with a lot of details about the project
The Perth County Conspiracy
An interview with two anarchists from Vancouver about their efforts to intervene in the climate strike and extinction rebellion actions in that city. We talk about the context in Vancouver, their critique of Extinction Rebellion, black blocs, critical solidarity, and moving beyond hope and hopelessness. For the privacy of our guests, this interview was re-voiced by volunteers.
Links:
Anarchist Critique and Analysis of Recent Climate Mobilizations in Vancouver
Imagining New Worlds - Anti-Capitalism and Climate Justice (Kitchener, Ontario)
Extinguishing Rebellion (Montreal)
Printable Outreach Materials for Climate Strike Actions (It's Going Down)
-with music from the Subhumans and Bombs Away
A conversation with Jonathan Vallely and Eric Levitt of Gay 4 Pay Press, a zine distro largely focused on radical politics and gay/queer men based out of Toronto and Ottawa. We talk about cruising, a world without police, community conversations around consent and accountability, crystal meth, and, of course, zines.
Music in this episode:
FAGGOT - Mister Wallace
Excerpt from Breaking the Ice/Letters to Meth video - composed by Don Vaillancourt
This week's episode features an interview with Kate Klein of the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network.
We talk a bit about the group's work opposing the mining industry and supporting mining-affected communities outside of Canada in their struggles against Canadian mining corporations. Mostly, we discuss the group's use of drama and comedy in their campaigns, and discuss a recent workshop that Kate and another member gave on "humour as an activist tactic."
Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world measured from its oceanic base and one of the most sacred sites for spiritual Hawaiians. A consortium of government and university scientists from Canada, the United States, Japan, China and India have been trying to build the Thirty Metre Telescope on its summit for nearly a decade, coming up against fierce opposition from native Hawaiians every step of the way.
Things heated up again this summer as TMT planned to start construction for the second time. In response, land protectors established a resistance camp on the mountain. After two and a half months and dozens of arrests, the camp is still standing and a mass movement has emerged to defend the mountain.
We caught up with Pua’ena Ahn, who is part of the Hawaiian movement and currently active to protect Mauna Kea.
With music from Anti-Flag and PUNAHELE695
In Canada, the National Research Council and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA) are important partners in the TMT Corporation. Some prominent Canadian astronomers have already spoken out against the project. Add to the pressure!
Board Members of TMT (Canada)
- Donald Brooks – Professor, University of British Columbia
- Greg Fahlman – General Manager, NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Kim Venn – Professor, University of Victoria
ACURA Institutional Members and Representatives
- Athabasca University – Martin Connors
- Bishops University, Sherbrooke - Lorne Nelson
- Brandon University - Tyler Foster
- McGill University, Montreal - Nick Cowan
- McMaster University, Hamilton - Christine Wilson
- Queen’s University, Kingston - Stephane Courteau
- Saint Mary’s University, Halifax - Robert Thacker
- Trent University, Peterborough - David Patton
- University of Alberta, Edmonton - Gregory R. Sivakoff
- University of British Columbia, Vancouver - Aaron Boley
- University of Calgary - Robert Thompson
- Laval University - Gilles Joncas
- University of Lethbridge - Erasmus Okine
- University of Manitoba, Winnipeg - Stefi Baum
- University of Montreal - René Doyon
- University of Toronto - Vivek Goel
- University of Victoria – Kim Venn
- University of Waterloo - Charmaine Dean
- University of Western Ontario, London - Stanimir Metchev
- York University, Toronto - Patrick Hall
And finally, don't forget to check out the Toronto Anarchist Bookfair this weekend!
An interview with Byron, host of To Know The Land, a radio show on Guelph's CFRU 93.3. We talk about why radio is cool, and I pick Byron's brain about place, space and knowing the land we stand on.
Links:
https://toknowtheland.tumblr.com/showarchives
Music by Ana Roxanne, Hotel Neon and Taylor Deupree
The album Byron mentions at the end isn't out yet but you can hear some previews here: https://stationarytravels.wordpress.com/place-language/
An interview with Nathan Munn, a freelance journalist based in Montreal. Nathan has written several investigative pieces for VICE looking at
the "Hub Model" of community policing, which has been quietly rolling out across the country, and especially in Saskatchewan and Ontario, over the past 5 years.
The article by Kristian Williams referenced in the introduction is available in PDF form here.
Talking to Lee Reed, anarchist organizer and MC from Hamilton, ON and self-described mouthy jerk. We talk about how his political music and focus have changed over time, artists and anarchists finding themselves in conflict over gentrification and figuring out what to do about it, Locke St repression and supporting Pride defenders, his recent Polaris nomination for the Steal City EP, and more. Plus I crammed this episode full of great tracks, old and new. Enjoy!
Music in this episode:
Lee Reed - The Bank
Mat Heddle feat. Lee Reed - Gtfh
Warsawpack - Doomsday Device
Lee Reed - Fuck No
Every year on August 10th, both inside and outside of jails and prisons across Canada, prisoners and their supporters mark Prisoners Justice Day.
We spoke with Veronica, an anarchist in Montreal who is part of organizing the annual NYE noise demos in Laval. We discuss the history of Prisoners Justice Day, what has changed since the 70s, how PJD will marked and articulated this year, recuperation by Liberal governments, anarchist approaches to prisoner solidarity, and how to get started.
Some PJD Events Across Canada: Halifax - Kingston (1, 2) - Hamilton (1, 2) - Ottawa - Toronto - Sudbury - Vancouver - Barrie - London
Prisoners mentioned include Pete Collins, Cleve Geddes, Justin St Amour, and Jean Veillette.
Texts discussed include Under New Management, Prisons In Canada, Barred From Prison, and the Penal Press Archive. We also referenced the podcast "What Happened to Prisoners Justice Day?"
Other topics raised include Structured Intervention Units, Prison Farms, and the P4W Memorial Collective.
An interview with a recently-released Hamilton anarchist on the events surrounding Hamilton Pride, anarchist prisoner support, jail, queer community, being a hashtag and feeling popular.
Conversation with two organizers from Anti-Police Power Surrey (APPS), a
grassroots organization committed to building collective resistance to
police and the systems of power and domination they uphold: capitalism,
colonialism, and white supremacy. They are active on the unceded, stolen
territories of the Kwantlen, Musqueam, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Tsawwassen,
Qayqayt, and Kwikwetlem nations, occupied by Surrey, British Columbia.
Website: Anti-Police Power Surrey
Facebook & Instagram
Music in this episode: Tribe Called Quest - We The People
A conversation with an anarchist who was around during the height of the 2010 anti-Olympics resistance in Vancouver. We talk about the impact the Olympics has had on the social climate, the surveillance experienced by anarchists and other organizers, and the infamous Heart Attack demo that tore up the city's downtown core.
An interview with a now Bogota-based member of Projet Accompagnement Solidarité Colombie, a Quebec-based collective that works to build direct solidarity with Colombian communities, organizations and social movements.
Topics include:
-
the meaning of internationalism and why and how we frame our struggles in an international context.
-
what North-South solidarity looks like.
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political violence and how it relates to social struggles.
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struggling alongside people who are not anarchists.
Links:
PASC
CLAC-Montreal
https://peoplesdispatch.org/
https://www.thetricontinental.org/
An interview with author, farmer and organizer Aric McBay about his new book Full Spectrum Resistance. We talk about building effective movements, his departure from Deep Green Resistance, dynamics between radicals and liberals, what is a victory, movement case studies, and the importance of moving from abstract ideas to tangible struggle.
Music by Janelle Monae and Bakunin's Bum (with words from Shawn Brant back when he was organizing with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty).
A conversation with a Kingston organizer of an anti-police and anti-military protest contingent in Kingston Pride Parade, and an interview with two folks from Hamilton about people at Hamilton Pride defending themselves homophobic street preachers and violent far-right white supremacists without relying on the police. Note that we re-recorded this second interview to protect their anonymity.
Check out The Tower on Facebook (facebook.com/thetowerhamilton) as well as North Shore Counter Info (north-shore.info) for more up to date information on arrests, solidarity actions, and ways you can support those arrested and possibly facing charges in Hamilton.
Related reading: The Unquiet Dead: Anarchism, Fascism, and Mythology. Zine-length chapters and audio recordings available at https://unquietdead.tumblr.com/
Audio from a panel at the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair.
Hosts from The Solecast, Intersection'elle, Changing On The Fly, and From Embers discuss questions about podcasting, Internet culture, radio, privacy, and "being a personality."
Music in this episode is Sole, off his album Destituent.
Also it's the one year anniversary of From Embers!
<(A)3
This year on May Day in Toronto, anarchists and radicals brought a replica guillotine to a rally at Queen’s Park, leading to outrage in the mainstream media and government calls for a police investigation.
In light of this, and in a context where guillotine memes and other gestures towards political violence are becoming more popular, we spoke with an author of the article Against the Logic of the Guillotine published on the CrimethInc website. We discuss the ideas in the article, and tease out some of the philosophical tensions that underpin it.
Music: L’Interrogatorio di Sante Caserio and Sante Caserio by From the Depths
In 1919, what started as a dispute over how workers in a particular trade should negotiate with their employers became a generalized workers' revolt that we now know as the Winnipeg General Strike. Don't click skip just yet! It can be hard to see the relevance in things that happened so long ago, but how to build things that (a) generalize, and (b) actually threaten business as usual is a pressing question for a lot of us today, and while 2019 and 1919 are radically different contexts, they aren't separate planets. In this episode, I spoke with Sean Carleton, a professor of history and member of the Graphic History Collective about the strike and what lessons we can learn from its history, whether we are labour activists or not.
The Graphic History Collective's book about the strike - 1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike - is out on Between The Lines press and can be purchased wherever you buy books. They're also on a book tour right now - check social media (warning - facebook link!) or your local event listings for details.
Today we bring you an episode of a brand-new podcast miniseries entitled "What Happened to Prisoner Justice Day?" about the history of prisons in canada focusing on differences in the prison system in the 1960s-1980s versus today. The podcast features interviews with former and current prisoners, as well as supporters on the outside.
"In [this] episode, we talk to Gene, who started doing time in canadian prisons in 1972. Gene talks to us about the early days of PJD on the inside and the role that inmates committees and outside support played in prisoner resistance in the 70s and 80s. He talks a bit about protective custody or PC, and how changes to protective custody policies in federal prisons undermined solidarity.
At the end of the show, we mention the website penalpress.com. The site features a catalogue of newspapers produced in prisons in canada. Check it out for an inside perspective on the canadian prison system from the late 1940s onwards."
More about the podcast:
This is a mini series about the history of prisons in canada focusing on differences in the prison system in the 1960s-1980s versus today. The podcast features interviews with former and current prisoners, as well as supporters on the outside. For those new to prison history, Prisoner Justice Day, also called PJD, started in 1975 on the one year anniversary of the death of Edward Nalon, an inside organizer who bled to death in a segregation cell in Millhaven Maximum Penitentiary on August 10th, 1974. Prisoners refused to eat and refused to work to commemorate Eddie's death. In May 1976, Robert Landers, who had been actively organizing in Archambault Pen before being involuntarily transferred to Millhaven, died in a segregation cell in Millhaven after repeated calls for medical help met no response. In June 1976, prisoners in Millhaven launched a call for support for their one day hunger strike in remembrance of all prisoners who had died inside - to take place on August 10th. Word spread across the country and, in the end, thousands of prisoners participated in the one day hunger strike and supporters on the outside organized events on the outside. A lot has changed since the 70s, not just in prison, but outside of prison. While respecting PJD remains important to many on the inside and outside, the numbers of those participating are nowhere near the numbers involved in the 70s and 80s. This podcast mini-series sets out to explore why that change has occurred. We found the PJD image for the podcast and its backstory here: http://journal.radicalcriminology.org/index.php/rc/article/view/68/html
Search for What Happened to Prisoner Justice Day wherever you get your podcasts, or check it out online at prisonhistoryca.libsyn.com
The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair is the largest anarchist gathering in North America and 2019 is it's 20th year. In this episode, I interviewed two members of this year's bookfair collective. Topics include:
- what, if anything, does the bookfair have to do with books?
-is the bookfair for "us," for "recruitment," or both?
-how much should event planners try to shape a space like this? what kinds of policies are appropriate and how, if at all, should they be enforced?
-what should we expect at this year's bookfair?
The bookfair is coming up on May 25th and 26th!
Links:
Website
Facebook Page
Recording of a talk by Alexis Shotwell on veganism, relational ethics, and mutual aid. From the event description: “Will eating plant-based foods save us from climate catastrophes? Should everyone eat vegan? How should people who care about the world understand “clean eating”? Is Jordan Peterson pursuing a beef-only diet because he’s an asshole, or because he’s managing a severe disability, or both? Is criticizing factory farmed meat the same as criticizing Indigenous hunting practices? What does any of this have to do with mutual aid?
In this conversation, I’ll share some approaches to answering these questions. I’ll explain what I think is a useful distinction between ethical decisions based on substances (what something is) and ethical decisions based on placing ourselves in relationships. I’ll talk about the difference between clean eating and vegan eating, and share why anarchist understandings of political care in the form of mutual aid help us be in good relationships with our devastated, hurting, good world.”
AKA Autonomous Social Centre (Kingston)
Punch Up Collective (Ottawa)
Interview with Kevin Tucker about his latest book The Cull of Personality, which tells the story and surrounding context of the murder of Shipibo-Conibo healer and indigenous rights activist Olivia Arevalo at the hands of Canadian ayahuasca tourist Sebastian Woodroffe in the Peruvian Amazon. Woodroffe was subsequently lynched by members of Arevalo’s community, which became a big story in the Canadian press. We discuss the story, ayahuasca, colonialism, and new age spirituality in a civilized world.
Music by Slugdge
Tonight on From Embers we’re talking about the unfolding crisis in Venezuela, and specifically the role of the Canadian state and the Lima Group. We open with a bit of a rant about how tricky anti-imperialist politics can be for anarchists to navigate - somewhat coincidentally, the topic of the week on Anarchist News this week. Then we feature an interview with Lydia of the Women's Coordinating Committee for a Free Wallmapu, a grassroots organization based in Toronto with ties to the Mapuche struggle in Chile. I asked her about Canada’s role in the intervention and recent actions she’s taken to disrupt mainstream narratives about so-called democracy in Venezuela.
A few background English-language anarchist articles about Venezuela and the Bolivarian Revolution:
Anarkismo Visit Report (2004)
Socialism to the Highest Bidder (2006)
True and False in Venezeula (2014)
Roland Denis Interview (2016)
Uruguayan Anarchists on Popular Power in Venezuela (2017)
Black Rose statement (2019)
This week's episode features two interviews with people involved in the struggle to stop a new migrant prison from being built in Laval, Quebec. Topics discussed include:
-the project and how the government is trying to frame it as a "nice" cage.
-senses of strategy and what might work to actually stop a project like this.
-actions that have taken place against the prison, how they've gone, and what actions might be on the horizon.
Stop The Prison
Ni Frontières, Ni Prisons (facebook link!)
Solidarity Across Borders
This week's episode features two perspectives on the right-wing "Yellow Vests Canada" movement and how anti-fascists are taking them on. Topics include:
What, if anything, do these people have to do with the yellow vest movement in France?
Are they workerists, xenophobes, populists, fascists or all of the above?
How are neo-nazis and other fascists recruiting from inside the movement?
Should we as anti-fascists treat the yellow vests like fash or like something else?
What's up with the United We Roll truck convoy? Is this really a grassroots movement for pipelines?
Links:
https://twitter.com/VestsCanada
https://anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com/
https://ottawagdc.org/
Today's episode features a conversation with some members of Feminist Action Hamilton, an anyone-except-cis-men collective organizing around anarchist principles. We talk about some of the actions and workshops Feminist Action Hamilton has been organizing over the past year; feelings and motivations around creating an organizing space without cis men; intentions and desires to support each other, learn together, and take action, and some of the messiness and difficulties of organizing when you're not pretending to have all the answers.
Feminist Action Hamilton: Facebook
An interview with Craig Fortier, who is an organizer and academic based in Toronto. Among other things, Craig is involved with No One Is Illegal and helps coordinate the Field of Dreamers Cooperative Softball Association, which was featured on a recent episode of Talking Radical Radio. Craig is the author of the short book Unsettling The Commons: Social Movements Within, Against and Beyond Settler Colonialism which was published in 2017 by Arbeiter Ring. In it, Craig draws on more than 50 interviews with organizers within what he calls the “anti-authoritarian current” across Canada and the United States, and discusses what it means to “struggle for the commons” in the context of settler colonialism.
Craig’s book recommendations include Undoing Border Imperialism, Red Skin White Masks & Mohawk Interruptus.
Music is by LAL and Test Their Logik.
SubMedia is an anarchist video collective based in Montreal. Founded in 1994, they have been putting out high-quality video for more than two decades, featuring satirical takes on the news, “riot porn”, explanations of anarchist concepts, calls to action, and more, always with a strong dose of humour. Their latest project is called Trouble, and features in-depth interviews about a new theme each month. Check with your local anarchist community space to see if they are screening monthly screenings – if not, start your own!
I sat down with JR, a member of the SubMedia collective, to speak about the trajectory of the project, some philosophical questions about anarchist media, the spectacle of resistance and repression, their recent coverage of the crisis at Unist’ot’en, and more.
Today's episode features two interviews about solidarity actions with the Wet'suwet'en people currently defending their sovereignty, their lands and their waters by resisting pipeline construction through their territories.
In our first interview we speak with an urban Indigenous organizer about several different solidarity actions on unceded Coast Salish territories in Vancouver and some of the broader context, strategy and motivations behind those actions. Our second interview is with two Mi'kmaq land and water protectors in Unama'ki (so-called Cape Breton) about a solidarity action that shut down the Canso Causeway, related struggles against resource extraction throughout Mi'kma'ki, and some of the broader context and motivations behind those struggles as well.
Many different solidarity actions have taken place across this territory and around the world - too many to count! Actions and demonstrations have continued to flare up throughout so-called Canada - we encourage you to participate in solidarity actions happening in your area, and if it doesn't seem like anything is happening where you are, grab some friends and organize your own action! This is not over.
Solidarity actions and further updates and info:
We support the Unist'ot'en and Wet'suwet'en Grassroots Movement (facebook)
January 8th - International Day of Action (facebook)
Wet'suwet'en Access Point on Gidumt'en Territory (facebook)
Unist'ot'en Camp (blog)
Unist'ot'en Camp (facebook)
sub.media category: Unist'ot'en
This Is Not Over: Major Disruptions Continue in Support of Unist'ot'en Camp (itsgoingdown.org)
Another End of the World Is Possible: Indigenous Solidarity and Blocking Extractive Infrastructure in Canada (mtlcounterinfo.org)
North Shore Counter-Info: Posts tagged Unist'ot'en
North Shore Counter-Info: Posts tagged Wet'suwet'en
Alliance Against Displacement (facebook)
Warrior Publications: Posts tagged Unist'ot'en
#shutdowncanada #wetsuwetenstrong #thetimeisnow #notresspass
Music in this episode: A Tribe Called Red - Unist'ot'en Camp - Stadium Pow Wow (feat. Black Bear) Spoken word clips from Unist'ot'en spokesperson Freda Huson
This episode features two interviews with organizers of New Years Eve noise demonstrations in Hamilton and in Montreal. We talk about the rage and sadness we feel about the existence of prisons, noise demonstrations, building traditions and rituals, and our favourite New Years Eve stories.
Links:
Seven Years Against Prison (2015)
Montreal Against Prisons
International Call For New Year's Even Noise Demonstrations (English, 2018)
An interview with Andrew Crosby and Jeffrey Monaghan, co-authors of Policing Indigenous Movements: Dissent and the Security State, available from Fernwood Publishing.
The book is based on a series of government records obtained through Access to Information requests. The authors use these records to reveal how policing and other security agencies in Canada have been monitoring, cataloguing and working to silence indigenous land defenders and other opponents to extractive capitalism.
We discussed the revelations found in the book, the tricky politics of police accountability, some developments in the Canadian security apparatus in recent years, and some ideas about how movements can stay resilient despite state repression.
Music by Police Funeral
IWW organizers in Hamilton and Kingston discuss organizing solidarity pickets at mail processing facilities in Ontario and share different perspectives on supporting postal workers on strike who were recently legislated back to work.
Music in this episode:
Spanner - Work
Lee Reed - Get Mad
From Embers presents a two-part feature on the Locke Street Affair in Hamilton, Ontario. We sat down and interviewed a defendant in the case who will be in jail when this episode is released.
In March 2018, on the weekend of the Steel City Anarchist Bookfair, about 30 people marched through the Kirkendale neighbourhood of Hamilton. Some in the group lit fireworks, attacked luxury cars and smashed out the windows of gentrifying businesses on Locke Street, doing an estimated $100,000 in damage.
In the days, weeks and months that followed there was a massive backlash against anarchists in Hamilton, much of it against The Tower, an anarchist social space in Hamilton. 8 people were arrested and charged with a variety of offences including conspiracy, mischief, and "Unlawful Assembly While Masked". Last week, a non-cooperating plea deal was struck that will see two people spend some months in jail, one person on house arrest, and a mix of probation and stayed charges for the rest.
In Part One, we discussed the context of gentrification in Hamilton, the Locke Street demonstration, and the initial backlash. In Part Two, we explore the strategies of repression used against Hamilton anarchists, questions about navigating the court system, and the idea that resignation is worse than defeat.
Links:
Hamilton Anarchist Support
Anarchist Texts on Gentrification in Hamilton
Anarchist Texts on the Locke Street Affair
Music: Lee Reed - Kontrol
From Embers presents a two-part feature on the Locke Street Affair in Hamilton, Ontario. We sat down and interviewed a defendant in the case who will be in jail when this episode is released.
In March 2018, on the weekend of the Steel City Anarchist Bookfair, about 30 people marched through the Kirkendale neighbourhood of Hamilton. Some in the group lit fireworks, attacked luxury cars and smashed out the windows of gentrifying businesses on Locke Street, doing an estimated $100,000 in damage.
In the days, weeks and months that followed there was a massive backlash against anarchists in Hamilton, much of it against The Tower, an anarchist social space in Hamilton. 8 people were arrested and charged with a variety of offences including conspiracy, mischief, and "Unlawful Assembly While Masked". Last week, a non-cooperating plea deal was struck that will see two people spend some months in jail, one person on house arrest, and a mix of probation and stayed charges for the rest.
In Part One, we discuss the context of gentrification in Hamilton, the Locke Street demonstration, and the initial backlash. In Part Two, we explore the strategies of repression used against Hamilton anarchists, questions about navigating the court system, and the idea that resignation is worse than defeat.
Links:
Hamilton Anarchist Support
Anarchist Texts on Gentrification in Hamilton
Anarchist Texts on the Locke Street Affair
Music: Keny Arkana - Capitale de la Rupture
An interview with a member of the collective of prisoners and non-prisoners that produces the Certain Days: Freedom For Political Prisoners calendar. We talk about sharing projects with our imprisoned comrades, the importance of long-term projects and how our movements are doing when it comes to political prisoner support.
https://www.certaindays.org/
This episode features a talk entitled Autonomously and With Conviction: A Métis Refusal of State-Led Reconciliation given on October 12, 2018 at the 13th annual Decolonizing Thanksgiving Dinner in Guelph, Ontario on traditional Neutral/Chonnonton, Anishinabec, and Haudenosaunee territory. It also includes a short interview with the presenter, where we discuss questions about Canada’s project of reconciliation, the state, nations and nationalism, and anarchist possibilities for the future.
Read a transcript of the talk or download a printable version here.
Music in this episode:
Burn Your Village to the Ground by A Tribe Called Red
NASA x John Mohawk – “War, Peace, Natives” x 2oolman – “Lost in America” (featured on the Indigenous Futurisms Mixtape)
An interview with the Punch Up Collective, a small collective of anarchist organizers based in Ottawa, Ontario. We talk about living in the capital of Canada, forming collectives, formality and process, and strategies for sustaining movements in the long term. We also discuss their recent workshop about organizing collectives.
Links:
Full curriculum for the collectives workshop(the link will download a pdf)
A Briarpatch article about the collective
Radical events in Ottawa
Organizers with Alliance Against Displacement share stories about the Schoolhouse Squat as well as DisconTent City and a few other tent cities on unceded Coast Salish territories. We talk about the context of the housing crisis, how homeless indigenous and working class people are organizing to meet their immediate needs for shelter, safety, and community, building a revolutionary political force in the streets, legal and political strategies, resisting isolation and exclusion at the hands of cops and supportive housing organizations, urban indigenous political identity, ongoing state repression from city and provincial governments, community self-defence and care....and more.
Donate to support organizers targeted by misogynist harrassment and replace belongings seized by the RCMP.
If you're on the facebook, check out:
DisconTent City
Nanaimo DisconTent city is camp set up to protest the injustices forced upon people experiencing homelessness, and demand affordable housing not shelters!
Namegans Nation
Saanich Tent City (known as Camp Namegans - we are all one) started in May 2018. On Sept 15, it became Namegans Nation, the first urban reserve in Canada.
Anita Place Tent City Maple Ridge (closed group for supporters)
Anita Place tent city started May 2nd, 2017 to give homeless people in Maple Ridge a place to stay, a place to be, and a place to be safe… and a place to advocate for the social housing we so desperately need.
Music in this episode is Down to Ride by Rapsure Risin, and the artwork is fan art created for the Schoolhouse Squat by Catherine Hart
A conversation with podcaster and anarchist organizer Aaron Lakoff about his new podcast Changing On The Fly. We talk about sports and anarchy, the intersections between hockey and radical politics, and what to do about Canadian nationalism.
A few weeks ago the From Embers crew took a road trip out east for the Halifax Anarchist Bookfair and to visit friends and family. We had the opportunity to visit the Treaty Camp established by Mi'kmaq people to protect the Shubenacadie River from an Alton Gas Natural Gas Project.
I sat down with Dale Poulette who is one of the people holding down the camp on a daily basis. He cut his teeth at the anti-fracking reclamation camp in Elsipogtog (Rexton).
Dale describes daily life at the camp, tells some funny stories, and opens up about the importance of ceremony, where he gets his strength and his take on the future of this world.
The song at the end is "We Shall Remain (It Wasn't Taken Away)" by Kalolin Johnson from Eskasoni, Cape Breton.
Conversation with a former political prisoner in canada about her experiences in the federal system and her recently published prison memoir. We discuss changing prison conditions in the now-closed Prison for Women (P4W) in Kingston and Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener, the importance of relationships with other women in prison, legal and political strategy following her arrest, the difficulties of telling stories about one's life and other people in it, and more.
Her memoir is available from Between the Lines Books at btlbooks.com
An interview with a member of a Montreal-based collective that is researching and raising awareness about police crackdowns in gay cruising areas.
Links:
Cruise Control collective page (facebook link)
Ultra Red audio activists, Los Angeles, USA
We return to the rising wave of renters struggles across the province of Ontario.
On May 1st, tenants in the Stoney Creek Towers in Hamilton declared a rent strike, demanding that their corporate landlord drop an above-guideline rent increase of almost 10% over three years, and that the property managers perform numerous needed overdue repairs to their units.
I first interviewed Jason of the Hamilton Tenants Solidarity Network back in May. The HTSN helped initiate the rent strike and works to support tenant self-organization and struggle across the city of Hamilton, and increasingly in coordination with like-minded groups across Ontario. In this follow-up interview we discuss the East Hamilton Rent Strike as it enters its fifth month.
The second interview in this episode is with a tenant organizer in the neighbourhood of Herongate in Ottawa, where another massive real estate company is attempting to conduct the largest urban eviction campaign in Canada, after having bought up a literal quarter of the neighbourhood. But the residents of Herongate aren't going to leave without a fight.
All the music tonight is by Lee Reed, who actually just released an EP to fundraise for the rent strike - check it out!
The audio clip at the end is Ikram Dahir, a resident of Herongate. It is part of a series of resident statements collected by Neal Rockwell.
This episode first aired in May 2018 and featured two interviews with tenant organizers in Ontario.
The first interview is with Jason from the Hamilton Tenants Solidarity Network about the East Hamilton Rent Strike launched on May 1st.
The second interview is with Adam from the Limestone Solidarity Network in Kingston.
Conversations about prison organizing in Canada - interview with a Halifax organizer about the Burnside Jail protest and conversation about Prisoner Justice Day organizing in Nova Scotia and Ontario
Burnside prisoners' statement:
https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/province-house/the-prisoners-at-the-burnside-jail-are-engaged-in-a-non-violent-protest-here-is-their-statement/
Info on the US prison strike:
https://itsgoingdown.org/prisonstrike/
https://incarceratedworkers.org/campaigns/prison-strike-2018
Conversation about PJD organizing included thanks to CKUT Prison Radio -
Prison Radio airs the second Thurday of every month from 5-6 pm Eastern and the third Friday of every month from 11 am-12 pm Eastern. Montreal listeners can tune in to 90.3 fm or listen online at ckut.ca. Check out their website at prisonradioshow.wordpress.com
Black Power Hour is a weekly show airing Wednesdays 9-10 pm Atlantic on CKDU 88.1 fm in Halifax. The show "blends conscious hip hop with discussions of political, cultural, and social issues relevant to Black people" and maintains lines of communication with prisoners inside Nova Scotia prisons and jails. Listen online at ckdu.ca
85 years ago this week, in the midst of another long hot summer, a series of anti-semitic and xenophobic provocations in Toronto escalated into a full blown riot at Christie Pits.
Tonight we bring you two interviews to mark the 85th anniversary of the Christie Pits Riot in Toronto. The first is with Cyril Levitt, co-author of the book The Riot at Christie Pits. The 2nd edition is being released this week through New Jewish Press with a new foreword and postscript.
The second interview is with Isaac, a member of the Toronto General Defense Committee, a local of the Industrial Workers of the World. Isaac is organizing a Commemorative BBQ at Christie Pits this Sunday, August 19th in the spirit of anti-fascism.
From Embers is also proud to announce that we are now a part of the Channel Zero Anarchist Podcast Network, which links anarchist podcast projects across the world. In the coming weeks we will be fully integrating into the network, while still broadcasting every Wednesday night at 8pm on CFRC 101.9FM in Kingston.
With music by Geoff Berner, Leonard Cohen, and Lloyd McNeill.
An interview with a comrade who recently published a critique of Max Stirner's The Ego And Its Own. We discuss anarchist morality and ethics, why we hate the state, whether anarchism means building a world with no masters or slaves, egoism, individualism, killing the cop inside your head, and whether dead philosophers matter.
An interview with an anti-fascist based in Montreal. We discuss the history of the Quebec far right dating back to the 1930s, anti-fascist resistance in 1990s Montreal, and the contemporary context, including an important victory against La Meute on July 1, 2018.
Links:
Montreal Antifasciste
Montreal Counter-Information
I talk to Rosa, a friend and anarchist person of colour living in Montreal, about racism, identity politics, identity-based organizing and projects she's involved with. Thanks to Rosa for the music selections!
A post-Canada Day reflection on resistance to colonial celebrations. Interviews with two Indigenous organizers, one about "Canada Day" here in Kingston, Ontario, and another on "Australia Day," also known as Invasion Day, which meets massive protests across Australia each January.
Links:
Background on the resistance to colonial birthday parties in Kingston.
Idle No More Kingston (facebook link!)
Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance (also a facebook link!)
Canada Day actions in Kingston in 2016, 2017, and this year.
Some background on "Australia Day" and corporate media coverage of Invasion Day.
After The Apology
An hour-long investigation into efforts in recent years to resist the Trans Mountain Pipeline and its world.
Our first interview is with an anarchist who participated in an anti-pipeline camp on Burnaby Mountain in 2014.
Our second interview is with Kanahus Manuel, a Secwepemc woman currently involved in the struggle against the pipeline which runs through her territory.
Links:
Wreck: A Vancouver Anarchist Publication
Defend the Territory by Warrior Publications
Secwepemcul'ecw Assembly
Tiny House Warriors Facebook Page
Tiny House Warriors GoFundMe
Unsettling Canada by Arthur Manuel
A conversation with a friend who recently gave an "introduction to anarchism" workshop and is also writing an article called "Making Our Relationships More Free." He's putting forward an anarchism that seeks a collective, relational freedom rather than an individual one.
Topics include:
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how to frame anarchism to people who don't understand it yet.
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a forthcoming anthology about the place of individualism in anarchism.
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the difference between freedom and capacity.
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the definition of freedom, and how to envision freedom without relying on liberal or capitalist conceptions of the individual.
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how we get free through changing and remaking our relationships with other people and other living things.
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the possibility of global revolution.
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the difference between anarchist analysis and revolutionary strategy.
Links:
The Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
23 Theses on Anarchism: Revolution is More Than A World
The Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement
Entanglement: On anarchism and individualism
Stories from the Québec anti-G7 mobilizations, June 7-9. Two interviews, one with a RRAG7 (Réseau de Résistance Anti-G7) organizer in Québec and one with an Ontario anarchist previously charged with conspiracy for organizing against the Toronto G20 summit in 2010. Music by Keny Arkana.
Two interviews with people involved in supporting the thousands of refugees currently crossing irregularly into Canada from the United States through Southern Quebec. Topics include migrant justice, border policy, countering the far right, and solidarity.
For more information on Solidarity Across Borders: http://www.solidarityacrossborders.org
For more information on Bridges Not Borders: http://www.bridgesnotborders.ca
An interview with anarchist and surrealist author Ron Sakolsky.
We discuss his life, free jazz, academia, the intersections of surrealism and anarchy, mutual acquiescence, maroon communities, and his day to day life on Denman Island, BC.
Ron's latest book "In Search of the Masterless Men of Newfoundland" is available from Little Black Cart.
This interview was recorded at the 2018 Montreal Anarchist Bookfair. The music is by John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman.
Stories about dealing with repression and an interview about conspiracy charges, infiltration, and movement defense
Reflections from May Day events in different places across so-called Canada and short interviews with organizers from Halifax, Montreal and Kitchener
Conversation about organizing in a rural context with an anarchist living in Prince Edward County, Ontario.