Month: February 2020

Upcoming Zine: Beyond The Concrete Milkshake

Photo: A chocolate milkshake in a mason jar, garnished with whip cream and chocolate sauce. The shake is artfully photographed in a moodily lit room, with a streak of light behind it.

Kit's upcoming zine "Beyond the Concrete Milkshake," due out in late March or April 2020 will detail nonviolent techniques for dealing with media trolls and grifters at protests and other movement events. (Vince Fleming / Unsplash, public domain)

February 24, 2020

Kit

Upcoming Zine: Beyond The Concrete Milkshake

Posted in Journalism, Occupy Wall Street, and Zines

I’m pleased to announce the upcoming publication of a new zine, “Beyond the Concrete Milkshake: Tactics for Dealing with Media Trolls & Grifters.”

At the beginning of the year, I announced on Patreon that one of my goals for 2020 was the creation of a zine. I’ve made great progress and intend to publish by late March or early April.

One side effect of the first few years of the Donald Trump administration, with all its associated increase in far-right activity, is a hijacking of Leftist tactics for use by fascist causes. One clear example is the banner drop. Once beloved primarily by far left activists, this technique now sees regular groups by nazi and hyper-nationalist fascist groups. So too it is with the media grifter.

Activism & Shared Social Media: How Can We Close The ‘Occupy Hole’?

An activist waves a yellow and black Occupy Wall Street flag in New York City on March 23, 2012. (Flickr / B.C. Lorio, under a CC NC ND license)

February 17, 2020

Kit

Activism & Shared Social Media: How Can We Close The ‘Occupy Hole’?

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

I got quoted in an article about Micah White, the self-styled “Occupy Founder” that recently spent time hob-nobbing with the 1% at Davos. In passing, the article covered another issue: the problem of stolen shared social media accounts during the Occupy Wall Street movement.

During the national Occupy movement, it became routine to hear about camps with a stolen Facebook or Twitter account. One person would get into a disagreement with the rest of the social media working group and run off with the whole account.

When this happens with a commercial business, or a nonprofit or any undertaking that’s conventionally organized under capitalism, the owner can prove ownership of the account and get Twitter to give it back. With a leaderless movement like Occupy, you and your comrades are on your own.