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Category: Audio

Security Culture And Punching Nazis In Texas (Kit O’Connell On Radical Underground Podcast)
Colorful graffiti on an urban wall reads "Antifa Rythm." Photographed in Hamburg, Germany on August 5, 2015. (Flickr / txmx2, CC NC ND license)
October 14, 2017
Kit
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Security Culture And Punching Nazis In Texas (Kit O’Connell On Radical Underground Podcast)

Posted in Act Out!, Audio, Austin, Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

I really enjoyed talking with the Radical Underground podcast and the episode turned out great, full of lively conversation and fab music.

In our conversation, we talked about security culture and the ways our smartphones turn us into snitches against ourselves — but also touched on the human element, which is just as vital as technology when it comes to staying secure.

We also talked at length about the Oh Shit What Now collective, the recent incident at my “Punching Nazis” class in Houston, and other fascist and antifascist activity in Austin, Texas (including copwatching).

Read moreSecurity Culture And Punching Nazis In Texas (Kit O’Connell On Radical Underground Podcast)
Intersectional Left Collaboration In Texas, Nazis Attack A Book Fair (Black Tower Radio)
Painted banner reading "Houston Anarchist Bookfair" hangs from a fence outside a community center in Houston, Texas, before it was stolen by neo-nazis. September 24, 2017. (Houston Anarchist Bookfair)
October 4, 2017
Kit
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Intersectional Left Collaboration In Texas, Nazis Attack A Book Fair (Black Tower Radio)

Posted in Audio, Austin, and Journalism

In Kit’s latest appearance on Black Tower Radio, a discussion of a recent nazi attack on the Houston Anarchist Bookfair, where Kit was teaching a class on antifascism. Kit and Jake talk about diversity of tactics including antifa clowning.

Next, they pivot to a discussion of activists successful opposition to the Republican agenda during a recent special session of the Texas Legislature. Kit O’Connell also discusses the general ineffectiveness of the Texas government, which only meets for a few months every two years.

Read moreIntersectional Left Collaboration In Texas, Nazis Attack A Book Fair (Black Tower Radio)
Industrial Hemp Farming Act, CBD Oil, & Who Are The Antifa? (Black Tower Radio)
An activist wearing a shirt with an antifa flag patch smiles into the camera at a protest in Washington, D.C. (Unplash / Roya Ann Miller, public domain)
September 6, 2017
Kit
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Industrial Hemp Farming Act, CBD Oil, & Who Are The Antifa? (Black Tower Radio)

Posted in Audio, Gonzo Notes, Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

The Industrial Hemp Farming Act, is a bipartisan effort before congress to legalize agricultural hemp. However, it’s deeply flawed in its current form. And a recent study on CBD oil shows many people are giving up prescription pharmaceutical or over-the-counter drugs in favor of CBD.

Finally, who are the antifascists? What is black bloc? Why do activists wear masks? And how are antifa getting involved in Harvey relief efforts?

Read moreIndustrial Hemp Farming Act, CBD Oil, & Who Are The Antifa? (Black Tower Radio)
Pushing Back Against The Demonization Of Antifa
Graffiti on a wall in Portugal, under green ivy, reads "Antifa," with the "A"s inside circles to create an anarchy symbol. December 11, 2010. (Flickr / kellerabtell)
September 4, 2017
Kit
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Pushing Back Against The Demonization Of Antifa

Posted in Audio, Gonzo Notes, and Journalism

Kit O’Connell talks with Scott Harris of Counterpoint Radio about Antifa’s philosophy and views on the danger posed by the Trump presidency and the rise of white supremacist, Neo-Nazi, KKK and “Alt-Right” groups nationwide. He also examines the media coverage Antifa has received, much of it demonizing the movement’s activists as committing indiscriminate violence equivalent to that of extreme right wing groups.

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Texas Legislature Special Session, Activism & Respect For Politicians (Black Tower Radio)
Activists in pink t-shirts enter the Texas House on on a day of lobbying for Planned Parenthood. July 31, 2017. (Kit O'Connell, Creative Commons license)
August 2, 2017
Kit
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Texas Legislature Special Session, Activism & Respect For Politicians (Black Tower Radio)

Posted in Audio, Austin, Gonzo Notes, and Journalism

On the first Wednesday of every month, I appear on Black Tower Radio to discuss my latest journalism.

Texas Republicans ensured that the legislature would close earlier this year with crucial business unfinished, forcing Gov. Greg Abbott to call for a special session that reopens the door to unpopular issues like new abortion restrictions, attacks on transgender rights, and even new laws restricting unions, Planned Parenthood, and the protection of historic trees.

Also, what respect do we owe politicians and government officials? What kinds of activism are appropriate when human lives and the planet are at stake?

Read moreTexas Legislature Special Session, Activism & Respect For Politicians (Black Tower Radio)
Fighting Back At The Texas Legislature: A Conversation With Katie Klabusich
Young activists at the Texas Legislature hold signs including "Girls just want to have FUNdamental Human Rights" and "Nacho Uterus." (Kit O'Connell, CC license)
July 24, 2017
Kit
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Fighting Back At The Texas Legislature: A Conversation With Katie Klabusich

Posted in Audio, Austin, and Journalism

I just made my second appearance on the Katie Speak Show, where I talked about activism at the Texas Legislature:

The show’s host, Katie Klabusich, and I discussed the special session of the Legislature, which began last week, and the strategies Governor Greg Abbott is using to try to force through a raft of unpopular, inhumane laws. On the agenda during the next month are abortion access, transgender rights, the ability of unions to collect dues, even cities’ ability to protect historic trees from development.

At the same time, about three dozen nonprofits and activist groups have combined to form the One Texas Resistance coalition, in an effort to pool their efforts at resistance together and highlight the intersectionality of their diverse issues, from climate change to the rights of Latinx Texans. Last week’s highly publicized quinceañera protest was organized by Jolt, a member of the coalition. These tactics, and their successes or failures, can likely serve as a model for the rest of the country which is also controlled by the power hungry and bigoted GOP.

Read moreFighting Back At The Texas Legislature: A Conversation With Katie Klabusich