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Category: Gonzo Notes

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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Antifa Are On The Ground In Texas Helping Harvey Relief Efforts (UK Independent)
Coast Guard Flood Punt Team crew members assist a man out of a rescue boat in a flooded neighborhood in Houston, Aug. 29, 2017. (Flickr / U.S. Coast Guard / Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Dickinson, public domain)
September 1, 2017
Kit
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Antifa Are On The Ground In Texas Helping Harvey Relief Efforts (UK Independent)

Posted in Gonzo Notes, and Journalism

My Gonzo Notes essay on “Antifa & Hurricane Harvey” was quoted in the UK Paper, The Independent.

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What Are The Antifa Doing After Harvey? (#GonzoNotes)
Common Ground station in New Orleans Lower 9th Ward. Towers of Claiborne Avenue Bridge over Industrial Canal visible at left. 2005. (Wikimedia Commons / Infrogmation, CC license)
August 29, 2017
Kit
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What Are The Antifa Doing After Harvey? (#GonzoNotes)

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, Gonzo Notes, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

Recently I heard from a reporter writing an article for a major mainstream newspaper who wanted to talk with antifascists. After checking out his Twitter, I decided to give him a shot. 

We spent about an hour talking about my work with Oh Shit! What Now? an antifascist anticapitalist educational collective that’s hosted everything from computer security classes to discussions of education reform. I stressed the everyday nature of real antifascist organizing, and emphasized that all of us are involved in other social justice causes. 

When the article came out — actually an opinion piece, it turned out — it was a horrorshow of predictable hot takes about antifa that ignored nearly everything I told him, and most of the other constructive work being done by antifascists around the country. 

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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?

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Do We Owe Politicians Our Respect? (Respect Is Earned #GonzoNotes)
During a Black Lives Matter protest in the streets of New York City, an activist holds a sign reading "Rational people against untenable arguments." December 13, 2014. (Flickr / Ella CC NC license)
July 31, 2017
Kit
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Do We Owe Politicians Our Respect? (Respect Is Earned #GonzoNotes)

Posted in Creative Commons, Gonzo Notes, and Journalism

If they won’t let us dream, we won’t let them sleep

Time and again, one of the resounding criticisms of activist movements from the right and from the center-left is our lack of decorum.

While we sometimes acknowledge that acts of resistance can be effective, we’ve sanded all the rough edges off of our memories of these moments. Frequently cited are the successes of the Black Civil Rights movement, but in the popular imagination their victories were won by respectful, soft-spoken men and women dressed in suits, calmly advocating for their rights.

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Diversity Of Tactics Keeps Your Enemies Off Balance (Gonzo Notes)
A clown in a red wig, painted white face and exaggerated painted black lips, wearing an orange turtleneck, speaks into a bullhorn at a protest on behalf of migrant workers. London, February 20, 2017. (Flickr / Darren Johnson / iDJ Photography, CC NC ND license)
July 10, 2017
Kit
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Diversity Of Tactics Keeps Your Enemies Off Balance (Gonzo Notes)

Posted in Creative Commons, Gonzo Notes, and Occupy Wall Street

September 17, 2012: the financial district was in chaos.

On the morning of the one year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement, marking the day that tents first went up in Zuccotti Park, activists flooded Wall Street for hours.

Some held birthday parties in bank lobbies until the police came. Others took the furniture out of buildings and threw it in the street. One group I knew blocked traffic with a makeshift donut stand, offering dumpster-dived pastries and coffee to the NYPD.

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