My Gonzo Notes essay on “Antifa & Hurricane Harvey” was quoted in the UK Paper, The Independent.
Category: Gonzo Notes
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.
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?
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.
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.
You’re Never ‘Just’ A Journalist: Reporting From The Left & The Far Right (Gonzo Notes)
Posted in Creative Commons, Gonzo Notes, and Journalism
It’s a gift to be a journalist in this moment.
Or at least that’s what we tell ourselves. It’s the only way to get through.
Freelancers (like I am right now) spend every month counting our pennies, making sure we’ll make rent and have a little left over for food and coffee and the other vices of our profession. For those lucky few with a steady job, they’re wondering how long until downsizing and budget cuts will put them out on the street.
In addition to journalism’s grim financial picture, we’re finding ourselves targeted by the government and by far-right fascists for violence and repression in a way we haven’t faced in decades.