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Category: Radical Media

Black Rose Book Distro, St. Louis Radical Pop Up Bookstore, Attacked By White Supremacists

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Radical Media

Black Rose Book Distro, a network of radical “pop up” bookstores in St. Louis, was attacked by white supremacists in January.

I first heard about the incident via Twitter as the distro’s volunteers spread the word about the damage to their books, zines, and safer sex supplies.

Authors, publishers, and activists of all kinds quickly stepped up to replace almost everything, and all of the Black Rose Book Distro locations are open again. But I still think it’s important to spread word about what happened, because American nazis pose a growing risk to not just the physical safety of marginalized groups in the U.S., from LGBTQIA folks to immigrants and people of color, but also our culture and knowledge too. The members of Black Rose agreed when I approached them for an interview.

Containers: Global Capitalism At Sea & Transforming The Planet

Posted in Creative Commons, Occupy Wall Street, and Radical Media

The objects around you right now, from your phone to the clothes you wear to the coffee in your mug, most likely traveled to America in a shipping container on a massive cargo ship.

This simple fact, both obvious and mostly overlooked, has radically transformed virtually every aspect of global capitalism over the past several decades. That prosaic shipping container, and the process called “containerization,” are the subject of a recent 8-part audio podcast documentary called “Containers.”

The podcast is sponsored by a shipping company, which stirred some controversy, but the show usually reads as if it’s most sympathetic toward the rank and file workers of the docks, and the people who live nearby, than toward the industry as a whole.. While “Containers” is hardly anti-capitalist, the series and its creator Alexis Madrigal are openly critical of the consequences of unchecked growth.

Capitalism’s Bad Seed: “Confronting Fascism” Urges Us To Re-Examine The Far Right’s Rise

Posted in Creative Commons, and Radical Media

“Fascism never appears in public as its secret parasitic self but alwais in some other grandioise guise.” — J. Sakai, “The Shock of Recognition” in “Confronting Fascism”

“Fascism” was the top word looked up last year in Merriam-Webster. The rise of Donald Trump and the violent, xenophobic nationalism he emboldens have provoked new fears among Americans, and among left-leaning white Americans in particular, many of whom are experiencing real anxiety about the direction of our country’s politics for the first time. One issue is simply definitional, with pundits and political analysts across the political spectrum seemingly unable to agree on what fascism is, and how we’ll know if and when our government turns in that direction.

Another segment of the population, including the growing numbers of black-clad radicals out in the streets confronting white supremacists and nationalists, are convinced this debate is coming decades late and that the current regime and the violent reactionaries attacking minorities in its name are self-evidently fascist. “Confronting Fascism: Discussion Documents For A Militant Movement” from Kersplebdeb and AK Press should appeal to people in both camps, and help those in the former make their way into the latter.

Rebecca Solnit’s ‘Hope In The Dark’ Is An Antidote To Leftist Doom & Gloom

Posted in Creative Commons, and Radical Media

“Things don’t always change for the better, but they change, and we can play a role in that change if we act. Which is where hope comes in, and memory, the collective memory we call history.” — Rebecca Solnit, “Hope In The Dark”

The left has a problem with winning.

We — and while I identify as radical, not leftist, but it’s fair to lump me in with the group for now — are losing bigly, at least from the simplest perspective. A white nationalist regime occupies the White House, while the GOP simultaneously controls most of the country’s legislatures. It’s a dark time, and we’re faced with the prospect of a daily fight just to preserve basic human rights. We need to figure out some way to keep going, despite these losses.