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Tag: Activism

Anyone Can Adopt Any Activist Tactics: A Spencer Sunshine InterviewA photo of a banner drop on an overpass, but the banner has been pixellated to make it illegible. Three small figures are visible behind the banner, attaching it to the bridge.
Banner drops and other tactics don't "belong" to the Left. (From a 350 dot org image on Flickr, CC NC SA license)
March 17, 2021
Kit
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Anyone Can Adopt Any Activist Tactics: A Spencer Sunshine Interview

Posted in Creative Commons, and Journalism

Activists sometimes forget that anyone can use tactics like banner drops, including the fascist far right.

Late in 2020 and in the first days of 2021, I spoke twice to Spencer Sunshine, a researcher of the far right and ways to oppose them. I included “40 Ways To Fight Fascists,” the zine he co-wrote with PopMob, in my Virtual Gonzo Zine Library.

Since Trump’s election, I’ve noticed more American fascists using tactics traditionally associated with leftist activism, like banner drops or wheatpasting. Patriot Front is one of several groups that frequently drops banners, with messages in support of white supremacy, from buildings and overpasses.

Read moreAnyone Can Adopt Any Activist Tactics: A Spencer Sunshine Interview
‘We Must Act & Care For Each Other’: An Interview With Mutual Aid Disaster ReliefPart of the cover illustration to the zine Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: Lessons Learned, ith the name of the organization on the right. To the left is an illustration of people climbing a dandelion, which drops seeds across thecover. Other symbols present include an eye, a hand and a watering can.
Part of the cover to Mutual Aid Disaster Relief's zine "Lessons Learned," illustration by Kelly Seacrest.
January 14, 2021
Kit
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‘We Must Act & Care For Each Other’: An Interview With Mutual Aid Disaster Relief

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

Inspired by Common Ground in New Orleans and Occupy Sandy and numerous other community-led relief efforts, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief cultivate “autonomous, decentralized, and liberatory disaster relief.”

I’ve featured multiple Mutual Aid Disaster Relief publications in my Virtual Gonzo Zine Library. Most recently, I put “Lessons Learned” in the “Winter 2020” edition of the VGZL. I reached out to MADR by email, and they answered collectively. I found their answers so eloquent, I wanted to present them here in Q&A format rather than editing them into a formal interview-style article. I’ve only lightly edited the responses for clarity and brevity.

Kit O’Connell: Any advice for handling armed fascists or right wingers that show up in disaster areas trying to “patrol” “prevent looting” guard against “antifa” etc?

Read more‘We Must Act & Care For Each Other’: An Interview With Mutual Aid Disaster Relief
Taking Space Feels Like A Drug: Reflections On A Coup AttemptSoftgel capsules full of glitter and sparkly confetti.
Will the buzz of participating in a coup attempt be worth the hangover after? (Flickr / Rawpixel Ltd, CC license)
January 11, 2021
Kit
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Taking Space Feels Like A Drug: Reflections On A Coup Attempt

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

After watching the coup, I keep imagining the feeling of breaking through. The rush. The giddy high of taking space.

Like so many antifascists, I saw something like this coming. I wasn’t surprised, but I was still shocked at the sight of a war-helmeted christofascist raising his fist in the air as he stood atop the heart of American political power.

And I keep coming back to how good they must feel. These nasty fucking fascists, white supremacists, and Qsuckers are riding one of the biggest highs of their lives. And that makes them even more dangerous.

Read moreTaking Space Feels Like A Drug: Reflections On A Coup Attempt
Yes Magazine: Documenting Protests While Protecting ProtestersA person in a yellow jacket films an event. Livestreaming ethics means always being aware of what is and isn't in your frame. It means showing what the mainstream media ignores.
A person in a yellow jacket films an event on a smartphone. (Morguefile, public domain)
November 5, 2020
Kit
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Yes Magazine: Documenting Protests While Protecting Protesters

Posted in Journalism, and Yes! Magazine

Often working with just their phones, community journalists can shine light on movements, expose police brutality, and help protect activists from getting “disappeared” by an authoritarian government. At the same time, the wrong tweet—or especially livestream—can leave people in the street exposed to increased police surveillance.

From “snatch and grab” arrests in unmarked vans, to raids on the homes of perceived organizers, activists have good reason to be concerned. From Portland, Oregon, to Philadelphia, law enforcement acknowledge using livestreams and other social media to gather evidence.

As activists begin to face serious charges from the most recent wave of protests, there’s also more attention on the risks posed by inexperienced or unethical community journalists. Meanwhile, more people are protesting for the first time, with some newly taking up the role of community journalist. As such, a debate that’s been bubbling beneath the surface since at least the Occupy movement and Arab Spring is bursting to the forefront: the question of whether, and how, protests should be documented in real time online.

Read moreYes Magazine: Documenting Protests While Protecting Protesters
Zines For Surviving Under Rising FascismA queer couple embrace in front of an antifa flag at a protest, as police look on. Vienna, Italy 2013.
We're all going to have to work together to help each other survive these emergencies. (Couple embraces in front of antifa flag, Verona, Italy, September 2013 by CitizenPost / Flickr, Creative Commons NonCommercial NoDerivatives license)
October 1, 2020
Kit
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Zines For Surviving Under Rising Fascism

Posted in Journalism

It’s becoming very obvious that we face a dangerous fight against fascism in the U.S. (and elsewhere).

Even though I’ve been sounding the alarm for a while, I’m still alarmed at the speed with which things are progressing towards a full blown authoritarian state, the rate of escalating fascist political violence, and the general feeling that we’re all less prepared than we should be.

This is just a brief post to say that what you are seeing happen in front of you is real and scary to me too. Don’t believe anybody who tries to tell you that you’re over-reacting.

Read moreZines For Surviving Under Rising Fascism
Beyond The Concrete Milkshake: Tactics For Defeating Media Trolls & Grifters (Zine)Photo: A Black person with long curly hair shouts into a bullhorn at a counter-protest to a fascist event in Washington, D.C.
Noise can be a powerful tactic for shutting down media trolls. But it's not foolproof. (Photo: Protest against Unite the Right 2 in Washington, D.C. 2018, Melany Rochester, Public Domain, Unsplash)
June 22, 2020
Kit
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Beyond The Concrete Milkshake: Tactics For Defeating Media Trolls & Grifters (Zine)

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Zines

A free zine by Kit O’Connell with nonviolent tactics for protecting your movement from media trolls and grifters that seek to harm activists.

During the Occupy movement, the smartphone allowed anyone to broadcast live or instantly report on protests or police action using social media. Some of these citizen journalists started to bring in donations from their viewers, usually just enough to keep them supplied with Megabus tickets to the next protest. Most of them either broadly supported the movement, or subscribed to “journalistic neutrality.”

Then, some of them figured out you can make way more money working for the dark side. So they tucked their beanie caps down a little lower and got to work making the Left look bad. A trickle of donations turned into a flood of money.

Dishonestly edit a video, and you could land a job with Infowars. Get roughed up while harassing antifascists, and you earn a 6-figure paycheck. All you have to do is give up a piece of your soul.

Read moreBeyond The Concrete Milkshake: Tactics For Defeating Media Trolls & Grifters (Zine)