Texas Archives - Page 4 of 10 - Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words

The Texas hemp industry is booming despite the obstacles faced by Lone Star State entrepreneurs.

That’s the message of the Texas Hemp and Garden Show, which took place on March 13 and 14 in Austin, Texas, at a downtown nightclub near the heart of the popular SXSW festival and not far from the capitol building.

2018 marked the Hemp and Garden Show’s second year, and there were about a dozen different vendors or organizations represented when I dropped in on the second day. Activists helped passersby fill out voter registration cards on the sidewalk, a DJ spun tunes from a small stage outside, and inside a succession of experts spoke about topics ranging from agriculture to the war on drugs. At night, musicians took over for the speakers including a surprise appearance from rapper Lil’ Flip.

How A Texas Winery Created Hemp Wines Despite The Odds

Four different flavors of TVM hemp wines sit in a bucket of ice. (Facebook / TVM Wines)

February 11, 2018

Kit

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How A Texas Winery Created Hemp Wines Despite The Odds

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

You can wear hemp fashion, put hemp seeds on your oatmeal, even write on hemp paper, so would you try hemp wines?

It’s a product years in the making, but Americans in 37 states can now try hemp-infused wine, the creation of Texas-based TVM Wines.

TVM’s new hemp wines are actually wine cocktails, infused with flavors like “rum and Coke” and “Texas tea,” and graced with playful names like “Forbidden,” “Covert” and “Taboo” that invite drinkers to take part in something secretive and daring. However, for the wine’s creators, the product is about more than just capitalizing on an increasingly “hip” ingredient: they’re believers in the benefits of hemp too.

Richard Spencer’s Ties To Violent Nazi Will Fears (Newsweek)

Texas neo-nazi and convicted kidnapper William Fears performs a nazi salute in downtown Austin, Texas on May 1, 2017. (Oh Shit! What Now? public domain image)

October 27, 2017

Kit

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Richard Spencer’s Ties To Violent Nazi Will Fears (Newsweek)

Posted in Austin, and Journalism

Last week, Texas neo-nazi Will Fears, along with his brother Colton and another local fascist, Tyler Tenebrink, were arrested after a speech by the notoriously punchable Richard Spencer at the University of Florida.

Fears was, once again, working with Patriot Front, the neo-nazis who attacked the Houston Anarchist Bookfair and themselves a spin off of Vanguard America, the neo-nazi group that included Heather Heyer’s killer in Charlottesville. Patriot Front and other fascist groups like Anti-Com were working as security for Spencer’s event, according to a document leaked by Atlanta Antifascists that has since been verified by multiple sources including Spencer’s think tank.

The Fears brothers and Tenebrink were arrested after the speech when Tenebrink, under encouragement from Will Fears, opened fire on a group of antifascist activists.

I recently spoke with Newsweek reporter Michael Hayden about Fears’ long history of violence against antifa and the left in Texas, which includes his participation in the May Day fascist attack in downtown Austin and an assault on a clergywoman at Houston airport during the Muslim Ban protests.

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).

Activists Beat Texas GOP With Social Media & Old-School Resistance Tactics

Kids hold signs inspired by "The Lorax" on the grounds of the Texas Capitol. August 2, 2017. (Defend Texas Trees, used with permission)

October 11, 2017

Kit

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Activists Beat Texas GOP With Social Media & Old-School Resistance Tactics

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, Journalism, and Yes! Magazine

Who could resist images of smiling children gathered under an ancient oak tree on the grounds of the Texas Capitol, transfixed by Democrat and Republican lawmakers doing a tag-team recitation of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax?

Apparently not the good folks of Texas.

A broad coalition of environmental activists employed just such a strategy during a special session of the Texas Legislature this summer as a way of stealing the spotlight and defeating a bill meant to strip municipalities of their power to protect historic trees.

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.