Episode 10: “Fight ICE with Fire”

In this week’s episode of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson sit down for a conversation with Syd and Austin, two community-organizers from Tampa who participated in Occupy ICE TPA. But first, some headlines:   John McCain is dead, baby! Chapel Hill radicals tear down Silent Sam monument The August 21 Prison Strike has kicked off and the support has been widespread Virginia’s first anti-protest law arrests targeted oil pipeline demonstrators Rest in power, Donna Castleberry. Defend sex workers! Manafort & Cohen = Bread & Circus The chief executives of America’s top 350 companies earned 312 times more than their workers on average last year. Syd and Austin offer a bit of advice on how to start your own Occupy ICE encampment (just do it!) and walk us through the strategic and symbolic significance of the occupation. Then, the former occupiers explain their motivations for taking direct action against ICE and the DHS. We close with a discussion of the future: where our new battles begin to burn as we fight for a future of abolition. Follow Occupy ICE TPA on Twitter and Facebook and support the defendants in their struggles ahead! Take direct action and tell Chuck Prather to terminate his lease with the DHS. Call (727)896-1080. Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Outro: “FVCK I.C.E.” by Rebel Diaz  

Episode 9: “Remember, Rembember the 5th of November” feat. the Left Media Podcast

Coffee with Comrades is coming to you a little early this week. We’re pleased to present our first podcast collaboration: an analysis of the film “V for Vendetta” with our pals in the Left Media Podcast. In this episode, we discuss the motion picture’s political themes, its lackluster portrayal of its female and LGBTQ+ characters, the problematic antics of its titular “hero,” the process of radicalization, and so much more. This episode’s a bit of a long one, so you’ll have to forgive us—Mike and Mitch are just too much fun to talk to! If you like this episode, we highly recommend you check out the Left Media Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts! So sit back, pour yourself a cup of coffee, and enjoy our discussion of “V for Vendetta.” Follow the Left Media Pod on Twitter. Check out the Left Media Pod’s website. Intro/Outro music: “Memphis Was A Revolutionary” by Mike Hewlett and the Racket  

Episode 8: “Teaching Anarchy” feat. Mark Bray & Rob Haworth

On Episode 8 of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson sit down for a conversation with Mark Bray and Rob Haworth to discuss their upcoming book, Anarchist Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader. But first, Pearson digs into some of his experiences at the Shut it Down DC demonstrations. While a broad coalition of anti-fascists successfully managed to deplatform the white supremacists who’d invaded the city for Unite the Right 2 and that victory ought to be widely celebrated, Pearson draws three major conclusions about the event: Liberalism is failing us and making space for white supremacists, online and in the streets. Militant anti-fascists must continue training to develop a more strategic approach to the black bloc. Militant anti-fascism works. We just need to be more organized. If it wasn’t for the police, the fascists would’ve never been safe to march in the streets. The state is complicit in white supremacy. For a solid report that accurately captures what it felt like on the ground August 12, check out Brendan O’Connor’s piece in The Nation. Then, Mark Bray and Rob Haworth join our hosts for an engrossing discussion on Francisco Ferrer, the history and legacy of the Modern School, anarchist pedagogy and education, atheism, and so much more. Follow Mark Bray on Twitter. Check out Rob Haworth’s PM Press page and his band, Second Letter. Buy the Book: “Anarchist Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader” Music: Intro: “All You Fascists Bound to Lose” by Woody Guthrie Transition: “Nobody” by Stick to Your Guns Outro: “Painted Pictures” by Second Letter

Episode 7: “Empty Every Cage, Break Every Chain”

TW: Be advised, this episode includes a sound-byte from Richard Nixon’s chief of staff, Lee Atwater, spewing racial slurs from 22:02–22:22. In this week’s episode of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson discuss the #August21 Prison Strike and dissect the prison-industrial complex, the abolition movement, and transformative justice. But, first, a look at this week in current events: A migrant child died shortly after being released from detention by ICE Detained migrant fathers and sons stage a strike in Texas Facebook censors antifascists organizing to demonstrate in DC DC Metro union refuses to transport fascists Bree and Pearson then provide a historical context for the prison-industrial complex before diving into the legacy and goals of the abolition movement. Ultimately, the hosts of Coffee with Comrades advocate for a system of transformative justice to truly address the root causes of “crime” and create a more humane and egalitarian society. Get Involved: Educate others about the August 21st Prison Strike, the prison-industrial complex, abolition, and transformative justice Follow and promote the strike on social media using the #August21 and #prisonstrike hash-tags on social media and amplify the voices of incarcerated workers Endorse the strike by emailing your organization’s statement to prisonstrikemedia@gmail.com Spread word of the strike both inside and outside–go to www.incarceratedworkers.org to print out stickers, flyers and posters Organize a phone tree in preparation for phone zaps Start an Anarchist Black Cross chapter Write to political prisoners Support the upcoming strike directly by promoting, attending, and/or creating a solidarity demonstration at a prison near you! Resources: Incarcerated Workers Organizing Community Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander 13th Documentary on Netflix The Empty Cages Collective Critical Resistance Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Outro: “Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)” by Run the Jewels

Episode 6: “Build the Spine”

On today’s episode of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson explore the symbiotic relationship of science and anarchy with Kaleb Morgan. But first, some current events: A FL auto shop owner snitched on a fifteen-year-old girl who escaped her ICE captors A six-year-old girl was sexually abused while in a DHS detention facility Comrades in Occupy ICE TPA were arrested before police trashed their tents. Donate to their legal defense fund. Anarchists in the Four Thieves Vinegar Collective are making their own medicine Anarcho-syndicalist video game developer Motion Twin studios gears up to release its new game, Dead Cells   In this week’s interview, Pearson and Kaleb discuss everything from Kropotkin to Marx, mutual aid to historical determinism, and evolution to social darwinism. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and check it out! Follow Kaleb on Twitter and Instagram. Get involved: Donate to the Occupy ICE TPA legal defense fund. Defend DC from Nazi scum. Support the August 21 Prison Strike. All out this August! Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Outro: “Never Let Go of the Microscope” by Enter Shikari