Month: May 2020

As protests heat up, the Channel Zero Network has some reminders on how to stay safe while out in the streets. Bring buddies and don’t let them out of the range of your voice.  Write a legal aid number on your body so you can get help if you get arrested. Be sure to know your buddies legal names and birthdays. You’ll need these to help find them if they’re arrested. When moving around, walk don’t run. Stick together. Turn off your phone while out in the street to avoid surveillance of your locationand so as not to have your unlocked phone taken by the authorities or other bad actors. Try your best not to stick out in a crowd. Cover up  tattoos with clothing or body paint. Cops will use footage from the protest to try to identify you.  Wear clothes that are good for moving quickly. Avoid wearing jewelry and wear closed toe shoes.  Wear your mask at all times, even if you’re talking to someone in order to guard yourself against surveillance, covid 19, pepper spray, and tear gas. Avoid wearing contact lenses. Bring goggles of some kind in case of tear gas or pepper spray. Consider wearing bike helmets as police often cause head injuries with batons and other weapons.  Don’t take photos or video of people doing anything illegal or with their face uncovered. Whenever possible, film the cops, not the protesters. ONLY PUT WATER IN YOUR EYES. Don’t use milk or baking soda or anything else.Clean water is the safest thing to use at a protest. If possible, bring a waterbottle to drink from and a water bottle to flush out eyes of any comrades who are maced or tear-gassed.  And white comrades are encouraged to follow the lead of black and brown comrades, as they bear the brunt of state brutality. Follow Unicorn Riot and Channel Zero Network member It’s Going Down for ongoing updates. The Channel Zero Network sends y’all solidarity. Stay safe out there and never stop fighting for a better world.   

Today, Tauno Biltsted joins Pearson to talk about his new book, The Anatomist’s Tale, a novel about an unwitting surgeon who gets swept up in a high seas adventure of piracy and rebellion. In this discussion, Tauno provides a history of his experience squatting, details his current residence at the Umbrella House, and talks about tools and strategies for organizers looking to squat in their own neighborhoods. Then, Tauno and Pearson talk about The Anatomist’s Tale, exploring animal agency, autonomy, piracy, race, class, labor, gender, identity, unreliable narrators, nonlinear stories, and so much more. Pick up a copy of The Anatomist’s Tale.  Read about the history of the Umbrella House.  Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website. Coffee with Comrades is a proud affiliate of the Channel Zero Network. Coffee with Comrades is a proud part of the Rev Left Radio Federation. Our logo was designed by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art  Music: Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Interlude: “A Pirate’s Life” from Peter Pan Outro: “Main Theme” from Pirates of the Caribbean   

This week, Pearson got to sit down for a whirlwind conversation with scott crow, anarchist, author, purveyor of fine records, and long-time community-organizer. We chat about scott’s radicalization, compassionate self-critique, the shortcomings of mass movement-centric forms of organizing, media and perception, and so much more.  Follow scott crow on Twitter and visit his website.  Check out Agency, an anarchist PR and media collective, and follow them on Twitter. Listen to eMERGENCY hEARTS artists.  Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website. Coffee with Comrades is a proud affiliate of the Channel Zero Network. Coffee with Comrades is a proud part of the Rev Left Radio Federation. Our logo was designed by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art Music: Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Interlude: “Ideas of Collective Liberation” by World is Our Country & scott crow  Outro: “Strip Mall Church” by Televangel & scott crow

This week, Pearson is joined by Matt and Johnny from Woodbine, an experimental community hub in Ridgewood, Queens, to chat about moving from mutual aid to disaster confederalism. Matt and Johnny also talk about why base-building is essential to dual-power strategies and discuss Woodbine and Hungry Monk’s ongoing community-organizing in the midst of COVID-19.  Follow Woodbine on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and check out their website.  Follow Hungry Monk on Instagram and Facebook and visit their website.  Support Hungry Monk’s fundraiser.  The Commune Magazine article on Woodbine cited throughout this interview.  Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website. Coffee with Comrades is a proud affiliate of the Channel Zero Network. Coffee with Comrades is a proud part of the Rev Left Radio Federation. Our logo was designed by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art Music: Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Interlude: “Revolution Has Come” by Rebel Diaz  Outro: “Alone” by Being As An Ocean

Okay, so… Is this the silliest edition of Coffee with Comrades ever made? Is it the most wholesome AF content on the planet?  Or is this entire episode just one big shit-post? Maybe all of the above?? Who know!? Regardless, we made an episode about Animal Crossing: New Horizons. We hope you’ll fuck with it.  Liz from Rebel Steps joined us to chat about the politics of AC:NH, the newest game from Nintendo’s Animal Crossing franchise which is destined to go down in the history books as “the Quarantine Game.” After offering a few critiques at the outset of the episode, Liz and Pearson spend the bulk of the discussion exploring the game’s radical horizons: its themes of anti-work, urban planning, and post-scarcity, the game’s DIY ethos, the setting’s borderless society, and so much more.  So, is AC:NH a capitalist hellworld of landlords and stalk markets or a communist anti-anti-utopia of liberation and possibility? Stick around ’til the end of the episode to find out!  Support Rebel Steps on Patreon, follow them on Twitter, and visit their website.  Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website. Coffee with Comrades is a proud affiliate of the Channel Zero Network. Coffee with Comrades is a proud part of the Rev Left Radio Federation. Our logo was designed by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art. References: Srsly Wrong’s episode on Library Socialism and Usufruct.  Polygon’s article on the Stalk Market.  Decolonize this Place Museum in ACNH.  Tanuki’s magic scrotum article.  Music:  Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Interlude: “Island Broadcast: Isabelle” by Yasuaki Iwata, Yumi Takahashi, Shinobu Nagata, Sayako Doi, & Masato Ohashi Outro: “Animal Crossing: New Horizons Main Theme” by Yasuaki Iwata, Yumi Takahashi, Shinobu Nagata, Sayako Doi, & Masato Ohashi