ASSATA SHAKUR - LIVE LIKE HER?

Assata Shakur: Open Letter o the Pope (1998)

hitps://wiww.democracynow.org/2025/9/20/death_legacy._assata_shakur
My name is Assata Shakur and I was born and raised in the United States. I am a
descendant of Africans who were kidnapped and brought to the Americas as slaves. |
spent my carly childhood in the racist segrogated South. I later moved to the northern
part of the country, where I realized that Black people were equally victimized by

racism and oppression.

T grew up and became a political activist, participating in student struggles, the b
anti-war movement, and, most of all, in the movement for the liberation of African
Americans in the United States. | later joined the Black Panther Party, an organization
that was targeted by the COINTELPRO program, a progra that wa
the Federal Burcau of Investigation to climinate all political opposition to the ULS.
‘govemment's policies, to destroy the Black Liberation Movement in the United States,

to discrdit acti

ts and to eliminate potential leader

Under the COINTELPRO program, many political
activists were harassed, imprisoned, murdered or
otherwise neutralized. As a result of being targeted by
COINTELPRO, I, like many other young people, was
faced with the threat of prison, underground, exile or
death. The FBI, with the help of local police agencies,
systematically fed false aceusations and fake news
articles to the press accusing me and other activists of
erimes we did not commit. Although in my case the
charges were eventually dropped or I was cventually
acquitted, the national and local police agencies created a
situation where, based on their false accusations against
me, any police officer could shoot me on sight. It was not
unil the Freedom of Information Act was passed in the
mid-"70s that we began 10 see the scope of the United
States government's persecution of political activits.

Atthis point, I think that it is important to make one
thing very clear. | have advocated and I still advocate
revolutionary changes in the structure and in the
principles that govern the United States. | advocate
self-determination for my people and for all oppressed
people inside the United States. I advocate an end to
capitalist exploitation, the abolition of racist policies, the
eradication of sexism, and the elimination of political
repression. If that is a crime, then I am totally guilty.

To make a long story short, I was captured in New Jersey in 1973, after being shot

Iynching
In 1979 1 was able to

with both arms held in the air, and then shot again from the back. I was left on the ground
to die and when I did not, T was taken to a local hospital where I was threatened, beaten
and tortured. In 1977 1 was convicted in a trial that can only be described as a legal

pe with the aid of some of my fellow comrades. I saw

this as a necessary step, not only because I was innocent of the charges against me, but

The New Jer
me brought to

set up by

wse I knew that in the racist legal system in the United States I would receive no
Justice. I was also affaid that 1 would be murdered in prison. I later arrived in Cuba where
Tam currently living in exile as a political refugee.

. State Police and other law enforcement officials say they want to see
stice.” But I would like to know what they mean by “jus
Justice? I was kept in solitary confinement for mor than two years, mostly in men’s

prisons. I that justice? My lawyers were threatened with imprisonment and imprisoned.

CUBAN REVOLUTION

for making it possible for our dear
Sister Assata Shakur to live out her
life a free Black woman.

s that justice? | was tried by an all-white jury, without
even the pretext of impartiality, and then sentenced to life
in prison plus 33 years. Is that justice?

Let me emphasize that justice for me is not the issue
1am addressing here; it s justice for my people that is at
stake. When my people receive justice, I am sure that |
will receive i, oo

Lask nothing for mysclf. T only ask you to examine the
social reality of the United States and to speak out against
the human rights violations that are taking place.

On this day, the birthday of Martin Luther King, I am
reminded of all those who gave their lives for freedom.
Most of the people who live on this planet are sill not
free. 1 ask only that you continue to work and pray to
end oppression and political repression. It is my heartfelt
belief that all the people on this carth deserve justice:
social justice, political justice, and economic justice. I
believe it is the only way we will ever achieve pe
and prosperity on this carth. | hope that you enjoy your
visit to Cuba. This is not a country that is rich in material
wealth, but it is a country that is rich in human wealth,
spiritual wealth and moral wealth

Respectfully yours, Assata Shakur, Havana, Cuba
TTT note: Sister Assata passed to the ancestors in Cuba
last month. Our condolences to her family and comrades.

by Nick Bemards, Assoc Prof of Global Sustainable

Development, University of Warwick
it thesonversation comclon mate-siskeare-
63931

reading,but it assumes, excep for
a thing of the past, with legicy”.

e sentenc, that “colonalisn
a5 opposed 10 & continuing crime against humanity, mainly but not
xclusvely in the form of neo-coloniaism and imperialist milary

and cconomic dominaion (s wellas seler colonialism). As resul it
resches the e conclusion in the final pasgraph: “[Western it
ebis] are probably ncalulable and unpaysble. They are calclable,
ongoing, and can and must be repaid, trough a lobal ceonomic and
politcal anstormation, incuding the decolonizaton and. socalist
unification of Afic,dobtfrgivencss by Westen banks and nstintions,
and various other forms ofreprstions. .

The experience of colonialism led to economies
and societies being re-arranged in ways that have had
far-reaching consequences

As a researcher interested in colonial histories
and their impacts on present-day development, 1
recently explored aspects of these legacies through
a comparative analysis of Senegal and Ghana, based
on previous archival research.

T explore connections between key colonial export
crops and the everyday forms of climate vulnerability
experienced in the two countries. 1 show how forms
of exploitation that emerged in the context of colonial
capitalism are linked to the form and uneven distribution
of climate hazards in the present. These histories have
profoundly shaped how people are expose to record high
temperatures and unpredictable rainfall patterns,

There is growing recognition that the breakdown of the
global climate, and vulnerabiliy to its effect, are deeply
rooted in histories of colonialism. This recognition has
even made its way into official policy circles. The 2022
Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC (Intergovernmental
Panel of Climate Change, the UN's climate science
arm), for instance, acknowledges that vulnerability to
climate change is “often made more complex by past
developments, such as histories of colonialism™ My
rescarch adds to this picture by starting to show just how
‘complex and embedded these impacts are.

Uneven distribution

The people who are most at risk from the climate
erisis are often those who've done the least to create it
As a region, Affica contributes about 4% of global CO;
emissions. Indeed, some estimates show that only in the
last decade has Affica collectively emitied more carbon

than it stores in various ecosystems.
According to the World Meteorological Organization,

temperatures in Africa are increasing faster than the global
average. Recent estimates suggest that losses due to heat
alone amounted to 8% of GDP in much of Africa between
1992 and 2013,

Colonial powers extracted wealth in the trillions from
colonized peoples and territorics. They have continued to
do so after the formal end of colonial rule. Rich countr
have burned well more than their fair share of fossil fucls
in the process. This has meant that colonized countries,
left with underdeveloped infrastructures and impoverished
citizens, have less capacity 1o withstand and respond to
increasingly severe weather.

But the connections between colonialism and climate
Vulnerability don’t end with these big picture measures of
money and carbon cmissions.

‘The damage done by colonial-era economic models

In my paper I show how the specific everyday ways
that people are exposed to climate hazards in formerly
colonized countries also have a lot to do with the way that
colonial economies were organized.

Colonial cconomics in Sencgal and Ghana were
dominated by French and English merchant companics.
These merchants dramatically reshaped ~ economies,
especially in the last decades of the nineteenth century and
early decades of the twenticth.

Among the strategies British and French merchants
used was o take control of the trade in commadities —
peanuts in Senegal, cocoa from Ghana ~ through chains of
debts. Working through complex networks of brokers and
traders, colonial merchants advanced agricultural inputs
and survival goods to farmers against expected crops. This
system largely protected European businesses from the
risks inherent in farming, such as bad weather and pests.

The system also meant that local farmers incurred
higher and higher levels of debt. Where people needed to
borrow money or goods in order to plant crops and survive
the wait until harvest, this tended to lock farmers into
producing the same crops for export year afier year.

In both countries, this meant that farmers’ productivity
tended to fall over time because of problems with pests
and soil depletion. Often, the only response available to
farmers, who in many instances had already sold their
crops in advance, was to plant more intensely.

In tum, this deepened both indebtedness and
vulnerability to ecological hazards. Indebted farmers
were more exposed to crop failures and farm yields were
often eroded, and they needed to spend more and more on
inputs. Intensified planting also sped up soil erosion and
the spread of pests.

‘The colonial system also limited investments that might
have improved productivity or provided greater protection
against climate hazards. In Senegal, for instance, colonial
peanut cultivation mainly relied on rainfall for water.
Offcials from the colonial government baulked at
proposals to build irrigation systems, and merchant firms.
not direetly involved in cultivation had little incentive to
invest cither.

Postcolonial cconomies have changed in significant
respeets, but important clements of the merchant system
from the colonial era have nonetheless remained in placy
Major export crops in both countries continue to be
cultivated by many small producers, and many people’s
livelihoods remain heavily reliant on cash crops.

Mostimportant, the form of climate vulnerability closely
‘mirrors the hazards that emerged in the colonial era. The
unpredictable availablity of water, for instance, remains.
one of the most pressing forms of climate vulnerability
in peanut growing regions. This is particularly the case
in Sencgal as peanut cultivation remains overwhelmingly
reliant on rainfall for water. The result, as one study has.
shown, is that levels of poverly in peanut growing regions.
remain very closely correlated with rainfall levels.

Next steps,

The story doesn't look the same everywhere. One
of the legacies of colonialism is that it created new
patterns of uneven and unequal development within as
well as between colonies. In places like Kenya and South
Affica colonization entailed European settlement. African
people and communities were displaced to make way for
plantations and mines. Struggles over access to water,
to name one example, remain strongly shaped by these
histori

“The point i that the imprint of colonialism on the climate
erisis s far-reaching and complex. Colonialism didn’tjust
extract wealth and resources. It profoundly transformed
Societies, economies, and the ways that people relate to
the natural world

“This means that the climate debis that rich countries owe
the rest of the world go beyond just the value of wealth
that's been extracted o the volume of carbon cmitted.
They're probably incalculable and unpayable.

TTT after-note: The “climate debt” of the West/Global
North is calculable and must be paid in the form of bank
debt forgiveness, reparations, particularly to Africa, and
a global reorganization of production, distribution and
consumption. Start by ending the exploitation, land thefi
expropriation and dumping!

The Video Circulating on X and What It Reveals:
Political Violence and a Government Obsessed with Punishing Trans People

By Jannelle Spencer

Download. The attack against conservative activist
Charlie Kirk, which occurred during an event in Utah and
was disseminated on social media, is a serious symptom
of a sick democracy. I condemn the violence without
qualification. But while the country needs answers to
combat polarization and insecurity, the White House
spends s political capital on culture wars: executive
orders and guidelines that curtail the rights of trans people
and disrupt healtheare and education systems.

‘What happened and why it matters
The video that went viral on X shows the moment
Charlie Kirk was shot during an event at Utah Valley
University. The national press confirmed the attack and
later his death; authorities are investigating, and the case is
ongoing. Regardless of who is responsible, the incident fits
into a pattern of escalating political violence that demands
responsible responses, not more ideological fuel.

A

untry with open wounds... and a government that
prioritizes punishing a minority

In parallel, since day 1 of his second term, President
Donald Trump signed executive orders whose stated
purpose is to “restore biological truth” and redefine
the federal goverment o recognize only “two sexes.
This architecture has translated into attempts to cut civil
protections, discipline teachers who teach transgender
students, and dismantle health data colleetion on sexual
ntation and gender identity (SOGI), crucial for
esigning serious policies.

This isn't thetoric: various agencies have issued
memoranda and proposed changes that affect health,
cducation, and employment. Legal and civil rights
organizations are pursuing legal action agains! these orders
due to their impact and potential constitutional violations.

Education: The Laboratory of Fear
‘While schools need resources for safe living, media

NO TO THE
DEATH PENALTY

DIGNITY IS
NON-NEGOTIABLE

‘and bullying prevention, the administration is
pushing changes that reopen Title IX battles and confuse
entire districts about which rules to apply. Instead of
elear guidelines that protect the entire school community.
uncertainty becomes the norm,

‘The cost of “spectacle politics™
Every institutional hour dedicated to turning

transgender people into a problem that “needs to be

fixed” is an hour not dedicated to curbing political

. improving surveillance of mass events,

strengthening community mental health, or protecting

information integrity from coordinated campaigns. This

absession also legitimizes stigma and creates hosility in

the streets, classrooms, and public spa

violen

‘You don't have to share Charli Kirk's agenda to state
the obvious: no one should be the target of an attack. But
you don’t have to be an LGBT+ activist to understand
that using state power against a minority doesn't make
the country safer: it makes it more fragile and more
unjust,

‘The urgent and the possible
1. De-escalate the culture war. Revoke or suspend
executive orders that fail to meet the standard of public
necessity and non-discrimination; prioritize policies
against political violence and misinformation.

2. Retum to the evidence. Restore SOGI data collection
in health and federal programs; without data, there is no
serious public policy.

3. Safe schools for all. Regulatory clarity in Title IX.
investment in school climates, anti-bullying protocols,
and inclusive bathrooms that provide privacy and reduce
conflict.

4. Secular state and democratic coexistence. Respect

for faith as an individual right; rejection of imposing
dogma by decree. (See litigation and guides from
specialized legal organizations.) (The National LGBTQ+
Bar Association hitps://lgbigbar.org/programs/trump-
executive-order-tracker/)

Close ranks for democracy
‘The Utah video is a brutal reminder: political violence

is here. The answer cannot be scapegoating minority

or governing by spectacle. Let us demand that the

presidency and Congress protect everyone: invest where

it saves lives, legislate with evidence, and honor the

plurality that defines the United States.

Meanwhile, to those on the front lines of attacks by
hate groups, I say: stay visible, organize, document, and
resort to the law.

Dignity is not negotiable,

TPUSA TARGETED PROFESSORS

TTT Note: Ta-Nehisi Coates among others have cited all
the vile racist, sexist, transphobic and anti-Muslim words
uttered by Charlie Kirk, and decried the way corporate
media and corporate-owned politicians have falsely
painted him as a paragon of free specch. Trump et al are
using his death to call him a martyr and to justify assaults
and reprssion against the left as “enemies” of Christianity
and civilization. We would add that Kirk's campus forays
e part of a strategy to normalize and legitimize anti-
Blackness, Islamophobia, misogynoir, and o propagate
his effort to silence and intimidate left voices in academia,
provoking threats of violence through “civil debat.

Testimony from George Yancey, one such professor:

In 2016, TPUSA produced an online list titled
“Professor Watchlist,” a site designed to identify
professors who purportedly “discriminate against
conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in
the classroom.” I don’t “teach leftist propaganda in the
ind I never discriminate against conservative
students, but | was nevertheless placed on the list soon
afier it creation in 2016, apparently because | am a

philosopher who examines the complex ways in which
white people are socially and psychically complicit in the
perpetuation of anti-Black racism in the United States.
There's no way for me to know whether or to what
extent my placement on the Professor Watchlist extended
or intensified the ongoing avalanche of racist threats
and slurs that | had already started receiving afier |
published an open leter in The New York Times in 2015
titled “Dear White America” — a leter that sought to
challenge the racist “innocence” of white people and was
the source that Turning Point USA cited as grounds for
placing me on their watchlist. But being placed on the
Professor Watchlist undoubtedly magnified the feclings
of trepidation and outrage created by the racist invective
constantly pouring down on me throughout that time.
In response to “Dear White America,” I received
an ongoing series of hate messages via email, voice
message, and postal mail such as
“Dear N*##** Professor... You're a ***ing smug
N+ You are uneducated with education. You are a
#r**ing animal. Just like all Black people in the United
States of America.”

“There are two ways you can return to Africa: On a
passenger ship, or in a coffin freighter. Choose quickly.”

Before placing me on this list, no one from TPUSA
asked to speak with me. Kirk never asked to debate me
about my views on whiteness, white privilege, or white
embodiment. In being placed on the list, I was falsely
labeled and marked in ways that are not true. I was placed
on the list without a mumbling word about making sure
that I was given democratic space to debate my position
on whiteness. TPUSA sought to tar and ostracize me as
an “enemy” of conservative thought without first inviting
‘me for civil debate.

George Yancy i the Samuel Candler Dobbs profssor of hilasophy
at Emory University and a Monsgomery fellow a Darmoush Colloge
Hois alo the University of Pennsylvanias inaugural fellow inthe
Provasts Distinguished Faculsy Fllowship Program (2019-2020
academic yeu).He i he author, editor and co-ediorof over 25 books,
incluing Biack Hodis, White Gazes; Look, A Whic; Backissh:

What Hoppens When We Talk Honesly sbout Racismin Americ
acoedited book withphiasopher 8ill Byvate) ntited In Shesp's
Clothing: The Idolatry of White Christan Natinalism (Roman &

Lintfield, 2020,

A-l is Fueling Violent Threats against Women Judges

by Candice Norwood [Excerpts]

hitps://19thnews.org/2025/09/ai-women-judges-threas-
deepfakes-doxxing

Two y but Judge Jennifer Johnson
cannot erase the death threat from her mind. The violent,
3-minute video appeared on TikTok in September 2023

a frightening cxample of how the expansion of Al
technology has led to growing threats against women in
public offc

Johnson, who oversees cases in Dixie County, Florida,
spoke publicly about the threat for the first time last week,
showing a 40-second clip during a forum that gathered
women state judges to discuss security concerns. The
video imitates the popular game Grand Theft Auto, which
has been widely eriticized for more than two decades for
allowing players to beat women and sex workers.

In the clip, an animated man wearing a red, white and
blue face mask can be scen following a woman on the
street before he attacks her with a hatchet. After several
blows from the weapon, he then draws a gun and shoots
her multiple times in the head while onlookers scream in
the background,

“Judge Johnson, let’s bury the hatchet,” a voiceover
states, as the explicitly violent attack plays ou.

“That video isstil difficult o watch, especially thinking
‘about my children that saw that on social media.” Johnson,

rs have passe

said during the forum, hosted by Speak Up for Justice,
group formed to advacate for judicial independence and
security

Johnson went on to add that in the full video “he named
me. He talked about my divorce, my remarriage, my name
change, my children, where I live and where I work. And
So it was a very scary time for me and my family.”

There’s no data capturing how Al is affecting women
judges specifically, but one study published last year by
The American Sunlight Project (ASP) sheds light on how
this is affecting women in Congress. Their team identified
tens of thousands of sexually explicit Al-generated
images and videos depicting 26 senators and members of
Congress, according to the report.

Other research suggests that the growth of Al technology
has led to rising threats against public figures at all lovels.
This includes creating “deepfake” images, videos, or audio
that have been manipulated to imitate a person’s likeness
and be passed off as real. Al software can also be used to
track people’s social media activity or scan for personal
phone numbers or home addrsses.

The federal Take It Down Act, signed into law in May,
enacts criminal penalties for “the nonconsensual online
publication of intimate visual depictions of individuals,
both authentic and computer-generated.” Howev

its

unclear how existing federal law applies to Al-generated
threats like what Johnson received, which did not appear
1o be sexual

Federal judges have their own specific legal protections
and sceurity benefits ke the U.S. Marshals Service, which
employs officers providing a range of security support
including courthouse and residential safety measures, as
well as personal surveillance when threats are identificd.
‘The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act of
2021 — named after the son of Judge Esther Salas, who
was murdered in 2020 — prohibits federal agencies and
private businesses from publicly posting certain personal
detals like the home addresses of federal judges.

But state judges like Johnson do not have access to
the U.S. Marshals Service. State law also determines the
law enforcement response o the threats they reccive and
whether personal information like addresses and phone
‘numbers can be shielded from the public.

Johnson said she immediately reported her death threat
t0 the FBI, her local sheriff and to the Florida Department
of Law Enforcement. “The response that I got was “Judg
it's usually the ones that bark, don’t bite, lled.
She connected with friends who knew several retired U.S.
Marshals who helped her develop a safety plan to keep her
family safe.

she ey

Live Like the World is Dying Podcast:

Michael Novick on Surviving by Overcoming Fascism and Ecocide

hitps://wwiw liveliketheworldisdying.com/se84-
michael-novick-on-antifascist-struggle
(Part Two - continued from last issue -
lightly edited for clarity)

Inmn: Welcome to Live Like the World is Dying, your
podeast for what feels like the end times. I'm your host
Inmn Neruin and 1 use they/them pronouns. This week
we are talking about something that is very scary and,
in terms of things we think about being prepared for,
something that is far more likely to impact our lives than
say, a zombie apocalypse. We're already being impacted
by this. It is actively killing us. But the monster of this
week is fascism. However, there’s a really great solution
to fascism...antifascism. And we have a guest today who
has spent a lot of their life thinking about and participating
in antifascism.

1 have with me today writer and organizer Michacl
Novick, a co-founder of the John Brown Anti Klan
Committee, People Against Racist Terror, Anti-Racist
Action Network, the TORCH Antifa Network, and of
White People For Black Lives in Los Angeles.

Michael: [I want to talk about anti-fascism and also
anti-imperialism.] A lot of people in the anti-imperialist
movement think, “Oh, there’s a sort of a national
bourgeoisic that also doesn't like the Empire and wants
to exert itself. And we have to ally with them.” And a lot
of people in antifascist movements have thought, “Oh,
well, there’s bourgeois democrats and liberals who also
hate fascism, [and we have to ally with them.]" I think
that those class collaborationist alliances have been
weaknesses historically. Also the contradiction between
people who concentrate mostly on antifascism, and the
people who concentrate mostly on_ anti-imperialism,
has weakened people’s movements. 1 think [we need]
kind of [an] overarching understanding that fascism is
rooted in Empire, particularly in settler colonialism, and
that ther isn’t a contradiction between anti-fascism and
anti-imperialism, but a need for different kind of both
combined

‘We have to find the forces of popular resistance that will
overturn both fascism and imperialism...and capitalism.
To do that we have to have a self determined struggle for
decolonization and recognize people’s self determination
in their own struggles and their own capacity to live in a
different way and to begin to create a different future. You
know, in the song solidarity forever, we say, “Build a new
world from the ashes of the old.”

1 think that in terms of my own work, I've tried to-
although, you might think I'm aging outat this point, but
I've been involved at every point that there’s an upsurge
in struggle. I tried to participate in that as part of Occupy
LA. And more recently, I've been involved with some of
the dual power organizing that's going on. I don’t know
how much your people are familiar with that, but it is a
conception related to Cooperation Jackson, in Mississippi,
where they're trying to figure out ways of organizing
themselves cconomically and also resisting the power of
the State. I was at the Dual Power Gathering that took
place in Indiana and there was one on the West Coast in
the Portland arca,

Inmn: Yeah, could you explain what-for our listeners—
what s dual power?

Michael: Dual power is the concept that we have power
‘and we can exercise that power, Even within the framework
of this contemporary society, which is so destructive, we.
can begin to generate and exercise that power. There's a
kind of dialectic between the power of the people and the
power of the State and the corporations, or the power of
the fascists, and that the different pre-figurative clements
of the kind of society we want to live in, in the future, can
be created now. [They fear OUR porwer.]

As we exercise that power, it weakens the power of
the State. It weakens the power of the bourgeoisic and
the power of the imperialists. I went to that Dual Power
Gathering in Indiana-I mean, it's not my bio region, but I
did used to live in Chicago-and I felt some affinities with
it. T went there to talk about the idea of the relationship
between dual power and our threc-way fight, with a
different conception with what the three-way fightis, that
we are having to contend with two different enemics, these
fascists from below and the fascist from above, the State,
and corporate power, and then also right-wing clements.

1 think that in terms of both of those, we have to
‘understand what are the powers that we do have, to organize.
ourselves, t0 apply our generative and regenerative powers
so that people have a sense of what they re fighting for. s
not just anti-this and anti-that,

So for example, the newspaper I've worked on for

many years, “Tuming the Tide,” originally, we called it the
“Journal of Anti-Racist Action, Research & Education,” and
then we changed the subitle a few years ago to, “The Journal
of Intercommunal Solidarity.” i the sense that you have to say
what you're fghting for.

What are we trying to build? What are we trying (0 create?
What are we creating? And how does that give us the capacity
o continue 1o resist and continue to shape the future, not just
react always 10 what they re doing but actually have a proacive,
generative stance.

People’s creative cultural expressions, people’scapacity to do
permacultuce in urban environments or many other things like
that, we want 10 restore biological diversity. We want o restore
the capacity ofthe soil. We want o restore the clarity of the water
and the ai i the process of strugeling for our own liberation.

“Those are things that can happen and must [begin to] happen
now. We can't wat for some revolution that will happen in the
future in which we'llereate a beter world. We have to start i the
context and the interstces of the system in place where people
are being pulverized. In Los Angeles, people are invalved in
various kinds of mutual aid work and working with the homelss,
working with people being evicted 10 ake over homes and
estore them. People are working on cooperatives and a solidarity
economy with formerly incarcerated people.

ANl those manifestations, that's the question of dual power
there. We're looking a the incapacity o the people rulng this
society 10 aetually meet basic human needs and we'te rying to
figure out how to meet them. So, I think that’s where it coincides
with this question of preparedness, [in] a sense that people
have o rely on their own resources, their own energies, and
understanding that there’s a contradiction between the system,
the way it funtions, and its implications and impact on us. And
its incapacity, ts powerlessness, 0 really protect peaple from
the kinds of calamities that it's creating, whether i flooding.
or firestorms, or all the other manifestations of this lobal cisis
of the Earth system tha is growing out of capitalism. We have
o deal with that now. We can't wait tll sometime in the future
Wwhen we have, “power.” quote unguote, you know? We have the
power now 1o start o deal with .

Inma: Veah, 1 feel like there have been different ways that
people have tried to do exactly that in the past. I'm thinking of a
ot of the stuff that the Black Panthers were doing, like creating.
comumunites, declaring that they had power and tha they had the
power to build the communities that they wanted and o preserve
those communities. And then they faced an incredible amount
Of repression, like, s much for arming themselves as for piving.
kids lunch and breakfast. And I'm wondering, in what ways does
the State try 10 or in what ways has the State tried to destabilize
dual power movements in the past? And what can e kind of
expect them to do now? Or what are they doing now? Does that
make sense?

Michacl: 1 think there’s always @ two-pronged approach by the
state. Sometimes i’ referred 1o as, “The carrot and the stk ™
You know, it's co-optation and coercion. They always attempt
both o control [or] modify people’s thinking and try to create
bourgeois alternatives to liberatory. thinking and. liberatory
organizing. And then simultaneously, they have the repressive
aspects, the criminalization of those efTrts.

S0 in relation (o the Black Panther Party, or example, they
were simultaneously pushing wha they called Black Capitalism,
and saying, “Oh, yes, we'll give you “opportunity.” we'll find the
sector o the Black community thatcan integate nto the system.”
Andthen,along with tha,they were carrying out COINTELPRO,
which was a war strategy of creating contradictions inside Black
Liberation organizations, seting one against the other, trying.
o exceute andlor incarcerate people who were not willing to
compromise their principles.

Iihink we have o be aware that you're seing the same thing go
on around policing ssues. You know,they constantly want t put
forward different reforms and accountability measures and ways
that people can paricipate in civilian oversight mechanisms that
eally don't do anything. And al the same time, they re atiacking.
people who are doing Copwatch or groups like the Stop LAPD
Spyinig Network, which has exposed a lotof st about this, and
s constantly being targeted. [O the Stop Cop City effort

So, I think that the two-pronged approach by the Sate is
something we have to be very aware of. s not only coercion
and criminalization and repression, but i’ also co-optation
and giving people individual solutions and mechanisms that
are system compliant...they call it the nonprofit industrial
complex, you know, this whole mechanism of structures that
are st up to get people involved i grant writing and looking to
philanthropists to someiow suppor them in their work.

You know, one of the things the Black Panther Party did
was it had its own self generated funding by going to the base
community they were trying 10 organize in, talking to small
shopkeepers, and alking to churches, and rying (0 ntegrate that
o these lieratory efforts

Loaking at that model, when I stated doing Peaple Against
Racist Terro,there were a lot of smal anti-sacist groups around
the country and a Lot of them ended up going the route of looking.
for grants and looking for nonprofit organizations tha they could
fold themseles into, and 1 think that kind of denatured them.

“They became...AS opposed 1o being grassroots,they becarme.
board and stafl organizations, and individuals would create
carcers out ofit. 1 think that mechanism of transforming popular
movements rofit organizations or nongovernmental
organizations that accommodate themselves [ existing power
structure, existing economic realites, is one of the things that
We need 10 try o avoid happening in this current period.

Tnmin: That makes that makes a ot of sense. Yeah, i, i's funny,
because I feel like I'm seeing a lot of groups involved in mutual
aid, who are, 1 hink, taking that esson of the nonprofit indusrial
complex but are also rying t access larger swaths of money
than the communities that they'se part of can provide, like this
model of, i’ important 0 involve yous community base in those.
things and to generate those things ourselves, but there s this
problem sometimes of like, you're passing the hat and the same.
20 people are kicking into the bail fund.

T think maybe this s just me being hopeful, but ' secing a
ot of mutual sid groups kind of dip into grant writing o dip into.
wilizing nonprofit statuses more so than siructures in order o
access funding and things like that. But what I'm seeing is people.
‘coming at it from like, hopefully, what i a different perspective.
of taking these lessons of the past and being like, “Well, we don’t
‘want 0 become some horrifying, large nonprofit, but we do want
the State 10 give us 10 grand so that we can build infrastructure.
Like I guess my question i, are there ways to tesponsibly nteract
with hat? Or i this a rap?

‘Michal: 1 guess 'd have hear more detil. L think s imperative.
that it has to come from below and from the grassroots. I've.
been involved with, o example, Pacifica Radio, and Pacificais
listener sponsored radio and s i @ constant sruggle sbout how
‘much can we accept Corporation of Public Broadcasting funding.
‘They cut s offsome years ago and some are rying 1o et it back.
O, there’s strugales dbout trying (0 get some underwiting from.
businesses or foundations.

It depends on who you're accountable to for the money that
you're getting. Ate you accountable primarily to the funder?
‘Ate you accountable primarily 1o the people who are using that
‘money and the people who are self organizing for community
power and community sustainability, and some of the things.
we're talking about, of self determined strategies and sruggls.

1do think that what happened to a lot of the 60s movements
is that there was an ebb in the mass mavement. And then people
‘made their separate peace. People were like lotsam and jtsam as
the tide of people’s power movements were negatively impacted.
because of while supremacy, male supremacy, COINTELPRO),
and an inadequate response 10 deal with it. Then, you know.
people ended up in labor unions where they were doing some.
‘z0od work, but basicall they became part ofa lbor buseaucrcy:
o where they ended up n government social services. They were.
doing some good work, but they became part of that mechanism.
o, 1 think the critcal thing is rying 1o keep control of what's
‘oing on in the hands of the people who are acually organizing.
themselves and thei commusiics.

Inmn: Yeah, that makes sense. What are strategies that we
should be embracing for countering this current escalation in
fascist tendencies?

Michael: T've done a lot of work over the years, and as I say,
“Turning the Tide” is s newspaper, we send a couple of thousand.
copies almst every issue into the prisons and We'te in touch.
with a ot of stlT that’s going on in the prisons. 1 think that's a
eritical place t0 look for some understanding about how to deal
with [fascism], because we do see under what are essentially
Very naked fascist conditions of domination inside the prisons,
which are very hierarchical.

“There's a ot of negative activity within theprisons themselves.
There's the power of the guards and the wardens in the system
and yet you find struggles going on against racism, against
Sexism, for solidarity against the soltary confinement of people.
who have been vietims of torture who are organizing themseles.
I think that understanding that capacity, those are some of the
leading strugeles in the United States. There have been hunger
strikes, there have been labor stikes, the Alabama Prisoners.
Movement [Free Alabama Movement] and here in California
and elsewhere.

1 think that sense that people under the most severe
sepression are actually capable of making human connections.
among themselves and beginning 10 actally, in a self critcal
way, look at how they incorporated toxic masculinity and racism

. and by beginning 10 purge
themselves of those things, they can begin o create multracial
solidariy among all prisoners to acwally esist the condiions of
incarceration and resist enslavement. So | think that that’ very
important to ook at.

1 think that here in Los Angeles, there are organizations
like LA CAN, Community Action Network, that are working
among homeléss people and with homeless people to organize.
themselves 1o have sireet watches. They have a community
garden on the roof of a building. They have culural expression.
They have theatrical groups...choral groups... You know, i's ke
all those things conneet people’s ove and rage, s 1 say, people’s
abilty 1o generate creative cultural expression and 10 use that
o srengthen their solidariy and their unity and their abilty to
resist the coereive power of the State or the police sweeps or to
expose what's going on and begin (o put out a challenge to the.
way thatsociety s organized.

1 think that having the capacity to defend ourselves, both
physically and also legaly is very important. think that if you
ook at tuff like the Stop Cop City struggle, that the escalation
of repression and the se of charges of terrorism on people that
are obviously not terrorsts indicates that the State sees this s 2
very, very serious threat and i trying o eradicate it and s trying.
o intimidate people. To the extent that we can turn that around.
and use it to say 10 people, you know, Is this the kind of State
‘you want o live in? Isthis the kind of society you want o have?”
5.2 Way t0 begin to change minds and hearts of people who have:

Continued on next page

Live Like the World is Dying Podcast:

Michael Novick on Surviving by Overcoming Fascism and Ecocide

Continued from previous page
been going along with the system. [Again, repressi
that the oppressors fear our power.]
ived through a whole period wWhere we freed many politcal
prisoners. We freed Bobby. We freed Huey. We freed Angela,
Even the Panther 21 in New York, the jury met for about 30
minutes and acquitted them all, because the power of those
organized forces aected the consciousness of the jurors. 1 think.
that understanding that we setually have the power 1o begin 1o
shape not just own consciousness, 10 ways that struggle with
‘people, o decide, “Which sde are you on?” and (0 give people a
sense that there i a side that they can idenify with and become
pat of, and transform their own lives, and transform society in
the process of doing that
So, for example, the stul around preparedess is vital
We're living in @ world in which there are incredibly destructive
wilifire, floods, toradoes, hurricanes, and it very clear that
the state s incapable of even dealing with it after the fac, lt
alone preventing it think that gives us an opening totalk o Very.
Wwide sectors of the population in cities and in rural areas s well
For example, Anti-Racist Action Network in ts heyday had
hundreds of chapers around the county in small tows because
young people were, in their own high schools and music scenes,
Suddenly faced with this theeat of fascism from Nazi boncheads
we bave to get organized.
1 think that we need 10 see these [eries] a5 opportunities 1o
really very massively begin to engage with people and begin o
offer an altemative way of thinking about the world that gives
some hope and some prospect of dealing not just with the crises
‘and the repression, but a way forward for people

nis a sign

Inmn: We'e had tis phrase come up lot with Cindy Milstein,
who we've interviewed on the podeast before and who we've
published their newest book last year, “Try Anarchism For
Life,” and they talk a lot about pre-figurativ organizing and pre-
figurative spaces. And I think this kind of ies nto what you're
talking about, but 1 was wondering if you could kind of give us
your take on the importance of building pre-figurative spaces?

Michacl: 1 think that we have 1o find ways to bring people
together and 1o give people a sense of our own power and our
own creative and generative capaciy. 1 think that that says that
whether it free schools, or free clinics, or s breakfast for
children, o any of the things that the Black Panther Party did
‘and that many other people of color movernents did n a certain
period are here at our disposal.

For example, there’s a criss in childeare and child rearing
that’s_going on, and so_organizing people into childeare
collectives and people jointly taking responsibility for cach
other's children and creating trust relationships that make people.
el comfortable with that would be one example of that. n food
deserts, organizing people (0 break up some sidewalks and grow
some food.

One ofthe things that 've come o understand from doing this
work for a ong time i we ive n a kind of fractal o holographic
world in which the same contradictons are shot all the way
through the system. s at any level of magnification in ractals,
I you look at the coast of Norway, something in the fords, you
Know, it's the same patter i reproduced at every level from the
microscopic to the geological

And, you know, in a holographic image, any piece of the
Hologram has the whole hologran in it. So. 1 think that any
area that people want 10 choose (0 struggle in, as long as they.
understand that they're strugeling against the entirety of the
system in that area and that there’s an enmity built into that
relationship between the system and what they're rying to do, |
think that's the ertical understanding.

Soif people are engaged in community gardens, a long a5
they understand that that’ a pece of larger siruggle o create a
world in which nature has space (o reassrt iself, and tha people
can eat different food and better food.

And any area that you know of, whether i’ the struggle over
ransgender, nonbinary, people o anything else, once people
see that it the same system troughout tha they're struggling
with, it lays a basis for solidarity, for unity, and for a strugele
on many fronts simultancously that says. you know, sort of the
“War of the Flea,” [A book on guerrilly warfare] the system
is vulnerable in o million places because the system is i all
those places simultaneously. They have a lot of money, a lot of
power to deal with, and they're organized in these systems of
command and contzol and artifcial inteligence and al the ret of
it 10 keep track of everything, but we're also in all those places
simultancously as well, because we're everywhere. And tying o
‘coordinate those things, 1 think, is very important.

Inma: This is & lile bit of a backup that remembered that [
wanted (0 ask you about it So, ke, we're currenly seeing like
a pretty horriic and intense wave of legislation against trans
people and against queer people, and nonbinary people. I'm
Wondering what your take on that s s a kind of indicator,if we
have to imagine like fascism as spectrum of where we could
be going, like what s that ind of legislation and repression an
indicator of?

Michacl: think that obviously facism always tries 1o target the
people they think are the most vulnersble. They want to create
what they see as wedg issues that they can use to divide people
and segment people off. To the extent that we can reverse that and
We can try 10 unite people around a diffrent conception, that’s
inour favor.

One of the things that stnuck me s that you saw that they
ad his victory with conteoling the courts and overturing Roe
V. Wade, for example. What that revealed was actually how
narrow that really was, the forces that were pushing for that
Because then, you know, Nebraska and Kansas and these various
states suddenly had electoral rinforcement of abortion rights
happening. 1 think the same thing can happen here. 1 think that
there’s so many familis who are concerned about their own kids
and thei parental rights 10 get ther Kids the care they need. It
eveals that these fault lines 2o through the whole system.

‘What I'm trying to say is all of their power is based on

(‘OR(‘«'

‘l;v,r‘ff'

tepression and exploitation, and to the extent that people begin
1o sce that and how it impacts on them, it opens up the vistas of
possbility o say,if you're concerned about your child's right to
et the medical assistance they need, why is the State coming in
o prevent you from doing that? And what are the interests that
are rying to protect and. pick this a5 4 thieat (o the stabiliy of
their control over society?

‘e every crisis is an opportunity, the other thing
1 did want 10 talk about was the whole Covid pandemic, you
Know, going back to the prepper thing. 1 think you saw, again,
you know, lot ofright-wing exploitation of that issue. 1 think
tha o the extent that we can get out ahead of that and ook at for
example, ina society like Cuba, which had a completely different
elationship to this because they're organized in a differen way
and.they actually have a public health sstem and they acually
created their own vaccines, ot the ones from big pharma here in
this countey, and begin to get people to think about that and why
Cuba is stigmatized by this socicty? Why are they embargoing.
Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela,all these countries? You know, the
connection t0 8 global sense of what are the possibiliies in the
world?

‘What are the pre-figurative formations that are happening
inside imperialism by countries that are actually resising it?
I you look at the medical care system in Cuba, for example,
they have...Every neighborhood has doctor that lives in the
neighborhood-and nursing sfl and other people-and [the
doctor] works door o door with the people in that neighborhood
o be concerned about ther health and their el being not just
responding 10 a partcular medical crisis, and they have that
systematized ..So in that context, they were able 10 vaceinate
people, not through coereive measures butthrough trusted peaple
that were partof thei community that could reassure them about
the fact that they developed the vaccines themselves and that the
Cuban pharmaceutical industry came out of ther effor to deal
with chemical and biological Warfare by the United States

“The US was putting in swine fever s way 1o destroy pigs.
that every fumily in Cuba had their own litle pig to rise and.
supplement their food. So they developed animal vaceines first
o proteet those animals and then they wrk their way up from
there.

I had @ good friend recently who passed away from
complications of diabetes and the Cubans have developed.
reatments for diabetes and to prevent amputaion of limbs. And.
all of that s unavailable 1o us because of the US imperialist
embargo on Cuba and blockade. Giving people a sense tha, you
Kow, there actually are peaple iving i the world in much better
conditions.

“The United States i number one in incarceration, number one.
in many social ils, number one in overdose deatbs, and on and
on and on...number one n evictions. We can begin o really give.
a sense to people that this system has nothing (o offe themm but
destruction and that we have the capacity 1o create something
diffeent

Inmn: Thanks. I have only to say that...yes. Yes to all of that,
‘We are nearing the end...of the recording. notof the world.[Said.
as a dry joke.] Are there any last things that you want fo say
before-Tll ask you o plug anything that you want o plug at the
end-1 mean, that was such beautiful wrap up, feel like. But,
i€ here’s anything else you want (0 talk about, that we haven't
talked sbout?

Michael: Years ago, | was part of a group in Berkeley that took
ver the California College of Asts and Crafis o create an anti-
war poster-making facilty during the Vietnam War. And out of
that group, there was asinging geoup called the Red Star Singers
and they had a song called “The Power of the People s the Force.
Of Life™ And I think we really have to have thatsense. I, you
Know, it s a dialectic

“The main thing | want (0 try to convey i that, 0 the extent that
e can buildthe people’s power, it actually weakens that system.
AUl the power that they have is actually derived from their
exploitation and oppression of people. And that’s our power, you
Kiow, they manifest that against us. And if we take our power
back, it actually does weaken ther and increases our possibilities
of sruggling for a diferent world.

Tactually wanted to sor of beak the story here. I'm looking
for & collective that will take over “Turning the Tide.” I've
been putting it out for a long, long time. You can reach me at
antiracistaction_La@yahoo.com.

T want T want 1o see the paper become, in some way or
shape, institutionalized, 0 continue (0 meet, you know, send out
the 1700-1500 copies to prisoners. So, if anybody's interested.
in taking over that project and fulfiling that commitment, I'd
love 10 hear from them. And then, as I say, I have a chapter in

No Pasarin!: Antifasist Dispatehes from 3 World in Crisis™
edited by Shane Burley from AK Press. | contributed a lot of
‘material archival stfl and was interviewed extensively for “We.
Go Where They Go: The Story of Anti-Racist Action” from PM
Press. Two really, rally important books and well worth reading.
1 self published 4nd co-authored “The Blue Agave Revolution
‘The Poetry of the Blind Rebel” with Oso Blanco, Byron Shane.
Chubbuck, the Indigenous political prisoner.

Inmn: Wonderful, in “The Blue Agave Revolution,” is that
where we can find your short story about the three-way fight
between vampires, zombies and humans?

Michacl: I a kind of a novell. There's about seven chapters
of a longer thing. And there’ also a shorter one about a group.
of teenage mutants called Black Bloc, tha they have these kind.
of minor powers. [Two are siblings.] Jackpot and Crackpot,
Crackpor can find the weak point of anything and Jackpot can
just aect the odds slightly in their favor and a bunch of other
Young people, Slingshot and Slipknot, non-binary and so on

But there's also some differnt essays of mine i there and
a ot of poctry...Like the mathemaics of the enormity of social
economic inequaliy. People don’t understand exactly [that]
essentially, about 40% of the US population has the equivalent
50 cent in assets or les. People don't understand the class
divide and the contradictions inside the society. We'te duped.
into [identifying with] his as the richest country on the face of
the Earth and the most powerful

“There’s an enormous, hidden social cost and pain behind that
and we have 1o igure out how to galvanize that into the pover
that actually those people possess and the creativity that they
have to build a better world in the future.

100X100 Campaign to Increase Publication Frequency of Turning the Tide

Over its 37+ year publishing history, TTT has been published in magazine formal, as & 24-
page tabloid, and from time 10 time on a bi-monthly basis, ix issues a year.For the last few years,
conomie necessity has dictated that we guarantee four 8-pag issues a year. To restore bi-monthly
publication, we launched a fund-rising campaign we've dubbed “100X100.”

‘We are till looking for one hundred peaple who will donate 100 a year, or $10/mo, (0 make it
possible for TTT 1o resume publishing six isues a year, and continue mailing about 1700 copies of
cach issue into the prisons. You can donate at htp:/ko-f.convanti_racist_action_la. Help it 2o vial!

Turning the Tide doesn’ print itself or mail itsell Some prisoners who get the paper contrbute.
a few stamps.. Often, they pass the copy of TTT that they received from hand to hand, cell o cel, or

dosen or more other prisoness.Prisoners, If you c
find donors or subseribers outside prison to subsidize your sub, that would help a lot!

If you'd like 10 see Turning the Tide more frequently, if you want to contrbute to breaking
down the walls ofisolation and separation imposed by the prison system, please contribute. If you
can’tmanage $100 all at once, you could donate $10 4 month. But any donation you make can help.
Postage costs for a single issue of TTT are $1000 and climbing. If you can't donate yourslf, please
Help spread the campaign via your social media, 0 your Facebook frends,
‘and email contacts. Everything helps. Nobody makes a dime from working on TTT:

they send in the names and addresses of alf

http:

of now”

or Blucsky followers,

T campaign is successiul, we will esume publishing every other month n 2
ourbiggest expense. Nobody gets paid at TTT. Butthe Posta Service is not so generous. We have
handiul of people who are sustainers, making a monthly dontion, lasger number of people.
who subscribe once a year or so. Right now, we are at sbout 10% of our goal. LA area supporters
could set up house meetings, where the editor will pitch o your frends for support. The future of
Turning the Tide i in your hands. Now, while you're thinking about t, go to:

//ko-fi.com/anti_racist_action_la
and donate, or use paypal o aniacistaction_Ia@yahoc.com if you prefer Then share
it with your contacts, With your help Turning the Tide can sep up 10 the “urgency
{0 the growing criss of the Empire - andless war, police teror it impunity, mass
1Fyou tink TTT s a wsfultoo in the siruggle for peaple’s power and a new world,
plase donate today. I you wish, you can alsojust send cash,check or money order fo

Anti-Racist Action, PO Box 1055, Culver City CA 90232.

6 Postage is
Democracy Noir

Resistance to Viktor Orban’s Authoritarian, “llliberal” Rule in Hungary

Democracy Noir, a film by Connie Field
Reviewed by Michacl Novick

Democracy Noir is a powerful and moving documentary of contemporary
affairs, covering the past decade and a half of Hungarian history. It focuses on
the corruption and control of the media by the “illiberal” regime of Viktor Orban.
He has become a role model for authoritarian far right forces interationally,
including Trump’s MAGA movement in the US.

‘The film tells the story primarily through the lens of three women involved
in various aspects of the resistance to those developments, struggling to defend
or restore democracy in their country. One is a young street activist, dealing
‘with repression of mass protest and the contrary attitude of her mother, an Orban
supporter. The second is a lesbian journalist contending with an increasingly
controlled media ecosystem and growing hostility toward LGBTQ and women’s

rights. The third is a liberal parliamentarian representing an increa
tin the capital, Budapest (technically, twin cities Buda and Pest on the
banks of the Danube), whose re-election takes place while most of the country s

di

moving further right

Tellingly, according to film-maker Connic Field,
who spoke at a showing at the Laemmle Monica in
Santa Monica, no media outlets in Hungary would
make any footage available o them. But they were
able to supplement their own shooting, and interviews
with the three women, with footage from YouTube and
from other media sources internationally. Despite those
imposed limitations, the film is comprehensive and
well edited in covering the period from Orban’s first
election to the present. It shows his ability to change
the country’s constitution, and his defiance of criticism
from the European Union while taking full advantage
of EU subsidies to finance developments that favored
his cronies and family. He also uses those funds to
institute social welfare and “family friendly” policies that
cement his electoral base, especially in the more rural,
Catholic and conservative countryside. He relies on rural
voters and on prejudices, for example against the Roma
(“gypsies”) and so-called “globalists”.

“The counterpoint to these well-llustrated
developments and Orban’s electoral victories while
hollowing out democratic institutions, are the struggles
of the three women, who spoke at length with the film-
maker. They are filmed in their daily family life and are
also shown in street protests,in on-air reportage, and
in debates in the Hungarian parliament respectively.

“This brings home the costs and the contradictions of the
“illiberal” system Orban has imposed in a personal, non-
hetorical and down-to-carth way. Film-maker Field and
her husband, a Hungarian who lived through the period
‘when Soviet tanks rolled in to Hungary to suppress an
uprising in 1956, clearly care greatly about the country
and the individuals whose lives they share with us.

gly isolated

Birds of a feather: Donald Trump & Viktor Orban use the same playbook.

“There are two srking aspects and lessons for US
audinces,as the paralels to Trump e clear. One i that
Orban has been embraced as a role model not just by
MAGA, but by the wider and more mainsircam, business-
oriented “conservative” movement. This i shown by
procecdings of the US Conservative Political Action
Committee (CPAC), holding its meeting in Hungary and
boisterously applauding Orban. (One diffrence is that
Orban opted fo sate control of previous independent
media; MAGA isall about privatization and conirol of
public and social media by oigarchs, while using the
porwer o the stte o seck capitultion by private media
and public and private acadernic insttutons.)

“The sccond lesson s that it makes clear that you
cannot defeat fascism with liberalism. Orban portrays
himself deceitfuly as the “peace’” candidate vis a vis
the war in Ukrain, promising that no Hungarian troops
willfight there, (something that nither Ukraine nor
NATO ever calld for). He promises o instead fund local
cconomic development and support or mothers with
hildren. The oppositon rlies o abstact appeals to
“democracy.” It casts the clecton as a choice “between
Europe and Putin,”relying on histori anti-communist
sentiment about the former Soviet Union, and loses
averwhelmingly in mostof the county. The floundering
in this country by the Dems, also wedded to anti-
communism, NATO, and warnings about dictatorship,
without offering an altermative vision for green and
peacul transiton to @ more just sociey and cconomy
form clear paralll. This underscores the necd for
worker-oriented, ccosocialsteffort to overcome “divide
and conquer” with a strategy and practice to unite and
liberate.

Upcoming Showings Around the Country:

Community Screenings:

New Milford, CT - Oct 9: ACT Local New Milford at the
New Milford Public Library
5:30 pm Discussion, 6 pm Sereening

Denver, CO - Oct 21: Colorado Friends of Democracy at
Anchor Center

Doors at 6pm, Screening at 6:30pm, Virtual Q&A with
dircctor Connic Field to follow

Theatrical Presentations:

Rialto Cinemas Elmwood | Berkeley, CA |
October 1-2, 2025
Rialto Cinemas Cerrito | El Cerrito, CA
October 4-5, 2025
Rialto Cinemas Sebastopol | Sebastopol, CA |
October 15-16, 2025
Pickford Film Center | Bellingham, WA | October 2025

‘The Grand Cinema | Tacoma, WA | October 28, 2025,
Tickels: hips:/fgrandcinema.com/movi democracy-noie

Setting Up a Sereening:

I you are interested in hosting a screening of your own,
email: democracynoir @redowlpartners.com.

MUMIA'S VISION: A MESSAGE FOR THE MOVEMENT

hitps://wwvwprisonradio.org/commentary/mumia-vision-
message-to-the-movements

Dear friends, brothers, ssters, comrades, supporters, and
family — last but not least.

Ihave been reluctant to talk about my eye problers.
‘The reasons may have eluded some, but I explain that,
‘you know, in the context of being in prison any sign of
weakness is to be avoided at all costs. These are, unlike
many other institutions in society, heavily male, and
therefore “gender conscious” in a way that society is not.
Weakness brings predation.

So. I kept it quict. And I kept it quiet simply because
I wrongly believed that once I got examined and once it
was clear that this was a real visual contextual problem
that 1 would get a rather quick response. Boy, was [
wrong! I was, as the saying goes, as wrong as two left
foet. What I got was evaluation after evaluation after
evaluation after evaluation ~ lterally.

Tt was only when I went outside and those prior
evaluations were repeated by a noted ophthalmologist
that the ball began to roll. And even then the bal rolled
exceedingly slowly.

Thave been, for all intents and purposes, unable to
read, unable to write, unable to see anything more than
the masthead of a newspaper and not even s headlines;

blurry television burst of color. The “television'” is my
radio now.

I have been in that state for the better part of cight
months and counting. I would never have guessed this,
but this is where we are. And so, it took those kinds of
conditions and the analysis of the evaluation I told you
about, to move us, when we should have been moving

r

We need your financial support to continue sending the paper free to about 1700
prisoners around CA and the US. Postage & printing way up under Trump.

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

~ URGENT APPEAL ~

quicker, carlier. I apologize for my delay.
1 thank you for your patience, but our patience is

nearing an end. We are working, we are moving and we

are trying to resolve the situation and hope, hope that it is

1ot 100 late. Seven months, cight months of being in the

shadows and in the darkness, is eight months 00 many.
With love, not fear, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal

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and can send stamps or get someone outside the wal
| do so. If you work with an info shop or other zine o record distro, please consider orde:
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a
MATT SEDILLG 9N THE CRAFT SF GHICANG POLITICAL POETRY

Interviewed by Rey Rodriguez (Excorpts)

Rey: Matt, set the table for us about who you are and
‘your story. How did you start? Why do you write?

Matt: 1 started working (afier high school), but things
ot pretty rough. I found myself in a bad situation. I was
hopping from couch to couch, and I had a really bad
alcohol problem. One day. I found myself in the same.
library that my mother had always taken me to as a child. |
found myself deciding that I was going to dedicate myself
to the workers’ struggle. But here | was in the situation.
So I started reading these books about political cconomy.
With this knowledge, I decided I was going to march back
to Lowe's, where 1 was working at the time, and I was
‘going to organize the workers. They might not like me, but
they're going to respect me. I'd read this workbook that
said that to carn respect, you had to be the most diligent
worker.

There I was at Lowe’s hauling these bags as fast as |
could, and my plan backfired. Everyone in the break room
hated me because I was scen as kissing up o the bosses,
[who said] “How come you don’t work hard like Sedillo?”
Right? So it was not good advice. Oh, man, it was horrible!

‘The only good thing, [ met my friend, Dave Romero. He
was organizing to get USC to stop using sweatshop labor.
And so we went to this May Day rally. Afterward, we went
to this place with an open mic and dim lights. 1 saw people
doing poetry, and someone cven did a political poem.
Immediately, when I heard it, 1 knew exactly how he did
it. He started by introducing a concept. He developed it a
little more, and then he brought us back to where we were.

So it was a basic 3-act structure, where it started
with a pre-crisis, a crisis, a low point, and then finally a
conclusion, which I didn’t have the words for at the time,
but I knew exactly how to do what the guy had just done.
So I was like, I'm gonna come back here and I'm gonna
come back every weck. I know how to write like that. And
these people ain't like me, but they're gonna respect me.
‘That was my attitude.

Rey: And how old are you at the time?

Matt: At this point. I'm 26.

Rey: You're 26, and where was the place again?

Matt: Dim Lights in Pomona, California. So 1 started
doing poetry there. The first week was pretty good. The
second week was terrible because I went way over time,
talking about these massacres and stuff, and everyone got
bored and listless. And I got mad. | wasn't going 1o do it
anymore. But I was going to write one last poem. I was
going 1o tell them they're all idiots. And I did. And they
loved it.

And basically, they're looking at the person next to
them. You are the idiot, not me. I was not talking about
them, right? And so they loved it. And then I came back.
the next week and the next week, and I wrote a new poem,
“I Remember the Alamo,” which was celebrated, and
another entitled “Gangsters.” which was also celebrated.

‘Those first two poems are what the people cared abou.
And after that, 1 made a national slam tearm, and after that,
Iwas in the newspapers.

Now, I've spoken in over 100 universities in the
United States. I have spoken at Cambridge. I've spoken
in 10 different countries at this point, and my poetry has
been translated into six different languages. | have been
invited to speak in seven countries just this last week. |
just returned from the Medellin Poetry Festival, where |
made a big splash and many opportunities emerged. At
this point, I'm an internationally renowned touring poct

Rey: Well, what does it mean to be a poet now, especially
a Chicano Poet?

Matt: Well, to be a poet in these times (or at any time) is
the opportunity to erystallize what it means to be alive.
Songwriting is close as well, but to write the anthems and
the exact words that match what’s going on is thrilling. So
if you live in a historic moment where there’s just so much
‘going on, then you have the opportunity to be a great poct
There's a necessity to write poetry that’s strong and that
speaks to the world as it is to change it. So I think right
now is a great time. Its a terrible time in many ways for
many peaple. But the poets must step up and offer their
gifts to the ongoing crisis. Whether it be Palestine, the US.

Border, the Congo, or Yemen, any number of crises are
going on in the world, or whether it e that the kids are still
in cages because these things are still happening.

[A1] the Medellin Poetry Festival, I performed a poem
called “I Chicano,” which lays out all this history of
Chicano poets and of Chicano people who have fought
for social justice. It was important for me 10 be on this
giant stage with 80 other poets from 40 different countries.
It was important for me to represent Chicanismo on that
stage. 'm the first person wha has ever been on that stage
referring to Chicano culture and art. 1 am very certain of
that. T would not be able to do that if I were not a great
poet. The simple fact that I have something important to
say does not make me a great poet. It is my skill and my
craft that make me great. And it is the message that makes
it important,

Rey: All poetry is political, in a sense. Other Latinos
are writing poetry at the moment, but you're much
more forceful about writing political poetry.

Mat: T think that's true. Other people tend to write about
their lives. They tend to write about their feclings on any
given number of topics, and they write some incredible
political stories because they're very talented and they're
very thoughtful people. But I don't think they've taken
on the same kind of responsibility or mantle that I have.
Itake my craft very seriously, and I take my content very
seriously. I end up talking more these days about craft than
content with most people because I don’tfecl like arguing
with people anymore. I'm very interesed in craft and how
o craft a message. I'm known s this great political poet,
but I don’t talk politics with too many people.

Rey: Let's talk about eraft and how you have developed
yours. How do you teach craft in the prisons?

Matt: Right. So I teach in prisons. I show them a basic
three-act structure, which is stretched to four acts. You
have a pre-crisis, crisis, low point, and then a resolution.
Now, a low point doesn’t necessarily have to be a low
point.Itis an emotional shift. So if your entire story is sad,
your low point can be a ray of hope. And a crisis docsn't
hecessarily mean that something bad is happening. A crisis
simply means that it is a break from the routine. They
ould be drug addicts, and the crisis s trying to get clean.
They're going through something like that.

So that's the way storics work. We see someone in the
routine first, and that s how we leam about the character
Itis how we get invested in the character. So that’s how
basic stories work. So I show them that. In each one of
these quadrants, if you haven't answered these 4 questions
in each one of these boxes, then you're not through with
the section.

Rey: The students must love that structure.

Matt: They do. The prisoners love it, but college students
love it, people in public libraries love it, and high
schoolers love it. Everybody loves it. Ofientimes, we're
taught to teach writing workshops as a form of therapy and
healing. That's not what I do. I'm going 1o teach you how
to write better. I'm not a therapist. I'm not qualified to be
a therapist. I'm qualified t0 teach you how to write well,
and that is what I do.

Lalways have this fecling in me that quality is not
something that exists within me, and it’s not something
that exists within another person. Quality exists outside of
both of us. I’s there like the mountain, and we climb the
mountain and we reach the top of the mountain. It’s not
something that's within us. I's something that's outside of
us, and it's something that we attain and we reach. And, of
course, we have our weird litle ways of getting there. We
have our techniques. But it's something out there. There's
very little in this world that feels as rewarding as that

Rey: That's great. Let's come back to this structure.

Matt: I've been doing this for 15 years now. I always tell
them 1o develop a style, and then I tell them how they
do that. Well, you study the masters. You study effective
techniques to figure out how you can pull them off yourself
and the techniques that made those masters’ works so
masterful. And you come up with a combination of those
techniques. But even more than studying the techniques

s i o e ol i g < vt e i i oy s -

of others, study your own 0dd little neurological things.
that you do, and then sharpen them. And you become this.
‘mixed bag of allthese different little tricks and techniques.

‘They're unique to you, and you develop them and get
better. And that’s how you develop your style.

“Then you turn that style into a discipline. Then, turn
that discipline into a standard of excellence that you hold
yourself to every time. Once you develop a style, turn it
into discipline, and turn that discipline into a standard of
excellence, you become the world's leading expert on why
you are excellent. You can never be discredited, and you
will never seek validation, because you know better than
anyone why you're excellent.

“This year, I had the opportunity to read with Jon Fosse,
who was the 2023 Nobel Laurcate in lterature. I wrote
poem based on one of his poems, one of his novels, and
one of his plays. My poem combined all of his clements.
Afterward, we talked, and I gota chance to talk to him for
about 5 minutes. He immediately asked me how I put the.
poem together, and we launched into a story about craft.

And so here 1 am, having this conversation about
writing and techniques with a Nobel Laureate. And he was.
interested in how I did it in my process, and I was interested
in asking him questions about his writing process. And
we had this kind of conversation about process, writing,
structure, and techniques. But here I am being validated by
someone who won the Nobel Prize. | was happy because I
wrote the poem for him, and I was happy that he received
it well, but I didn’t need Jon Fosse to tell me that I'm a
great writer. | knew that because | had done the work. That
knowledge is what I want to inspire in other people.

Rey: Pocts are capturing the zeitgeist. But I feel like
they are the only ones who are doing it. From a Chicano.
perspective, there’s this erasure of history and culture.
‘The danger of the erasure is that there is a direct line
from the 500 years of systemic racism towards Brown
people to that moment when a man with an AK47 walks
into a Walmart in EI Paso and kills 23 men, women,
and children. All of that is very easy if our humas
not captured in art. From my perspective, the voice of
the poet is even more important now than ever. How is.
it that you have a presidential candidate running who
is mentioned in the [shooter's] manifesto and opencd
this door to hate?

Matt: Right. A presidential candidate who rose to
prominence on the idea of calling Mexicans, drug dealers,
and rapists. Whose main thing was to build the wall and
Mexico would pay for it. He's now running on the simple
phrase of mass deportation. Now, how is that? Because
every time people talk about Donald Trump as a racist it’s
always tied to some historical trend.

But the fact of the matter is that the border politics
are at the center of these things. The actual reality is that
the centerpiece of Donald Trump’s politics i the Mexican
border and there’s a denial of that basic fact even as it's
happening. And so, even most Chicano scholars and
intellectuals wouldn't say that. Yes. It's about many things.
But the comerstone, the focal point, i the question of the
Mexican border.

Rey: Yes, I would go deeper. That’s even why I interview
Chicano poets, because few are covering your work.

Matt: Well, this is the reality. In this country, we are the
‘most underrepresented group. We make up about 20% of
the country, and we're like 2% of children’s lterature. We.
are about 4% of people on television. These numbers arc
staggeringly horrible. I'm always going to be relegated to
some small thing,

So I decided to go South and look towards Latin
America to become a more well-known person. Over the
last four or five years, | have read at Casa de las Americas
in Havana, Cuba, the most prestigious cultural center in
the Americas. I've read at UNAM in Mexico City, the
most prestigious university in all of Latin America. I've
read at the Guadalajara Book Fair, one of the largest
book fairs in the world. It ranks with Frankfurt. I've read
at the Medellin Poetry Festival in Colombia. That's the
Big Four of Latin America, and I've done all that, and
yet here in the United States | haven'treceived the same
recognition.

On-Line Resources for Turning the Tide & ARA-LA/PART:

You can find archives of Turning the Tide at www.antiracist.org that go back more than 35 years. In addition, there are
several Facebook pages, such as facebook.comtideturning, and facebook.comvintercommunalsolidarity. You can follow @ara_|
losangeles on Twitter, antiracistaction_la on Instagram, and the De-Colonize LA! blog at ara-la.tumblr.com.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH FOR WHOM? LESSONS FROM THE HOLY LAND THREE

by Mimi Rosenberg, Ida B. Wells Media Defense Network

‘While the public outery to restore Jimmy Kimmel
to the airwaves is important — and not to diminish

the significance of that accomplishment — I want to
raise a deeper concern. Too often, censorship only
becomes recognizable when attached to great theatrical
prominence - witness Steven Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel
Yet, beneath the surface of entertainment and celebrity,
there runs a long and devastating history of silencing
dissent, punishing liberatory struggles, and criminalizing
voices of conscience.

‘We cannot forget that the “USA PATRIOT” Act,
drafted well before 9/11 and waiting in the drawers of
legislators, was quickly enacted by both parties to target
Muslim communities. Its most brutal effect was felt in the
destruction of the Holy Land Foundation, once the largest
Muslim charity in the United States.

Established in Texas in the late 1980s, the Foundation
raised tens of millions of dollars annually for disaster
relie, refugee assistance, and humanitarian projects
abroad, including for Palestinians living under siege and
‘occupation. Its leaders — Shukri Abu Baker, Ghassan
Elashi, Mufid Abdulgader, among others — were men
long devoted to philanthropy, community work, and
alleviating suffering.

After 9/11, the US government froze the Foundation's
assets and indicted its leaders on charges of providing
“material support o terrorism.” No “Freedom of
Expression” here. Their frst trial ended in a hung jury
— but the government retried them, this time leaning
heavily on anonymous Isracli intelligence witnesses
whose identities were concealed even from the defense.
The court allowed scret testimony and hearsay evidence.
breaking the very principles of due process

In 2008, several of the men were sentenced to decades
in prison, with Abu Baker and Elashi condemned to 65
‘years cach — in effect,life sentences. Their “crime”

‘was channeling humanitarian aid through charities

that the U.S. would later allege had ties to Hamas. No
evidence showed that money funded anything other
than food, medicine, schools, and orphanages that were
criminalized.

“The case of the Holy Land Three is not simply a
tragedy for those men and their families. 1€’ a chilling
demonstration of how “national security” laws like
the USA PATRIOT Act have been wiclded to silence
entire communities, criminalize solidarity, and destroy
the infrastructure of support for Palestine. It is also a
warning of how easily civil liberties can be suspended
when political speech or humanitarian aid challenges US
imperial intercsts.

“This silencing has taken many forms: imprisonment,
deportation, passport revocation, even denaturalization,
firings, and the weaponization of laws like the Espionage
Act— wielded against Julian Assange. Today, we see
whistleblowers across government and civil society
dismissed and blacklisted for exposing civil rights
iolations. We see Black activists targeted, as in the
prosecution of the Uhuru Three, for refusing to bow.
before imperial orthodoxy. And we see how federal
troops deployed in Los Angeles, DC and soon Portland
serve as testing grounds for suppressing dissent, edging
closer to martal law under the guise of “law and order.”

‘We must recognize this is not new. The repression of
dissent in the US has deep roots: from the Palmer Raids
and the congressional committees that legitimized them,
to McCarthyism, which destroyed lives and carcers;
from the deportation of Emma Goldman to the stripping
of Paul Robeson’s passport; from the FBI's role in the
slaughter of Fred Hampton to the quashing of antiwar
movements that once shook the foundations of empire.
‘The precedents were set long ago — Iynching and Jim
Crow were trial runs for fascistic rule, carried out to
uphold white supremacy and crush the struggles of Black
‘people and their allies

Here Ida B. Wells herself must be remembered. In
the late 19th century, she risked her life to document
Iynching, exposing it as not the product of “mob
passions” alone, but as a political tool — an instrument of
terror buttressed by police complicity, judicial sanction,
and the silence of the mainstream press.

Her insistence that lynching was state policy in
disguise gave depth to the understanding that repression
is not merely cultural but institutional. She showed
that the rope and the bullet were forms of censorship,
just as much as gag laws and loyalty oaths — silencing
communities, extinguishing dissent, and warning others
against resistance.

Certainly, today specch that challenges capitalism,
racism, and militarism — the three evils Dr. King
named — remains the speech most viciously suppressed.
Meanwhile, the right cloaks itselfin the mantle of “free
speech,” though it has rarely borne the brunt of state
repression, and in fact attacks the speech and livelihoods

of media figures, academicians and office holders.. The
reality i that freedom of speech in the US has always.
come with exceptions, workarounds, and exclusions
when specch opposes empire and capitalism.

“This is why our fightback against the Heritage
Foundation, FCC ideologues like Brendan Carr, and
propagandists like Stephen Miller must be historically
grounded. To defend the Holy Land Three, to demand
freedom for Assange, for Snowden, for the Uhuru Three,
for political prisoners from Mumia Abu-Jamal to Kamau
Sadiki,is to defend not only individuals but also the
principle that liberatory speech must not be criminalized.

Beyond demanding their release, we must insist on
lifting the stigma and restrictions imposed on them —
to legally clear Julian Assange, to recognize Edward
Snowden, who exposed the vast NSA surveillance

daring to speak frecly — and let us remember that the
far harsher penalties have always been reserved for those
who rise in opposition to UL.S. power at home and abroad.
Let us hold fast to a deeper understanding: the
struggle for freedom of specch is inseparable from the
struggle for liberation — for a world beyond poverty,
racism, and militarism. That i the history we inherit,
and the fight we must continue. And it is why our fight
for press expression goes beyond a mere proclamation of
First Amendment rights — for history shows those rights
alone have never guaranteed protection for dissent — and
‘must instead demand the liberation of all silenced voices,
including freedom for Mahmoud Khalil, now facing
deportation for speaking out for a free Palestine, from the
river to the sea.

Mini Rosenberg is the producer of Equal Rights and

dragnet against ordinary people, as a whistleblower, and
to end the punitive policing of Leonard Peltier’s every
move afier decades of unjust imprisonment,

Yes, it is important to resist when comedians like
Jimmy Kimmel push boundaries and face censorship.
Butlet us remember Lenny Bruce, hounded to death for

Call for an International Army to Liberate
Palestine and Defend Humanity

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has called on the global south to muster an international army to “liberate
Palestine” and defend itself against “tyranny and totalitarianism” promoted by the United States and NATO.

In his specch before the United Nations’ General Assembly, Petro called on countries “that do not accept genocide”
to muster “an armed force to defend the life of the Palestinian people.”

Petro declared, “We need a powerful army of the countries that do not accept genocide. That is why [ invite nations
of the world and their peoples more than anything, as an integral part of humanity, to bring together weapons and
armies. We must liberate Palestine. I invite the armies of Asia, the great Slavic people who defeated Hitler with great
heroism, and the Latin American armies of Bolivar

“We've had enough words, it time for Bolivars sword of liberty or death,” said the president, stressing that “they
will not just bomb Gaza, not just the Caribbean as they are doing already, but all of humanity that demands freedom.”

“Washington and NATO, they are killing democracy and help{ing] revive tyranny and totalitarianism on a global
scale. We must raise the black and red flag of liberty or death that Bolivar raised without forgetting the white, which
he raised together with the red and black, and is the color of peace and hope for life on carth and in the heart of
humanity,” Colombia President Gustavo Petro stated in his UN specch.

Petro’s call for armed intervention in Palestine echoed a similar call by the President of Indonesia, Prabowo
Subianto, who said that his country was willing to provide 20,000 soldiers for an armed force that could be deployed
in Gaza. [I1's not clear if that offer was for a more typical UN “peacckeeping” force to separate parties. Malaysia has
been more publicly in solidarity with Palestine than Indonesia.]

‘The United States delegation abandoned the General Assembly hall, in an apparent “walk-out” as a sign of protest
against the Colombian president’s criticism on his US counterpart, Donald Trump.

Trump launches federal attack on so-called “domestic
terrorism”, sends troops to Portland

It should be noted that although pundits have responded to Trump's executive order declaring antifa a domestic
terrorist that “antifa” i a loose political tendency, not an organization, Portland has an organized Rose City Antifa
that was originally part of the ARA Network (along with ARA-LA/PART and other chapters), and is now part of the
TORCH Anifa Network, along with anifa collectives in a number of cities. But Trump is likely to try to criminalize
and proseeute any opposition to the left of MAGA.

Continuing his attacks on higher education, Trump launched an investigation into charges of antisemitism at all 22
campuses of the California State University system. In an email to the CSU community, Chancellor Mildred Garcia
wrote that the fods had initiated a system-wide antisemitism complaint, and were reaching out to faculty and staff
dircetly to discuss their experiences on campus.

Cal State L.A. said that the EEOC has subpocnacd the university to turm over the personal phone numbers and
email addresses of all employees. Demonstrators there had erected a pro-Palestinian encampment at the university in
spring 2024,

Meanwhile, protests have erupted over compliance with similar threats by the president of the UC system, who
turned over personal information about 160 faculty and students to federal authorities without contesting the demand,
and without offering the students or professors an opportunity to dispute the charges of antisemitism.

MAGA Pundits Rehabilitating Hitler

utps/wwtheatlantic. cony'ideas'archive/2025/09/maga-bitler-anti-semitism/654078/

Excerpt [story behind pay wall] : “The story we got about World War I is all wrong,” a guest told Tucker Carlson
on his podcast. 1 think that's right.” replied Carlson. The guest, a Comell chemistry professor named David Collum,
then spelled out what he meant: “One can make the argument we should have sided with Hitler and fought Stalin.” Such
sentiments might sound shocking to the uninitiated, but they are not to Carlson’s audience. In fact, the notion that the
German dictator was unfairly maligned has become a running theme on Carlson’s show~—and beyond.

Last September, Carlson interviewed a man named Darryl Cooper, whom he dubbed “the most important popular
historian working in the US today.” Coopers conception of honest history soon became clear: He suggested that British
Prime Minister Winston Churchill might have been “the chief villain of the Second World War,” with Nazi Germany
at best coming in second. The day after the episode aired, Cooper further downplayed Hitler’s genocidal ambitions,
writing on social media that the German leader had sought peace with Europe and merely wanted “1o reach an acceptable
solution to the Jewish problem.” He did not explain why Jews should have been considered a “problern”

Teen school shooter in CO motivated by white supremacy, antisemitism online

Social media accounts fied to the 16-year-old who shot two classmates at Evergreen High School were littered with
references to white supremacy, antisemitism and other mass shootings — signs the teen had been radicalized online
before his attack, experts say.

But some of the references were enigmatic enough that they might appear innocuous to people unfamiliar with
their meaning, which is why those experts say parents and teachers need to become aware of a new subeulture that is
developing online and exposing children and teens to violent extremism.

Feds charge three women with doxxing ICE agent
Two women from Southern California and one from Colorado face federal charges alleging they pursued an ICE.
agent by car through the streets of Los Angeles and posted the officer’s home address on social media, the Justice
Department in late September. The women — Cynthia Raygoza, 37, of Riverside; Sandra Carmona Samane, 25, of
Panaroma City; and Ashleigh Brown, 38, of Aurora, Colorado — have been charged with one count of conspiracy and
one count of publicly disclosing the personal information of a federal agent.

Justice, and co-producer with Ken Nash of Building
Bridges, which air on WBAI and other Pacifca stations
and affliates, and a people’s attorney in New York. She is
a co-founder of the Ida B. Wells Media Defense Network.
(see https://idabwellsmediadefense.org/)

Anti-Racist Action Publishers
PO Box 1055
Culver City, CA 90232-1055

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* Oct 1-31 US/AFRICOM Troops Out Of Africa Month of Action
* Oct 4 - International Day of Action to End the Siege & Genocide in Gaza
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* Oct 18 - No Kings Day - Say No to US Imperi itarism & Racism
* Oct 25 - Defend Cuba 4p, Westwood Fed Bldg, 6:30p, Strategy & Soul Ctr.
* Nov 15 - Cold War Truth Commission, @Red House, 1251 S. St. Andrews Pl

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- MUMIA ABU JAMAL
Send cash, check, or money order payable to: Anti-Racist Action,

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A JOURNAL OF INTER-COMMUNAL SOLIDARITY

[

Volume 37 % Number5 * ISSN 1082-6491 * Oct.-Dec. 2025

JIOIN US IN CELEBRATING THE IST ANNUAL

Dlindividual Subscription: $20 0 Institutional Subscription: $30 T ARA Benefit CD: $10+$3 S&H
01 25th Anniversary Commemorative Edition: $5 [ Additional Donations $.
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Email Phone: City. State: __ Zip:

T published st east four times 2 year. No checks to Turing the Tide, please! Can't process them!
Please write us every time your address changes, with your EXACT address as it should appear on the address
label. TTT is @ small project with few resources: we can't provide books or legal aid, or investigate individuals”
innocence.

in Greeley, Colorado

From L.A. to Portland to Palestine -
Occupation is a Crime!

INSIDE

* Assata Speaks
* Mumia’s Vision

* Democracy Noir

# Live Like the World
is Dying, pt. 2

* Matt Sedillo on
Chicano Poetry

* Free Speech for
Whom?

#* Charlie Kirk
& TPUSA

* Dignity is Non-
Negotiable

* and Much More!

‘Anti-Racist Action-LA/
People Against Racist Terror
PO Box 1055
Culver City, CA 90232
wwwantiracist.org &
747-656-PART (7278)
antiracistaction la@yahoo.com