In this interview, Ann Hansen, author of Direct Action: Memoirs of an Urban Guerilla and Taking the Rap: Women Doing Time For Society's Crimes, discusses her work with the Prison for Women Memorial Collective (P4WMC). The group is dedicated to having a permanent Memorial Garden and Gallery for all of the women who died in federal prisons, to be located inside the now-closed P4W Prison. It is their goal to exhibit art, writing and films about the women in prison, so they will be remembered as the fully fleshed-out human beings they were. Ann recounts recent challenges her group faced working with non-prisoner allies.  https://p4wmemorialcollectivedotcom.wordpress.com 

From Embers

VABF Day 7: Ann Hansen on Prisoner Organizing and Working With Allies

The Fairy Creek blockades and other blockades on unceded Pacheedaht and Ditidaht territories continue under the invitation of Pacheedaht Elder, Bill Jones. Please consider supporting the Defence of Indigenous Land BIPOC gofundme: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-indigenous-land-defenders-fairy-creek) and the fundrazr for legal defense and front line support: https://fundrazr.com/last_stand_for_forests?ref=ab_4psL41hKcg54psL41hKcg5  

VABF Day 6: Five Reports From Ada'itx (Fairy Creek)

Jennifer Wickham, a member of Cas Yikh, the grizzly house, in the Gidimt'en Clan of the Wet'suwet'en people and media manager for the Gidimt'en yintah access point who is living on the yintah and working on a feature-length documentary film about Wet’suwet’en sovereignty as a creative producer. In this interview, Jennifer discusses recent developments in the Wet'suwet'en resistance against the Coastal GasLink pipeline construction, the effect of COVID-19 on her community, the legacy of the Residential School system, and the solidarity between Indigenous nations. Learn more about how you can support the Gidimt'en on their website: https://www.yintahaccess.com/ Check out recent updates from the Gidimt'en resistance here: https://www.yintahaccess.com/news Follow the Gidimt'en Checkpoint instagram @yintah_access Listen to Sleydo' Molly Wickham's interview from the 2020 VABF last year here: https://victoriaanarchistbookfair.ca/gidimten-clan-spokesperson-molly-wickham-on-wetsuweten-anti-pipeline-resistance/

VABF Day 6: Jennifer Wickham on Wet'suwet'en Anti-Pipeline Resistance during COVID-19

An interview on multiple intersections of art and activism with Stefan Christoff, a longtime community organizer and musician living in Montréal / Tiohtià:ke. This interview will highlight various forms of expression of the arts within social movements against systemic oppression, injustice and for collective liberation.   Stefan will highlight active collaborations and efforts to build support within networks of artists and cultural workers for efforts to defend the rights of precarious workers within the context of the pandemic who are holding down frontline positions. Stefan has collaborated with artists and activists globally and this interview will focus on the intersections of his work within this sphere.

VABF Day 5: Art and Activism With Musician and Community Activist Stefan Christoff

Sarah Marcha speaks to the revolutionary science of women's equality called Jineoloji that was developed in the autonomous region of Rojava. Jineoloji is an international movement spanning Europe and the Middle East. In this interview, Sarah discusses the leadership roles of women in the system of Democratic Confederalism, and provides examples of the transformative nature of womans' struggles against patriarchy in Rojava. Of particular importance in Sarah's discussion is her account of the all-encompassing role of self-defense in ensuring and maintaining the revolutionary women's struggle. More information about the Jineoloji Academy can be found at: http://jineoloji.org/en/ If you have questions, feel free to email: jineolojicenter@riseup.net Theme music by AwareNess 

VABF Day 5: Jineoloji: Learning from the Revolutionary Women's Movement in Rojava with Sarah Marcha

Hawaiian activist and land defender Kahala Johnson discusses anarchism through the lens of Indigeneity and shares insights regarding resistance struggles, including land reclamations and direct action blockades that halted the construction of a massive telescope on Mauna Kea, one of the most sacred volcanos in Hawaiian culture.

VABF Day 4: Kahala Johnson on Hawai'i, Anarchism, and the Politics of Indigeneity

In this interview, Gord Hill discusses the making of his new edition of The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book and tactics and strategies the history of Indigenous resistance teaches us. He provides an analysis of present day resistance against the right wing, as well as an account of the difference between the ideology of pacifism and civil disobedience tactics. For an archive of Indigenous resistance visit: https://warriorpublications.wordpress.com

VABF Day 3: Gord Hill on 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance

Welcome to Day Two of the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair! In this episode, Uri Gordon discusses some issues surrounding the use of the terms ‘prefiguration’ and ‘prefigurative politics.’ He is the author of several books and articles on contemporary anarchism, including Anarchy Alive!: Anti-Authoritarian Politics from Practice to Theory, and Prefigurative Politics between Ethical Practice and Absent Promise. He is co-editor of Anarchists Against the Wall: Direct Action and Solidarity with the Palestinian Popular Struggle, and The Routledge Handbook of Radical Politics. Uri co-founded the Anarchist Studies Network and his work has been translated into 13 languages. The essay discussed can be found on Crimethinc's website: https://crimethinc.com/2018/06/12/prefigurative-politics-catastrophe-and-hope-does-the-idea-of-prefiguration-offer-false-reassurance

VABF Day 2: Uri Gordon on Prefigurative Politics

Welcome to the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair! N.O. Bonzo is an anarchist street artist and illustrator whose work is much admired in the activist community. In this interview, Bonzo discusses their beautifully illustrated edition of Peter Kropotkin’s most famous book, Mutual Aid, and the politics of anarchy and art. Check out Bonzo's edition of Mutual Aid: https://www.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1185  

VABF Day 1: N.O. Bonzo on Anarchy, Art, and Mutual Aid

The Terrain Vague, which loosely translates into English as the "wasteland,"  is a large de-industrialized and partially wooded area on the outskirts of Hochelega, a neighbourhood in Montreal’s east end, and close to the Port of Montreal. That space is under threat from several major development projects, and those who care about the Terrain Vague have been getting organized in the past years, connecting the developments to broader colonial-capitalist strategies at play by the Quebec government, making links with neighbourhood groups, and taking direct action to physically defend the space. I spoke with a francophone anarchist from Montreal about the history and context of the Terrain Vague, the Quebec government vision for the St. Lawrence River, logistical hubs as points of anarchist intervention, questions around settler-led land defence and how it relates to indigenous land defence, and how this project might connect to a renewed push to “Shut Down Canada.” Terms: Terrain Vague - Wasteland Avantage St Laurent - "Advantage St. Lawrence", formerly known as the Quebec Maritime Strategy CAQ / Coalition Avenir Quebec, ruling right-wing nationalist provincial political party  Links: Le terrain vague n'est à personne Mobilisation 6600 Montreal Counter-Information Contrepoints Media With music from Total Nada and Blemish

Terrain Vague

An interview with Mike Gouldhawke about Truth and Reconciliation Day, the Canadian state,  and #LandBack.  Find more of Mike's work here: https://mgouldhawke.wordpress.com/ Also check out his new chapter "By All Means, Anti-Politics" in the new Little Black Cart anthology "Not On Any Map." Music in this episode by AwareNess.    

Mike Gouldhawke on Truth, Reconciliation, The State and #LandBack

Writer, researcher and teacher Dr. Alex Khasnabish talks about a recent workshop he gave at the Halifax Anarchist Bookfair called “You Can’t Police Yourself Out of a Pandemic: Anti-Authoritarian Strategies in an Age of Crisis.” We discuss both state and far right responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the tensions surrounding vaccination, anti-authoritarian strategies for collective care, and questions about where to go from here. In the later part of the episode, Alex briefly references an article he wrote for Roar magazine entitled "From white fragility to white power in the age of COVID-19" - you can read it here

The state, the virus, the far right: how can anti-authoritarians intervene?

Interview with Tawinikay about her essay released in spring 2021 Settlers on the Red Road: On Indigeneity, Appropriation and Belonging which addresses the problem of race-shifting in anarchist and anarchist-adjacent spaces.  Music from Snotty Nose Rez Kids.

Settlers on the Red Road

This episode features an interview with two members of the Halifax Anarchist Bookfair collective. We talked about how and why to organize an anarchist gathering during the pandemic, anarchy in Halifax, and why we need anarchist bookfairs in 2021. Music by Slow Man Tofu (Kingston) and Desperate Times (Halifax).

Coming Together Amid The Pandemic

For this episode I sat down (in person!) with author, farmer and organizer Aric McBay. We talked about the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, what climate scientists are now saying about the future of the planet, whether it's still worth trying to stop climate change, and whether and how to maintain hope in the face of increasingly apocalyptic news. To learn about Aric's most recent book, Full Spectrum Resistance, check out the full episode we did with Aric two years ago when the book came out. To find the book and more from Aric, check out https://www.aricmcbay.org/. You can also find his recent handbook on civil disobedience, co-authored with Pamela Cross, here: http://directaction.works/Direct-Action-Works-Mar-22-2020.pdf. 

Climate Crisis, Activism, and the Future Of The Planet

From Embers is a regular show about anarchist and anti-authoritarian politics in so-called Canada. We are part of the Channel Zero Anarchist Podcast Network.

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From Embers

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