Looking for hard-hitting analysis on the growing crisis? Searching for a revolutionary anarchist, anti-fascist, and autonomous anti-capitalist alternative to the far-Right and the neo-liberal center? Looking to learn more about grassroots revolt and social movements across North America? Every week It’s Going Down produces three audio programs: IGDshow: Features interviews and discussions produced for KPFA 94.1FM – Berkeley which airs Fridays, 12pm-1pm PT across Northern and Central California. This Is America: Audio analysis and roundup of resistance and headline news, all from an anarchist perspective IGDcast: Features raw interviews and discussions. IGDcast is also proudly part of the Channel Zero Anarchist Podcast Network, Subscribe and rate us on iTunes. We’re also on Stitcher, Spotify, Podbean, Podtail, Listen Notes, and BluBrry If you want to come on the show, please contact us.Read more »
Looking for hard-hitting analysis on the growing crisis? Searching for a revolutionary anarchist, anti-fascist, and autonomous anti-capitalist alternative to the far-Right and the neo-liberal center? Looking to learn more about grassroots revolt and social movements across North America? Every week It’s Going Down produces three audio programs: IGDshow: Features interviews and discussions produced for KPFA 94.1FM – Berkeley which airs Fridays, 12pm-1pm PT across Northern and Central California. This Is America: Audio analysis and roundup of resistance and headline news, all from an anarchist perspective IGDcast: Features raw interviews and discussions. IGDcast is also proudly part of the Channel Zero Anarchist Podcast Network, Subscribe and rate us on iTunes. We’re also on Stitcher, Spotify, Podbean, Podtail, Listen Notes, and BluBrry If you want to come on the show, please contact us.Read Less
The post This Is America #87: ICE Resistance, Portland Report, Recession appeared first on It's Going Down.
Welcome, to This Is America, August 22nd, 2019.
We have a great show for you today. First, we start with a report from West Virginia, on how people are mobilizing against threats of ICE raids and then speak with someone in Rhode Island about a recent mass mobilization against an ICE detention facility that ended in a brutal attack by guards.
We then speak with someone from Rose City Antifa about this past Saturday’s mass antifascist mobilization. We then switch to a discussion, talking about the economy, a possible recession, and also touch on a recent leaked GOP memo, which orders Republicans to down play rising far-Right violence and blame it on autonomous social movements.
All this and more, but first, let’s get to the news.
In the face of tanking support, a slowing economy, continued unrest, and growing anger over his policies, Trump continues to double-down on attacking social movements and immigrants, his go to enemies when it comes to throwing red meat to his base. This week, Trump announced that his government was now inacting indefinite detention of migrants:
…[it is attempting to] keep thousands of immigrant families in indefinite detention, the children along with their parents. He also lashed out at birthright citizenship, declaring that his administration was “looking very seriously” into putting an end to a right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
The change in Department of Homeland Security procedures on family detentions—long advocated by Trump’s fascist aide Stephen Miller—is the most sweeping of all of Trump’s anti-immigrant measures to date.
Its expect that this move will be challenged directly in court, as it violates previous laws which state that migrant children cannot be kept in detention for more than 20 days and sets standards for their care. While Trump backed down in the face of the #AbolishICE movement following his attempt at family separation, his new strategy is simply to go against the existing legal framework right off the bat, violating both the US Constitution and international law.
The push is also tied in to a drive within the administration and the private prison corporations backing it to build new concentration camps, as the new policy means that whole families would be interned together. With existing camps at capacity, the administration is pushing to build more. This placing of migrants into a permanent state of exception is coupled with Trump’s talk of ending “birthright citizenship,” long a goal of white nationalists and Nativists that would upend Constitutional amendments guaranteeing citizenship to those born in the US and instead make it based on race, status, or devotion to the State.
The Justice Department recently sent out an email to all its employees that included an article from the white nationalist and anti-immigrant website, V-Dare, which is headed by Peter Brimelow. Brimelow is a long time associate of Richard Spencer, and attended the 2016 National Policy Institute gathering in Washington DC where neo-Nazis gave Hitler salutes to cries of “Hail Trump!”
As Buzzfeed wrote:
An email sent from the Justice Department to all immigration court employees this week included a link to an article posted on a white nationalist website that “directly attacks sitting immigration judges with racial and ethnically tinged slurs,” according to a letter sent by an immigration judges union and obtained by BuzzFeed News.
In new audio obtained by The Intercept:
The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, a powerful lobbying group that represents major chemical plants and oil refineries, including Valero Energy, Koch Industries, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Marathon Petroleum, has flexed its muscle over environmental and energy policy for decades.
In an audio recording obtained by The Intercept, the group concedes that it has been playing a role behind the scenes in crafting laws recently passed in states across the country to criminalize oil and gas pipeline protests, in response to protests over the Dakota Access pipeline. The laws make it a crime to trespass on public land used for “critical infrastructure,” impose a fine or prison time for violators, and hold protesters responsible for damage incurred during the protest. Many of the laws also carry heavy fines to groups and individuals who support such demonstrations.
The Zapatistas are announcing the opening of new territories and new initiatives and have recently released a flood of new communiques along with a call for a gathering in their territory. This new activity comes in the wake of the coming to power of a new Left president who has promised to push threw a slew of mega-projects which directly threaten Zapatista communities and many suspect, are also linked to a string of assassinations of indigenous organizers.
According to ROAR:
The Zapatistas have created seven new initatives and four new Autonomous Municipalities. In doing so, they have significantly expanded the structural and organizational capacity of Zapatista Autonomy.
More information is expected to be released soon, with more communiques. Meanwhile in other resistance news:
This looks a lot nicer than the one we made with our burner phone 😋 thanks @mikaelacurry !! Ppl doing the online work to keep these camps going don't often get their labor recognized, but we appreciate you, friend!!
A post shared by @ blackjewelminersblockade on Aug 20, 2019 at 11:30am PDT
This is day three of the African migrant protests in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico. Thousands of African refugees, including women and children, are demanding their rights to humanitarian visas to be able to legally pass through Mexico to make it to the US border to apply for asylum pic.twitter.com/TkKqh7btWW
— Brooke Kipling (@brokenlacacho) August 21, 2019
Direct from Oppenheimer Park: supporters of the tent city block the intersection facing BC Housing headquarters to demand housing for all, 10 minutes before the deadline to remove all structure from the park pic.twitter.com/DUgTNoKw6h
— Against Displacement (@stopdisplacemnt) August 22, 2019
pic.twitter.com/V2BXz6Iuck
— WCHL & Chapelboro (@WCHLChapelboro) August 21, 2019
Police ruthlessly unleashed pepper spray upon families celebrating “Marcy Day” at Marcy Houses in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, New York. Undaunted, residents defended themselves by throwing various objects at the police, injuring three officers.
According to the Brooklyn Paper:
Police claim locals partying at the Marcy Avenue projects near Park Avenue began hurling glass bottles and other objects at officers responding to reports of an unruly gathering at 11 p.m. on Aug. 17.
Locals shared a different version of events on social media, claiming the event was peaceful until police showed up and started breaking up what one Instagram user called a relatively low-key Marcy Day.
Police responded to a second incident three hours later, when multiple gunmen opened fire as officers responded to another riot at Bainbridge and Thomas Boyland streets, according to authorities.
Just was in the middle of a riot on my way home from the deli. Cops beating people up, spraying people with mace, slamming people's heads into car windshields.. i had permission to film the first guy pouring milk into his eyes, the concerned guy telling me to stop filming wasn't aware.. but anyways #marcyhouses check out all the police running there was about 40 of them update: someone was shooting from the roof across the street…
A post shared by Huey Crowley (@hueycrowley) on Aug 17, 2019 at 8:11pm PDT