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Outline:
S: This is Sprout
C: and this is Charyan, and we are the hosts of Molotov Now!, thank you for joining us on this episode of the podcast.
S: On this episode we will be Interviewing Dr. Aaron Goings about their presentation regarding the 100th year anniversary of the death of a local wobbly named William McKay at the May Day On The Harbor Celebration put on by the Blackflower Collective and doing a report back on the days festivities, but before we go on with our regularly scheduled Radical News Round Up we here at Molotov Now! have an announcement regarding the future of our podcast that we would like to share with our listeners.
C: That’s right as of now we are officially Co-Conspirators of the Channel Zero Network
S: Hold on Charyan, what is the Channel Zero Network?
C: I’m glad you asked,
Channel Zero is an English-based anarchist radio/podcast network run by radical media makers. We are here to present anarchist analysis & context to deepen peoples understanding of the situation and broaden the struggle. We share stories from the front-lines, lessons from history, and battle-tested ideas to spread revolutionary practices.
During these days of late capitalism & rising nationalism we are constantly bombarded with right wing radio and shallow liberal analysis with the threat of fascism. Everything in this framework falls within parameters set by the state and offers no way out. We present perspectives that exist outside of that paradigm through interviews, documentaries, panel discussions and audio-zines.
Fuck what you heard, this is resistance.
S: This is gonna be sick
C: For sure but along with a new platform that allows us the opportunity to bridge the divide between rural and urban radicals comes a fresh start with a new format for the podcast. We will be limiting our reporting for the time being to our radical news round up and stories specific to radical organizing within the Pacific Northwest and the Grays Harbor Area, as well as warning the people about those mischievous Sabot Cats.
S: We hope this in turn will allow us the time needed to sharpen the focus on the main content of our episodes, start planning for future episodes, and hopefully in the near future with your support and donations we may be able to begin to better fortify the defenses in our recording studio from the Sabot Cats in order to start posting on a bi weekly schedule as opposed to monthly and bring you twice the content .
C: So be sure to check us out on the Channel Zero Network as well as other great podcasts such as Its Going Down, The Final Straw, Indigenous Action, Grounded Futures, and many more. If you enjoy this content and would like to see more of it please consider donating to our sponsor the Blackflower Collective, you can find all the ways to donate them at linktr.ee/blackflowerllc.
S: The Blackflower Collective LLC is a worker-owned and operated enterprise dedicated to the creation of a world in which individuals have the autonomy, knowledge and resources to create fulfilling lives and communities free of oppression.
Blackflower’s mission is to learn together the ways in which to healthily relate to each other and our environment. They seek to sustain and nourish the collective through fulfilling work, personal empowerment and equitable compensation while providing a hub for political thought and culture in Grays Harbor County.
Their goal is to provide low income housing to people facing homelessness. Pairing this living experience with a social center that provides for the needs of the residents and wider community.
C: If you are interested in participating in or donating to this project for more information please visit linktr.ee/blackflowerllc.
S: We will return after these brief messages, when we come back we will kick this episode off with our regularly scheduled Radical News Roundup, but for now a word from our sponsors.
Local News:
Welcome back to Molotov Now! Time for the news.
In Local News:
The third annual May Day on the Harbor was held on the first of May, or International Worker’s Day, in Hoquiam this year. More on that later in the show.
Picking up on a story that we have been covering in Dayton Washington…
After years of harassment at the hands of her local law enforcement, we are please to announce that the charges against Katey Hussey have been dropped. After going to court the prosecutor has decided to drop all charges relating to her case. This is likely because if the case had gone to trial the police department would have ended up looking bad if not loosing the case outright. This is great news but Katey still faces a tough battle to regain what has been stolen from her. During and because of this ordeal she has lost her job and housing. The charges still show up on her record as of now and so none of her typical contract work will hire her at the moment. Her mental health has suffered because of this harassment and she said “The charges may be dismissed but that doesn’t bring my home back or my job or the people I had in my life who looked at me differently because of this whole thing now”. With no sense of closure or justice she has been thoroughly abused by this system and now has to work to get to where she was prior to all of this. When asked what justice would look like she said that having disciplinary charges brought against the sheriff and deputies involved would be a good place to start. Some measure of accountability so that this doesnt end up happening to anyone else. If any of our listeners have suggestions for getting Katey the justice she deserves please contact us at sabot_media@riseup.net. This situation has her feeling lost and she would appreciate any advice or direction so that she can help to make sure no one else has to go through this.
On a warm holiday Sunday in Southwest Washington State, dozens of local queers celebrated the unofficial start of summer by gathering from morning till afternoon for a ‘Big Gay Wedding’ — right outside of a Christian Nationalist hate church that preaches their eradication. On May 28th Vancouver residents came together in solidarity to protest the on going “King James Conference” that was being hosted by christian nationalist hate-preacher and Jack Chick reject Aaron Thompson. Thompson, of Washington’s Sure Foundation Baptist Church, who’s sermons openly call for the genocide of Queer folk received viral attention last November as a video of one of his sermons praising the Club Q mass shooter and calling the atrocity that left 5 dead and 17 injured a “Good Thing” began to make its rounds about the internet.
CONTENT WARNING genocidal content, slurs, anti LGBTQIA2S+ rhetoric, etc
On the 4th Day of this christian nationalist conference, locals had organized a “Big Gay Wedding” in order to protest the ongoing genocidal rhetoric of the church, including 4 Queer Marriages, multiple musical performances including Gabe from 1876, Indigenous Spoken Word, Drag Show performances by Johnny Nuriel and Isiah, And speeches Kim Harliss from the Vancouver City Council and various local pastors of inclusive churches who came out to support the queer community and speak out against the genocidal rhetoric of the Sure Foundation Baptist Church.
In the face of rising christo-fascist violence in the United States, organizers did a wonderful job of doing everything in their power to maintain a protest environment that was safe for all members of the community to participate in, they provided free water and snacks for participants, maintained free and clear access to the entrance to the roadway while offering assistance to those pulling out who couldn’t see past the crowd, multiple medics stood near by with first aid and trauma kits, as well as a well armed local community defense group well trained in de escalation tactics who provided security for the event. The preparation taken on by the organizers and the commitment to take seriously the threats of fascism when they arise in their community are great examples of what we should see in our actions. There are many lessons that can be learned from such a wonderful action of queer resistance and militant joy.
In a Instagram post written by drag performer Johnny Nuriel stated that
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs2cVj2OlZO/?igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg%3D%3D
For more information about this action, keep a eye out for a report back from The Harbor Rat Report coming soon
The Everett City Council expanded its “no sit, no lie” law Wednesday, giving the mayor new authority to set buffers around social service providers and areas “highly impacted by street-level issues.”
The council in 2021 approved the law that created a buffer zone around the Everett Gospel Mission, which runs a homeless shelter on Smith Avenue. The ordinance made lying down and sitting on nearby public property — mainly sidewalks and streets — a misdemeanor with a fine up to $500 and 90 days in jail.
In April, city staff and Mayor Cassie Franklin proposed expanding that law with broad authority for the mayor to make similar buffer zones as she sees appropriate. It also would ban groups and people from giving food, supplies and water to someone on city property in the buffer zones, unless they have a permit.
On Wednesday, the same day Snohomish County published its annual homelessness snapshot that found an 8.5% growth from last year’s count, the council passed the law on a 4-3 vote.
Everett City Council President Brenda Stonecipher, who voted for the law, said the buffer zones are imperfect solutions to homelessness but can help persuade residents from opposing service facilities opening near them.
Council member Paula Rhyne, who voted against the law, said people should have somewhere they can go before being told they can’t be there. Her request to tie the law’s effective date to when the city opens a day shelter failed on a similar 4-3 vote.
Across the street from Everett City Hall, people who coordinate mutual aid groups and stock a free food pantry and refrigerator in north Everett rallied to decry the ordinance before and during the council meeting Wednesday.
In a response to this action by the city council, local mutual aid group Punks in the Park said on twitter that the City is already leaving people uninformed of the decisions being made and expressed that the permits mentioned do not exist in reality. They have held demonstrations in opposition to this ordinance and have a call for action currently around this issue.
https://twitter.com/PunksEverett/status/1653853966126686208
For more information follow Punks In The Park, Medic Viv, and South Everett Mutual Aid on twitter.
As mentioned in our last show the Dual Power West Gathering is happening June 2 – 4 an hour outside of Portland, OR. This unconference is being organized by a temporary collective of autonomous organizers in an attempt to spread community, radical ideas, and action throughout the west coast and beyond. Come on out to help organize the event and learn from other participants how we can resist State power and build collective autonomous power outside the State. For more information and to RSVP for the event visit the website dualpowerwest.org
Monthly Radical News Roundup:
It’s Going Down is a digital community center for anarchist, anti-fascist, autonomous anti-capitalist and anti-colonial movements across so-called North America. Their mission is to provide a resilient platform to publicize and promote revolutionary theory and action. You can find the following articles on their website at itsgoingdown.org:
May 27, 23 Independent Media in the Social Struggle: An Interview with Avispa Midia
Crimethought is everything that evades control:
CrimethInc. is a rebel alliance. CrimethInc. is a banner for anonymous collective action. CrimethInc. is an international network of aspiring revolutionaries. CrimethInc. is a desperate venture.
2023-04-27 Bash Back! Is Back:Reviving an Insurrectionary Queer Network: An Interview
2023-05-03 In Memory of Dmitry Petrov: An Incomplete Biography and Translation of His Work
2023-05-24 Recipes for Disaster: Asphalt Mosaics: A Hot Weather Activity for Lonely Asphalt Near You
Segment one:
Welcome back to Molotov Now! Let’s read this article and report back on the third annual May Day on the Harbor held here in Hoquiam.
Local Leftist Festivities Fall Flat?
Since 1886, May Day has been an important holiday for the global working class. This history is often repressed in this country, being one of a minority that doesn’t celebrate International Worker’s Day on May first, despite being the country which served as the catalyst that created the holiday after the Haymarket Massacre of 1886. In an attempt to rekindle the knowledge of and the respect for that forgotten history – local leftists have put on an annual May Day celebration for three years running.
Initiated by the Chehalis River Mutual Aid Network in 2021, the yearly celebration has grown exponentially since its grassroots beginning in Zelasko Park. An event which included performances by the Plank Island Theater Company. Growing with each passing year, public interest in the event has continued to steadily grow, as turnout has increased with each passing year and local business participation has taken off – including participation from ART HQX, The Blackflower Collective, and Events on Emerson who came together to put on a wonderful May Day On The Harbor for 2023.
This year had a full day of activities and events, including plenty of historical exhibitions. The third annual May Day on the Harbor event was held at the local event center Events on Emerson and was sponsored by the newest radical project on the Harbor, The Blackflower Collective. The Blackflower Collective has formed around the issues that have arisen from the continued organizing among the unhoused population in the Aberdeen area, such as lack of housing, work, food, and community.
In that effort of improving conditions for the working class in Grays Harbor and in the spirit of the working class holiday, they have taken on the role of leading a new affinity group on the Harbor called the May Day On The Harbor Planning Committee that we here at Sabot Media have had the pleasure of taking part in. Through our connections with The Blackflower Collective, we helped to develop historical displays, produce video shorts, zines, buttons, and more for the event. We were happy to donate the work to this worthwhile effort and join them in celebration as this years May Day marked the 1st birthday of Sabot Media.
We were not the only people that showed up to table at this event however. Quite a few guests had come to share in this celebration of working class history with us, other tables at the event included historical displays from our local area and local historian Connie Parsons. The zine distro ‘Historical Seditions’ came with literature and merchandise. One table even offered zines produced during The Center for Especifismo Studies’s Militant Kindergarten coursework. Blackflower Permaculture, an offshoot landscape design team, was there to demonstrate their design services and talk about permaculture in relation to the need for working class food sovereignty. Chehalis River Mutual Aid Network participated again in this years event hosting an info table and collecting signatures for volunteers looking to get involved in mutual aid and community outreach. Our local chapter of Food Not Bombs also arrived in tandem with the Chehalis River Mutual Aid Network and catered a community potluck where they served free food including burgers and hot dogs throughout the day. ART HQx also participated in the event by donating art supplies and helping to set up a kid’s corner filled with DIY art projects. Other activities included free face painting, an educational history scavenger hunt, and subsequent prize table.
A major draw for people seemed to be the live music portion of the day. Various bands from Olympia including Them Badgers, Virtual Bird, and The Window Smashing Job Creators came down to support our Harborite comrades and hosted a free benefit concert at the 3rd Annual May Day On The Harbor. Citizens and guests of all ages cheered on the guest performances and young and old alike sang along to these songs of freedom.
And of course the Blackflower Collective themselves were in attendance fundraising for their land projects, selling merchandise and auctioning off a library’s worth of radical literature and other items donated by the community. Their table also hosted a contest to win a brand new Nintendo Switch by entering to guess the correct number of jelly beans contained within a large glass jar. Many people generously bid on the slew of awesome items up for auction and the word is the event was a huge success for them bringing in somewhere between 150 and 200 attendees throughout the day. “Anytime we can get out into the community and talk to people about the stuff we are so passionate about is a good day.” said one member of the collective when reached for comment.
In a scene as wholesome as apple pie, the end of the announcements of the auction winners and at the declaration of the winner of the jelly bean count. A little girl in the audience, after having taken a savvy approach to the challenge by using math to approximate the number of jelly beans, was declared the winner and her response was comparable to the excitement of the classic “Nintendo 64 Kid” video.
The peak of the evenings events though was a moving lecture from labor historian Dr. Aaron Goings who gave a historical presentation about the radical working class history here on the Harbor as discussed in his books by the titles of “Port of Missing Men” & “The Red Coast”. During the duration of his talk Dr. Goings brought to attention the life of William McKay, an Aberdeen resident and member of the International Workers of The World who was murdered on the picket line 100 years ago in 1923 while protesting for the release of political prisoners captured by the state in a concentrated effort to demoralize the working class and the burgeoning labor movement.
The oration concluded with a final message written on the banner of William McKay’s funeral procession: “Fellow Worker William McKay, killed by a company gunman, a victim of capitalist greed, We Never Forget?” As 100 Years have passed since the death of William Mckay, as 100 years have passed since the their death was last spoken to the public ear, the question mark at the end of this banner has become less of a question, and more of a challenge, a challenge to remember, a challenge to preserve the history of the working class. What will the future histories told of today be? Will they be stories of workers lives and struggles, or will they be stories of the era’s capitalists? Who will be the victors that write the histories of tomorrow? Of the struggles facing the modern working class, will “We Never Forget?”
As we look back on the past and the many tragic and joyous things that have occurred on the first of May, it is wonderful to see how much our small community has grown over the years. Years of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears. But years of growth and community too, years of comradery and delicious meals. One local fascist once called out the communities very first May Day on the Harbor (since the collapse of the labor movement) for “falling flat”, in a post made to their now defunct blog site, despite having a decent turn out for the length of preparation and resources available for the first May Day Event.
We can only laugh at that short lived fascist blog and it’s attempts to undermine the work of Harborite radicals as we smile and look on towards the future. Though many trials and obstacles await, we will continue to out grow the fascist creep and continue to do everything we can to bring class consciousness to the Harbor. As we look forward to the fourth annual May Day On The Harbor in 2024 with the experience of our past successful events under our belts we wonder, “Will the local leftist festivities continue to fall flat?”
We hope so…
Were getting the cue its time for a musical break, when we come back we will be interviewing Dr Aaron Goings about his presentation at May Day on the Harbor 2023, but until then here is THem Badgers LIVE from May Day.
Segment two:
Welcome back to Molotov Now!
Feature Dr. Aaron Goings interview.
Conclusion:
So in conclusion there are loads of lessons to be learned by studying the past. Lessons that are directly applicable to our current day struggles. We can learn that it is wrong to trust the ruling class will ever do anything but consolidate power and serve it’s own interest. We can learn that the police, courts, politicians, and major institutions will always side with the status quo and work together to organize against the interest of the working class. The history of the working class struggle is incredibly violent, and we can learn from that as we prepare our actions in the present. Power will never grant the demands of the workers, we must organize to take what we want without asking. It is not enough to go to the boss with demands, that has never worked. What we need to do is realize that we dont need the boss at all, worker co-ops can replace the union negotiations with the bosses.
We need to be organizing outside of our small circles, we need to be talking to and interacting with masses of people. People who may not be anarchists neccessarily, but who want to see a better, more liberated world. We need to road test our ideas in the real world, alongside people with diverse opinions and life experiences, not silo ourselves off into smaller and smaller designations. The core of our work needs to be rooted in joy, and the core joy of anarchy is that it is accessible to all. It is the spread of these ideals that we need to be concerned with. Not evangelizing about sacred texts but through living and practicing the very concepts in our daily lives for people to see and experience. Showing someone anarchy is going to go a lot further towards convinvcing them of its merits than merely telling them about it or having them read it in a book. Our actions are what is important, and it is by examining the actions of others in our region that we can find accomplices in our revolutionary work, not by listening to what people say, but by looking at what they do.
Outro:
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Molotov Now! We hope you found it informative and inspiring. Our goal with the podcast is to reach out beyond our boundaries and connect the happenings in our small town with the struggles going on in major urban centers. We want to talk to you if your a big city organizer, we think we have a lot you can learn from, and we know you have much to teach us. If you would like to come on the show please email us at sabot_media@riseup.net with the header “Molotov Now!” and we will be in touch about setting up an interview and crafting an episode to feature you.
We want to give a shout out to our friends at:
- S: The South Florida Anti-Repression Committee who have launched a solidairty campaign for two individuals facing 12 years for an alleged graffiti attack on a fake Christian anti-choice clinic that does not provide any reproductive care. This Federal overreach and use of the FACE Act, an act meant to protect people visiting reproductive clinics from harassment, is unprecedented. To support this solidarity campaign please visit bit.ly/freeourfighters
- C: We want to thank The Blackflower Collective for their continued support and wish them luck in their fundraising efforts. To support them or learn more their website is blackflowercollective.noblogs.org.
- S: Kolektiva, the anarchist mastodon server, is growing faster than ever thanks to Elon Musk’s stupidity as many activists close their accounts for bluer skies as can be seen in the fluctuation of followers over on IGD’s socials, join at kolektiva.social (spell kolektiva) and follow us and other online activists on decentralized federated internet.
- C: Don’t forget to go to bit.ly/lakotalawicwa and sign the petition by the Lakota Peoples Law Project telling Joe Biden and attorneys for the Department of Justice to do everything in their power to protect the Indian Child Welfare Act and defend Secretary Deb Haaland.
- S: Chehalis River Mutual Aid Network is holding a fundraiser to purchase a brand new canopy tent for their weekly meals with Food Not Bombs. To donate visit linktr.ee/crmutualaidnet
- C: Don’t forget The Communique is looking for artist and author submissions, please write to sabot_media@riseup.net to submit your entry before June 7th for our Summer Solstice edition.
- S: As reported previously, Katey Hussey is still struggling in the wake of harrassment by Dayton Police that has cost her their employment and housing. Luckily it appears as though the charges against her have been dropped. But she has lost everything because of this and still faces an uphill battle getting back on her feet. Please send any donations to Venmo @katyHussey or Cashapp $KatyHussey to help them during this time.
- C: Thank you to Pixel Passionate for producing our soundtrack, please check out their website at www.radicalpraxisclothing.com and check out their portfolio in our show notes
- S: and finally we were recently featured on an episode of Live Like The World Is Dying, where we delved into the dichotomies between rural and urban organizing and the plans for the radical future of the Harbor. To check it out visit the new webpage blackflowercollective.noblogs.org/press/
Remember to check out Sabot Media’s website for new episodes, articles, comics, and columns. We have new content all the time. Make sure you follow, like, and subscribe on your favorite corporate data mining platform of choice and go ahead and make the switch to federated social media on the kolektiva mastodon server today @AberdeenLocal1312 for updates on Sabot Media projects such as The Harbor Rat Report, The Communique, The Saboteurs, our podcast Molotov Now! and many other upcoming projects.
That’s all for tonight. Please remember to spay and neuter your cats and don’t forget to vote.
Solidarity Comrades,
This is Molotov Now! Signing off