Filler – June 2017

“US QUEERS AIN’T FREE TIL THE PRISON WALLS BURN DOWN”
~ photo: banner from an Illegal Queers PGH benefit dance party ~

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Every year on June 11th, anarchists and anti-authoritarians from around the world send some love and rage to our comrades who are serving lengthy prison terms. We write letters, we organize poetry readings and movie screenings, we throw parties and benefit shows, we ditch work and school to paint our comrades’ names all across town, we attack state and corporate infrastructure as much for the thrill of it as for the political and strategic implications. On J11, we remember the prisoners of war. With their names on our minds, we face the anxiety and misery of the everyday with just a little more strength, a little more passion… because, like, holy shit, prisons are fucking evil, and maybe our thoughts and actions might just sneak a few rays of light through the bars and help our comrades face another day too. 

On that note, a couple of us queer-as-fuck Filler kids want to remind our friends here in Pittsburgh that J11 would never have become the insurgent holiday that it is today without the courage of long-term anarchist prisoner, Marius Mason. Marius is an eco-warrior whose daily life is one of struggle against a state that seeks to control his body on every level, from his incarceration to the undermining of his gender identity. This year, we hope that Pittsburgh will prove that we have not forgotten his struggle.

This year, we hope that Pittsburgh will affirm our complicity in not only Marius’s struggle, but also in the struggles of all who come into conflict with the state and capital. So in the spirit of J11, let’s support our neighbors who are challenging the co-optation of Pittsburgh Pride, organizing to support incarcerated people at the Allegheny County Jail while working towards the jail’s abolition, and rallying to defend their communities against the nationalist reaction. Most importantly, we sincerely hope you remember to indulge your private wars. Do what you need to do to reconnect to life: attack the things you hate, embrace the people and hobbies you love, call in sick and stay at home all day to write letters to the folks on the inside while you binge-watch netflix (or Sub.Media!) – take whatever it is that you love, nurture it, and make it dangerous. 

Anyways, below is an (in)complete rundown of some cool shit to do this week. 

Welcome home Maxx and Shea. Much love to Top Squat. Shoutout to Torchlight.

Fire to ALL prisons!

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Friday, June 9th

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Emergency Protest – No More Jails, No More Deaths!

Anti-Repression Picnic!

Radicals in Pittsburgh are facing an unprecedented wave of repression: hundreds of felony charges, several eviction threats, etc. etc. etc….so some folks decided it’d be fun to get together and celebrate our struggles over some vegan food! We’re in this together, so let’s soak up some sun together (weather depending). 

If you or your comrades and accomplices are feeling the heat, ask around or hit us up for the time and location!

Click HERE to donate to various legal defense funds.

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Saturday, June 10th

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GREY OUT Rainbow Capitalism

People are asking if they should be boycotting CERTAIN Pittsburgh Pride events, which we feel would be ineffective since –

1. Most non-profit orgs spent time and energy raising money to participate in what should be a free event, and have the right to get value for that cost (since obviously no refunds will be given).

2. It’s counterproductive to miss out on the opportunity to reach out to the community non-profit orgs are trying to serve.

3. The presence of a few individuals or a small organization might not be missed, but showing UP will show strength in numbers, which also sends the larger message of how many LGBTQ+ individuals, supporters, and allies there are in Pittsburgh (which is one of the actual reasons to have Pride events in the first place).

4. It’s not fair to every single person who worked hard and waited all year to come together with their community only to feel guilty or bad for participating. Instead we are going to show SIGNS OF RESISTANCE. We invite everyone to “GREY OUT RAINBOW CAPITALISM” and show solidarity, strength and unity by wearing GREY tshirts, armbands, hats, bandanas, suits, socks- whatever. WEAR YOUR GREY and spread the message that although you might be in the parade, or at the event, YOU ARE NOT IN LINE with the organizers of the EQT-sponsored march. We will be showing up for what PRIDE means to YOU and not we are being told it should mean. GRAB SOME GREY AND SPREAD THE WORD.

Our Pride should not be about who can pay the highest price.
Pride is political. Pride should be for everyone. Pride needs to be inclusive, intersectional and wholly accessible to all. Pride should be free (for non-profits to participate specifically, not necessarily food, drinks/specialty events). Pride should be a celebration of how far we have come from the time we were forced to live in a closet. Pride should be a reflection of our history as well as an effort to move forward. It is up to us as a community to make the change.

Be proud, come on out and join your community at (mostly) free, local, independent Pride events:

Veil of Remembrance– Steel City Sisters
Roots Pride: Final Edition with Junglepussy & Co.
Freedom! Renaissance City Choir Pride Concert
Express Yourself: A Resistance Workshop with Hello Mr.
Smoke and Mirrors OUT Loud Kick-Off: Reflections Meal
Smoke and Mirrors-Penn OUT Loud Art Crawl
Queer Craft Market
Free Pride Shorts
Peoples Pride March 2k17

[ https://www.facebook.com/events/111478759443101 ]

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No Bars to Healthcare-Documentary Screening

Sunday, June 11th

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JUNE 11TH MARCH & PICNIC

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Wednesday, June 14th

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History of Social Movements in Pittsburgh

Mijente in Pittsburgh: Community Dinner + Discussion

[ https://www.facebook.com/events/289897328087978 ]

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Don’t Criminalize Transit Riders!

THIS SUMMER, Port Authority plans to have ARMED police Officers checking fare payment on the T…..

We demand that the Port Authority delay implementation of this policy until we have a PUBLIC process, a commitment NOT to work with ICE, and a commitment of NO arrests or criminal charges for “fare evasion.”

Join Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Casa San Jose, the Alliance for Police Accountability and the Thomas Merton Center to find out how to get involved to stop the criminalization of transit riders.

4th River Music Fest 2017

Statement from the Pittsburgh Anarchist Black Cross
Received 5.18.2017

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Today we are happy to report our friends Maxx and Shea were released early from the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh. Far from being an example of goodwill and magnanimity from Judge Mariani, their initial 3-12 month sentence from him (when the D.A. only asked for a weekend) was the real show of his great benevolence. We are excited to have our friends out to enjoy the beginning of the summer.

While two of our accomplices now transition into probation, we have handfuls of Pittsburgh comrades still going back and forth to court appearances with stacks of felonies held above their heads, in what is the new normal for anarchists and anti-authoritarians in this country. While we predict these large and exaggerated cases will get increasingly common for us in Pittsburgh and around the U.S., we want to be ready to support our friends and ourselves in what should be looked at as the inevitability of, in the least, wasted cash in courts; in the most, long prison sentences. Tabling information, talking to lawyers, conference calls, getting legit, putting on shows and letter writings, crowd funding, meetings and late night talks, hanging outside of that stupid jail, and Signal upon Signal loops—we got this, in a sense. But what can we do beyond responding to the crisis of individual repressions? How can we create a culture of defiance and rejection to police, jails, prisons and snitching on a local level beyond reaction and into action? As we move forward with supporting our friends locally, and reach out to folks across the country, we aspire to move towards actively promoting an anarchist total rejection of the court and policing systems, and to respond to their tactics of fear head first, horns down.

Pittsburgh Anarchist Black Cross
PGHABC [at] riseup [dot] net
PO Box 9021
Pittsburgh, PA
15224

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DONATE HERE to support and welcome back our friends Maxx and Shea.
Click HERE or HERE to read the report-backs from the action and subsequent arrests.

DONATE HERE to support the ACJ 10.

DONATE HERE to support Pittsburghers arrested on J20 at the intersection of L&12th streets. 

DONATE HERE to support Victoria and Phil, two comrades arrested during an action at the University of Pittsburgh. 

This year’s United Students Against Sweatshops conference brought some badass kids out from all over Turtle Island, kicking off Friday with the March to Take Back Our University and holding workshops throughout the weekend. USAS is working to promote collective liberation as a framework in reformist campaigns like the Fight for $15, and Friday’s march was the largest demonstration of faculty-worker-student solidarity Pittsburgh has seen in a long time.

But yinz can read about that shit in the Post-Gazette. We want to tell you about the participation of autonomous students. 

Building a Radical Youth Network

Some of us in the Filler crew called for an anti-capitalist contingent a little over a week before the march. While escalation plans were vague (and never really materialized), the callout provided an excuse for several crews to connect and collaborate. And shit, we made some damn good friends!

Two Filler kids worked through the Pittsburgh Student Solidarity Coalition to connect with some of the old guard in Pittsburgh Anarchyland to try coming up with an escalation plan. Even though shit fell through, the stories and lessons we picked up along the away were worth the effort. Favorite story by far: back in their student days, a few folks barricaded and locked the doors in a campus building, but then slipped out before classes started. They even posted statements on all of the doors declaring that they were prepared to be arrested and would refuse all negotiations. It took the pigs nearly six hours to realize that no one was inside!

We also got a chance to connect with the recently formed Food Not Bombs team (shout out to@amidtherustpgh​!). FNB liberated some food and a shopping cart, and came to the march prepared to keep the energy in the streets. They brought a ton of dank sandwiches, fruits and veggies, and also passed out some zines explaining FNB and calling for students, workers and faculty to unite and #ReclaimPitt.

The Pitt Against Debt crew staged a sit-in in the Cathedral of Learning the day before the march, singing songs and chanting, “1234 student debt is class war! 5678 tuition freeze cannot wait!” They also released this communiqué:

On the day of the march, these crews and some other Autonomous Student Network kids (including some badass highscoolers!) formed a bloc to help take the streets and keep a banner-barrier between the crowd and the cops. As the march was gearing up, the bloc dragged police barricades in front of a couple of cop cars, opening space for people to take the streets and delaying the inevitable police tail. Some out-of-town comrades that came in with USAS also joined us in pushing radical chants, but other than that we pretty much marched in a circle as per usual.

The next day, the Student Anarchist Graduate Association hosted comrades from The Base for a presentation on anarchist strategies against the police. The ASN plugged this shit hard, and even some USAS folks skipped out on the “official” workshops in that time block to attend. Later that night, the real organizing happened at the unofficial YinzSAS party, Throwing Down to Win Ground. There’s two radical houses on the same block, and so the party was split into a rave and a punk and hip-hop show. The punk house totally lost their deposit.

Good fucking times.

TL;DR: Use any excuse available to hang out with the old guard and learn some shit, reach out to crews you haven’t collaborated with yet, and push militant vibes at reformist marches. You never know what kind of relationships (or killer parties) you’ll get out of it!