My friend Mark Strandquist made this awesome pamphlet for thanksgiving! Please print and redistribute!
2 awesome recipes included as well for vegan pumpkin pie and vegan cornbread!
Hope you enjoy!
Tags: mark strandquist, richmond vegan, vegan cornbread, vegan pumpkin pie, vegan recipes, vegan recipes vegan cornbread, vegan thanksgiving
Following the first evening of an occupation conducted in Chapel Hill (of a long-abandoned building, with the intent of recycling it as a community space), a team of riot police raided the building at roughly 4:30pm, with a slew of assault weapons drawn and pointed at occupiers and bystanders. All were unarmed and did not resist. Many were detained and 9 were arrested, including some who were not in the building and even as far as half a block away from the premises. Among those arrested was Ellen Crawford, a Richmond anarchist tabling at the book fair for the Flying Brick Library.
Alleged charges are at this time unknown, and arrestees are being processed at Hillsboro County Jail.
Anyone wanting to make donations for bail/legal can, for the time being, contact 804 303 5449 or donate via the Paypal on our website, wingnutrva.org, and include the intent of your donation. Richmond Anarchist Black Cross will direct these funds to the local support group. We will give further info on the legal support team in Chapel Hill so that funds can be transferred directly.
We will also give further updates on details of the entire situation. We recommend at this time you check Chapel Hill’s local newspaper, The Observer, and trianarchy.wordpress.com.
I have never been a regular attendee of Richmond’s First Fridays Art Walk. In fact, over the years I have been a major critic of the event and the concept of the event.
Richmond is by no means unique in having such an art walk. The tactic of using an art walk to push for the redevelopment or gentrification of an area (depending on your perspective) is not at a new concept. Richmond has had First Fridays for over a decade now. And while over that decade there have been major changes to the Jackson Ward/ Broad Street area, they have no occurred quite as quickly as they might have were we not in an economic depression. I’m no expert, but the aspects of City Planning that I have studied and read about have lead me to take a position against Art Walks, Canal Walks, Convention Centers and other cookie cutter redevelopment schemes that fail to address the actual needs or wants of people living in a city.
Jackson Ward is a historically black working class neighborhood. The demographics of that neighborhood have been changing, particularly via VCU students moving in. First Fridays basically occurring in Jackson Ward was something I viewed as problematic- another major gentrifying move that had the potential to hurt that community and displace lower income people.
When I have gone to First Fridays in the past it was mostly to support friends who had art on display or who were performing. I even helped to organize some First Fridays events- like the Richmond Zine Fest at Gallery 5 in 2009. And what I saw was mostly white people. And I saw a lot of white people who were more affluent. Which is definitely the type of crowd this sort of event is desinged to draw in.
I would acknowledge at this point that there have been organizers of First Fridays, Gallery owners and artists, who have all along worked to make this event inclusive and welcoming to pre-existing residents of Jackson Ward and the surrounding areas. I have just always been highly skeptical of their chances of success despite their good intentions.
So I mostly stopped going to First Fridays. I was not interested in participating in a redevelopment strategy that seemingly reached out only to suburbanites and fearful west enders, adventuring into the heart of a city they really don’t understand. But then this year, we started to hear the rumblings of something else. I am a member of the non-hierarchical organization Richmond Copwatch. We listen to a digital scanner to hear what the Richmond Police are up to. This enables us to go out and observe and record the police, thereby helping to keep them accountable for their behavior. So through this and conversations with people we know who do attend First Fridays we began to hear that this year, the police were there in force, disrupting the crowd.
We heard that the police had maced the crowd a couple times, ridden their horses into the middle of crowds, and were trying to organize with Curated Culture (the non-profit that officially organizes First Fridays) to change the times of the event and potentially get rid of it altogether. We heard from many non-anarchists, respected community members about town, that the police were being very aggressive and that a lot of this aggressiveness seemed directed towards people of color. The media and others mostly spoke of the “youth”, but in this case the youth they meant was mostly youth of color.
Richmond Copwatch decided as a collective to go to the August First Fridays to observe and record the Richmond Police Department. I was still conflicted about how I felt about organizing to try and save something I have been avidly against in the past. For me, my motivations for going were mostly hearing from “youth” from my neighborhood (Southern Barton Heights on Northsiiiide) about the police presence. Regardless of the art, regardless of the suburbanites, I was interested in using Copwatch as a method to try and keep my friends and neighbors, as well as folks from neighboring communities like Gilpin Court a little bit safer from RPD.
We met at the Rite Aid parking lot for August First Fridays. Which was a bad idea, because of the whole private corporate property thing. But we met there, and then hung out in the parking lot waiting for one Copwatch member to go purchase some energy drinks from inside. They came out and distributed the drinks to the caffeine fiends among us. We were just about to head out in smaller groups to patrol First Fridays for police, when lo and behold one came to us. This RPO – Toney Waldorf- came speeding into the Rite Aid parking lot, parking at an angle, and got out of his car, basically yelling at me and my friend. He said something along the lines of “Hey you”. I asked if we were being detained (because if you are not being detained you do not have to talk to the police and can go on your merry way). He didn’t respond except to say he was not talking to me. He then crossed in front of me and unholstered his Tazer and held it about 2 feet from my friend’s face. Waldorf is a tall cop, and he positioned himself on a median above my friend, which made it so he would have been shooting my friend in the face had he fired his Tazer. That is the closest up I have ever seen a Tazer, and the fastest I have seen a Richmond Cop freak out and pull a weapon. Tazers are less lethal weapons, just like if I shoot you in the foot with a .22 it is less lethal. They are still deadly and being shot with a Tazer can very easily end in death. Especially if someone has a heart problem, which my friend does.
Quickly other RPD arrived and kicked the rest of us (who were filming at this point) out of the parking lot. One of them, Stone, committed battery against me by shoving my arm while I was clearly backing out of the lot and not at all resisting. They eventually let my friend go, after we showed a commanding officer the picture of Waldorf with a Tazer in my friend’s face. He had no charges, had done nothing wrong, was simply wearing the same color shorts as a suspect in a call they had received.
So my first experience back with First Fridays is Toney Waldorf, Richmond Cop, freaking out, unholstering a weapon at an inappropriate time and in violation of protocol, and threatening to kill my friend.
As the night carried on, it became quite clear that First Fridays had changed. I liked it better. There were kids from my neighborhood, and overall a lot of people of color seemed to be enjoying a public space. I am a huge proponent of public spaces and our ability to use them. It is the lack of public spaces in lower income neighborhoods that can make community development and organization more difficult. Downtown was packed, loud, and seemed to be full of people enjoying themselves. These were not the people who might be likely to eat at some of the few new fancy restaurants on Broad Street, but they were people socializing in an area that could certainly benefit from development of community. Continue reading
Tags: anarchism, anarchist, anarchy, art walk, broad street, copwatch, curated culture, first fridays, gallery 5, gentrification, Gilpin Court, jackson ward, people of color, police brutality, Richmond, richmond anarchist, richmond art, richmond art walk, richmond copwatch, Richmond Police Department, richmond redevelopment, richmond zine fest, RPD, take back the sidewalks, take back the streets, VCU, Virginia
http://www2.richmond.com/entertainment/2011/may/31/5-questions-foodie-mo-karnage-ar-1067037/?referer=None&shorturl=http://bit.ly/iS5zM3
Above is the url for an interview I did for Richmond.com
To contact the Occupation come to the corner of Main and Laurel. You may also email monroparkoccupation@gmail.com or visit www.monroeparkoccupation.wordpress.com for more updates.
The Monroe Park Occupation is a group of people forming a community in Monroe Park near the corner of Main and Laurel.
They are a multi-issue Occupation that has been encamped in Monroe Park since 4pm on Monday March 7th.
A City Official informed the Occupation on Friday March 11th that City Administrators wanted to negotiate with the Occupation.
However, the Occupation will only meet to discuss demands once the City gets the cops to stop busting up all homeless camps. Once that is agreed upon, folks from the occupation will meet with City Officials in the park at 11 at night.
Current Demands:
- Don’t cut down trees in Monroe Park
-Legalize Squatting in Richmond
-25-100% of Monroe Park should remain open at all times
-Stop destroying/busting up homeless camps
Continue reading
Tags: criminalization of homeless, homeless, homelessness, monroe homeless, Monroe Park, monroe park occupation, occupy everything, Richmond, richmond homeless, VCU
On Saturday March 19th I will be at the Charlottesville Anarchist Bookfair at Random Row Books with the Wingnut Anarchist Collective, tabling with our zines and books for sale. I will also be doing a presentation on my book The South is Still Rising.
More about this exciting event here:
http://cvilleanarchism.wordpress.com/ Continue reading
Tags: anarchist history, charlottesville anarchist, charlottesville anarchist bookfair, mo karnage, richmond anarchist, the south is still rising, wingnut anarchist collective
I’m don’t do Wednesday Food Not Bombs, but wanted to give some attention to them, and encourage folks to help organize a free community meal in Churchill. Here is there info:
www.richmondfoodnotbombs.wordpress.com
In Church Hill there is a Wednesday Serving:
Church Hill has a new regular Food Not Bombs event on Wednesdays! Come out at 3pm to help cook at 1111 North 21st Street in Church Hill to help cook.
Come help serve and eat at Jefferson Park at 6pm at the East End of the park in front of Alamo BBQ.
We are new and still need a whole lot of stuff! So if you have any thing you can donate, such as cutting boards, knives, spices, water coolers, dry goods, money, energy, or time, let us know!
You can call Allison at 804 516 3062 or Ellen at 912 541 4234 or email allibertine@gmail.com for more information!
Tags: alama bbq, alamo bbq food not bombs, churchill, churchill food not bombs, jackson park, jackson park food not bombs, Richmond, Richmond Food Not Bombs
On March 2nd at 5pm I will be doing a book reading and signing at Chop Suey books in Carytown. If you haven’t picked up a copy of The South Is Still Rising yet, this is your opportunity.
I will be presenting on the Tent City Occupation of Monroe Park in 1998 by the General Strike Anarchist Collective.
The South is Still Rising: Contemporary Radical and Anarchist Movements in Richmond, Virginia from 1994-2004
The South is Still Rising explores the little known story of radical organizing in Richmond, Virginia in terms that Mo’s mom can understand. This story is contextualized in both within the history of Richmond and within the history of radical activism on a national and global scale.
The South is Still Rising reveals the things going on in the old capital of the Confederacy that are not played up in the media, and that many folks don’t get a chance to find out about. This is your window into a better understanding of what is actually going on in the South.
A new type of Southern Pride. A history that includes the resistance to racism, sexism, capitalism, and more.
Hope to see you there!
Tags: chop suey books, general strike anarchist collective, mo karnage, Monroe Park, monroe park occupation, monroe park tent city, occupy monroe park, richmond anarchy, richmond radicalism, tent city, the south is still rising
Vegan Chocolate Train Cake Ada and I baked!
Ada making a delicious ginger lemon glaze
Jeremy rockin the Ramen
Stephen doing the dishes and earning the love
My mommy and daddy
I don't even know how these dogs got this cute!
Tags: anarchy, dogs, karn family, mo karn, Richmond, vegan, vegan cake, Wingnut
I made my first small zine, Cuddle Puddles and Hot Pants # 5.5 on Friday night. It was interesting to make a sort of one show, hand written 1 page zine. Its just one sheet of 81/2 by 11 folded into quarters, and both sides used. It was a nice change to not deliberate and write and second guess myself.
If you want a copy just mail me a stamp! PO Box 6025 Richmond VA 23222
