Clamor back issues: For real this time!
OK. So, Really. You can now get all available issues of Clamor Magazine from AK Press. Seriously. Go now.
And, email me if you want a Clamor T-Shirt, I still have some left.
Review: Visions of Peace & Justice
Yes, I like doing book reviews, and for some reason, a couple of them have been printed in In These Times lately. Heres a link to my review of Visions of Peace and Justice: Over 30 Years of Political Posters from the Archives of Inkworks Press, called “Activism Illustrated.”
I wrote this review after attending the book release event at La Pena in Berkeley, CA. I was so moved by the event, and by this amazing and beautiful collection, I wanted to help them spread the word. Please support Inkworks by buying a book today, and use the book as an opportunity to reflect on the role of art, artists, printers, and collectively run businesses in the fight for social justice.
Thanks to everyone at Inkworks that made this happen, and all the artists who have created beautiful posters over the years.
Folk is the New Punk: An Interview with Riot Folk
Folk is the new Punk: An Interview with members of the Riot-Folk collective
I first heard Ryan Harvey and Evan Greer in April 2006, in a crowded living room in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I was there for the Counter Recruitment Conference organized by the Pittsburgh Organizing Group. My friend had been telling me about Riot-Folk for months, but I just never got around to checking them out. But after seeing them in the living room, I went immediately to their website and started downloading all the music they had posted there. I was in love.
Riot-Folk is a collective of nine radical musicians who live all around the United States. They each have their own identities and sounds and styles, but they often play or tour together and sometimes record songs together. More than that, they are forging a new way of making music, combining anti-capitalist and ant-authoritarian politics with art and culture. By working together to promote their music, book tours, share contacts, and share equipment, they are setting an example of innovation and creativity, putting their politics into their actions. From their website: “We are an anti-profit mutual-aid collective of radical artists and musicians. We make music to provoke, educate, heal and inspire.”
US Social Forum Report Back
So, I have yet to write anything that resembles a report back from the first U.S. Social Forum, which was an amazing and overwhelming experience. Kudos to Max Uhlenbeck of Left Turn for writing this great USSF diary on his blog. Hopefully more from me on the forum, soon.
Allied Media Conference 2007 Wrap Up
A few weekends ago, I went to Detroit for the 9th Allied Media Conference. This was the first year that I wasn’t directly involved in the organizing. In one sense, that was great. I actually got to go to workshops that I wasn’t presenting! I’ll talk more about which ones I really enjoyed later. It was also weird to be there in a different capacity. A lot of people still put me in that role so people would come up and ask me questions about stuff and I just didn’t know the answers.
But, for the most part, it went amazingly well considering there had been a couple of road bumps in the transition process. Although there were some logistical problems, given that this was the first time for this group of people to spearhead something this big, they deserve much appreciation and congratulations.
