Challenging Media Representations of Antifa

JULY 2019 This past month we have seen the Trump administration's smearing of antifa activists taken to new heights, including threatening to designate anti-fascists as a domestic terrorism group. These attempts to criminalize dissent are emboldened by the regularity of extremely inaccurate or baseless claims made about antifa in the mainstream media. We strongly encourage you to contribute to challenging such inaccuracies about antifa by responding on the social media accounts of media outlets, or writing a letter to the editor. We have some great tips for getting letters published at the end of the "Ngo More Sympathy" article. If we don't challenge the fuel that ignites fascist violence, who will? Journalist Dan Arel and Agency's Kris Hermes take on the vilification of antifa by the media and in the corridors of power... Ngo More Sympathy: Mainstream Media Must Recognize the Real Threat of Fascism by Kris Hermes Labeling Antifa a Terrorist Group is the Latest Attempt to Usher in US Fascism by Dan Arel ANTIFA GRITTY STICKERS We have taken our popular Antifa Gritty t-shirt design and put it on stickers! If you would like a small pack of stickers just order them through the link below and we'll pop them straight in the mail for you. All funds raised go to covering Agency's monthly costs. You can also find us on Patreon and through our website donation page. Thank you for supporting our work! Get Your Gritty Stickers! VOICES FROM THE AGENCY NEWSWIRE Natasha Lennard: An Unshakeable Abhorrence for Injustice  An imprecise description can be as misleading as a false one. It is, for example, imprecise to say that Willem Van Spronsen was killed by police while attacking an immigration detention center in Tacoma, Washington. This was the standard account of the 69-year-old antifascist’s death offered by the news media. But don’t let that mislead you. Van Spronsen, at least, was more precise. His final act should be understood as such. Read more... “Black Metal For The Oppressed” (Protean) A metal festival might be expected to cause some controversy—but not usually for the reasons Northwest Terrorfest did. A three-day concert in Seattle, Washington, Northwest Terrorfest hosts a series of prominent bands from the “extreme” edge of heavy metal. In the weeks before this year’s event, the organizers publicized a few policies. Bathrooms would be gender-neutral, racist imagery would be banned, and anti-harassment and anti-hate policies would be strictly enforced. Social media comment sections soon displayed evidence of a split: an aggressive series of punches traded between those who celebrated Terrorfest’s progressive turn, and those who thought misanthropic racism and sexism were key to keeping metal “dangerous.” Read more... Aurora Santiago-Ortiz and Jorell Meléndez-Badillo: Puerto Rico’s Multiple Solidarities: Emergent Landscapes and the Geographies of Protest On July 17, 2019, between 400,000 and 500,000 people took to the streets in Puerto Rico to demand the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló. Thousands more marched in solidarity in different international cities. That Wednesday marked the fifth consecutive day of the #RickyRenuncia protests in the archipelago, yet it was not to be the last. The undercurrent that brought a plurality of people together, both in Puerto Rico and the diaspora, was the unraveling of Rosselló’s government. Read more... “Trump threatened to classify Antifa as a terrorist group. Germans hit back” (CNN) President Donald Trump’s threat to label anti-fascism protest movement Antifa a terrorist organization has prompted a backlash in Germany, where thousands of social media users have pledged solidarity with the group.Trump tweeted on Saturday that the activist group was made up of “gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs who go around hitting (only non-fighters) people over the heads with baseball bats.” He said a move was being considered to label the movement a “major Organization of Terror (along with MS-13 & others),” referring to the international criminal gang the Mara Salvatrucha. Read more... Launch Agency Newswire Copyright © 2019 Agency, All rights reserved.  You are receiving this email because you subscribed at anarchistagency.com.  Our mailing address is:  Agency 2911 Georgia Ave NW Ste 100 Washington, DC 20001-3805 Add us to your address book