This Is America #192: Seattle Mutual Aid Hub & Garden Attacked; Week of Action Against MVP; Forest Defense in California

IT'S GOING DOWN

Welcome, to This Is America, January 13th, 2024.

In this episode, as we get back into the grove of a new year, we bring you a variety of voices from across the so-called United States.

From Seattle, we speak with one person about the recent destruction of the Black Lives Matter memorial garden by the police. We discuss how the garden and various mutual aid programs grew out of the 2020 rebellion, and how its destruction is linked with increasing calls by city officials to attack the houseless and poor.

We then speak with two folks involved in Appalachians Against Pipelines, about how the campaign has maintained momentum since 2018, while also facing down SLAPP suits and increasing repression. We then talk about their call for an upcoming week of action against the MVP and how people can get involved.

Finally, we present an interview with Eleanor Goldfield about their new film, To the Trees, about ongoing forest defense in so-called Northern California. We talk about making the film, various forest defense campaigns, and creating radical content in an age of corporate social media.

We then switch to our discussion, where we talk the misinformation around retail crime, the attack on People’s Park in Berkeley, and how the city of Seattle weaponized “activist” language to attack the Black Lives Matter memorial garden.

We will be back soon with more news, interviews and events next time!

MUSIC: Ash Bricky, No$hu, and GLOSS.