Portland Antifa Brings It With ‘Rock Against Fascism 1’

On the year anniversary of Donald Trump going to the White House, Portland’s Antifascist came out for good music, good vibes and a message to a rather active fash in their town that they really can’t rest easy!

R.A.S.H. North West

On January 20^th in Portland Oregon R.A.S.H. NW (Red an Anarchist Skinheads) with Red and Black Subculture Club held our first Rock Against Fascism event in Portland Oregon. This event had some very amazing performers. Estimations are that nearly 300 or more people attended the show in this small cider brewery. We anticipated disruption from local fascists and Alt-Right groups but none showed and the night was a blast. We had several groups such as Rose City Antifa, the Portland IWW GDC, and Emerald City No Platform tabling for their organizations.

The DJ crew Left of the Dial All Workers Vinyl from Oakland, California played reggae, soul, and punk tracks prior to and in-between the bands. The music played by Left of the Dial was leftist workers and antifascist tracks primarily.

The first band to play was Empire Justice from Seattle, Washington playing Hardcore music based in leftist politic. Empire Justice had a great energy and really set the mood of the night.

The second band that played was called All Worked Up a Punk/Oi! Band comprised of Portland anti-racist skins and punks.

After All Worked Up, Glenn Waco was on the mic playing hip-hop. Glenn Waco is very active in the local activist scene with groups like Don’t Shoot Portland and in many other areas.

Aafter Glenn Waco was Portland Oi! Staple the Chartbusters, playing older and original Oi! Songs.

Mic Crenshaw was the final act headlining the show, with political and social charged hip hop. Mic Crenshaw was the headlining act of this event. He is a long time time activist who was an original member of the MPLS Baldies who later went on to found A.R.A. (Anti-Racist Action), Mike has also been very involved in the Afrikan Hip Hop Caravan, and has helped build community centers in different areas in Africa. Mic is very involved to this day in community organizing.

The goal of this particular event was twofold:

The first goal was to use music to bring people together in the community that may not typically socialize together in a social setting due to being in separate subcultures. To bring people together is an important way to build both community and resistance to the oppressions and injustices that we all face on different level every day.

The second goal, and the ongoing goal of any future events was to raise money to donate to groups that help in the fight against Fascism and the injustices we face under an oppressive white settler capitalist system. For this event we chose the International Antifascist Defense Fund. We believe the International Antifascist defense fund has and does provide a very important resource worldwide to Antifascists on the front lines with much needed legal defense funds. We are happy to say we were able to raise a total of $864.00 to the International Anti-Fascist defense fund with the proceeds made from the event.

R.A.S.H. NW has its next Rock Against Fascism event “The Punks and Skins Strike Back” Scheduled for March 29^th 2018 in Portland Oregon. The profits from our next event will go to local antifascist collectives. Visit their page R.A.S.H NW and/or the Red and Black Subculture Club for more info.