Last month, we lost Dave Franklin, the lead singer of the band Vision. The impact that was felt across generations of the hardcore scene was unmeasurable, and he is truly missed. Below is the announcement
Friends…This is the OFFICIAL announcement for the Dave Franklin Tribute Show at the Asbury Park Convention Hall on April 2. Tickets go on sale through Ticketmaster at 10:00am TODAY, February 10 (see link on this flyer). Please note that the ticket price for this amazing bill is only $25, and proceeds will benefit two organizations that Dave would have strongly supported – the North Shore Animal League and the Riot Fest Foundation. There will also be a fantastic afterparty/show featuring World Inferno/Friendship Society and Hub City Stompers, with more details provided soon. PLEASE REPOST/SHARE this announcement far and wide! Do it for Dave and come out with us to memorialize him in a way he would truly love on April 2!!’
– Go to this event because it’s the best way for friends to honor the memory of Dave
– Go to this event because proceeds go to GREAT charitable organizations
– Go to this event because the roster of bands playing/showing love to Dave is pretty insane
– Just GO for these reasons and many more!
Bands Performing
H2O
Vision (and Friends)
Killing Time
Breakdown
Burn
Performances by members of Bouncing Souls & Lifetime
Sheer Terror
Leeway
Maximum Penalty
Murphy’s Law
Ex Number Five
Shades Apart
Bold
Dave Smalley and Don’t Sleep (Performing the songs of Dag Nasty and Down By Law)
Supertouch
Ensign
Search
Floorpunch
Damage Done
Point Blank
Release
Resurrection
From Smash Racism DC:
Antifa is badass
But not in a scary way (unless you’re a Nazi)
And really, racists should be afraid to be racist
You might have heard of masked rabble-rousers in Berkeley chasing off professional racist, transphobic, and sexist troll Milo Yiannopoulos (whose CPAC speech and book deal was also cancelled).
Or, in our own DC, there was the face punching of Nazi Richard Spencer – which followed a campaign to hound and discredit him and the fascist “Alt-Right.”
You might be curious, who are these Antifa folks? Maybe you’re looking to get involved? Or maybe you just want to hang out? Either way, come to the extravaganza of learning: “Antifa Unmasked,” an afternoon of learning, games, and community.
Learn about Antifa’s story and how to fight Fascism today. See behind the mask. Learn little known facts.
For Example, did you know:
* Antifa activists don’t always wear masks (there are people under there!)
* Black Bloc is a tactic not a group – (with origins in European Anti-fascism)
* No platform is an expression of free speech, saying people have a right not to be oppressed by bigots
* Not all Antifa are Anarchists, but Anarchists are fly
* Some famous Anti-fascists include Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell.
* Antifa stands for anti-fascist, and no one agrees on how to pronounce it
In one day, you’ll be a lot smarter. Over a dozen workshop presenters will be speaking on the most important topics in antifa, as we continue a dangerous global descent into fascism. The ideas behind antifa will be discussed in workshops called “What is Fascism?” and “The History of the Fight Against Fascism.” Many antifascists are also anarchists, so we will discuss the philoshophies of anarchy and anarchism in an “Anarchism 101” workshop. We will talk about the current struggles to oppose contemporary Nazis and the “Alt Wrong,” like why we say yes to frogs and no to Pepe. We will also talk about “Theory and Strategy behind the Black Bloc.” The black bloc are the lovable activists in the black masks who tend to appear when fascists are about. And if all of that learning weren’t enough for you, we’ll even break for a nutritious lunch, because, you know, an army runs on its stomachs.
More details and a full schedule will be forthcoming.
This event is created by the DC Anti-Fascist Coalition. The DC Anti-Fascist Coalition is an anti-racist, anti-fascist coalition; united along these principles:
We confront, and do not ignore, oppressors.
We don’t rely on the cops or the courts. Cops reinforce oppressive systems. We rely on ourselves to protect ourselves and fight for deeper justice.
Within the movement we have differing opinions and approaches, but we agree to support each other.
We commit to doing the necessary work to build a broad, strong
movement against racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, discrimination against the disabled, the oldest, the youngest, and the most oppressed people.
We want a classless, free society. We intend to win!
To those Trump Supporters who are not about the neo-Nazism/neo-Fascism (yes, there are a few of them out there), you might want to heed this warning. The Pro-Trump rally in Berkeley, California on April 15 is a Nazi rally. Make no mistake about it. The key people participating in it are straight up an unabashed part of the neo-Fascism that we have seen over the past year and a half trying to exalt Donald Trump, and all they want to do is fight antifa. That’s it. Nothing more. That’s why they are having yet another rally so soon after their last on March 4. And yes, antifa will be there. They will be holding a Bloc Party and Cookout in the same park in anticipation for what the neo-Fash will do. “Let’s fill MLK park with our resilient bodies before these bigots can even show their faces, prevent their rally, and send the message that we aren’t down with the hate — all while enjoying dope beats and delicious BBQ,” they say on their own announcement, and given who this park is named after, and given the kind of event they will be opposing, it’s kind of an obligation.
Well, Dick Spencer trudges along after his rally in DC that proved to be the (glitter) bomb. On Tuesday, he is showing up at Auburn University in Montgomery, Alabama for a public speaking engagement that is open to the public. We gotta say that it is pretty interesting that Spencer keeps showing up when and where he will get a high degree of opposition (i.e. people talking about him), and being that this is in the town where the Southern Poverty Law Center is headquartered, we expected that on that strength alone. The school however decided to cancel the event, but Spencer decided that he is going to come down anyway and bring “safety squads” with him. That suggests his main goal is to fight the opposition on the campus. Now that might be enough for Auburn officials to keep him away, but no one is taking any chances, and folks are still planning to come out to oppose him.
It’s that time of year again when we gear up for yet another National Socialist Movement (NSM) conference. Once again set in April. And this year it’s not under simply the banner of the NSM, but in their joint effort with Matthew Heimbach and Matt Parrot’s Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP) called the Nationalist Front. They were going to have their conference on the evening of the April 28 in Kentucky at Jenny Wiley State Resort Park, borrowing a tactic from the American Renaissance and National Policy Institute conferences and holding them in a public facility because they feel they can’t be thrown out of them – forgetting that also means they can’t throw out the opposition either. Thing is the locals knew that and from the minute they announced this thing residents started working on their local officials to shut this event down somehow. See, the reason why they can’t throw them out of a public space because it is just that – a public space. That means the community is using this park as well and they are bringing their families and friends to enjoy the park. If that park had to shut down or if the Nationalist Front poses a safety risk to the regular visitors, that’s what was going to be taken into consideration, especially if they are telling their people in their official announcement, “All attendees should be prepared for possible Leftist attacks, we will not be driven from the streets, under any circumstances.”
Sure enough, cooler heads prevailed and the city kicked this thing to the curb, but even though they lost the park the Nazis are still showing up, just at an undisclosed location which is only referred to as a private space.
The next day will be their rally on the courthouse steps in nearby Pikeville, KY. There is something to be said about this considering it will be the 25th anniversary of the Los Angeles Rebellion which took place after the not guilty verdicts were handed down to four LA police officers involved in the videotaped Rodney King beating. Add to that the fact that Jenny Wiley Park, the original location of the conference is named after a settler women whose story was that she was held hostage for almost a year by indigenous people that killed her family and you pretty much can get a sense of the victimization theme that this conference is going to have, despite their declaration that they are standing up for mine workers in the region. No, they won’t be doing that. Mine workers are the ones telling them they are not welcome.
So are antifa, In addition to a “Rally for Equality” being put on by the community there, Louisville Anti-Racist Action put out a call to oppose the event in February, and it was reinforced with another call put out this month.
The 1936 battle of Cable Street, when residents of the east end of London stopped Oswald Mosley and his fascist followers marching through their streets. In this powerful dissection of what happened, the real battle we learn was 3 way, between the police, the fascists and local people. Interwoven with eyewitness testimony provides riveting accounts of events, the context and many hidden truths. The official labor movement tried to stop the anti-fascist protests and organized an alternative rally in Trafalgar Square. Lessons for today come thick and fast as we are left to contemplate parallels to current day struggles.
If you want to know the well from which a lot of the anti-Muslim activism comes from, look no further than this scumbag. David Horowitz’s “Freedom Center” – which in truth prides itself in promoting freedom and the rights that come with it so long as he and his friends are the ones enjoying them – has been the sponsor of a lot of anti-Muslim events on college campuses, most notably the times you see well-known Islamophobes Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer on those campuses or when those same two clowns promote anti-Muslim ads on the sides of buses. Before he made hating Muslims full time, his hate was directed mostly towards Black people, using the tired excuse of being disenchanted with the Black Panthers in the sixties. And of course with that comes the nod to White Supremacists, as he has made available for download on his Frontpagemag website, the racist propaganda that White Supremacist Jared Taylor called a study titled “The Color of Crime”. And let’s not forget that Taylor’s contemporaries like Jim Lubinskas of Taylor’s New Century Foundation and the late Lawrence Auster were also contributors to Frontpagemag.
Well, believe it or not, Horowitz says he is now and advisor to Donald Trump and is touting a new book promoting Trump’s agenda. So he’s on the circuit hyping that up, and that will land him at the Constitution Center where he wants you to pay money for his free speech. And he will lecture you on the virtues of freedom of speech, while he tells you why Muslims, people of color and liberals should not be allowed it, especially if they say something bad about him. It was kind of a bit of projection when he said, “There can be no peace with someone who wants to kill you.” We should take that one to heart.
A “cross-lighting” by the East Coast Knights of the Klu Klux Klan will be held in Quarryville PA, on Saturday, May 20th. A claimed 100 to 200 participants will attend this “family-friendly” event. The ECK-KKK also extended an invitation to “most” white nationalists.
At this time the exact location is unknown. The ECK-KKK has declined to specify.
On Saturday, May 20th, there will be a counter-rally from 3-5pm in Lancaster, PA, at the Court House Steps Downtown Duke Street.
Further details are in the links below.
Links:
NAACP’s “Rise!: Embrace, Envision, Empower” Counter-Rally
This faction of the Klan is the same one that tried to hold a surprise rally in Philadelphia, PA almost three years ago and failed.
Well, it looks like Islamophobic hatemonger Pamela Geller is doing her usual “free speech for me, but not for thee” routine again. It always seems that no matter how much she tries to lecture everyone else on how we should respect her freedom of speech, to hell with those that she doesn’t like when they use it. Her target du jour on this day will be Palestinian American activist and Women’s March Co-Chair Linda Sarsour, who takes regular shots at hatemongers like Geller and Ayaan Hirsi Ali who for years has been calling for a physical war with Muslims (the distinction between physical and idelogical is made here on purpose). Needless to say, they hate that and have been going after her with everything they got. Well, Sarsour will be the commencement speaker at City College in New York on June 1, and Geller is trying to prevent that from happening. So she’s holding this rally to cry about it and pressure CUNY to not only cancel Sarsour, but to also move their graduation because June 1 is the last day of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. The funny thing is Geller says she had to reschedule her rally from June 1 to May 25 when she realized the significance of the day – which if she actually gave a damn about it, she would have known and would have never scheduled it for that day in the first place!
But wait. It gets better.
Because we are dealing with Geller and she doesn’t care how reprehensible the people she associates with are, she is bringing former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos back to the surface to speak, which means any talk of the prophet Mohammad being a pedophile has just become hypocritical should it come up. But hypocrisy is basically the order of the day when this goes down. In her press release, Geller states:
“Universities have disinvited Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Nonie Darwish, Ann Coulter, Milo, and legions of conservative thinkers and voices in defense of freedom, but a pro-Sharia and anti-Israel activist they will defend to the death.”
So does this mean that should they be successful and Linda Sarsour is prevented from speaking schools are free to keep hatemongers such as the ones mentioned above from appearing at universities and Geller will be okay with it? And let’s be real about something else. It has often been the students – not some outside hate group – that has demanded those supposed “legions” from darkening their campus doors. And they don’t always get their way, as evidenced by Geller’s partner in hate Robert Spencer being allowed to speak at Gettysburg College a few days ago despite protest. But since we are on the subject of rights, let’s look at the other speakers that are listed as coming to this rally:
- Assemblyman Dov Hikind, 48th Assembly District. This guy once called for racial profilng in subway bag searches for any individual that appeared to be Muslim. He once held up photos of Muslim men at a news conference and said: “The individuals involved [in terrorism] basically look like this. Why must police think twice before examining people of a particular group?” The NYPD told Dov to go to hell, reminding him that racial profiling is illegal. There’s also the whole dressing up in blackface at a Purim party that happened too.
- John Guandolo, Counter-Terror Expert, Founder of UnderstandingTheThreat.com. Fired from the FBI for a number of ethical breaches, all you need to know about this guy is that he believes Muslims “do not have a First Amendment right to do anything.”
- Lauri B. Regan, Endowment for Middle East Truth and National Women’s Committee of the Republican Jewish Coalition. Like all the other speakers she definitely has her anti-Muslim cred, attacking people for antisemitism, while at the same time penning articles titled “Islamophobia? Hell, yeah!” But she has some of that vitrol left for such things as what she called in 2012 the “Obama administration’s empowerment of black rebellion” and how the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) adopting a resolution supporting transgender rights as “one more nail in the next coffin the Jewish people are destined to face.” In a nutshell, she is as much of a right-wing fundamentalist for Jewish people as any right wing Christian or Muslim – which is only not acceptable to her if you are Muslim interestingly enough.
- David Wood, Acts 17 Apologetics. A former atheist and diagnosed sociopath, after he got of prison for attempting to kill his father, he has dedicated his life to hating Muslims while advancing his version of Christianity. He had even pulled an incredible spin once, trying to suggest that Muslims were responsible for Anders Brevik, the mass shooter in Oslo, Norway that killed 77 people in 2011, many of them children, and is believed to have been inspired by Geller.
Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik admits that his attacks were inspired by Islam. pic.twitter.com/3LZtwsg7pX
— David Wood (@Acts17) February 28, 2015
Now don’t think that this hypocrisy has gone unnoticed – nor has the inattention to it. Writer Sejal Singh has written an article noting that Sarsour is indeed being attacked by the same people who’s freedom of speech has been defended even by folks on the left who pretty much tripped over themselves to do so. “Somehow lefty college students who protest conservative speakers are a threat to democracy itself — but when right-wing politicians (who wield actual state power!) seek to suppress the voices of left-wing activists, it barely merits a tweet,” she correctly wrote. Well, that needs to change. Dramatically. Luckilly CUNY isn’t backing down. Linda Sarsour will still speak.
Now in its 13th year, Left Forum has grown into one the largest annual convergences of the left. The 2016 conference featured over 350 workshops/panels, multiple musical performances and film screenings, a comedy show, and a large grassroots-organization/book fair. In 2016, over 4000 people – including artists, activists, and great thinkers from around the globe – were drawn to NYC to engage in critical discussions and debates, build coalititions, socialize with new friends and long-time allies, learn, reflect, and strategize for a new future.
Building our collective strength as a movement and as a community committed to social justice is more important than ever. Join us for Left Forum 2017