aargh! Issue 12 is out

We had this issue almost ready to go back in March - and then COVID happened and half our articles were obsolete. So here it is now, only slightly out of date because APEC was moved to be an online conference just after we printed it.

Get your copy at the shop, contact us if you want one sent by post or download the PDF here.

PUNX 4 BLACK LIVES MATTER

The Freedom Shop will be contributing stuff to this BLM fundraiser on Saturday, 27 June 2020, from 4:30 pm at the Newtown Sportsbar. All proceeds go to for People Against Prisons Aotearoa and The Homeless Trans Black Women Fund in the USA.

Nau mai, Haere Mai! 
Come to Newtown Sports Bar to show solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement around the world, see some bands, buy some cool stuff and help donate much needed CA$H to People Against Prisons Aotearoa and The Homeless Trans Black Women Fund in the USA.

Market and BBQ start at 4.30pm: Perfect to grab some cheap shit like records, clothes, art and books donated by the community and eat some kai! All money will be going to the charities above.

Bands at 6.30pm:
BOWEL RUPTURE
UNSANITARY NAPKIN
AYN RANDY
STRESS GHETTO
ROGERNOMIX

Plus the DJ stylings of:
KATE BISH
DJ SUAVE
FABLE
JMC


There will also be a raffle! With prizes from:
COVEN JEWELLERY, THE BLACK SCOURGE, STEPH MAREE TATTOO, XOË HALL, POGGER, WROUGHT MATERIAL AND HEAPS MORE!!

$10 on the door  
https://allevents.in/online/punx-4-black-lives-matter/200019785021335
 

Radical Zine Production

We're working with Wellington Zinefest to support local artists and radical writers to produce some beautiful zines. This is the time for critical and hopeful, radical thinking. If you can chip in to help us pay artists for their mahi at a time when it's REALLY needed -- please check out our boosted campaign: https://www.boosted.org.nz/projects/radical-zine-production

Black Lives Matter

The fightback that erupted in the usa after the murder of George Floyd didn't just come from nowhere. There had been resistance before and there had been many, many deaths before. One of these deaths was in 2012 when Trayvon Martin was killed, it was after the acquittal of his murderer that #BlackLivesMatter came into being.

The usa has never been the ‘land of the free’ or the democracy it ever claimed to be; the usa is founded on slavery and genocide of First Nation peoples. It is a settler colonial nation & a hyper-consumer capitalist country based on super inequality and racism.

Freedom is a Constant Struggle
Ferguson, Palestine, and
the Foundations of a Movement

The fightback that erupted after the killing of George Floyd is a response to the dehumanisation of people. It is a reaction to the violence of capitalism.

Killing Trayvons:
An Anthology of American Violence

BlackLife Post-BLM
and the Struggle for Freedom

We Want Freedom
A Life in the Black Panther Party

Writing on the Wall:
Selected Prison Writings
of Mumia Abu-Jamal

500 Years
of Indigenous Resistance

Barry Pateman & anarchism: "If you think you've got the answers, you're wrong"

The Final Straw Radio chatted with Barry Pateman on 26 April this year in an episode called 'Barry Pateman on Anarchist History and Challenges'.

It's a rich and glorious discussion where Barry talks about 'what does it mean to be an anarchist in a capitalist world?', how 'to beat weaselly capitalism' in the world we live in and how we need to communicate. It's a highly-recommended must listen that talks about being an anarchist, communication and communities, class and bolshevism and the joy and frustration of being an anarchist in a capitalist world.

Think Carefully About Any COVID-19 Tracing App

Below is an article from anti-surverillance group OASIS on the upcoming tracing app(s):

The fear of COVID-19 is viral. That play on our fear means that we may be rushing to introduce surveillance apps that we will later regret.

As one of the tools to fight COVID-19 the NZ government has promised that there will be a contact tracing app available by mid-May. The first iteration they have said, will be in the form of an on-line sign-up form, and could be out by 11th May.

But there has been minimal discussion about the pros and cons of COVID-19 apps. Rather, our fear of the virus and its effect on our world has meant that most people are unquestioningly accepting the necessity of using apps to keep the spread of the virus under control.

However, we need to break away from the fear factor and consider the long-term societal results of any COVID-19 apps. We need to consider possible consequences weighed up against any benefits. We need to not only question the short-term need for contact tracing but think of their long-term use and effect. We need to look at what we are being asked to give up.

Decisions made today about any tracing or tracking apps will have huge implications for our futures.

Read more here.

We’re 25!

Twenty-five years ago, on May 1, 1995 members of the anarchist group Committee for the Establishment of Civilisation (CEC) started up Anarchist Books in the existing space of the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), called the Freedom Shop in a tiny building at 272 Cuba St.

The Freedom Shop in 1995

A lot has changed since then – the building made way for the ill-named “bypass”, the Cuba St district was thoroughly gentrified, the Freedom Shop is now in Newtown and the future of printed material is uncertain.