INTRODUCTION

Clara: Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Ex-Worker! It’s been a while since you last heard from us, but we’re back - and we’ve been busy. Starting this year, we’re going to be producing audio versions of most of the articles published on crimethinc.com, so get ready for a flurry of new audio content. You can subscribe to the Ex-worker through your favorite podcatcher, stream or download new episodes directly from crimethinc.com/podcasts, or, starting soon, find them on other audio & video platforms including Soundcloud, YouTube, and more. We’ll keep you posted. It’s a new phase of the Ex-Worker, and we’re excited to get rolling.

Unfortunately, we’re starting off on a note of tragedy. As many of you know, a fierce struggle is underway to defend a section of forest in Atlanta, Georgia from being destroyed to build a new police training compound and a new sound facility for the film industry. For nearly two years, a coalition of anarchists, abolitionists, environmental activists, local residents, and supporters from all over have faced off against police, powerful entertainment and construction companies, complicit politicians, and establishment media intent on maintaining the status quo in the city. In recent weeks, the state has ratcheted up its repression, with over a dozen activists arrested on absurd charges of “domestic terrorism.” And on January 18th, during a raid on the forest, police murdered Manuel “Tortuguita” Teran, a forest defender. Around the US and beyond, folks are mobilizing in outrage against the killer police and the corporate and political power structures responsible for their murderous repression.

To support you in learning more and getting involved in this critical struggle, we’re offering two episodes of coverage on the struggle to Stop Cop City and defend the Weelaunee Forest. First, in this episode, we present a long article first published in April 2022, titled The City in the Forest: Reinventing Resistance for an Age of Climate Crisis and Police Militarization. It combines a comprehensive history of the campaign to defend the forest with a strategic analysis that locates it in reference to the broader political context and other similar campaigns. In our next episode, we’ll present a series of anonymous first person accounts written by participants in the movement to defend the forest, along with the solidarity statement we’ve signed and are urging other groups and individuals to also sign on to in support of the struggle. For updates, please check out atlantapresscollective.com. We urge you to learn all you can and take whatever action you’re able to take to stop this horrifying juggernaut of murderous police expansion and ecological destruction, and to take inspiration from the powerful and creative resistance that has prevented their plans from coming to pass so far.

THE CITY IN THE FOREST: REINVENTING RESISTANCE FOR AN AGE OF CLIMATE CRISIS AND POLICE MILITARIZATION

To follow along with a text version of the episode, refer to the originally published article, The City in the Forest: Reinventing Resistance for an Age of Climate Crisis and Police Militarization.

CONCLUSION

Alanis: That’s all for this episode of the Ex-Worker. For links to the text versions of what you’ve just heard, or to listen to more podcast episodes, audio zines, and audio books from our collective, check out our website at crimethinc.com/podcasts.

The Ex-Worker: an audio strike against a monotone world… for everyone who dreams of a life off the clock.

Thanks for listening!