1 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:08,719 Speaker 1: Despite it being past midnight, you can still see through 2 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:12,560 Speaker 1: the dense forest. The moonlit sky, combined with the urban 3 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:16,240 Speaker 1: light pollution, make traversing the messy woods easier than you thought. 4 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: You relieve that you don't have to use your head lamp, 5 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:23,639 Speaker 1: which could have drawn unwanted attention. The company of a 6 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:25,959 Speaker 1: few of your queer friends makes the walk through the 7 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: confusing woods less intimidating. Dressed in gray and camo, you 8 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 1: make your way through overgrown trails and hop over a 9 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:37,839 Speaker 1: small creek. Save for the occasional train, all you can 10 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: hear is the croaking of frogs and chirping of cicadas, crickets, 11 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:45,560 Speaker 1: and grasshoppers. The night air you breathe through your mask 12 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 1: is noticeably cleaner than the air from downtown that you 13 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:53,480 Speaker 1: spent months riding in during not even counting the tear 14 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: gas in the air. As you and your pals slowly 15 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: trek through the forest, your feet squished into the grassy ground, 16 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: you avoid the area's caked in clay and stick to 17 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: the cover of trees, brush and the soft wetland. After 18 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,560 Speaker 1: a short walk and with only a few wrong turns, 19 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 1: you reach an artificial break in the embrace of the forest. 20 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: You look at your masked up friends, and for a 21 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: brief moment during the moonlight night, you can't quite tell 22 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 1: who's who. Which is a good thing. You suppose everyone 23 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: exchanges glances, but no one says anything. Everyone already knows 24 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:33,760 Speaker 1: what to do. As you approach the barren mound of dirt, 25 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 1: you get angry, a jarring crack in the beauty and 26 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: mysterious allure of the forest. You're no longer in the woods. 27 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: You're at the site of destruction, a clear cut that 28 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: seeks to expand its radius. Without the tree coverage, you 29 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: can see the harsh blue light of l eds in 30 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: the distance. There, among the mounds of dirt and fallen 31 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: trees are several unguarded machines of destruction. With no cell 32 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: phones in sight. You and your friends get to live 33 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: in the moment. Your agenda becomes the sound of shattering 34 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: glass in the cold night. Hammers meet windows and serrated 35 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: knives cut the inner tubing of bulldozers and excavators. The 36 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:19,920 Speaker 1: undoing of the mechanical monsters that have violated the forest 37 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: has begun. No tool of the evil doers goes unharmed. 38 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: Rattling cans of spray paint, leave antagonistic and proclamatory messages 39 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: with rebellious hiss for those who intend to continue destroying 40 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: the forest. Defend the forest, no cops city, no Hollywood dystopia. 41 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:43,399 Speaker 1: In little time, the light pollution, moonlight, and distant LEDs 42 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: are accompanied by a bright orange blaze emanating from the machines, 43 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: lighting up the area around the sad mound of dirt. 44 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: A splash of gasoline acts as the extension of the 45 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: blood that fuels the burning fire in your hearts that 46 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: became a light with the rage felt at the sight 47 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: of the decimated woods. By the time the fire department 48 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: took notice, you've already disappeared into the night, like a specter, 49 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: fading like the curling black smoke that drifted into the 50 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:16,119 Speaker 1: midnight sky. As you exit the forest, you go about 51 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: as if what happened tonight never did. You never tell 52 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: a soul, You never talk about it with your masked 53 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: up queer friends, since they were never there either. Details 54 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: fade in your memory like a dream, but deep down 55 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: you still remember the feeling, the peak moment of true freedom. 56 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: When the fire engulfed the machines, it was upon broken, 57 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: uneasable machines that the fires were extinguished, laying incinerated, the 58 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: excavators and bulldozers who are rendered immobile worthless. Piles of trash. 59 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: Fires are only temporary and can be undone. But the 60 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 1: connection between those who live in a forest, who breathes air, 61 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 1: and who drink its water filtered through its wetlands is 62 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: not so easily broken. Any further attempts that destroying the 63 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: forest we met with a similar response. The forest was 64 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: here long before us, and we'll be here long after. 65 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: You and your friends, among many other anonymous strangers will 66 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: see to that welcome. Took it up in here a 67 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:19,160 Speaker 1: podcast about things falling apart and how we can put 68 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:23,720 Speaker 1: them back together, And today we'll be spending that entire spectrum. 69 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: I'm Garrison Davison. The story I just read isn't merely 70 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:29,559 Speaker 1: a fictional one. It was inspired by over a year's 71 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: worth of communicators and report backs coming out of the 72 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: Defend the Forest movement in Atlanta, Georgia. So excuse the 73 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: pretentious poetry of anarchists and speak. In early one, it 74 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,039 Speaker 1: was real to the public that mainly four entities, namely 75 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: the City of Atlanta, the Atlanta Police Foundation, de Cab 76 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:52,160 Speaker 1: County and Black Hall Studios had dual plans to devastate 77 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: two complementary sections of the South Atlanta Forest. The City 78 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 1: of Atlanta and Police Foundation plans are to turn the 79 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: area of the forest, known as the Old Atlanta Prison Farm, 80 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: into the largest police training facility in the country, complete 81 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:11,720 Speaker 1: with a mock city, helipad and bomb range. Meanwhile, Entrenchment 82 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: Creek of a public forest land will be traded by 83 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: De Cab County to Black Hall Movie Studios to clear 84 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 1: cut the land on which they plan to build America's 85 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: largest sound stage. This project lies at a horrific intersection 86 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:30,920 Speaker 1: of police militarization, gentrification, copaganda, and exasperating the local effects 87 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 1: of worsening climate change by clear cutting hundreds of acres 88 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: of forest. In the last year, activists, ghosts like saboteurs, 89 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,919 Speaker 1: and open source researchers have vultraals together into an anonymous 90 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: and diverse movement that's brought the plan to destroy the 91 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,720 Speaker 1: forest out of the shadows of secretive, backdoor corporate deals 92 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: and into the public spotlight, forming the Defend the Atlanta 93 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: Forest movement that's consistently been able to get ahead of 94 00:05:57,360 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: police and media by breaking news about the force to 95 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 1: strug action plans and setting the terms of engagement and 96 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: what's deemed as acceptable direct action, all well being able 97 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: to foster relationship with the woods that they are defending. 98 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: I've been really interested in this project since I heard 99 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: about it last summer. Along with the intersection of police 100 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:19,479 Speaker 1: militarization and climate change. On the flip side, there's this 101 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 1: unique intersection of urban city protest and classic forest echo defense. 102 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: The mix of tactics have produced a movement unlike anything 103 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: really seen before here in the States. Not to get 104 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: ahead of myself, but ever since last fall when the 105 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: Atlanta City Council approved the plan to build the largest 106 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: police training facility in the country, dubbed cops City by 107 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: activists due to the plans to build a mini version 108 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: of Atlanta within the facility to practice urban combat. But 109 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,799 Speaker 1: I figured that I would eventually find myself inside the forest. 110 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,159 Speaker 1: So this last April, when an opportunity presented itself to 111 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: travel to Atlanta, stay in the woods and talk with 112 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,159 Speaker 1: some forest defenders, I could not pass it up. I 113 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: packed a tent, sleeping bag, and some microfilms and made 114 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 1: my way to Georgia. The first thing I noticed upon 115 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,360 Speaker 1: arriving in Atlanta is that when they say Atlanta is 116 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: a city in a forest, they really do mean it. 117 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: The amount of continuous tree coverage throughout the city was astonishing, 118 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: and that's coming from someone who lives in Portland, Oregon. 119 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: As it turns out, the city of Atlanta actually has 120 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: the highest amount of tree canopy of any city in 121 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: the United States. On top of the citywide tree coverage, 122 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: there is the South River Forest, which makes up the 123 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: largest continuous section of woods and serves as Atlanta's first 124 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:38,040 Speaker 1: line of defense in the face of rapidly accelerating climate change. 125 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: The forest in southeast Atlanta is said to function as 126 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: the lungs of the city. The canopy offers shade and 127 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: traps carbon, with some of the more heavily forted areas 128 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: acting as wetlands that filter rain water and prevent flooding 129 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:55,239 Speaker 1: by collecting runoff. It's marsh is one of the last 130 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: breeding grounds for a lot of amphibians in the region, 131 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: as well as an important migration site or wading birds, 132 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,200 Speaker 1: and serves as a home to a lot of local wildlife. 133 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: Nearly five acres of this forest is under threat by 134 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: the Atlanta Police Foundation and Black Hall Studios. If plans 135 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: succeed to develop this precious strip of forest into the 136 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: massive police compound and adjacent movie sound stage, the entire 137 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:22,160 Speaker 1: metropolitan area will face much harsher effects of climate change, 138 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: including worsening floods, higher temperatures, and less clean, tree filtered air, 139 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 1: not to mention the increased police militarization and gentrification. Speaking 140 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:35,200 Speaker 1: of the second thing I noticed once I arrived in 141 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: Atlanta is how much gentrification is currently underway. The amount 142 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: of hideous five of our one apartments that are being 143 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: built was impossible to overlook. And as we'll see, the 144 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: way police feed off gentrification, which feeds off the corporate 145 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: and movie making sides of Atlanta, is not merely a coincidence. 146 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:57,080 Speaker 1: Last fall, I interviewed Jamal from the Atlanta chapter of 147 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:00,560 Speaker 1: the Community Movement Builders, a black blood collective of community 148 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: residents and activists serving poor, working class black communities. They 149 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 1: focus on responding to encroaching gentrification, displacement, and over policing. 150 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: Here's what Jamal had to say on the intersection of 151 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 1: issues owing around the cops city and defend the forest project. 152 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: Just to piggyback off of that, I think it's extremely 153 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 1: important for us to recognize the connections between all these things. Right, this, 154 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:28,000 Speaker 1: like Cops City is a perfect blend of UM environmental 155 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: justice issues, uh just flat out racism, police brutality, and 156 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: also gentrification. Right, it's not a it's not a mistake 157 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 1: that they're building this Cops City right at this moment 158 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:42,360 Speaker 1: when UM Atlanta is also becoming the for the first 159 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: time and I don't know how many decades, um Non 160 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:49,479 Speaker 1: no longer a majority black city because neighborhoods like Pittsburger 161 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: were located out of and all across Southwest and West 162 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: Atlanta have becoming more like the black people have been 163 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:58,440 Speaker 1: being displaced from the from our communities, right. UM. So 164 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: a perfect example is that with my gganization Community Movement Builders, 165 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:04,079 Speaker 1: we UH purchased We've been we've been doing work in 166 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh neighborhood for a while, but we purchased a 167 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: community house in the neighborhood about six years ago. Right 168 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 1: at that point, we purchased the house for fifty thousand dollars. Right. UM, 169 00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 1: Pittsburgh has been historically uh poorn working class community. It 170 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: was uh it was founded as a black community, which 171 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 1: is different from a lot of other other neighbors in Atlanta. 172 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: Was founded as a black community from uh freed Africans 173 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: UM who were trying to escape some of the more 174 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: rural areas of the South and found work in Haven 175 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 1: in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Atlanta. And it's been a 176 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: poor and working class black community ever since. But now UM, 177 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 1: because of the gentrification has been going on. How a 178 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: house just sold maybe about a month and a half 179 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: ago for seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, So the 180 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:52,559 Speaker 1: person's house at fifty thousand dollars six years ago. A 181 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 1: house just sold UM just a few blocks away from 182 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: that house for seven fifty thousand dollars. Now, it's not 183 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:00,960 Speaker 1: every house to sell in for that amount, but that 184 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: just shows you the rate of gentrification that's happening. And 185 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:07,760 Speaker 1: then and we know that cops are on this necessary 186 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 1: part of being able to defer to displace people from 187 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,960 Speaker 1: gentrifying communities. They play an integral role within gentrification. Yeah, 188 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: I'm just wondering, does any of you have anything like 189 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:20,280 Speaker 1: even like anecdotal experience with like basically Marvel and men 190 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:23,600 Speaker 1: tons of other industries like invading Atlanta. How is that 191 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 1: like affected specifically, Like you already talked about how how 192 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,319 Speaker 1: you know, increased the increase in the film industry and 193 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:31,200 Speaker 1: other things. Has you know, has made more gentrification, But 194 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:33,360 Speaker 1: like how has that even affected just like like other 195 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: types of stuff including like policing, Like has has this 196 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 1: type of like growth um affected people or people you 197 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:43,960 Speaker 1: know in in other ways? Yeah? Absolutely so I think 198 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 1: a lot of this kind of got I won't say 199 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:48,959 Speaker 1: it got started, but a lot of it went even 200 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: uh you know, escalated when Tyler Perry Studio opened up 201 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:55,440 Speaker 1: in East Point, UM and a lot of people you 202 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: know were praising It's like, oh look at this uh 203 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:00,560 Speaker 1: you know, it's a black man. And I was able 204 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:02,559 Speaker 1: to move down and be able to start this thing 205 00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:05,079 Speaker 1: within Hollywood. But no, it's all that is one of 206 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 1: the things that also spurred the gentrification in East Point, 207 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:10,480 Speaker 1: which is you might not be familiar with Atlanta, but 208 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: East Point is like literally right next to Atlanta, So 209 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: it's a lot of it's it's really close proximity, and 210 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:19,200 Speaker 1: so that also spurs over to the gentrification here in 211 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: the city as well. Um property values have gone up 212 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 1: since that point even more. UM even my tax bill 213 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:29,840 Speaker 1: has gone up a thousand dollars a year per a 214 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: year UM for the past like three years, right, UM, 215 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 1: So it's yeah, it's it's definitely. We definitely see the 216 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:40,440 Speaker 1: effects and you know, and just talking to you know, 217 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:43,800 Speaker 1: we do, we do do a lot of work around gentrification. UM. 218 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:45,840 Speaker 1: And I think this is in tandem with you know, 219 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:48,679 Speaker 1: because we have COVID nineteen out here now, with the 220 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:53,080 Speaker 1: Vision moratorium which has now been you know denied um 221 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:56,000 Speaker 1: with by the Supreme Court. Um. But even when there 222 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: wasn't a Vision moratorium, there were still people that were 223 00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: getting evicted from their homes. And and I think all 224 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: of this in tandem when Atlanta specifically has already been 225 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 1: going through a gentrification crisis and um with COVID nineteen 226 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: where people have been losing jobs left and right, or 227 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:12,600 Speaker 1: not been able to go to their jobs that they've had, 228 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 1: um and look and having us salaries cut. People have 229 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: been hurting, and the response from the city has not 230 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 1: to been that has not been to provide more resources 231 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,560 Speaker 1: to people. It's been too fund cops city to be 232 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:27,560 Speaker 1: able to get more peace out. Who are the ones 233 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,679 Speaker 1: that execute then actual evictions themselves? And I think it 234 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: all it all it all is connected in that in 235 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:35,920 Speaker 1: that type of way. I arrived in Atlanta a few 236 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,160 Speaker 1: days before the Muscogee Summit, a weekend event where the 237 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: original indigenous people from the area of the South River, 238 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: or for the native name of the said land, the 239 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:47,960 Speaker 1: Ulannie Forest, traveled back to their ancestral homeland to discuss 240 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: indigenous environmental philosophy, what land back and rematreation means in 241 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,280 Speaker 1: theory and practice. Several Indigenous authors were present and led workshops, 242 00:13:56,320 --> 00:14:00,319 Speaker 1: including Indigenous feminist, scholar and community planner lower Are Joe 243 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,760 Speaker 1: from the University of Oklahoma, author of Spiral to the Stars, 244 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: Muskogee Tools of Futurity, and Dr Daniel Wildcat of the 245 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:12,080 Speaker 1: Haskell Indian Nations University, who wrote the book Read Alert, 246 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:16,720 Speaker 1: Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledge. In the less academic portions, 247 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 1: there were forest walks, community meals, and singing of old 248 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,960 Speaker 1: Muscogee songs, including ones that are performed two centuries ago 249 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: during the Trail of Tears. Muskogee Creek. Attendees also gathered 250 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: around a sacred fire to perform a stomp dance, recreating 251 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 1: rhythms heard and sensed in the forest long ago to 252 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 1: rekindle the relationship with the Earth and connect back to 253 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 1: the ancestral presences. This was the second ancestral migration the 254 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:45,440 Speaker 1: Muskogee Creek Title members have done since being forcibly removed 255 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,600 Speaker 1: two centuries ago and displaced to Oklahoma. The first one 256 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:52,600 Speaker 1: took place just this last November, and both times the 257 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 1: particular section of land they gathered on in Transparant Creek 258 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 1: Park is one of the areas under threat of being 259 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,200 Speaker 1: ecologically destroyed and clear cut. Over the course of a 260 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: few days during my week long stay, I sat down 261 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: in the woods to record with two groups of forest defenders, 262 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 1: one group sitting around a campfire at night next to 263 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:13,360 Speaker 1: a high security child prison, and the other group during 264 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:16,800 Speaker 1: the sunny bird chirping day outside the Black Hole Studios 265 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:21,000 Speaker 1: movie plot. So if you hear campfires or bird sounds 266 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:25,080 Speaker 1: in the background, just embrace our forest punk aesthetic. Up front, 267 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 1: I think it's really important to first talk about the 268 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: history of the land that is under threat because on 269 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:33,640 Speaker 1: top of issues regarding gentrification and the plans of this 270 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 1: police training facility. As a response to the George Flayne 271 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: uprising and the false manufactured crime wave media narrative intended 272 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:43,920 Speaker 1: to rejusify American policing in the wake of the uprising, 273 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,240 Speaker 1: that the fact that the Atlanta Police Foundation shows this 274 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: plot of land in particular is particularly gross. The history 275 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: of this small section of land in the South River 276 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: Watershed is deeply scarred and desperately needs time to heal. 277 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: There are centuries of oppression and state violence tied to 278 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 1: this particular spot of land, and now we're seeing that 279 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 1: trying to be continued with this Cops City plan. Local 280 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 1: tribes were expelled for millions of acres in the southwest 281 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,440 Speaker 1: region of what is now known as the United States 282 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:16,440 Speaker 1: during the early decades of the eighteen hundreds. Forced removal 283 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: and displacement of the Muskogee Creek people began in the 284 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 1: region in eighteen twenty one through a series of treaties 285 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 1: which then eventually led to a quote melee of removal. 286 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: More on that from one of the force defenders I 287 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: spoke to, and I'll note we'll be using a mix 288 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:36,120 Speaker 1: of voice distortion and voice actors combined with other audio 289 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: distortion to help protect the identities of the forced defenders 290 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:44,600 Speaker 1: that I spoke to against possible state repression. So enjoy 291 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 1: our our our cool voice distorted audio. Yeah, I think 292 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 1: it's important because a lot of our comrades relatives repressed 293 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 1: lands in the early eighteen hundreds. They a lot of 294 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:05,800 Speaker 1: them did not go quietly in the night. I think 295 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: that's important to remember because I feel like a lot 296 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:09,440 Speaker 1: of people are just like the Trail of twos or 297 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,160 Speaker 1: like they were pushed out, but they're they fought against 298 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: being pushed out, and then when a lot of them 299 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:17,320 Speaker 1: are pushed out or killed off, then it was used 300 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:22,320 Speaker 1: to incur sory and house mostly black people. So we're 301 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,359 Speaker 1: taking it back. That is most of the people that 302 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:27,640 Speaker 1: I have seen involved. It is a diverse group of people. 303 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:30,399 Speaker 1: It's not just like white anarchists in the woods. That 304 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: is a misconception. There's all kinds of folks, which really 305 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: I think is interesting and makes this trouble unique and important. 306 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: But there is also a lot of like white anarchists 307 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 1: that are using their privilege to help take the land 308 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: back for our comrades that want to see it back, 309 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,880 Speaker 1: and it feels things feel like they're in a good way. Um, 310 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: there's good relations that are existing between like the anarchists 311 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: and Indigenous Alliance down here, where like obviously no one 312 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,600 Speaker 1: person speaks or represents any one group, but the alliances 313 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:04,399 Speaker 1: that we have are very informed of the variety of 314 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,960 Speaker 1: activities that have happened down here, including the persons of machinery, 315 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:12,959 Speaker 1: and we were positively told to quote unquote keep on going. 316 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:20,600 Speaker 1: So that feels empowering and it feels beautiful, and it 317 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:24,399 Speaker 1: feels important to note that some of the comrades that 318 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:28,720 Speaker 1: have ancestral tires to this area, it's such a dark 319 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: history and they're still here. Is something that they're mentioning, 320 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,680 Speaker 1: and they're excited. The people that were close to obviously 321 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:38,720 Speaker 1: we are close to all of them. They're excited that 322 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 1: people are choosing to use their privilege to help make 323 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 1: sure these facilities don't get built. Continuing with the scarred 324 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,439 Speaker 1: history of this land, Shortly after the lands at the 325 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:52,840 Speaker 1: South River Forest were stolen from Muskegee Creek people, plots 326 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:56,120 Speaker 1: were distributed to white settlers in the fourth Georgia Land 327 00:18:56,160 --> 00:19:00,240 Speaker 1: Lottery of one, which made available landloads of two undred 328 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 1: in two point five acres. Many of these white settlers 329 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,720 Speaker 1: established slave plantations on which cotton and other crops were 330 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 1: produced through slave labor. Through archival records, we know of 331 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:13,040 Speaker 1: at least twelve plantations that were on this land that 332 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 1: existed from the eighteen forties up until eighteen sixty five, 333 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,200 Speaker 1: and then in the early nineteen hundreds, the very same 334 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:25,640 Speaker 1: land started being used as a prison farm, now known 335 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 1: as the Old Atlanta Prison Farm. The Old Atlanta Prison 336 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 1: Farm was originally bought in nineteen seventeen to incarceraate prisoners 337 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:35,800 Speaker 1: of war, but this plan was abandoned within two years 338 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 1: and the land was converted into a prison farm where 339 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:42,439 Speaker 1: inmates including a moonshiners, public drinkers, and just loiterers and 340 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 1: really anybody, were sent to and forced to perform unpaid 341 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: agricultural labor. This shift from plantations to prison farm marks 342 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: the rebranding of slavery into for profit prison labor. This 343 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:58,240 Speaker 1: labor included washing cows and arsenic laden water, which led 344 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: to the early deaths of countless prison nurse. The facility 345 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 1: ran up until in which it was shut down, and 346 00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 1: then two child prison facilities were put on the adjacent land, 347 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:14,080 Speaker 1: and the Atlanta Police Department already currently uses sections of 348 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:18,000 Speaker 1: this hollow ground as a firing range. Tear gas canisters 349 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,360 Speaker 1: and bullet casings from police are frequently found throughout the forest. 350 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,199 Speaker 1: From where on that here's some other parts that might 351 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:26,960 Speaker 1: sit down with the forest offenders. And then I guess 352 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:32,960 Speaker 1: like fast forwarding a little bit from this land where 353 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 1: indigenous people lived to the prison farm, um, and then 354 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 1: how this has like a long incarstral history and history 355 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,359 Speaker 1: of being tied to policing. Uh well with the child 356 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:47,000 Speaker 1: prison that's still here, the prison farm, and then now 357 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:50,879 Speaker 1: trying to build this militarized training facility, just like continuing 358 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:55,159 Speaker 1: on this legacy of state violence, which is like another 359 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:57,640 Speaker 1: massive aspect in terms of like they're trying to take 360 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 1: this very like land that needs to heal from the 361 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 1: centuries of violence and just tear it all down and 362 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:09,720 Speaker 1: build more of that. Um. I know, there's like there's 363 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 1: the firing range that we've been hearing shots from. Uh 364 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 1: there's it's like just this never ending thing. It just 365 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 1: like just keeps happening. It's a pretty weird, surreal experience. 366 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,919 Speaker 1: Makes me feel like we're all like an endangered species 367 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,159 Speaker 1: living in like the last part of the forest and 368 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: fucking South Atlanta. I remember when I was explaining to 369 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:31,919 Speaker 1: one of my relatives, are like I was reading the 370 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: internet about the Family Atlanta forest and not sure quite 371 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:37,679 Speaker 1: what's all going on, but sounds like you're living in 372 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 1: how you're between two different chapters and sons of high 373 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: security was the less security, a large massive power line 374 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,440 Speaker 1: cut and old Prettiston farm and two sides of the 375 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:51,359 Speaker 1: road at least three different police firing rangers and always 376 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: water treatment plane at the doubles as a firing range 377 00:21:54,480 --> 00:22:01,120 Speaker 1: and super training facility for the police. Another interesting facet 378 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:04,639 Speaker 1: is this particular piece of land where they're trying to 379 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:10,879 Speaker 1: build Top City is like a really important turning point 380 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 1: in history of slavery in the US, and like this 381 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 1: is where a lot of things went from like shadow 382 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 1: slavery um and transitioned into what we now have as 383 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:32,760 Speaker 1: prison slavery. And as we're sitting here on what was 384 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:37,880 Speaker 1: literally a prison farm, even people in pretile detention were 385 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:43,600 Speaker 1: here and used for unpaid labor, even people who had 386 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 1: not been convicted of any time. And so it's kind 387 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:55,200 Speaker 1: of like it's like like very like visible like stain 388 00:22:55,720 --> 00:23:00,159 Speaker 1: on the like history of of like what you is 389 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:04,159 Speaker 1: racist policing, but it's harder to cover up and harder 390 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:09,400 Speaker 1: to like pink flash um and so like even as 391 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:13,439 Speaker 1: there is like a place where children are locked in 392 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:20,120 Speaker 1: cages over they have not yards from me. So too, 393 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:26,720 Speaker 1: is this a place where people were brought for being 394 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:31,439 Speaker 1: used as slaves and like died and were buried in 395 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:36,760 Speaker 1: unmarked graves. Yeah. Can I talk a little bit more 396 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:40,439 Speaker 1: about that. This was the transition. This is like the 397 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:45,520 Speaker 1: intermediitary the intermediate transition between child slavery and mind day 398 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: prison slavery. UM. And it was like especially horrific, Like 399 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 1: there is two lakes on the property, but where at 400 00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: one point said to be filled with arsenic um where 401 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:06,159 Speaker 1: they are slaves were not only watching cattle um with 402 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:08,880 Speaker 1: the arsenic to remove them like bugs, but also in 403 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:14,320 Speaker 1: those in those lakes and like suffering horrible diseases and 404 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 1: like dying from this. The reason they present, I'm actually 405 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:21,359 Speaker 1: that closed down was because of the amount of people 406 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:23,960 Speaker 1: going in and out of the reason why this city 407 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 1: pushed to close it downwards because of the amount of 408 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:30,920 Speaker 1: UM people being sent to the hospital week after weekend, 409 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:34,760 Speaker 1: day after day, like efficient like actually overloading the medical 410 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:40,880 Speaker 1: system in the area. UM. That's like publicly recorded information. UM. 411 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 1: They closed down like the eighties or nineteen nineties UM, 412 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:52,480 Speaker 1: and like during the Civil War, escaped prisoners from here 413 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:57,840 Speaker 1: would be are sorry, escaped slaves are from here would 414 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:03,399 Speaker 1: be like going across battle lines and feeding information to 415 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:07,880 Speaker 1: the Union side in order to like serve their informs 416 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,840 Speaker 1: of liberation. I mean we like this land also exists 417 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 1: right next to a major or like major road that 418 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:19,080 Speaker 1: serves as a car serral center. Um. It has both 419 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 1: like the Metro uh Metro reentry facility, the Metro Youth 420 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: Detention center, and like a couple of other buildings um uh. 421 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 1: And like it's not just like the eighty lands of 422 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 1: a plan to clear cut here, it's also the like 423 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:44,840 Speaker 1: three hundred that they plan to continue with the car 424 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 1: serl legacy of terror and horror um from going from 425 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:57,920 Speaker 1: like chattel slavery and indigenous displacement to um the intermit 426 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:04,200 Speaker 1: intermediary UM poor that the prison farm was to this 427 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:09,439 Speaker 1: new legacy of like cover up of it all and 428 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:17,120 Speaker 1: then and it Yeah. I think the continuation of this 429 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:24,360 Speaker 1: land being used by the state, by police, by um 430 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: all these like oppressive groups to further their causes a 431 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: really interesting aspect of des and for going to prison 432 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,600 Speaker 1: farm and then police trying to now turn into a 433 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:38,640 Speaker 1: militarized police training facility. UM. Yeah. Yeah, so first I think, UM, 434 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,960 Speaker 1: you know this misscowy Land and it's during the scurvy summer. 435 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:46,639 Speaker 1: It's cool. You know, the scurvy people have been or 436 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 1: displaced for the most part and there trying to participate 437 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: in this migration back. And so they're on the land 438 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:57,720 Speaker 1: right now and it's been very special to have them 439 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,560 Speaker 1: here and to be able to express all audity and 440 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:03,399 Speaker 1: like work together with them has been really amazing and 441 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:09,359 Speaker 1: learned a lot and it's yeah, it's cool to understand 442 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,119 Speaker 1: that and hear what you're saying. That interaction of like 443 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:20,720 Speaker 1: UM settler colonialism displacing people UM, like early slavery, prison slavery, 444 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:25,600 Speaker 1: and this this specific land has always been UM a 445 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:27,879 Speaker 1: place that I feel like has been almost like the 446 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 1: vanguard of how like policing has and like such a 447 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:39,679 Speaker 1: settler colonialism, UM has experimented with how to reproduce itself 448 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:44,440 Speaker 1: in sustainable ways, UM with like just in general domestication 449 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:47,960 Speaker 1: of humans and the domestication animals. And that's like what 450 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: APD is trying to do on this land. And it's 451 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,720 Speaker 1: a direct reaction to the George Floyd uprising which caused 452 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,200 Speaker 1: a crisis, and policing is it actually bit back with 453 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:02,040 Speaker 1: serious power, and so they're trying to figure out and 454 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:06,399 Speaker 1: experiment with ways of reproducing policing for the future in 455 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:10,080 Speaker 1: the exact same way that when slavery took a serious 456 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:14,280 Speaker 1: all they said, how can we recuperate and how can 457 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:17,000 Speaker 1: we reproduce this in a way that sustainable. And that's 458 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:21,919 Speaker 1: why we have a modern prison system that lives on 459 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:24,840 Speaker 1: to this day. And that's why they're realizing, as as 460 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,879 Speaker 1: we're gaining and we're threatening it, oh, we have to 461 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:30,320 Speaker 1: do something, and this LAMB has always been a site 462 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 1: for doing that. It's they're an keep trying. Atlanta is 463 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:48,520 Speaker 1: a heavily corporate city. It's been dubbed the Silicon Valley 464 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,760 Speaker 1: of the South by people who surely must be insufferable 465 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:54,719 Speaker 1: to be around, but it is true that Atlanta and 466 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 1: Georgia's economic policies have attached a swath of corporations to 467 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,400 Speaker 1: either start to grow, oh or migrate to the city. 468 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:06,600 Speaker 1: It's home to Coca Cola, Delta Airlines, Ups, Home Depot, 469 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:10,440 Speaker 1: Chick fil A, and multiple media conglomerates, as well as 470 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:14,000 Speaker 1: having headquarters for like Google and other tech companies as well. 471 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,440 Speaker 1: The city serves as a massive transportation hub. In fact, 472 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:20,480 Speaker 1: Atlanta the city started off as a train hub, and 473 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: now it boasts the world's busiest airport. Recent tax credits 474 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,000 Speaker 1: for the film industry have made Atlanta and Georgia the 475 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:31,960 Speaker 1: new hot place to shoot high budget Hollywood movies. There's 476 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:35,480 Speaker 1: a whole effort to make the city effectively the new Hollywood, 477 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:40,080 Speaker 1: but like all economic growth, this comes with some heavy consequences, 478 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:44,080 Speaker 1: most often affecting those at the bottom. Atlanta is also 479 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:46,920 Speaker 1: the most surveilled city in the United States and the 480 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:50,920 Speaker 1: city with the most wealth and equality. All the corporations 481 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: and film industry stuff moving to Atlanta has indeed created jobs, 482 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 1: but many of those jobs go to workers from out 483 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,600 Speaker 1: of state. On average, less than one third of new 484 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 1: film industry jobs have gone to people who were already 485 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:06,480 Speaker 1: living in Atlanta. The result of this out of state 486 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:10,560 Speaker 1: economic migration boosts cost of housing, cost of living at 487 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:13,080 Speaker 1: Bush's lower and middle class residents of Atlanta out of 488 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:16,920 Speaker 1: their neighborhoods, disproportionately pushing out to black people. And this 489 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:21,160 Speaker 1: is all while the increasing corporization and gentrification is actually 490 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:25,160 Speaker 1: pitched as quote unquote providing opportunities to the city's black population. 491 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 1: Which is certainly something because the state of Georgia has 492 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:32,280 Speaker 1: the fourth largest incarceration rate in the entire world if 493 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,080 Speaker 1: you put a U S states on the same level 494 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,440 Speaker 1: as like every single other country. The other top three 495 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:43,560 Speaker 1: states or countries with the highest incarceration rates are Louisiana, Mississippi, 496 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:47,680 Speaker 1: and Oklahoma. So yeah, but Georgia's number four. Those in 497 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 1: Atlanta's top income bracket make nearly twenty times those who 498 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:55,920 Speaker 1: are at the bottom. And if you map the wealth 499 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 1: disparity onto the layout of the city, it's a one 500 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:02,480 Speaker 1: to one match for the cities old segregation lines. The 501 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 1: entire city runs on these like Reaganite neoliberal policies, but 502 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 1: under this mask of woke identity politics. And who enforces 503 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: that wealth and equality and gentrification. That's right, police, which 504 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 1: leads us to the origin of this plan for so 505 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:20,960 Speaker 1: called cops City. I'm gonna quote a crime Thing article 506 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:24,040 Speaker 1: that came out last month called The City in the 507 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:27,720 Speaker 1: Forest Reinventing Resistance for an age of climate crisis and 508 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:31,040 Speaker 1: police militarization, which I recommend you guys read. I'll I'll 509 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:33,720 Speaker 1: have it in the habit in the source notes. But yeah, 510 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:36,680 Speaker 1: here's the quote from crime think quote. The government of 511 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:39,880 Speaker 1: Atlanta has developed a few tentative solutions to the dilemmas 512 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:43,080 Speaker 1: they face. To follow through on their commitments to their backers, 513 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:46,440 Speaker 1: city politicians need to continue sacrificing public assets on the 514 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 1: altar of the economy in order to attract more major 515 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:52,960 Speaker 1: investors to the region, especially the film industry and technology companies. 516 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 1: To maintain control in a period of rapid displacement and 517 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:59,640 Speaker 1: rising cost of living, with chronic tension between the conservative 518 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:02,760 Speaker 1: statement and the liberal city administration, they need to funnel 519 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:06,320 Speaker 1: more resources towards law enforcement throughout the region. Finally, to 520 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:09,880 Speaker 1: appease the increasingly rebellious lower classes, they to frame this 521 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,800 Speaker 1: process of restructuring and repression in the language of black empowerment, 522 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 1: social justice, and progressivism. The bureaucrats are not in a 523 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,240 Speaker 1: good position to handle this. Decades of tax cuts and 524 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 1: deregulation have created infrastructural failures and breakdowns of all kinds, 525 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:27,480 Speaker 1: among other concerns. Atlanta lost the bid for the second 526 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,680 Speaker 1: Amazon headquarters because the public transit, one of the least 527 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:33,200 Speaker 1: funded in the United States, was not even operable when 528 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:36,000 Speaker 1: the corporate scouts came to visit. At the same time. 529 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:38,560 Speaker 1: It's precisely the low taxes and absence of regulation that 530 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 1: attract capital to the state of Georgia. So cultivating a 531 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:45,680 Speaker 1: social democratic governing strategy may now be impossible without creating 532 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:47,720 Speaker 1: a flight of wealth to other parts of the country. 533 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:50,680 Speaker 1: It seems that the current plan is to give over 534 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:54,240 Speaker 1: as many public contracts and resources to private developers as possible, 535 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:57,160 Speaker 1: to allow them to incur the costs of social disintegration 536 00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:59,920 Speaker 1: and anger, and to use police to control the blowback, 537 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:02,440 Speaker 1: and to use images of Martin Luther King Jr. To 538 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:06,120 Speaker 1: preempt any meaningful resistance. Thus, the plan to transform a 539 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 1: wild space into a police training compound is dubbed the 540 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:14,880 Speaker 1: Institute for Social Justice. That's right, the plan to make 541 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:19,120 Speaker 1: the country's biggest militarized police training facility. They're planning to 542 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:22,800 Speaker 1: call it the Institute for Social Justice. Ignore the bomb 543 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:28,320 Speaker 1: range and uh urban combat mock city section. Anyway. Um, 544 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:32,280 Speaker 1: here is Jamal again from the community movement builders. I 545 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:36,680 Speaker 1: think one thing that's also really significant is that so 546 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:43,400 Speaker 1: my city council person for his District twelve, Joyce Shepherd Um. 547 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: District twelve is where Pittsburgh is, where Summerhill is, where 548 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:52,520 Speaker 1: several of poor and black working class neighborhoods of Atlanta 549 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:56,000 Speaker 1: are located. There are also the areas where they're the 550 00:33:56,040 --> 00:34:01,240 Speaker 1: most gentrifying areas of the city is well and it's 551 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:05,760 Speaker 1: in in in City Council District twelve. Joyce Shepherd, she 552 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:09,360 Speaker 1: is the person who brought this proposal forward, right, she 553 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:12,520 Speaker 1: is over the quote unquote public safety. Um even know 554 00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:16,600 Speaker 1: they are keeping ship safe quote unquote public safety. Um, 555 00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 1: you know commission and Um, she brought this forward. And 556 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:25,000 Speaker 1: she has been since she's been in office, she has 557 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:32,600 Speaker 1: been a even uh, she's been a champion of gentrification. Right, 558 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,799 Speaker 1: she's been a champion of over policing as well. UM. 559 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:38,360 Speaker 1: And I think it's it's a tie between even our 560 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,600 Speaker 1: city council or even our representation has in their interests 561 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:43,960 Speaker 1: of being able of of gentrifying the city because that 562 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:46,000 Speaker 1: gives them more tax stars. It gives them a way 563 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:49,319 Speaker 1: to be able to say that they are decreasing their 564 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:51,640 Speaker 1: crime rates except and all those all these different types 565 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:54,920 Speaker 1: of things, when it's really just dep deplacing poor folks. Um. 566 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:58,040 Speaker 1: And so I think that's an important about talking about 567 00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:00,600 Speaker 1: how this kind of was established. That's the important topic 568 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:02,399 Speaker 1: to be able to address is that even and she's 569 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:06,240 Speaker 1: a black woman, right, so even um, you know, even 570 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:10,680 Speaker 1: how like when people when when people might you think 571 00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:13,560 Speaker 1: they might be in representing your interests, when they get 572 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:15,520 Speaker 1: to be in these positions, we have to recognize that 573 00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:18,880 Speaker 1: they are not necessarily flo to people. In the aftermath 574 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:22,400 Speaker 1: of the George Floyd uprising against police violence, the city 575 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:25,680 Speaker 1: responded by striking down any police reform measures and restricting 576 00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:28,920 Speaker 1: opportunities for republic input, while increasing the police budget and 577 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:33,160 Speaker 1: upping citizens surveillance. On a national level, a media manufactured 578 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:36,440 Speaker 1: crime wave narrative has been used to rejustify American policing 579 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:38,920 Speaker 1: in the wake of the uprising, and the City of 580 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:42,839 Speaker 1: Atlanta is using that narrative while wrapping their increased militarization 581 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:46,320 Speaker 1: plans in a nice, woke social justice package, i e. 582 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:49,960 Speaker 1: A militarized police training compound being dubbed the Institute for 583 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:54,960 Speaker 1: Social Justice. Heading up this effort is the Atlanta Police Foundation, 584 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:59,000 Speaker 1: which is a nonprofit police advocacy organization that claims to 585 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:02,400 Speaker 1: have quote united the business and philanthropic community with the 586 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:06,319 Speaker 1: Atlanta Police Department. It's a It's backed by an array 587 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:10,800 Speaker 1: of Atlanta area corporate donors including Delta Airlines, Upstrick fil A, 588 00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:14,880 Speaker 1: Cox Enterprizes, which owns the Atlanta Journal Constitution, which is 589 00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:19,000 Speaker 1: like the city's biggest newspaper, and they were formally formally 590 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:21,680 Speaker 1: backed by Coca Cola. They Coca Cola dropped out this 591 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:25,920 Speaker 1: last November. A leak promo video for the Institute for 592 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:29,720 Speaker 1: Social Justice details some of the features of the Atlanta 593 00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:33,880 Speaker 1: Police Foundations quote world class training campus. With an estimated 594 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,960 Speaker 1: cost of ninety million dollars, The space will provide a 595 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:41,239 Speaker 1: place for recruiting training, mid career education, and practice with 596 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:44,560 Speaker 1: new technology and equipment for police and fire department personnel. 597 00:36:45,239 --> 00:36:48,040 Speaker 1: The renderings show the campus will house a quote mock 598 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:52,560 Speaker 1: city for real world training, a canine training center, and 599 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:56,120 Speaker 1: forty horse stalls for police horses. Twelve acres of forest 600 00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:59,240 Speaker 1: land are slated to be converted into an emergency vehicle 601 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:03,280 Speaker 1: operations course, and the whole compound will be located across 602 00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:06,759 Speaker 1: three hundred and eighty acres of the old Atlanta Prison Farm, 603 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:10,000 Speaker 1: which is a city owned but technically outside of city limits, 604 00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:13,640 Speaker 1: located just east of the city in unincorporated Dekapp County. 605 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:17,279 Speaker 1: The Police Foundation has proposed funding the training center through 606 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:21,000 Speaker 1: a public private partnership, which will leave taxpayers to pay 607 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:24,560 Speaker 1: an estimated thirty million dollars for this out of city 608 00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,759 Speaker 1: police training facility one, which is one third of the 609 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:31,920 Speaker 1: early estimated cost. According to the land Use Ordinance, the 610 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:34,520 Speaker 1: property will be leased to the Police Foundation by the 611 00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:39,719 Speaker 1: city for ten dollars a year for fifty years. It's 612 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:43,480 Speaker 1: almost four hundred acres of forest land for ten dollars 613 00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:46,239 Speaker 1: a year. The ground lease will quote provide that the 614 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:48,600 Speaker 1: city will be able to have input or approval on 615 00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:52,120 Speaker 1: the stages of construction along with the development of the property, 616 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:56,960 Speaker 1: and will allow waving of certain code requirements. Such a 617 00:37:56,960 --> 00:37:59,359 Speaker 1: facility would be three times the size of the New 618 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:01,960 Speaker 1: York Police depart Mon's training facility and four times the 619 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:04,440 Speaker 1: size of the l a p D. S UH. It's 620 00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:06,800 Speaker 1: worth noting that the NYPD and l a p D 621 00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:11,959 Speaker 1: are the two largest police departments in the country, while 622 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:15,640 Speaker 1: Atlanta is the only the nineteenth largest. Yet they'll have 623 00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:19,600 Speaker 1: a facility that's like three times the size of New York's. 624 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:22,600 Speaker 1: According to the Mayor of Atlanta during the time of 625 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:26,359 Speaker 1: the facility's announcement, the massive training complex would quote raise 626 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:30,520 Speaker 1: morale among officers and hopefully bring more recruits to the department. 627 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:34,319 Speaker 1: And importantly, the whole project was initially supposed to be 628 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:39,520 Speaker 1: totally under wraps, approved through backdoor deal making. The social 629 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:47,080 Speaker 1: justice something socialist justice I believe in the promo video specifically, 630 00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:50,279 Speaker 1: which is not like really even a public release. This 631 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:54,200 Speaker 1: was like very much designed to be under the table, 632 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:57,040 Speaker 1: pushed through as fast as possible of the public. Where 633 00:38:57,080 --> 00:38:59,280 Speaker 1: is it really supposed to know about it? The videos 634 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:03,799 Speaker 1: that existed for only meant to be UM the sponsors, 635 00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:08,680 Speaker 1: board members founders of the Atlantic Police Foundation UM and 636 00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:14,000 Speaker 1: the Atlant Police Foundation, unlike most like police unions, is 637 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:20,080 Speaker 1: a foundation made to final corporate money into the handsOn police. 638 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:23,160 Speaker 1: The cops city side of things is just one part 639 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:26,600 Speaker 1: of the Defend the Forest project. The other big aspect 640 00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:29,919 Speaker 1: of this is pushing back on the movie studio Black Hall, 641 00:39:30,239 --> 00:39:32,840 Speaker 1: from being able to clear cut more forced to expand 642 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:36,840 Speaker 1: their sound stage. Projects shot on their current lot include 643 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:41,240 Speaker 1: a Godzilla, King of Monsters, Venom, der Van Hansen, HBO's 644 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:45,120 Speaker 1: Lovedcraft Country and Amazon Primes That Tomorrow War on the 645 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:47,440 Speaker 1: East side of the forested land, the part that's referred 646 00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:51,200 Speaker 1: to as entrenchment Creek Park was bought by Hondy Booko 647 00:39:51,239 --> 00:39:53,600 Speaker 1: founder Arthur Blank in the early two thousands with a 648 00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:56,839 Speaker 1: plan to combine uh that section of land with three 649 00:39:57,239 --> 00:39:59,240 Speaker 1: acres at the prison Farm to create a five hundred 650 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:02,480 Speaker 1: acre park, a project that never came to fruition uh 651 00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:04,279 Speaker 1: and now the park is currently under control of the 652 00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:07,080 Speaker 1: Cab County. On top of the heat insulation and air 653 00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:10,120 Speaker 1: filtering that the tree canopy provides, Entrenchment Creek plays a 654 00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:13,680 Speaker 1: crucial role in maintaining the South River Watershed, being a 655 00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:17,200 Speaker 1: partial wetland and marsh that mitigates flooding in South Atlanta. 656 00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:20,719 Speaker 1: Quoting that crime thing article again quote, the plundering of 657 00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:22,960 Speaker 1: public assets from the benefit of a movie company and 658 00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:25,960 Speaker 1: real estate mogul is described as an opportunity to create 659 00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:29,800 Speaker 1: quote good jobs for local Atlanta's, not as a criminal 660 00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:33,480 Speaker 1: expropriation of infrastructure. The clear cut that Blackall Studio has 661 00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:35,920 Speaker 1: planned to trade in exchange for a section of forest 662 00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:40,960 Speaker 1: is to be renamed Michelle Obama Park unquote. So yeah, 663 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:43,799 Speaker 1: that also clearly demonstrates the type of gentrification wrapped in 664 00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:48,520 Speaker 1: this nice woke package by doing this really sketchy land 665 00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:51,959 Speaker 1: swap and then building a park on it and calling 666 00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:56,320 Speaker 1: at Michelle Obama Park. Cool stuff, guys. Blackhall Studios is 667 00:40:56,360 --> 00:40:58,960 Speaker 1: currently a hundred and fifty acre complex about ten minutes 668 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:02,560 Speaker 1: south of downtown, and they seek to add over half 669 00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:06,560 Speaker 1: a million square feet of sound stage, two hundred thousands 670 00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:10,960 Speaker 1: square feet of offices UH, four hundred twenty thousand square 671 00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:15,239 Speaker 1: feet for warehousing square feet of catering space, according to 672 00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:18,480 Speaker 1: a filing made through the States Development of Regional Impact 673 00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:21,239 Speaker 1: Program UH. The d r I s are filed when 674 00:41:21,239 --> 00:41:23,920 Speaker 1: the projects size is large enough that it's likely to 675 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:28,200 Speaker 1: impact the infrastructure of neighboring communities. The De Cab County 676 00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:31,400 Speaker 1: Board of Commissioners in October twenty voted to approve the 677 00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:33,400 Speaker 1: land swap deal with Blackhe Studios. As a part of 678 00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:37,120 Speaker 1: the planned expansion, the county would give approximately forty acres 679 00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:40,600 Speaker 1: mostly wooded land around the South River Forest, and then 680 00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:43,439 Speaker 1: in turn, Black Studios would give the county around fifty 681 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:47,879 Speaker 1: acres of nearby land as well. The project has faced 682 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:50,680 Speaker 1: some legal and construction issues ever since then, and we'll 683 00:41:50,680 --> 00:41:54,920 Speaker 1: discuss the details of those shortly. Also worth noting that 684 00:41:55,239 --> 00:41:57,879 Speaker 1: Black Hall Studios was sold to a private equity firm 685 00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:01,680 Speaker 1: in l a just last year and this last February 686 00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:05,720 Speaker 1: announced that they purchased another one thousand and five hundred 687 00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:09,440 Speaker 1: acres in Newtown County, Georgia, which is about forty miles 688 00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:12,239 Speaker 1: east of downtown Atlanta. Uh, and they plan to shoot 689 00:42:12,239 --> 00:42:16,800 Speaker 1: productions there for an upcoming quote action oriented streaming service 690 00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:24,160 Speaker 1: dubbed black Hall Americana, which sounds horrible. Um, here's a here, 691 00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:28,840 Speaker 1: here's a quote from black Hole CEO Ryan millsap quote. 692 00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:31,680 Speaker 1: This is the kind of space we need to fly 693 00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:35,360 Speaker 1: in black Hawk helicopters and drive humpies at speed. We 694 00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:38,920 Speaker 1: have lakes, we have swamps and rivers and forests and 695 00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:42,680 Speaker 1: fields and hills and dales. That's the nice thing about 696 00:42:42,719 --> 00:42:48,680 Speaker 1: one thousand and five hundred acres. Yep. So look forward 697 00:42:48,719 --> 00:42:52,800 Speaker 1: to uh, black Hall Americana, the new hit streaming service 698 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:58,000 Speaker 1: coming out of Georgia. UM. Destroying the forest for Black 699 00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:02,600 Speaker 1: Hall Americana. Oh boy. But yeah, if, if, if this 700 00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:05,400 Speaker 1: project succeeds, it would semit Atlanta as the new Hollywood, 701 00:43:06,080 --> 00:43:08,080 Speaker 1: along with like Tyler Perry Studios and all of the 702 00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:11,080 Speaker 1: other movie studios moving to Atlanta, and it would continue 703 00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:14,600 Speaker 1: the skyrocketing cost to living in Atlanta and accelerate gentrification 704 00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:19,279 Speaker 1: at a even more horrifying right. So. Um, Actually, the 705 00:43:19,280 --> 00:43:23,480 Speaker 1: Black Hall site that's a in as like being defended 706 00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:26,759 Speaker 1: as well, is also in the Lining Forest, which is 707 00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:32,240 Speaker 1: like what's been the scale named for the South Atlanta forests. UM. 708 00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:35,600 Speaker 1: And it's actually right across the road from where we 709 00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:42,439 Speaker 1: currently are, UM. So the and it's like, I want 710 00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:46,200 Speaker 1: to believe three or four acres by itself. UM. And 711 00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:49,840 Speaker 1: that is actually under imminent threat as well. They're waiting 712 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:52,759 Speaker 1: on the land destruction permit to pass, and that can 713 00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:56,400 Speaker 1: happen anywhere any week. On what you were saying about 714 00:43:56,440 --> 00:44:01,400 Speaker 1: the gentrification issue. Um, that's something that's really noticeable to 715 00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:04,760 Speaker 1: anyone that lives in Atlanta and has for any amount 716 00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:10,440 Speaker 1: of time just looking around them, like the filming that 717 00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:14,799 Speaker 1: is just regularly happening here and all all these kind 718 00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:18,120 Speaker 1: of new companies popping up around it. Black Hall was 719 00:44:18,239 --> 00:44:21,680 Speaker 1: sold maybe a little over a year ago now to 720 00:44:21,719 --> 00:44:25,480 Speaker 1: a hedge fund out in California. They're getting funding for 721 00:44:25,520 --> 00:44:29,880 Speaker 1: all of these projects and the rent here in Atlanta, 722 00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:32,040 Speaker 1: I'm sure across the country, I'm not sure what the 723 00:44:32,080 --> 00:44:36,799 Speaker 1: trends are elsewhere has been skyrocketing, like you You'll see 724 00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:40,720 Speaker 1: homes that sold during the financial crisis for like eighty 725 00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:43,960 Speaker 1: thousand dollars two dollars selling for like half a million 726 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:48,879 Speaker 1: dollars today. And you know, I'm not like a fucking economist, 727 00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:52,480 Speaker 1: but the way that the film industry has been exploding 728 00:44:52,520 --> 00:44:55,480 Speaker 1: and other industries like Google and Microsoft have been building 729 00:44:55,480 --> 00:44:59,520 Speaker 1: these massive, expensive new headquarters while people literally go out 730 00:44:59,520 --> 00:45:01,320 Speaker 1: on the street because they can no longer afford to 731 00:45:01,360 --> 00:45:05,160 Speaker 1: pay rent here, and people just get displaced. It's like 732 00:45:05,239 --> 00:45:09,280 Speaker 1: the opposite of white flight back into the suburbs, when 733 00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:12,239 Speaker 1: you know, folks are moving into the city for economic 734 00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:16,080 Speaker 1: opportunities that only very wealthy people can get. I mean, 735 00:45:16,120 --> 00:45:20,240 Speaker 1: it's it's difficult not to see Black Hall as ushering 736 00:45:20,360 --> 00:45:27,280 Speaker 1: in just another huge wave of gentrification. Yeah, black making 737 00:45:27,280 --> 00:45:31,319 Speaker 1: movies to support the American way of life. Yeah, Black 738 00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:34,280 Speaker 1: Hall explicitly says they're making movies to support the American 739 00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:36,800 Speaker 1: way of life. We hear gun shots from the police 740 00:45:36,800 --> 00:45:39,239 Speaker 1: firing range all the time, and we hear almost as 741 00:45:39,280 --> 00:45:42,600 Speaker 1: many gun shots from the Black Hall filming sides. Um. 742 00:45:42,719 --> 00:45:48,080 Speaker 1: And Yeah, it's very much about creating propaganda that makes 743 00:45:48,120 --> 00:45:51,319 Speaker 1: people think they need police. Um. And that's like a 744 00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:53,520 Speaker 1: huge part of of kind of what they're doing, a 745 00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:56,319 Speaker 1: lot of filming and all the gentrification things. Like even 746 00:45:56,360 --> 00:45:59,080 Speaker 1: just driving to the city the past few days, I've 747 00:45:59,120 --> 00:46:03,640 Speaker 1: noticed so many places that used to be wooded, uh 748 00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:06,560 Speaker 1: totally torn down and they're putting up these horrible quote 749 00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:10,280 Speaker 1: unquote luxury condos which are like, you know, two thousand 750 00:46:10,280 --> 00:46:13,640 Speaker 1: dollars rent from on for a tiny studio um. And 751 00:46:13,680 --> 00:46:16,600 Speaker 1: I've even seen things that were used to be secretion 752 00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:20,879 Speaker 1: ad housing turned into luxury condos. Like it's it's been 753 00:46:21,239 --> 00:46:24,200 Speaker 1: absurd driving through the city and watching so many places 754 00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:26,759 Speaker 1: that used to be wooded just turned like so much 755 00:46:26,800 --> 00:46:30,480 Speaker 1: like active construction sites building these exact same like these 756 00:46:30,520 --> 00:46:33,319 Speaker 1: identical apartment complexes that are the most hideous things you've 757 00:46:33,320 --> 00:46:36,600 Speaker 1: ever looked at, and completely unaffordable for any for anyone 758 00:46:36,600 --> 00:46:39,680 Speaker 1: who's not like someone who's working for a tech company. 759 00:46:40,160 --> 00:46:46,600 Speaker 1: So like the destroying a section of Atlanta called Park 760 00:46:46,760 --> 00:46:48,719 Speaker 1: and it was like a large green space that was 761 00:46:48,840 --> 00:46:55,560 Speaker 1: largely unmanaged in lakewod Um and creating quote affordable housing, 762 00:46:55,920 --> 00:46:59,440 Speaker 1: which is really just the legal term for they have 763 00:46:59,480 --> 00:47:04,000 Speaker 1: a certain amount of like available housing, thats like like 764 00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:07,319 Speaker 1: like taking units and like a like one unit thing 765 00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:10,799 Speaker 1: is affordable house, Like affordable just means market value or 766 00:47:10,840 --> 00:47:14,160 Speaker 1: like like the medium market value. Low income is things 767 00:47:14,200 --> 00:47:18,160 Speaker 1: that people that aren't like average money makers come for, right. 768 00:47:18,280 --> 00:47:20,040 Speaker 1: And I think one of the like I think it's 769 00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:22,480 Speaker 1: has kind of kind of gotten lost about the struggle 770 00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:25,279 Speaker 1: that the actual defending the Atlanta force struggles, like not 771 00:47:25,480 --> 00:47:28,000 Speaker 1: specific to just cops of your black hole is actually 772 00:47:28,040 --> 00:47:31,799 Speaker 1: the entire forest as a city. Um. And that like 773 00:47:32,560 --> 00:47:35,360 Speaker 1: part of the reason why it has been so focus 774 00:47:35,440 --> 00:47:40,160 Speaker 1: is because of like how pressing these currents um things 775 00:47:40,360 --> 00:47:44,840 Speaker 1: are and how like stretched thin people kind of a 776 00:47:44,960 --> 00:47:49,600 Speaker 1: who are working on this um and that like yeah, 777 00:47:49,719 --> 00:47:51,879 Speaker 1: chose to part as an example, there's also an area 778 00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:56,359 Speaker 1: and that's like near Grant Park and like the Zone 779 00:47:56,400 --> 00:47:59,800 Speaker 1: three old Zone three precinct and this or like this 780 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:03,399 Speaker 1: to they were like actually in the same property area. Um, 781 00:48:03,719 --> 00:48:07,759 Speaker 1: they kept the pigs near the zoo. Um. And like 782 00:48:07,840 --> 00:48:11,279 Speaker 1: it was an entire forest land like absolutely enough at 783 00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:15,640 Speaker 1: every app very clear Gardner doing disgusting condos all on 784 00:48:15,760 --> 00:48:20,880 Speaker 1: the road. Um. Yeah. And it's it's a continuation again 785 00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:25,800 Speaker 1: of a distinctive political pattern in Atlanta. Back when Mayor 786 00:48:25,880 --> 00:48:29,720 Speaker 1: Jackson was elected as the mayor. He at first tried 787 00:48:29,760 --> 00:48:33,960 Speaker 1: to build like affordable not affordable, like low income housing 788 00:48:34,400 --> 00:48:37,399 Speaker 1: and do community projects and stuff. But the business end 789 00:48:37,400 --> 00:48:42,160 Speaker 1: of Atlanta fought back against those efforts, and that is 790 00:48:42,160 --> 00:48:47,399 Speaker 1: what saw projects like the Olympic Games, which destroyed an 791 00:48:47,719 --> 00:48:50,600 Speaker 1: entire community in Atlanta. You should look up People's Town 792 00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:55,239 Speaker 1: here in Atlanta was just in summer Hill completely raised 793 00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:58,680 Speaker 1: to build arenas and all of this ship. And it 794 00:48:58,760 --> 00:49:03,120 Speaker 1: feels like they can tinuation of the pattern where politicians 795 00:49:03,120 --> 00:49:06,279 Speaker 1: decide what is best for the city the Olympics, a 796 00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:11,440 Speaker 1: new police training facility or whatever business measures on the 797 00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:15,000 Speaker 1: table today, not to mention that like during the nine 798 00:49:15,040 --> 00:49:19,240 Speaker 1: day six Olympics, they're like specifically built Atlantic City Defention 799 00:49:19,320 --> 00:49:24,799 Speaker 1: Center for the for a place to put houseless people 800 00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:27,920 Speaker 1: who have been sweeped up the streets and like criminalize them. 801 00:49:27,920 --> 00:49:31,799 Speaker 1: And during the George Florida uprising in that was reused 802 00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:36,359 Speaker 1: to as detainment and overnight states for protesters who are 803 00:49:36,520 --> 00:49:40,200 Speaker 1: like going to get low bail justice a form of repression. 804 00:49:40,520 --> 00:49:44,680 Speaker 1: It is regularly used. Again like that jails regularly used 805 00:49:44,719 --> 00:49:49,840 Speaker 1: specifically against protesters and isn't used for anything else. Is 806 00:49:49,880 --> 00:49:54,239 Speaker 1: a like absolute scolar on the face of humanity, and 807 00:49:54,520 --> 00:49:58,399 Speaker 1: Keisha Lance Bottoms said during her turn she was going 808 00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:01,520 Speaker 1: to turn it into a social justice side or right, 809 00:50:01,600 --> 00:50:04,720 Speaker 1: it's still a jail that probably already it probably always 810 00:50:04,719 --> 00:50:08,920 Speaker 1: will be until we fucking destroy it. Uh. And like 811 00:50:09,080 --> 00:50:13,279 Speaker 1: now the Fulton County Sheriff wants to take over the 812 00:50:13,360 --> 00:50:16,840 Speaker 1: jail and use all of those beds because the jails 813 00:50:16,840 --> 00:50:21,440 Speaker 1: here are so overcrowded with bullshit charges that they are 814 00:50:21,560 --> 00:50:24,800 Speaker 1: just expanding and expanding, expanding, and there's no sign of stopping. 815 00:50:24,880 --> 00:50:27,560 Speaker 1: For every one time that they promise that they're going 816 00:50:27,600 --> 00:50:30,480 Speaker 1: to be closing jails, repurposing ship doing all this liberal 817 00:50:30,920 --> 00:50:35,560 Speaker 1: reform bullshit. There's a new training facility, they're selling jails 818 00:50:35,600 --> 00:50:37,480 Speaker 1: to people that are using them. More of the system 819 00:50:37,719 --> 00:50:40,239 Speaker 1: just continues to expand and expand and expand until we 820 00:50:41,600 --> 00:50:47,800 Speaker 1: fight back and destroy it. Need Black haw Yeah, police 821 00:50:47,840 --> 00:50:50,239 Speaker 1: need Black Hall just as much as Black hall needs 822 00:50:50,239 --> 00:50:54,040 Speaker 1: the police, you know. And these are the symbiotic relationship 823 00:50:54,080 --> 00:50:58,320 Speaker 1: between the two. Police are instrumental in gentrification, and also 824 00:50:59,040 --> 00:51:03,200 Speaker 1: police need entrification to capture poor black and brown people 825 00:51:03,600 --> 00:51:05,719 Speaker 1: and lock them in cages. And so these are two 826 00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:09,359 Speaker 1: things that that feed each other in a relationship, so 827 00:51:09,719 --> 00:51:13,200 Speaker 1: it's very important to do our best to attack book 828 00:51:14,400 --> 00:51:17,480 Speaker 1: is Atlanta was the Atlanta Police who have like the 829 00:51:17,640 --> 00:51:22,160 Speaker 1: point system for rest Yes Atlant Police website. Yes, Atlant 830 00:51:22,200 --> 00:51:25,520 Speaker 1: Police has actually a point system where among the highest 831 00:51:25,920 --> 00:51:30,560 Speaker 1: points is capturing a child. For capturing a child and 832 00:51:30,760 --> 00:51:37,160 Speaker 1: arresting them are alongside felony charges, felony warrants and other things, 833 00:51:38,080 --> 00:51:42,120 Speaker 1: um alongest point system. They use it as a rubric 834 00:51:42,200 --> 00:51:49,799 Speaker 1: to measure how well an officers during um. Yeah, yeah, 835 00:51:49,840 --> 00:51:52,440 Speaker 1: I mean in terms of like needing gentrification to continue 836 00:51:52,560 --> 00:51:55,560 Speaker 1: your job. Yeah, that's that's the exact same thing is, 837 00:51:55,880 --> 00:51:57,640 Speaker 1: let's have this point system so we can get races 838 00:51:57,719 --> 00:51:59,520 Speaker 1: and arrest all the people who are on the street. 839 00:52:00,080 --> 00:52:04,359 Speaker 1: And it's a mask off moment, as they say. And 840 00:52:04,480 --> 00:52:09,440 Speaker 1: I also think it's this funny thing, like I don't know, right, 841 00:52:09,480 --> 00:52:14,080 Speaker 1: they're building this fake city to train in, and I 842 00:52:14,120 --> 00:52:16,640 Speaker 1: wouldn't be surprised if black horns up renting it out 843 00:52:16,680 --> 00:52:19,799 Speaker 1: from time to time to shoot films. Right absolutely, But 844 00:52:19,840 --> 00:52:21,680 Speaker 1: also at the end of the day, even if they don't, 845 00:52:21,680 --> 00:52:24,960 Speaker 1: it's literally the same exact thing, Right, one is training 846 00:52:25,000 --> 00:52:28,120 Speaker 1: people to actually do it and the other is performing 847 00:52:28,160 --> 00:52:32,200 Speaker 1: it too. People think it's cool exactly. Yeah, yeah, So 848 00:52:32,239 --> 00:52:35,040 Speaker 1: I just pulled up the actually my friend just pulled 849 00:52:35,120 --> 00:52:38,440 Speaker 1: up there like chart which is it's a one to 850 00:52:38,560 --> 00:52:41,680 Speaker 1: five scale. It's five scale. It's five for juvenile arrests, 851 00:52:41,760 --> 00:52:45,359 Speaker 1: five points for felonies, four for distoning or charge, three 852 00:52:45,360 --> 00:52:48,040 Speaker 1: for a city, charge for for deal wise and it 853 00:52:48,080 --> 00:52:53,080 Speaker 1: goes on um and like the fact that juvenile rest 854 00:52:53,200 --> 00:52:57,000 Speaker 1: is the top one is sucking monstrous. No, I expect 855 00:52:57,040 --> 00:53:01,600 Speaker 1: it like that the big are the monster. Like if 856 00:53:01,600 --> 00:53:04,759 Speaker 1: it's not, it's not shocking, but it it shows the 857 00:53:04,840 --> 00:53:11,400 Speaker 1: extent of like the the horrible nous of what of 858 00:53:11,480 --> 00:53:14,040 Speaker 1: like what their job is, like, that is their job. 859 00:53:16,400 --> 00:53:19,319 Speaker 1: That's what that's what they do. That is the entire thing. 860 00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:33,920 Speaker 1: One thing that's given the Atlanta Defend the Force movement 861 00:53:33,920 --> 00:53:36,279 Speaker 1: an edge is being able to consistently set the terms 862 00:53:36,280 --> 00:53:39,720 Speaker 1: of engagement and establish a media framework regarding the instruction 863 00:53:39,719 --> 00:53:42,400 Speaker 1: of the forest and the development of Cops City to 864 00:53:42,440 --> 00:53:45,520 Speaker 1: stay one step ahead of the enemy. Like we've mentioned, 865 00:53:45,600 --> 00:53:48,600 Speaker 1: the Cops City of project was never actually initially announced 866 00:53:48,600 --> 00:53:51,120 Speaker 1: by the city or the Police Foundation. It was brought 867 00:53:51,120 --> 00:53:53,640 Speaker 1: to light by activists digging through open source data and 868 00:53:53,640 --> 00:53:58,400 Speaker 1: public records in April, when activists discovered the proposal to 869 00:53:58,440 --> 00:54:01,680 Speaker 1: destroy the South of Our Forest first, news spread via 870 00:54:01,719 --> 00:54:04,120 Speaker 1: word of mouth for several weeks about a large information 871 00:54:04,160 --> 00:54:07,640 Speaker 1: sharing session at Entrenchment Creek Park, one of the areas 872 00:54:07,680 --> 00:54:11,440 Speaker 1: under threat. On May fifteenth, over two hundred people gathered 873 00:54:11,440 --> 00:54:14,800 Speaker 1: for a barbecue and info presentation night on the threat 874 00:54:14,880 --> 00:54:17,279 Speaker 1: of the forest and the broader campaign to defend it. 875 00:54:18,120 --> 00:54:20,640 Speaker 1: The city government had yet to announce its plans publicly, 876 00:54:20,760 --> 00:54:23,400 Speaker 1: so the activists and Force Defenders were able to craft 877 00:54:23,440 --> 00:54:27,879 Speaker 1: the public narrative first and lay the media groundwork. At 878 00:54:27,880 --> 00:54:31,080 Speaker 1: the information session. Presenters were able to accurately contextualize the 879 00:54:31,080 --> 00:54:34,600 Speaker 1: development within the cross section of racist and authoritarian backlash 880 00:54:34,640 --> 00:54:39,000 Speaker 1: against the George Floyd protests, the increasing gentrification and urban displacement, 881 00:54:39,440 --> 00:54:42,440 Speaker 1: and the devastating climate effects such a project will inflict 882 00:54:42,560 --> 00:54:46,160 Speaker 1: upon the region. Having activists and Force Defenders break the 883 00:54:46,200 --> 00:54:48,920 Speaker 1: news such a development denies the city and the police 884 00:54:48,920 --> 00:54:51,239 Speaker 1: the opportunity to introduce a development to the public with 885 00:54:51,280 --> 00:54:54,239 Speaker 1: a distorted narrative, assuming that they were gonna announce their 886 00:54:54,280 --> 00:54:57,000 Speaker 1: plans and make them public at all, And then, on 887 00:54:57,320 --> 00:55:00,319 Speaker 1: May seventeenth, less than forty eight hours After the info 888 00:55:00,400 --> 00:55:04,160 Speaker 1: sharing barbecue, seven unguarded machines at the forest destruction site, 889 00:55:04,200 --> 00:55:08,200 Speaker 1: including excavators, tractors, and other pieces of heavy machinery, were 890 00:55:08,200 --> 00:55:12,120 Speaker 1: targeted by sabotage, with smash windows and severed inner tubing 891 00:55:12,360 --> 00:55:17,080 Speaker 1: scorched by fire. The destruction equipment was left inoperable. An 892 00:55:17,080 --> 00:55:21,320 Speaker 1: anonymous statement appeared online detailing their motivations and methods of attack, 893 00:55:22,320 --> 00:55:26,840 Speaker 1: while tying the actions to the struggling and colonialism, authoritarianism, 894 00:55:26,840 --> 00:55:29,279 Speaker 1: and the history of this particular land as the site 895 00:55:29,320 --> 00:55:33,880 Speaker 1: of horrific abuses, of the site of displacement, child slavery, 896 00:55:34,080 --> 00:55:39,560 Speaker 1: and prison slavery. The communicate ended with quote to the developers, governments, contractors, 897 00:55:39,760 --> 00:55:44,839 Speaker 1: corporations and politicians have perpetrated the heinous deforestation. Any further 898 00:55:44,880 --> 00:55:48,360 Speaker 1: attempts at destroying the Atlanta force we met with similar response. 899 00:55:49,040 --> 00:55:50,840 Speaker 1: The forest was here long before us, and we'll be 900 00:55:50,880 --> 00:55:56,000 Speaker 1: here long after. We'll see to that defend the Atlanta Forest. Today, 901 00:55:56,080 --> 00:56:00,400 Speaker 1: no one has been arrested for these actions. The presence 902 00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:03,920 Speaker 1: of such a targeted direct action campaign this early on 903 00:56:03,960 --> 00:56:07,319 Speaker 1: in the movement is important for a few reasons, one 904 00:56:07,320 --> 00:56:09,640 Speaker 1: of which being it's meant in sabotage as a part 905 00:56:09,640 --> 00:56:11,800 Speaker 1: of this movement from the very beginning, like it was 906 00:56:11,840 --> 00:56:15,879 Speaker 1: moven into the genetic fabric from the conception, so any 907 00:56:15,920 --> 00:56:18,759 Speaker 1: debate around the validity of these tactics was virtually non 908 00:56:18,800 --> 00:56:22,520 Speaker 1: existent because they were there from the beginning. That's what 909 00:56:22,640 --> 00:56:25,560 Speaker 1: this movement is, and that's been super interesting to watch 910 00:56:25,600 --> 00:56:28,440 Speaker 1: because usually this type of sabotage or direct action happens 911 00:56:28,520 --> 00:56:31,320 Speaker 1: later on in these movements, you escalate to that point, 912 00:56:31,880 --> 00:56:33,839 Speaker 1: but in this case, it's been happening since the first week. 913 00:56:33,880 --> 00:56:37,360 Speaker 1: People knew that this thing is was existing. Over the 914 00:56:37,360 --> 00:56:41,000 Speaker 1: following weeks, there was meetings, posters, and flyers that spread 915 00:56:41,000 --> 00:56:44,720 Speaker 1: throughout the city. People organized public forest walks through areas 916 00:56:44,760 --> 00:56:47,239 Speaker 1: of the woods that were under threat. Even a few 917 00:56:47,239 --> 00:56:50,120 Speaker 1: candidates for city council adopted the struggle as a component 918 00:56:50,160 --> 00:56:54,479 Speaker 1: of their electoral campaigns. The movement's consistent ability to break 919 00:56:54,520 --> 00:56:56,440 Speaker 1: the news on the development and the destruction of the 920 00:56:56,480 --> 00:56:59,680 Speaker 1: forest has been crucial in the efforts to gain public 921 00:56:59,680 --> 00:57:02,200 Speaker 1: trust and setting the terms of engagement and the ground 922 00:57:02,320 --> 00:57:05,840 Speaker 1: rules for the conflict. The type of public discourse regarding 923 00:57:05,840 --> 00:57:09,799 Speaker 1: the forest was successfully established by anonymous activists, not by politicians, 924 00:57:09,800 --> 00:57:12,520 Speaker 1: and not by police. I think something that's been really 925 00:57:12,520 --> 00:57:15,800 Speaker 1: cool about this movement is that from the earliest days 926 00:57:15,840 --> 00:57:19,120 Speaker 1: of when this was going on, it was extremely radical, 927 00:57:19,200 --> 00:57:22,880 Speaker 1: Like it wasn't it wasn't three or four months after 928 00:57:22,920 --> 00:57:25,440 Speaker 1: the first initial meeting it was like a barbecue at 929 00:57:25,440 --> 00:57:28,920 Speaker 1: the park where people were lighting bulldozers on fire except 930 00:57:28,920 --> 00:57:33,360 Speaker 1: prevent construction from happening. The Atlanta Police Foundation has had 931 00:57:33,400 --> 00:57:38,880 Speaker 1: its offices, its office windows smashed like people are not 932 00:57:39,040 --> 00:57:44,200 Speaker 1: afraid to fight back physically, and this was occurring at 933 00:57:44,200 --> 00:57:49,760 Speaker 1: the same time as the more electoral tactics, as hell 934 00:57:49,800 --> 00:57:53,280 Speaker 1: phrase it, and I think that you know, we've seen 935 00:57:53,760 --> 00:57:57,920 Speaker 1: neither of these being able to successfully stop the movement. 936 00:57:57,960 --> 00:58:02,120 Speaker 1: But when it comes to being able to measure that 937 00:58:02,280 --> 00:58:08,240 Speaker 1: the police have and their allies have slowed down, the 938 00:58:08,240 --> 00:58:12,120 Speaker 1: electoral tactics have been a complete matter failure. Um and 939 00:58:12,600 --> 00:58:18,080 Speaker 1: physically harming the property of the police, end of the 940 00:58:18,240 --> 00:58:20,680 Speaker 1: black Hall and all of the fucking forces that would 941 00:58:20,680 --> 00:58:24,680 Speaker 1: destroy the forest. That's been shown far and away to 942 00:58:24,800 --> 00:58:29,000 Speaker 1: be a tactic that's not only acceptable in this movement, 943 00:58:29,120 --> 00:58:32,440 Speaker 1: but it's something that's seen as like one of the 944 00:58:32,520 --> 00:58:35,080 Speaker 1: go to strategies. It's we haven't had to work our 945 00:58:35,080 --> 00:58:38,080 Speaker 1: way to that. People were there from the get tho. Yeah, 946 00:58:38,080 --> 00:58:40,000 Speaker 1: it was like a day or two after the Younger 947 00:58:40,080 --> 00:58:43,040 Speaker 1: Knight with the very first like public facing vronment like 948 00:58:43,760 --> 00:58:48,760 Speaker 1: bulldozers were set on fire, and like Michelle Obamba Park 949 00:58:48,800 --> 00:58:52,320 Speaker 1: which is farming or enough another like recuperation tactic or 950 00:58:52,440 --> 00:58:56,240 Speaker 1: like destruction of the environment, and like on during gentrification 951 00:58:56,360 --> 00:59:01,480 Speaker 1: where that's actually Black Hall Studios old plan site for 952 00:59:01,680 --> 00:59:07,160 Speaker 1: their new studio and the idea of the land swap 953 00:59:07,160 --> 00:59:11,760 Speaker 1: where they take this shitty land where they destroyed forest 954 00:59:11,840 --> 00:59:16,760 Speaker 1: to replace it with an earth ground and in and 955 00:59:16,960 --> 00:59:19,720 Speaker 1: as long as they turn into a park, they're allowed 956 00:59:19,840 --> 00:59:27,840 Speaker 1: to um build and construct on public forest land um 957 00:59:27,880 --> 00:59:30,680 Speaker 1: which is like a bunker's idea. Yeah, yeah, no, it's 958 00:59:30,720 --> 00:59:33,680 Speaker 1: actually like a new precedent right here that has not 959 00:59:34,000 --> 00:59:36,560 Speaker 1: been done before. I think that like one of the 960 00:59:36,600 --> 00:59:40,920 Speaker 1: other things, you know, along with the fiery start kind 961 00:59:40,920 --> 00:59:44,320 Speaker 1: of kick off, is that the folks who you know, 962 00:59:44,360 --> 00:59:47,600 Speaker 1: like in my experience most like kind of big broader 963 00:59:47,760 --> 00:59:52,120 Speaker 1: campaign type things that people who are doing jail support, 964 00:59:52,200 --> 00:59:55,640 Speaker 1: the people who have abroad reach, the people who you 965 00:59:55,680 --> 00:59:58,240 Speaker 1: know have access to resources, et cetera. Kind of the 966 00:59:58,440 --> 01:00:02,440 Speaker 1: like backbone life sustaining things of a movement tend to 967 01:00:02,480 --> 01:00:06,400 Speaker 1: be folks who have really rigid moralizing ideas of like 968 01:00:06,880 --> 01:00:13,280 Speaker 1: what is acceptable, etcetera. And you know, people in Atlanta 969 01:00:13,400 --> 01:00:16,920 Speaker 1: have been there's a lot of credit due to folks 970 01:00:16,920 --> 01:00:19,120 Speaker 1: who have been putting in a lot of work and 971 01:00:19,160 --> 01:00:21,880 Speaker 1: are a little wiser than to have such a limited 972 01:00:22,160 --> 01:00:25,160 Speaker 1: R review. So most of the folks that control and 973 01:00:25,240 --> 01:00:28,280 Speaker 1: are not controlled. Most of the folks who like backline 974 01:00:28,720 --> 01:00:30,800 Speaker 1: and are working really hard to do the more like 975 01:00:31,760 --> 01:00:34,760 Speaker 1: reproductive things and jail support and get food and things 976 01:00:34,800 --> 01:00:38,240 Speaker 1: like that, are also people who have a really like, um, 977 01:00:38,280 --> 01:00:43,600 Speaker 1: creative and accepting view of you know, like what kind 978 01:00:43,640 --> 01:00:48,560 Speaker 1: of things are okay and really don't want this movement 979 01:00:48,600 --> 01:00:51,200 Speaker 1: to fail and aren't going to limit themselves based on 980 01:00:51,360 --> 01:00:55,200 Speaker 1: abstract ideas. And so that's something that is really special 981 01:00:55,440 --> 01:00:59,560 Speaker 1: and um, you know, one gets excluded for for doing 982 01:00:59,600 --> 01:01:03,360 Speaker 1: things are factor when talking with the force defenders. The 983 01:01:03,360 --> 01:01:05,680 Speaker 1: other thing that was really emphasized is that instead of 984 01:01:05,720 --> 01:01:08,480 Speaker 1: waiting for distant politicians to save the environment, and instead 985 01:01:08,480 --> 01:01:11,920 Speaker 1: of dedicating tons of effort into petitioning companies with moralized 986 01:01:11,960 --> 01:01:14,360 Speaker 1: gredic to make them feel bad in hopes of them 987 01:01:14,640 --> 01:01:18,120 Speaker 1: dropping into the project. You can instead have immediate material 988 01:01:18,120 --> 01:01:20,680 Speaker 1: attacks that hit them where it counts, and where it 989 01:01:20,720 --> 01:01:23,840 Speaker 1: counts is their pockets. Because you can't expect companies to 990 01:01:23,880 --> 01:01:28,160 Speaker 1: be swayed by moral decisions around harmful policing or the environment, 991 01:01:28,640 --> 01:01:31,720 Speaker 1: but you can attack their physical and social capital if 992 01:01:31,760 --> 01:01:34,080 Speaker 1: it's framed as, hey, this is something that is not 993 01:01:34,120 --> 01:01:36,320 Speaker 1: a good look, fam, and uh, this is going to 994 01:01:36,360 --> 01:01:39,240 Speaker 1: hurt your bank accounts. That is the type of general 995 01:01:39,320 --> 01:01:43,040 Speaker 1: language that these corporations do understand. I feel like this 996 01:01:43,120 --> 01:01:45,440 Speaker 1: is the most interceptional thing I've been a part of 997 01:01:45,560 --> 01:01:48,440 Speaker 1: in a long time. There's just like so many different 998 01:01:48,440 --> 01:01:51,520 Speaker 1: ways to oppose the facility, and there's so many different 999 01:01:51,520 --> 01:01:54,560 Speaker 1: people involved. And I'm really grateful for all of the comrades, 1000 01:01:54,680 --> 01:01:57,320 Speaker 1: especially the anarchist comrades. We've been holding it down for 1001 01:01:57,440 --> 01:02:00,920 Speaker 1: years and helped push the struggle in a certain direction. Him. 1002 01:02:00,960 --> 01:02:03,280 Speaker 1: I think other people are touching on this. We want 1003 01:02:03,280 --> 01:02:06,160 Speaker 1: to keep bringing it up because it's important. And other 1004 01:02:06,200 --> 01:02:08,600 Speaker 1: struggles we've been a part of, like the liberals control 1005 01:02:08,680 --> 01:02:10,760 Speaker 1: a lot of the money for jail support or bail 1006 01:02:10,840 --> 01:02:13,880 Speaker 1: funds or food district and a lot of those mutual 1007 01:02:13,920 --> 01:02:16,720 Speaker 1: aid aspects of the struggle that helped maintain an occupation 1008 01:02:16,840 --> 01:02:19,000 Speaker 1: which has really turned this place up, are in the 1009 01:02:19,040 --> 01:02:22,720 Speaker 1: hands of mostly anarchist folks, and that has also really 1010 01:02:22,760 --> 01:02:24,920 Speaker 1: set the scene for what we're able to do and 1011 01:02:24,960 --> 01:02:27,560 Speaker 1: not able to do, Like no one's getting thrown under 1012 01:02:27,600 --> 01:02:29,680 Speaker 1: the bus for a leisured behavior. Like when I was 1013 01:02:29,720 --> 01:02:32,320 Speaker 1: reading about this before I came down here almost exactly 1014 01:02:32,360 --> 01:02:34,880 Speaker 1: a year ago, there were like machines are on fire, 1015 01:02:35,040 --> 01:02:38,560 Speaker 1: and I was like, holy shit, It's like usually that's 1016 01:02:38,680 --> 01:02:41,520 Speaker 1: like the way later in the struggle, and that was 1017 01:02:41,560 --> 01:02:44,320 Speaker 1: like right out the gate. People whoever they are, were 1018 01:02:44,320 --> 01:02:47,160 Speaker 1: attacking the machinery, and I think, to be honest with you, 1019 01:02:47,320 --> 01:02:49,160 Speaker 1: that was drawing a lot of people here because people 1020 01:02:49,200 --> 01:02:51,160 Speaker 1: are tired of the n v d A or non 1021 01:02:51,280 --> 01:02:55,000 Speaker 1: violent direct action. It's not about like let's criticize something 1022 01:02:55,000 --> 01:02:57,360 Speaker 1: to death that makes us feel bad. It's like people 1023 01:02:57,360 --> 01:02:59,520 Speaker 1: are tired because they're losing a lot of comrades to 1024 01:02:59,680 --> 01:03:02,920 Speaker 1: long prison sentences. They're getting three different felonies that are 1025 01:03:02,960 --> 01:03:05,000 Speaker 1: like the same amount of time or more than if 1026 01:03:05,000 --> 01:03:07,920 Speaker 1: you would allegedly arson something. So these are things that 1027 01:03:07,960 --> 01:03:10,320 Speaker 1: are coming up for people, and people are realizing that 1028 01:03:10,400 --> 01:03:13,400 Speaker 1: old tactics aren't working anymore. A lot of the comrades 1029 01:03:13,400 --> 01:03:15,400 Speaker 1: that were burned into a weird shade from the Green 1030 01:03:15,440 --> 01:03:17,920 Speaker 1: scare are aging out or the things that they're afraid 1031 01:03:17,960 --> 01:03:20,360 Speaker 1: of are very valid. But we're living in two dire 1032 01:03:20,400 --> 01:03:23,120 Speaker 1: of a time to neglect. Those tactics are a larger level, 1033 01:03:23,400 --> 01:03:25,840 Speaker 1: and people are just are seeing how terrible things are, 1034 01:03:26,120 --> 01:03:28,120 Speaker 1: and it seems like more people are down or just 1035 01:03:28,160 --> 01:03:31,240 Speaker 1: don't care anymore. Ever since the George Floyd uprisings, they've 1036 01:03:31,240 --> 01:03:33,280 Speaker 1: just seen an uptick and a lot of his behavior. 1037 01:03:33,440 --> 01:03:35,920 Speaker 1: There's a campaign that launched publicly that mentions all the 1038 01:03:36,000 --> 01:03:39,120 Speaker 1: subcontractors that Reaves Young, one of the construction companies on 1039 01:03:39,160 --> 01:03:41,560 Speaker 1: the project, has to employ to make the Atlanta Police 1040 01:03:41,600 --> 01:03:45,040 Speaker 1: Foundations project here possible, and a lot of that could 1041 01:03:45,080 --> 01:03:47,960 Speaker 1: be home visits, it could be going to where they 1042 01:03:48,600 --> 01:03:50,240 Speaker 1: I don't know what's to do is obviously, but I'm 1043 01:03:50,280 --> 01:03:52,840 Speaker 1: just saying, long story short, everybody knows this, but you 1044 01:03:52,880 --> 01:03:55,439 Speaker 1: find where they store the evil equipment, that's the best 1045 01:03:55,440 --> 01:03:58,080 Speaker 1: way to stop the project. Long story short. They usually 1046 01:03:58,080 --> 01:04:00,240 Speaker 1: don't listen to what we have to say, but actually 1047 01:04:00,280 --> 01:04:02,240 Speaker 1: speak louder than words may. If you really want to 1048 01:04:02,320 --> 01:04:04,440 Speaker 1: hurt them. You hurt them in their pockets, and if 1049 01:04:04,440 --> 01:04:06,800 Speaker 1: you cost them enough money damage, they may pull out 1050 01:04:06,800 --> 01:04:09,480 Speaker 1: of the project. They shut down. And even if there 1051 01:04:09,600 --> 01:04:11,880 Speaker 1: is other sub contractors that they could get to run 1052 01:04:11,880 --> 01:04:14,200 Speaker 1: machinery from to cut trees, whatever the funk it is 1053 01:04:14,240 --> 01:04:16,360 Speaker 1: they're going to do, we want them to be afraid. 1054 01:04:16,640 --> 01:04:19,120 Speaker 1: If you look at very romanticized struggles that have largely 1055 01:04:19,160 --> 01:04:21,600 Speaker 1: been successful in their own ways throughout the world. I'm 1056 01:04:21,600 --> 01:04:23,400 Speaker 1: just going to mention a couple because people talk about 1057 01:04:23,400 --> 01:04:26,000 Speaker 1: them constantly, like the Zad in France, on a Hambach 1058 01:04:26,080 --> 01:04:28,680 Speaker 1: in Germany, or No Time in Italy. A lot of 1059 01:04:28,680 --> 01:04:32,400 Speaker 1: the revolts around property destruction and defending your area. Another 1060 01:04:32,440 --> 01:04:34,280 Speaker 1: strong point of the Movement to Defend the Alant of 1061 01:04:34,320 --> 01:04:37,440 Speaker 1: Forest is that it's not simply coalesced around a single 1062 01:04:37,520 --> 01:04:41,960 Speaker 1: coherent strategy, whether that be sabotage or above ground organizing. 1063 01:04:42,960 --> 01:04:45,560 Speaker 1: For over a year now, force defenders and movement participants 1064 01:04:45,560 --> 01:04:50,200 Speaker 1: have employed several parallel strategies in tandem. Strategies of one 1065 01:04:50,200 --> 01:04:53,080 Speaker 1: approach can fill in for the shortcomings of another. Often 1066 01:04:53,120 --> 01:04:57,200 Speaker 1: these differing strategies can be mutually beneficial, as the sabotage 1067 01:04:57,240 --> 01:05:00,160 Speaker 1: was happening. Opponents of Cops City also organized is to 1068 01:05:00,200 --> 01:05:03,360 Speaker 1: continuous stream of educational events on the land, as well 1069 01:05:03,400 --> 01:05:07,200 Speaker 1: as pressure campaigns aimed at pushing city and county officials, investors, 1070 01:05:07,200 --> 01:05:11,760 Speaker 1: and contractors to drop out of the project. As summer began, 1071 01:05:11,880 --> 01:05:16,520 Speaker 1: more traditional political activist organizations like ones connected to nationwide 1072 01:05:16,680 --> 01:05:22,280 Speaker 1: socialist organizations, abolitionist networks, and ecological advocacy groups began doing 1073 01:05:22,320 --> 01:05:26,040 Speaker 1: more direct community outrage by knocking on the doors talking 1074 01:05:26,040 --> 01:05:28,680 Speaker 1: with people in the neighborhoods next to where the forest 1075 01:05:28,720 --> 01:05:32,520 Speaker 1: was being slated for destruction. Forming connections and ally ships 1076 01:05:32,520 --> 01:05:34,480 Speaker 1: with the local community in the vicinity of the South 1077 01:05:34,600 --> 01:05:37,360 Speaker 1: River Forest is crucial, especially since that they would be 1078 01:05:37,360 --> 01:05:41,000 Speaker 1: among the first of those impacted by deforestation and the 1079 01:05:41,040 --> 01:05:45,320 Speaker 1: close proximity to such a militarized police hub with you know, 1080 01:05:45,440 --> 01:05:49,560 Speaker 1: explosive testing and helicopter pads um plus you know, local 1081 01:05:49,560 --> 01:05:53,920 Speaker 1: community outreach is useful for learning what might help mobilize 1082 01:05:53,960 --> 01:05:58,600 Speaker 1: more regular folks. Other tactics and strategies emerging during early 1083 01:05:58,640 --> 01:06:02,000 Speaker 1: summer included getting those involved in the planning of Cops 1084 01:06:02,040 --> 01:06:05,240 Speaker 1: City to realize that they don't get to operate in 1085 01:06:05,280 --> 01:06:10,640 Speaker 1: some safe politics only realm. Their political decisions have real 1086 01:06:10,680 --> 01:06:14,280 Speaker 1: world consequences and real world effects for those people that 1087 01:06:14,360 --> 01:06:18,920 Speaker 1: they allegedly represent, so perhaps they too should be forced 1088 01:06:18,960 --> 01:06:23,400 Speaker 1: to feel real world consequences. On June six, there was 1089 01:06:23,520 --> 01:06:25,680 Speaker 1: a city Council meeting which was supposed to vote on 1090 01:06:25,720 --> 01:06:30,080 Speaker 1: the Police Foundation's land lease ordinance, sponsored by then Councilwoman 1091 01:06:30,280 --> 01:06:34,680 Speaker 1: Joyce Shepherd. At this point back in, the meetings were 1092 01:06:34,720 --> 01:06:37,920 Speaker 1: all virtual due to the COVID nineteen pandemic, so the 1093 01:06:37,920 --> 01:06:41,840 Speaker 1: city council members hosted their conversations from inside their homes. 1094 01:06:42,920 --> 01:06:45,760 Speaker 1: With just a little bit of work, activists and researchers 1095 01:06:45,760 --> 01:06:48,960 Speaker 1: were able to locate the home address of Councilwoman Shepherd. 1096 01:06:50,320 --> 01:06:52,960 Speaker 1: A group went to her home and displayed a banner 1097 01:06:53,080 --> 01:06:56,280 Speaker 1: during the city council meeting. Most protesters just chanted from 1098 01:06:56,280 --> 01:06:59,800 Speaker 1: the public sidewalk, and one individual approached her house, knocked 1099 01:06:59,840 --> 01:07:02,800 Speaker 1: on the door and ring the doorbell before returning to 1100 01:07:02,880 --> 01:07:06,760 Speaker 1: the street. It turns out Councilvan Shepherd did not like 1101 01:07:06,840 --> 01:07:11,680 Speaker 1: this very much and went into a bit of a panic. So, um, 1102 01:07:11,800 --> 01:07:14,240 Speaker 1: one of the movements that I have been like kind 1103 01:07:14,280 --> 01:07:17,360 Speaker 1: of effective in terms of like city council or other 1104 01:07:17,840 --> 01:07:22,280 Speaker 1: targets has been like whenever the first time they were 1105 01:07:22,400 --> 01:07:28,040 Speaker 1: going to vote on this like um Institute for Social 1106 01:07:28,240 --> 01:07:30,560 Speaker 1: actually copsity um. When they were going to vote on 1107 01:07:30,600 --> 01:07:38,120 Speaker 1: copsoity Um, someone went up to Joyce Shepherd's house and 1108 01:07:38,200 --> 01:07:41,640 Speaker 1: knocked on her door. They're so painful of protesters outside, 1109 01:07:41,640 --> 01:07:43,440 Speaker 1: and someone just knocked on her door and she went 1110 01:07:43,520 --> 01:07:47,560 Speaker 1: to her frenzy freaked out, called off the vote, left 1111 01:07:47,560 --> 01:07:55,200 Speaker 1: the meeting, ran to the precincts comments section, and then 1112 01:07:55,400 --> 01:08:00,600 Speaker 1: gave a long speech to like a bunch of friends 1113 01:08:01,000 --> 01:08:04,400 Speaker 1: which called up, which effectively called off for another like 1114 01:08:04,440 --> 01:08:08,040 Speaker 1: three months or so, just because someone visited the house 1115 01:08:08,200 --> 01:08:12,840 Speaker 1: of a politician because they had names and addresses, and 1116 01:08:12,920 --> 01:08:19,880 Speaker 1: like that also happened with That's Sean Reeves, CEO and 1117 01:08:19,960 --> 01:08:23,880 Speaker 1: chairman of Reeves Young. There's this whole idea of politics 1118 01:08:23,920 --> 01:08:28,760 Speaker 1: as existing within this political astral space. Right, it's it's 1119 01:08:28,880 --> 01:08:31,320 Speaker 1: it's the same thing with like corporations. Right, everything exists 1120 01:08:31,360 --> 01:08:36,680 Speaker 1: in the corporate space that's removed from people's actual lives. Right, 1121 01:08:36,680 --> 01:08:41,639 Speaker 1: it's it's removed from actual personal consequences. People in positions 1122 01:08:41,640 --> 01:08:44,679 Speaker 1: of power assume that their actions occur in this political 1123 01:08:44,800 --> 01:08:47,920 Speaker 1: or corporate astral plane that means that consequences of the 1124 01:08:47,960 --> 01:08:51,760 Speaker 1: decisions won't directly impact them, but we don't need to 1125 01:08:51,800 --> 01:08:55,200 Speaker 1: play by those rules. After a friendly knock on her door, 1126 01:08:55,560 --> 01:08:58,400 Speaker 1: Joyce Shepard called off the vote and left the meeting 1127 01:08:58,439 --> 01:09:02,120 Speaker 1: early to call the police, who arrived after the protesters 1128 01:09:02,120 --> 01:09:05,800 Speaker 1: had already dispersed. Immediately after, Joyce Shepherd held a press 1129 01:09:05,800 --> 01:09:10,280 Speaker 1: conference from the newly constructed Zone three police precinct. Their 1130 01:09:10,360 --> 01:09:14,120 Speaker 1: Shepherd stood surrounded by police officers and news media and 1131 01:09:14,160 --> 01:09:17,240 Speaker 1: described in detail the aims of her land lease ordinance, 1132 01:09:17,280 --> 01:09:19,760 Speaker 1: the nature of the cop City project, as well as 1133 01:09:19,800 --> 01:09:23,280 Speaker 1: the efforts of protesters to stopp her. By doing this 1134 01:09:23,320 --> 01:09:26,120 Speaker 1: short public statement, she catapulted the movement and the story 1135 01:09:26,520 --> 01:09:29,439 Speaker 1: into the mainstream, out of the political backdoors that it 1136 01:09:29,479 --> 01:09:33,720 Speaker 1: was existing in previously, and Atlantas any councilwoman says, protesters 1137 01:09:33,800 --> 01:09:36,760 Speaker 1: came onto her private property to speak out against a 1138 01:09:36,800 --> 01:09:39,960 Speaker 1: piece of legislation. Joyce Shepherd says, while she supports the 1139 01:09:40,040 --> 01:09:43,679 Speaker 1: right to protest, this time it went too far. People 1140 01:09:43,720 --> 01:09:45,760 Speaker 1: have a right to come out and say whether they 1141 01:09:45,840 --> 01:09:48,479 Speaker 1: four or against it. I have no problem with that. 1142 01:09:48,880 --> 01:09:50,679 Speaker 1: I've been doing this for years and know that people 1143 01:09:50,720 --> 01:09:53,040 Speaker 1: have their right. But what they don't have a right 1144 01:09:53,080 --> 01:09:55,800 Speaker 1: to do is come up on my private property, knock 1145 01:09:55,880 --> 01:09:59,840 Speaker 1: on my doors, protests on my lawn, on my poet. 1146 01:10:00,280 --> 01:10:03,680 Speaker 1: They don't have that right. So I'm fair tonight that 1147 01:10:03,880 --> 01:10:07,880 Speaker 1: I'm still supporting the candy. I'm not scared. However, there 1148 01:10:07,880 --> 01:10:09,559 Speaker 1: will be no right for people to come out my 1149 01:10:09,640 --> 01:10:13,439 Speaker 1: property and protests. The next day she made another statement 1150 01:10:13,560 --> 01:10:15,960 Speaker 1: which you just heard a little bit of, where she 1151 01:10:16,040 --> 01:10:18,679 Speaker 1: also claimed that she would be pushing through the ordinance 1152 01:10:18,720 --> 01:10:21,840 Speaker 1: no matter what the city residents that she sensibly represented 1153 01:10:21,920 --> 01:10:25,280 Speaker 1: had to say, And her and her fellow city officials 1154 01:10:25,400 --> 01:10:28,920 Speaker 1: took a stand against the protesters and rejected their tactics, 1155 01:10:29,479 --> 01:10:33,600 Speaker 1: falsely implying that the methods like going on a sidewalk 1156 01:10:33,760 --> 01:10:37,240 Speaker 1: were illegal. But by showing up outside a politician's house 1157 01:10:37,240 --> 01:10:39,240 Speaker 1: and knocking on her door, just a few people were 1158 01:10:39,280 --> 01:10:41,920 Speaker 1: able to achieve an early goal of the movement to 1159 01:10:41,960 --> 01:10:45,080 Speaker 1: transform the cops city and black hall developments from back 1160 01:10:45,080 --> 01:10:48,800 Speaker 1: to agreements into big public scandals. They got out of 1161 01:10:48,800 --> 01:10:51,800 Speaker 1: the shadows and into the spotlight. As a bonus, the 1162 01:10:51,880 --> 01:10:54,560 Speaker 1: vote was delayed, buying more time to develop further strategies 1163 01:10:54,560 --> 01:10:57,840 Speaker 1: in defense of the forest. It was an effective demonstration 1164 01:10:57,920 --> 01:11:01,400 Speaker 1: of the potential of direct confrontation with people in power, 1165 01:11:02,200 --> 01:11:04,519 Speaker 1: and it led to the emergence of another strategy that's 1166 01:11:04,520 --> 01:11:08,040 Speaker 1: become a big part of the genetic fabric of this movement, 1167 01:11:08,520 --> 01:11:11,920 Speaker 1: pressuring decision makers directly and dissolving their notion of a 1168 01:11:11,960 --> 01:11:16,200 Speaker 1: safe political or corporate astral space. During this time of 1169 01:11:16,280 --> 01:11:20,120 Speaker 1: showing up at politician stores, more sabotage and direct action 1170 01:11:20,160 --> 01:11:24,160 Speaker 1: were also taking place. Signs appeared in the forest warning 1171 01:11:24,240 --> 01:11:26,360 Speaker 1: that trees in the area had been spiked, making it 1172 01:11:26,400 --> 01:11:29,479 Speaker 1: possibly dangerous to attempt to cut down trees, with the 1173 01:11:29,600 --> 01:11:33,560 Speaker 1: risk of saws being damaged and possibly injuring unlucky workers. 1174 01:11:33,560 --> 01:11:36,519 Speaker 1: On June tenth, three more excavators were burned at the 1175 01:11:36,560 --> 01:11:40,640 Speaker 1: Black Hole Studios the site. Neither action appeared much in 1176 01:11:40,760 --> 01:11:44,599 Speaker 1: the local news media, but anonymous communications and photographs of 1177 01:11:44,680 --> 01:11:50,280 Speaker 1: the incidents and damage circulated online among the radical anarchist 1178 01:11:50,400 --> 01:11:54,240 Speaker 1: mill us. In late June there was the first planned 1179 01:11:54,320 --> 01:11:57,960 Speaker 1: Week of action. There's been another one since then, and 1180 01:11:58,000 --> 01:12:01,960 Speaker 1: there's another one upcoming from May eight through May fifteenth. 1181 01:12:02,520 --> 01:12:04,479 Speaker 1: We'll talk more about the upcoming Week of action in 1182 01:12:04,479 --> 01:12:07,200 Speaker 1: the next episode, but I strongly encourage people to travel 1183 01:12:07,200 --> 01:12:09,080 Speaker 1: to Atlanta as soon as possible. If you can make 1184 01:12:09,120 --> 01:12:12,120 Speaker 1: it for any of this upcoming Weeklung event again, that's 1185 01:12:12,120 --> 01:12:15,439 Speaker 1: from May eight through May. If you can make it 1186 01:12:15,479 --> 01:12:18,160 Speaker 1: fronty of that, please go to Atlanta. It will be 1187 01:12:18,280 --> 01:12:21,559 Speaker 1: it will be fun, I assure you. The June Week 1188 01:12:21,600 --> 01:12:24,760 Speaker 1: of Action featured guided walks through the forest by day 1189 01:12:24,800 --> 01:12:30,920 Speaker 1: and by moonlight, discussion and conversations on ecology, abolitionism, colonialism, 1190 01:12:30,920 --> 01:12:34,840 Speaker 1: and queerness. There was a nightly bonfires and safe open 1191 01:12:34,920 --> 01:12:38,120 Speaker 1: sections of the woods at a nearby radical venue. There 1192 01:12:38,200 --> 01:12:41,639 Speaker 1: was a hardcore punk show during which hundreds of concert 1193 01:12:41,640 --> 01:12:45,519 Speaker 1: goers repelled the buzz kill police who are trying to 1194 01:12:45,520 --> 01:12:48,240 Speaker 1: shut it down. And there was a night rave deep 1195 01:12:48,280 --> 01:12:51,240 Speaker 1: into the woods where five hundred people were dancing with 1196 01:12:51,240 --> 01:12:54,639 Speaker 1: glow sticks late into the night and early into the morning. 1197 01:12:55,360 --> 01:12:58,200 Speaker 1: In all throughout the Week of Action, thousands of Atlanta's 1198 01:12:58,360 --> 01:13:01,320 Speaker 1: got to gather under the banner defend the forest. They 1199 01:13:01,360 --> 01:13:03,439 Speaker 1: were able to learn about the project and get plugged 1200 01:13:03,439 --> 01:13:06,639 Speaker 1: into taking action. During the week, people under the cover 1201 01:13:06,680 --> 01:13:09,360 Speaker 1: of night visited the home of black Hole Studios CEO 1202 01:13:09,560 --> 01:13:13,680 Speaker 1: Ryan Millsap in the Atlanta suburb of Social Creek, UH. 1203 01:13:13,720 --> 01:13:17,360 Speaker 1: They also visited his second home in Tuxedo Park and 1204 01:13:17,600 --> 01:13:22,000 Speaker 1: the ups he frequents in Edgewood. According to an anonymous 1205 01:13:22,000 --> 01:13:26,440 Speaker 1: online statement, quote, flyers were distributed to all his neighbors mailboxes, 1206 01:13:26,479 --> 01:13:28,840 Speaker 1: as well as plastered on his front gate and the 1207 01:13:28,840 --> 01:13:32,679 Speaker 1: streets that he frequents. The flyers let fellow concerned community 1208 01:13:32,680 --> 01:13:35,360 Speaker 1: members know about the harm he is responsible for, and 1209 01:13:35,360 --> 01:13:37,679 Speaker 1: I seally provided the address to his one hundred acre 1210 01:13:37,720 --> 01:13:41,080 Speaker 1: farms so that grievances could be addressed there. The flyers 1211 01:13:41,120 --> 01:13:43,639 Speaker 1: placed all throughout his neighborhood and investment properties were also 1212 01:13:43,800 --> 01:13:46,519 Speaker 1: distributed in hopes that it would quote inspire others to 1213 01:13:46,560 --> 01:13:49,320 Speaker 1: research and take the fight to those directly responsible for 1214 01:13:49,360 --> 01:13:53,280 Speaker 1: the destruction of the forest. Two days later, on the 1215 01:13:53,320 --> 01:13:57,720 Speaker 1: final day of the week of action, around fifty protesters 1216 01:13:57,800 --> 01:14:00,360 Speaker 1: marched to the headquarters of the Atlanta Police found Dation, 1217 01:14:00,920 --> 01:14:04,360 Speaker 1: quoting crime Thing again quote. As the crowd emerged from 1218 01:14:04,360 --> 01:14:06,960 Speaker 1: the Five Points Metro station, a small contention of officers 1219 01:14:06,960 --> 01:14:09,960 Speaker 1: attempted to arrest somebody. The crowd engaged hand to hand 1220 01:14:09,960 --> 01:14:13,320 Speaker 1: fighting with police and successfully repelled them. Advancing past the security, 1221 01:14:13,360 --> 01:14:16,240 Speaker 1: they marched straight to the Atlantic Police Foundation's office and 1222 01:14:16,280 --> 01:14:19,720 Speaker 1: smashed the glass doors and windows before overturning tables in 1223 01:14:19,760 --> 01:14:24,440 Speaker 1: the Towers lobby. According to police, on Friday, around four pm, 1224 01:14:24,560 --> 01:14:28,320 Speaker 1: multiple protesters stopped the flow of traffic on Peachtree Street 1225 01:14:28,400 --> 01:14:32,200 Speaker 1: and Andrew Young International Boulevard. Photos taken by a local 1226 01:14:32,240 --> 01:14:37,040 Speaker 1: freelance photographer showing a group called Defend Atlanta Forests shattering 1227 01:14:37,080 --> 01:14:41,120 Speaker 1: glass doors and also holding signs that say our woods, 1228 01:14:41,240 --> 01:14:44,759 Speaker 1: not Hollywood's. CBS forty six reached out to the group 1229 01:14:44,920 --> 01:14:48,040 Speaker 1: but have yet to hear back. Atlanta police believe the 1230 01:14:48,120 --> 01:14:51,960 Speaker 1: protesting ignited over the building of the new public Safety 1231 01:14:52,040 --> 01:14:56,880 Speaker 1: training center. When officers arrived, protesters quickly fled the scene, 1232 01:14:57,040 --> 01:15:00,240 Speaker 1: but the damage still remains. At this time, we know 1233 01:15:00,400 --> 01:15:04,839 Speaker 1: no arrest have been made and the investigation continues. In Atlanta. 1234 01:15:04,880 --> 01:15:09,479 Speaker 1: On barbawllyans CBS News momentum was growing throughout the summer. 1235 01:15:09,800 --> 01:15:13,040 Speaker 1: Police and corporate press have failed in crafting a counter 1236 01:15:13,120 --> 01:15:16,719 Speaker 1: media strategy. Meanwhile, to defend the Forest project brought together 1237 01:15:16,840 --> 01:15:21,200 Speaker 1: police and prison abolitionist organizations, environmental justice and preservation organizations, 1238 01:15:21,360 --> 01:15:25,439 Speaker 1: civil and human rights nonprofits, and even neighborhood associations near 1239 01:15:25,560 --> 01:15:29,120 Speaker 1: the proposed site, including the East Atlanta Community Association, the 1240 01:15:29,160 --> 01:15:33,800 Speaker 1: Grant Park Neighborhood Association, South Atlantin's for Neighborhood Development, and 1241 01:15:33,920 --> 01:15:38,599 Speaker 1: the Kirkwood Neighbors Organization, each of which passed resolutions opposing 1242 01:15:38,640 --> 01:15:43,800 Speaker 1: the proposal. Grassroots organizations that mobilized against the proposal included 1243 01:15:43,920 --> 01:15:48,479 Speaker 1: Defend Atlanta Police Department, Refusal Communities, the Atlanta Sunrise Movement, 1244 01:15:48,560 --> 01:15:51,880 Speaker 1: Community Movement Builders, the South River Forest Coalition, A World 1245 01:15:51,920 --> 01:15:55,080 Speaker 1: Without Police, and the Autonomous Organizers. Working under the banner 1246 01:15:55,200 --> 01:16:00,320 Speaker 1: of Defend the Forest, organizers spread informational flyers and online fix, 1247 01:16:00,560 --> 01:16:04,919 Speaker 1: conducted interviews, knocked on doors, and organized phone in campaigns 1248 01:16:05,000 --> 01:16:07,760 Speaker 1: during subsequent city council meetings that were still held on 1249 01:16:07,840 --> 01:16:12,600 Speaker 1: Zoom because of coronavirus related restrictions. Through in August and September, 1250 01:16:12,640 --> 01:16:16,599 Speaker 1: the Stop Cops City Coalition and others worked to introduce 1251 01:16:16,680 --> 01:16:20,960 Speaker 1: tension and clog up the city council process. Digging cues 1252 01:16:21,000 --> 01:16:23,360 Speaker 1: from the protest outside the home of Joyce Shepherd, which 1253 01:16:23,400 --> 01:16:26,120 Speaker 1: resulted in the vote being delayed for over two months. 1254 01:16:26,600 --> 01:16:29,800 Speaker 1: Protesters gathered outside the homes of possible yes voters on 1255 01:16:29,840 --> 01:16:31,840 Speaker 1: the nights that the vote was related to take place, 1256 01:16:32,240 --> 01:16:36,120 Speaker 1: causing further delays in the entire process. Got pushed back 1257 01:16:36,160 --> 01:16:40,839 Speaker 1: from August into September, so again, another another delay. Briefly, 1258 01:16:40,880 --> 01:16:42,680 Speaker 1: it seemed like there was a possibility that the cold 1259 01:16:42,680 --> 01:16:46,200 Speaker 1: Stop Cops City campaign might be victorious before the end 1260 01:16:46,240 --> 01:16:49,719 Speaker 1: of summer. Votes on the groundle sordidens were repeatedly delayed 1261 01:16:49,760 --> 01:16:52,519 Speaker 1: because of these objections and demonstrations at the homes of 1262 01:16:52,680 --> 01:16:56,639 Speaker 1: Atlanta Chief Operations Officer John Keene and City council Woman 1263 01:16:56,960 --> 01:17:01,639 Speaker 1: Madaline Archibond. Eventually, September seventh was set as the final 1264 01:17:01,760 --> 01:17:05,439 Speaker 1: vote day. Seventeen hours of pre recorded comments from over 1265 01:17:05,560 --> 01:17:09,400 Speaker 1: one thousand Atlanta residents delayed the discussion. Due to the 1266 01:17:09,400 --> 01:17:11,639 Speaker 1: sheer number of public comments, the volt got pushed back 1267 01:17:11,680 --> 01:17:15,479 Speaker 1: another day as Sydney Council members spent most of Tuesday 1268 01:17:15,479 --> 01:17:19,480 Speaker 1: and Wednesday listening to the playback. After months of organizing, 1269 01:17:19,520 --> 01:17:22,679 Speaker 1: community outreach and public education efforts from these top Cops 1270 01:17:22,680 --> 01:17:27,959 Speaker 1: City organizers, proximately, the Collars fiercely opposed the proposal, explaining 1271 01:17:27,960 --> 01:17:31,040 Speaker 1: in great detail why they're quote unquote representatives should vote 1272 01:17:31,040 --> 01:17:35,080 Speaker 1: it down. The minority of callers who supported the Cops 1273 01:17:35,080 --> 01:17:39,120 Speaker 1: City project either self identified as residents of the disproportionately 1274 01:17:39,120 --> 01:17:43,240 Speaker 1: white and wealthy Buckhead and Northeast Atlanta area or we're 1275 01:17:43,280 --> 01:17:46,800 Speaker 1: just like actual cops. Uh. At least thirty officers called 1276 01:17:46,800 --> 01:17:48,720 Speaker 1: in to say that they support the instruction of the 1277 01:17:48,720 --> 01:17:53,320 Speaker 1: forest to end the building of Cops City, Big big shocker, 1278 01:17:53,400 --> 01:17:57,200 Speaker 1: the cops what Cops City? Pro Cops City collars invoked 1279 01:17:57,280 --> 01:18:00,679 Speaker 1: the false crime wave narrative propagated after the George Floyd 1280 01:18:00,800 --> 01:18:04,080 Speaker 1: uprising and used the language of so called white flight 1281 01:18:04,320 --> 01:18:07,240 Speaker 1: by threatening to leave the city if something wasn't done 1282 01:18:07,280 --> 01:18:12,720 Speaker 1: to stop the growing crime wave. And yet, when the 1283 01:18:12,800 --> 01:18:16,960 Speaker 1: seventeen hours of public comments ended and the council's discussion began, 1284 01:18:17,320 --> 01:18:20,639 Speaker 1: council members largely failed to acknowledge the hours of public 1285 01:18:20,680 --> 01:18:23,040 Speaker 1: comment that they had just spent two days listening to, 1286 01:18:23,880 --> 01:18:27,280 Speaker 1: much less acknowledged the far ranging movement that produced such 1287 01:18:27,360 --> 01:18:32,000 Speaker 1: overwhelming public discontent. Quoting crime think again quote as those 1288 01:18:32,040 --> 01:18:35,639 Speaker 1: who study revolutionary movements now, the police perform an essential 1289 01:18:35,680 --> 01:18:39,680 Speaker 1: function in class society, without which many other hierarchies and 1290 01:18:39,800 --> 01:18:43,400 Speaker 1: explotitive relations could not exist for very long. This is 1291 01:18:43,439 --> 01:18:45,880 Speaker 1: not simply an economic or civic issue that can be 1292 01:18:45,920 --> 01:18:48,600 Speaker 1: worked around with some clever ideas in a bit of 1293 01:18:48,640 --> 01:18:53,040 Speaker 1: pressure unquote. Despite the efforts of organizers, which culminated in 1294 01:18:53,280 --> 01:18:58,000 Speaker 1: seventeen hours of primarily oppositional public comment. The ordinance was 1295 01:18:58,040 --> 01:19:02,040 Speaker 1: passed on September eight, while the police arrested protesters outside 1296 01:19:02,040 --> 01:19:06,160 Speaker 1: the home of Councilwoman Madaline Archibond about an hour before 1297 01:19:06,200 --> 01:19:08,840 Speaker 1: the final vote took place. During the council's final session 1298 01:19:08,880 --> 01:19:12,120 Speaker 1: on September eight, the City Council voted by a margin 1299 01:19:12,200 --> 01:19:14,000 Speaker 1: of ten to four for the creation of the ninety 1300 01:19:14,000 --> 01:19:17,400 Speaker 1: million dollar facility, handing over almost four acres of for 1301 01:19:17,479 --> 01:19:21,320 Speaker 1: US to the Atlanta Police Foundation. Obviously, many folks were 1302 01:19:21,800 --> 01:19:25,559 Speaker 1: pretty disappointed and kind of demoralized about this. UH. Some 1303 01:19:25,680 --> 01:19:29,400 Speaker 1: turned their frustrated energy into the upcoming local elections, hoping 1304 01:19:29,400 --> 01:19:32,439 Speaker 1: that the city government may be stacked with abolitionists or 1305 01:19:32,920 --> 01:19:36,639 Speaker 1: progressive candidates that might strike down the project. Mayor Bottoms 1306 01:19:36,640 --> 01:19:38,760 Speaker 1: did not end up running for re election, and the 1307 01:19:38,800 --> 01:19:42,240 Speaker 1: former mayor of Mayor Read lost to the now current 1308 01:19:42,280 --> 01:19:45,719 Speaker 1: Mayor Andre dickens Um. I do think it's really funny 1309 01:19:45,760 --> 01:19:49,040 Speaker 1: that the old mayor of Atlanta was Mayor Bottoms and 1310 01:19:49,080 --> 01:19:52,880 Speaker 1: the new and the new Mayor is Mayor dickens Um. Anyway, UH, 1311 01:19:53,000 --> 01:19:56,000 Speaker 1: City council Woman Joyce Sheppard, who introduced the cop City plan, 1312 01:19:56,160 --> 01:19:59,200 Speaker 1: also lost her campaign for re election. But since the 1313 01:19:59,240 --> 01:20:03,240 Speaker 1: elections November, nothing has actually changed regarding the black Hole 1314 01:20:03,280 --> 01:20:06,040 Speaker 1: and Cops City developments, or nothing has changed on the 1315 01:20:06,120 --> 01:20:11,320 Speaker 1: electoral front. There's there's no indication of electoral strategies being impactful, 1316 01:20:12,120 --> 01:20:16,000 Speaker 1: and thankfully not everyone focus their efforts on electoral reform. 1317 01:20:16,040 --> 01:20:17,920 Speaker 1: I'll leave you today with this sentiment that I kept 1318 01:20:18,000 --> 01:20:21,840 Speaker 1: hearing during my stay in the forest. When you criminalize 1319 01:20:21,960 --> 01:20:26,080 Speaker 1: non violent direct action, the end goes away. On the 1320 01:20:26,080 --> 01:20:28,919 Speaker 1: final day of the vote, people went and protested outside 1321 01:20:29,000 --> 01:20:31,839 Speaker 1: a city council member's house, and eleven of them got arrested, 1322 01:20:31,960 --> 01:20:35,280 Speaker 1: despite the fact that they were already dispersing and following orders. 1323 01:20:35,800 --> 01:20:38,759 Speaker 1: During the Top Line three movement, people were receiving felony 1324 01:20:38,800 --> 01:20:41,519 Speaker 1: theft charges for using lock boxes to attach themselves onto 1325 01:20:41,560 --> 01:20:44,960 Speaker 1: construction equipment um which of recent hasn't even really been 1326 01:20:45,000 --> 01:20:48,519 Speaker 1: an effective strategy resulting in any material winds. But if 1327 01:20:48,560 --> 01:20:50,320 Speaker 1: they're going to arrest you for standing outside of a 1328 01:20:50,320 --> 01:20:53,400 Speaker 1: politician's house and give you charges, you may as well 1329 01:20:53,479 --> 01:20:56,120 Speaker 1: consider doing something a bit more spicy. If you're gonna 1330 01:20:56,160 --> 01:20:59,120 Speaker 1: get felonies for basic non violent direct action like locking 1331 01:20:59,120 --> 01:21:02,360 Speaker 1: yourself onto machine, you may as well light that machinery 1332 01:21:02,400 --> 01:21:04,960 Speaker 1: on fire. When non violent direct action results in fel 1333 01:21:04,960 --> 01:21:08,160 Speaker 1: any charges, if they're going to criminalize standing outside of 1334 01:21:08,160 --> 01:21:10,680 Speaker 1: a politicians house and holding a sign, then going into 1335 01:21:10,720 --> 01:21:13,800 Speaker 1: the forest and doing monkey wrenching suddenly becomes a very 1336 01:21:13,840 --> 01:21:17,200 Speaker 1: similar consequence level, and the action that can be done 1337 01:21:17,200 --> 01:21:20,519 Speaker 1: in secret turns out to be actually a bit easier 1338 01:21:20,520 --> 01:21:23,080 Speaker 1: to get away with. The funny thing is is that 1339 01:21:23,160 --> 01:21:26,120 Speaker 1: this is the state's fault, not anyone else's fault. When 1340 01:21:26,160 --> 01:21:30,720 Speaker 1: state repression against public non destructive tactics increases, then what 1341 01:21:30,800 --> 01:21:34,240 Speaker 1: happens is the less public and more fiery tactics, which 1342 01:21:34,320 --> 01:21:37,320 Speaker 1: in this movement we're already present, we'll just end up 1343 01:21:37,400 --> 01:21:40,600 Speaker 1: becoming more and more prominent and even more integral to 1344 01:21:40,680 --> 01:21:44,120 Speaker 1: keep the movement going. In the next episode, we'll hear 1345 01:21:44,160 --> 01:21:46,680 Speaker 1: about how the more radical folks continue to defend the 1346 01:21:46,680 --> 01:21:49,760 Speaker 1: forest after the vote, and you'll hear a lot more 1347 01:21:49,800 --> 01:21:52,920 Speaker 1: from the force defenders that I interviewed. And finally, if 1348 01:21:52,960 --> 01:21:55,479 Speaker 1: you can please head to Atlanta if you're able to, 1349 01:21:55,600 --> 01:21:58,120 Speaker 1: for the upcoming week of action from A eight through. 1350 01:21:59,320 --> 01:22:01,880 Speaker 1: More boots on the round are crucial as the large 1351 01:22:01,880 --> 01:22:05,280 Speaker 1: scale destruction of the forest is becoming more and more imminent. 1352 01:22:05,960 --> 01:22:09,200 Speaker 1: You can go to Defend the Atlanta Forest dot com 1353 01:22:09,240 --> 01:22:12,560 Speaker 1: and scenes dot no blogs dot org for more information. 1354 01:22:13,120 --> 01:22:18,000 Speaker 1: See you on the other side. It Could Happen Here 1355 01:22:18,080 --> 01:22:20,719 Speaker 1: is a production of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts 1356 01:22:20,720 --> 01:22:23,320 Speaker 1: from cool Zone Media, visit our website cool zone Media 1357 01:22:23,360 --> 01:22:25,200 Speaker 1: dot com, or check us out on the I Heart 1358 01:22:25,240 --> 01:22:28,280 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 1359 01:22:28,840 --> 01:22:30,960 Speaker 1: You can find sources for It could Happen Here, updated 1360 01:22:31,040 --> 01:22:34,519 Speaker 1: monthly at cool zone Media dot com slash sources. Thanks 1361 01:22:34,520 --> 01:22:35,080 Speaker 1: for listening.