1 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 1: It's a warm spring afternoon in Atlanta, Georgia. You and 2 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:10,440 Speaker 1: some of your friends are dancing in the sunlight at 3 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: a music festival in South Atlanta. It's day two of 4 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: the South River Music Festival. Last night, you stayed up 5 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:20,279 Speaker 1: till three am, alternating between moshing in the pit and 6 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: laying down on a blanket looking up at the night sky, 7 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: trying to see stars through the light pollution. After you 8 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: had your fill of DM you called it a night 9 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,240 Speaker 1: and hastily set up a tent in the forest near 10 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:34,879 Speaker 1: the edge of the festival. You tried to sleep as 11 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:37,479 Speaker 1: long as you could, but soon enough the hustle and 12 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,160 Speaker 1: bustle around the forest beckoned you out of your tent. 13 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: As you mosed on over back to the music festival, 14 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: immediately something new caught your eye, a large, multi colored 15 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: inflatable bouncy castle sitting right in the middle of the 16 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: field with a big stopcop City banner hung along the side. 17 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: After you fully woke up, you grabbed a free breakfast 18 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: burrito and took a walk through the winding forest. Now 19 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: that you've finished your breakfast, you're back at the far 20 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: end of the open field in front of the stage, 21 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: where there's been live music playing for the past few hours. 22 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: You and some friends briefly try a stint in the 23 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: bouncy castle, but quickly return to the festival stage as 24 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: you tire out much faster than you expected. As the 25 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: sun is barely starting to set around six pm, suddenly 26 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: you notice the faint scream of police sirens piercing through 27 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: the music being blasted from on stage. You stand up 28 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: as the sirens get louder and closer, until a burst 29 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 1: of police cars zoom past the music festival at high speed. 30 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: A short sigh of relief is followed by confusion where 31 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: else would a whole bunch of police cars be going, 32 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: But as nothing seems to come of it, everyone starts 33 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: to relax and begin enjoying music once again with the 34 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: apparent absence of police. There's a if you brief moments 35 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: of peace at the festival as things continue as scheduled, 36 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: except you can't help but notice the police helicopter is 37 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: flying across the forest toward the festival. As you take 38 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:14,240 Speaker 1: note of the chopper, you receive a signal message from 39 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: a friend quote cops have entered the parking lot with 40 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: AR fifteen's. You lift up your mask and start running 41 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: across the field to the parking lot at Willawnee People's Park. 42 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: But before you even make it halfway across, you notice 43 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: up ahead a few dozen police officers sprinting into the 44 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 1: open field from the festival side entrance. As the sun 45 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: is setting, a group of cops run past the bouncy 46 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: house and start chasing down seemingly random concert goers and 47 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: loan stragglers. One officer points his rifle at the bouncy 48 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: house as another turns off the generator. You group up 49 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: with other people from the festival in hopes of working 50 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: together to incentivize police to leave the area. As you 51 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: get closer, the cops start getting more aggressive. Just up ahead, 52 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: a bit further into the woods, close to where you 53 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 1: set up your tent, you hear some loud bangs and 54 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: see a flash of bright light. First, you assume it's 55 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,359 Speaker 1: just fireworks being used to hold off the cops, until 56 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: you start coughing and see the faint plume of tear 57 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: gas seeping in from the forest. You're forced to fall 58 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: back to the festival and regroup with people by the 59 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:31,919 Speaker 1: stage where music is still being played. As you're running back, 60 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:34,399 Speaker 1: you can see dozens of people in zip ti cuffs, 61 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: many still pinned to the ground, still coughing from the gas. 62 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: You make your way back to where you are washing 63 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: the previous night. The crowd of festivalgoers tightens up as 64 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: riot vans and a bear cat pull into the field 65 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: next to the deflated bouncy castle. Police swat teams surround 66 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: the South River Music Festival and creep towards the stage, 67 00:03:55,960 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: threatening to charge hundreds of people with domestic terrorism. Hanging 68 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: on the backdrop of the stage is a massive banner 69 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: that reads, quote in the eyes of the state, all 70 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: who resist white supremacy, colonialism, environmental racism, gentrification, and police 71 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: militarization are domestic terrorists unquote. That was the evening of Sunday, 72 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:26,280 Speaker 1: March fifth, twenty twenty three. This is it could happen here. 73 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: I'm Garrison Davis. I arrived in Atlanta a few days 74 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,159 Speaker 1: prior in preparation for the March Week of Action to 75 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: defend the Atlanta Forest and stop cop City. This is 76 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:39,720 Speaker 1: part one of a four part series covering this week 77 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: of action, featuring interviews, reportbacks, and analysis from both participants 78 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: and observers like myself. This four part series will be 79 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:50,280 Speaker 1: a follow up of sorts to the four stop Coop 80 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: City episodes we put together last January following the death 81 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: of forest defender Tortigita at the hands of the Georgia 82 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:01,160 Speaker 1: State Patrol, as well as building off my previous year 83 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: of work covering the movement to defend the Atlanta Forest. 84 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:07,600 Speaker 1: But in case you're new or need a refresher, For 85 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: over two years now, activists and community members have been 86 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: in a fight to save the Wallani Forest from being 87 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,600 Speaker 1: turned into a massive ninety million dollar police training facility 88 00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: stretching across one hundred and seventy acres, with plans to 89 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: include a mock city for urban combat training to quell 90 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: civil descent. The cop City project is being led by 91 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 1: the Atlanta Police Foundation, one of the most powerful police 92 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,920 Speaker 1: lobbying groups in the country. Following seventeen hours of public comment, 93 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:39,159 Speaker 1: seventy percent of which was against the facility, the Atlanta 94 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: City Council voted to approve the project's lease in September 95 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:47,440 Speaker 1: of twenty twenty one, despite months of protests and community organizing. 96 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,480 Speaker 1: Later that fall, people started occupying and camping out in 97 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: the Wallani Forest to maintain a physical presence in the woods. 98 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: In hopes of preventing or delaying construction. Infrastructure to support 99 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 1: long time ter encampments grew over the next year, with 100 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: forest defenders erecting treehouses, road blockades, and making the forest 101 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: a place that people could actually live in with outdoor kitchens, 102 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 1: community gardens, and places to sleep, whether that be up 103 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:16,040 Speaker 1: in a tree or in a tent. For a while 104 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,919 Speaker 1: it seemed to be working. Throughout twenty twenty two, construction 105 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: continued to stall. Almost every time cops and workers came 106 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: in to start cutting trees, they were met with resistance. 107 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:31,280 Speaker 1: Construction equipment left around the forest was routinely sabotaged, and 108 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:35,159 Speaker 1: last year a tertiary targeting campaign resulted in the general 109 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,600 Speaker 1: contractor for a cop City Reeves Young construction, to drop 110 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,520 Speaker 1: out of the project. Police enacted multiple raids on the 111 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: forest in twenty twenty two, trying to flush out any 112 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,279 Speaker 1: forest defenders camping out in the woods and tear down 113 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: encampment infrastructure, but the occupation was generally able to bounce 114 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:56,119 Speaker 1: back pretty quick. As the movement to stop cop City 115 00:06:56,240 --> 00:07:00,839 Speaker 1: was seemingly winning, police intensified their repression as a series 116 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,479 Speaker 1: of raids in December of last year decimated much of 117 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: the infrastructure that was built up over the course of 118 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: that year and left six people with domestic terrorism charges. 119 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: But things got worse just a month later. In January 120 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: of twenty twenty three, multiple police agencies engaged in a 121 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 1: mass raid of the Wallani Forest, destroying all remaining campsites. 122 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 1: About an hour into the January eighteenth raid, the Georgia 123 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: State Patrol swat team killed a twenty six year old 124 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:31,240 Speaker 1: forest defender, Manuel Tehran, also known by their forest name Tortigita. 125 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:36,160 Speaker 1: Decab County's autopsy found at least fifty seven gunshot wounds 126 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: from multiple officers. We'll talk more about the results from 127 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: various autopsies in a later episode, but just a few 128 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: weeks ago, tort would have turned twenty seven. The other 129 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: side of the Defend the Forest movement is focused on 130 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: a smaller section of the Wallani Forest just east of 131 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: Entrenchment Creek. Initially in hopes of expanding his movie studios, 132 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: The now former own of Blackhall Studios, Ryan Millsap, has 133 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: been trying to gain control of forty acres of public 134 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: parkland through a shady landswap deal with Decap County that's 135 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: currently subject to legal disputes. The slate of land in 136 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: question contains the popular meeting spot in the forest known 137 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: as the Living Room, which acts as a sort of 138 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: central hub, as well as what's referred to as Wilawni 139 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:25,119 Speaker 1: People's Park, where the Park gazebe used to be before 140 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 1: Ryan Millsap demolished it, later ripping out all of the 141 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: grass and sidewalks in a once again legally questionable move. 142 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,560 Speaker 1: In January, Wilani People's Park also became home to the 143 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: vigil site for Tortigita all at Let Matt from the 144 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: Atlantic Community Press Collective explain the other happenings in the 145 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:45,359 Speaker 1: woods since January. 146 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:49,679 Speaker 2: They got their land disturbance permit in late January, and 147 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:53,080 Speaker 2: the first phase of the land disturbance permit only allows 148 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 2: for soil erosion control work, So to this point, essentially 149 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:01,680 Speaker 2: what they've done is they've cut some paths into the 150 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 2: forest into the proposed site, and then around the exterior 151 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 2: of the site they've clear cut a line in order 152 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 2: to install silt fencing, so there isn't a large amount 153 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 2: of infrastructure. They're not allowed to do a large amount 154 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 2: of disturbance right now. They're in like the pre construction 155 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 2: phase right now. So they started in February and they 156 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 2: did a lot of work very quickly. They installed a 157 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 2: privacy fence, so you can't really see what's going on, 158 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:35,559 Speaker 2: so our general understanding of it, like comes from drone footage. 159 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 2: It actually slowed down a couple weeks later, and from 160 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 2: what I understand, they began to pull some construction equipment out, 161 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 2: probably not wanting to leave, you know, a target for 162 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 2: shall we say, any sort of spicy activities. 163 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: But not all of their construction equipment was removed, as 164 00:09:55,040 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 1: everyone would soon find out. The deadly January raid left 165 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: the community in mourning and unsure of how the fight 166 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 1: to stop Copp City would evolve. With the use of 167 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,959 Speaker 1: lethal force and the loss of a friend, the Forest 168 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:22,960 Speaker 1: Defender's semi permanent occupation of the Wallani Forest ended after 169 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: that raid, but the fight was far from over. About 170 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:30,559 Speaker 1: a month after the January raid, local Atlantans put out 171 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: a call for supporters across the country to converge in 172 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:37,960 Speaker 1: Atlanta in early March for a mass gathering known as 173 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: a Week of Action. There have been four previous Weeks 174 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 1: of Action, but this one, more than any other, would 175 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:47,920 Speaker 1: be crucial in reifying what the next stage of the 176 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: movement would be I started off this episode with the 177 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:55,439 Speaker 1: Sunday night police raid on the South River Music Festival, because, 178 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 1: for better or worse, what happened on that evening set 179 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 1: the proverbial stage for what the majority of this Week 180 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 1: of Action would look like and how its effects would 181 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,040 Speaker 1: ripple out in the coming months. But before we get 182 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:09,200 Speaker 1: to the rest of the week, we first have to 183 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 1: go back to the official start of this Week of 184 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: Action to explain how we got here in the first place. 185 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: To kick off the Week of Action, a rally was 186 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: planned for the morning of Saturday, March fourth, at Gresham 187 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:25,559 Speaker 1: Park in southeast Atlanta. By the time I arrived around 188 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 1: eleven am, hundreds of people were already in the park. 189 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:33,360 Speaker 1: Music was blaring from loudspeakers. Some kids and a few 190 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:37,079 Speaker 1: brave adults were running around throwing multi colored powdered paint 191 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: at each other. It was a pretty festive time. Soon enough, 192 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:44,440 Speaker 1: it was time for things to begin. Matthew Johnson, the 193 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: interim executive director of Beloved Commune, formerly kicked off the 194 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 1: week aday. 195 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 3: Let's get started, all right. 196 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 4: I just want to make sure that everybody is in 197 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 4: the right place. I came here to stop cop city. 198 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:10,480 Speaker 4: What did you all come here to do? 199 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:16,839 Speaker 5: What did we come to do? What are we come 200 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:20,760 Speaker 5: to do? What did we come here to do? 201 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,840 Speaker 4: All right, I'm glad that everybody found the right address. 202 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 4: Thank you everybody for joining us. 203 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:35,239 Speaker 3: It's about two years ago. 204 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,880 Speaker 4: In what was formerly known as Entrenchment Creek Park now 205 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 4: known as Wolani People's Park, where a ragtag bunch of 206 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:55,320 Speaker 4: individuals gathered under a gazebo. That gazebo was illegally destroyed 207 00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:07,320 Speaker 4: by Ryan Millsap and his henchmen in an attempt to 208 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 4: break this movement, in an attempt to bury this movement. 209 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:17,920 Speaker 4: Yet every single time that they have tried to bury us, 210 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:27,079 Speaker 4: they have forgotten that we were seeds. Every time that 211 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 4: they thought that they backed us into a corner with 212 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:33,560 Speaker 4: their repression, we had more of you show up and 213 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,839 Speaker 4: support this movement, and we thank you so much. 214 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:46,080 Speaker 5: They have set every hurdle in the way of every day. 215 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:50,079 Speaker 4: At Lantern's to intimidate them and stop them from supporting 216 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 4: this movement, and we still show up. 217 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 3: We appreciate every single person. 218 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,079 Speaker 4: That has come here to support us in spite of 219 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:06,959 Speaker 4: the terror that the. 220 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:09,440 Speaker 3: State has tried to instill in us. 221 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:14,320 Speaker 4: We must be very careful and understand the gravity of 222 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 4: the situation that we are in, especially after we've lost 223 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 4: a friend. Okay, thank you for standing with us. And 224 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:29,600 Speaker 4: now there are many things that we do not agree on. 225 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 4: But what did we all come here to do? So 226 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:41,480 Speaker 4: let's remember what got us this far was a diversity 227 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 4: of tactics, and now it's time for. 228 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 3: Us to double down. 229 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: The crowd gathered was a pretty diverse mix of people 230 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: from a variety of backgrounds, beliefs, and preferred tactics on it. 231 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: This is Saturday morning. Everyone felt pretty united, whether you 232 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 1: were a kid running around with paint all over your 233 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: body or an anarchist addressed head to toe and camo. 234 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 1: Next up, somebody read a statement from the Muscogee elder 235 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: Miko Chabbon. Colonel, I'm here to read. 236 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:21,080 Speaker 6: A statement from my Miko U Miko Shabbon. Yeah, my 237 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 6: name is Marty. I'm Muscogee on my father's side. On 238 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:29,880 Speaker 6: my mother's side, I'm Atham both Acmel and Thana, and 239 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 6: my dad's also Filipino. Miko asked me to read this 240 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 6: statement Mondschio, mart At this time, I would like to 241 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:42,000 Speaker 6: express my gratitude to all who have conversed onto these 242 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 6: ancestral territories of Muscogean ancestors and modern spiritual inhabitants of 243 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 6: the earth that we now stand on today. We represent 244 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 6: a vast society of peoples whose presence in the colonized 245 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 6: named states of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida have existed for 246 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:04,240 Speaker 6: over thirteen thousand years. We represent a way of life 247 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 6: that strove to minimize the harm that humans can do 248 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:12,960 Speaker 6: to the earth, to other species, and to each other. Today, 249 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:16,080 Speaker 6: we continue this movement that begun many years ago, and 250 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 6: we honor those who have taken footsteps to protect this 251 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 6: forest and our relative who gave the greatest of sacrifices, 252 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 6: just as ancestors existed on these very grounds and carried 253 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 6: of faith and confidence in what our ancient ones passed 254 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 6: on to us. May the hope of peaceful existence for 255 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 6: all be achieved for many more centuries to come. This 256 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 6: existence can only occur when we realize the sacredness of 257 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 6: the Wilani Forest, that all that is natural on this earth, Mother. 258 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 6: This type of existence can only occur when we realize 259 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 6: that we all belong to this earth, and she does 260 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:55,760 Speaker 6: not belong to us. 261 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 5: This type of holy existence. 262 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,320 Speaker 6: Can only occur when we realize that no cop city 263 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:05,440 Speaker 6: can ever exist because more weapons only create more violence. 264 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:05,880 Speaker 7: Woo. 265 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 6: With these efforts that begin today, perhaps reason will prevail 266 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 6: and we could create a future where all people have 267 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:21,399 Speaker 6: the right to exist. Today, may our dreams for this 268 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 6: forest and the surrounding community come true. For those who 269 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:26,880 Speaker 6: can hear, let them hear. 270 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: The next speaker was from Community Movement Builders, a local 271 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 1: black collectives that focuses on combating and gentrification in police violence. 272 00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:39,720 Speaker 8: I may be a little bit selfish, and my reason 273 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:44,879 Speaker 8: for being here I want to be free. 274 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 5: I want my. 275 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 7: Children to be free. 276 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 3: I want my mother to be free. 277 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:52,640 Speaker 5: I want my father, my brothers and sisters to be free. 278 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:54,960 Speaker 8: And I don't want to have to live a life 279 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:57,120 Speaker 8: in ten years when my babies. 280 00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:59,679 Speaker 5: My nieces and my nephews come to me and ask, come, I. 281 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:02,320 Speaker 3: See, where were you? 282 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:05,359 Speaker 8: What were you doing when they destroyed our clean water, 283 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:07,160 Speaker 8: destroyed our clean air? 284 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:10,120 Speaker 3: What happened? Why were you not around? 285 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:12,240 Speaker 8: What were you doing when I when my babies trow 286 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:14,879 Speaker 8: me ten years and they say, comasie, what were you 287 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:17,399 Speaker 8: doing when this country turned into a fascist dystopia? 288 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:19,639 Speaker 3: What were you doing, Where were you where you're around? 289 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 3: I can't sit here that shit. 290 00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 5: Back and saying I just sat home. 291 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:25,160 Speaker 3: And watched this whole well burn to hell. 292 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 7: I don't believe in the power. 293 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 3: I don't believe in the power of being periless. I 294 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:37,600 Speaker 3: believe in the power of the people. 295 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:45,440 Speaker 8: So I say to everyone today that during this week 296 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,680 Speaker 8: of action, I don't know where you will be, I 297 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,479 Speaker 8: don't know what you will be doing, but we standing 298 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:51,960 Speaker 8: behind you. 299 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:54,400 Speaker 3: And we staying with you. And we want to show 300 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 3: the city of Atlanta. 301 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:58,240 Speaker 5: We wanna show Mary Dickens that he is not fit 302 00:18:58,320 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 5: to rule, and. 303 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 3: He is not ruling shit. 304 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 8: I want to show now said the ninety million dollars 305 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:10,199 Speaker 8: if Exo to build this warfare training facility will not 306 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:17,640 Speaker 8: cross our communities wheo. So we also want to show 307 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,880 Speaker 8: the city of that letter that again we are ready 308 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:24,119 Speaker 8: to stop merely surviving to start living. 309 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:31,720 Speaker 1: Finally, our last person Reverend Leo'she is a Baptist minister 310 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:35,240 Speaker 1: part of the Stop Coppa City Clergy Coalition, which we'll 311 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 1: talk a bit more about in the next episode. 312 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 9: And I believe my faith compels me and convicts me 313 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 9: that in this moment, the work that has been done, 314 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:49,600 Speaker 9: and the work that is to come to defend this, 315 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 9: our beloved family, this, our siblings, the earth is a 316 00:19:55,880 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 9: holy and righteous work. It is a holy and righteous 317 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 9: work that is grounded in a faithful rage, a rage 318 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 9: which has been boiling in the human family's blood for 319 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 9: centuries and meets us care at this moment and asks us, 320 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 9: what will you do to defend those who have no defense? 321 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 7: What will you do to protect those who have no shelter? 322 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:32,480 Speaker 3: What will you. 323 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:38,399 Speaker 9: Do when the time comes to decide on whose sides 324 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 9: you are on? Will you stand for oppression or will 325 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:54,960 Speaker 9: you stand for the liberation of all people? My friends, 326 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 9: I come with some good news if that's okay. And 327 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:02,359 Speaker 9: the good news is that God stands on the side 328 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:08,320 Speaker 9: of the oppress. God stands on the side of the 329 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:09,760 Speaker 9: forest defenders. 330 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,400 Speaker 5: God stands on the side of. 331 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 7: The most marginalized. 332 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 9: And let us make no mistake that in our protests 333 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 9: and in our rage, we also have to cry out. 334 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 7: And lament. 335 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 9: We cannot be silent as do Dujita's blood cries out 336 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 9: from the ground. 337 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:35,760 Speaker 7: We must honor. 338 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:40,440 Speaker 5: A life that did not have to be lost. 339 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 9: It did not have to be this way. 340 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,440 Speaker 7: Do not listen to anyone who tells you. 341 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 9: That there is not a better way. There is always 342 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 9: a better way. Do I come with my faith and 343 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 9: the conviction that in this work, in this moment, a 344 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:07,920 Speaker 9: prophetic imagination, a creative vision is needed for the world 345 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:11,160 Speaker 9: that we want to see. I'm not here to wait 346 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:13,679 Speaker 9: for the Kingdom of God. I want the Kingdom of 347 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:18,679 Speaker 9: God right now, right now. 348 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: After the speeches were finished, it was announced that the crowd, 349 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:28,119 Speaker 1: now nearing a thousand strong, would gather up together and 350 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:32,200 Speaker 1: march to Ailani People's Park to retake the forest. As 351 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:34,920 Speaker 1: everyone was getting ready to leave, you could see the 352 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:38,240 Speaker 1: care and solidarity people had for each other on full display. 353 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:40,920 Speaker 1: Bike scouts were checking to see if the path was clear, 354 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 1: volunteer street medics ready to help anyone in need. Water 355 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,680 Speaker 1: bottles were being handed out to keep everyone hydrated, while 356 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 1: others autonomously coordinated rides for people unable to make The 357 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:57,280 Speaker 1: walk looks like approximately one thousand people marching from Gresham 358 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:01,840 Speaker 1: Park to Alani People's Park. On the bike that's up, 359 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:06,600 Speaker 1: I can't even see the end of where, of where 360 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 1: the of where the people stop. It's a long, long 361 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: stretch of people marshing hundreds and hundreds of feet. There's 362 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: some banners in front of the march. One of them 363 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:21,680 Speaker 1: reads disarm, defund, dismantle, no cop city. There's one of 364 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,919 Speaker 1: the sun shining over a pink sky with a little 365 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 1: blue turtle and their shell is the earth. Massive like 366 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:37,720 Speaker 1: ten person banner that reads defend the Forest. The energy 367 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,119 Speaker 1: of the march remained high as people chanted to the 368 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 1: beat of drums. I sat down with Matt from the 369 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,639 Speaker 1: Atlantic Community Press Collective towards the end of the week 370 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: to talk about what we saw throughout this week of action. 371 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:52,920 Speaker 2: At one point, the entire crowd, seemingly the entire crowd 372 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,359 Speaker 2: was chanting if you build it, we will burn it, 373 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 2: which seems. 374 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:58,159 Speaker 1: Almost like a thousand people. 375 00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:10,879 Speaker 2: Yeah, and it was being chanted like, you know, looking 376 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:13,880 Speaker 2: around the crowd, you saw everyone for the most part, 377 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:16,840 Speaker 2: partaking in that. So that was a very interesting moment 378 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 2: where it felt like there was that sort of solidarity 379 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:24,480 Speaker 2: amongst the varied groups that make up the Defend the 380 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:25,439 Speaker 2: Atlanta Forest movement. 381 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:29,160 Speaker 1: As the march went on, the path was getting increasingly forested. 382 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:32,120 Speaker 1: About two thirds of the way to Wallani People's Park, 383 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:35,840 Speaker 1: after turning a bend, the crowd noticed three deer frolicking 384 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:46,359 Speaker 1: alongside the march from further within the tree line. To 385 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,399 Speaker 1: quote the Atlanta Community Press Collectives right up of the 386 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 1: march quote, the joyous mood shifted slightly as the protest 387 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,240 Speaker 1: closed in on the People's Park, passing over the remains 388 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:00,680 Speaker 1: of the bike path destroyed in December by film executive 389 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:04,879 Speaker 1: Ryan Millsap, activists were uncertain what they were walking into 390 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: or whether the police would offer any resistance. 391 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 2: Activists thought that there was going to be an issue. 392 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:15,160 Speaker 2: They were concerned about the police being in Willani People's Park. 393 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 2: So about halfway we saw that stack of makeshift shields 394 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:21,720 Speaker 2: made out of plastic rain barrels. 395 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:28,200 Speaker 1: About two dozen of those five gatlandrum shields just mysteriously 396 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:31,720 Speaker 1: showed up along the bike path. We are arriving at 397 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 1: Willanne People's Park, no cops. 398 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 2: But then when we got there there was no police whatsoever. 399 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:44,639 Speaker 2: From what the scanner people told us, there were police around, 400 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,760 Speaker 2: they were just kind of monitoring from afar, but no 401 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 2: police ever entered the park. And it was I would 402 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 2: say it was a really nice high point return to the. 403 00:25:55,240 --> 00:26:00,600 Speaker 1: Forest, banners and shields moving around Willanne People's Park as 404 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:03,320 Speaker 1: hundreds and hundreds of more people still pour in from 405 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:07,320 Speaker 1: the bike path. As the back of the march finally arrived, 406 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:10,160 Speaker 1: the crowd gathered up one more time to all chant 407 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:12,960 Speaker 1: out a promise in unison, I will. 408 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:26,560 Speaker 7: I Will. 409 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,639 Speaker 1: One of the activists I interviewed during the Week of 410 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: Action was Matthew Johnson, the person who kicked off the 411 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: rally at Gresham Park. We talked about the methodology of 412 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:39,920 Speaker 1: starting off this Week of Action with this big inclusive 413 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:42,560 Speaker 1: march and how that may have helped achieve the goal 414 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:44,920 Speaker 1: of retaking the forest that first day. 415 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:51,280 Speaker 10: We wanted to be sure that we would be able 416 00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:57,360 Speaker 10: to reoccupy the park and what that would entail is 417 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:01,440 Speaker 10: having a wide swath of the law you're public involved 418 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 10: with any efforts to enter into the park. And so 419 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 10: we had the rally Aggression Park and there was a 420 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:20,200 Speaker 10: march planned from that part to Wallani People's Park. There 421 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:25,000 Speaker 10: is violence that people have become accustomed to when it 422 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:28,640 Speaker 10: is people on the political fringes. That's just where we're 423 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,960 Speaker 10: at in the political situation in Atlanta. However, when you 424 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:38,320 Speaker 10: have several people that you would consider more normal, liberal, progressive, etc. 425 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:45,520 Speaker 10: Like representatives from NGOs non profit organizations, just normal people 426 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:50,720 Speaker 10: that also want to see the project shut down cop City. 427 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 10: That's when you have the ability to move towards people 428 00:27:56,359 --> 00:27:59,439 Speaker 10: that want to reoccupy, having the space to do that 429 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:02,679 Speaker 10: with the seeing tons of police repression as we have 430 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:04,680 Speaker 10: seen in the movements. 431 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:18,040 Speaker 1: After reaching Wallaanni People's Park, many of those who arrived 432 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:21,000 Speaker 1: from out of town for this week of action, myself included, 433 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:25,000 Speaker 1: stopped by the shrine for Tortighita just off of the 434 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:29,560 Speaker 1: tree line. People added new wildflowers and packs of fruit snacks. 435 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:32,399 Speaker 1: You're going to walk over to the Torti Guita vigil 436 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,080 Speaker 1: site looks about the same as last time I was here. 437 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:43,040 Speaker 1: Many candles, little turtles, still a few fruit snacks. Although 438 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:45,360 Speaker 1: the vigil shrine was the same as last time I 439 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 1: saw it, almost everything else about being in this place 440 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:51,440 Speaker 1: was different. When I was here last time in January, 441 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 1: it was a dark place of grief. The forest was barren, 442 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 1: with all of the trees in their bare winter state. 443 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: But looking around the forest this first sunny day, you 444 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,680 Speaker 1: could see new life growing all around you. To quote 445 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,120 Speaker 1: the Community Press Collective again quote, small campsites begin to 446 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:12,840 Speaker 1: crop up across the landscape, some nestled in sunnier spaces. 447 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:17,360 Speaker 1: Others tucked into thickets, providing shelter and cooler climate for 448 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:21,600 Speaker 1: the new residence. The trees themselves reflected this next phase. 449 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,960 Speaker 1: Sprigs of new growth leaves appeared on the ends of 450 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 1: barren branches. Small white flowers bloomed along the periphery of 451 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:33,280 Speaker 1: the parking lot. After months of desolation and death, life 452 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:38,960 Speaker 1: prevailed and spring arrives in the forest. Unquote. I'm excited 453 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:42,480 Speaker 1: to get back into the forest because it is so hot, 454 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,520 Speaker 1: and get back in the forest I did. One of 455 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,800 Speaker 1: the events that happened almost daily throughout the week was 456 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:53,640 Speaker 1: tours of the eastern side of the Wallani Forest. The 457 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:56,200 Speaker 1: walks through the woods were led by Joe Perry, a 458 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: member of the South River Forest Coalition. I was able 459 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:02,160 Speaker 1: to attend the first tour during the Week of Action 460 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:05,880 Speaker 1: and got consent to record some of the forest walk All. 461 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:10,520 Speaker 11: Right, hey, y'all, welcome to the living room, so named 462 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:13,640 Speaker 11: because it's it's a very inviting and comfortable place to relax. 463 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,280 Speaker 11: This is where a lot of the meetings happened during 464 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 11: the previous Week of action. People gather and have different 465 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:32,000 Speaker 11: events here. Oftentimes it will be food available here campfires, silverware. 466 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 11: So it's also just a very very comfortable place to 467 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:41,680 Speaker 11: relax because it's in this in this pine forest and 468 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 11: so not really any undergrowth, and just super comfortable. It's 469 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:49,920 Speaker 11: a really good place to have meetings and uh and 470 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:54,440 Speaker 11: just kind of get to know each other and establish 471 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 11: some calm. 472 00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:58,040 Speaker 1: We made our way from the living room to the 473 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:01,320 Speaker 1: Grandmother Tree, a large oak that is estimated to be 474 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 1: a few hundred years old. On our way to Ryan 475 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:07,800 Speaker 1: Millsaps proposed a site for so called Michelle Obama Park, 476 00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:11,000 Speaker 1: which is currently a forty acre mound of dirt about 477 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,360 Speaker 1: thirty feet high. We walked past some old tents that 478 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:18,640 Speaker 1: were slashed apart during the January raid. Among the destroyed 479 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:22,840 Speaker 1: remains were little pink flowers growing out of the ground. Next, 480 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:26,680 Speaker 1: we headed to Entrenchment Creek. Joe Perry explained some of 481 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:30,560 Speaker 1: the background regarding the environmental state of the watershed and 482 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,080 Speaker 1: how protecting the forest is a crucial step in the 483 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:35,480 Speaker 1: process of helping the land heal itself. 484 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 11: I got involved with a group called the South River 485 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:44,480 Speaker 11: Forest Coalition. We are trying to help further the vision 486 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:47,880 Speaker 11: of the South River Forest that Ryan Gravelle and the 487 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:52,520 Speaker 11: nature conservancy came up with to try to interweave about 488 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:57,280 Speaker 11: thirty five hundred acres of forest with the other businesses 489 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:00,640 Speaker 11: and homes and lands around this area that are in 490 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:04,600 Speaker 11: the watershed of the South River forest and Entrenchmont Creek, 491 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 11: which we will see on this tour, is the main 492 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 11: tributary to the South River. The South River is the 493 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:15,240 Speaker 11: fourth most endangered river in this country. In Trenchmon Creek 494 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:20,080 Speaker 11: is one of the most polluted creeks in this county. 495 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 11: And so that is what we're trying to protect. And 496 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,000 Speaker 11: in order to protect a river and a creek and 497 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 11: a watershed, you have to protect the forest that's around it. 498 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:33,760 Speaker 11: I've been exploring these woods for the last decade and 499 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:37,120 Speaker 11: leading tours and talking to people about it, trying to 500 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 11: explain what's going on with a lawsuit, trying to explain 501 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:42,240 Speaker 11: what's going on the difference between Entrenchmont Creek Park and 502 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:46,720 Speaker 11: the prison farm and the acreage and all these other things, 503 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:49,960 Speaker 11: and all that stuff. It's just like it's just gears 504 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:52,160 Speaker 11: turning in your head because when you come out here 505 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:54,320 Speaker 11: and enjoy this, I mean, this is really what it's 506 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:56,560 Speaker 11: all about. This is all we have to do to 507 00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:59,520 Speaker 11: convince people that this is worth saving it. Just bring 508 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 11: you out here and let you appreciate it. 509 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:06,320 Speaker 1: As masses of people converged at Wallani People's Park Saturday afternoon, 510 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:09,960 Speaker 1: almost immediately a whole bunch of pop up infrastructure was 511 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:13,080 Speaker 1: set up to facilitate an encampment in the woods once again, 512 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 1: really for the first time in any kind of large 513 00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:20,840 Speaker 1: capacity since January and even December. The December raids decimated 514 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:24,240 Speaker 1: much of the camp infrastructure, which still had not been 515 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:28,720 Speaker 1: rebuilt since then. But upon arriving from Gresham Park on Saturday, 516 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:31,720 Speaker 1: both first time of visitors to the Wallani Forest and 517 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,800 Speaker 1: seasoned forest defenders worked together to rebuild a lot of 518 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:39,000 Speaker 1: that infrastructure to support camp life for the next week. 519 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:41,040 Speaker 2: One of the things that we saw on the march 520 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:45,920 Speaker 2: in was like eight cinder blocks right at the entrance 521 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:49,280 Speaker 2: to the living room, and then you and I went 522 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:52,040 Speaker 2: into the living room, we saw these huge water tanks. 523 00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,600 Speaker 2: So later they moved those water tanks to those cinder 524 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:59,840 Speaker 2: blocks and that has becolm or a watering point for everyone. 525 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,880 Speaker 2: So like twice a day a truck comes with a 526 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:06,040 Speaker 2: water tank on the back and then they go through 527 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:09,840 Speaker 2: the arduous process of filling that water so that everybody 528 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:13,600 Speaker 2: in camp can have water, and they had this system 529 00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:17,239 Speaker 2: that was seemingly self organized. And then that first day 530 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 2: we were sitting in the parking lot and it seemed 531 00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:21,759 Speaker 2: like every time you turn around there was like a 532 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:27,440 Speaker 2: different train of people carrying supplies into the living room. 533 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:33,040 Speaker 2: The second day, there was a woman who was shoveling 534 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:38,000 Speaker 2: gravel from the torn up concrete on the side, and 535 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:40,680 Speaker 2: she was filling all of the brandom holes in the 536 00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:44,520 Speaker 2: ground so that carts could go up them. And I 537 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:47,759 Speaker 2: was like, you know, did somebody assign this to you? 538 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,400 Speaker 2: She's like, no, I saw this. It just needed to 539 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:52,520 Speaker 2: be done, and I did it. And that was very 540 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:57,000 Speaker 2: much the entire vibe of those first I would say 541 00:34:57,040 --> 00:34:59,520 Speaker 2: twenty four hours was okay, what do we need to 542 00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:00,760 Speaker 2: do to get thing running? 543 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:06,399 Speaker 1: As encampments were being established, simultaneously, infrastructure for the South 544 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:10,040 Speaker 1: River Music Festival was being erected in the adjacent radio 545 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:13,640 Speaker 1: control field. Within a short amount of time, a full 546 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:18,440 Speaker 1: stage was constructed, complete with lights and speakers, lining the 547 00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:22,000 Speaker 1: sides of the field, where various tables and booths. One 548 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:25,080 Speaker 1: side featured a large variety of refreshments, as well as 549 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:27,759 Speaker 1: a medic tent, and the other side was home to 550 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:31,160 Speaker 1: free hot food and freshly grilled burgers and hot dogs. 551 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:34,680 Speaker 1: Next to the food were a few tables distributing an 552 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:38,960 Speaker 1: array of radical literature posters and stickers. What was your 553 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:40,160 Speaker 1: favorite stuff at Music of Fest? 554 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:40,319 Speaker 3: Such? 555 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:40,480 Speaker 9: True? 556 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:42,880 Speaker 2: So well, there was an arapa table, and I'm very 557 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:46,440 Speaker 2: food motivated, so the arapas were delicious, and we had 558 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:50,040 Speaker 2: walked a bunch that day, so yeah, I needed sustenance. 559 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:52,880 Speaker 2: And then there was the burger table as well, but 560 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:55,080 Speaker 2: we I don't think. I don't know if you got 561 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:56,560 Speaker 2: a burger, but I did not get a burger. 562 00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:58,480 Speaker 1: I got I got one burger, but they were out 563 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:00,480 Speaker 1: of buns. When I got a Burger's, I had a 564 00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:04,680 Speaker 1: lettuce burger. And then soon after they they they got 565 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:06,840 Speaker 1: the buns back, and I was kind of kind of bummed. 566 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:10,680 Speaker 2: Yeah I did not. At least you got something, uh, 567 00:36:10,719 --> 00:36:11,640 Speaker 2: but I had the rapist. 568 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:13,640 Speaker 1: So I mean it still hundred worth, to be fair, 569 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:14,319 Speaker 1: hundreds of. 570 00:36:14,239 --> 00:36:17,120 Speaker 2: People were they They've had five hundred people, you know. 571 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:20,080 Speaker 2: And at one point they they made announcement that like 572 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:22,080 Speaker 2: they needed to do another food run just to go 573 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:25,000 Speaker 2: get more more food, and like a bunch of people 574 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:27,359 Speaker 2: volunteered and you know, only I think two or three 575 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:29,160 Speaker 2: went down to Walmart to get a bunch of more 576 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:31,279 Speaker 2: burgers and hot dogs, and it was just a really 577 00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:33,759 Speaker 2: cool moment. So I think by the end the end 578 00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:35,319 Speaker 2: of the night when I was there, they were about 579 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:39,080 Speaker 2: five hundred people just enjoying the music and looking at 580 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:41,400 Speaker 2: the sky. It was just an immaculate vibe. There was 581 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:45,120 Speaker 2: a little fire pick off to the side. And yeah, 582 00:36:45,239 --> 00:36:47,120 Speaker 2: you talked about the setting up the stage. You know, 583 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:49,880 Speaker 2: I didn't know what to expect walking in there is 584 00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:54,359 Speaker 2: not expecting quite that much of a production. I wasn't 585 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:58,719 Speaker 2: expecting a light pledge stage with lights all around sort 586 00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:01,160 Speaker 2: of in this really like the the lighting worked really 587 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:06,200 Speaker 2: well for it backdropped the surrounding forest, nice like green 588 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:07,040 Speaker 2: and purple lighting. 589 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:08,479 Speaker 1: Yeah, it was great. 590 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:11,520 Speaker 2: And then they had that green room tent back there, 591 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:13,440 Speaker 2: and then they had a separate tent for equipment. Like 592 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:18,000 Speaker 2: it was a very well thought out festival in the 593 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:18,720 Speaker 2: middle of nowhere. 594 00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:22,560 Speaker 1: The South River Music Festival began early Saturday evening at 595 00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:25,680 Speaker 1: five point thirty, kicking off two days of local musical 596 00:37:25,719 --> 00:37:29,960 Speaker 1: artists playing shows free of charge. Before the lineup of 597 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:33,400 Speaker 1: live music began. Someone on stage read out a small 598 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:37,080 Speaker 1: flyer that was being passed around, detailing the reasoning for 599 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:40,240 Speaker 1: the festival and its place within the fight to defend 600 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:43,840 Speaker 1: the forest, and I got permission to share that reading. 601 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:48,239 Speaker 12: In the limitless possibilities of the cosmos, in the mad 602 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:52,760 Speaker 12: flecks of events, reactions, and anomalies of the past twelve 603 00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:56,520 Speaker 12: billion years since the birth of our universe, it's a 604 00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:59,440 Speaker 12: statistical impossibility. 605 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:03,080 Speaker 13: That we would be here now, But here we are alive. Together. 606 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:08,080 Speaker 12: Such incredible circumstances have brought us here. Among them the 607 00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:12,640 Speaker 12: incredible and innovative resistance to defend this place from becoming 608 00:38:12,719 --> 00:38:14,520 Speaker 12: a police training compound. 609 00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:20,520 Speaker 13: Magic mushrooms out. 610 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:24,120 Speaker 12: This resistance, which brings us together the most cunning and 611 00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:28,960 Speaker 12: resilient techniques of the radical environmentalist movement with the incredible 612 00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:32,640 Speaker 12: courage and ferocity of the George Floyd Uprising, is not 613 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:34,400 Speaker 12: just about a small piece of land. 614 00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:36,520 Speaker 13: It's not about being fought. 615 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:39,399 Speaker 12: Between police and their goons on one hand and some 616 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:42,719 Speaker 12: activists and their friends on the other. We are witnessing 617 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:46,000 Speaker 12: a collision of two competing ideas of happiness, of. 618 00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:47,200 Speaker 13: Life, of the future. 619 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:53,680 Speaker 12: In this competition, experiments with new types of free culture 620 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:55,120 Speaker 12: play a decisive role. 621 00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:57,480 Speaker 13: This movement cannot be reduced to. 622 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:01,200 Speaker 12: What is happening in city hall, on social media, or 623 00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:05,920 Speaker 12: in meetings. For two years, we have descended on these woods, 624 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:09,360 Speaker 12: finding refuge from the high rents and predatory bookings fees 625 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:12,640 Speaker 12: of the corporate venues and bars. We have not come 626 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:16,840 Speaker 12: here to redecorate the actions of some activists as allies, 627 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:19,840 Speaker 12: lending our service to the drab and loveless militancy of 628 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:23,840 Speaker 12: something we do not otherwise care about. As the gentrification 629 00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:28,040 Speaker 12: of Atlanta intensifies, more and more diy venues and clubs 630 00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:31,120 Speaker 12: are shutdown, and free spaces to play shows and dance 631 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:34,480 Speaker 12: are push further and further from the city center. Our 632 00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:37,520 Speaker 12: free time is pinched as rents increase and traffic keeps 633 00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:38,960 Speaker 12: us waiting longer and longer. 634 00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:44,840 Speaker 13: That is going to change. 635 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:47,880 Speaker 12: Music is not like other forms of human culture. It 636 00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:53,480 Speaker 12: is different from painting, drawing, poetry, literature, or film art. Politics, 637 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:58,080 Speaker 12: and symbolic culture in general represent the passions conjuring strong 638 00:39:58,120 --> 00:40:01,160 Speaker 12: feelings from the shadows of reality, pulling them from the 639 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:04,760 Speaker 12: depths of the soul or the back of consciousness. Music, 640 00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:08,160 Speaker 12: on the other hand, is perhaps the only form of 641 00:40:08,239 --> 00:40:13,440 Speaker 12: human creativity that contacts those feelings without any mediations. Music 642 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:18,319 Speaker 12: is physics, music is reality. The system we live in 643 00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:23,640 Speaker 12: is at war with reality. The system is destroying forests, rivers, mountaintops, 644 00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:27,920 Speaker 12: and oceans, is destroying our imaginations, our bodies in our world. 645 00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:31,839 Speaker 12: To defend ourselves from certain annihilation, it will not be 646 00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:34,239 Speaker 12: sufficient to strike the right notes at the right time. 647 00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:37,880 Speaker 12: We will have to make recourse to other means, to 648 00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:42,760 Speaker 12: more direct means, and that is why we're all here. 649 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:48,680 Speaker 12: The defend the Atlanta Forest Revolution will be economic, political, 650 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,680 Speaker 12: as well as cultural. We're building a new era of 651 00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:54,400 Speaker 12: human history where music will be at the steering wheel. 652 00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:57,759 Speaker 12: What is needed cannot be taught without first being discovered. 653 00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:01,680 Speaker 12: We are those adventurers plunging the depths of the cosmos 654 00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:03,760 Speaker 12: for the contours and textures of a free. 655 00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:06,200 Speaker 13: Existence, of a life without dead time. 656 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:09,480 Speaker 12: When it is necessary, we will defend ourselves by the 657 00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:13,560 Speaker 12: means appropriate to the task. Not with words, not with denunciations, 658 00:41:13,680 --> 00:41:17,600 Speaker 12: but with actions, real and concrete, actions as real as 659 00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:22,000 Speaker 12: the sounds, as real as reality. 660 00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:25,239 Speaker 13: I so lucky to be here with y'all. Thank you. 661 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:29,200 Speaker 1: Across the middle of the field, hundreds of people laid 662 00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:33,560 Speaker 1: out blankets on the grass and dirt. Concertgoers alternated between 663 00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:36,399 Speaker 1: a dancing in front of the stage and relaxing and 664 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:40,520 Speaker 1: eating food on picnic blankets. As the night approached, over 665 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:43,520 Speaker 1: a thousand people were spread out across the RC field. 666 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:46,640 Speaker 1: Amoshe pit had formed directly in front of the stage. 667 00:41:47,080 --> 00:41:51,600 Speaker 1: Musicians led stop Kopcity chants, and between sets, people spoke 668 00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:52,880 Speaker 1: on mic about the movement. 669 00:41:53,680 --> 00:42:00,400 Speaker 14: Everybody say, stop cop City, Stop cop City. 670 00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:02,040 Speaker 3: That's right, that's right. 671 00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:05,960 Speaker 1: Saturday night was headlined by local Atlanta rapper Zach Fox. 672 00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:09,239 Speaker 1: Zach told stories about how he and his friends used 673 00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:11,960 Speaker 1: to hang out in this very forest as teenagers. 674 00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:15,520 Speaker 15: All Right, y'all, man, Hey, i'm gonna say this, Fuck 675 00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:20,640 Speaker 15: the mayor. I'm gonna say this, fuck the mayor and 676 00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:25,959 Speaker 15: fuck all this shit. And I love everybody for coming 677 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:32,680 Speaker 15: out to support this shit. And you're really fucking when 678 00:42:32,719 --> 00:42:35,640 Speaker 15: I tell you me, Archie, everybody used to walk back 679 00:42:35,680 --> 00:42:40,640 Speaker 15: in these woods and drink red stripes and walk our 680 00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:45,160 Speaker 15: dogs and shoot guns and shit. So I really don't 681 00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:48,040 Speaker 15: want to see this shit happen. And I really appreciate 682 00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:49,560 Speaker 15: Allia for coming out to do this shit. 683 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:54,480 Speaker 1: Fuck cop City chants, erupted pretty regularly throughout the night. 684 00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:56,600 Speaker 15: And this is all I'm gonna tell the Paulies. This 685 00:42:56,640 --> 00:42:58,200 Speaker 15: is all I'm gonna tell the Paulies. Okay, hold on, 686 00:42:58,280 --> 00:42:59,640 Speaker 15: let me make sure I push the right button. 687 00:43:06,920 --> 00:43:11,719 Speaker 14: Sing that shit. Let's go fucking run it. Fucking run it, 688 00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:18,160 Speaker 14: fucking run it, fucking run it. Fucko, run it, fucking 689 00:43:18,320 --> 00:43:26,799 Speaker 14: run it. Fucko, run it, Atlanta. I love y'all so much. 690 00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:35,399 Speaker 15: Man, Hell yeah, hey man, let me say something real quick. 691 00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:36,880 Speaker 15: Let me say something real quick before I get the 692 00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:38,799 Speaker 15: fuck on saves. Let my hummies right this shit. I 693 00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:41,319 Speaker 15: love y'all so much for supporting this ship I have. 694 00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:44,200 Speaker 15: Let me tell you. Let me tell you something. I'm 695 00:43:44,239 --> 00:43:46,080 Speaker 15: thirty two. A lot of niggas start getting old and 696 00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:47,680 Speaker 15: they lose faith in the youth. I got so much 697 00:43:47,719 --> 00:43:54,719 Speaker 15: faith in everybody in this motherfucking bitch. Wherever y'all going, 698 00:43:54,840 --> 00:43:56,960 Speaker 15: I'm going, I truly believe that y'all gonna save this 699 00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:01,359 Speaker 15: motherfucking world. So I'm with y'all. Fuck cop City, fuck 700 00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:08,319 Speaker 15: cops in general, fuck twelve, fuck authoritarianism, fuck capitalism, fuck 701 00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:08,960 Speaker 15: all that bullshit. 702 00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:15,200 Speaker 3: I'm with you out today. So I'll motherfucking die. So 703 00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:16,919 Speaker 3: let me hear y'all say this one more time. 704 00:44:17,239 --> 00:44:26,440 Speaker 14: Stay bu twell. Stip bob stick Bob twell. Stip bob twell. 705 00:44:27,640 --> 00:44:30,840 Speaker 1: Besides the domestic terrorism banner I mentioned in the opening 706 00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:34,080 Speaker 1: of this episode, another banner was hung up beside the 707 00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:39,200 Speaker 1: stage featuring turtles and butterflies, along with the Asada Shakur quote. 708 00:44:39,719 --> 00:44:44,560 Speaker 1: Love is our sword, truth is our compass. This kind 709 00:44:44,600 --> 00:44:48,480 Speaker 1: of music is about the natty to nature, filling the trees, 710 00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:51,080 Speaker 1: feeling the ground, filling each other. 711 00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:56,120 Speaker 5: Look right up there, look at the fucking moon. 712 00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:03,560 Speaker 1: Two qui a communicate from the Sonic Defense Committee quote. 713 00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:06,880 Speaker 1: At this point it was impossible to imagine a meaningful 714 00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:10,840 Speaker 1: police intervention. The crowd was made up of elderly people, 715 00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:16,920 Speaker 1: university students, rappers, indigenous activists, toddlers and newborns, skaters, people 716 00:45:17,080 --> 00:45:21,400 Speaker 1: of all imaginable Atlanta demographics. The night ended around three 717 00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:24,800 Speaker 1: thirty am to sounds of house techno and drum and 718 00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:29,160 Speaker 1: bass without any notable incident. Unquote. Tents were set up 719 00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:32,560 Speaker 1: all over the eastern side of the forest, with many 720 00:45:32,600 --> 00:45:35,560 Speaker 1: people choosing to sleep under the tree canopy between the 721 00:45:35,640 --> 00:45:38,200 Speaker 1: living room and the music festival for that first night. 722 00:45:39,120 --> 00:45:42,480 Speaker 1: As the night went on, people carefully tended small campfires, 723 00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:45,160 Speaker 1: both in the festival field and in the middle of 724 00:45:45,200 --> 00:45:48,480 Speaker 1: the living room. To quote the Press Collective, the movement 725 00:45:48,719 --> 00:45:51,800 Speaker 1: was once again living in joyous harmony with the forest 726 00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:56,439 Speaker 1: it had promised to protect. Tomorrow's episode will cover day 727 00:45:56,480 --> 00:46:00,440 Speaker 1: two of the music festival, the frankly unprecedented direct that 728 00:46:00,480 --> 00:46:04,080 Speaker 1: took place Sunday afternoon, and a more detailed look at 729 00:46:04,120 --> 00:46:07,600 Speaker 1: the police raid that happened later that evening. See You 730 00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:14,799 Speaker 1: on the Other Side. Music Festival audio courtesy of Unicorn Riot. 731 00:46:15,480 --> 00:46:17,840 Speaker 1: It Could Happen Here as a production of cool Zone Media. 732 00:46:18,080 --> 00:46:20,720 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 733 00:46:20,760 --> 00:46:23,879 Speaker 1: coolzonemedia dot com or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, 734 00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:26,400 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 735 00:46:27,040 --> 00:46:29,160 Speaker 12: You can find sources for It Could Happen Here, updated 736 00:46:29,200 --> 00:46:33,240 Speaker 12: monthly at coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.