R2K+10 honors the 10th anniversary of the direct action mobilization against the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia in the year 2000.
Please enjoy these audio interviews with 6 former SLAM members who participated in R2K! Here is a short segment with wisdom from everyone:
Kai, Nermeen, Sandra, Anna, Mariano, and Kazembe talk about R2K
Below are the bios of each person and a list of audio segments with descriptions. All interviews were conducted and edited by Suzy Subways.
Kazembe is a writer and cultural organizer from the Bronx, NY, who works at the Brecht Forum. Click on the links below to listen to these audio segments:
SLAM’s direct action experience on access to CUNY, police brutality, and political prisoners
Kazembe on R2K’s historical moment
Kazembe on the raid of the Puppet Warehouse
Kazembe’s arrest and jail experience
Complete interview with Kazembe
Nermeen was a SLAM member for 5 years. She is a mother and works with senior community members in Queens. Click on the links below to listen to these audio segments:
Nermeen on how the puppets worked with the lockdowns
Nermeen on supporting comrades in jail
Nermeen on flying squads vs. civil disobedience
Nermeen on the tactical successes of R2K
Nermeen on how mentoring worked in SLAM
Complete interview with Nermeen
Kai works with Critical Resistance and has been doing organizing around the prison industrial complex (PIC), which is inclusive of police violence, prisons, jails, courts, surveillance, and political prisoners, since 1978. She also merges visual art and organizing in an effort to reach the imagination and to help spark liberation, whether that’s imagining PIC abolition or being in the year 2078 with multiple genitalia. Click on the links below to listen to these audio segments:
Kai on her history of prison activism going back to 1978
Kai on why a lot of SLAM members wanted to be in a flying squad
Kai on how she argued for the August 1st day of action to be about police and prisons
Kai on organizing with people who have racism
Kai on legal support work with R2K Legal
Kai’s funny stories from R2K
Complete interview with Kai
Anna is an aunt, sister, daughter, radical social worker, and activist. She is studying about herbs and natural healing. Click on the links below to listen to these audio segments:
Anna on witnessing police violence against Kazembe
Anna explains what jail solidarity meant during R2K
Anna on struggles around race with white activists in jail
Anna on connecting with women community members in the Philadelphia Prison System
Sandra is a student living in Miami. She was a founding and longtime member of SLAM. Click on the links below to listen to these audio segments:
Sandra on SLAM’s unique approach to direct and civil disobedience
Sandra on the significance of SLAM working with the global justice movement
Sandra on consensus process and the Puppet Warehouse mass arrest
Sandra on connecting with community members in jail
Complete interview with Sandra
Mariano is a CUNY student who works with children throughout the city of New York. Click on the links below to listen to these audio segments:
Mariano on police abuse in the streets
Mariano on working with R2K legal to support people in jail
Mariano on how we could have organized to build more community support in advance
Complete interview with Mariano
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