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Tips for dealing with the police

Tips for dealing with the police

These suggestions from the National Lawyers Guild “Know Your Rights” guide summarize the rules to which the police are theoretically subject. However be careful: the police, the courts, and the government can and do ignore these rules when they feel like it. Sometimes, police retaliate against people for exercising their rights. These tips may help you later on in court, and sometimes they won’t. But even though the state can’t be counted on to follow its own laws, it still may be helpful to know what these laws are so you can shame particular state agents or deal with particular situations. Always use your best judgment — if you aren’t doing anything wrong, there may be no reason to be excessively paranoid or escalate a potentially innocent and brief encounter with a police officer who is just saying “hi” into an ugly situation by acting suspicious and refusing to say “hi” back. The point is to avoid giving information.

Providing this information isn’t intended to scare you into inactivity or make you paranoid. Even in the current context, the vast majority of radical projects proceed with no interference from the police. The police hassle and arrest people because they hope that such repression will frighten everyone else into submission. We can take reasonable precautions while continuing the fight for liberation. 

Never Talk to the Police

Anything you say to an FBI agent or cop may be used against you and other people — even if the questions seem routine or harmless. You don’t have to talk to FBI agents, police or investigators on the street, if you’ve been arrested, or if you’re in jail. (Exceptions: Your name, date of birth and address are known as “Booking questions” which are not included in your right to remain silent. Also, in some states you can get an additional minor charge for refusing to identify yourself after a police stop based on reasonable suspicion). Only a judge has the authority to order you to answer questions. Many activists have refused to answer questions, even when ordered by a judge or grand jury, and subsequently served jail time to avoid implicating others. It is common for the FBI to threaten to serve you with a grand jury subpoena unless you talk to them. Don’t be intimidated. This is frequently an empty threat, and if they are going to subpoena you, they will do so anyway. If you do receive a subpoena, call a lawyer right away.

Once you’ve been stopped or arrested, don’t try to engage cops in a dialogue or respond to accusations. If you are nervous about simply refusing to talk, you may find it easier to tell them to contact your lawyer. Once a lawyer is involved, the police sometimes back off. Even if you have already answered some questions, you can refuse to answer other questions until you have a lawyer. Don’t lie to the police or give a false name— lying to the police is a crime. However, the police are allowed to lie to you — don’t believe what they say. If you’ve been arrested, don’t talk about anything sensitive in police cars, jail cells or to other inmates — you are probably being recorded.

What To Do About Police Harassment On The Street

If the police stop you on the street, ask, “Am I free to go?” If yes, walk away. If not, you are being detained but this does not necessarily mean you will be arrested. Ask, “Can you explain why you are detaining me?” To stop you, cops must have specific reasons to suspect you of involvement in a specific crime. Police are entitled to pat you down during a detention. If the police try to further search you, your car, or your home, say repeatedly that you do not consent to the search, but do not physically resist. 

What To Do If Police Visit Your Home

You do not have to let the FBI or police into your home or office unless they have a search warrant. If they have an arrest warrant you may limit entry if the person surrenders outside. In either case, ask to inspect the warrant. It must specifically describe the place to be searched and the things to be seized. You do not have to tell them anything other than your name and address. Tell the police that you can not consent to the search unless it is also inspected by a lawyer. If the officers ask you to give them documents, your computer, do not consent to them taking it. However physically trying to block them from searching or seizing items may escalate the situation. You have a right to observe what they do. You should take written notes of their names and what they do. Have friends act as witnesses. 

What To Do If Police Stop You In Your Car

If you are driving a car, you must show police your license, registration and proof of insurance, but you do not have to consent to a search or answer questions. Keep your hands where the police can see them and refuse to consent (agree) to a search. Police may separate passengers and drivers from each other to question them, but no one has to answer any questions. 

What To Do If You Are Arrested

Repeatedly tell the police “I am going to remain silent, I would like to see my lawyer.” If you suffer police abuse while detained or arrested, try to remember the officer’s badge number and/or name. You have the right to ask the officer to identify himself. Write down everything as soon as you can and try to find witnesses. If you are injured, see a doctor and take pictures of the injuries as soon as possible.

Searches at International Borders

Your property (including data on laptops) can be searched and seized at border crossings without a warrant. Do not take any data you would like to keep private across the border. If you have to travel with electronic data encrypt it before crossing and make an encrypted back up of any data before crossing in case your computer or phone is seized. 

Police Hassles: What If You Are Not A Citizen?

In most cases, you have the right to a hearing with an immigration judge before you can be deported. If you voluntarily give up this right or take voluntary departure, you could be deported without a hearing and you may never be able to enter the US legally again or ever get legal immigration status. Do not talk to the ICE, even on the phone, or sign any papers before talking to an immigration lawyer. Unless you are seeking entry into the country, you do not have to reveal your immigration status to any government official. If you are arrested in the US, you have the right to call your consulate or have the police inform the consulate of your arrest. Your consul may help you find a lawyer. You also have the right to refuse help from your consulate.

Police Hassles: What If You Are Under 18 Years Old?

Don’t talk to the police — minors also have the right to remain silent. You don’t have to talk to cops or school officials. Public school students have the right to politically organize at school by passing out leaflets, holding meetings and publishing independent newspapers as long as these activities do not disrupt classes. You have the right to a hearing with your parents and an attorney present before you are suspended or expelled. Students can have their backpacks and lockers searched by school officials without a warrant. Do not consent to any search, but do not physically resist. 

Common Sense Activist Security Measures

Don’t speculate on or circulate rumors about protest actions or potentially illegal acts. Assume you are under surveillance if you are organizing mass direct action, anything illegal, or even legal stuff. Resist police disruption tactics by checking out the authenticity of any potentially disturbing letter, rumor, phone call, or other form of communication before acting on it. Ask the supposed source if she or he is responsible. Deal openly and honestly with the differences in our movements (race, gender, class, age religion, sexual orientation, etc.) before the police can exploit them. Don’t try to expose a suspected agent or informer without solid proof. Purges based on mere suspicion only help the police create distrust and paranoia. It generally works better to criticize what a disruptive person says and does without speculating as to why.

People who brag about, recklessly propose, or ask for unnecessary information about underground groups or illegal activities may be undercover police but even if they are not, they are a severe danger to the movement. The police may send infiltrators/provocateurs posing as activists to entrap people on conspiracy charges of planning illegal acts. You can be guilty of conspiracy just for agreeing with one other person to commit a crime even if you never go through with it — all that is required is an agreement to do something illegal and a single “overt act” in furtherance of the agreement, which can be a legal act like going to a store. It is reasonable to be suspicious of people in the scene who pressure us, manipulate us, offer to give us money or weapons, or make us feel like we aren’t cool if we don’t feel comfortable with a particular tactic, no matter why they do these things. Responsible activists considering risky actions will want to respect other people’s boundaries and limits and won’t want to pressure you into doing things you’re not ready for. Doing so is coercive and disrespectful — hardly a good basis on which to build a new society or an effective action.

Keep in mind that activists who spend all their time worrying about security measures and police surveillance will end up totally isolated and ineffective because they won’t be able to welcome new folks who want to join the struggle. We have to be aware of the possibility of police surveillance while maintaining our commitment to acting openly and publicly. Smashing the system is going to require mass action as well as secretive covert actions by a tiny clique of your trusted friends.

More info contact the National Lawyers Guild: 415 285-5067 or 212 679-5100; read The War at Home by Brian Glick or Agents of Repression by Ward Churchill

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Actions against autocrats

Even with all their prisons and armed agents, oppressive structures are never as all-powerful as they want us to think. Regular people can fight back effectively for freedom and a better world. None of us has to do it all alone. There are millions of us and everyone can do something. Decentralized, persistent and varied opposition adds up. Here are some tips to fight the power. 

• Our psychological ability to resist is the key thing we have to nurture, protect and defend. The biggest thing working against popular struggle can be our self-perception of weakness — not seeing how anything we can do as an individual can make a difference. 

• Organizing with others can decrease isolation and powerlessness. Building trust face-to-face with friends, neighbors, family and at work makes everyone less afraid. You can join study groups, affinity groups or radical organizations, but parties, dinner guests and picnics help, too. 

• We have to be for something, not just against stuff. Let’s clearly articulate our values and describe the world we want based on tolerance, abundance, compassion, health, freedom, sharing, beauty, inclusion, pleasure, environmental sustainability and love. Just being against cruelty, conformism, violence, greed, hierarchy and pollution keeps us weak and on the defense.

• Insurgents need joy, healing, rest and mutual aid to endure over the long haul. Eat and sleep!

• Disruptive actions can divert authoritarian resources and slow down their agenda.

• Decentralized leaderless movements are harder to crush. Build trust in small cells. 

• Despots depend on people voluntarily complying and gradually adjusting as things get worse. Don’t alter your behavior before you’re forced to. None of this is normal or inevitable.

• Humor and ridicule are secret weapons. Tyrants rule through anger and fear — shift the script. 

• Act out as part of your daily life, keep at it, and have fun. Rebellion brings meaning and joy. 

• Here’s a catalog of actions anyone can take inspired by Gene Sharp’s 198 Methods of Action:

Banner drops

Blockade ports, train tracks, airports

Boycott Amazon or similar collaborators 

Candlelight vigils

Circulate petitions

Copwatch

Create public art 

Disclose identities of state agents

Display caricatures of our oppressors

Don’t help the police or army

Engage in pranks

Fasts

Funeral protests 

General strikes

Give mock awards

Graffiti

Group bike ride protests or rallies

Hide dissidents or fugitives

Make zines and leave them around town

Marches and parades

Mock funerals

Mutiny

Nude-ins

Organizational open letters

Overload administrative systems

Pickets against government and business

Pie public figures 

Prayer and worship actions

Prisoner support

Property destruction

Provide sanctuary 

Public speeches

Quickie walkouts (lightning strikes)

Reclaim oppressor’s symbols 

Refuse to conform to dress codes

Remove signs to create confusion

Rename public places to honor rebels

Renounce degrees or honors

Report sick at work (sick-in)

Resign from job in protest

Riot

Sex strikes

Sit-ins

Slow down traffic by dancing in crosswalks

Slowdown strike

Spell out slogans with rocks, sand or plants

Stay-in strike

Street party 

Street theater / guerrilla theater

Student strikes

Take extended lunch

Tax resistance

Teach-ins

Tell subversive jokes

Torchlight march

Tree sits

Turn your back to oppressors

Paste up posters

Whistle or pot & pan “concerts”

Work-to-rule strike

Write and sing freedom songs

Write letters to officials

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Food for thought book list

Fiction:

Country of Ghosts – Margaret Killjoy

The Dispossessed – Ursula K. Le Guin

The Ministry for the Future – Kim Stanley Robinson

The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions – Larry Mitchell

Trouble on Triton – Samuel R. Delaney

Babel – R. F. Kuang

Inferno – Dante Alighieri

Sand Catcher – Omar Khalifah

Rojava – Sharam Qawami

The Fifth Sacred Thing – Starhawk

Nonfiction:

Let this Radicalize You – Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba

Delay, Deny, Defend – Jay Feinman

Homage to Catalonia – George Orwell

The Politics of Nonviolent Action – Gene Sharp

The Solutions Are Already Here – Peter Gelderloos

Settler Cannabis – Kaitlin Reed

Simple Sabotage Field Manual – The CIA

A Continuous Struggle – Garrett Felber

In Defense of Looting – Vicky Osterweil

Riot. Strike. Riot – Joshua Clover

Slow Down: A Degrowth Communist Manifesto – Kohei Saito

Countering Dispossession, Reclaiming Land – David E Gilbert

The Mushroom at the end of the World – Anna Tsing

Blessed is the Flame – Serafinski

Against the Vortex – Anthony Galluzzo

The Politics of All – Dean Caivano

The Legacy of Luna – Julia Butterfly Hill

Fear of Black Consciousness – Lewis R. Gordon

Grievance in Fragments – Grant Farred

The DIY Occupation Guide (2024 Update) – Anonymous

Environmental Warfare in Gaza – Shourideh C. Molavi

A Mass Conspiracy to Feed People – David Boarder Giles

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Web of Abundance – pocket version

Too often, we are forced to live in a mindset of scarcity: our time feels scarce from having to work shit jobs to earn wages, our access to space has been systematically limited, from colonizers’ original theft of land from Native folks to the ongoing treatment of land as a commodity. When we talk about “the system”, we are indicting a way of life that is fundamentally premised on non-consensually taking the wealth and beauty of this world, and enclosing, commodifying, and ruining it. And making us miserable in the process. 

Yet, in actuality, we still inhabit a “sacred web of abundance” (SWoA): an interdependent ecology of beings that supports life, which long predates – and lives on despite – “the system”. The more we leverage and lean into that web, the stronger we are, the less we rely on the system we want to overcome, and the more we show others that another world is indeed possible. 

While perhaps too abstract for some, the SWoA concept was offered recently by friends in the Stop Cop City movement, who saw real world benefits in tapping into wild nut trees, backyard food production, reclaimed Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge, and mutual aid networks that skim wealth from the excesses of consumer society. When we witness the abundance we hold and offer, within human communities but especially that of our nonhuman kin, we reframe our struggles to survive, and start to see greater possibilities. 

At a time of deep depression, loneliness, poverty, and learned helplessness, the sacred web of abundance can help us focus our energies on building the new world in the shell of the old, but also shed the productivism and ecological ignorance of past radical movements. We learn about our actual places, our actual homes, and the way they hold us. We partner with our nonhuman kin to increase mutual abundance, care, and place-fulness. We leverage that abundance to feed, house, clothe and help people in other ways. And in generating an upward spiral of abundance in a shifting, disaster-prone climate, we build the resilience we need for our struggles to come.

To learn more see Defending Abundance Everywhere at crimethinc.com

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Web of Abundance – spiral version

Our world is currently held hostage by a political system where resources and power are wildly concentrated, leaving most of us feeling vulnerable, stressed out, and disempowered. While a few live with impossible wealth, everyone else is told that resources are scarce — that to achieve health, security, comfort, and happiness we must compete with one another. We are told that the way to find the safety we seek is through submissive participation in this economic system — even when this experience is exhausting, diminishing, and often humiliating. The state has always been a vehicle for the consolidation of wealth. Even so-called ‘socialist’ states aim to concentrate resources, usually under the guise of fair distribution down the line. Regardless of intention, this means that everyday people’s ability to feed, clothe, and shelter ourselves becomes dependent on the whims of a governmental body — this level of power is dangerous, and easily wielded against us. 


The stakes could not be higher. We are talking about the material conditions of our lives, our ability to access resources we need to survive and to support our loved ones’ survival. But, when you look a bit closer, it is clear that the security offered to us by employers is brittle and liable to fail — what happens when money turns back into paper, when health care and housing and healthy food are impossible to access with the wages you earn from a job that is killing your body and quashing your life-spark? When ‘saving’ is a relic of decades past? 
It is time to take a step back and identify other, more reliable, support systems. 


We have seen how networks of mutual aid serve as a lifeline for communities experiencing crisis. What if we chose to emphasize this resource sharing in advance, on purpose? Not as an afterthought or a stop-gap in case of emergency, but a central component of how we think about our daily security. The more we share, the less we need, and the more able we are to make life decisions from a place of security rather than scarcity. We can choose to work at a job we like that pays less or work fewer hours and divert that time to even more sharing, which then will come back around when we have needs our friends can help with.


This is quite actionable right now, on the scale of your friendships and family. Are you a dentist, plumber, preschool teacher, mechanic, food grower, or good at mending clothes? Do you know how to cut hair? Can you help paint a house, harvest apples, preserve dumpstered veggies, construct a deck? Do you have extra space in your house or extra clothes you don’t wear anymore? Your friends and neighbors all have helpful skills and resources, too! Maybe your household has someone who works at the farmers market (produce), while another gets food stamps (high-calorie staples), while a third loves to cook? What habits or structures can you set up to share more often?

There are also interesting examples where this idea has been brought to a bigger scale. To reach that bigger scale, we will need to think big, and act big. But the only way we’ll get there is rooted in a robust and networked community of folks who can and do share essential goods and services, who together form the basis for that bigger thing. So start where you are, but don’t just stay there. The abundance is here, and an even more abundant future awaits us!

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Introduction to the 2026 Organizer

No matter what, we’re not going back. As the american empire crumbles around us, we’re focused on shaping whatever will take its place, not losing ourselves grieving for the old world that’s being destroyed. Mass despair, resignation and apathy only serve to empower our oppressors, enabling their reckless profit seeking and abject cruelty. The future belongs to communities organized around pleasure, abundance, equity, cooperation, beauty and sustainability. Building those communities is the project of our time. We need to get off of the screens and onto the page; off of the page and into the streets. 

Are you a Slingshot organizer? The world struggling to be born needs your creativity, diversity, passion and wisdom. When we gather face-to-face, stand side-by-side, and march arm-in-arm, hierarchical structures can’t stop us any more than they can rule us. Liberation starts by killing the bosses and cops in our heads — and then dreaming wild dreams. 

The current moment rests on centuries of struggle back-and-forth between regular folks and the greedy few. Our ancestors made it through before, and we’ll make it through now. Community that’s inclusive and broad, not tribal or homogeneous, is essential since the system seeks to divide us. Solidarity, mutual aid and love are acts the system cannot commercialize or even comprehend. Strengthening relationships with each other and the land builds autonomy as well as delight. They want us lonely, isolated, dependent and scared, but we’re done playing by their crazy rules. 

We’re filled with gratitude and wonder that you’ve picked up this little book. You’re part of us, now. We’re creating this world and this organizer together, and there are a million ways everyone can contribute and collaborate. We’re making stuff for ourselves, by hand, filled with meaning, art and color. We’re dissidents — we’re the underground. Laughing at the overlords’ absurdity, insecurity and stupidity. See you at the barricades or the carnival or the library. 

This is the 31st year we amused ourselves by publishing the Slingshot Organizer. Its sales raise funds to print the radical, independent Slingshot newspaper. We distribute the newspaper for free everywhere in the US, often at the places listed in the radical contact list. Let us know if you can be a local newspaper distributor in your area. All the content for both the paper and this organizer are made by people like you. Thanks to the volunteers who created this year’s organizer: Ana, Anka, Annalisa, Antonio, Anya, Carolien, Christy, Dakota, Daya, Destany, Detti, Edith, Eggplant, Eliza, Elke, Fern, Flossie, Geo, Gina, Giz, Hayley, Isabella, Jake, Jasmine, Jesse, Jhesu, Jodi, John, Kai, Katie, Kermit, Kristen, Layla, Leah, Lew, Madeline, Manasa, Marie, Marlow, Mei, Melinda, Molly, Nadja, oJosé, paXen, Percy, Piper, Pippin, Reid, Renuka, Robin, Rowan, Ruby, Sadie, Sakiya, Sean, Sidney, Skye, Soren, Trinh, Umi, Violet, Weaver, Yang & those we forgot.


Slingshot Collective

A project of Long Haul

Physical office: 3124 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley

Mail: PO box 3051, Berkeley, CA 94703

510-540-0751 • slingshotcollective.org 

slingshotcollective@protonmail.com

@slingshotnews • @slingshotcollective

Printed in Berkeley, CA on recycled paper

Anti-copyright.

All volunteer collective – no bosses, no workers, no pay.

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Back cover – Know your rights with ICE

By Immigrant Defense Project 

Who is at risk of being arrested by ICE?

The law allows the federal government to deport certain immigrants, including:

• Anyone without lawful immigration status

• People with status (e.g., lawful permanent residents, refugees and visa holders) who have certain criminal convictions. You may be a target even if: your conviction is from years ago; you didn’t serve time in jail; your case was minor or a misdemeanor; you’ve been an LPR for a long time; and/or all the other members of your family are US citizens.

The federal government tells ICE who they should target or prioritize for arrest. ICE officers decide who they actually arrest, including people they claim:

• Have final orders of removal (deportation orders)

• Are deportable and have pending criminal cases and/or prior criminal convictions,

• Who unlawfully entered the U.S. and do not have immigration status, or 

• Pose a threat to “public safety” or “national security.”

The feds can change these priorities. Even if you believe you do not fall into these ICE arrest priorities, ICE could still decide to arrest you if you are vulnerable to deportation.

Are ICE agents approaching anyone they think they can deport?

ICE agents usually identify the person they want to arrest ahead of time. Then they go to homes, courthouses, shelters and workplaces to look for that person. Sometimes they go to a home to gather information about other ways to find a person, such as going to their work. Increasingly, they are waiting on the street to make the arrest.

It is illegal for ICE agents to walk up to people and ask for their documents solely based on how they look or the language they are speaking. If this happens, like in any interaction with ICE, you have the right to remain silent.

If I know I’m at risk, what can I do?

• Make a plan with your loved ones!

• Avoid contact with Immigration – don’t apply to change your immigration status or to renew your greencard and don’t travel outside of the United States without talking to a lawyer first!

• Avoid contact with the Criminal Justice System – the police share your fingerprints with Immigration!

What should I do if ICE agents approach me on the street or in public?

When ICE agents arrest someone in public (or after stopping a car), it typically happens quickly. They may call your name out loud and ask you to confirm your name and then detain you.

• Before you say your name or anything else, ask, “AM I FREE TO GO?”

• If they say YES: Say, “I don’t want to answer your questions” or “I’d rather not speak with you right now.” Walk away.

• If they say NO: Use your right to remain silent! Say, “I want to use my right not to answer questions” and then “I want to speak to a lawyer.”

• If ICE starts to search inside your pockets or belongings, say, “I do not consent to a search.”

• DON’T LIE or show false documents. Don’t flee or resist arrest.

• Don’t answer questions about your immigration status or where you were born. They will use any information you provide against you. Do not hand over any foreign documents such as a passport, consular IDs, or expired visas.

• If you are in Criminal Court for a court date, ask to speak to your defender before they take you away.

If officers come to my home, will I know they are from ICE?

Not always! Beware: ICE agents often pretend to be police and say they want to talk to you about identity theft or an ongoing investigation.

Can ICE agents enter my home to arrest me?

If ICE agents do not have a warrant signed by a judge, they cannot enter the home without permission from an adult. Opening the door when they knock does not give them permission to enter your home.

So, what do I do if officers are at my door?

• Find out if they are from DHS or ICE.

• Try to stay calm. Be polite. Don’t lie. Say “I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

• Politely ask to see a warrant signed by a judge and to slip it under the door. If they don’t

have one, decline to let them in.

• If they are looking for someone else, ask them to leave contact information. You don’t have to tell them where to find the person and you should not lie.

What can I do if ICE is inside my home to make an arrest?

• Tell them if there are children or other vulnerable residents at home.

• Ask them to step outside unless they have a warrant signed by a judge.

• If they came inside without your permission, tell them “I do not consent to you being in my home. Please leave.”

• If they start to search rooms or items in your home, tell them “I do not consent to your search.”

• If ICE is arresting you, tell them if you have medical issues or need to arrange for childcare.

What are my rights if I am being arrested by ICE?

• You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to speak to a lawyer.

• DO NOT LIE. It can only hurt you in the future.

• You do NOT have to share any information about where you were born, what your immigration status is, or your criminal record. Ask to speak to a lawyer instead of answering questions.

• You do NOT have to give them your consular documents or passport unless they have a warrant from a judge.

• You do not have to sign anything.

If you or a loved on is at risk of deportation, have a plan!

Knowing which rights you have and exercising them is complicated. For more info: immdefense.org

Para leer esta información sobre ICE en español visite: immigrantdefenseproject.org/conozca-sus-derechos-con-ice/

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a14 – Zine reviews


Reviews by Jose F. 

What is a ‘zine’ you may ask? I’d call it a sort of propaganda of the deed, where the deed is birthing a publication on your own authority. No officials needed: have some thoughts, write them down, draw them out, copy / paste, scissors, gluestick, scan, copy, staples, you get it… and ta-da, a booklet or pamphlet or comic of your very own. Pass ‘em out. Spread the word. The power has been inside you all along. Here are some we’ve read recently:

After The Deluge, Vol 3 – Against Me

delugepodcast.com 20 pages – $10

The Deluge is a zine companion to a podcast about songwriting, albums and artist interviews, and I’m a sucker for music zines. Previous issues dig down on Jackson Browne, and Bright Eyes. As a contrarian I really like the first three picks. These are three artists you won’t find on the same mixtape.
 In the podcast, Justin goes album by album through the whole Against Me! discography with different guests. He hits all the No Idea releases through everything on Fat Wreck Chords. In the zine Cox tackles the highlights. He writes reviews for all the major releases starting with “Reinventing Axl Rose” in 2002, all the way through “Shape Shift With Me” in 2016. He pulls no punches addressing the album “Gender Dysphoria Blues” and his intent not to make a “token trans episode.” 

He loves this band, but they recorded their last non-album tracks shortly after disbanding in 2018. Cox doesn’t write about it in the zine but Against Me recorded a cover of the Jim Carroll Band’s song “People Who Died” for the compilation album “Songs That Saved My Life” on Hopeless Records. That’s a fine place to hit pause.

Hiroshima Yeah! #196

donbirnam@hotmail.com 8 pages – donation

While Mark Richie has published other zines (ex: What Colour Are Your Pyjamas?, Puppy Power, The Furry Terminal and Sniper Glue) Hiroshima Yeah! has been his longest running zine. It was founded back in 2005. The monthly zine features poetry and prose with a mix of film, book and music reviews. He has a few co-contributors to keep that brand of chaos crisp and fresh in every issue.

Believe it or not, the real winner here is the poetry. These short Bukowskian poems are just as proletarian and twice as readable. I want a compendium. Other contributing writers like Simmons are just as good. His screed on the band Deviation Social is inspired insanity. I use the word “screed” here very deliberately. I considered the word “rant” and no, I think we do need to punch up the language a bit to convey the level of transgression. In comparison, Richie’s record reviews here are more impressionistic. You need to read them all and meditate a bit to take it in. Drink a pint and it might start to make sense. 

Richie has been zine-making since at least 1987. That might be why he’s printing his paste-up designs on full pages of A5 in black and white. Hiroshima Yeah! takes me back to the best parts of the old times; using a knackered copier in the back of a chemist’s shop, smelling hot toner and paying 5¢ a page. Breathe deep my friends.

Fighting Where We Stand

itsgoingdown.org 36 pages – Free Download

The history of political resistance requires first that someone records that history. You cannot trust a school textbook approved by the state of Texas to do it justice. So it becomes incumbent on activist groups to write their own histories. For that reason alone I find history zines irresistible. 

This zine’s timeline starts shortly after a neo-nazi with the Traditional Workers Party (TWP) threatened the lives of anti-fascists from the podium at the RNC. But the content of the reporting focuses on street-level activities. Despite frequent violence at previous TWP rallies, the city of Sacramento still granted their event permit. Sac PD were even dispatched to protect the Nazis. Naturally they were greeted by anti-fascists at every turn. 

I’m writing this only days before the first episode of Trump, season two is about to air. So the timing is right to revisit the chaos and white supremacist violence that defined season one. I’m not optimistic about the years to come, but the words “Fuck Nazis” are as American as apple pie; and it’s good to see our old fashioned, wholesome values in today’s youth.

Burn Down The Animal Pharm By Lint Lobotomy

warzonedistro.noblogs.org 8 pages – free download

There ain’t nothing wrong in the world with a short zine. Say what you came to say. There’s no need to summarize what you intend to say or review what you already said. Down with the oppressive colonialist structure of introductions, conclusions and exposition! 

Burn Down the Animal Pharm is a collection of several micro-essays; most published for the first time. It actually makes for a very readable zine, even if they don’t all directly serve a single narrative. The writing is personal, loose and natural, unburdened by rigid structure. In rendering his thoughts so directly, Lint Lobotomy reminds me of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. May his works also last two thousand years, and be recorded on parchment by future holy scribes.

Radio Dies Screaming – Issue #1

radiodiesscreaming.com 44 pages – $6 

What a great zine name. I wish I had thought of it first. I’ve read a dozen different zines by Jay Hinman. The most galling thing about Hinman is that he’s always right. His taste in rock n’ roll is impeccable. When he tells me that a band is exciting and brain-erasing, he’s right. When he recommends a radio program on KDVS, he’s right. When he reviews a mix tape, he’s still spot-on. His interviews unearth things I needed to know and his record reviews reveal a whole playlist of the records I need to hear. 

Hinman is a scholar of obscure zines and underground sounds. He ruminates and prognosticates with a refined, mature palate. He’s like some kind of garage rock wine connoisseur. I read every word of every page and listen to every damn record. Hinman always seems to find cool underground bands before I do. I’d call it jealousy but I think I just want to be Hinman when I grow up.

Wiseblood #67

fuzzybunnyflatbuny@ gmail.com 18 pages – postage

This is one of the most colorful envelopes I’ve ever received in the mail. So a big thank you to Mr. Fishspit, and any of his co-conspirators, be they real, imagined or pseudonymous. The subtitle here is “The Shock Treatment Issue” and he means that literally not figuratively. On the inside of the cover is a drawing of a person, supine, wearing the headgear and mouthguard ready and braced for 800 milliamps of DC current to pass between the electrodes through their brain. It’s unsettling. What follows are pages of first person, stream of consciousness writing about the author’s personal experience with Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

ECT damaged his memory, but not so much that he can’t write about it. And in writing about it he can share an experience in his life which is incomparable for most of us. ECT is a temporary destruction of the self; a hard reboot. His narrative is spotty and it’s no wonder. But It also saved him from suicidal depression. This was a challenging read not because of the stream of consciousness writing. It was challenging because it spoke a kind of truth we all rarely hear, shining a light in a place we usually choose not to look. Now I can’t look away.

The Ozarks Agrarian News #47

ozarksagrarian@ protonmail.com 16 pages – 8 issues, $20

Because of my age, I think of these folks as hippies and there is an inherent virtue in hippies… they build stuff. They can roof a barn, they can weave a blanket, they can shell and dry beans, they can write a zine, they can compose a song, and then organize a concert. Hippies build compost bins, gardens, co-op coffee shops, and boutique publishing companies. Hippies know when to plant garlic. Hippies contribute to the community and for that we should give our thanks. 

Ozark Agrarian News (OAN) reads like a farmers almanac of sorts. The tradition of agrarian almanac periodicals can be traced back to the 1600s. In other words, OAN and its hand-made aesthetic draw on a rich agrarian tradition. 

If they are to be the last of the small-scale farmers, that won’t be a surprise. Hippies have an enduring value system that cannot be extinguished by industrialization, the political winds, or the weight of generational change. I usually won’t directly endorse a zine but in this case I must. My partner, a life-long organic farmer, rated their tips and instructions highly. We will be subscribing. 

Dishrag #3

ratghostzine@ gmail.com 20 pages – $3

Sean Farley describes his local Franco-American club as smelling “like old cigarettes and $4 beer.” I can confirm the one in my old neighborhood smelled the same way. We are both Yankees by birth, and that ethnicity comes with a heavy burden of misanthropy and miserly cheapness; it’s in the blood.

The warning on the back reads “This zine contains items of a personal nature including: poetry, comix, tales of woe, sexual escapades, romantic doldrums…” The list goes on. It’s a perzine with a mostly comic format with very little out of bounds. It gives this perzine more depth than most. 

To quote Farley again “Nothing useful stays clean.” He meant it metaphorically, but it’s real, so very real: not your tools, not the fork or plate, and not your hands or your soul. I’ve been thinking about it for days. Ashes to ashes bubbeleh.

Murder & Mayhem – Summer 2024

treyoftoday@ yahoo.com 18 pages – free pdf

After the unfortunate discovery of clown porn in the last issue I am afraid to scan any of Trey’s QR codes. He is a man of questionable tastes and he scares me a little. I also feel like Trey is the kind of person who would put unsavory things behind QR codes just to screw with people, and then laugh at their discomfort. 

Trey writes mostly about bands and shows but the genres were more varied than the last issue. Amongst the punk and hardcore were synth bands, newwave, and to my surprise, even pop. He unironically recommended two genuinely tuneful bands: Geeked and Teen Mortgage amongst his preferred d-beat bands. 

Trey would probably be offended by that characterization. Please don’t take that to mean that Trey is a changed man. Trey has not changed. There is still clown porn. Trey still gets drunk and emails 20-page scum punk screeds to his favorite MRR writers. I like his zine but I am glad Trey does not have my address.

Out From The Void #7

outfromthevoid@ yahoo.com 30 pages – $5

I’ve reviewed a few issues of this top notch zine. Let’s review the basics. Brenton Gicker is a mental health crisis worker, emergency medical technician and registered nurse. His approach to the topic is professional, but never academic. He zooms in on the missing persons of western Oregon. He collects stories with the names of people and places and the people left behind and the places where the bodies are found. It can be morbid but he’s also trying to do good in the world.

Murder has about a 57% conviction rate in the US. But that’s just the national average. But that rate also varies by race and gender. If you are a white victim in Missouri, the conviction rate for your killer is 78%. But if you are black it’s only 55%. In Oregon the delta is about 10% apart. The numbers get uglier from there. So it’s no surprise that Gicker has alot of material to work with. But Gicker does not fixate on the politics as much as I do. For Out From the Void it’s just article after article, name after name, face after face and the underlying narrative voice: please do not forget us.

Portal Guide

instagram.com/jasonhendersoncox $10 – 20 pages

Missoula, MT is a growing city of over 77,000 people. You wouldn’t know it from this zine though. These images evoke decrepit rust-belt cities, and old mill towns with listing buildings creaking in the wind. Jason Cox documented their disused doorways, “portals” in his nomenclature. 

The intimation here is that these doors lead to liminal spaces beyond the back alleys and parking lots where the photographs were taken. If you’ve ever cut through an alley at night, you’ve seen these doors, glowing in the yellow sodium vapor light, looking otherworldly, inviting you to escape the matrix. Don’t knock on the door if you don’t want it to open.

Ear of Corn – Issue 58 & 59


foodfortunata@ hotmail.com 22 pages – $2

This zine’s mailer came with some flyers for death metal zines, the kind with no internet presence and an anonymous PO box. The music Food reviews is almost as obscure; cassettes from record labels with a residential street address. Food goes places other music journalists are afraid to tread. Don’t get me wrong, there are some bandcamp artists mixed in. But be aware, Food has mapped and visited parts of the underground you’ve never imagined. 

Food is a mysterious person. He writes faster than me, so between reviews two or three more issues may come out. Thankfully I read quickly enough to keep up. Issues 58 and 59 of Ear of Corn are very much in the same vein as the last several: music reviews, band interviews, and zine reviews. He even has a review of Slingshot issue #140. Muchísimas gracias Señor Food. Reciprocity is the basic currency of civilization. 

Papercore #12

papercore.noblogs.org 44 pages – 3€

This zine began as a project between friends in France and Spain. This issue was printed in Marseille, France, and earlier issues were printed in Toulouse and Bilbao; so you might ask why it’s written in English. Its publishers wanted to make a collective, open-contribution zine; so with some irony, the choice of English serves its inclusive nature. English is far from the most common native first language, But it’s the most-popular second language with 1.1 billion speakers. The Papercore crew says “…we choose to use the English which is understandable for ourselves.” As many writers are not native English speakers the wording is sometimes awkward, but instead of distracting, it adds authenticity to its voice. 

The content here is fabulous, and it really delivers on its promising subtitle “International Punk Zine.” There are scene reports from Argentina and Chile. It has multiple first-person tour diaries and reports on the Mordor festival in France, the Izero festival in Poland, and Rozzfest in Italy. The Yarostan tour diary reads like a lost work of Camus.

The zine cools down in the last few pages with record reviews, and finally on the last page a top 11 of the year and the playlist they listened to while doing the issues layout: Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead, Brux, Hiverlucide, Limbes… They do not leave quietly. The whole zine makes you want to get in the van and tour Bulgaria, read Céline and smoke a lot of cigarettes. Where have you been all my life?

Thoughts of You #1

denniswilsonzine.tumblr.com 48 pages – $4

This “zine” is basically a proper glossy magazine. I don’t mind reading things that don’t leave ink on my fingers. This is a Dennis Wilson & Beach Boys charity fanzine, so I shouldn’t be surprised that it’s a tad more upscale than average. But at the same time the fonts are huge and there is a ton of white-space in the layout, kind of like a large print edition for senior citizens. This could have been fit into a zine 75% smaller, but it wouldn’t have been as pretty. 

Editor Jenna Applesed asks and answers the question: what do the Beach Boys mean to you? It makes this into a perzine variant instead of the more standard fawning teens’ rock star worship. There has been all too much ink dedicated to that nonsense.

I review so much political and punk rock fodder that it’s easy to forget that fanzines are actually the OG of the zine scene. The first zines, arguably date back to the 1930s and 40s mostly around science fiction and pop music fandoms. To that end, there have been numerous Beachboy-themed one off publications going back for decades. It makes this one oddly retro, but also makes it feel inevitable, like another Beach Boys release. They say you die twice. Once when you stop breathing and the second, a bit later on, when someone says your name for the last time.

Fault Lines

notabeanie.me 8 pages – $6.50

This is a minizine which came in a mailer with a few other minizines, notably Kishotenketsu, and some earlier publications. This one opens with a few short lines about disaster porn which is timely to say the least. I think I liked Notabeanie’s full-size zine, This And Other more. It’s so hard to say what you’re going to say in a tiny space. The larger format lets you stretch that prose and get limber. 

On page 14 she writes “I’m a little rusty and by rusty / I mean depressed…” You can connect to human moments like that sometimes, in the morning light, when the timing is right. (That rhyme was accidental and not an homage.) Notabeanie avoids rhyme in general to favor homonyms and word play which is more playful and engaging. As you may remember, James Kochalka warned us all not to take this life thing too seriously.

Gutter Bravado #5 & 6

instagram.com/themobilizationfairy 32 pages – $8.88

Mindi sent me issues 5 and 6. The former is so personal I’d struggle to share such things and so I’m going to focus on No. 6 here. It opens with the classic AA gambit that a recovering alcoholic should not make major decisions in the first year. Mindi then lists off the major decisions she made anyway. She casually mentions the death of her brother, her alcoholism and her ankle monitor, her felony probation for resisting arrest. Then while pregnant, arranging to put her baby up for adoption. 

Slowly it dawned on me that this wasn’t a standard perzine, this was the very rare subgenre of the confessional perzine. The confessional perzine always starts with the admission that they have fucked up. But we are not all Catholics and this kind of confession doesn’t require forgiveness anyway. You can testify and not truly believe, just as you can forgive and not try to forget. We’re all still in the long, hard process of trying to believe ourselves. 

This is the hardest stuff to talk about and Mindi is writing it the fuck down. People go to their graves without saying this stuff out loud. It’s like what Hank III said about Luke the Drifter. “…a lot of people didn’t understand the Luke the Drifter side. That’s a dark side, man.” But Mindi made it. She’s carrying a 1-year metallic sobriety coin in her pocket today and she can talk about it. 

If there’s still a post office by the time you’re reading this send us a copy of your zine at: 

Slingshot

3124 Shattuck Ave

Berkeley, CA

94705