Nostr notes by Cedar

Wow, the Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair is this weekend! ...

2026-09-29T16:01:02Z

Wow, the Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair is this weekend!

https://north-shore.info/hamilton-anarchist-bookfair/

I'm doing the Intro to Anarchy workshop in the first workshop slot at 10:30. It is good for people new to the ideas, but I'm hoping it will have something for everyone.

It will be based on what it means to have an immediate unity of words and deeds and of means and ends. In the past, I've built these workshops more around "core anarchist principles" but I found this doesn't really get at what motivates most anarchists and what distinguishes us from the left.

Also worthy of note: Revolutions in 15 minutes is at 2:45! Come learn about six amazing revolutions in 15 minutes each. The great French rev, Haiti, Mexico, Russia, Spain in 1936, and then Syria in the 2010s.

Come out if you can!

#anarchist #bookfair #hamilton #ontario

I'm thinking about the things I tell people who are new to ...

2026-09-15T13:32:36Z

I'm thinking about the things I tell people who are new to anarchist idea, and so much of my practice of anarchism come down to:

1) How do we find each other?
2) How do we build our analysis together?
3) How do we go on the offensive?
4) How do we help offensive practices generalize?

If your context is too repressive or pacified for the higher numbers, you can always fall back to a lower one, because the project of finding each other is permanent.

And the "we" there, especially in step 1, is rebellious spirits who want to act for freedom, not just people who are already connected to an anarchist subculture. This "we" exists everywhere there are beating hearts - we are never too isolated.

Anarchists rely heavily on online communications, but this is ...

2026-09-13T23:16:59Z

Anarchists rely heavily on online communications, but this is often super centralized. A/I getting targeted just eliminated like half the counter-info sites. Riseup could get targeted just as easily. Signal may well end up pulling out of Canada by the end of the year.

In all cases, there is no clear easy alternative that meets security concerns. If we lose Signal, I can almost guarantee a lot of folks will start just messaging each other on Instagram. Probably we should all get set up on Briar or Cwtch or Simplex right now (right......... now!) But I can count on one hand the number of people in my context who take both themselves and the threat seriously enough to do that.

Some project websites in Ontario got taken in by the local counter-info website (btw the social centre and bookfair in Hamilton both have their pages on North Shore Counter-Info now). But the hosting for that site got raided and had its servers seized once already, and that could always happen again.

I guess I see two things we can start doing in parallel immediately. (1) reduce reliance on tech. Organize regular (weekly?) in person meetups just to have a tea and discuss the context. Our social centre does that and it is great - you can too! (2) Learn some basic tech skills (I want to run a remote server) and figure out alternatives to services you rely on. Then talk about them at the meetup from step 1.

Probably there will be no singular communications app like signal in the future and there will hopefully be no new centralization of websites like with noblogs. The proposals I've seen for the post-Signal future strike me as unserious (email but with a chat interface) in large part because they mostly still involve relying on a small number of trustworthy tech collectives (Riseup). And folks are mostly not willing to learn anything new or embrace any inconvenience. Which is fine, I hate tech too. But then we need to get serious about physical distribution, meeting up in person, organizing tours to cross pollinate between contexts...

I guess I just don't think anyone is going to come save our asses on the tech front again the way the folks behind Signal, A/I and Riseup did. And I don't think we will manage to wake from this technofascist nightmare any time soon, so shit's looking a little bleak.

I'm a bit late posting about this, but through March and ...

2026-03-06T18:45:38Z

I'm a bit late posting about this, but through March and April, the Black Oak anarchist social space in Hamilton ON is hosting a series of skills-based workshops called Make Good Trouble. The next one is tomorrow at 3pm about tech security, covering some basics about phones and Tails. There will be Tails keys available there if you need one!

The week after (March 14, 3pm) is one about policing technologies, and on March 21st is a wheatpasting workshop.

Then, on Saturday the 28 at 3pm, I'm giving a little workshop about security culture called Staying Safe While Staying Open. It is based on that Confidence Courage Connection Trust zine with a few updates, namely that the bias towards open, broad based organizing may not be the most relevant any more.

Here's the full events list for Black Oak. Maybe see you there!

https://blackoak.noblogs.org/upcoming-events/

#hamont #ontario #anarchist

Is Ontario the most annoying place to be an anarchist? Not the ...

2025-11-25T19:22:21Z

Is Ontario the most annoying place to be an anarchist? Not the worst or most repressive or anything like that, just the most annoying.

Where else are coordinated house raids used to arrest people for allegedly blocking a door months after the event?

Just my opinion, but the space to do militancy *openly* is just about zero here.

Prisoners in CNCC organize against collective punishment! We ...

2025-11-16T16:40:41Z

Prisoners in CNCC organize against collective punishment!

We recently received a report from a prisoner on the max unit of the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, ON, that the administration has removed most hygiene products from cantine. This means that prisoners there no longer have access to shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, antibacterial soap, or body wash -- all crucial for staying clean in the cramped, dirty conditions of a provincial prison. At least two Ontario prisoners have died of infections in the past year, so keeping clean can literally be a matter of life and death.

The administration's pretext is that some prisoners had used the plastic packaging to make weapons. But even if this is true, punishing hundreds of prisoners for the actions of one or two people is totally unacceptable.

In response to this overreach, around 80 prisoners on the max unit have signed a letter to the CNCC administration calling for access to these hygene supplies to be restored. This kind of mass self-organization is all too rare in Ontario's provincial prisons, and when it occurs, it deserves outside support.

For now, you can help by spreading the word about the admin's actions and the prisoners' response, but stay posted, because more calls for action might follow.

You're right, being anti rights is never going to catch on, ...

2025-10-19T15:16:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…8rp5
_________________________

You're right, being anti rights is never going to catch on, lol

October 17, 1961, at least a hundred people of Algerian origins ...

2025-10-19T15:16:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…mhus
_________________________

October 17, 1961, at least a hundred people of Algerian origins were massacred by the French police in the Paris area while protesting against the French occupation of Algeria.

Notably, on the bridge between Asnières and Clichy, protestors were shot at and many were thrown into the Seine.

Fifty five years later, I was living a few blocks away from that bridge. I would often sit on the river's edge and watch the cold deep water flowing fast. Me, the rats and the plane trees.

Everything can change so quickly. The space we think we have to maneuver can disappear and routine things like demos can become dangerous. Because the presence of people in the streets is considered dangerous - or at least it becomes convenient for those in power to deem it so. And not everyone will be deemed a dangerous threat deserving death at the same time.

How, then, can we wait for things to get worse? Until we once again have to fish bodies from the deep cold water, bodies that wanted only freedom? How do we act accordingly, starting right now?

(Translated from the above post)

In our more jaded time, I'd call what Rocker's describing ...

2025-10-19T15:09:01Z

In reply to nevent1q…w88q
_________________________

In our more jaded time, I'd call what Rocker's describing "freedom" as opposed to "rights," but yeah, freedom is a habit, a practice, beyond legality.

Le 17 octobre, 1961, au moins une centaine de personnes ...

2025-10-17T20:34:55Z

Le 17 octobre, 1961, au moins une centaine de personnes d'origine algérienne vivant en région parisienne ont été massacrées par les forces de l'ordre françaises lors de manifestations contre l'occupation française de l'Algérie.

Notamment, sur le pont reliant Asnières et Clichy, il y a eu des tirs sur des manifestants et plusieurs ont été jetés dans la Seine.

Cinquante cinq années plus tard, je vivais à quelques rues de ce pont. Je m'assoyais souvent sur le bord de la fleuve pour regarder l'eau froide et profonde qui coulait tellement rapidement. Moi, les rats et les platanes.

Tout peut basculer tellement vite. La marge de manœuvre dont on croit disposer peut disparaître et des trucs routines comme des manifs peuvent devenir dangereux. Car la présence de gens dans la rue serait devenue dangereuse -- ou au moins il est devenu pratique pour le pouvoir de les présenter ainsi. Et ce n'est pas tout le monde qui deviendra source de danger à abattre au même moment.

Comment attendre, donc, que les choses s'empirent? Que l'on doit de nouveau pêcher des corps de l'eau froide et profonde qui ne cherchaient que la liberté? Comment agir en conséquence dès maintenant?

Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair next weekend! Saturday Sept 27 ...

2025-09-21T21:07:57Z

Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair next weekend!
Saturday Sept 27
10am-5pm
Workers Arts and Heritage Centre (51 Stuart St.)

This is the third year for this incarnation of the Hamilton bookfair, and it looks like a good one.

In particular, catch the intro to insurrectionary anarchism, the workshop on local impacts of climate change, and the response to resurgent Canadian nationalism.

Check it out!

https://hamiltonanarchistbookfair.noblogs.org/

#anarchist #hamont

Also, the zine library at Black Oak is featuring a bunch of queer ...

2025-06-04T18:02:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…hq5g
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Also, the zine library at Black Oak is featuring a bunch of queer zines for Pride. Come by on a Sunday (1-4), check them out, and copy the ones that interest you!

Big month at Black Oak anarchist social space this month. ...

2025-06-04T18:00:43Z

Big month at Black Oak anarchist social space this month. Notably, there is a listening group on Survival, which is about dealing with mass raids targeting anarchists in the US. No need to read or prepare, the audio version of the text will be listened to together. Starting Saturday June 7 and the every week for the rest of the month..

Details here!
https://blackoak.noblogs.org/upcoming-events/

Survival
https://fr.crimethinc.com/zines/survival

#hamont #ontario

Great thread. Here's a link to an English translation of Omar ...

2024-12-13T16:05:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…6rky
_________________________

Great thread. Here's a link to an English translation of Omar Aziz's text on local councils, in case anyone is interested:

https://north-shore.info/2020/09/30/to-live-in-revolutionary-time-on-the-formation-of-locals-councils-by-omar-aziz/#translation

Homelessness, seen from the distance of a home, looks like an ...

2024-10-16T16:24:04Z

Homelessness, seen from the distance of a home, looks like an individual failure.

Seen from the distance of a service provider, it looks like unmet needs and their consequences.

Seen from the distance of a policymaker, it looks like a problem of available housing options and supports.

Seen from the distance of government, it looks like a funding request.

Seen on a human level, though, homelessness looks like violence.

It's hard to overstate the importance of truly autonomous ...

2024-10-11T14:47:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…ghv6
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It's hard to overstate the importance of truly autonomous communication channels for anarchists. Our anarchist ancestors literally put their lives on the line to maintain journals in repressive contexts so that comrades could continue to exchange analysis about the situation and share news about anarchist activity. Without the ability to do this, we are so much weaker.

Write thoughtful report backs on the things you do - don't just make a post saying it happened.

Take the time to write reflections on your context, because it is always changing and different people see different parts of it.

Start journals. Prioritize offline distribution. Get in (comradely) arguments in person.

Translate stuff from elsewhere and share those translations with your friends.

The cultural change towards these practices is already happening - in some ways, the situation is better than it was a few years ago. But we can all contribute towards having an autonomous anarchist media space.

Lisa, a trans woman from Hamilton, got attacked by a homophobe ...

2024-10-10T16:16:05Z

Lisa, a trans woman from Hamilton, got attacked by a homophobe outside a gay bar and had a bunch of her teeth knocked out. She is raising money to get them fixed. If you can spare a few bucks, she has been active in the community for years and could use the support.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-lisa-get-her-smile-back-after-vicious-assault

#HamOnt #Ontario #MutualAid

Trying to address homelessness under capitalism is kinda quixotic ...

2024-09-04T16:39:08Z

Trying to address homelessness under capitalism is kinda quixotic - it's not going to stop without systemic change. But since it is one of the worst forms of hyper exploitation that people face in our society, it is understandable to want to try and do something about it. Especially in a rich country like Canada, it is pretty maddening to see people left to live in total misery.

There is a whole industry that exists around homelessness, and even one that exists specifically around preventing and ending homelessness. A lot of people who want to do something end up involved in it. But the further removed this work gets from service provision, the harder it is to justify and the less it satisfies that visceral desire to do something about obvious injustice. And service provision is never going to see everyone housed.

So we get this caste of researchers and policymakers and comms people and lobbyists and grant writers and so on. All of whom are tilting at windmills trying to solve homelessness without calling into question the underlying economic system. Until the work just starts to feel like an end in itself, and showing up stops having anything to do with our values. It becomes a paycheque.

I try to not engage cynically, but it is hard to believe that anything positive comes from editing a document that will be read by some lobbyists who might influence a policymaker who might change a law that might benefit in some small way someone in the worst period of their life. I don't need my job to be my contribution to society, but it is a way I spend a lot of my time and energy, so I do want it to be not totally bullshit if I can. But maybe cynicism is the right response - letting go of our false hopes may well be the only way of seeing what is truly possible.