the defenestrator

about

The defenestrator is Philly's sporadic newspaper for resistance, creative revolution, and action. To defenestrate Power means total refusal of its tools and tentacles. Like the Hussites who had their oppressors thrown down from the Prague castle into the angry mob below, the defenestrator wrestles power and privilege from its highest and most protected strongholds and casts the beast out of the window and down into the angry hands of the people.

The defenestrator doesn't adhere to a strictly defined ideology, but we generally derive our ideas from an anarchist or autonomist tradition, which proposes a revolutionary transformation of society, the abolition of property and of all hierarchies and coercive power.

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submit an essay to the defenestrator

The defenestrator is anti-authoritarian, anti-racist, non-religious and focussed on class struggle. Think of readers as people like yourself who are interested in grassroots struggle, directly-democratic, non-hierarchical processes, direct action for social change, etc. Don’t talk up or down to your audience. Writing should be accessible, but not simplistic (as with revolutionary struggles, it’s important to consciously grapple with the complexities of the issues). Your perspective on the issue is important. It’s your voice.

We are looking for local news and events, columns, features articles, reviews of various media, interviews, prose and poetry. If you have photography or art that can accompany your piece, please send it along in a high-resolution jpg format. In general we are looking for pieces that are 1,500 words or less. If you have a longer submission, contact us first to make sure that it will be a good fit for our editorial guidelines.

Submit an essay: dan@defenestrator.org

archives

complete defenestrator archives will be coming soon

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defenestrator
Archives

Issue 0

Late August 1997
In this issue: Philly Squatters Aid. Kensington Welfare Rights Union. Philadelphia Freedom Summer ’'97. “Bureaucracy of Death” by Mumia Abu-Jamal. Atlantic Anarchist Circle. Philly Wobblies. Wooden Shoe re-opens. Zero-Cut on the Allegheny. McLibel Two. Vaclav Jez. LuQman Abdullah. Anti-Fascist Forum. read more

Issue 1

Mid September 1997
In this issue: Police Violence, A Pedagogy of Terror. Pennsylvania: Commonwealth or Fatherland? Critical Mass. Syringe Exchanges in Jeopardy. A Ratifesto. Justice at Job Corps. The Dark Side of Defenestration. read more

Issue 23

Mid May 2003
In this issue: Gentrification Watch. What is Going on in Iraq? SEPTA Proposes to Screw us Again. Ramona Africa. The Drugging of our Youth. Embedded Corporations. The Death of a Captain and Other Hopeful Disasters. The May Day Slaughter at Fourmies, France. read more

Issue 24

July 2003
In this issue: The Smell of Frightened Capitalists at the G8 Summit. 4th of July Protests. West Philly Squats Evicted. Top Dog Got Rabies. The Great WMD Hoax. Repression in Seattle. Iranian Insurrection. The Eros Effect. Autonomous Social Centers. Raids on Native Youth Movement. MLK and Class War. SEIU and Urban Democracy. Uprising in Benton Harbor. read more

Issue 26

December 2003
In this issue: Activist People of Color Benefit Arrests. Thessaloniki 7 Freed. Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride. Late Term Abortion Ban. Miami Ice*: The ‘New’ Military/Police State. How Militant Civil Disobedience Brought Down the Bolivian Government. The Beginning of an Anarchist People of Color Movement. Mumia Talks about the BPP, Corporate Wars, and More. The Corporate Invasion of Iraq. Farce of “Ending the Occupation”. Discontent Amongst U.S. Troops. More for the Boss and Less for us. The Unemployment Rate is a Dirty Lie. read more

Issue 27

Early 2004
In this issue: Israel’s Apartheid Wall. Book Review: “We Are Everywhere”. The Romance of Bush and Fox. The Fire and the Word. Enero Autonomo. NEW Copwatch Column! Iraqi Workers Organize. Penn Buys 30th St. Post Office. NEW Prison Column. Another Sham Election. The Battle for Hearts and Minds. It’s Not the Intelligence, Stupid. Crooked Cops & Snitch Sex. Radio Conciencia on the Air. read more

Issue 29

April 2004
In this issue: Timoney 3 Acquitted. Homeless in Philly. Iraq Under Siege. Anti-Capitalists March Against the Occupation. Local Anti-Fascist Imprisoned. Pro Choice or No Choice. The Southern California Grocery Strike and Its Implications. Anarchism’s Promise for Anti-Capitalist Resistance. Flat Broke with Children. Latin American News. Labour Updates. read more

Issue 30

August 2004
In this issue: Penn's Landgrab in West Philly. Philadelphia Cops Murder Haile Payne. Republican National Convention Protest Guide. Who’s Afraid of the Draft? Michael Moore’s “Fahreinheit 9/11”. NorthEast Mutual Aid Gathering. ‘Where Children Laught at Bombs’. Letters from Inside. Mercenaries in Iraq. Bolivia Gas Referendum. read more

Issue 31

Fall/Winter 2004
In this issue: 16 Federal Agents Raid Philly Collective House. Stop PGW Shutoffs! Starbucks Workers Escalate Fight. Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches. On the Relevance of Critical Thinking to Creating Cultural Resistance to Capitalism and the State. Rehabilitation: Does it Work? Does it Exist? Iraq Veterans Against the War. Philadelphia’s Resources for Sexual Assault. The City That Loves You Back Visits NYC. Three Women Raped at “Pointless Fest”. What's Wrong with Israel’s Disengagement Plan. read more

Issue 32

Spring 2005
In this issue: Community Gardens in Philly. Land Occupations in Brazil. SEPTA Fight Continues. Freeriding Mass Transit. Prison Poster Project. ‘McLibrary’ Scheme Sabotages Access to Information in Philadelphia. In Defense of Academic Freedom. Zanon Factory Worker’s Wife Assaulted. Pentridge Children Celebrate Garden. Bio-Devastation / Bio-Democracy. People’s Global Action. Globalization from Below. Veggie Fuels. Open Letter to Radical Communities on Sexual Assault. Darfur, the Sudan, Africa, and a Broken System. read more

Issue 33

March 2006
In this issue: Broad Spectrum Disorder. Iraq Wounded Come Home. Earth Liberation Front Arrests. Rob X on Family Values. Anti-Immigrant Bill HR 4437. The Politics of Torture. Major Court Victory for Mumia. NTI and Eminent Domain in Philadelphia. The Neighborhood Improvement District. Militants Attack Shell in Nigeria. China Erupts. Abolishing Life Without Parole. Racism in Katrina Relief. Mumia on Hamas. read more

Issue 34

August 2006
In this issue: Robin Hood Gang Robs the Rich. The Zapatista’s Other Campaign. Control Unit Torture. Philly and Sustainability. Notes on the Uprising in France. V for Vendetta. Philadelphia’s Anti-Displacement Solidarity Committee. Defenestrator Files a FOIA. read more

Issue 35

December 2006
In this issue: Buy Nothing Day 2006. Smashy Smashy for Silver Spring Recruiters. Why Does Racism Still Exist? Encuentro, Mini-Tour, Days of Action: McDonald’s Campaign Escalates. Oaxaca Libre La Lucha Sigue! ACT UP Sees Victory on Condoms in City Jails. Iran, the MKO, and Freedom. Freiheit für Mumia Abu-Jamal! The Wwar on Terror and the Resurgence of Fascism in the Americas. read more

Issue 36

February 2007
In this issue: 9 Former Black Panthers Arrested. Gentrification By Any Means Necessary. Death Waits For No One. Guantanamo Protests. Anti-Casino Troublemakers Acquitted. LOVE PHILLY. Philadelphia Jails Lose Lawsuit. Ursula Rucker. Nerve Gas in the Delaware. Media Establishment and the Death of Journalism. Supporting Survivors of Sexual Assault. Wave of the Future. December Immigration Raids. read more

Issue 37

May 2007
In this issue: Remembering the MOVE massacre. Cops and FOP Harass Mumia Event. Singing Ban. May Day Around the World. Umoja Village Fire. CIW Victory. Eminent Domain in West Philly. Imus and Hip Hop. Militarism and Education in Philadelphia. Autonomous Communities. Prison Riots in Indiana and Greece. read more

Issue 38

July 2007
In this issue: Bolivian Anarchism. This is What Health Democracy Looks Like! Police Brutality Turning Deadly. Death & Texas: The Kenneth Foster Case. Justice for Erika Keels. Are Prisons Obsolete? Mill Creek Urban Farms. Returning from the First U.S. Social Forum. My Body, My Voice, My Weapon. read more

Issue 39

November 2007
In this issue: Ten Year Anniversary Reflections. Documenting Social Transformation. Supporting People with Bipolar Disorder. Milton McGriff’s “2236.” Anti-Racist Action on Trial in Philly. Temple and Penn Security Guards Unionizing. Gentrification Watch. Fascist Franco Rolls in his Grave. Is There a Republican in Your Bathroom Stall? read more

Issue 40

February-March 2008
In this issue: 60 Days of Action for Palestine. Lakota Nation Secedes from USA. Don't Get Taxed Out of Philly! Dealing with Panic Attacks. The Rise of Comissioner Ramsey. To Snitch or Not To Snitch? Anarchy on the Border. MOVE Bombing a Mass Suicide? Irish and Nigerians Tell Shell to Go to Hell. Racism in PA Prison SCI Houtzdale. Original Fiction from West Philly. Emma Goldman: a Dangerous Woman. Matt Damon & the CIA. An Emergency Response Network for Families of Prisoners. read more

Issue 43

January 2009
In this issue: Philly Budget Cuts. Attacks on Gaza. The Grassroots Politics of Harvey Milk. Was the HIV/AIDS Epidemic Caused by Government Neglect? Ruth Gilmore interview at Critical Resistance. Retaliation against Prisoners at SCI Camp Hill. G20 Summit in Washington D.C. Global Bank Users Strike. Chicago Workers Occupy Window Factory. Greece Riots Against Police Repression. read more

Issue 45

Summer 2009
In this issue: Neighborhoods Fight Pool Closures. United Workers March. LAVA Zone Update. Twitter Riots. Shell Oil Taken to Court. Soldier Suicides on the Rise. 2010 City Budget. Flowers of Resistance and Liberty. Argentine Factory Occupation. read more