Liberation Collective

One off publications are zines or short books with a single installment.

Got the Hollowpoints for the Snitches (2005, City of publication unknown. USA) An examination of the consequences of activists who provide evidence to the state written during the Green Scare. Comes complete with a rogues gallery of traitors. Our least controversial publication!

Grand Juries: Tools of Political Repression (1998. Portland, OR. USA) After his first few subpoenas, Craig Rosebraugh wrote this essay just in time to receive six more subpoenas. The tone of the publication is a little heavy handed, academic, and politically naive, but contains a good overview of grand juries.

Homo Milk (1992. Sacramento, CA, USA) A true treasure produced by Tom Scut and Todd Pollution Circus. Super queer, super vegan, and very influential in its time.

Hunt Saboteurs Association New Members Pack (1987. Exeter, England.) The Hunt Saboteurs Association is among the most important organizations in the history of animal rights. Starting in 1963, it was one of the first protest organizations for animals in the modern era. Its means were always direct action oriented, and many of our greatest organizations, activists, and philosophies originated with HSA participation. This New Members Pack is a great place to start learning abut the early tactics of the group.

Inside / Out: Diary of Madness (2001. St. Louis, MO. USA) Inside / Out is the story of Brenda Shoss’ experience at the national demonstration which took place in Little Rock between October 27th and 29th in 2001. Brenda, a devoted animal rescuer and mother, represented the broad diversity of the campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences during its early years. She hardly fit the image of militant campaigning. Happily marching alongside pierced punks and anarchists, Brenda’s mild mannered and patriotic politics did not clash with those held by her comrades: instead her presence signaled a movement able to break through to a wider audience. Throughout her account of the demonstrations she evokes the anger and outrage that prompted thousands to band together, despite their differences, to fight to shut down HLS.

Inside the Cages: animal liberation and imprisonment (2013. South London, England) lewis pogson’s account of his imprisonment in England for animal liberation actions. The final chapters deal with post-release supervision and are a must read for those trying to understand the long term legal consequences of a serious arrest.

It’s a Man’s Game (Publication year unknown, likely early 1980s. Leeds, England) It’s A Man’s Game is a short zine written after an anarchist men’s weekend, outlining what they perceived as sexism in the UK’s Hunt Saboteur Association. The authors argue that all men involved in hunt sabbing engage in behaviors that oppress women, and that women and animals are alike because women are “enslaved as wives” and “used for entertainment, cheap labour, and sex.”
For a zine claimed to be inspired by women’s strength, it is notably absent of evidence of women voicing their own concerns with the sabbing scene. Instead, women are portrayed as yet another helpless and oppressed creature that needs protecting by enlightened men – mirroring the paternalistic dynamic of how many animal rights activists view animals.
The solutions to sexism proposed by the zine are to disassociate with the HSA, have structured meetings to prevent any one person from talking more than another, and to spend time doing blindfolded trust exercises as a group to build respect for women.

Keep Fighting: Three Interviews with Britain’s Animal Liberation Front Press Officers (1996. Minneapolis, MN. USA) An almost entirely fantastic little zine containing three highly influential interviews with Robin Webb, Ronnie Lee, and Robin Lane covering the arguments in favor of direct action. There are, however, some arguments on human population in Lee’s interview that will disappoint.

Let’s Get Free (2002. Eugene, OR. USA) Let’s Get Free tells the story of Jeff “Free” Luers’ arrest, trial, and sentencing, along with some short articles and illustrations by Jeff himself. It was sold to benefit his legal defense and prison commissary fund before he eventually had his sentence reduced from 22 years to about 10 years on appeal. It manages to capture some of the shock and anger felt by the activist community when one of our best comrades was buried inside the prison system as a reminder to stay in our place. What it doesn’t capture is the strength, sincerity, and warmth of Jeff Luers. The state failed to tame this warrior. Free is free!

The Complete Resistance

In: Periodicals

Resistance Volume 1 1-4, Volume 2 1 (1999-2001. Portland, OR. USA)

Before Portland became famous for its eccentricities and vegan mini-malls, it used to be known as one of the west coast’s most active centers for direct action oriented environmental, animal, and human rights activism. Famously referred to as “little Beirut,” by the George H.W. Bush administration, Portland was the home of peace-punk bands, eco-saboteurs, and anti-government riots. That legacy lives on in the demonstrations occurring nightly in the city now- but before this new generation of Rose City rebels got their start another local was organizing to “link movements to end all oppression.” His name is Craig Rosebraugh.

Craig eventually became known internationally for his support of political violence and ecotage, but for a few years he was an advocate of Gandhian nonviolence. After participating in several voluntary arrest actions he co-founded the group Liberation Collective in 1996 as a blanket organization meant to tackle a wide variety of social ills. The group planned a number of media spectacles across the United States, from Buy Nothing Day car smash-em-ups in busy downtown streets to the cross country Primate Freedom Tour. (The PFT was credited in large part to a group called Coalition to End Primate Experiments, but the greater part of the organizing was done by LibCo members.)

After the failure of attempts such as One Struggle to document a broad movement for ecological sanity and justice for all life, Liberation Collective took up the torch and released the first issue of Resistance. The inaugural issue was unlike any other in the series though. The main forces behind the publication, Craig and Leslie James Pickering, had politics that were no longer meshing well with the rest of the group. Liberation Collective was falling apart due to a number of factors, and ultimately LJ and Craig struck out on their own, founding the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office and continuing the Resistance project as a newsletter of their new organization.

The third issue of Resistance launched what was to become the best source of information for a rapidly expanding underground movement. The Earth Liberation Front was becoming active across the United States, but supportive coverage could be difficult to find. Even the Earth First! Journal wasn’t always willing to support the large scale arson attacks of the ELF, and when they did they lost membership. (Famously, Julia Butterfly left Earth First! after the Journal gave positive coverage to the Vail arson.) Resistance, however, published nearly every ELF communique unedited, and covered the multiple federal investigations into the groups actions. Activists seeking a better knowledge of the events leading to the green scare and “Operation Backfire” arrests would do well to start by reading the early volumes of Resistance.

Earth Liberation Front 97-02

In: Books

Earth Liberation Front 1997-2002 (2003. Second printing with new dedication and layout 2007. Portland, OR)

Leslie James Pickering grew up in Buffalo, NY. In the mid 90s he became involved in the local hardcore music scene. While attending shows in the surrounding area, he began reading the literature distributed there by local animal rights groups. Zines such as Holocaust (published by Animal Defense League founder Kris Qua) were his introduction to radical politics and support for underground direct action.

Like most kids who grow up in smaller cities, Leslie James left Buffalo as soon as he had the means. After a brief stint skateboarding in San Francisco (during which time he filmed for the underground skate video rarity “Heat Zone”) Pickering landed in Portland, OR. There, he met Craig Rosebraugh, and after a few years the two of them began publishing a newspaper called Resistance with other members of a group called Liberation Collective. At this same time, a group calling themselves the Earth Liberation Front began a series of arson attacks against companies involved in logging and other environmentally harmful practices. They sent their first media statement to Liberation Collective, and the rest of the story is what Pickering documents in Earth Liberation Front 97-02.

Consisting of reprints, interviews, and some original material, Earth Liberation Front 97-02 is a must read for those who wish to understand the beginnings of the Green Scare.