Firestorm Books

Queer feminist collective in Asheville, NC, operating a bookstore co-op & social movement space since 2008 on Cherokee/Tsalagi land.
Ⓐ Ⓔ Ⓥ #firestormcoop

Website: https://firestorm.coop

Public Key

npub10k8hgn0y2geqyezpkz5zx45e6m9eslcxn2d4mjm8eea33eyylk7q46t8a5

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs8mrm5fhj9yvszv3qmp2pr26vadjuc0urf4x6aednuu7ccujz0m0qprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntgh9v6c

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

Author Public Key

npub10k8hgn0y2geqyezpkz5zx45e6m9eslcxn2d4mjm8eea33eyylk7q46t8a5

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Last Notes

2026-07-22 23:30:30 UTC

This Saturday (7/25) is the International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners and we'll be hosting an afternoon of drop-in activities!
3pm – 5pm : Prairieland Benefit Zine Assembly
Join us for solidarity zine making. Firestorm has already raised $7k+ for defendants in the Pairieland case by selling zine packets, but we need your help assembling them!
6pm – 6:30pm : Casual Community Meal
Vegan and gluten-free food will be provided, but feel free to bring a dish or other contribution if you feel inspired!
6:30pm – 7:30pm : Screening of Eyes of the Rainbow
A 1997 documentary interview with the revolutionary, antifascist, and Black Liberation Army leader Assata Shakur, who escaped prison in 1979 and lived in exile until her passing last year.
More info at https://firestorm.coop/events/3650-antifascist-film-screening-dinner.html

2026-07-04 19:56:58 UTC

Tomorrow afternoon, join us for a conversation with legal historian Gautham Rao whose new book, "White Power," examines the history of policing and slave patrols in the United States and the ways systems of surveillance and racial control shaped American governance and law.
Gautham offers a new interpretation of US history, speaking to the origins of today's persistence of white vigilance, white supremacist militia groups, and white racist cops determined to maintain power over Black people by force. Thanks to a community donor, copies of "White Power" will be available during the event for half price! Additional information about the event and book can be found at https://firestorm.coop/events/3619-policing-american-slavery.html.
#USHistory #PoliceHistory #AntiBlackness #AmericanCivilWar #AmericanSlavery FeministBookstore FirestormCoop (- L)
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2026-06-14 22:35:33 UTC

"The Government Doesn't Want You To Read These Zines" – new benefit zine packets from South Bend Commons! All proceeds go to Prairieland Defendants. @npub1n95…2fy0
https://firestorm.coop/products/25308-the-government-doesnt-want-you-to-read-these-zines.html
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2026-05-03 19:09:12 UTC

YouTube has started restricting most of our recent videos. They can still be viewed by turning off "Restricted Mode," but this is only possible to do if you have control of your computer. I.e. people accessing our content from the library, schools, and other public institutions may no longer have the ability to do so. 🫤
Restricted videos include last week's conversation with Jarrod Shanahan and Eman Abdelhadi, a recent panel discussion on disability representation in YA, conversations on supermax prisons, science history, attacks on trans people, New Orleans, Rojava, and more.
Why now? An event in April with Tomas Rothaus and @npub1m0c…j6rl attracted significant far Right attention, and these restrictions are likely the result of a concerted, bad-faith effort to remove our content. Many of the impacted videos feature authors published by @npub1w56…rjua and AK Press.
Our bookstore will challenge these restrictions, but it's felt for a while that the writing is on the wall for liberatory projects on corporate platforms. We've already moved to reduce our dependence on Google and Meta elsewhere. No doubt this will nudge us further towards independent spaces. (- L)
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2026-04-04 12:12:11 UTC

Like a lot of small businesses in our region, Firestorm has been in financial distress for the last year. Hurricane Helene was our tipping point, but local cost of living increases, inflation, and higher occupancy costs are huge contributors. In simple language: our sales are down, our costs are (way) up, and capitalism is the worst.
With less than $15k in financial buffer left, we've projected that our co-op will no longer have the resources needed for normal operations by the end of July.
⚠️ What We're Doing
Over recent months, we've analyzed our situation and explored possible interventions. We're planning to modestly increase store hours, refresh our Sustainers Program, explore new advertising opportunities, better promote our bulk / B2B sales, research grants for unfunded work done by our members, and look for new pop-up gigs. More immediately, we're planning a big sale for mid-April and we've requested and received a temporary reduction to our mortgage.
Our hope is that a handful of short-term measures will buy us time to pursue the longer-term shift in revenue needed to stabilize Firestorm. If we don't succeed, our nuclear option is a cut to pay. As a horizontal co-op we set a payrate democratically, so no changes take place without buy-in from our whole team, but moving away from a living wage runs counter to our collective health.
⚠️ What You Can Do!
If Firestorm surviving and thriving is important to you, we welcome your support. Here are a few ways to pitch in:
🌈 Buy your next book from us, or tell someone who buys books about us! Not a physical media person? We also sell audiobooks through Libro.fm.
🌈 Join our Sustainers Program, starting at $10/mo! Members receive discounts on books and can access free shipping, a monthly book subscription, and other great perks.
🌈 If you work in an organization that coordinates book-related programs, reach out to us about bulk purchasing (we offer discounts!)
We extend our huge appreciation to everyone who is already supporting our co-op financially, or otherwise! We've only made it this far because of you.
#WorkerCoop #FeministBookstore #SolidarityEconomy
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2026-03-26 19:53:49 UTC

We've started getting an overwhelming number of requests for interviews on cooperativism, community resilience, and related topics, largely from students. Not sure what happened in 2026, but we've gone from a couple requests a year to several a month. It's awesome that there's all this enthusiasm, but we are so under resourced to respond to constant inquiries 😮‍💨
If anyone out there works for an org that wants to fund co-operative education and peer support, we are already doing this work for free, but would do more of it if we had funding!

2026-01-19 19:24:28 UTC

Minneapolis Report Back + Community Assembly!
On January 20th, a national walkout is taking place against the Trump regime. After the 2pm rally at Pack Square, we're inviting community members to gather at 5:30pm at Firestorm for a discussion about how to confront the existential threat of fascism here in Asheville. We'll begin with a call-in report from an activist on the ground in Minneapolis who has been deeply involved in community resistance to the siege by federal forces. The assembly will then shift to our local context.
We invite you to bring thoughts on how our city is being impacted by the connected crises of authoritarianism, ecological crisis, economic abandonment, and criminalization—and crucially how we can move beyond the idea that the fight against fascism is exclusively taking place somewhere else. In the spirit of the assemblies that took place immediately after Hurricane Helene, our goal is to exchange verified information and provide a launchpad for grassroots action with an understanding that we cannot wait for someone to save us—we have to do it ourselves.
https://firestorm.coop/events/3525-from-minneapolis-to-asheville-community-action-against-fascism.html
#AbolishICE #QueerSouth #NoFascistUSA
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2026-01-11 19:29:21 UTC

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A few more photos of the fantastic solarpunk illustrations inside the "Why We Fight" core game book!
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2026-01-11 19:25:09 UTC

"The assumption that what currently exists must necessarily exist is the acid that corrodes all visionary thinking."—Murray Bookchin
We now have a limited number of sourcebooks for "Why We Fight," an anti-fascist narrative roleplaying game in which players cooperate to create a solarpunk future! Build a crew of four characters from the Community Alliance, a grassroots movement of eco-punks, then head out on collaborative missions, fight back against the fascist militia trying to reassert power, and connect with other autonomous communities struggling to survive.
Brought to life by vibrant flavor text and incredible illustrations, "Why We Fight" was created by a small team at [@SDR_Games](https://tabletop.social/@SDR_Games ) that believes games can change the world. Imbued with anarchist values from bottom to top, it's thoughtfully designed to help build relationships and inspire action!
Find your copy of the core game book or the quick-start guide on our website at https://firestorm.coop/catalog/section/151-tabletop-games.html. Grab both and you'll also qualify for free domestic shipping!
#NoGodsNoDungeonMasters #WhyWeFight (- L)
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2025-11-05 22:10:14 UTC

Took a nice photo for our November newsletter today 🍂
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2025-10-08 19:15:33 UTC

After Hurricane Helene, we promised ourselves that we wouldn't go through another disaster without a battery backup for our rooftop solar. Thanks to the folks at Footprint Project, we're on track to install 20kWh of battery capacity for our building this month!
So now want to pay it forward. On Thursday, October 9th, we'll be donating net proceeds from all sales in-store and online to the Feral Crust Infoshop in Davao, Philippines. This longstanding eco-anarchist project is a living experiment based on principles of mutual aid, cooperation and ecology. So buy a book (or two) and the donated sale will help to fund upgrades to Feral Crust's off-grid electrical infrastructure and rainwater harvesting systems!
https://firestorm.coop/catalog/new.html
#HurricaneHelene #MutualAidDisasterRelief #FeministBookstore #EcoAnarchism #Infoshop #FirestormCoop (- L)
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2025-10-06 15:02:47 UTC

For #BannedBooksWeek we're doing a limited run of shirts with one of our favorite designs of all time! The "Trash Fascism, Not Books" possum was created by artist Des Revol for our 2023/24 campaign to send thousands of banned books back to Florida kids. Since then, we've had so many people reach out asking for the image on stickers and apparel.
We hope that these shirts will also help to raise awareness for Des, who is facing years in prison and possible deportation over allegedly transporting "subversive" literature in his car. The fact that zines exactly like those you can can find at Firestorm (and countless other radical bookstores) are being used as evidence of criminality is a reminder that fascism isn't just coming for your TBR pile—it's coming for us all, unless we trash it! http://freedes.net
We're only taking shirt orders through Bonfire until Saturday, October 18th, so check out the full details at https://www.bonfire.com/store/firestorm 🔥
#TrashFascismNotBooks #ZinesAreNotACrime #FreeDesRevol #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (- L)
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2025-10-04 17:18:30 UTC

On Wednesday of next week, we're hosting a virtual conversation on the history of rebellion explored in the new book "Anarchy in the Big Easy." Author Max Cafard and illustrator Vulpes will be joined by artists Liz Lessner and Mat Keel to share their graphic account of the quest for freedom in radical and revolutionary New Orleans!
From maroon communities and labor militancy to jazz music and armed community defense, "Anarchy in the Big Easy" pairs the storytelling of a lifelong New Orleanian with the striking images of a comix artist based in the Gulf South.
Register for this free event and find your copy of "Anarchy in the Big Easy" at https://firestorm.coop/events/3460-revolutionary-new-orleans-a-conversation-with-max-cafard-and-vulpes.html. Not able to make the 7pm ET conversation? Sign up anyway and we'll send you a recording to enjoy at your leisure!
#GraphicHistory #NewOrleansHistory #NewOrleansBooks #AnarchistHistory #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (- L)
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2025-08-27 19:08:23 UTC

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A day is coming when we will look on the US flag with the same disgust as its Confederate counterpart. Not as the flag of the "greatest nation on earth," but as a flag of thieves and murderers. A flag that flew over the genocide of Native peoples, the despoiling of our planet, the plunder of the global commons, and the enslavement, imprisonment, and immiseration of millions.
This is not a patriotic event and we do not believe that flag desecration will remain a "protected" activity under an increasingly autocratic regime. The future is contested! Rather than a cause for retreat, these circumstances necessitate bold and joyful action, interventions of solidarity and refusal. Our freedom is not guaranteed by the dead letter of slavers (for many it never was), but we have everything we need to build a new world, with our hearts and hands, channeling the spirit of resilience and possibility that we experienced in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene!
We burn the flag to light the way out of our grave. 🔥

2025-08-27 19:07:18 UTC

The constitutional republic has fallen, but we still have each other! This Labor Day, gather with friends and neighbors to share food, reflections on our present moment, and contempt for the government. If you are able, please bring reusable plates and cutlery along with a dish (vegan and gluten-free preferred).
While we aren't aware of any past flag burning events in Asheville, we aim to make this one the biggest! Mini flags will be provided for all attendees, but you are welcome to bring your own (cotton and paper only please—we're dishonoring the nation, not the neighborhood air quality).
Gather with us at 5pm. Flag burning will begin promptly at 6pm!
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2025-08-23 19:01:34 UTC

Happy Sacco & Vanzetti Day to those who celebrate! 🏴
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If you want to read more about Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, the global impact of their trial, or the anarchist movement in the 1920s, there are some great resources in the Anarchist Library (https://anarchistlibrary.org) as well as zines from @npub1w56…rjua and @npub1v5z…2p7l.
The Boston Public Library, which is in possession of both anarchists' cremated remains as well as death masks, has a bunch of literary and musical resources curated by research librarian Karie Schulenburg. https://www.bpl.org/blogs/post/the-long-wake-of-sacco-vanzetti
Lastly, The Community Church of Boston—which publicly rallied support for Sacco and Vanzetti starting in 1921—maintains an extensive archive related to the case in collaboration with the anarchist-led Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration Society. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/2/13/sacco-vanzetti-archive
https://saccoandvanzetti.org
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2025-07-29 19:08:43 UTC

This is exactly why every bookstore and social center should be undertaking a comprehensive review of data collection and storage. Cops and politicians can't seize what you don't have. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/07/you-went-drag-show-now-state-florida-wants-your-name
You can read our co-op's Noncooperation Statement, outlining our commitment to resisting overreach by the criminal legal system, at https://firestorm.coop/noncooperation.html.

2025-07-29 17:40:28 UTC

On Monday, August 11th, Firestorm Books will be hosting author Matt Broomfield for an online conversation with scholar Azize Aslan! Together they'll explore Rojava's tireless fight against oppression and how the militant Kurdish movement can help the Western Left relearn its commitment to hope in hopeless times.
Matt's new book published by AK Press, "Hope Without Hope," carries on the long tradition of history, absurdist philosophy, and radical thought that has studied how anti-fascist and anti-colonial movements answer defeat and repression with a revolutionary faith in transformation. Only by understanding this history can we pursue the steadfast work of organizing for long-term revolutionary change in our seemingly hopeless age.
Sign up for this free event and grab a copy of the book at https://firestorm.coop/events/3440-rojava-and-revolutionary-commitment.html. Can't make the event live? We'll send you a video recording to watch at your convenience!
#RojavaRevolution #ypj_💚 #Riseup4Rojava #JinJiyanAzadî #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (- L)
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2025-07-14 16:54:26 UTC

‪The recording from Saturday's conversation with Dr Ronica Mukerjee is now available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYd99__b-vA. Check it out! (The audio is a bit rough for the first two minutes and then clears up.)

2025-07-09 19:10:51 UTC

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Our Fuck Amazon Prime Day book swap is being postponed due to severe thunderstorms! ⛈️ We'll be book sharing and Amazon shunning tomorrow (7/10) from 6pm to 7:30pm. 🌞

2025-07-03 16:21:33 UTC

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Love local history, but Green Man Brewing missed an opportunity to use this photo from 1926, which paints a pretty clear picture of the Asheville Police Department's origins.
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2025-07-03 16:20:04 UTC

Finally, a beer that authentically captures the taste of boot.
https://wlos.com/news/local/green-man-brewery-raises-toast-asheville-police-department-apd-special-blue-light-lager-150th-anniversary-rick-rice-on-tap-six-packs

2025-07-02 19:13:53 UTC

Last year, Amazon wracked up $14.2 billion over a two-day period with their Prime Day sale. Amazon Prime "Day" 2025 will be a four-day event, no doubt still hoping to break their record of how much sweat-shop garbage they can peddle to an increasingly incredulous consumer base. Jeff Bezos, who recently spent an estimated $20 million on his lavish Venetian wedding, doesn't need your money. Resist temptation and scratch your shopping itch by giving a new home to a pre-loved book instead!
No limit on the number of books you can bring or take, just be considerate of what you bring (don't bring what you think is "trash") or take (don't take aaaaalll the good books)! You're welcome to hang out and read while you sip a complimentary mocktail.
And yes, you can still participate even if you don't have books to contribute!
#BookSwap #ReallyReallyFree #CoopsNotCops #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (-E)
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2025-06-10 16:00:57 UTC

Tomorrow is the International Day of Solidarity with Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners (or, simply, June 11th, because the full name is a mouthful) and we're marking the date with a fundraiser!
Last year we raised almost $900 for freedom fighters inside the prison system, and this year we're aiming to break a grand by donating net proceeds from every single sale we make in-store and online!
Every book, t-shirt, sticker, or other item you purchase Wednesday will generate funds for prisoner commissary, legal defense, and other crucial support needs.
So, grab your next read, and then, if you're local, head next door to The Odd, where BRABC is organizing a benefit concert featuring four bands, local art, and a raffle. For more information on June 11th, check out https://june11.noblogs.org, where you can also find a list of individuals supported by the campaign.
#June11 #PoliticalPrisoners #StateRepression #Anarchism #FeministBookstore #FireToThePrisons #AbolishPrisons #MariusMason #FirestormCoop (- L)
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2025-06-01 16:31:19 UTC

Five years ago today, Asheville police responded to an unruly march with violence, sparking multiple nights of rioting in a city where people are normally hesitant to even take the streets.
The George Floyd Rebellion was so recent but the work of its cooption and erasure began before the smoke cleared.
We need the strength of these collective experiences now to confront the violence that never stopped. Within these memories is the confidence in ourselves and each other, the willingness to risk it all to get free. But it starts with remembering.
To that end here are a few essays we recommend reading…
"The Siege of the Third Precinct in Minneapolis: An Account and Analysis" – an analysis of the tactics that compelled the police to abandon the Third Precinct, igniting the largest uprising in modern US history. @npub1m0c…j6rl https://crimethinc.com/2020/06/10/the-siege-of-the-third-precinct-in-minneapolis-an-account-and-analysis
"How It Might Should Be Done" a response to the denial of the uprising and the attempt to substitute superficial reforms for radical change. @npub1qvr…wxkv https://illwill.com/how-it-might-should-be-done
"The World Was Not At Peace" – a timeline and interview with a former prisoner of the George Floyd Uprising in North Carolina [@igd_news](https://kolektiva.social/@igd_news ) https://itsgoingdown.org/nc-george-floyd-timeline-and-interview/
"Big Brick Energy" – a multi-city study of the uprising, drawing out implications for tactics, strategy, and race politics
https://libcom.org/article/big-brick-energy-multi-city-study-2020-george-floyd-uprising
Our original post about the first night of the rebellion in Asheville can be found on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/p/CA5eJahBRJu/
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2025-04-27 13:27:38 UTC

At the end of last year, while reading Rebecca Solnit's "A Paradise Built in Hell," many of us encountered the idea of "post-traumatic growth"—a sort of inverse PTSD, where individuals experience increased resilience, strengthened relationships, and personal empowerment as a result of a traumatic event. Excited by this phenomenon (and our own brush with it), a member of our reading group has worked with a friend in clinical psychology to facilitate a presentation and deeper conversation about the power of community in uncertain times.
Please join us on Tuesday at 6:30pm for an in-person discussion and workshop that draws on academic research and our own experiences as disaster survivors to explore the idea of post-traumatic growth!
More information can be found at https://firestorm.coop/events/3381-together-we-rise.html
#PostTraumaticGrowth #PTSD #HurricaneHelene #MutualAid #MutualAidDisasterRelief #WeKeepUsSafe #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (- L)
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2025-04-17 17:08:51 UTC

It's never been safe to oppose empire, but the rapid erosion of constitutional rights in the US has prompted a lot of reflection within our collective about how we operate as a public space where people are at risk for state surveillance. This isn't just a concern prompted by an accelerationist Trump administration—in recent years liberal cities have been paving the way for authoritarianism. We've seen Stop Cop City activists charged with felonies for handing out flyers in Atlanta and oppositional journalists prosecuted right here in Asheville. While these instances of "overreach" once felt exceptional, the criminalization of speech now threatens to become a pervasive norm at the exact moment that local police are dramatically expanding Asheville's surveillance infrastructure. From drones to AI-ready real-time camera networks, we face new systems designed to identify and punish members of our community.
This is a liminal space, dangerously situated between a lingering expectation of democratic rights and the reality of fascism at the door. It isn't a moment for retreat, but it calls for new conversations—some of which are overdue. To that end, we're offering a few recommendations for individuals who attend events at our space. This is motivated both by ongoing reflections on safety and the knowledge that events this weekend represent an acute surveillance risk.
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5 RECOMMENDATIONS
💡 Use cash. Whether you're buying a book or making a donation at a fundraiser, paper money offers you the highest level of privacy.
💡 Leave your phone at home. There are lots of things you can do to harden the security of your phone (and you should do them!), but the best way to avoid being tracked is to not carry a tracking device.
Learn more about phone and computer security at https://privacyguides.org.
💡 Dress for (privacy) success! Our bookstore requires masking to safeguard community health, but wearing a mask—especially in combination with sunglasses, a hat, or hoodie—reduces the accuracy of facial recognition software.
💡 Walk, bike, or take a bus. Even if your car is too old to have built-in GPS, your license plate is a form of ID that's trivially easy for police and other bad actors to record. Bonus: skip the parking headache!
💡 Last but not least... Know your risks. Talking to police or federal agents puts yourself and others in danger! Even seemingly mundane interactions create opportunities for additional surveillance and intelligence gathering.
Learn more about navigating police interactions from the National Lawyers Guild at https://nlg.org/know-your-rights.
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These tips are intended to address mass surveillance, not targeted surveillance. Individuals at risk of being singled out by the State need to take additional steps to protect themselves from harassment, arrest, deportation, etc. But even if you don't currently feel that mass surveillance represents a risk for you, developing intentional practices to protect your privacy will prepare you for the possibility of becoming more vulnerable in the future. Meanwhile, a security-conscious environment makes it harder to isolate and repress those who choose to take bold action in opposition to fascism!
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2025-04-04 12:41:38 UTC

Tomorrow dozens of national organizations are teaming up to host protests in cities across the United States. With hundreds of thousands of people hitting the streets for the first time since the effective collapse of the constitutional republic, there’s a growing need to widely disseminate information on keeping ourselves and others safe. To that end, we’re sharing a new zine based on text from PrivacyGuides.org, which includes best practices and helpful tips for smartphone security, protests, and mass surveillance. You can read and download the free guide at https://archive.org/details/protesters-guide-to-smartphone-security.
In Asheville, protesters will be rallying in Pack Square from 11am to 1pm. Members of our collective will be there distributing copies of “The Protesters’ Guide to Smartphone Security” along with practical zines for folks interested in taking effective action against fascism.
Looking for more opportunities to pick up introductory materials? We maintain a table of free resources at Firestorm that we think everyone should read! We’d also encourage you to check out the zines available at https://www.sproutdistro.com/catalog/zines/direct-action.
#Antifascism #Protesting #DirectAction #Zinestagram #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop
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2025-03-21 13:03:42 UTC

"There is no more middle ground. If you care about public health, you have to become a revolutionary. If you care about medical research, you have to become a revolutionary. If you care about climate change, about labor conditions, about the well-being of children in warzones, there is nothing else for it—you have to become a revolutionary." @npub1m0c…j6rl https://crimethinc.com/2025/02/21/become-an-anarchist-or-forever-hold-your-peace

2025-02-24 16:58:30 UTC

The ACLU announced that tomorrow they're shutting down their Mobile Justice app that allowed users to record police interactions to the cloud (https://www.aclu.org/mobilejustice). They don't suggest any alternatives and the only similar app we're aware of is Cop Watch Video Recorder for iPhone.
What else exists for this purpose on Android phones?

2025-02-16 23:02:23 UTC

In the early-20th century, strikes and union battles were common in industrial centers throughout the US. But nothing compared to the class warfare of the West Virginia Mine Wars.
To celebrate the release of "Black Coal and Red Bandanas," an illustrated history from PM Press, we're exciting to host a virtual evening with author Raymond Tyler and illustrator Summer McClinton. They'll be joined by Shaun Slifer and Kenzie New-Walker of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum!
Register for this free online event and find a copy of "Black Coal and Red Bandanas" at https://firestorm.coop/events/3342-the-west-virginia-mine-wars.html. Can't make the event but still want to listen in? Sign up and we'll send you the recording to stream at your convenience!
#WorkingClassHistory #ClassWar #CoalMiner #WestVirginia #MineWars #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (- L)
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2025-02-15 16:54:34 UTC

Missed this great article from The Nation while we were on break! (- L)
"While the government response and aid from nonprofit groups gradually took shape, residents quickly came together to not only operate a free medical clinic out of a dive bar but also set up more than 100 water stations throughout the city, conduct thousands of wellness checks, create complex supply distribution systems connecting the city with hard-hit rural areas, and even form a “flush brigade” that, day after day, bucket-flushed the toilets of people who weren’t able to lift a heavy pail of water."
https://www.thenation.com/article/environment/north-carolina-mutual-aid-hurricane-helene/

2025-01-20 16:36:28 UTC

Our bookstore is no stranger to unwanted government attention; we’ve been threatened by city officials, visited by the FBI, and surveilled by police. Historically, the investigation and prosecution of activists has aimed to disrupt our movements for change, sow fear and isolation among participants, break intergenerational bonds, and criminalize struggles for freedom. But we can overcome these attacks through principled action and uncompromising solidarity.
Firestorm has made the following commitments:
• We will minimize non-required collection and storage of information about customers, authors, event participants, and others who engage with our co-op.
• We will resist, and publicly disclose, any attempt to obtain such information when it exists.
• We will decline to answer questions from police and government agents.
• We will fight any court or government subpoena, process, or demand for records, testimony, or evidence.
• We will support those in our community who face state repression, regardless of “guilt” or “innocence.”
• We will retain legal counsel to defend our freedom to not cooperate with the State.
We know that these actions cannot guarantee safety for our members or community, but to cooperate in the face of our own repression, or the repression of others, would be a profoundly unsafe betrayal. Noncooperation is both the ethical and strategic position for those who want to build a new world, but must contend with the old one.
Find our entire statement, including linked references, at https://firestorm.coop/noncooperation.html.
#FreedomToRead #StateRepression #CoopsNotCops #Anarchism #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop
📸: Daniel Barlow
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2024-12-21 15:52:15 UTC

In "They Will Beat the Memory Out of Us," author Peter Gelderloos argues that a failure to learn from, and remember, our history is a primary impediment to liberatory movements. "Many of us have come to expect that each new generation will grow up unaware of the struggles that preceded them, having to make all the same mistakes and to learn similar versions of the same lessons. But what if it doesn’t have to be that way?"
Radical history-keeping is one of the interventions that a bookspace like Firestorm participates in, and this year our community read a multitude of movement histories, revolutionary memoirs, and collected reflections. We didn't just read—past and present members of our collective also contributed to the work of documenting our shared experiences, as in "Books Through Bars" and "Constellations of Care," two new collections created by and for movement participants. In other cases, we gathered together with neighbors to read and discuss, a practice of collective digestion exemplified by the six weeks we spent with Solnit's "A Paradise Built In Hell" after Hurricane Helene (a backlist title that sold faster than we could replace it for months, resulting in widespread book sharing and the unmonetized circulation of photocopied chapters).
Of course, we were also reading novels! Despite some misconceptions, Firestorm is principally a collective of fiction readers, with tastes that skew toward the delightful and unsophisticated. And while our community sometimes surpasses us, we saw a continuing surge of interest in horror, with many of our best sellers bridging the terror of the supernatural and the horror of existing on the margins of capitalist and colonial states. Finally, we'd be remiss not to shout out Margaret Killjoy's "The Sapling Cage," a witchy YA novel that sold four times more copies than any title at our store, in a few short months becoming our second bestselling novel of all time 🤯
Find our complete list of 2024 Bestsellers & Collective Picks at https://firestorm.coop/lists/2024-bestsellers-collective-picks.
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2024-12-15 14:34:09 UTC

"I wouldn't have made it this far without books. In prison, reading is not so much a means of escape as a survival mechanism. Books become tools of diverse purpose within the penitentiary; not only do they combat loneliness, but they are also barriers against isolation. Books will build you up more effectively than any time spent in the yard's weight pit, and the information they impart will protect you far better than a sharpened shiv."
—Lee Doane, as quoted by Victoria Law in "Books Through Bars: Stories From the Prison Books Movement"
Here's a recent photo we snapped of abolitionist titles being modified before being mailed to an individual incarcerated in the Southeast. Because the facility doesn't allow hardbacks, we were asked to strip the covers, which we did as carefully as we could to avoid damaging the integrity of the book spine.
Prisons take a hostile view of even the smallest forms of care and solidarity expressed for those under their control. They outright ban tens of thousands of titles, only allow books from approved retailers (or *only* Amazon), regularly delay delivery by weeks, and, increasingly, want to restrict physical books entirely, forcing prisoners to access e-books. Banning physical books is a way to further squeeze profits out of prisoners while undermining both solidarity from outside and mutual aid within facilities.
Want to make a difference and learn how people are fighting back against prison book bans? You can join Asheville Prison Books today at 1pm for a packaging party at our co-op!
#Abolitionism #FreeThemAll #BookBan #FireToThePrisons #PrisonBookBan #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (- L)
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2024-11-30 21:45:42 UTC

ACME Collective on "breaking the spell" during the Battle of Seattle, 25 years ago today:
"When we smash a window, we aim to destroy the thin veneer of legitimacy that surrounds private property rights. At the same time, we exorcise that set of violent and destructive social relationships which has been imbued in almost everything around us. By “destroying” private property, we convert its limited exchange value into an expanded use value. A storefront window becomes a vent to let some fresh air into the oppressive atmosphere of a retail outlet (at least until the police decide to tear-gas a nearby road blockade). A newspaper box becomes a tool for creating such vents or a small blockade for the reclamation of public space or an object to improve one’s vantage point by standing on it. A dumpster becomes an obstruction to a phalanx of rioting cops and a source of heat and light. A building facade becomes a message board to record brainstorm ideas for a better world.
After N30, many people will never see a shop window or a hammer the same way again. The potential uses of an entire cityscape have increased a thousand-fold. The number of broken windows pales in comparison to the number broken spells — spells cast by a corporate hegemony to lull us into forgetfulness of all the violence committed in the name of private property rights and of all the potential of a society without them. Broken windows can be boarded up (with yet more waste of our forests) and eventually replaced, but the shattering of assumptions will hopefully persist for some time to come."
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/acme-collective-n30-black-bloc-communique
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2024-11-23 13:21:19 UTC

Black Friday Book Swap! ♻️ Bring a book, take a book. Capitalism not required. https://firestorm.coop/events/3300-black-friday-book-swap.html
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2024-10-27 21:17:26 UTC

We're less than two weeks away from the next Rattling the Cages virtual event! Join us on Saturday, November 9th for a conversation between series co-creator Eric King and former political prisoners Jason and Jeremy Hammond. They'll be discussing their experiences as antifascists, the differences between state and federal prisons, and adjusting to life after incarceration.
Learn more about about this event and sign up for free at https://firestorm.coop/events/3278-rattling-the-cages-until-all-are-free.html. Not sure if you can make it? Register anyway and we'll send you a recording of the conversation to stream at your convenience.
#Abolition #PrisonAbolition #MassIncarceration #Hacktivism #PrisonIndustrialComplex #FeministBookstore #FreeHammond #JeremyHammond #Lulzsec #FirestormCoop (- L)
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2024-10-14 13:00:17 UTC

New hours! ⏰ New operations! 📋
Early last week, as more capacity came online for distribution of relief supplies in our neighborhood, we made the decision to begin winding down our own distro operations and shift focus to reopening. This will allow us to serve as a space with resources needed by long term grassroots efforts related to both Hurricane Helene and preexisting challenges within our community.
Beginning today, and continuing for at least the next two weeks, Firestorm will be open to the public every day from 3pm to 7pm. We will also be making our space available outside of those hours for community events and other activities, particularly in relation to disaster relief. If you are part of a grassroots group that needs a warm, welcoming spot for coworking, meeting, or an event, hit us up!
Although we are no longer operating as a distro, Firestorm will continue to maintain a small inventory of supplies for neighbors, and we'll remain an access site for non-potable water from Be Well AVL (@bewellavl). We also plan to offer potable water with support from Distribute Aid (@distributeaid) and help staff the new Mutual Aid Switchboard, created with others in the Mutual Aid Disaster Relief network (@mutualaiddisasterrelief).
#HurricaneHelene #ClimateChange #MutualAidDisasterRelief #MutualAid #QueerSouth #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (- L)
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2024-10-06 21:46:20 UTC

Among other things, Firestorm has been operating as a distribution hub for relief supplies. With roads impassable, these supplies initially came from our homes and the refrigerators or garages of neighbors. On Sunday, the first deliveries—water, food, sanitary products, and baby supplies—arrived in cars and vans driven by folks from South Carolina. No one called ahead (they couldn’t), but somehow we weren’t surprised.
Within a day, our distro was widely known. Elders evacuating with pets brought dog food and a farmer dropped off crates of fresh veggies. Folks living on our street—some of whom we were meeting for the first time—filled bags and offered one another support. The size of deliveries grew from sedans to U-Hauls and individuals from Deaverview and Pisgah View Apartments, public housing close to our co-op, began running loops to acquire necessities for neighbors. Unlike official distribution sites, no one was limiting what people could take, allowing folks to organically extend the supply lines from Firestorm into communities that were otherwise being overlooked.
Running a distro site requires a lot of human power: folks to unload trucks, to organize inventory, to portion and repackage supplies, to restock tables and manage trash, bilingual folks to answer questions and assist with specific needs, and “runners” to fill requests. We’re fortunate to have an incredible group that’s come back day after day; and each day, our systems have gotten a little better.
After some initial confusion (one person asked if *we* were FEMA!), participants clearly understood the idea of a mutual aid hub. Two women who had picked up food and water the day before returned with big boxes of sándwiches de carne, explaining that they wanted to give back. This pattern has repeated, over and over, with individuals taking what they need and contributing what they can. At the same time, we also rely on the distro to meet our own needs for food, water, and other essentials, subverting the binary of aid recipient and provider.
In the words of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, we’ve found ourselves and our community co-creating “solidarity, not charity.” ❤️‍🔥
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2024-10-05 22:00:09 UTC

The morning Hurricane Helene hit Asheville, members of our collective sat in the dark, listening to the howling wind and the crack of huge trees falling all around. When we emerged Friday evening to take stock, a cardboard sign on our co-op’s door read “Community meeting here, Saturday at 2pm. Let’s talk about how we can take care of each other + community.” That first autonomous act by an anonymous neighbor set the stage for the week, with Firestorm becoming a container for other people’s brilliant, beautiful, and generous self-organizing.
About forty people attended the first meeting. Nearly four hundred attended the next one. The gatherings, now a daily anchor, have generated a multitude of connections and volunteer powered projects. Before city officials had finished assessing the damage, community members were sharing supplies, doing wellness checks, and serving hot meals. Over the next few days, things became more organized. Anarchist arborists collected chainsaws and dispatched crews to clear roads for trapped residents; activists mobilized to build long term water distribution systems capable of delivering 6k gallons/day; bike punks offered free repair clinics; a farmer began driving regular water supply loops to Firestorm from a nearby spring; and an enthusiastic DIY-er set up a tent to distribute dry toilets made from affordable materials.
In the midst of this anarchic moment, Firestorm isn’t setting the agenda or directing anyone—we’re offering a space that welcomes independent initiative, we’re supporting the exchange of critical information, and we’re modeling a do-it-ourselves approach that’s responsive, experimental, and human-scale.
Yes, government and NGO aid is now flowing into the region—but the work of caring for one another continues to be done by neighbors, grassroots organizations, small businesses, and activists. It’s done voluntarily, with thousands of autonomous actions synchronized through a shared solidarity. For a brief moment, the logic of the market is suspended, care is given freely, and everyone contributes what they can.
It’s a strange paradox that the utopia we dream of becomes most visible in the dark.
#HurricaneHelene #MutualAid #Anarchism #Cooperativism #MutualAidDisasterRelief #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop
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2024-10-02 22:22:22 UTC

The day after Hurricane Helene hit our region, Buncombe County’s assistant emergency services director called the devastation “biblical.” The phrase has been repeated by other officials and quoted widely in the media. While it’s understandable that a religious reference would resonate in a place that remains deeply impacted by Christianity, the phrase serves more to conceal than illuminate.
A biblical event is divine, a catastrophic exercise of power over humanity, an act of punishment. Appalachia’s “biblical” destruction echos the US Army Corps of Engineers declaration that Hurricane Katrina—which killed 1,392 people, most of them Black and working class—was an “Act of God.” When people with power attribute the suffering of those without power to God, they’re concealing culpability.
The death and destruction in Buncombe County is a direct result of capitalism, and environmental extractivism—a logical extension of colonialism and Appalachia’s two hundred year status as a national sacrifice zone.
One hundred thousand people in Asheville are not lacking water because of God’s wrath.
We’re without water because corporations and the political class have refused to take action on climate change. We’re without water because the city has systematically under-invested in infrastructure, while pumping money into tourism, for five decades. Water problems didn’t start with Helene, they’ve been a regular fact of life in Asheville for years.
Thousands of people in Buncombe County are not without food because of God’s wrath.
We’re without food because hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland in WNC have been converted into overpriced subdivisions. We’re without food because police departments prioritized protecting grocery stores from looters over wellness checks, while 600+ community members were missing.
Natural disasters bring people together, they bring out our best instincts towards altruism, cooperation, and creativity—they should also make us furious. Our suffering is not biblical, it’s distinctively modern, and these leaders are responsible for it.
(Photo credit: Daniel Barlow)
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2024-10-01 14:05:09 UTC

From Southern Appalachia to the Levant, solidarity with peoples facing climate disaster and war!
Colonialism is the root cause.
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2024-09-30 13:48:39 UTC

Cops exist to protect property, not people. We've heard lots of reports of police and federal agents prioritizing corporate interests over search and rescue, wellness checks, and other essential services in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
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2024-09-30 01:37:25 UTC

We're four days into the most significant natural disaster in the recorded history of our region. Our community is experiencing an ongoing crisis created by infrastructural collapse and the profound failure of capitalism to value and sustain life. No state or federal aid has yet reached Asheville, but all around us we're seeing regular people acting autonomously to address immediate needs and meet one another with care. We hope to write soon about the beautiful and resourceful things we've witnessed.
Our co-op is physically intact and our members are accounted for. Although we've fared better than many, we're experiencing this crisis physically and emotionally. We're exhausted, largely without power, water, or internet. Cell service is poor, and when we are able to connect, the volume of information is overwhelming. Right now our priority is supporting and facilitating mutual aid efforts and we ask for your patience as we cannot keep up with emails, texts, and DMs.
Firestorm will continue to act as an in-person resource and information hub over the coming days, with staffing from noon to 4pm. A daily meeting at 2pm serves as a space for neighbors to get verified updates and coordinate mutual aid efforts. Other hubs have arisen organically in other parts of town and we're doing our best to share and connect resources.
If you would like to donate to grassroots recovery efforts, please send funds to our friends at #MutualAidDisasterRelief (https://bit.ly/donatemadr or Venmo @/MutualAidDisasterRelief), who are already on the ground, or local organizers (Venmo @/AppMedSolid or Cash App $Streets1de with "Flood Support" in the memo), who have been caring for our community 365 days/year.
We are not able to process web orders or ship inventory. If you'd like to support our co-op, we enthusiastically welcome book orders through our website, but please understand that we cannot provide an estimate on shipping.
#HurricaneHelene #MutualAid #Asheville #WesternNorthCarolina #FeministBookstore #QueerSouth #FirestormCoop (- L)
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2024-09-20 13:05:19 UTC

It's #PrisonBannedBooksWeek and we're inviting you to learn more about the oversized role that the US's oversized prison system plays in censoring and restricting book access—particularly for low income folks, people of color, queers, and others with criminalized identities.
📕 If you're on Facebook or Instagram, follow our friends at Asheville Prison Books (@avlprisonbooks) and Tranzmission Prison Project (@tranzmissionprisonproject), who are bringing an abolitionist lens to their work on the front lines of prison book access all year long! (Hopefully they'll join Mastodon soon 🥺)
📙 Buy a book from our co-op's Asheville Prison Books wishlist at https://firestorm.coop/ashevilleprisonbooks and an anonymous donor will match your purchase with funds for highly requested titles like legal dictionaries.
📗 Take action by demanding that Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller drop a new rule prohibiting ALL used books at the detention center! Read the top post on @avlprisonbooks's Instagram page for details and a simple call-in script. https://www.instagram.com/p/DAGlicNsCeU/
📘 Check out the article a member of our team wrote for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance at https://sibaweb.com/blogpost/1157249/504370/Banned-Books-Week-Firestorm-Books-Prison-Books-Program about the big impact indies can have when they support the prison book movement.
#PrisonBooks #BannedBooks #BooksNotBans #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (- L)
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2023-12-02 16:41:35 UTC

"When I speak of liberation, it is not to foment yet another social justice project, it is an inclusive and fervent agitation against domination and exploitation of existence, for the liberation of Mother Earth is liberation of all existence."—Klee Benally
We're excited to have copies of "No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred," an essay collection by Diné artist and Indigenous Action Media founder Klee Benally. Grounded in his experiences as an agitator and media maker, informed by family histories and cultural teachings, Benally offers a searing rebuke to settler colonialism, including its progressive and Left-wing manifestations. This is a wide-ranging volume that beautifully weaves together movement history, memoir, hard-won lessons, and (anti-)political provocations!
We encourage you to find "No Spiritual Surrender" on our website at https://firestorm.coop/products/20830-no-spiritual-surrender.html.
#IndigenousAuthors #IndigenousBooks #DefendTheSacred #Anticolonialism #IndigenousAnarchism #Bookstagram #FeministBookstore #KleeBenally #FirestormCoop (- L)
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