Anti-Fascist Awareness Event & Training

For Immediate Release:

Contact: Ad-Hoc Committee Against Racism and Fascism,

fight_them_back@riseup.net

"Hammerskin Nation" Racists Will Meet with Opposition

People from All Backgrounds Unite Against White Supremacist Organizations

Portland, Oregon - The Hammerskin Nation, a neo-Nazi skinhead

organization, aims to attract hundreds of hardcore racists to the group's

twentieth-anniversary celebration, to be held October 5 - 7 of this year

in the greater Portland area. The Hammerskins, then known as the

Confederate Hammerskins, began life in 1997 as a Dallas, TX gang

specializing in violence against Jewish people and people of color, sexual

minorities, as well as activists. The Hammerskin Nation-a masthead for

Hammerskin racist skinhead crews-has since gone national, and later

international, with their bigoted agenda. The upcoming Hammerskin Nation

event in Oregon was planned in conjunction with Volksfront, a Portland-led

white supremacist group with links to Kenneth Mieske and Kyle Brewster,

two of the killers of Ethiopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw in a 1988

racially charged crime. Volksfront's short-lived musical division "Upfront

Records" released a benefit CD for Mieske in 2002, and Brewster had his

parole revoked last year after his association with Volksfront was

revealed on the internet. The October Hammerskin Nation gathering is

currently being openly advertised on such Hitler-admiring websites as

stormfront.org

A coalition of Northwest anti-racists has coordinated three days of

community responses to the Hammerskin gathering. On Saturday, September

29, the weekend before "Hammerfest 2007," the events include:

Anti-Fascist Awareness Event & Training

3 PM, September 29 at Room 236, Smith Memorial Center, Portland State

University.

Organizers from the Seattle-based "If You Don't, They Will" grouping will

discuss white supremacist organizing in youth subcultures and in music, as

well as ideas for countering them. This event is free and open to the

public.

Musicians United Against Racism show

8PM, September 29 at The Recyclery, 1417 SE 9th & Madison

Portland hip-hop artists Mic Crenshaw and Santotzin, breakdancers, a

reggae DJ, and punk rock performers will offer cultural responses to

fascism from 8PM onwards this evening.

In addition, the last event at the Red & Black Café's current location

(2138 SE Division)-this Wednesday, September 26-has been designated as a

further night of "Rock Against Racism." Stop by for performances by the

"pirate-punks" of Rum Rebellion, acoustic sounds by The Taxpayers, as well

as other anti-racist acts. The Wednesday event also doubles as a

fundraiser for the Red & Black's securing of new premises.

A community gathering and rally in response to the "Hammerfest" will take

place Saturday, October 6 from 1PM onwards. The gathering will be held in

Lents Park, on the corner of SE 92nd and Holgate. Further details plus

speakers for the event will be announced soon.

Founded this September, the Ad-Hoc Committee Against Racism and Fascism is

dedicated to monitoring and opposing white supremacist groupings in

Portland and beyond. As large neo-Nazi rallies have often been preceded by

attacks on Jewish people and people of color, sexual minorities, as well

as activists, the Ad-Hoc Committee wishes to work with community groups

and people of good conscience who want to respond to fascist mobilization.

The Ad-Hoc Committee pledges to respond to any racist provocations in the

coming weeks. "We also promise to have a better time than the Nazis," says

one Committee member.

To obtain a chronology of recent white supremacist activity in the Pacific

Northwest, or for more information on anti-racist endeavors, please

contact the Ad-Hoc Committee.