Press Release

Protest Monday December 27th 2021 FREE ANTUAN! Court Support in Fall River

Monday December 27th 2021 @ 9AM – Fall River District Court: 186 S Main St, Fall River, MA

Come and Support Antuan Castro del Rio at his hearing to have all charges dismissed on Monday in Fall River. He was arrested on several charges at a protest on October 18th in Fall River after objecting to another protestors arrest. He and a group of activists were counterprotesting a Blue Lives Matter, pro-Trump rally held outside city police headquarters at 685 Pleasant Street in Fall River, MA.
His statement from the facebook event page follows, here is a link to it https://fb.me/e/1aHLNQ2D4 . Mr Castro del Rio can be reached by media for comment at Joancaderibe@hotmail.com

Antuan’s statement from facebook Event page – ” The prosecution of Antuan Castro del Rio is a clear example of a Black Lives Matter activist being targeted and jailed by local law enforcement for the crime of protesting. On October 18, 2020, a young Latino activist, Antuan Castro del Rio, was protesting police violence and racism in front of the Fall River police station with a group of Black Lives Matter protesters. The action was a counter protest to supporters of Donald Trump who want arbitrary racist repression directed against Black folks to continue. As usual, the police on the scene saw it as their duty to serve as supporters of the ultra-rightist movement and to victimize supporters of racial justice. An officer on the scene reported that he was “directed to monitor the crowd of BLM/Anti-Police protesters.” And as one might expect, BLM protester Matthew Scott was arrested for doing absolutely nothing! Then Antuan was arrested while objecting to Matthew’s arrest. Antuan was then thrown up against a police car while holding his megaphone and cuffed by police. He was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and vandalizing a police car! His real “crime” was defending free speech and opposing the growth of a fascist movement in this country… The only assaults occurring at the scene that day were carried out by the Fall River police. After his arrest, Antuan was also cited for driving on a suspended license– a totally bogus false charge! What is playing out in Fall River is a familiar pattern. Police coddling fascists and ultra-rightists while jailing supporters of working people and the oppressed. These developments have been playing out in Massachusetts and in states across the country. This case is unfolding in the context of a deep social crisis. The death toll in the US from the coronavirus has far surpassed the total number of US deaths from World War I, World War II, the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined. The depth of this crisis was underscored when fascist lackeys of Trump and Wall Street took over the Capitol in an effort to steal and overturn the election. Fascists have been getting a wider hearing in recent years, have been acting more boldly, and enjoy a high degree of impunity. The ultra-rightist movement seeks to counter the gains of the antiracist movement, vaccination movement, unions, and mobilizations defending women, LGBT folks, migrants, etc. They seek over time to smash the unions, steal elections, and eliminate the right of working people and the oppressed to organize independently. Antuan’s case was yet another prelude to the attempted putsch carried out by the fascist mob at the Capitol on January 6. At the Capitol, a phalanx of police officers defended the building, but were under orders to hold back on the riot response. Imagine if supporters of racial justice, working people, and the oppressed had stormed the Capitol on January 6? The top brass of the security apparatus would have insured that they would have never gotten inside. So little attention has been given to fascist elements occupying leadership responsibilities in the security apparatus! From experiences unfolding, many folks are coming to understand that the police are often fascists in uniform and cannot be relied upon to defend our rights. The case of Antuan Castro del Rio is another example of the police trying to frame up an innocent Latino man for a victimless crime while exercising his free speech rights. It demonstrates yet again the impunity enjoyed by police and ultra-rightists. Let’s unite in solidarity! “

By Patrick Wilson

Last week was the 10th anniversary of when the radio station began broadcasting. It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since this endeavor began. The idea started a little over 10 years ago in the Dewey Square encampment of Occupy Boston. There were several groups of people working on similar projects joining forces to become Occupy Boston Radio, which began broadcasting over the internet on December 10th, 2011. This is also the morning after Occupy Boston was evicted from Dewey Square. The Radio Working Group met at E5 in Chinatown then by the Orpheum. Activate Radio and Activate Media were created in 2013 to serve a larger audience. 

When we started much effort was put into a studio, several in fact. We did not have the funding to support a physical location, and this is where the money allocated to the radio station by Occupy Boston went. 

Running everything remotely has proven to be a good move as we’ve all adapted to some form of remoteness during the epidemic. It has also reduced operating costs to a sustainable level. This has allowed us to operate under the ideals of Occupy Boston for 10 years. 

We currently broadcast about 20 shows a week. Our listenership varies from 5 to 600+ depending on subject matter and promotion, and comes from all over the planet. The station and the shows are produced by and represent a diverse group of marginalized peoples. We do not charge the shows for airtime. 

Of the 20 shows, two of them have been broadcast since the beginnings of the station as Occupy Boston Radio, Veterans For Peace and The Occupied Nation Show. We are always looking for new shows, especially ones produced locally here in Boston. 

The radio station plays a mix of submitted and Creative Commons music with the aim of becoming all submitted music. The process for this at the moment is a little clunky and could use some streamlining. 

As far as the programming goes, we have 1/2hour and 1hour shows from 6-10p and 12-5a mon-fri and 9-12 Sunday mornings. We have slots at the top of the hour through the broadcasting day with the exception of 6-10p and weekends for locally produced news. Where other radio stations play commercials, we place PSA’s, announcements of local events, announcements of our show schedule, station id’s and information of public interest. We are a non-commercial radio station. 

We are not a non-profit organization. As much as we’d like to be, we have never held enough money to be able to become a c3 or c4. We’ve only ever raised the funding needed for direct expenses of the radio station. The web hosting is donated by Left-Click. I cover the stream hosting and all other related expenses currently. 

It’s been a lot of work, sometimes overwhelmingly so. The whole thing has been rebuilt several times. We’ve changed hosts for the website once and the radio streaming host several times. 

10 years later, I’m all about it. I think it represents its intended purposes and has the ability to do a lot more. The only limitation is really in how many people would like to participate. Happy Birthday Occupy Boston Radio/ Activate Radio Activate Media

You can listen to the radio station at activatemedia.org

Current Show Schedule

Democracy Now!        6 pm eastern Monday – Friday

The Occupied Nation Show    7 pm eastern Mondays

CrimethInc    9 pm eastern Mondays

Classic Free School University  7 pm eastern Tuesdays

Talk World Radio       8 pm eastern  Tuesdays

Alternative Radio        9 pm eastern Tuesdays

The Peoples History of Money    10 pm eastern Tuesdays

51%                                    7 pm eastern Wednesdays

Nuclear Hotseat           8 pm eastern Wednesdays

The Wendy Love Edge Show    9 pm eastern Wednesdays

Economic Update         7 pm eastern Thursdays

The Final Straw Radio       8 pm eastern Thursdays

Rev Billy Radio    9 pm eastern Thursdays

Radio EcoShock          7 pm eastern Fridays

Non-Visual Radio                        8 pm eastern Fridays

The Big Picture w/ Melvin Syrie Jr.    9 pm eastern Fridays

The Library                  12 midnight eastern Saturdays

Around the Table with Powerful Women  9 am eastern  Sundays

Veterans for Peace Radio Show   10 am eastern Sundays

Interfaith Voices          11 am eastern Sundays

Latenight on Activate Radio M-F
12- Democracy Now
1- Nuclear Hotseat
2- Occupied Nation
3- Economic Update
4- 51%

All times Eastern

You can listen to the radio station at activatemedia.org