These are two audio interviews with US anarchist Ashanti Alston who the WSM have brought to Ireland to speak at the Anarchist bookfair. Ashanti describes himself as a former member of the Black Panther Party and a former soldier in the Black Liberation Army, in connection with which he served 14 years in prison in the US. Today he is an active US anarchist who speaks at events all over North America, giving him a valuable persepective on the state of the movement today.

In part one(30 mins, 15mb mp3) of this two part interview/discussion recorded in Kilmainham, Dublin he talks about his visit to Ireland, the post Seattle anarchist wave in the USA, the formation of Anarchist People Of Color (APOC) the current capitalist crisis and the need to 'seize the moment'.

In part two (50 mins, 18.37 mp3) we go on talk about the US prison - industrial complex, political prisoners in the US, the effect of paranoia on anarchist organising, the election of Obama and finally return once more to the capitalist crisis and its global repercussions.

Thanks to indymedia.ie for hosting the audio, a version of this article was first published there. The direct links to the mp3's are
Part 1 - http://www.indymedia.ie/attachments/mar2009/ashanti1.mp3
Part 2 - http://www.indymedia.ie/attachments/mar2009/ashanti2.mp3