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<span style="font-size:18px"><strong>PRESS RELEASE: AK PRESS DAMAGED
BY WAREHOUSE FIRE</strong></span><br>
<br>
by Charles Weigl<br>
Oakland, CA<br>
March 25, 2015<br>
<br>
<strong>In the early morning of March 21, the building at that
houses AK Press caught fire.</strong> The blaze began in the
building directly behind the AK Press warehouse, where two
people lost their lives. It moved to the mixed-use building AK Press
shares with 1984 Printing and 30+ residents. Everyone in their
building got out safely, but several units were completely
destroyed. There was extensive water and smoke damage to other
units, including the space occupied by AK Press.<br>
<br>
On the afternoon of March 24th, the City of Oakland red-tagged the
building, which prohibits the publisher from “entering or occupying”
its warehouse.<br>
<br>
AK Press, a collectively owned and worker-run business, was in the
process of announcing celebrations for its 25<sup>th</sup>
anniversary—with parties planned in New York City and Oakland, CA,
in April. The publisher had also just received back from the printer
its most anticipated title of recent years, <em>Octavia’s Brood:
Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements</em>, for
which orders continue to stream in.<br>
<br>
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, friends and supporters of
the press showed up in large numbers (“a small army” according to
the publisher’s web site) to help with clean up. The company was in
the middle of assessing the damage when the city delivered its
red-tag, which will hinder that process considerably.<br>
<br>
<span style="font-size:22px">AK Press has established a fire relief
fund (<a href="http://www.gofundme.com/akpressfire"
target="_blank" style="word-wrap: break-word; font-weight: bold;
text-decoration: none;">http://www.gofundme.com/akpressfire</a>)
that it says will be evenly split three ways between the
publisher, 1984 Printing, and affected residents.</span><br>
<br>
About AK Press <span style="font-size:12px">(taken from <a
href="http://www.akpress.org/about.html" target="_blank"
style="word-wrap: break-word; font-weight: bold;
text-decoration: none;">http://www.akpress.org/about.html</a>)</span>:<br>
<br>
<span style="font-size:14px"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans; line-height:17px">AK
Press is a worker-run collective that publishes and distributes
radical books, visual and audio media, and other mind-altering
material. We're small: seven people who work long hours for
short money, because we believe in what we do. Decisions at AK
Press are made collectively, from what we publish, to what we
distribute and how we structure our labor. All the work, from
sweeping floors to answering phones, is shared. When the
telemarketers call and ask, "who's in charge?" the answer is:
everyone. Our goal isn't profit (although we do have to pay the
rent). Our goal is supplying radical words and images to as many
people as possible. The books and other media we distribute are
published by independent presses, not the corporate giants. We
make them widely available to help you make positive (or, hell,
revolutionary) changes in the world. </span><br>
</span><br>
Contact:<br>
For more information<br>
<br>
Charles Weigl, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:outreach@akpress.org">outreach@akpress.org</a><br>
510-295-4605<br>
<br>
AK Press<br>
674 23<sup>rd</sup> Street<br>
Oakland CA 94612<br>
<br>
<span style="font-size:12px"><span
style="line-height:20.7999992370605px">"We are not in the least
afraid of ruins.... We carry a new world here, in our hearts."
—Buenaventura Durruti</span></span>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
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