In the early morning of March 21, the building behind AK Press caught fire. Two people lost their lives. The fire moved to the mixed-use warehouse building AK shares with 1984 Printing and 30+ residents. Everyone in the AK building got out safely, but several units were completely destroyed. There was extensive water and smoke damage to other units, including the ones occupied by AK Press and 1984 Printing.
On the afternoon of March 24th, the City of Oakland red-tagged the building, which prohibits AK from occupying it. AK doesn’t don’t know how long this will last, but it obviously means AK can’t conduct business as usual.
Many of you support what AK Press does. Although many of our readers may not realize it, among many other publications AK also distributes Modern Slavery. A lot of people have been asking what is the best way to help AK in the midst of this disruption. AK reports that already the outpouring of support and mutual aid has been amazing, and AK has raised some emergency funds from donations via PayPal and has organized the coordination of a larger fund drive. Please consider helping out AK.
Fire Relief Fund for AK Press