STATEMENTS

Personal Statement from Alekx:

I came into the podcast just before Ezra left, and quickly became friends with them. At the time, I didn't know the full story of why they left, and I was new so I didn't really understand the group dynamic. But as I continued collaboration I noticed some problematic patterns and structural issues, but figured part of it was due to a weird transition after losing Ezra. I stayed in contact with them and we would see each other periodically. I felt comfortable with Ezra so I voiced my opinions to them about the white cismale-centric reality of the pod, as well as small power dynamics that I picked up on. They validated my observations, as well as elucidated some of the stressful shit they had to face in a so-called leftist household. When I voiced these things to Justin, he showed a lack of remorse and even voiced feeling like he was wronged because Ezra moved out and left. I found his reaction childish and that of a personal grudge. As time moved on, I tried to be kind and forgiving -- providing chances to Justin because I considered him a close friend and comrade. But some things stuck out, and now I know why they always made me feel weird. He would act entitled and superior to others, say things that showed he didn't think he should face repercussions. He rarely apologized when he did something wrong, unless openly confronted. Even then, he would not take criticism, refused to self-crit unless inconsequential or done performatively, and wouldn't engage in discourse with those of opposing views ever. He would also say incredibly problematic things to me at work because he assumed he could get away with it. He once implied he was an "honorary POC" because his wife is Latinx, he's an ML, and his "bestie" at the time (me) is a POC. Even more disgusting and personal, is that a few weeks at work after I recorded my Women in Vietnam episode, he mindlessly told me, "me love you long time," when he was leaving for work. When I told him that was inappropriate (didn't think I would have to even address this), he didn't apologize or acknowledge it -- he just changed the subject and then left to go home. When I brought up how inappropriate his emotional outburst and emotional abuse to the whole group was, I prepared a message that Talia and Jess read over and said was appropriate. I even backed up my argument with Mao's "Combat Liberalism."

During the meeting he fought, but then acted like he was on the same page as us. The next morning Justin, Erica, and 8-Hop messaged the group and directly called me out, reprimanding me for bringing up an issue, airing my grievances, and speaking out against Justin who has a very patriarchal idea about power and entitlement. He felt he needed constant recognition and praise for his work, minimized others' work and struggles, and bullied Ethan despite the fact that Ethan did as much (if not more) work as Justin. They were, I assume, extra pissed because the person who is supposed to be most quiet called them out on their BS. They said I was weaponizing my identity, not self-criting, using Mao selfishly, and that I was speaking for the group without their consent. They also used the excuse that Justin didn't make any rebuttal to my face while I addressed the behavior in the group because as a "white cismale he has no platform." But truly I think it was because he didn't have his WOC wife and best friend to use like puppets and attack us with, so he waited like a coward until he could text everyone rather than speak in the meeting.

Also, I can't speak about what happened to Ezra, because that is their story to share when they're ready -- but Justin, 8-Hop, and Erica are emotionally abusive predators that I cannot forgive. Thank you for the support everyone. I couldn't have stayed this strong without my friends and comrades.



Personal Statement from Taylor:

Having, in one sense or another, been a part of PRT for the entirety of its existence, this is a hard but necessary move to a better space. My involvement in the pod was originally (and almost entirely) as just a radio voice and researcher. I loved the concept from the get go and wanted to give everything I could, but for long periods of time work schedules kept me from being the member that I wanted to be, seeing as recording typically happened on weekends when brewers/cooks often have to work. From the get go this was a point of contention that never really went away. While 8Hop was given a pass to work often and miss pods it was a sticking point for Justin that finally manifested in unfair criticisms in the blowout, especially when no communication had occurred prior to the blowout. While I always considered my relationship with Justin to be a good one, it’s hard now to look at it as anything other than transactional on his part. Disagreements about direction in the pod and organizing always came from a place of good faith but it always felt like I was an antagonist in Justin’s eyes.

This became most prominent during the initial concept of a commune, then the farm, and finally the brewery: a project that was heavily foisted on my shoulders as the only person with professional brewing experience. At this point the continuing subtle nature of Justin and 8Hop’s desire to not focus on non-men communist history and experiences became more apparent when I suggested we have a meeting and make sure Ezra was present as both a comrade to organize with and a former member of the podcast that helped make it what it was. This was met with hostility, and established the basis for the original blow up. My personal issues with the blow up stem from a massive lack of communication and the resoundingly toxic way it happened, but also the hypocrisy of feeling underappreciated and overworked while expecting another member to shoulder the entire responsibility of a project like a brewery while emotionally manipulating and guilting them to join on board with the project.

The bigger issues with the blow up have to do with the standing disregard for non-men amongst the guilty parties and how that went from a sub-level issue to very surface level issue very quickly. This is where motives become suspect, where the project from Justin’s point of view has to be questioned, where ideology has to be understood. This is where a project goes from revolutionary to profit driven and that’s never what it was supposed to be about. The pointed attacks at comrades both raising valid concerns and just trying to fight for civility was where a line was distinctly crossed. My friends, my comrades, were berated for simply raising issues in a respectful and principled way.

As someone always working towards being a principled ML it’s disheartening to know that there are people who I’ve worked with and trusted that can sway this far from liberatory and revolutionary politics but that is exactly what has happened with a portion of the podcast. Growing, learning, self-criticism- these are all things expected of us as Marxist-Leninists, but these are the things least important to Justin and 8Hop right now, as evidenced by the lashing out at any attempt to address issues within the group. Leftist spaces like what we’ve fostered need to be upstanding examples of what it means to be ML, I will always fight for that, and I hope we all can together.



Personal Statement from Savanah:

I became involved with the podcast after seeing the lack of marginalized voices and perspectives on PRT. I believed this issue to be an oversight and something that group could grow on. As a woman with a background in gender studies I wanted to help the podcast grow and develop, understanding these issues as the result of systemic oppression, much larger than the podcast itself. The issues I personally experienced were having my opinions completely disregarded, and sometimes combatted by Justin, and being frequently interrupted or spoken over during recordings and meetings; generally feeling unable to have any real impact or influence on the group. I often felt like a token to support that PRT was as feminist as they were Marxist-Leninist. To clarify, I do believe there were honest oversights and I have received support from Taylor, Jeremy, William, Alekx and Ethan in addressing inequities within the group through feminist theory workshops and creating content focused on non-men. After speaking with Alekx on these issues, especially around the conflict that arose regarding the brewery idea and Justin's aggressive response to critique including my own, I supported Alekx's plan of having the group discuss Justin's inappropriate behavior with him. The discussion seemed to go well enough and we did receive a very minimalistic apology from Justin, which was enough to restore my faith in the future of PRT.

The next morning I woke up to a group chat started by Erica, 8-Hop, and Justin. Erica and Justin were claiming that Justin was being personally attacked without reason. Their responses to Alekx during the text conversation were disrespectful and aggressive. After Alekx left the conversation, I had attempted, as Alekx had done, to move the conversation offline so it could be discussed in person. I then received aggressive messages from 8-Hop, Erica and Justin. I labeled Justin's aggressive actions in the past and present as abusive. His response was to call me childish and suggest that I was misplacing the abuse I've received from other men throughout my life onto him. After I restated that this conversation was harmful to our friendships and not productive, I left the group chat. I then received a text from Erica claiming that I had weaponized my identity against Justin and put her in an unfair situation. After being aggressive toward me in the group chat and sending this personal message, she added that her love for me will not change. This was an act of emotional manipulation that unfortunately I'm very familiar with and will not tolerate. There is no love or comradery in the type of behavior I received from any of them, including Erica. I did not reply and formally left the group after my partner William received similar, aggressive responses from 8-Hop, Erica, and Justin. William has been their close friend for years and I cannot find redeeming qualities in those who would purposefully harm a dear friend during an argument like this.

I have since learned about the abuses and mistreatment of others by Erica, 8-Hop, and Justin. The actions that occurred during Justin's first blowout over text (originally relating to concerns around the brewery) and the blowout from Erica, Justin, and 8-Hop in the group chat have brought to light a trend of unhealthy and manipulative, if not completely violent, behaviors. The conversations that led to both blowouts were out of concern for our community and project's direction, as well as critiques regarding the lack of space for our marginalized comrades. It became obvious that growth was not an option. For these reasons, and to ensure the safety of marginalized people in our community, I fully support the end of PRT and the creation of a new project built on comradery and the necessity of addressing inequity.



Eilex’s Statement

So. Hello All this is Eilex formally Ezra. To begin I must first preface this by apologizing for my abrupt absence. As I can imagine my leave was not proper nor fully understood by the people that listen to ProlesPod, nor those that created its content. However, I am adding my voice here in order to speak to my absence, the patterns illustrated here and the pain that I have gone through for a long time. I seek to offer up my side of the story. I leave my words now to you all, I just need to highlight the intense isolation that I went through due to this. I have been broken from all of this and I came back not out of the opportunity to defame the very people I previously loved and cared for, but to acknowledge this very pattern prevalent within organizing. I don’t relish this fall of the podcast, nor the calling out of Justin and 8Hop. I hate it, honestly. But if I am to call myself a revolutionary, if I am to fight for the people, I must be able to do difficult things and evaluate and comment on my comrades behavior and my own.

We must, as a collective seeking for freedom from oppression, acknowledge the very power structures we face and know that we must actively be mindful of their existence in everything we do, even in organizing. With that being said here is my point of view and analysis,

I must begin with the winter of 2017. I was beginning to build a relationship with the Proles, particularly with Andrew and Mack (Andrew is from the Youtube channel and Mack has been present in a couple episodes). Andrew mentioned that he wanted to do some kind of podcast that centered around leftist history, but in an entertaining way. This led to drunk history for leftists. Thus this fun idea gave way to the inception of the proles. At the time I was organizing rather frequently and became the head of membership. Organizing meant the world to me and I made many sacrifices in order to maintain the integrity of that organization. My work in that org led me to meeting the proles, specifically Erica, Justin and 8Hop.

Once I grew closer to the Proles, I immediately moved in with Erica, Justin and 8Hop. I had now entangled my life, my organizing, with this family and 8Hop. Therefore, we grew rather close and our friendship was immediate. That is as far as I will go with my personal relationship with them. If they are to ever read this, I want this to state that my personal relationship to them is highly complicated. I acknowledge the vulnerability we all had and the sacrifices they made and the things they did to make me feel a part of their family. However, I also acknowledge that I was also hurt deeply by them and actions they've done while we were together. I won’t go into it, those that need to know, know, but with all relationships we have the power to build each other up or to break each other down and my mental illness and disability and past trauma were definitely targeted and abused.

To continue,

When the podcast began I was completely silent. For all of you that do not share a similar background with me, imagine being in a space with people that share no similar experiences, do not understand your struggles and furthermore, with the instance of Justin, created an environment that was viewed to me as inaccessible. As Justin has mentioned he does have ADHD and I completely understand this notion of inaccessibility since I, too, empathize.What I mean by inaccessible space is how he heighten his place in learning theory and history as being the only line taken and already exhibited his defensiveness against being wrong. With this fake humbleness he tried to acknowledge his downfalls while causing any empathetic person to feel the need to heighten him up. If something didn't go his way and he felt cornered, he would immediately lash out. The space became a place to coddle a child so they may not throw a tantrum. It's funny that no one could yield this against him, but everyone else had to be open to being humiliated or to be wrong. This, I feel, illustrated in the podcast as well when Justin took any opportunity to mock someone, often seen as humorous when it was really bullying.

I was willing to make sure this man felt needed in the space while I found now that I lost the confidence to speak. This lead to a series of episodes, especially in the beginning, where I was either silent the entire time or not even present at all. And the podcast built itself on making a space for white men and their histories. Even so, I was never asked if I wanted to join in on episodes like the first one uploaded when proles switched to a podcast.

I became disheartened and detached from the proles. I felt that I didn't belong in it nor were my thoughts valid since Justin and 8Hop only made it a point to only invite men on the podcast. However a shift accord when the audience began to interact and it became understood that the people that listened to the proles were not mostly white men, but nonmen, people of color, trans people, women, people like me. And I felt, for the first time, that the podcast has the chance to reach marginalized people and make a difference. This led me to become more active in the podcast. At the same time Marxist Center was forming and I felt filled with hope that the two projects that I was involved in were actually leading to revolution.

Then November arrived. Once the Marxist Center was exposed for being the absolute garbage that it is I gave up with organizing at my local organization. I was rather beaten up and upset from my local organization's treatment. Just as Justin is behaving now, they called my actions and anger towards the MC a form of me wielding my "power" and gaining capital. My anger towards white men using their power to defame me and those powerless was seen as a threat and therefore was simply treated as pettiness. I became a Chimosa (gossiper).

I must highlight this and the previous statements that mirror this exact mentality. When a marginalized person speaks out against their mistreatment and are then, in turn, told they are wielding identity politics, it not only shows the guilty party's lack of understand of BASIC superstructures and power dynamics posed by Marx and further writings of people of color and women but also reveals a more sinister plot of utilizing marginalized people as a form of currency, an object. The theory of Intersectionality in Feminist thought, written by Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw, derives from this notion of violence held against intersecting identities for which face institutionalized oppression. And those with empowered identities pushing back against those calling out their oppression. They are seen as exposures of the community-- only seeking to derail. ProlesPod had all opportunities to blossom into something effective and centering the stories of the margins and demonstrated it can be a place of learning and radicalization, but due to the leadership roles and heavy influence of Justin and 8hop in the podcast, episodes and their structure have left holes for which the stories of power struggles are left unsaid. ProlesPod became a way of gaining capital, monetarily and also popularly, and allowed for the dreams of self indulgence and individual success to be fulfilled rather than further revolutionary potential. In basic words, liberal shit.

Therefore, as I grew increasingly depressed as I drew away from the podcast due the mistreatment of the local org. And with that came my incapacity to speak, which led to Justin lashing out and I matching that response. We would fight about my lack of participation, him extracting FREE labor from people and then privately blasting them for not doing so in a timely manner. I realized then that my voice was merely used as a character, a token for which I should not have been put in the position of doing. Since I wasn't performing my role I was immediately punished for it. I had many nights of crying and anger towards Justin for his apathetic behavior to this very crisis I was faced with in the wake of leaving the local org and 8Hops continuous support with a man who belittles him and those supposed to be his comrades.

This festering depression and emptiness lead me to leave. On the day I made the decision I spent the entire day with Erica, Justin and 8Hop. Without going to much detail I left that day completely exhausted and drained. I was given the advice to leave or else I would be completely turned off from organizing. Thus, I sent in my letter. It is true I left for mental health reasons. I was drained, humiliated and hurt in a span of a year and I couldn't continue killing myself for nothing.

I had to leave. I was a single person and I was no match to speak out against the abuse. I would just be seen as I was at my local organization, a person seeking to break down all the hard work because I wasn't getting my way. I was extremely tired, completely dead. I left without an explanation because of that.

Like a coward I left and never looked back. I wanted nothing to do with Proles and I wanted to become completely dead to it. I realized with the conversations with Alekx that not only did nothing change, but the podcast continued to gain popularity as more proles burning out quickly.

I propose that people were burned out so quickly because Proles was never made to be a place for healing and communal support. It was a place to extract labor and to create content and people lost momentum because they weren’t receiving anything in return. You must understand that is what happens when leadership is abusive and utterly dominated by the already dominant voice in society. This podcast is not exempt from the social conditions of this society, even if it sees itself as principled.

I hope this gives some insight into my absence. I am looking forward to the work that I will be proudly a part of that seeks to take those of us that have been beaten, humiliated and stabbed from white men’s dominance and turn that into healing work and revolutionary fervor. Love you all.





Personal statement from William

While I have only recently become regularly involved in PRT, I have known the members of this podcast for years now, which makes this situation that much more difficult. Jeremy, Justin, Ethan, and 8 Hop were all early members of Colorado Springs Socialists, which Taylor and I joined early in our development as leftists. As we were all Marxist-Leninists, we quickly became good friends and comrades. This was a group that I felt had a sincere concern for materially improving the lives of workers, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and all marginalized folks, and I still feel that this is the case for Ethan, Taylor, Jeremy, and of course our other wonderful comrades that we have met since then. This was not the case for Justin and 8 Hop. Instead, I witnessed the continuous silencing of anyone who was not a white, cishet man through ignoring and failing to address concerns, speaking over marginalized voices in the group, and ultimately failing to actively make space for our marginalized comrades to have a say in the direction of the group and the podcast. Furthermore, I witnessed manipulation and emotional abuse as a means to wrest power from the group and place it in Justin’s hands. I personally feel that this was done as a means to misuse podcast donations to start a business for the purpose of personal profit, instead of using those funds to build community and reflect the interests of our patrons. Specifically, Justin and 8 Hop fought to get the rest of us on board with starting a brewery, and responded with hostility when others in the group brought their concerns forward in good faith. Nobody has access to the PRT bank account besides Justin, and allusions have been made by him to having an empty bank account. To me, the combination of these behaviors and the lack of transparency are suspicious.

While I appreciate the amount of work that went into making that vision a material reality, Justin’s behavior has had multiple intended consequences. Those consequences include erasing the incredible amount of work Ethan contributed since the project’s conception, ignoring all of the hard work that Eilex put in before and that Alekx put in since their joining, and wresting democratic decision-making from the group in favor of unilateral control for personal gain. We tried multiple times to have a discussion on reallocating the workload—despite the fact that multiple members contribute—but Justin continuously refused to engage with the group in good faith, and instead chose to avoid us and refused to apologize or concede wrongdoing. Justin’s failure to engage in these conversations has continuously been used to prevent the needed structural changes from being made and to belittle the work that group members have contributed.

In recent days, this trend of abuse and the twisting of narratives has continued. We held an impromptu meeting to discuss Mao’s Combat Liberalism and to approach the way responsibility has been avoided. The conversation seemed to go better than expected, and although a true resolution was not made, it seemed like a step in the right direction. The next morning, Justin, Erica, and 8 Hop created a group chat in which they argued that our concerns with feminism, mental health, etc. were weaponized and used to attack Justin. They claimed that Alekx was trying to force Justin out when it was clear that Alekx would remove themselves if the issues of communication and manipulation were not resolved. Savanah and myself were also attacked, and the conversation ultimately ended in the split you all just witnessed.

There are a lot of things that make this situation painful for me. The first is the betrayal of a revolutionary commitment to social justice. The ostracism of marginalized people is directly contrary to what Justin and 8 Hop have continuously preached. It is only worse that those marginalized people were said to be close friends. Failing to communicate workload needs and then attacking them for not doing enough (when those who were attacked were already doing what they could, and when they could not have known that additional work needed to be done) is emotional manipulation, and is absolutely not what I expected from people who claim to be comrades. Taking our honest concerns about organizing in bad faith and acting like we are attacking them is dishonest. Constantly avoiding our attempts to address their grievances and then claiming that Justin is being attacked when we force him into a situation in which he has to communicate is yet another form of manipulation. I am appalled by the fact that close “friends” and “comrades” can act with such utter disregard for the people who surround them, and I am hurt that they would throw away years-long friendships to push their own agenda. This behavior is exactly the opposite of how communists, especially principled Marxist-Lenininsts should act. It would be a disservice to all of our community members to allow this abusive behavior to exist in our community.



Personal statement from Jess:

Justin was someone I once considered a friend and a comrade. But the way that he has tried to weaponize my experience with abuse for his own defense in the wake of things is frankly disgusting, and reflective of the pattern of behavior that he refused to address that has landed us in this position. In addition to this, he has used my fundraiser to move out of an abusive situation as a scapegoat for missing donations. $320 was donated to that fundraiser, but he is claiming I received $1000, effectively footing me with $680 of missing donation money. I don't have the energy to detail how triggering it is to have an experience so painful to me used to paint Justin as some savior of mine that deserves recognition. And then to pin missing money on me on top of it. This is not the behavior of a comrade or a friend.

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Thank you for reading all of this. We’re all heartbroken at how this all happened, but ultimately it’s a good thing to come to light. As Marxists, we believe that conflict is how injustice is resolved, and we hope to resolve some of the injustice that has occurred here.

Solidarity forever.

Alekx, Eilex/Ezra, Ethan, Jess, Savanah, William, Taylor

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There is an archive of the episodes (main feed as well as patreon) here.