Remembering Joshua Gannon-Salomon

 In March of 2017, I found myself (somewhat reluctantly and skeptically) standing on the south lawn of the RI State House participating in antifascist organizing for the 3rd time in my life. The first was in high school, the 2nd was in college. This 3rd time, I was 34, married and working a corporate job. I had met a few people who seemed cool and wanted to see for myself how bad Trumpism was going to be. I also wanted to see what the left looked like after being away from activism for a decade. As the crowd sectioned off into the two now all too familiar camps for that first time, I spotted a scruffy young man in hippy clothes with a mandolin making his way through the pro-Trump crowd up onto the steps of the statehouse. He greeted the MAGA-folk politely yet when they recited the pledge of allegiance, he just stood there smiling. He then walked over to the rally leaders and asked if he could perform "a quick patriotic song." They obliged him and he approached the mic. 

"I believe that deep in the core of every good American.... IS THE HEART OF AN ANARCHIST!"

He immediately launched into a blistering acoustic version of "Anarchy in the UK" by the Sex Pistols and got part of the way through the 2nd verse before having the mic cut off on him. When the rally leaders asked him to leave the steps he politely declined and stood there next to them on the steps for the duration of the event much to their dismay. 

"This motherfucker is hilarious and has giant brass balls" I said to myself, "I wanna be this dude's friend"

This is how I met Joshua Gannon Salomon.

As the rally ended he came up to me and our mutual friend, Remi. We hadn't met yet be he said "Hey" to me like he already knew who I was. I told him how awesome I thought his impromptu performance had been. He was so humble yet he had just single-handedly derailed the largest far-right political event Rhode Island had seen in our lifetimes without iota of force. We goofed around Kennedy Plaza taking pictures with discarded protest signs. Then the three of us went to get Mexican food for lunch. This was the beginning of an enduring casual friendship and a fruitful activist collaboration.

Josh and I were both music majors who never quite found our niche in "the industry". It was clear from the start that we both shared a passion for the arts, history and anarchism. 

Josh's anarchism was the joyous anarchism Emma Goldman wrote of (and is often paraphrased/misquoted). In meetings, he always gravitated towards modes of praxis that involved culture and soft power. It was important to him that antifascism be fun both for optics externally and morale internally. His politics, his art, his lifestyle and his spirituality were all informed and interconnected by his joie de vivre. To quote Goldman:

 "I did not believe that a Cause which stood for a beautiful ideal, for anarchism, for release and freedom from conventions and prejudice, should demand the denial of life and joy..... I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everyboy's right to beautiful, radiant things." Anarchism meant that to me, and I would live it in spite of the whole world--prisons, persecution, everything. Yes, even in spite of the condemnation of my own comrades I would live my beautiful ideal."

Josh lived in a world full of beautiful, radiant things which he curated and shared with everyone he could. He lived his own beautiful ideal. His example deepened my own understanding of anarchism and challenged me to be a better, more well-rounded, more complete anarchist. His caring, earnestness and indefatigable optimism helped all of us stay grounded and make good decisions when dealing with the ugliness of the far-right or the fear of state repression both personally and strategically.

When our working group needed at national delegate, I reached out to Josh. He was hesitant as coalition work was not his strength. He agreed nonetheless after I pointed out that it would keep our local in good standing and help me avoid potential conflicts of interest while serving as national secretary. He did a good job. Despite his happy-go-lucky nature, he always took the work seriously.

Josh didn't have a mean bone in his body but I did watch him put his body on the line multiple times during de-platforming actions against the far right. He once took a punch that made him bleed and broke his glasses but refused to hit back because he knew the retaliation wasn't worth the risk to the group and our mission. I don't think I would have been able to do the same if it had been me. He took community defense seriously (he even bought a gun!) and he cared deeply about marginalized peoples. He was so brave and so loyal. Bard is Combat Class and Josh proved it on more than one occasion.

Though we never got to play together, I followed Josh's music career with great interest. Over the years, I watched him take The Kings Busketeers from an informal thing him and his friends did at ren-faires for fun to an in-demand regional act that often dwarfed whatever I had going on in the local bar/nightclub scene commercially. One year, the Busketeers played my local pub after the St Patrick's Day parade. Josh was an impressive musician and showman. His acumen was unique; cobbled together from his classical training, his deep knowledge of folk music and lots of shoe-leather on the renfaire circuit and protests. Though he wasn't trained for it at all, he fronted and led his band as confidently and adeptly as any rock singer or jazz saxophonist around. He sang all the leads, took all the solos and did the majority of the crowdwork.

The last time I saw Josh in person was toward the end of the lockdown. Though he and his loved ones were quarantined, he agreed to meet me in his driveway so that I could give him an IFAK. We talked for awhile and caught up. Though I was initially concerned he would be having a rough time without gigs and renfaire, he seemed to be doing better than ever. He was an early adopter of TikTok and was able to make up for the Busketeers lost business by monetizing his musical and leftist microcontent. I left him to go back to his weekend of cooking and board games with his family.

Also, there was this one time I went to the food trucks at India Pt. Park with my wife and Josh was there dressed up as a pirate carrying a full-sized jolly roger flag....just cause he felt like it. 

Sweet, beautiful, gentle Josh. He was the best friend and comrade you could ask for. He was perhaps the most genuine person I've ever known. Mother Anarchy may love all her children but none are nestled more snugly in her bosom than he.