AK Press and Distribution is very important for the extraparliamentary left, on a global scale. They publish books and bring attention to social theory not often encountered. They are also a hub for smaller radical presses, and helps distribution to milieus that care. AK carries all New Compass titles and helps bring them to bookstores in North America and elsewhere.

Now they need your help.

Here is how the AK Press Collective describes their situation:

In the early morning of March 21, the building behind ours caught fire. Two people lost their lives. The fire moved to the mixed-use warehouse building we share with 1984 Printing and 30+ residents. Everyone in our 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 our building, which prohibits us from occupying it. We don't know how long this will last, but it obviously means we can't conduct business as usual.

We know how many of you support what AK Press does and the important role it plays in independent and radical publishing. A lot of you have been asking what is the best way to help us in the midst of this chaos and disruption. In fact, the outpouring of support and mutual aid has been pretty damn amazing. There was a small army of people here helping with clean-up over the weekend, and we've already raised some emergency funds from generous donations via PayPal (thank you!!) while we were working out the logistics of coordinating a larger fund drive.

New Compass encourages all our readers to chip in, however small or big a sum, to help AK Press and Distribution get back on their feet. As these lines are penned, they have already received one sixth of their goal. With your help they will reach it.

Go directly to their Fire Relief fund here.