Logo of publishing house PM Press – Public Domain

I’ve read dozens of books published by PM Press since its inception a couple decades ago. I’ve reviewed a good number of the ones I’ve read. In that time, I’ve grown to respect their continuity, their politics, their books, and their approach to publishing. Consistently radical and non-sectarian, the books they have published represent the wide spectrum of viewpoints present in the contemporary anarchist and leftist milieu. Naturally, not every viewpoint on the Left is represented on the PM bookshelf, but those that are represented are treated seriously. In fact, some of those viewpoints aren’t found in other publishers’ catalogs.

According to the publisher’s website, PM (which might stand for “printed matter”, according to those who work there) operated out of people’s living spaces when it first began. As it grew, it searched for affordable quarters to house its stock and perform its daily operations. This constant search for space is part of its move a few years ago to Binghamton, NY from California. Financially able to get a loan, PM put its money down on a warehouse space in this old once-upon-a-time industrial city in central New York State, moving its entire operation east. It also joined in to purchase a book store in the college town of Ithaca, NY—home of Cornell University and the considerably smaller Ithaca College. Ithaca itself has a bit of a cultural and political history that’s somewhat unique in the open and lightly populated part of New York it is located in. A good friend of mine ran a coffeehouse in its small downtown in the 1970s; she took over the task from the previous manager who moved out west. Cornell University was the site of some of the most militant protests against the US war in Vietnam and for Black studies and liberation. More recently, it was the site of a crackdown on anti-occupation protesters protesting the genocide in Gaza in spring 2024. Like much of what New Yorkers call upstate, the area around Binghamton and Ithaca is more conservative than the place most people think of when they hear New York—New York City.

Given PM Press’s constant search for a better space for its operations, it is not surprising that it opened up both of its New York spaces to community events. Since then it has hosted the Northeast Anarchist Book Fair in its Binghamton warehouse. Readings and other such events take place in the Ithaca bookstore Autumn Leaves on a regular basis. The plan is to increase the number of community events in both places, thereby making the PM spaces available to left and anarchist cultural and political groups and gatherings. As someone who has watched the number of spaces in libraries and other public buildings open to community groups dwindle over the past decades, this is a hopeful sign. It’s also an annoying reminder of the role profit and private property can play in stifling the voices of those whose politics exist in opposition to the mainstream. This truth reveals itself more and more each day; the privatization of public space makes endeavors such as PM’s necessary if we are to organize against the very entity we pay the mortgage to.

About that mortgage. PM Press has a consequential moment coming up in 2026. The terms of their low-interest mortgage change drastically. In order to avoid paying a considerably higher interest rate—a rate that would affect their operations in substantial ways—PM is conducting a fund drive. A friend of mine asked me why we should help pay PM’s mortgage and I forwarded their question to PM’s Ramsey Kanaan. He responded: (firstly) PM Press is part of the ecology of Left media…both as a publisher, and as a distributor and (secondly), If the Left is to have any long-term impact, it needs to have viable institutions. Much of said viability, particularly in this age of neo-liberalism, is based on owning, if not the means of production, at least the means of dissemination. In our case, it’s the warehouse (and hopefully later the bookstore – but that’s for down the road). In any way, its predicated on owning property (for better or worse) and (lastly) the warehouse is (even) more than ‘just’ a means of the distribution of ideas. It’s also a community space and hub, which, amongst other things, hosts the annual Upstate Anarchist Bookfair every Mayday weekend, provides the space for the Binghamton ‘backpacks for kids’ every August – to provide low-income kids with school supplies, and has hosted numerous events from Drag Shows to radical martial arts trainings – and as such, like some of the best spaces, itself provides that gateway to radical ideas, and a place where those ideas can be actively interacted with. As in, we’re trying to cement (pun somewhat intended) viable institutions that will actually last.

Kanaan’s response reminded me of a story counterculture clown and activist Wavy Gravy used to tell about a piece of communal land in Norton, Vermont that was known as Earth People’s Park until the feds confiscated it after busting some bikers growing weed there. The story involved some paperwork required to originally purchase the land. Even though it was owned by no one (and everyone), the banks and legal folks insisted someone had to put their name on the documents, so Wavy and another person or two put their signatures on the papers. Let me paraphrase here: “It’s like they couldn’t conceive of people being on a piece of land without one of them owning it,” Wavy would comment. “In the land of capital, it’s like nothing exists until it has a price put on it.” This reality is even truer today.

If PM’s fundraising is successful, it would pretty much guarantee its ability to continue its incredible publishing venture while also expanding its ability to serve as a place for regional events for the community it represents, communicates with and is part of. Why? Because for now community spaces will continue to be privatized and, if those on the left want to have any space it will have to be from a friendly entity who has their name on the deed.

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