Transcript reproduced with permission by the editors of Contemporary Anarchist Magazine.

Solomon: I am sitting here in Decatur, Georgia with my dog Hando & poet Jimmy Broccoli in my disheveled and semi-claustrophobic downtown apartment living room to discuss Jimmy’s role in the continually evolving
Straight Edge Movement in the United States. Welcome, Jimmy.

Jimmy: Thanks, Solomon. It’s good to be here.

Solomon: And - what the reading audience can’t see is Jimmy has been playing ball with Hando for what? A little over an hour now?

Jimmy: Hando is a good boy. I would have helped you set everything up for the interview, but you have a dog.

Solomon: So you couldn’t be bothered, eh? I see how you are, mate.

Jimmy: You have a lot of great posters on the wall. And, this chair is comfortable and there is a dog sitting on my lap, so all is right with the world.

Solomon: First of all – for the audience who isn’t familiar with the term Straight Edge. What does it mean – or – what does it mean to you?

Jimmy: Straight Edge means no alcohol, no drugs, no casual sex, no tobacco – and for many of us it means vegan. The third one usually elicits a bit of a chuckle – and all of it means I’m rarely first on the list to be invited to the party. It’s militant adherence to clean living. Straight Edge is a subculture within the hardcore punk scene that began in Washington D.C. in the 1980s. From there it spread and became kind of a big deal in the US and in the
United Kingdom, especially, into the early 2000s.

To me, Straight Edge was my way out of over 3 decades of alcoholism. In late 2018, after being an addict for years, I gave up meth & benzos – and it took until this year for me to stop drinking alcohol. I quit smoking in 2019 after 32 years and nowadays I follow a strict nutrition plan and I’m at the gym 5 days a week. I’m still learning what sober people do for fun.

Solomon: Were you attracted to the punk scene from an early age?

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Jimmy: As a teenager I became a fan of the Sex Pistols – that was around 8 or 9 years after Sid Vicious died – so I was kind of after-the-fact punk at first. I was a huge fan of The Smiths - and punk – though a lot harder, of course – in many ways seemed to naturally co-exist with much of what I was listening to at the time. So – my best friend and I started going to local gigs regularly and my love of the mosh pit was born. I’m 5’ 9” – I’m not a big guy - so I got shoved down more than a few times – and there was almost always a hand that reached out to me to help me stand up again. From the outside, mosh pits look violent – and they are – and that is part of the excitement – they are a place to release the built-up anger and the frustrations of life but – when you fall down – there is someone there with a helping hand to lift you up right after you just got kicked in the nose by a fucking combat boot and are bleeding all over the fucking floor.

Solomon: That sounds painful.

Jimmy: Yeah. I usually went home with a few bruises – but at the Jesus and Mary Chair gig – it was wild – especially for a major band show – and it wasn’t even punk. I left with a good number of bruises and was kicked in the face with what felt like a cement block – so it was probably a boot. I bled all over the men’s bathroom floor for the next hour as one of the security guards handed me paper towels with my friend checking in on me every few minutes. I’d tell him I was fine, and he’d return to the show – and then he’d be back a few minutes later to check on me. My friend is like 5’ 5”, so the guys in the pit sometimes wouldn’t hit him so hard – until they realized how hard he shoved back – then they’d shove him as hard as they shoved everybody else. Punk
and other hardcore music is aggressive, and it has something to say – and that was what attracted me to the scene.

Solomon: Were you part of the Straight Edge community at that time?

Jimmy: No – not at all. My friends and I wanted nothing to do with the Straight Edge crowd. At the time they seemed next level. More serious. Angrier, I suppose. We were into fishing at the grocery store parking lot and
scoring beer or Everclear – then going to a gig or a get-together at somebody’s house with a parent or two that didn’t mind a bunch of punk kids hanging out for a while. For those unaware – fishing means you ask people over 21 to buy you alcohol because you’re a minor. At that time, it was easy. Give a frat boy an extra $5 and alcohol would magically appear minutes later. And Everclear will fucking kill you. I don’t recommend it. We usually showed up to the gigs fucked up.

Solomon: Are these good memories?

Jimmy: Yeah – just about all of them are good memories.

Solomon: What does vegan have to do with Straight Edge?

Jimmy: Well – I’ve been vegan for a little over 5 years – so, for me, that came first. I suspect it is the other way around for almost everyone else within the Straight Edge community. Veganism and a strong dedication to animal liberation began in the late 1980s, but didn’t become a major part of the scene until the mid-1990s. That’s when a lot of animal welfare organizations and groups started or became better known – including the ALF – the Animal Liberation Front. The pairing of angry and nonconformist young men and woman and animal liberation somehow made sense – and both movements grew – and they grew together. I became an advocate for animals rights during my late teenage years and was vegetarian for decades. Veganism is much stricter – much more militant than being vegetarian, of course. The way I see it, I care about animals rights and animal welfare – or I don’t. Middle ground doesn’t work well for me. So, I became vegan and embrace it in every
part of my life.

Solomon: How do you view the Straight Edge movement now?

Jimmy: Well – I’m highly disappointed in what it has become. I became Straight Edge because it gave me a term to use, a label – something I could point to and say – “Look – I believe and follow THAT” – and then people
could Google it, if they wanted to.

When I first got sober, I was looking for something to cling to – anything – a life raft for me to hang onto while trying to figure out the sobriety thing. Other than during my hard drug years, I drank a lot of alcohol every night.
Until just a few years ago, it was beer. Then, in 2019, I strangely became allergic and switched to wine. It was an interesting switch – pulling off a half- filled glass of wine at the pool hall is not the image I was looking for – but, I
wasn’t allergic to it, and it was alcohol – so I drank it. And – I drank 2 bottles a night, every night, until I quit drinking earlier this year.

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I couldn’t – and still can’t – find a local Straight Edge group here in Atlanta, so I joined a few of the online communities. I talked to quite a few members and think the movement has gone off the rails if the conversations I’ve had are representative of what is going on now. The general consensus seems to be I shouldn’t claim Straight Edge because I am recently sober. I was told I should wait a year – some told me to wait 2 years – while others don’t think people should use the term for 5 years. And, I was told by just about everyone that being Straight Edge is an individual experience – with next to nobody speaking about community and helping and supporting one another. Going to gigs is social – but the original Straight Edge folks are in their 50s, 60s, & 70s - getting up off the couch and going to the mosh pit show… Yeah – that’s not really happening, with very few exceptions. So, the online discussions and posts mostly center around being bitter, being an individualist, making stickers, hats, t-shirts, and videos that make fun of people who drink alcohol, and all other kinds of embarrassing and unproductive nonsense.

Solomon: If given the chance, what would you change about Straight Edge?

Jimmy: I think Straight Edge needs to continue to embrace its militant stance of clean living – while realizing we are human, and our lives are a process. Just as the fellow punks in the mosh pit did for me and others many years ago, I believe we are here on this earth to uplift one another – to stretch out our hands and offer our support to those who ask for it and need it. Judging those who drink or use drugs isn’t helpful. In March of 2003, wrestler CM Punk stated, “Straightedge means I’m better than you” – and this quote has been quoted hundreds or thousands of times, with pride. The quote is absolute shit – and shouldn’t represent the Straight Edge community.

I think it’s important to keep in mind there are 3 camps of Straight Edge – or, at least that is how I view it. There are those who have never taken a drink of alcohol, never smoked, and have never used drugs – that’s Camp 1. Camp 2 are those who have used, but they aren’t addicts. They can take it or leave it – or drink on special occasions. For these people, they are totally fine drinking – they aren’t getting behind the wheel, they aren’t becoming violent, and they aren’t getting drunk and saying and doing things that are ruining their relationships with others. They quit for other reasons – health being a major one. Then – there are those in Camp 3 – those of us who are former addicts. Addiction is a monster – and fighting monsters is difficult when we are fighting them alone. This is one of the reasons I dislike the viewpoint that Straight Edge is some Lone Wolf individual journey. It doesn’t have to be – and, people are stronger together – including when they are trying to remain sober and drug free.

Solomon: How do you see yourself within the Straight Edge Movement?

Jimmy: Right now, by name only. It’s me declaring “I Am Straight Edge” – and declaring it loudly and proudly. I believe – as a community – we can do and be so much more. Straight Edge has been dying for 19 years – a slow and painful death that many adherents are totally okay with. I am not okay with this death.

Focusing on the former addict population only for a moment – there are many of us who do not turn to religion for sobriety – and AA and similar programs require members to believe (or, at least announce publicly) they are powerless over their addictions - we are not – that is all bullshit. And – countless addicts consider themselves “Recovering”. Using that word doesn’t work for me. I am a “Recovered Alcoholic”, and I am a “Recovered Drug Addict”. That means I’ve already won – it’s a mindset that assumes victory. Now – it’s up to me – with support, ideally – to learn how to live a life of militant sobriety. To live a better life. To be part of the revolution – of clean living, of being kind and loving – to humans and to animals – to support one another during the hard times and to celebrate together during the better times.

Straight Edge should stand for community and for commitment. For this to happen, those within the Straight Edge Movement need to remember it is a “movement” – and movement requires action. We become more firmly
dedicated to our own goals when we help someone else with theirs. Straight Edge needs to be both an online phenomenon and an in-person community consisting of music, philosophy, support, dedication, and bonding. You can be hardcore and kind and empathetic and be a good and loving person – there is no contradiction happening here. Nowadays, just not being an asshole seems to be a revolutionary, rebellious, and hardcore act.

Straight Edge needs to become a community once again. It is only then that it will rise up and become something better than it ever has been. And, I suspect there are enough of us who wish to see that happen - we can
make it happen. I’m certain we can.

Solomon: That sounds like a manifesto or a call to action.

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Jimmy: Haha. I suspect it is. I guess I feel very strongly about it all. To some people, I’m sure it sounds like absolute Ra Ra bullshit. It’s not. And – I think your dog is asleep on my lap. He’s snoring and it’s adorable.

Solomon: Jimmy Broccoli. Poet, librarian, and a new voice for Straight Edge. You are on the cover of the inaugural issue of Contemporary Anarchist – and we didn’t – for one moment talk about anarchy.

Jimmy: Perhaps, it is a topic for a day soon. As long as Hando will be here, and he wants to play fetch.

Solomon: I can make that happen.

Jimmy: Hando is a good boy.

Solomon: Yes he is.