BK/NY – Saturday, March 5th – Hardcore Benefit for NYC ABC
WHAT: Concert
WHEN: 8pm sharp, Saturday, March 5th, 2016
WHERE: AVIV – 496 Morgan Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11222 (directions below)
COST: $8-12, sliding scale
We’re not writing this to get all misty eyed, but there are a couple of things that make us genuinely appreciative– the support of amazing bands and the knowledge that in a world that seems to be in an infinite downward spiral there is still a subculture bound to resistance. On March 5th, come to AVIV, have some fun, and support NYC Anarchist Black Cross & The Base. All funds raised will fund the support of U.S. held political prisoners and the only public anarchist social space in Brooklyn.
The bands playing are:
Mad Diesel (Beatdown Powerviolence, NYHC)
CLAW (Maryland Queer/Vegan/Feminist D-beat)
Lucid Terror (Brooklyn Thrash/Death/Grind)
Miscegenator (Brooklyn Crust Punk)
Folklore (NYC Punk)
BK/NY – Tuesday, March 1st – International Women’s Day Political Prisoner Card Writing Dinner
WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, March 1st, 2016
WHERE: The Base – 1302 Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11221 (directions below)
NOTE: The Base is on the ground floor, is wheelchair accessible, and has a gender neutral toilet.
COST: Free
With International Women’s Day approaching is it important to acknowledge the often forgotten radical history of the day itself, which is steeped in political action and uprisings from anticapitalist women in the early 1900’s. The histories of the day itself, the participation of women in all revolutionary and radical struggles, and how the State incarcerates women are constantly being whitewashed. With fighting that tendency in mind, we will be writing cards to six women political prisoners at this Tuesday’s letter writing dinner.
Please join us to hear about and write to Debbie Africa (MOVE), Janet Africa (MOVE), Janine Africa (MOVE), Chelsea Manning (military whistleblower), Rev. Joy Powell (anti-police violence organizer), and Rebecca Rubin (ELF/ALF).
If for whatever reason you cannot join us, we hope you will still write to them:
Debbie Sims Africa #OO6307
SCI Cambridge Springs
451 Fullerton Avenue
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania 16403
Janet Holloway Africa #OO6308
SCI Cambridge Springs
451 Fullerton Avenue
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania 16403
Janine Phillips Africa #OO6309
SCI Cambridge Springs
451 Fullerton Avenue
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania 16403
Chelsea E. Manning 89289
1300 North Warehouse Road
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 66027-2304
Reverend Joy Powell #07-G-0632
Bedford Hills Correctional Facility
Post Office Box 1000
Bedford Hills, New York 10507-2499
Rebecca Rubin #98290-011
FCI Dublin
5701 8th Street – Camp Parks
Dublin, California 94568
We would also like to remind people that anarchist political prisoner, Eric King was recently denied the request for new counsel and has been placed in the hole after his unit was on lockdown this week. There is a call out to send him postcards and letters to help him during this tumultuous time. We will have postcards available on Tuesday to send to him, but if you will not be joining us we encourage you to send some supporting words his way at:
BK/NY – Saturday, February 27th – The Spaces Between
WHAT: The Spaces Between
WHEN: 7:00pm, Saturday, February 27th, 2016
WHERE: The Base – 1302 Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11221 (directions below)
NOTE: The Base is on the ground floor, is wheelchair accessible, and has a gender neutral toilet.
COST: Free
All too often anarchists in the United States look to places like Oakland or New York for cues of how to get it done, though most of us don’t live in those cities.
This tour features friends from Denver, Colorado and Richmond, Virginia coming to talk about what it looks like for anarchists outside cities with longstanding institutional left bases. We think there is a lot to learn from the less glamorous towns and small cities where anarchists continue fighting in spite of it all. Sharing our experiences of building, failing, rebuilding, fucking it up and sometimes winning, we hope to strike up conversations with friends. Let’s talk community defense work, anti-police struggles, combating gentrification warfare, how not to let the liberals get us down and more.
Illustrated Guide Version 11.1 Now Uploaded!
We’ve finished the latest version of the NYC ABC “Illustrated Guide to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War” and it’s available for viewing (and download) by clicking on the tab at the top of this page. This update includes updated mini-bios, photos, and address changes for several prisoner.
BK/NY – Tuesday, February 16th – Letter Writing Dinner for Joe-Joe Bowen and Muhammad Burton
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, February 16th, 2016
WHERE: The Base – 1302 Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11221 (directions below)
NOTE: The Base is on the ground floor, is wheelchair accessible, and has a gender neutral toilet.
COST: Free
No number of killer pigs thrown in prison will stop the rest from continuing to carry out the racist will of the State. One killer pig being found guilty of murder isn’t going to end the harassment Black people face on a daily basis. This doesn’t end the era of the State ripping apart communities and families as a method of destabilization. The tools of the State sure as shit aren’t going to stop the seemingly endless murder of Black people with police-issue bullets. This is no revelation. The struggle against the State and their armed thugs, as well as the defense of Black communities by the communities themselves is steeped in radical history. Joe-Joe Bowen and Muhammad Burton are a part of this history.
A native of Philadelphia, Joe-Joe was a young member of the “30th and Norris” street gang before his incarceration politicized him. Released in 1971, his outside activism was cut short a week following his release when Joe-Joe was confronted by an officer of the notoriously brutal Philadelphia police department. The police officer was killed in the confrontation, and Bowen fled. After his capture and incarceration, Bowen became a Black Liberation Army combatant, defiant to authorities at every turn. In 1973, Joe-Joe assassinated Holmesberg prison’s warden and deputy warden as well as wounded the guard commander in retaliation for intense repression against Muslim prisoners in the facility. In 1981, Bowen led a six-day standoff with authorities when he and six other captives took 39 hostages at Graterford Prison as a freedom attempt and protest of the prison conditions.
Muhammad Burton was also charged and convicted in the murder of the Holmesburg deputy warden. Muhammad is a member of what was known as the Philly 5, the group of black Philadelphians, including Russell Maroon Shoats, charged in the murder of a cop during a retaliatory attack on a Philly police station in 1970.
If you will not be able to join us this upcoming Tuesday, you can still write to Joe-Joe and Muhammad:
*Address envelope to Joseph Bowen.
*Address envelope to Fred Burton.
BK/NY – Saturday, February 20th – Mark Cook at The Base
WHAT: Mark Cook Speaking Event
WHEN: 7:00pm, Saturday, February 20th, 2016
WHERE: The Base – 1302 Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11221 (directions below)
NOTE: The Base is on the ground floor, is wheelchair accessible, and has a gender neutral toilet.
COST: Free
On Saturday, February 20th, join NYC Anarchist Black Cross as we host a talk with Mark Cook. Cook is a former Black Panther, member of the George Jackson Brigade, and political prisoner. Twenty four years in prison could not break his spirit or commitment to Black liberation and Mark Cook is as active an organizer now as ever. This will be an event worth traveling for, as Cook is only speaking on two dates while on the east coast, before heading back to the Pacific Northwest.
BK/NY – Tuesday, February 2nd – Letter Writing Dinner for Jay Chase
WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016
WHERE: The Base – 1302 Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11221 (directions below)
NOTE: The Base is on the ground floor, is wheelchair accessible, and has a gender neutral toilet.
COST: Free
Jay Chase needs the love and support of our community now more than ever. Next week, the NATO 3 prisoner has a court date for a trial that may lead to him dying in prison. Jay is one of a group of activists who were entrapped by two undercover Chicago cops in 2012 leading up to protests of the NATO summit and found guilty of possession of an incendiary device with the intent to commit arson, possession of an incendiary device with the knowledge that another intended to commit arson and mob action. Jay received the longest sentence of the NATO 3 (8 years) and is the only one still locked up. He is currently facing charges for the alleged battery of a prison guard.
During the 2 years that he was imprisoned before his conviction, Jay was met with the awful diagnosis of Huntington’s disease. Huntington’s is a neurodegenerative disease that affects cognition, muscle coordination, and behavior. Although the disease is incurable, its symptoms are usually treatable to a certain extent through different therapies and medications. Jay has not received any of the proper treatments for this disease. Those who knew Jay before his imprisonment began have already seen the physical decline that is typical with an untreated Huntington’s diagnosis. Severely impaired judgement and impulse control from the disease has compounded the already hostile environment created by the State and its prison system. Jay has written to folks describing brutal beatings that have occurred at the hands of prison guards since the diagnosis of his disease and subsequent filing of new charges. He has also faced punishment in the form of a one year bid in solitary confinement and the loss/restriction of several other privileges. At his last court date in December, Jay arrived to his hearing bruised and swollen. The charges he is facing have a minimum of 3 years if convicted. If he remains in these conditions, he may not have even that long to live.
Jay’s support crew is asking that folks pack the courtroom out for his next pretrial hearing on February 3rd at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse. If you live in Chicago, you should be there. If you know people in Chicago, you should tell them to go. If you will be here in NY on Tuesday night, you should join us in writing letters to Jay.
In the event that you are unable to join us, you can send letters of support to Jay at:
Jared Chase M44710
Pontiac Correctional Center
Post Office Box 99
Pontiac, Illinois 61764
