Posts Tagged ‘USA’
Call for actions in solidarity with prison rebels in Alabama (USA)
Thursday, March 17th, 2016
“Things here are tense but festive. The C.O. and warden was stabbed… It has nothing to do with overcrowding, but with the practice of locking folks up for profit, control and subjugation. Fires were set, we got control of two cubicles, bust windows. The riot team came, shot gas, locked down, searched the dorms. Five have been shipped and two put in lockup.”
- An inmate at Holman Correctional
This week, prison rebels at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama staged two riots in three days—battling guards, building barricades, stabbing the warden, taking over sections of the prison and setting a guard station on fire. These actions come as no surprise to those who have been paying attention to the crumbling prison system in Alabama and the increasing level of radicalization of the prison population there.
The uprising at Holman, and the conditions of Alabama prisons in general, provide a unique situation in which anarchist solidarity may prove strategic. Historically speaking, successful prison uprisings have often been the result of a degrading prison system (incompetence, understaffing, weak administration) in combination with a high level of prisoner-unity and the development of a strong political subculture within the prison that supports and encourages acts of resistance. These conditions shift the balance of power between prisoners and their captors and allow prisoners more latitude to take bold action. Prison rebels in Alabama report that guards often refuse to enter the cell blocks for months at a time out of fear of attacks. The conditions for rebellion are ripe in the Alabama prison system. (more…)
Tags: Alabama, Holman Correctional Facility (Atmore), Prison Riots, USA
Posted in Prison Struggle
Letter by Jennifer Gann on the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire and Solidarity with FAI-IRF (USA)
Tuesday, March 15th, 2016
Received from blackdiamondprisonersupport:
To all Revolutionary prisoners and Anarchist comrades:
After my imprisonment in 1988 for armed robberies in California, I became politicized through participation in the 1991 Folsom Prison Hunger Strike. After more than a decade in solitary confinement in Pelican Bay SHU, where interacted with members of the Black Guerrila Family (BGF), Aryan Brotherhood (AB), and Mexican Mafia (EME), I had become deeply involved in political struggle with the prison abolition movement. I was convicted for Prisoner Resistance actions in two 1995 attacks on an Associate warden at New Folsom state prison and a Sacramento District Attorney prosecutor in the courthouse, I was beaten and tortured in multiple ‘cell extractions’ by armed teams of pigs. I was sentenced to multiple 25 years-to-life terms in state prison. (more…)
Tags: Black December, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI), Jennifer Gann, Letter, USA
Posted in Prison Struggle
Anarchist comrade Eric King pressed for 10 year prison term for molotov attack against government building (USA)
Tuesday, March 1st, 2016
via Eric’s soli-group:
After almost a year and a half of pre-trial detention in shitty conditions, court battles and other legal woes, and facing threats of forty years in prison, Eric King has finally decided to accept a non-cooperating plea agreement to ten years in federal prison.
If you live nearby, please consider attending Eric’s hearing in Kansas City, MO next Thursday, March 3rd at 1:30p.m. The media and cops are likely to be well-represented, and it would be a meaningful moment to show Eric that he is not alone. Having supporters there may also create some pressure for the court to conduct itself better. It will also be useful to Eric and his support crew to have more people in attendance taking notes and keeping an eye on the proceedings. (more…)
Tags: Eric G. King, Trial, USA
Posted in Prison Struggle
Bloomington, Indiana: Banner drop in solidarity with Fernando Bárcenas (USA)
Thursday, February 18th, 2016
Responding to the call for solidarity with Fernando Bárcenas, we hung a
banner with words of support for our comrade. Fernando is an anarchist
imprisoned by the Mexican state for burning a Coca-Cola tree during a
demonstration against the rise of Metro ticket prices.
We hope that small gestures like these will accumulate and spread,
contributing to an anarchist internationalism that seeks to destroy the
walls of borders and prisons alike.
Against all states, against all prisons!
Solidarity with Fernando and all rebellious prisoners!
Tags: Banner drop, Coca Cola, Fernando Barcenas Castillo, USA
Posted in Prison Struggle
Solidarity with anarchist prisoner Sean Swain (USA)
Sunday, February 7th, 2016
Warren Correctional Institution, not content with merely restricting Sean’s communications with the outside world, has now assigned a lieutenant to read through all printed materials sent to Sean.
Please take a minute to send Sean some reading material. That stack of zines in the bathroom? That one book you’ve had for years but will never read? All those fancy new publications you designed? Send them all! Let’s help Sean (and the fuckweasels who intercept his mail) something to pass the time.
Send reading material to:
Sean Swain #243-205
Warren CI
P.O. Box 120
Lebanon, Ohio 45036
USA
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We receive & transmit:
Bloomington, Indiana (USA): Banner hung in solidarity with Sean Swain
We hung a banner in solidarity with Sean Swain’s struggles against the prison system in Ohio. Despite repeatedly being transferred and having his communications cut off, Sean remains uncompromising in his pursuit of freedom, putting his life on the line in struggle against the state. We keep his words and deeds with us as we carry out our own struggles against prison society.
Fundraising, letters, demonstrations, banners, graffiti, and direct attacks form a bright tapestry of revolutionary solidarity. Let’s always be searching for new ways to break down the isolation of imprisonment and build complicity through the prison walls.
Tags: Banner drop, Bloomington, Indiana, Sean Swain, USA
Posted in Prison Struggle
‘Sedition, Subversion, Sabotage: A Long-War Strategy for the Left’ by William T. Hathaway (USA)
Friday, January 29th, 2016
As the viciousness of capitalism engulfs ever more of us, our yearnings for change are approaching desperation. The system’s current leader, Barack Obama, has shown us that the only change we can believe in is what we ourselves create.
To do that, we need to know what is possible in our times and what isn’t. The bitter probability is that none of us will see a society in which we’d actually want to live. Even the youngest of us will most likely have to endure an increasingly unpleasant form of capitalism. Despite its recurring crises, this system is still too strong, too adaptable, and has too many supporters in all classes for it to be overthrown any time soon. We’re probably not going to be the ones to create a new society.
But we can now lay the groundwork for that, first by exposing the hoax that liberal reforms will lead to basic changes. People need to see that the purpose of liberalism is to defuse discontent with promises of the future and thus prevent mass opposition from coalescing. It diverts potentially revolutionary energy into superficial dead ends. Bernie Sanders’ “long game” campaign is really only a game similar to that of his reformist predecessor, Dennis Kucinich, designed to keep us in the “big tent” of the Democratic Party. Capitalism, although resilient, is willing to change only in ways that shore it up, so before anything truly different can be built, we have to bring it down. (more…)
Tags: Analysis, USA, William T. Hathaway
Posted in Autonomy
“Brain Waves for Peace” – Final Chapter of ‘Radical Peace: People Refusing War’ by William T. Hathaway (USA)
Sunday, January 10th, 2016
Brain Waves for Peace
From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
I was sitting in full lotus, body wrapped in a blanket, mind rapt in deep stillness, breathing lightly, wisps of air curling into the infinite space behind my closed eyes. My mantra had gone beyond sound to become a pulse of light in an emptiness that contained everything.
An electric shock flashed down my spine and through my body. My head snapped back, limbs jerked, a cry burst from my throat. Every muscle in my body contracted ― neck rigid, jaws clenched, forehead tight. Bolts of pain shot through me. I managed to lie down, then noticed I wasn’t breathing ― maybe I was already dead. I groaned and gulped a huge breath, which stirred a whirl of thoughts and images.
Vietnam again: Rotor wind from a hovering helicopter flails the water of a rice paddy while farmers run frantically for cover. Points of fire spark out from a bamboo grove to become dopplered whines past my ears. A plane dives on the grove to release a bomb which tumbles end over end and bursts into an orange globe of napalm. A man in my arms shakes in spasms as his chest gushes blood. (more…)
Tags: Anti-Militarism, Non-violence/pacifism, Radical Peace: People Refusing War, Transcendental Meditation, USA, William T. Hathaway
Posted in Library
‘Refusing the Military’ – Chapter 14 of the book ‘Radical Peace: People Refusing War’ by William T. Hathaway (USA)
Saturday, January 2nd, 2016
Refusing the Military
Healing the Virus of Violence
Chapter 14 of the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
RADICAL PEACE is a collection of reports from antiwar activists, the true stories of their efforts to change our warrior culture. A young Buddhist novice contributed this account, which we then revised together. To protect the people who have protected him, he wishes to be nameless.
Back in high school I’d been good at languages but couldn’t afford to go to college, so I joined the navy for the language training. They have a program where if you pass an aptitude test, they’ll send you to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, for an intensive course that’s worth almost a year of college credit. Plus they have an active-duty education program that offers college courses. I figured after my discharge I could finish my education on the GI Bill, and with my language skills, I could get a job in international business.
The other military branches offer programs like this too, but the navy seemed the best way to stay out of the fighting. I was hoping for a major language like Chinese, Russian, or Spanish, but they assigned me to Pashto, which is spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan. After training, I’d be stationed on a ship in the Arabian Sea monitoring phone calls and radio broadcasts, listening for key words that might give a clue about where the Taliban were, so the planes from the aircraft carriers could bomb them. I didn’t think about this last part, though. I was focused on my future. (more…)
Tags: Anti-Militarism, Non-violence/pacifism, Radical Peace: People Refusing War, USA, War, William T. Hathaway
Posted in Library
‘Peace Chaplain’ – Chapter 13 of the book ‘Radical Peace: People Refusing War’ by William T. Hathaway (USA)
Friday, December 25th, 2015
Peace Chaplain
Chapter 13 of the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
RADICAL PEACE is a collection of reports from antiwar activists, the true stories of their efforts to change our warrior culture. A seminarian contributed this chapter about learning to love her enemies. Because of her activism, she prefers to remain anonymous.
To celebrate Armed Forces Day the military base near my seminary held an open house, a public relations extravaganza to improve their image and boost recruiting. They invited the public in for a marching band parade, a precision flying show, and a sky diving demonstration. They even offered free lemonade and cookies.
A subversive seminarian, namely me, decided to disrupt the festivities and remind people that the military’s job is murder. I bought a jump suit and dyed it orange like the uniforms the prisoners in Guantánamo have to wear. I bought two U-shaped bike locks, three diapers, and a pair of old-people’s rubber underpants.
All suited up, I had a friend drive me onto the base before people started arriving for the celebration. She dropped me off at the traffic circle just inside the main gate, kissed me on the cheek for good luck, and drove back out the gate. In the center of the traffic circle stood a flagpole flying the Stars and Stripes. I ran to the pole, fastened my foot to it with one bike lock and my neck to it with the other — pretty uncomfortable — and started shouting, “Close Guantánamo! No More Abu Ghraibs! Free the Prisoners!” People gawked as they drove by, some laughing like I was part of the show, some waving, some giving me the finger. (more…)
Tags: Anti-Militarism, Anti-War, Non-violence/pacifism, Radical Peace: People Refusing War, USA, William T. Hathaway
Posted in Library
“A Little Bit of So Much Me” : Letter from Casey Brezik (USA)
Saturday, December 19th, 2015
What’s up comrades?! Good to see you’ve taken at least a vague interest in my support site. I appreciate that. Some people might already know who I am, either through correspondence or possibly because they were unfortunate enough to have known me in the past, before I caught this case. Lol. For those of you who don’t know me, or haven’t heard from me in so long, I want to make this post for you. I want to tell you who I am now because, like everyone, I too have grown and matured through time. Hopefully, I’ll continue to do so.
Currently, I’m serving 12 years for a botched/failed assassination attempt on Governor Jay Nixon’s life. I’ll spare the details for my next post. For now, it’s only relevant that I’m serving 85% of those 12 years and will be eligible for parole in November 2020. Five years from now. (more…)
Tags: Casey Brezik, Letter, Missouri, USA
Posted in Prison Struggle
