BK/NY – Tuesday, February 14th – Letter-Writing Dinner For Mumia Abu-Jamal
WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, February 14th, 2017
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
This week NYC ABC is happy to announce that we will be joined by a special guest speaker from the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home as we write to Mumia Abu Jamal. Mumia has recently filed a grievance to the officials at SCI Mahanoy regarding the cleanliness and quality of the water at the prison as well as their non-compliance in a court order to treat his hep-c and has asked that folks on the outside participate in a campaign to remedy those issues.
Mumia Abu-Jamal is an African-American writer and journalist, author of six books and hundreds of columns and articles, who has spent the last 30 years on Pennsylvania’s death row and now general population. Mumia was wrongfully convicted and sentenced for the murder of a Philadelphia cop. The demand for a new trial and freedom is supported by heads of state, Nobel laureates, distinguished human rights organizations, scholars, religious leaders, artists, scientists and, as important, millions of folks like you and us. For more information, be sure to visit bringmumiahome.com.
We expect to see you on Tuesday. If you can’t make it, please take the time to write a letter to Mumia:
Mumia Abu-Jamal #AM 8335
SCI Mahanoy
301 Morea Road
Frackville, Pennsylvania 17932
As you prepare to join us on Tuesday in writing letters to Mumia, please take a moment and heed his request with this action alert from the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home Read more…
Action Alert Against Gov Cuomo’s Proposed NYS Visitation Restrictions
We have been made aware of an awful piece of the Governor’s budget proposal that that would affect thousands of folks in New York State (NYS) prisons, including all of the political prisoners in New York who we list in our guide. This call to action has been circulating and we hope that you will take part and pass it along as well:
Governor Cuomo has just proposed to limit visiting at New York State maximum security prisons to three days a week instead of the current seven. If passed, this measure will be awful for David Gilbert, Herman Bell, Seth Hayes, Jalil Muntaqim and thousands of other maximum security prisoners.
This proposal will seriously escalate suffering and family disruption. Under the current seven-day system, weekend visitors (many are women with young children) often wait two to three hours to see their loved ones. With reduced days, the wait will be longer, the visitor rooms more crowded, the visiting days and hours even more limited. This will be terrible for everyone and impossible for many.
BK/NY – Tuesday, January 31st – Letter-Writing Dinner for Nicole Kissane
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, January 31st, 2017
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
In July, 2015, Nicole was indicted under the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA). The indictment cites specific vandalism of fur stores and the liberation of thousands of mink and other fur-bearing animals, claiming that Nicole, along with her co-defendant Joseph Buddenberg, released mink and vandalized businesses that used animal products throughout the summer and fall of 2013; drove over 40,000 miles to free almost 7,000 mink from farms in Iowa, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Minnesota; and did more than $400,000 worth of damage. In early 2016, both signed non-cooperating plea agreements and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Just recently, Nicole was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.
Nicole Kissane #20651-111
MCC San Diego
808 Union Street
San Diego, California 92101
Illustrated Guide Version 12 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 prisoners as well as removes Justin Solondz (halfway house!). Unfortunately, it also includes the addition of recently-imprisoned animal liberation comrade Nicole Kissane and the removal of Christopher Monfort (deceased, REST IN POWER!).
BK/NY – Tuesday, January 17th – Letter-Writing Dinner In Solidarity with the Trans Prisoner Day of Action
WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, January 17th, 2017
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
In honor of the second annual January 22nd Trans Prisoner Day of Action and Solidarity, NYC ABC will be writing letters to anarchist & environmental activist Marius Mason and whistleblower Chelsea Manning. Marius Mason, who initiated the Trans Prisoner Day of Action last year, had this to say about supporting trans prisoners:
Thank you for coming together today, to hold up those members of our community who struggle so hard behind walls to keep their sense of self intact. Sovereignty over our selves, our bodies is essential for any other kind of liberty to be possible. By reaching out to trans prisoners, you affirm their right to define themselves for themselves – and defend them against the overwhelming voices who claim that they do not exist, that they must allow others to define them. In the isolating environment of prison, this is toxic and intimidating, and amounts to the cruelest form of psychological torture. By offering your help and solidarity, you may just save a life. I know that for the last year and a half, as I have struggled to assert myself as a transman, as I have advocated for the relief of appropriate medical care for my gender dysphoria – it has been the gentle and loving reminders of my extended family of supporters who have given me strength and courage to continue. Please join me in offering this help to so many others who need it to keep going. Never underestimate the healing power of a letter, those letters have kept me going…and I want to pass that gift on, if you will help me.
Thank you again for coming together on this day, for connecting to those on the inside who truly need you, who need you to see them as they really are and striving to be. Until the prisons are gone, we need to work hard to support those of us inside – especially those of us who are not always as visible to the rest of the world. We are always stronger together.
Marius Mason
2016
Marius Mason is a revolutionary anarchist, avid community gardener, musician, parent of two, writer, Earth First! Organizer, IWW member, and former volunteer for a free herbal healthcare collective. He was an extended care assistant at a small Cincinnati school when arrested on March 10, 2008 by federal agents. Marius was convicted of involvement with a December, 1999 arson at a Michigan State University office in which GMO research was being conducted and a January, 2000 arson of logging equipment in Mesick, Michigan. Both arsons were claimed by the Earth Liberation Front.
Chelsea Manning is a whistleblower who played an integral role in a massive WikiLeaks release of military documents and files in 2010. This release included video of journalists being murdered, documentation of abuses and torture, and files exposing some of the spying done by the US. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison. This past year has been particularly difficult for Chelsea and she needs all of the love and support she can get.
If you are unable to attend the letter writing dinner, you can write to Marius and Chelsea at:
Marie (Marius) Mason #04672-061
FMC Carswell
Post Office Box 27137
Fort Worth, TX 76127
*Address card/letter to Marius Mason
Chelsea E. Manning 89289
1300 North Warehouse Road
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 66027-2304
Illustrated Guide Version 11.10 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 prisoners as well as removes Maliki Shakur Latine (time served!).