BK/NY – Sunday, September 17th – Running Down the Walls
WHAT: Running Down the Walls – 5k Run/Walk/Jog/Bike
WHEN: 2:00-7:00pm, Sunday, September 17th
WHERE: Prospect Park– Lincoln Road/East Lake Drive, east of the Terrace Bridge (see the below map for exact location)
COST: $10 registration (includes food and drinks afterwards)
Every year, prisoners and supporters of political prisoners organize solidarity events with Running Down the Walls. In the last few years, we’ve had runs in Albuquerque (NM), Arcata (CA), Ashland (OR), Bellefonte (PA), Boston (MA), Buffalo (NY), Chico (CA), Denver (CO), Elmore (AL), Inez (KY), Los Angeles (CA), Marion (IL), Minneapolis (MN) New York (NY), USP Navosta (TX), Pelican Bay (CA), Phoenix (AZ), Tucson (AZ), Seattle (WA), and Toronto, Ontario. This year we hope to expand the amount of runs in prisons and other cities, as well as increase the amount of funds raised for community projects. NYC ABC‘s goal with this year’s run is $4,000. You can donate online by going to gumroad.com/nycabc
This year’s run will take place on Sunday, September 17th at 2:00pm in solidarity and conjunction with runs that will take place in cities and prison yards across the country at the same time.
REGISTER AS, OR SPONSOR, A PARTICIPANT
To raise our goal of $4,000, we need your support.
* Promote – print and distribute this poster and/or this flyer to friends and local businesses, your doctor’s office, laundromat, food co-op, wealthy benefactor, et cetera.
* Run/walk/bike/roll in the 5k – We need participants who can run/walk/bike/roll the 5k and are able to collect financial pledges to offer as donations to the run. Download the brochure, complete with registration and sponsor form right here.
* Volunteer for the run – We need folks who are willing to staff a registration/literature table, hand out water, bike the route as street medics, and help chalk the route beforehand.
* Donate online at gumroad.com/nycabc
* Donate to the run/sponsor a participant – If you are not able to attend, but want to support this fundraising effort, please mail donations to:
NYC ABC
Post Office Box 110034
Brooklyn, New York 11211
Your donation of $10 or more entitles you to the celebratory picnic after the event.
Each year, we split proceeds between the Anarchist Black Cross Federation’s Warchest Program and a local organization. This year’s partner group will be the 5 Borough Anti-Repression Committee (5BARC).
The Warchest Program:
The Anarchist Black Cross Federation (ABCF) has initiated a program designed to send monthly checks to those Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War who have been receiving insufficient, little, or no financial support during their imprisonment. The Warchest program was initiated in November 1994. Its purpose is to collect monthly funds from groups and individual supporters, and send that money to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War (PP/POW) via monthly checks. Over the last two decades, the ABCF warchest has dispensed over $85,000 to political prisoners in the United States. Currently, there are 13 imprisoned comrades who receive a monthly stipend as part of the program; they are:
David Gilbert
Hanif Bey
Herman Bell
Jaan Laaman
Jalil Muntaqim
Joseph Bowen
Malik Smith
Oso Blanco
Robert Seth Hayes
Ruchell Magee
Sundiata Acoli
Tom Manning
Xinachtli (FKA Alvaro Luna Hernandez)
For more information, visit: abcf.net/warchest-program
5 Borough Anti-Repression Committee (5BARC):
The 5 Borough Anti-Repression Committee (5BARC) is dedicated to defending NYC #DisruptJ20 defendants who were mass arrested on inauguration day in Washington D.C. while protesting against everything Trump stands for. Each defendant now faces at least 8 felony charges which amount to 75 years in prison. 5BARC aims to build a local coalition of organized supporters who will voice their opposition to these absurd charges. #DISMISSJ20
We will be starting here:
From the Q train, get off at the Prospect Park stop. Walk to Lincoln Road and turn right into the park. We’ll be about 700 feet away.
The event will be one lap around what is known as the Main Loop, and will total five kilometers. For the curious, here’s what it looks like:
If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail us at nycabc at riseup dot net.
See you there!
Illustrated Guide Version 12.7 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.
BK/NY – Tuesday, September 12th – Letter Writing Dinner for Xinachitli
WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, September 12th, 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
Just last month the “left” was in agreement that fighting fascists was a good thing. Apparently, that sentiment was short lived, as centrist liberals and progressives are now taking the same stance as Trump in comparing antifa to the nazis, with their status quo, zero analysis critique of qualifying all “extremism” as bad. Meanwhile, it is antifascists and anarchists who are taking up direct action in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, creating a system of mutual aid while the state proves itself useless to those who are struggling.
Speaking of fighting fascists, this week NYC ABC is focusing on Xinachitli (formerly known as Alvaro Luna Hernandez), a Chicano-Mexicano political prisoner sentenced to 50 years in prison for aggravated assault on a cop when he disarmed a sheriff attempting to shoot him.
This will be our last letter-writing dinner before Running Down the Walls coming up on September 17th in Prospect Park! You can donate at gumroad.com/nycabc. This year’s local beneficiary is the 5 Borough Anti-Repression Committee (5BARC). 5BARC is dedicated to defending NYC #DisruptJ20 defendants who were mass arrested on inauguration day in Washington D.C. while protesting against everything Trump stands for. Each defendant now faces at least 8 felony charges which amount to 75 years in prison. 5BARC aims to build a local coalition of organized supporters who will voice their opposition to these absurd charges. #DISMISSJ20
Deeply impacted by witnessing the murder of one of his friends by a known racist cop, Xinachitli dedicated his life to fighting police brutality, especially as it was manifest against the Chicano community. From 1976 through 1990, Xinachitli was falsely accused of murder (and after public outcry eventually released) and severely beaten by police, all the result of his work to end police brutality in Houston, Texas.
In 1996, Brewster County Sheriff Jack McDaniel came to his house, allegedly to arrest him for robbery. The cop didn’t have an arrest warrant and when Xinachitli, unarmed, questioned the cop’s abuse of power, the cop pulled his gun. Before he could shoot, Xinachitli disarmed the cop without injuring him, and fled. Upon his capture, Xinachitli was found guilty and sentenced to 50 years in prison for the bogus charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Xinachitli is going 15 consecutive years in prolonged solitary confinement in supermax prison, and has been repeatedly denied treatment for life-threatening Hepatitis C.
As Xinachitli would say, La Lucha Continua! The struggle continues!
If you can’t make it out on Tuesday, take a minute to write from home:
Alvaro Luna Hernández #255735
James V Allred Unit
2101 FM 369 North
Iowa Park, Texas 76367
BK/NY – Tuesday, August 29th – Letter Writing Dinner for MOVE 9
WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, August 29th, 2017
COST: Free
It is with heavy hearts that NYC ABC reflects on the recent tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia and the murder of comrade Heather Heyer, may she rest in power. The emboldened fascist “movement” here in the so-called united states is unsurprisingly getting the silent nod of approval from the current president as the police do their duty to protect the fascist state by staying out of it while those of us on the streets are actively fighting against it. As Cornel West said, “we would have been crushed like cockroaches if it were not for the anarchists and the antifascists…they saved our lives, actually. We would have been crushed. And I will never forget that.”
Much love and solidarity to all of our comrades who have been on the front lines (and behind the scenes) actively fighting against these neo-nazi scum. Thinking of all of those who were injured last weekend and wishing them all speedy recoveries. You can find ways to donate to their medical funds by clicking here.
Speaking of fundraising, dust off those running (or walking, or riding, or sitting) shoes for this years Running Down the Walls coming up on September 17th in Prospect Park! This year’s local beneficiary are NYC J20 defendants who are all facing upwards of 75 years in prison for protesting the cheeto masquerading as some kind of man with power.
This week’s letter writing dinner will focus on a group of long time revolutionaries who have endured decades of violent oppression at the hands of the racist state. The MOVE 9 are a family of strong, serious, deeply committed revolutionaries. They are innocent women and men who have been in prison since August 8, 1978, following a massive police attack on them at their home in the Powelton Village neighborhood of Philadelphia. This was seven years before the government dropped a bomb on MOVE, killing 11 people, including 5 babies. You will notice only seven addresses below. That is because the state would rather see our comrades dead than free and allowed both Merle and Phil Africa to die while imprisoned. ¡Presente!
If for some reason you can’t make it out on Tuesday, take a minute to write these folks from home (NOTE: Pennsylvania will ONLY accept mail in plain white envelopes):
Debbie Sims Africa #OO6307
Janet Hollaway Africa #OO6308
Janine Phillips Africa #OO6309
SCI Cambridge Springs
451 Fullerton Avenue
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania 16403-1238
Delbert Orr Africa #AM4985
SCI Dallas
1000 Follies Road
Dallas, Pennsylvania 18612
Michael Davis Africa #AM 4973
Charles Sims Africa #AM4975
SCI Graterford
Post Office Box 244
Graterford, Pennsylvania 19426-0246
Edward Goodman Africa #AM4974
SCI Mahanoy
301 Morea Road
Frackville, Pennsylvania 17932
Illustrated Guide Version 12.6 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.
BK/NY – Tuesday, August 15th – Black August Card Writing Dinner
WHAT: Black August Card Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, August 15th, 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
Hopefully you’ve been training in preparation for Running Down the Walls 2017. The competition will be fierce, the food at the after party will be delicious, and the solidarity with our imprisoned comrades will be infinite. Please take this opportunity to get more folks to sponsor you as a participant and help build the ABCF warchest and the 5 Borough Anti-Repression Committee. As a lead in to this year’s run, we are hosting another of our every other week Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinners. This week, NYC ABC will be hosting a Black August card signing.
Maybe you’ve been working too many hours a week to even notice the full-blown war being waged against you by cops and the ruling class. It is real and it is continuing. And of course there is another war– the war against folks imprisoned for their political beliefs and actions. And here’s where we bridge the two. We will be sending greeting cards to Black revolutionary political prisoners and there’s an easy (too easy? POSSIBLY!) way for you to help. Just come by, eat some food, sign some cards, maybe meet folks you don’t already know, and show some base level solidarity with those behind bars.
Read more…
Running Down the Walls 2017
