BK/NY – Tuesday, August 6th – Black August Card Writing Dinner
WHAT: Black August Card Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, August 6th, 2019
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
Normally we in NYC ABC write these short blurbs announcing our every other week Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinners in a tongue-in-cheek manner. Or perhaps we highlight the good news of an imprisoned comrade being released from prison. With this announcement, that’s not the case. We’ve just lost United Freedom Front political prisoner Tom Manning. Tom died in prison and we cannot emphasize enough that he deserved better. Tom was a mentor and never wavered in his revolutionary principles. Please take the time to read this statement by Ray Luc Levasseur, a former political prisoner and one of Tom’s closest comrades. We are certain that Tom would not want his death to result in the work of supporting political prisoners slowing and so as a collective, we carry on. This week, we will be hosting a Black August card signing.
Statement by Ray Luc Levasseur Regarding Tom Manning
Tom Manning’s death on July 30 has me in the grip of an emotional riptide. I feel like part of me died with him.
Tom was imprisoned at USP-Hazelton, WV at the time of his death. The ostensible cause of death, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, was a heart attack.
I received Tom’s last letter on July 15. He wrote that he was in dire circumstances, his medical needs treated with deliberate indifference, delays in receiving necessary medication, his body weak from lack of oxygen. Supporters scrambled to get a lawyer in to see him, but death arrived first.
Tom battled the Bureau of Prisons criminal negligence of his medical needs for the past 10 years, beginning when he almost died from an untreated knee infection while at USP-Coleman, FL. As a result of that infection, most of his knee was surgically removed and he was wheelchair bound for the rest of his days.
But he was not through fighting.
When he arrived at FMC-Butner, NC for further medical treatment he was kept in solitary confinement under abysmal conditions for 3 years. Much-needed knee and shoulder surgeries were repeatedly delayed until pressure from Tom’s supporters forced the BOP to act. But the surgeries came too late, and combined with the lack of necessary rehab insured that Tom remained in a wheelchair.
Tom always had the warrior spirit, right to his last breath. Many more like him, and the ruling class would tremble. The ache in my heart over his passing will be forever.
In remembrance, I offer words I wrote in 2014 for Tom’s book “For Love and Liberty,” a collection of his paintings:
BK/NY – Tuesday, July 23rd – Birthday Cards for Imprisoned Comrades
WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, July 23rd, 2019
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
The hits just keep on coming! In the last few months, NYC ABC reported on the release of several of the political prisoners we support, and with this event announcement, we can also confirm that Standing Rock 6 water protector prisoner Little Feather has been released to a halfway house! Welcome (halfway) home, Little Feather! Good news, bad news, or no news at all doesn’t keep us from supporting political prisoners in one of the most basic ways–by sending them cards and letters. So we are back with our every-other-week political prisoner letter-writing dinner and this one is sorta special. There are so many upcoming birthdays that we will be hosting a birthday card night and you’re invited. Will there be a cake? Show up to find out! If you can’t make it, but want to play along, check out the NYC ABC political prisoner birthday calendar and send a card from wherever you are.
Illustrated Guide Version 14.5 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. We are thankful to remove Standing Rock 6 prisoner Little Feather (halfway house!).
BK/NY – Tuesday, July 9th – Letter Writing Dinner for Eric King
WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, July 9th, 2019
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
It’s rare we get good news in the political prisoner support world, or even the anarchist world, as you all well know. But recently NYC ABC was thrilled to find out that Eddie Africa, one of the MOVE 9 political prisoners, was released on Friday, June 21st after serving an abominable 40 years in prison. WELCOME HOME EDDIE! You can support the struggle to get parole for the two remaining MOVE 9 prisoners–Chuck and Delbert, via the Abolitionist Law Center. In the meantime, we keep grinding and hosting every-other-week political prisoner letter-writing dinners, and this week is no different.
This week NYC ABC will be writing to anarchist prisoner Eric King, who certainly feeds off of news of fellow political prisoners to keep his fire burning while inside. Eric is a vegan anarchist prisoner serving a 10 year sentence for an attempted firebombing of a 
government official’s office in Kansas City, Missouri in September 2014. Eric was charged with throwing a hammer through a window of the building, followed by two lit Molotov cocktails. The criminal complaint states that both incendiary devices failed to ignite. We encourage folks to send him a card or letter and spread the word about him if not already doing so. More information can be found at supportericking.org.
If for what ever reason you can’t make it out to write Eric in the company of fellow anarchists and vegan food, we hope you’ll still find some time to write to him here:
Eric King # 27090045
USP Atlanta
Post Office Box 150160
Atlanta, Georgia 30315
Illustrated Guide Version 14.4 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. We are thankful to remove MOVE 9 prisoner Eddie Africa (paroled!).
BK/NY – Tuesday, June 25th – Letter Writing Dinner for Chuck and Delbert Africa
WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, June 25th, 2019
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
We in NYC ABC are going to keep it short this time. One by one, the MOVE 9 are coming home! #FACTS. And it’s not due to a benevolent state apparatus, it’s due to folks on the outside busting their asses to make sure the spotlight remains on imprisoned comrades. Eddie was just released, Janine and Janet very recently, and they will all need help getting on their feet and acclimating to a world possibly more fucked up than when they went in. In short, DONATE! And help us keep the pressure on the state and the morale of our comrades high by coming to our every-other-week political prisoner letter-writing dinner. This week we write to the two remaining MOVE 9 political prisoners, Chuck and Delbert Africa.
If for some insane reason you cannot join us Tuesday, please write them from home:
Smart Communications/PA DOC
Charles Sims Africa #AM4975
SCI Dallas
Post Office Box 33028
St Petersburg, Florida 33733
Smart Communications/PA DOC
Delbert Orr Africa #AM4985
SCI Dallas
Post Office Box 33028
St Petersburg, Florida 33733
