Updates on George Floyd Protests, Riots, Repression, and Reaction

  • June 2, 2020 3:01 am

from Instagram

Today the cops and the racists waged war. A very unrowdy, chill march had a deluge of teargas leveled at them by the hands of state and city police agents from both the ground and helicopter as they tried to disperse. If you don’t know your history, in 1985 the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a bomb via helicopter on a residential block of West Philadelphia then shot people trying to flee the ensuing fire, murdering 11 MOVE members and burning down 61 homes. Helicopters and weapons targeting us here, that’s a trauma that hits HARD.

To make things more terrifying today, bands of white people were encouraged by the PPD to arm themselves and patrol the streets, beating the hell out of a number of folks with baseball bats, and then congratulated by the police. We did our best to support who we could, and will continue, but the horror of today was beyond words… #georgefloyd #blacklivesmatter

from Instagram

Another day of Philadelphia Uprising. People are still standing off across Philadelphia. In west philly police tear gassed the surrounding neighborhood of 42nd and market so we made this guide about tear gas. Send this to all your west philly friends. Love and Rage. .

from Twitter

After hearing several reports that Philly cops were “warning” white residents that “antifa is coming”, about 50 – 150 all white men gathered around Girard and Berks and started heading west down Girard. At least three reported by assaults by them.
This guy attacked street medics who were helping another person they attacked.
Some footage of them marching down Girard. They are being protected by Philly police, who seem to have intentionally instigated their violence
Please share more pics and videos if you have them. Make sure your comrades and loved ones are aware. As always, it’s on us to defend ourselves from violent white supremacists.

Letter Writing to Marius Mason (5/25)

  • May 19, 2020 11:39 am

from Philly ABC

Our letter writing event for this month will be for Marius Mason, who has unfortunately been recently diagnosed with COVID-19 and will be fighting the virus from behind bars. Marius was chosen both because of his diagnosis and also because of the fast-approaching June 11th International Day of Solidarity with Marius and all long-term Anarchist prisoners.

The event will be held on May 25th at 6:30 PM. Due to COVID-19, this event will be held online using the secure open source video conferencing platform, Jitsi. Privacy is encouraged – no one is expected to share their camera. The meeting details will be posted here a day before the event.

Background: Marius Mason is a transgender, environmental and animal rights activist. In 1999, in the name of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) he set fire to a lab at the University of Michigan that was conducting research on genetically modified organisms (GMO).  After Marius’ husband turned states-evidence, Marius was threatened with a life sentence for the arson and other acts of sabotage. With little financial stability and fear of dragging his family into a costly legal battle, Marius pled guilty and was given an extreme sentence of nearly 22 years. No one was ever harmed in any of his actions.

Marius lived and worked in the Detroit area for most of his life. Like the late Earth First! (EF!) organizer, Judi Bari, he was part of a generation of radicals who worked to link the environmental and labor movements, and was jointly active in both EF! and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). It was this alliance which led to the initial success of the anti-globalization movement such as at the 1999 anti-WTO demonstration in Seattle. Mason was an editor of the Industrial Worker, the IWW newspaper, and a musician who recorded a neo-folk album, Not For Profit, with fellow EF!er Darryl Cherney in 1999. He also worked with numerous political as well as traditional charity groups.

If you are unable to join us on Jitsi, please send Marius a letter anyways:

Marie (Marius) Mason #04672-061

FCI Danbury

Route 37

Danbury, CT 06811

United States

Letter-writing to Joy Powell (4/27)

  • April 25, 2020 12:25 am

from Philly ABC

Support for political prisoners doesn’t stop during a pandemic; in fact it only intensifies as prisoners are in extremely dangerous conditions without the ability to socially distance or access to protective supplies. On top of that, staff members have been deliberately defying CDC guidelines endangering prisoners by coughing without covering their mouth, etc. Please join us this Monday April 27th for our monthly letter-writing event at 6:30pm. Due to COVID-19, this event will be held online using the secure open source video conferencing platform, Jitsi. Privacy is encouraged – no one is expected to share their camera. We’ll update this post with the meet link, and announce it on social media the day of the event.

This month we are writing to Joy Powell. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Joy has contracted COVID-19 inside Bedford Hills Prison. She is in quarantine, fighting the virus, but we are concerned because she has the underlying conditions of both asthma and diabetes. Prior to testing positive for the virus, she wrote a letter to Governor Cuomo asking him for clemency due to her age and preexisting conditions making her more vulnerable to complications.

Background:
As a pastor and a consistent activist against police brutality, violence and oppression in her community, Rev. Joy Powell was warned by the Rochester Police department that she was a target because of her speaking out against corruption. On many occasions Rev. Joy had held rallies and spoke out against the police brutality and “police justifications” in Rochester NY through her organization ‘Equality and Justice for All.’ Later, Rev. Joy was accused and convicted of 1st Degree Burglary and Assault and subjected to an unfair trial.

An all white jury tried her; the state provided no evidence and no eyewitnesses. Rev. Joy was not allowed to discuss her activism or say that she was a pastor. The person that testified for her was not allowed to tell the court that he knew Rev. Joy through their activist work and through the church. Furthermore, judge Francis Affronti promised he was going to give her a harsh sentence because he did not like her. She was sentenced to 16 years and seven years concurrent. After this conviction, herself and others were charged with a cold murder case. After her codefendent was acquitted, Joy was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. She maintains her innocence and has appealed the conviction because evidence has been withheld from her defense team to this day.

If you are unable to join us on Jitsi, please send Joy a letter anyways:

Rev. Joy Powell #07-g-0632
Bedford Hills Correctional Facility
P.O. Box 1000
Bedford Hills, NY 10507-2499

Philly ABC Events Postponed

  • March 14, 2020 9:31 pm

from Twitter

We are postponing the Legacy Ball and this month’s letter writing. Please go to prisonersolidarity.com/ and write someone, strike a conversation and make a friend. We will announce a new date for the show when things settle down 💓🏴💌
Image

January Letter Writing: Michael Kimble!

  • January 20, 2020 11:23 pm

from Facebook


Join us once again for monthly letter-writing to either strike up correspondence with someone new or keep up your correspondence with an existing penpal in prison.

When: Monday, January 27th, 6:30-8:30pm

Where: A-Space, 4722 Baltimore Ave.

January’s letter writing is in support of Michael Kimble who is a Black, gay anarchist serving a life sentence for the murder of a white, homophobic, racist bigot. He was recently placed in segregation at Holman Correctional, in Alabama, for coming to the defense of a fellow prisoner who was being beaten by guards. He is urgently asking for support in attaining transfer to a new facility.

Michael has been politically active behind bars for many years, in particular helping agitate for the 2016 national prison strike, which made waves across the country and largely started as the brainchild of prison rebels at Holman. He is also the author of several zines, and his writing can be found at anarchylive.noblogs.org.

We will also send birthday cards to political prisoners with birthdays in January.
We will have snacks and stamps and all the supplies. Bring yourself, bring a friend!

Winter Solstice Card Party for Political Prisoners

  • December 17, 2019 12:16 am

from Philly ABC

Join Philly Anarchist Black Cross for a Winter Solstice Card Party on Monday, 12/23, 6:30pm-8:30pm, at A-Space! (4722 Baltimore Ave)

We will send cards and warm wishes to our friends and comrades inside. Maintaining and building relationships with them is the crux of what we do, so we will be sending cards to U.S.-held PPs and POWs. Light refreshments will be provided and folks are welcome to come use the time as a regularly scheduled time to correspond with current penpals inside prison as well.

We will also be mailing birthday cards to those who have birthdays in January: Fran Thompson (3rd), Jeremy Hammond (8th), Abdul Azeez (9th), Sundiata Acoli (13th), Joseph “Joe-Joe” Bowen (15th), and Marius Mason (25th),

Benefit Show!

  • December 6, 2019 12:12 am

from Facebook

Trendgender
Kahlil Ali
Cranes are Flying
Gait
Yoshi sun

Doors at 7:30
$5-$10 suggested donation benefitting Occupy PHA and Philly Anarchist Black Cross

[December 13 7:30-11PM at Gilbert’s Shoes 1652 Ridge Ave]

Monday, 11/25: Letter-writing for Black Liberation Prisoner Russell Maroon Shoatz

  • November 18, 2019 11:59 pm

from Philly ABC

Join us once again for monthly letter-writing to either strike up correspondence with someone new or keep up your correspondence with an existing penpal in prison.

When: Monday, November 25th, 6:30-8:30pm

Where: A-Space, 4722 Baltimore Ave.

Bring only yourself or friends and comrades. All letter-writing supplies and snacks are provided.

This month we will be sending letters to Russell Maroon Shoatz. Maroon is serving life in prison after being charged with four other known Black Panther Party members for an attack on a police station, committed by unknown persons presumably in retaliation for Frank Rizzo’s persecution of the BPP and tensions arising from police brutality and police killings of Black youth.  Maroon has not wavered in his commitment to Black liberation and community involvement despite almost 22 years in solitary confinement before he was transferred into general population in 2014 after a lawsuit filed on his behalf.

Earlier this year, Maroon experienced some health issues resulting in a lengthy stay in the infirmary and an operation that revealed Stage 4 colorectal cancer. He has since been transferred to the medical facility at SCI Fayette for chemotherapy. This facility is further from family and loved ones, so we’ll send him some extra mail and also will be co-hosting the upcoming December 7th Healing and Justice fundraiser to support him as well as Dr. Mutulu Shakur, the inspiration for the annual H&J events held all over North America.

We will also send birthday cards to political prisoners with birthdays in December: Muhammad Burton (the 15th), Chelsea Manning (the 17th), and Casey Brezik (the 29th).

Monday, October 28th: Open Letter-writing

  • October 27, 2019 3:38 am

from Philly ABC

When: Monday, October 28th; 6:30-8:30 pm

Where: A-Space, 4722 Baltimore Avenue

Join us as we mail our 2019 Running Down the Walls reportback to US held political prisoners. Mailing prisoners news about events a few times a year keeps them in the loop with outside organizing. If you have been wanting to become a penpal of a political prisoner and would like a suggestion of who to write or want to chat about other ideas to free political prisoners we welcome you to do some at this event!

As always, we encourage anyone who already has a correspondence with a prisoner to attend our monthly events as an opportunity to share snacks with other prison abolitionists while you keep up with your regular correspondence. This month, we will be sending birthday cards to the US-held political prisoner with a birthday in November: Josh Williams (the 25th).

Running Down The Walls 2019 Reportback

  • October 5, 2019 7:02 am

from Philly ABC

Philly ABC is happy to report the success of our second annual Running Down The Walls in support of political prisoners, held on September 7th, roughly 2 years from the date that our group formed. We again chose a late summer date for the event, but we hope to align our 2020 RDTW with other ABC chapters. We also joined the ABCF earlier this year to more closely work with our long-term comrades in the LA and former Philly ABC chapters.

We gathered at 10 am in FDR park for a yoga warm-up led by Sheena Sood. It was a beautiful morning, warm and sunny with a nice breeze coming off the lake. Two laps around the park loop is conveniently almost exactly 5K. Like last year, we split into 3 groups: walkers, joggers and runners. Walkers left the starting line around 11 am, followed by the joggers at 11:10 and the runners at 11:20. Afterward, we gathered for a group photo, speeches by Mike Africa Jr. (son of Debbie and Mike Africa who were also participating in the event), Janet and Janine Africa, and refreshments provided by Food Not Bombs Solidarity.

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Together we raised a total of $1940 to split between the ABCF Warchest, and the Never Give Up! project started by Mike Africa Jr. to provide long-term support for released members of the MOVE 9. We chose royal blue as the color for this year’s shirt to support and raise awareness for Chuck Africa’s fight against colon cancer from within prison. Chuck Africa is up for parole later this year, and along with Delbert Africa is one of the remaining members of the MOVE 9 not yet paroled. Another long-term comrade behind bars in PA, Russell Maroon Shoatz, is also battling colo-rectal cancer so we ran in royal blue in solidarity with him as well. Maroon’s support team is collecting funds to help secure him holistic health options.

At the time of last year’s RDTW, in commemoration of 40 years since the arrest of the MOVE 9, only Debbie had been paroled. This year we were grateful for not only the release of Mike and his reunification with Debbie and family, but the release of Janet, Janine and Eddie as well, all of whom participated for the first time outside of prison walls! We look forward to more successes in the next year!

Until all are free!
Philly ABC