Many of these books get sent to political prisoners who we support thanks to NYC volunteers at Books through Bars.

Our September 2021 Bundle O’ Books is available for another week or so! Order at http://www.freebirdbooks.com/shop.html

These books purchased via our bundle program have helped us keep our shelves chock full of books that are frequently requested by the people in prison and jail who write us. These books fly out of our space weekly as they are books that people often request. I can say that its amazing to not have piles of letters sitting around because we actually have enough of the frequently requested books people ask for.

From our bookstore partner Freebird Books & Goods:
Following August’s drive spotlighting titles from Grove Press–430 books collected!–we take a slightly different approach to the book drive. Rather than feature single titles in the bundle, each purchase will include five works (rather than the usual three) across a range of specialized subjects that Books Through Bars receive request for throughout the year:
– 2 titles from DK’s line of Pocket Genius books (Elements, Sharks, Rocks and Minerals, Dinosaurs, Cars, or Ancient Rome),
– 1 from the National Audubon Society’s pocket field guides (Butterflies, Insects and Spiders, Mammals, Constellations, or Reptiles & Amphibians),
– 1 from the Random House Webster’s line of of pocket reference books (American Sign Language dictionary, Spanish dictionary, grammar usage guide), and
– 1 of Lisa Tenzin-Dolma’s mindfully meditative adult coloring books centered around mandalas.

Save the date: October 12, 2021. Eric’s trial, Denver, Colorado.

More via:
web: https://supportericking.org
fb: https://facebook.com/SupportEricKing/
twitter: https://twitter.com/SupportEricKing
instagram: https://instagram.com/supportericking/
Eric’s lawyers: https://cldc.org

Sign the petition!

Your support for Sundiata Acoli is crucial to his return home. Tell your friends, colleagues, associates, and neighbors about #BringSundiataHome. We are just shy of our goal. Help us reach 15,000 signatures by sharing the petition! 

Bring Sundiata Acoli Home! Send a physical postcard to NJ Governor Phil Murphy

#BringSundiataHome
It takes less than 2 minutes to fill out the form and WE will send the postcard in the mail. Click the button below and share! 

Cops’ support spotlights race issues in ex-Black Panther’s parole case by Hassan Kanu

(Reuters) – An unusual coalition is banding together in a petition to release an 84-year-old former Black Panther convicted for his role in the killing of a police officer.

Sundiata Acoli was sentenced in 1974 to life without the possibility of parole until after 25 years for the first-degree murder of New Jersey state trooper Werner Foerster. The officer was killed in a shootout after he and another trooper stopped Acoli for a defective taillight.

Read more at https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/cops-support-spotlights-race-issues-ex-black-panthers-parole-case-2021-09-13/

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing
WHEN: 7pm, Tuesday, September 21st, 2021
WHERE: YOUR HOME
COST: Free

This week, as part of our every-other-week political prisoner letter-writing dinner, NYC ABC and Page One Collective will be writing to Kamau Sadiki, former Black Panther Party member and Black Liberation Army (BLA) soldier who is currently serving a life plus ten years sentence for the murder of an Atlanta cop in 1971. He was arrested and convicted over 30 years after the cop was killed based solely on the testimonies of former BLA comrades-turned-snitch that were not even present at the time of the action.

This should not come as a surprise as the State has never ended their war against Black people and continue to divisively target Black communities. An increased interest in what the State labels terrorism is what led to the increased interest of Kamau in 2002 when he was brought in for questioning on an unrelated matter. They were aware of his former relationship with the perennially Most Wanted Assata Shakur, with whom Kamau has a daughter. They attempted to extract information from him about Assata and tried to recruit him to lure her away from Cuba or else he “would die in prison.” When he refused to turn his back on his principles and his community, the state of Georgia vindictively moved forward with charges of the decades old crime.

Before Kamau’s time in the BLA, he was a New York City teenager who was deeply moved by the principles and organizing efforts of the Black Panther Party. At age 17 he joined up in Jamaica, Queens and volunteered in the Free Breakfast for Children program in the morning, hit the streets with BPP newsletters in the afternoon in an effort to organize his neighbors, and took part in political education classes at night. Once the FBI’s CoIntelPro was in full swing, decimating the Party and their ability to progress, Kamau and many others went underground to the more clandestine BLA for fear of being entrapped, framed, or murdered.

For more info on Kamau Sadiki, check out freekamau.com which gives an account of Kamau’s life from two former political prisoners, Safiya Bukhari and Claude Marks (freedomarchives.org).

Here is an excerpt of Kamau’s 2003 sentencing statement:
“My joining the Black Panther Party and consequently the Black Liberation Army was a response to the oppressive climate that existed in America at the time. The struggle of people of color evolved out of the legacy of slavery and the subsequent Jim Crow laws of the reconstruction period. Following decades of oppression, people of color in this country recognized they had to negotiate their liberation through armed resistance and it was during this period of history that the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army were major players.“

Please take the time to write a letter to Kamau (and share a photo of your completed envelopes with us online):
Kamau Sadiki* #0001150688
Augusta State Medical Prison
3001 Gordon Highway
Grovetown, GA 30813
*Address envelope to Freddie Hilton

You will need proof of vaccination and ID to enter the People’s Forum for this event.

Political Prisoner Letter Writing Event with NYC Jericho & Certain Days
Saturday September 18th
2-4pm
The People’s Forum, 320 West 37th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues) New York, NY. (Any train to Penn Station)
Free

https://www.facebook.com/events/345049243870565/
https://www.certaindays.org/events/september-18-2021-certain-days-nyc-jericho-political-prisoner-letter-writing-event/

Join NYC Jericho and the Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar collective in writing political prisoners at this free event.

We will be giving short presentations and writing political prisoners: Leonard Peltier, Sundiata Acoli, Jessica Reznicek and Xinachtli. Materials will be provided including hand sanitizer
Contact: [email protected] or [email protected]

Download flyer

We have a page of printable political prisoner brochures you can download and print at
https://www.abcf.net/abcf-downloads/
Download them and print to build support for political prisoners!

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 at https://nycabc.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/nycabc_polprisonerlisting_sept2021.pdf.

This update includes updated mini-bios, photos, and address changes for several prisoners. We are thankful to remove Kings Bay Plowshares 7 prisoners Patrick O’Neill and Mark Colville!

In order to ensure accountability to the larger community, the ABCF produces this Warchest report. To review, please click on the link below. The Warchest Fund sends monetary stipends to political prisoners who receive little or no financial aid. Currently, the ABCF supports 17 political prisoners through this program.

A petition has been filed with the US Department of Justice seeking clemency for Leonard Peltier, as required procedurally for the case to come to the attention of President Biden.  In the meantime, a congressional “Dear Colleague” letter in support of Leonard’s release is circulating in the House of Representatives, generated by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), who co-signed the letter sent by then-Congresswoman and now Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland to the Trump administration in April 2020. 

Now is the time to let your congressional representatives know the strength of public support for Leonard and urge them to sign on to the letter to the Biden administration.  

Contact your U.S. Congress, House Representative by Phone, Online Form or Mail.

Simply request that they:
— Support freedom for Leonard Peltier.
— Stand with Rep. R. Grijalva and former Rep. Deb Haaland, and sign-on to Rep. Grijalva’s new letter and efforts to gain Leonard’s release.

Contact your U.S. Congress, House Representative by Phone, Online Form or Mail:
“Dear Representative… , as your constituent I request that you support immediate Relief and Release for Leonard Peltier, and Sign-on to Representative Grijalva’s “Dear Colleague- Support Letter for Clemency for Leonard Peltier”

Find your Representative (in your US Congressional District)

For info email [email protected] 
For more on Leonard Peltier visit www.whoisleonardpeltier.info

Here’s the latest compilation of every other week updates:
https://nycabc.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/updates-7-sept-2021.pdf

NYC ABC, along with several other individuals and prisoner support
crews, now send hard copies to all political prisoners and prisoners of
war we support.

If you consistently mail the latest updates to a specific prisoner,
please let us know so we can insure there’s no overlap. The goal is to
have copies sent to all of the prisoners we list.

We’ve also been told that some prisoners are not receiving the copies
sent in, yet we aren’t getting rejection notices. If you are in steady
contact with a prisoner, please ask them whether or not they are
receiving the updates and let us know.