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

The deal, as always, is that you come bringing only yourself (and your friends and comrades), and we provide you with a delicious vegan meal, information about the prisoners as well as all of the letter-writing materials and prisoner-letter-writing info you could ever want to use in one evening. In return, you write a thoughtful letter to a political prisoner or prisoner of war of your choosing or, better yet, keep up a long-term correspondence. We’ll also provide some brief updates and pass around birthday cards for the PP/POWs whose birthdays fall in the next two weeks thanks to the PP/POW Birthday Calendar.

Directions:
Getting to The Base is simple:
From the M Train:
Central Avenue Stop: Walk east on Myrtle Avenue (away from Hart Street, toward Cedar Street). We’re about two blocks down on the south side of the street.

Knickerbocker Avenue Stop: Walk west on Myrtle Avenue (away from Harman Street, toward Himrod Street). We’re about three blocks down on the south side of the street.

From the L Train:
DeKalb Avenue Stop: Walk south on Stockholm Street (away from Wyckoff Avenue, toward Irving Avenue). We’re about four blocks down, at the intersection of Stockholm Street and Myrtle Avenue.

From the J Train:
Myrtle Avenue Stop: Transfer to the M train and follow the above directions.