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.

BK/NY – Tuesday, April 10th – Birthday Bonanza Letter Writing Dinner

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, April 10th, 2018
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 devastating that not even a month after Herman Bell was granted parole, the Police Benevolent Association (PBA), the mayor of New York City and the governor of New York all did their best to block it. Quite frustratingly, NYC ABC has been reminded that as quickly as the state can give us a big win, they can swiftly take it away. Or put it on pause rather. We are crushed and cannot imagine how Herman, his family and closest friends must feel.  Our hearts go out to them.

NYC ABC encourages everyone to do one (if not all) of these action items to help bring Herman home:

• CALL New York State Governor Cuomo’s Office at 518-474-8390

• EMAIL New York State Governor Cuomo’s Office. You can use this form.

• TWEET at Governor Cuomo. You can use the following sample tweet:“.@NYGovCuomo: stand by the Parole Board’s lawful & just decision to release Herman Bell. At 70 years old and after more than 40 years of incarceration, his release is overdue. #BringHermanHome.”

On a happier note, this week we will be taking the time to write to all the folks who have birthdays coming up in the next couple of weeks.

If for some reason you aren’t able to make it, please take the time to send these folks a birthday card.

Chip Fitzgerald* #B-27527
California State Prison – LAC
Post Office Box 4490
B-4-150
Lancaster, California 93539
*Address envelope to Romaine Fitzgerald

Janet Holloway Africa #OO6308
SCI Cambridge Springs
451 Fullerton Avenue
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania 16403

Janine Phillips Africa #OO6309
SCI Cambridge Springs
451 Fullerton Avenue
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania 16403

Mumia Abu-Jamal #AM 8335
SCI Mahanoy
301 Morea Road
Frackville, Pennsylvania 17932

Walter Bond #37096-013
FCI Terre Haute – CMU
Post Office Box 33
Terre Haute, Indiana 47808

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

BK/NY – Tuesday, September 29th – Birthday Cards for Imprisoned Comrades

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, September 29th, 2015
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 no secret that winter is the baby-making season and that leaves October as the month with the most birthdays. As we know, our imprisoned comrades are folks coming from the same movements as us, not some rare breed of super-human. As a result a disproportionate number of them also share October births. In fact, there are so many upcoming political prisoner birthdays that NYC ABC is focusing our entire upcoming political prisoner letter-writing dinner on sending cards to them. So come join us for some good food and sign a whole grip of cards. We’ll see you for supper.

In Memory of Herman Wallace

Part of what NYC ABC does as part of our every-other-week political prisoner letter-writing dinners is pass around cards to be signed for imprisoned comrades who have birthdays in the following two weeks. Our current cards are handmade, donated by comrades in New York Year Zero.

It was during our last letter-writing that we got the incredible news that Herman Wallace had been released. We decided to hold the card until we had a stable address to which we could send Herman’s card. In the few short days that followed, Herman Wallace died. We decided that the best way to honor Herman is to show how much love was being sent to him from a small event in Chinatown, NYC. Rest In Peace/Rest In Power, Herman Wallace.

The unfortunate reality is that we have an entire population of aging comrades. If we don’t start to work on ways to get them free, and soon, we will be forced to watch what happened to Herman play itself out again and again, celebrating three days of freedom as a victory and wondering what we could have done differently. This is not an indictment, but rather a hopeful wake up call.

NYC – Tuesday, October 1st – Birthday Cards for Imprisoned Comrades

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, October 1st, 2013
WHERE: CAGE – 83A Hester Street (UPSTAIRS) New York, New York 10002 (directions below)
COST: Free

It’s no secret that winter is the baby-making season and that leaves October as the month with the most birthdays. As we know, our imprisoned comrades are folks coming from the same movements as us, not some rare breed of super-human. As a result a disproportionate number of them also share October births. In fact, there are so many upcoming political prisoner birthdays that NYC ABC is focusing our entire upcoming political prisoner letter-writing dinner on sending cards to them. So come join us for some good food and sign a whole gang of cards. We’ll see you for supper.