Tuesday, August 9th, 2022–Letter-writing to Black August Prisoners

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing
WHEN: Tuesday, August 9th, 2022
WHERE: YOUR HOME
COST: Free

In an effort to maintain some semblance of normalcy we continue to encourage folks at home to write political prisoners every other week. As the pandemic surges yet again, we worry not only for our vulnerable communities on the outside but especially for those inside, forced to live at the mercy of their captors who have proven their disinterest in taking COVID seriously. Writing letters is a simple and effective way to connect our communities and remind those inside they are not forgotten.

In the spirit of Black August, NYC ABC and Page One Collective will be sending letters to Black revolutionary political prisoners, many of whom are elders and have survived COVID. There’s an easy way for you to help, just by writing from home. Black August honors fallen Black Freedom Fighters, calls for the release of all political prisoners, and condemns the oppressive and life-stealing prison system in this country. Black August was first observed in the 1970s to commemorate George and Jonathan Jackson’s assassinations and honor the centuries of Black resistance that preceded those events.

Please post a photo of your addressed envelope on social media and tag us (with your return address blurred out) and we will share it. Use NYC ABC’s “Illustrated Guide to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War,” for up-to-date addresses.

Tuesday, August 10th – Black August Letter Writing

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing
WHEN: 7pm, Tuesday, August 10th, 2021
WHERE: YOUR HOME
COST: Free

In an effort to maintain some semblance of normalcy we continue to encourage folks at home to write political prisoners every other week. As the pandemic surges yet again, we worry not only for our vulnerable communities on the outside but especially for those inside, forced to live at the mercy of their captors who have proven their disinterest in taking COVID seriously. Writing letters is a simple and effective way to connect our communities and remind those inside they are not forgotten.

In the spirit of Black August, NYC ABC and Page One Collective will be sending letters to Black revolutionary political prisoners, many of whom are elders and have survived COVID. There’s an easy way for you to help, just by writing from home. Black August honors fallen Black Freedom Fighters, calls for the release of all political prisoners, and condemns the oppressive and life-stealing prison system in this country. Black August was first observed in the 1970s to commemorate George and Jonathan Jackson’s assassinations and honor the centuries of Black resistance that preceded those events.

Please post a photo of your addressed envelope on social media and tag us (with your return address blurred out) and we will share it. Use Page One’s recent zine, “Current Political Prisoners of Black Liberation Movements,” for up-to-date addresses.

BK/NY – Tuesday, August 25th – Black August Letter Writing

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing
WHEN: 7pm, Tuesday, August 25th, 2020
WHERE: YOUR HOME
COST: Free

Due to the pandemic and uprisings against white supremacist policing (redundant, we know), many of us are too overwhelmed to even notice the full-blown war being waged by cops and the ruling class. It is real and it is continuing. And of course there is another war—the war against folks imprisoned for their political beliefs and actions. And here’s where we bridge the two. Nearing the end of Black August, NYC ABC and Page One Collective will be sending letters to Black revolutionary political prisoners and there’s an easy (too easy? POSSIBLY!) way for you to help, just by writing from home. Please post a photo of your addressed envelope on social media and tag us (with your return address blurred out) and we will share it. Use Page One’s recent zine, “Current Political Prisoners of Black Liberation Movements,” for up-to-date addresses.

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.

BK/NY – Tuesday, August 14th – Black August Card Writing Dinner

WHAT: Black August Card Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, August 14th, 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
As a lead in to two great events NYC ABC has coming up–a workshop on transformative justice and a noise demo in solidarity with #NatTurnerDay and the nationwide prison strike–we are hosting another of our every other week Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinners. This week, we will be hosting a Black August card signing.

Maybe you’ve been working too many hours a week to even notice the full-blown war being waged against you by cops and the ruling class. It is real and it is continuing. And of course there is another war– the war against folks imprisoned for their political beliefs and actions. And here’s where we bridge the two.  We will be sending greeting cards to Black revolutionary political prisoners and there’s an easy (too easy? POSSIBLY!) way for you to help. Just come by, eat some food, sign some cards, maybe meet folks you don’t already know, and show some base level solidarity with those behind bars.

BK/NY – Tuesday, August 15th – Black August Card Writing Dinner

WHAT: Black August Card Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, August 15th, 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
Hopefully you’ve been training in preparation for Running Down the Walls 2017. The competition will be fierce, the food at the after party will be delicious, and the solidarity with our imprisoned comrades will be infinite. Please take this opportunity to get more folks to sponsor you as a participant and help build the ABCF warchest and the 5 Borough Anti-Repression Committee. As a lead in to this year’s run, we are hosting another of our every other week Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinners. This week, NYC ABC will be hosting a Black August card signing.

Maybe you’ve been working too many hours a week to even notice the full-blown war being waged against you by cops and the ruling class. It is real and it is continuing. And of course there is another war– the war against folks imprisoned for their political beliefs and actions. And here’s where we bridge the two.  We will be sending greeting cards to Black revolutionary political prisoners and there’s an easy (too easy? POSSIBLY!) way for you to help. Just come by, eat some food, sign some cards, maybe meet folks you don’t already know, and show some base level solidarity with those behind bars.

BK/NY – Tuesday, August 16th – Black August Card Writing Dinner

WHAT: Black August Card Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, August 16th, 2016
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
Hopefully you’ve been training in preparation for Running Down the Walls 2016. The competition will be fierce, the food at the after party will be delicious, and the solidarity with our imprisoned comrades will be infinite. Please take this opportunity to get more folks to sponsor you as a participant and help build the ABCF warchest and the Queer Detainee Empowerment Project. As a lead in to this year’s run, we are hosting another of our every other week Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinners. This week, NYC ABC will be hosting a Black August card signing.

Maybe you’ve been working too many hours a week to even notice the full-blown war being waged against you by cops and the ruling class. It is real and it is continuing. And of course there is another war– the war against folks imprisoned for their political beliefs and actions. And here’s where we bridge the two.  We will be sending greeting cards to Black revolutionary political prisoners and there’s an easy (too easy? POSSIBLY!) way for you to help. Just come by, eat some food, sign some cards, maybe meet folks you don’t already know, and show some base level solidarity with those behind bars.

BK/NY – Tuesday, August 18th– Letter-Writing for Black August

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, August 18th, 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

Hopefully you’ve been training in preparation for Running Down the Walls 2015. The competition will be fierce, the food at the after party will be delicious, and the solidarity with our imprisoned comrades will be infinite. Please take this opportunity to get more folks to sponsor you as a participant and help build the ABCF warchest and help the Family and Friends of Maliki Shakur Latine. As a lead in to this year’s run, we are hosting another of our every other week Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinners. This week, NYC ABC will be hosting a Black August card signing.

As Black August began in remembrance of fallen Black liberation prisoner, George Jackson, and the San Quentin prison uprising of 1971– a prison uprising that included recently murdered San Quentin Six member Hugo “Yogi Bear” Pinell, we honor Yogi with this dinner.

Rest In Power Hugo “Yogi Bear” Pinell

On Wednesday, August 12th, our comrade in the struggle for revolution, Hugo “Yogi Bear” Pinell was murdered. The context for his murder remains unclear, save for the fact that it happened in the midst of a prison riot. We have no faith that the state will do anything to determine how or why Yogi Bear was murdered and presume cops and corrections officers are relishing his death. We do not doubt the possibility that he was specifically targeted and those in authority did nothing to protect him.

In the early 1970s, while imprisoned in San Quentin State Prison, Hugo Pinell made contact with revolutionary prisoners such as George Jackson, one of the Soledad Brothers, and W.L. Nolen. On August 21, 1971, there was a prisoner uprising in Pinell’s housing unit at San Quentin, led by George Jackson. At the end of the roughly 30 minute rebellion, guards had killed George Jackson, and two other prisoners and three guards were dead. Of the remaining prisoners in the unit, six of them, including Pinell, were put on trial for murder and conspiracy. Together, they were known as The San Quentin Six. Three of them were acquitted of all charges, and three were found guilty of various charges. Pinell was convicted of assault on a guard.

Activists in prison to this day continue to mark the San Quentin prison rebellion and death of Black Liberation prisoners during Black August, often with fasting.

Although Pinell was convicted of assault, and another of the San Quentin Six had a murder conviction, only Pinell remained imprisoned at the time of his death. During his astounding 50 years of imprisonment, Pinell was primarily held in solitary confinement. Though not as active in his political organizing as in his youth, Pinell was part of the historic hunger strikes that spread throughout the California prison system in 2013 to protest the treatment of prisoners held in solitary confinement.

According to his attorney, shortly before the August 12th, 2015 riot, Hugo Pinell was transferred to general population, though the threat of harm and history of threats against him were known to prison officials.

In this month of Black August, we raise a fist for Yogi Bear and all prison rebels—you will have neither lived nor died in vain.

NYC – Tuesday, August 20th – Letter-Writing for Black August

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, August 20th, 2013
WHERE: CAGE – 83A Hester Street (UPSTAIRS) New York, New York 10002 (directions below)
COST: Free
Hopefully you’ve been training in preparation for Running Down the Walls 2013. The competition will be fierce, the food at the after party will be delicious, and the solidarity with our imprisoned comrades will be infinite. Please take this opportunity to get more folks to sponsor you as a participant and help build the ABCF warchest and sustain the local radical space, The Base. As a lead in to this year’s run, we are hosting another of our every other week Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinners. This week, NYC ABC will be hosting a Black August card signing.

Maybe you’ve been working too many hours a week to even notice the full-blown war being waged against you by cops and the ruling class. It is real and it is continuing. And of course there is another war– the war against folks imprisoned for their political beliefs and actions. And here’s where we bridge the two.  We will be sending greeting cards to Black revolutionary political prisoners and there’s an easy (too easy? POSSIBLY!) way for you to help. Just come by, eat some food, sign some cards, maybe meet folks you don’t already know, and show some base level solidarity with those behind bars.