BK/NY – Tuesday, April 16th – Letter Writing Dinner for Joshua Williams

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, April 16th, 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

While it comes as no surprise, the fact is that in modern times Black people are not only regularly gunned down by the State, but also kidnapped and caged for standing up for and defending their communities. 23 year old Joshua Williams is a victim of the latter and will be the focus of NYC ABC‘s every-other-week political prisoner letter-writing dinner.

Josh became a vocal regular participant in the anti-police demonstrations following the murder of 18 year old Mike Brown in 2014. Later that year, Joshua was arrested for the arson of a convenience store that was located across the street from the fatal police shooting of Antonio Martin just days prior. In December 2015 Joshua pleaded guilty to arson and burglary and has been sentenced to 8 years in state prison. There is currently a petition campaign to get parole for Josh or have his sentence commuted. You can sign it by clicking here.

Josh’s age and high profile status as a Ferguson protester have made him a consistent target for right wing media and blogging blowhards. They have been giggling to their empty selves at the idea of a young man who has been outspoken for peace being locked up for arson. They lack the understanding that peace sometimes comes at a cost. They lack the context of a world in which a young Black person enduring any violence by the State or other white supremacists will likely go unchecked and probably publicly applauded. The damage to an empty building is not equivalent.

We expect to see you on Tuesday. If you can’t make it, please take the time to write a letter to Josh:
Joshua Williams #1292002
Missouri Eastern Correctional Center
18701 Old Highway 66
Pacific, Missouri 63069

NYC – Sunday, May 1 – May Day Noise Demo in Solidarity With Prison Strikers and Akai Gurley

WHAT: Noise Demo
WHEN: 6:00pm, Sunday, May 1st
WHERE: Metropolitan Correction Center (MCC, the federal prison in downtown Manhattan); Pearl Street, between Cardinal Hayes Place and Park Row (J to Chambers Street or 4/5/6/ to City Hall)
BRING: Noisemakers, air horns, drums, anything that is loud!

“We cannot help but believe that were every law, every title deed, every court, and every police officer or soldier abolished tomorrow with one sweep, we would be better off than now.” – Lucy Parsons

American society’s core is predicated on slavery. When outright ownership of human beings was abolished, the prison system eventually filled the demand for a free labor force. However, while labor arrangements changed from chattel slavery to a wage labor system, the pervasive social context in the US has rested on the negation of personhood for Black people.

The slave masters and the slave catchers from the 18th and 19th centuries have become the police forces and judicial system today. The racist current that encourages police to shoot Black and brown people at will, with no consequence, also incarcerates a remarkable amount of people for trivial legal transgressions.

From the original May Day until today, those with a hunger for liberation have never stopped resisting. This May Day we are standing with two historic movements that are striving to break this system of domination: the Free Alabama Movement and Black Lives Matter.

The Free Alabama Movement in conjunction with the IWW/IWOC has called for noise demonstrations in solidarity with prison work strikes that are being launched on May Day across Alabama. The Free Alabama Movement stated, “mass incarceration is in essence an economic system which uses human beings as its nuts and bolts.” With solidarity from Texas prisoners, they intend to put this economic system to a halt.

In NYC, we are standing up for all the victims of police violence but specifically for Akai Gurley and his family who were recently violated in one of the most outrageous instances of American barbarism. If there is a time to stand up, it is now.

This May Day, with our fists raised in defiance we stand in solidarity with the prison strikers, with the family of Akai Gurley, and all those who desire to set fire to the master’s house. Burn down the American Plantation!