Illustrated Guide Version 14.1 Uploaded!

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 (and download) by clicking on the tab at the top of this page. This update includes updated mini-bios, photos, and address changes for several prisoners. Unfortunately, we are adding prisoners to the guide this month–Plowshares activists Clare Grady and Martha Hennessy and Water Protector Steve Martinez.

Tuesday, June 16th – Letter-writing to Imam Jamil al-Amin

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing
WHEN: 7pm, Tuesday, June 16th, 2020
WHERE: YOUR HOME
COST: Free
To say it’s heating up in NYC is an understatement, and we don’t mean the late spring heatwave. Folks in their neighborhoods have been rising up against the fundamentally white supremacist NYPD. In NYC ABC, we organized a noise demonstration outside MDC Brooklyn, where prison cops killed Jamel Floyd and continue our work to support U.S. held political prisoners and prisoners of war. Though we remain quarantined from our in-person communities, the work continues, again in collaboration with our comrades in Page One Collective. Therefore, instead of coming together at The Base in Brooklyn, we ask that folks participate in keeping prisoners from being more alienated than they already are, 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, building digital community while our analog community stays indoors and washes its hands. This week, our every-other-week letter-writing is focused on Black liberation political prisoner Imam Jamil Al-Amin.

We were recently reminded of the quote ‘violence is as American as cherry pie’ with the choking murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by cops there. That prescient quote is from Imam Jamil Al-Amin (then known as H. Rap Brown).

Jamil Al-Amin is a long time community leader and organizer, falsely imprisoned for  killing a sheriff’s deputy in Georgia. He was convicted in 2002 and after some time in Georgia state prison, the state decided to bury him in federal custody at the notorious Florence Supermax in Colorado. Due to a concerted and strong effort on the part of his supporters, Imam Jamil was transferred to the medical facility at Butner after having been diagnosed with bone cancer. Family and supporters are currently pushing for an appeal to his trial. More information is available at whathappened2rap.com

Please take the time to write a letter to Jamil (and share a photo of your completed envelopes with us online):
Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin #99974-555
USP Tucson
Post Office Box 24550
Tucson, Arizona 85734

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.

Illustrated Guide Version 9.7 Now Uploaded!

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 (and download) by clicking on the tab at the top of this page. This update includes updated mini-bios, photos, and address changes for several prisoners as well as removing Joel Bitar (TIME SERVED!) and Jason Sutherlin (TIME SERVED!). Unfortunately, this version also includes the addition of Eric King, an anarchist awaiting trial for alleged politically motivated property destruction in Kansas City.

NYC – Tuesday, August 5th – Letter-writing to Imam Jamil al-Amin

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, August 5, 2014
WHERE: CAGE – 83A Hester Street (UPSTAIRS) New York, New York 10002 (directions below)
COST: Free
Here in NYC, it’s been a busy mid-summer for NYC ABC with recent events at The Base, including a night of solidarity with international anti-fascist prisoner Jock Palfreeman,  the launch of the Earth First! Direct Action Manual, and planning our annual ‘Running Down the Walls’ 5K run.

Recently, we were reminded of the quote ‘violence is as American as cherry pie’ with the choking murder of Eric Garner on Staten Island by the NYPD. That prescient quote was from political prisoner Imam Jamil Al-Amin (then known as H. Rap Brown) which  brings us to this next letter writing dinner.

Jamil Al-Amin is a long time community leader and organizer, falsely imprisoned for  killing a sheriff’s deputy in Georgia. He was convicted in 2002 and after some time in Georgia state prison, the state decided to bury him in federal custody at the notorious Florence Supermax in Colorado. Due to a concerted and strong effort on the part of his supporters, Imam Jamil was transferred to the medical facility at Butner after having been diagnosed with bone cancer.

We are lucky to be joined by guest speaker Johanna Fernandez, Assistant Professor of History at Baruch College, editor of the forthcoming Writing on the Wall, Selected Prison Writings of Mumia Abu Jamal  (City Lights) as well as When the World Was Their Stage: A History of the Young Lords Party, 1968-1974 (Princeton University Press). Johanna works with the Bring Mumia Home  campaign and will be discussing the history of Imam Jamil al-Amin’s case and the campaign to get him proper cancer treatment & bring him home.

If, for whatever reason, you can’t make it to the event, please take time to write a letter:
Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin #99974-555
FMC Butner
Post Office Box 1600
Butner, North Carolina  27509

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.

NYC – 18 Dec – Letter-writing Dinner for Jamil Al-Amin

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, December 18th, 2012
WHERE: CAGE – 83A Hester Street New York, New York 10002 (directions below)
COST: Free
It’s supper time again, and we’re back at CAGE for our every-other-week Political Prisoner Letter Writing Dinner. Of course it’s no surprise that in NYC, as with everywhere, cops continue to lie, kill, and steal. When they aren’t plotting ways to kidnap, rape and eat women, they’re arresting socially conscious musicians, claiming they are known members of armed revolutionary formations. It is with this critical eye on police misconduct and deception that we host this week’s dinner.

This Tuesday’s dinner will focus on Imam Jamil Al-Amin, a long time community leader and organizer, falsely imprisoned for supposedly killing a sheriff’s deputy in Georgia.

Ten years ago, Imam Jamil Al-Amin, the former H. Rap Brown, was falsely convicted and sentenced to life in Georgia. When black, white, and brown prisoners, Muslim and non-Muslim Georgia inmates openly acknowledged him as a leader and political prisoner, with public pressure mounting for a new trial and his removal from solitary, Georgia officials transferred him in the dead of night to the man-made supermax hell of Florence, Colorado– a federal prison some say is worse than Bagram or Guantanamo.

If for some insane reason you can’t make it out, but still want to support Jamil Al-Amin, you can write to him at:

Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin #99974-555
USP Florence ADMAX
Post Office Box 8500
Florence, Colorado 81226