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!

NYC/NYE – Noise Demo Against the Prison Industrial Complex, In Solidarity with PPs and POWs

WHAT: Noise Demo Against the PIC, for the Liberation of PPs + POWs
WHEN: 9:00pm, Wednesday, December 31st
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!

On the noisiest night of the year in New York City, come help us remind folks locked up that they are not alone. NYC Anarchist Black Cross, in response to an international call for noise demonstrations outside of prisons, is asking folks to join us outside of the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in lower Manhattan. Come, not to appeal to authority, speak truth to power, or any other contrivance, but rather to stand arm in arm with comrades and show direct solidarity to those on the other side of the wall.

The state, writ large, is targeting anarchists all across the United States and abroad. This will be both protest and celebration. To keep the cold at bay, comrades will again be on hand with hot cocoa that will keep the vocal cords nice and warm.

Nearly 100 in the streets for NYC ABC NYE Noise Demo

There is a superstition that says we should leave money outside and bring it in on New Year’s Day to insure financial prosperity for the year. We in NYC ABC are hoping this idea can be extended. On January 1st, NYC had Lynne Stewart brought home and we hope this is an omen that many more of our imprisoned comrades come home to us this year.

On the night before Lynne Stewart’s flight from Texas, we heeded the international call for a night of New Year’s Eve noise demos. We held ours outside of MCC New York— the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center that currently holds local anarchist grand jury resister Jerry Koch and until the time of his recent sentencing imprisoned anarchist hacker Jeremy Hammond.

The night was raucous, with over 70 folks coming to show solidarity with prison rebels on the other side of the wall. Warehoused in a brick and mortar tower, we could see the silhouetted outlines of prisoners in their cells.

Photo courtesy of Tim Eastman

Occasionally lights would flicker, letting us know that we were connecting. As a makeshift marching band members of Rude Mechanical Orchestra— augmented by air horns, pots & pans, and an assortment of drums, forced lower Manhattan awake, some folks from Stop the Anarchist Witch-hunt (SAW) served up hot cocoa.

Amidst anti-police and anti-prison chants, folks were making their solidarity known— with raised voices and the clamor of assorted noise-makers.

By about 11:00pm, with the crowd energetic, but on the verge of hypothermia, the following statement was read as a call and response, insuring that our comrades inside could hear it:
“To many it feels like we live in a time like no other with surveillance and repression at every turn, but also resistance, rebellion, and open revolt. This is neither the new golden nor dark age, it is simply another moment in time where we can collectively force conflict with a  fucked up system.

Every day there are revolts of varying scale, most of which you never hear about. For those captured in revolt, we come together in protest and celebration. Through the din of revelry and rage, we tie ourselves to those who suffer systematized white supremacy and war against the working class, behind steel bars and safety glass.

Prison is a means of social control to be absolutely destroyed.

Here’s to the total destruction of a prison-based society!

Tonight we bring with us the courage of Sundiata Acoli, the ferocity of Joe-Joe Bowen, the wisdom of Russell Maroon Shoatz.

We remember in every act of rebellion against the state, our deceased comrade Herman Wallace— your legacy will never be forgotten.

We hold in our hearts comrades soon to be or recently imprisoned: Jerry Koch, Kevin Olliff, Rebecca Rubin, and Brian Vaillancourt.

YOU. ARE NOT. ALONE.”

The refrain of those last four words was screamed out, time and again. Not long after, folks left in small groups, making sure not to be snatched up by any of the myriad cops who would happily see us on the other side of the wall.

NYC/NYE – Noise Demo Against the Prison Industrial Complex, In Solidarity with PPs and POWs

WHAT: Noise Demo Against the PIC, for the Liberation of PPs + POWs
WHEN: 9:00pm, Tuesday, December 31st
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!
On the noisiest night of the year in New York City, come help us remind folks locked up that they are not alone. NYC Anarchist Black Cross, in response to an international call for noise demonstrations outside of prisons, is asking folks to join us outside of the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in lower Manhattan. Come, not to appeal to authority, speak truth to power, or any other contrivance, but rather to stand arm in arm with comrades and show direct solidarity to those on the other side of the wall.

The state, writ large, is targeting anarchists all across the United States and abroad. This will be both protest and celebration. Let’s make it another night in which we show them we’re never scared.

Jerry Koch transfered to MCC

According to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), and confirmed by the Support Jerry Committee, grand jury resister Jerry Koch has been transferred from the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn to the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Manhattan. Please take time to write to Jerry. If you’ve already written to him, the letter should eventually get to him, but it’s hard to know when. Given this fact, it’s best to just write another letter. The worse that happens is Jerry gets two letters from you.

Write to Jerry at:
Gerald Koch #68631-054
MCC New York
150 Park Row
New York, New York 10007

Nearly 100 in the streets for NYC ABC NYE Noise Demo

[Note: Most of this report was written for anarchistnews.org by someone outside of NYC ABC. We’ve added as appropriate, including photos and video links].

Photo courtesy of Mickey Z

On December 31st, over 80 people responded to the call for a noise demo outside the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in downtown Manhattan. The crowd easily filled the street in front of the institution and an aural ruckus filled the air from noisemakers, voices, air horns, a variety of drums, and even a proper brass trumpet.

Anti-prison and anti-police chants from the crowd accompanied a banner reading “BURN THE PRISON SOCIETY.” Rebels in the street cheered on the caged and excluded as they banged on their windows, flicked lights on and off, and gave other signals of life from within an otherwise deadening, lifeless building. We made sure those on the other side of the wall know that they are not alone.

We moved back and forth around the building to be sure everyone could hear our screams and tried to be as close as possible to the cell of anarchist hacker Jeremy Hammond as we chanted his name.

Let’s make 2013 a terrifying year for capitalists and state operatives the world over and a joyous year for those seeking the triumph of life over death.

OUR PASSION FOR FREEDOM IS STRONGER THAN THEIR PRISONS

FOR THE ANNIHILATION OF PRISON AND THE PRISON-SOCIETY

Over 200 in the streets for NYC NYE Noise Demo

When some of NYC ABC arrived early to prepare for the New Year’s Eve noise demo, there were already folks there. By 9:00pm, our numbers had grown and we had enough potential noise to reach the prisoners inside MCC New York– a federal Metropolitan Correctional Center cemented into a maze of other city, state, and federal buildings. Though organized by NYC ABC and not an OWS event, it was posted by OccupyWallSt.org on their front page and this drew ever more folks. In the high rise prison, cell lights flickered on and off as silhouetted prisoners showed their connection to what was going on outside.

Whereas critics of the demo questioned the effectiveness  of protesting with noise on the noisiest night of the year, this was not an appeal to authority. We were not there to change policy, nor to sway opinion. We were there in solidarity with those locked up, to let them know that they were neither forgotten nor alone. As the demo grew louder, more revelers made their way into the street, the noise bringing more people who in turn brought more noise. By 9:30, amid chants of “you are not alone,” and “Occupy Wall Street is in town! Burn the prisons to the ground!” the crowd fell silent and, via call and response, the following statement made its way to the prisoners:
“To many it feels like we live in a time like no other with surveillance and repression at every turn, but also resistance, rebellion, and open revolt. This is neither the new golden nor dark age, it is simply another moment in time where we can collectively force conflict with a fundamentally fucked system.

Every day there are revolts of varying scale, most of which you never hear about. For those captured in revolt, we come together in protest and celebration. Through the din of revelry and rage, we tie ourselves to those who suffer systematized white supremacy and war against the working class, behind steel bars and safety glass.

Prison is a means of social control to be absolutely destroyed.

Here’s to the total destruction of a prison-based society!

Tonight we bring with us the courage of Sundiata Acoli, the ferocity of Joe-Joe Bowen, the wisdom of Mutulu Shakur.

We remember in every act of rebellion against the state, our deceased comrades- Marilyn Buck, Lefty Gilday, Geronimo Pratt— your legacies will never be forgotten.

We hold in our hearts comrades soon to be or recently imprisoned: Tim DeChristopher, Norberto González-Claudio, Leah Henderson, Mandy Hiscocks, Peter Hopperton, Alex Hundert, Erik Lankin, Adam Lewis, Breanna Manning, Joy Powell, and Justin Solondz.

YOU. ARE NOT. ALONE.”

As the chants and noise restarted, it was clear folks were getting antsy. Within ten minutes, we took to the street. Heading against traffic, and with cops either busy with Times Square or expecting us to head to Zuccotti Park, we were able to make our way to a crowded intersection, that leads onto one of the city’s high traffic bridges. At that point, still 200 strong, the chants, dancing, flyer-bombing, and noise took over. “A-Anti-Anti-Capitalista” rang through the streets, folks on foot, on bike, and in cars took flyers to figure out what this was all about. Some came off of the sidewalk and joined in. After holding the intersection for fifteen minutes, it was time to move on.

NYPD showed up and were deftly outmaneuvered. As they tried to race around the narrow streets of Chinatown, we surged. A lone police cruiser made the mistake of rushing up, two slack-jawed buffoons jumped out, and as quickly as they had gotten out, they were shouted down, told to get the fuck out and hopped back in. They turned the block and were gone. We moved on, though cops on foot and in more cruisers were making the situation tense.

All told, we suffered four arrests, the last being a bicyclist who was tackled and pulled to a waiting van for allegedly riding the wrong way on a largely deserted one way street. After a few minor clashes with cops, calls were coming in that still more folks had arrived at MCC and were asking that we rejoin them. As we made our way back to the prison, there were in fact 50-75 folks already there. We rejoined the demo, made more noise, and eventually scattered to the wind.

May this simple night of noise-bringing carry momentum into a new year of open conflict with the state and capital.