BK/NY – Tuesday, February 9th – Letter Writing To Kings Bay Plowshares 7

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing
WHEN: 7pm, Tuesday, February 9th, 2021
WHERE: YOUR HOME
COST: Free

It’s winter here on the stolen land we call New York City. Winter is billed as a time to slow down and recharge, but for most of us under capitalism that is a fallacy. And while the work of the state doesn’t slow down for a snowstorm, neither does our obligation to fight against it. For NYC ABC and Page One Collective, that means continuing to support political prisoners. Please join us this week in writing the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 (KBP7), many of whom have started their sentences in the last couple of months.

The Kings Bay Plowshares 7 are seven Catholic plowshares activists who entered Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in St. Mary’s, Georgia on April 4th, 2018. They went to make real the prophet Isaiah’s command to “beat swords into plowshares.”

The seven chose to act on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who devoted his life to addressing what he called the “triple evils of militarism, racism, and materialism.” Carrying hammers and baby bottles of their own blood, the seven attempted to convert weapons of mass destruction. In October 2019, the seven were convicted of all four charges. More information at kingsbayplowshares7.org.

Below are the addresses that we currently have for the folx who have started their sentences and have confirmed that they want correspondence. Father Stephen Kelly is currently in transit and Clare Grady will start on February 10, shortly after this post is published. Be sure to check back next month for the updated issue of the Illustrated Guide to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War, which will have updated addresses.

Please take the time to write a letter to KBP7 (and share a photo of your completed envelopes with us online):
Clare Grady #01264-052
FPC Alderson
Glen Ray Road, Box A
Alderson, West Virginia 24910

Martha Hennessy #22560-021
FCI Danbury
Route 37
Danbury, Connecticut 06811

Patrick O’Neill #14924-018
FCI Elkton
Post Office Box 10
Lisbon, Ohio 44432

Carmen Trotta #22561-021
FCI Otisville
Satellite Camp
Post Office Box 1000
Otisville, New York 10963

Illustrated Guide Version 14 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 Patrick O’Neill and Carmen Trotta. We are thankful to remove Rattler (halfway house!) and Joseph Dibee (pre-trial house arrest).

Illustrated Guide Version 14.9 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 a prisoner to the guide this month–Plowshares activist Stephen Kelly. We are thankful to remove Nina Droz-Franco (halfway house!).

BK/NY – Tuesday, March 31 – Letter-writing to Y12 Plowshares Prisoners

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, March 31st, 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
March is one of those months where NYC ABC is lucky enough to host three letter-writing dinners. This upcoming Tuesday, we will be writing a trio of radical Catholics. We know what you’re  thinking— is this some kind of April Fool’s joke? Radical Catholics exist? Let us assure you that they do and they have been trespassing at military sites and smashing up equipment belonging to the military and war profiteers for over 25 years now.

We will be joined by Carmen Trotta of the Catholic Worker, who will speak about the case. Carmen has served on the National Committee of the War Resister’s League and is a founding member of Witness Against Torture.

The three activists we are writing– Sister Megan Rice, Michael Walli and Gregory Boertje-Obed, are from the Plowshares movement. In 2012, the three cut holes in the fence of  the U.S. Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  Once inside the “secure” area, they hung protest banners on a uranium storage site, poured human blood and spray-painted the walls with anti-war slogans. In May 2013, the activists were convicted on the charges of damaging property & intending to injure, interfere with, or obstruct the national defense of the United States. Walli and Boertje-Obed were sentenced to just over 5 years in federal prison, while Sister Megan is serving a 3 year sentence at nearby MDC Brooklyn.
More information: transformnowplowshares.wordpress.com

We expect to see you on Tuesday. If you can’t make it, please take the time to write letters (and send books) to the prisoners:
Megan Rice #88101-020
MDC Brooklyn
Post Office Box 329002
Brooklyn, New York 11232

Michael R Walli #92108-020
FCI McKean
Post Office Box 8000
Bradford, Pennsylvania 16701

Gregory Boertje-Obed #08052-016
USP Leavenworth
Post Office Box 1000
Leavenworth, Kansas 66048

150 in the streets for NYC ABC NYE Noise Demo

Last year, we hoped that the release of Lynne Stewart on New Year’s Day would usher in a year of political prisoner releases. It did. We welcomed 20 of the prisoners in our Illustrated Guide to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War back to the world and, on the eve of 2015, also welcomed Lynne as she joined us at our annual New Year’s Eve noise demo.

The night was cold, but not exceptionally so. Regardless, hot cocoa supplied by comrades from Stop the Anarchist Witch-hunt (SAW) kept revelers from freezing as the crowd grew larger. Noise being the operative term, we had a complete miss-mash of sound as radical marching band Rude Mechanical Orchestra competed with a mobile sound system and a host of air horns, whistles, and vuvuzelas.

For those unfamiliar, the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC New York) is a brick and steel monolith in one of the small corners of Manhattan not filled with residential buildings. As we arrived, there were very few cops or federal prison guards. Once our numbers swelled to over 100, that changed. They kept their distance, perhaps as part of the alleged NYPD union work slowdown, but it was clear that they were prepared to bust skulls if given the chance. Later that night, cops unleashed their pent up feelings of inadequacy on an impromptu in-the-streets dance party not far from where the noise demo ended.

The mood was festive and celebratory, but it was clear that the crowd, eventually peaking at around 150 noisy rabble rousers, was also full of rage as evidenced by the signs and banners, including a wanted sign for cops involved in the murder of Eric Garner.

Shortly before the crowd started to break up and head out, the following statement was read as a call and response, ensuring 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 Mutulu Shakur.

We hold in our hearts comrades soon to be or recently imprisoned: Greg Boertje-Obed, Kevin Chianella, Eric King, Luke O’Donovan, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli.

YOU. ARE NOT. ALONE.”

Illustrated Guide Version 9.3 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 revised mini-bios for several prisoners; the change of Chelsea Manning‘s legal name to, well, Chelsea; and address changes for a few prisoners. Unfortunately, this version also includes the addition of new folks– Cecily McMillan, still awaiting sentencing having been found guilty of assaulting a cop and the Transform Now Plowshares, serving between 3 and 5 years each for a disarmament action at the Oak Ridge Y-12 nuclear facility.