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, Saturday, 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 to keep the vocal cords nice and warm.

Over 100 in the streets for NYC ABC NYE Noise Demo

Photo courtesy of NYC Animal Defense League

2015 started strong as we welcomed home Eric McDavid and Norberto González Claudio. Throughout the year, we saw more comrades released. And yet, as more elders age behind the wall, we lost two true warriors, Phil Africa and Hugo Pinell. To close the year, NYC ABC organized a noise demo outside of Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC), in order to protest, celebrate, and let folks on the inside know they are not forgotten.

We got there a little after 8:30 and others were there waiting. We greeted old comrades and folks we’d yet to meet and by 9:00pm, a decent crowd had formed. The night was relatively warm by winter standards, but friends showed up with five gallons of hot chocolate to make sure everyone’s vocal cords stayed nice and toasty as we yelled and sang upward, into the steel and cement monolith that is MCC.

We supplied all manner of noise makers, but most folks brought their own. Hell, we even had a full-blown marching band roll through to keep this noise demo lit. The Rude Mechanical Orchestra kicked out the jams and the mood was jovial.

And while folks were there to celebrate and reach through the walls, signs and banners also expressed the brimming rage of the crowd. A crew from The Base showed up with black flags and banners to make sure all inside knew there were anarchists organizing in solidarity with them.

We were in full-blown Y2K-era tech mode when unveiling the shimmering magnificence that is the electronic “End Prison” sign. As it turns out, we may have stepped into a banner war.

The demo lasted a couple of hours, but not before folks broke out sparklers and fireworks. And then Ripper came up to one of our crew. We’d never met before, but Ripper told us about where he was the prior New Year’s Eve. He was on the 11th floor of MCC, his first time in prison. He was separated from his family, not unlike most of the others imprisoned at MCC. He told us that he thought about how, watching out of his window, the folks outside could have been anywhere in the city and they chose to be there and how that kept his spirits up. He told himself that if he got out, he would be with those folks the next year. And there he was.

We’ve been told before, by comrades who were once held in MCC, that the noise demos light up the whole place and get through to the prisoners, but we’d never experienced anything like meeting Ripper. If you’re thinking about organizing a noise demo in your town, do it.

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 Russell Maroon Shoatz.

We remember in every act of rebellion against the state, our deceased comrades Phil Africa and Hugo Pinell— your legacy will never be forgotten.

We hold in our hearts comrades soon to be or recently imprisoned.

YOU. ARE NOT. ALONE.”

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, Thursday, 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 to keep the vocal cords nice and warm.

BK/NY – Saturday, July 25th – International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners!

WHAT: Cinema, Snacks, and Solidarity
WHEN: 7:00-11:00pm, Saturday, July 25th
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, but donations are appreciated.
Antifascists fight against those who—in the government or in the streets, dream of imposing their fascist and other Far Right nationalist nightmares on the rest of us. Throughout the world, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, and racist bigotries are on the rise. Antifas are on the frontline in confronting these reactionary politics, and we will not forget our comrades imprisoned in the course of this struggle.

The July 25 International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners originated in 2014 as a Day of Solidarity with Jock Palfreeman, an Australian who is imprisoned in Bulgaria for defending two Romani men from an attack by fascist football hooligans. Groups around the world took action: holding demonstrations, benefits supporting the Bulgarian Prisoners Association, writing to Jock, and talking about the plight of the Romani and Sinti people in general.

In 2015, the day has been expanded and extends solidarity to all antifascist prisoners around the world. We encourage groups to take the day to plan an event of their choice—whether it is a letter writing, demonstration, benefit, or other action—and to focus on the prisoners and related issues that are of most importance to them locally.

In NYC, we’ll show support with the following:
Cinema (Watch Nazis get what’s coming to them!)
Snacks (Delicious & Vegan!)
Speakers (Short & Sweet! Learn about anti-fascist movements from around the world and the comrades in jail for fighting the good fight!)
Solidarity (Sign cards that we will send to all antifa prisoners!)

No Pasaran!
Until All Are Free!

For a list of prisoners, endorsing groups, and updates, please check nycantifa.wordpress.com

Send prisoner updates, announcements for local events, and additional group endorsements to nycantifascistaction@gmail.com.

BK/NY – Tuesday, November 11th – Letter-writing to 5E3 and Eric King

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm (sharp), Tuesday, November 11th, 2014
WHERE: The Base – 1302 Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11221 (directions below)
NOTE: NEW LOCATION
COST: Free
NEWSFLASH: We’re anarchists. That should come as no surprise– it’s right there in our name. We organize as anarchists– collectively, against the state and capital. So for us to move the letter-writing dinners we have consistently hosted for about eight years to one of the few explicitly anarchist public spaces in the five boroughs simply makes sense. And how will we begin this leg of the journey? By writing to imprisoned anarchists!

Carlos López Martin, Fallon Rouiller, and Amélie Trudeau make up the 5E3, who are being charged by the Mexican state for an arson of a Nissan dealership and the neighboring ministry of communication and transportation in January of this year. On October 31, 2014, they were each sentenced by the federal court to seven years and six months imprisonment for the attack on the Secretariat of Communications and Transport. The three still await non-federal sentencing for the attack on a Nissan dealership.

Eric G. King, a 28-year-old vegan anarchist, was arrested and charged with an attempted firebombing of a government official’s office in Kansas City, Missouri. Eric allegedly threw a hammer through a window of the building and then threw two lit bottles inside, though both failed to ignite. NOTE: Eric is pre-trial. DO NOT write about his arrest, his case, or the charges he faces. Too often, letters written to comrades who are pre-trial, and discuss those things, are used as evidence at trial. More information at supportericking.wordpress.com

While we expect to see you on Tuesday, if you can’t make it, please take the time to write a letter to these comrades:
Carlos López Marín
Reclusorio Preventivo Oriente
Calle Reforma #50, Col. San Lorenzo Tezonco
Delegación Iztapalapa, C.P. 09800, Ciudad de México, D.F.
México

Fallon Rouiller
Centro Femenil de Reinserción Social Santa Martha Acatitla
Calzada Ermita, Iztapalapa No 4037, Colonia Santa Martha Acatitla
Delegación Iztapalapa, C.P. 09560, Ciudad de México, D.F.
México

Amélie Trudeau
Centro Femenil de Reinserción Social Santa Martha Acatitla
Calzada Ermita, Iztapalapa No 4037, Colonia Santa Martha Acatitla
Delegación Iztapalapa, C.P. 09560, Ciudad de México, D.F.
México

Eric King 27090045
CCA Leavenworth
100 Highway Terrace
Leavenworth, Kansas 66048

Support Tom Manning’s Parole Bid

Political Prisoner from the United Freedom Front, Tom Manning comes up for parole in November and has asked people to submit letters supporting his release on parole. According to Tom, “if folks can just write their own letters expressing each ones ideas rather than all of them sounding like they read a form letter – so that they put their own voice down on paper,” that would be best.

NYC ABC supports Tom’s bid for freedom using whatever means he chooses and are hoping you can take a minute to write a letter on his behalf. Please be polite––expressing your disdain for Tom’s incarceration or your political beliefs is not appropriate for these letters. Tom has been down since 1985 and we need him home.

Your letter should reference Thomas Manning #10373-016 and be sent to:

United States Parole Commission
90 K Street NE, Third Floor
Washington, District of Columbia 20530

Please make a copy and send it to:
Tom Manning 10373-016
FMC Butner
Post Office Box 1600
Butner, North Carolina 27509

Biography
Thomas Manning is a revolutionary who was active in the United Freedom Front, a clandestine anti-imperialist organization that carried out targeted bombings of corporate buildings, courthouses and military facilities and also carried out bank robberies to fund revolutionary projects.   He was unjustly sentenced to 80 years in prison for killing a New Jersey state trooper in self-defense.

Life in Prison
Tom, like many political prisoners, has been designated a “high max” prisoner, which lead him to be on continual lockdown for the first 12 years in prison. Tom has also been subject to physical abuse and denied medical attention while in prison. In 2006, his artwork was taken down from a show entitled “Can’t Jail the Spirit” at the University of Southern Maine following pressure right-wing activists.

Click here to get Tom’s new books of paintings, For Love and Liberty.

Click here for more information on Tom and here to read some of his poetry and other writing.

NYC – Tuesday, March 18th – Card-signing for Women’s History Month

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, March 18th, 2014
WHERE: CAGE – 83A Hester Street (UPSTAIRS) New York, New York 10002 (directions below)
COST: Free
NYC ABC‘s disdain for cops is storied, but did you know we harbor the same vitriol for landlords? Oh, sure. They’re in the same category as bosses, and the only boss we listen to is named Springsteen. So it comes as no surprise when a negligent landlord (it almost sounds redundant, no?) fails to tend to his building, people die. And that’s not hyperbole. Of course landlords and bosses are but two of the functionaries that keep us oppressed under the state and capitalism. And when folks have the audacity to fight back? Well, that’s when the state is waiting with cages for the rebels. We in NYC ABC stand in support of such imprisoned comrades. The most frequent way we do that is through our every-other-week letter-writing dinners.  And in this month of women’s history, we offer our solidarity to female rebels.

Come find out more about Debbie, Janet, and Janine Africa, Chelsea Manning, Marie Mason, Rev. Joy Powell, and Rebecca Rubin. We’ll also have other political prisoner news, so come enjoy a meal with friends (new or old).

In the unlikely event that there is a better use of your Tuesday night, but you still want to support the prisoners (or want to send these three a book) you can write to them at:

Debbie Sims Africa #OO6307
SCI Cambridge Springs
451 Fullerton Avenue
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania 16403

Janet Holloway Africa #OO6308
SCI Cambridge Springs
451 Fullerton Avenue
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania 16403

Janine Phillips Africa #OO6309
SCI Cambridge Springs
451 Fullerton Avenue
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania 16403

PVT Bradley E Manning* 89289
1300 North Warehouse Road
Ft Leavenworth, Kansas 66027-2304
*Address card/letter to Chelsea, envelope to Bradley

Marie Mason #04672-061
FMC Carswell
Post Office Box 27137
Fort Worth, Texas 76127

Reverend Joy Powell #07-G-0632
Bedford Hills Correctional Facility
Post Office Box 1000
Bedford Hills, New York 10507-2499

Rebecca Rubin 770288
Multnomah County Inverness Jail
11540 NE Inverness Drive
Portland, Oregon 97220

NYC – Friday, January 17th – Solidarity Demonstration at Mexican Consulate

WHAT: Demonstration in Solidarity With The 5e3
WHEN: 11:30am (SHARP), Friday, January 17th
WHERE: Mexican Consulate, 27 East 39th Street (between Lexington and Park Avenues)

On January 5th, three anarchist comrades— two from Canada, one from Mexico, were arrested in Mexico City for alleged molotov attacks on a car dealership and a government building. The three (5e3) are now facing a variety of very serious charges, including terrorist charges. In response to the call, included after the jump, for an international day of solidarity with the 5e3, NYC Anarchist Black Cross will hold a demonstration at the Mexican Consulate.

SOLIDARITY AND COMPLICITY WITH CARLOS, AMELIE, AND FALLON! THE ONLY TERRORIST IS THE STATE!

Updates: fuegoalascarceles.wordpress.com
Letter from Fallon: montreal.mediacoop.ca/blog/stimulator/20758
Letter from Carlos: montreal.mediacoop.ca/blog/stimulator/20757
Call for financial support: montreal.mediacoop.ca/video/httpsvimeocom83888075/20770