BK/NY – Tuesday, October 19th – A Green Scare(y) Halloween Card-Writing

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, October 19th, 2021
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 tradition for anarchists to make their own traditions. A century ago there was a full calendar of anarchist un-holidays, from honoring the Haymarket Martyrs on November Eleventh, to celebrating May Day as a workers’ holiday (also an homage of sorts to the Haymarket folks), and marking the anniversaries of the Paris Commune, the Mexican Revolution, and other events that stirred the anarchist diaspora’s collective heart.

NYC ABC has continued this tradition of DIY traditions, not to replicate the holidays of hierarchy and superstition, but to help build a revolutionary culture in which we can celebrate and hold place for our ideals (or The Ideal, as Emma Goldman would say) amidst the vicissitudes of human existence. We were able to restart one such tradition just two weeks ago, with our first in person letter writing event since March of 2020. And this coming Tuesday, we will mark another on our calendar, our annual Green Scare(Y) letter writing to earth and animal liberation prisoners.

As the recent conviction and sentencing of Jessica Reznicek unfortunately demonstrates, the corporate/state tactic of labeling those engaged in sabotage for earth and animal defense as terrorists remains in place, even as Marius Mason remains imprisoned with the same ridiculous enhancement. Since the early 1980s, public relations hacks have been working to reify the term “eco-terrorism.” By 2004, they became successful and a phrase that a decade earlier had no real meaning was now defined by the United States government and used to introduce legislation. In the face of global ecologic destruction and animal torture, those who try to end the suffering are the ones labeled terrorists.

So come join as we enact tangible solidarity by writing letters to our Green Scare comrades inside. While it can’t be said that this is a joyous occasion, it is a celebration of solidarity, and we can’t think of anything more worthwhile to celebrate than that.

Please take the time to send cards or write letters to Marius and Jessica:

Marie (Marius) Mason #04672-061
FCI Danbury
Route 37
Danbury, Connecticut 06811
*Address card to Marius

Jessica Reznicek #19293-030
FCI Waseca
Post Office Box 1731
Waseca, Minnesota 56093

BK/NY – Tuesday, October 5th – Letter-Writing For Jessica Reznicek

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, October 5th, 2021
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

Aaaaaand…WE. ARE. BACK. After over 18 months of virtual events in support of political prisoners and prisoners of war, NYC ABC and Page One Collective are heading back to The Base, back to in-person events, and back to serving up some hot information on the folks we support. Speaking of hot, the world is on fire–figuratively and literally, largely the result of actions taken by greedy humans in pursuit of capital expansion and exploiting everything possible in the process. So it’s fitting that in our return to political prisoner letter-writing events, we focus on Jessica Reznicek, currently serving an eight year federal prison sentence for eco-defense.

Jessica Reznicek is a 40 year old land and water defender who has worked with and lived in the Des Moines Catholic Worker Community for the last 10 years. Jessica grew up in a small town in rural Iowa.

In 2016, Jessica took a stand against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline in Iowa. Jessica attended public comment hearings, gathered signatures for valid requests for Environmental Impact Statements, and participated in civil disobedience, hunger strikes, marches & rallies, boycotts & encampments.

When the process failed, she concluded the system was broken, and it was up to individuals to take action and protect the water. She and a fellow Catholic Worker then spent the next couple months disabling construction machinery along the pipeline route.

In early 2021, Jessica pleaded guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Damage an Energy Facility and on June 30 was designated a domestic terrorist by the court and sentenced to 8 years in prison, followed by 3 years supervised probation, and a restitution of $3,198,512.70 paid to Energy Transfer LLC. More information at supportjessicareznicek.com

If you can’t make it out, but still want to support Jessica, you can write to her at:
Jessica Reznicek #19293-030
FCI Waseca
Post Office Box 1731
Waseca, Minnesota 56093

BK/NY – Tuesday, October 15th – Come to a Green Scare(y) Halloween Card-Writing

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, October 15th, 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

It is 2019 and the US government’s war on environmental activists and animal liberationists is still being waged. A couple of years ago NYC ABC and Sacramento Prisoner Support responded with project FANG, a travel fund for earth and animal liberation prisoners and we have since provided funds to families and supporters to help ease the burden of visiting imprisoned loved ones.

With “Operation Backfire” defendant Joseph Dibee apprehended in Cuba and the continued imprisonment of Standing Rock water defenders, we are reminded of the backwards and arbitrary logic the State uses to deem who are “terrorists.” Corporate influence continues to drive policy, as recently seen in North Dakota where pipeline companies have pushed legislators to codify harsh punishment for actions such as “valve turning.” The truth is, those in power will always villainize those who seek to liberate and will always valorize those who seek to carry out real destruction.

In light of the coming holiday, we are sending Halloween cards to targets of the Green Scare as part of our every-other-week political prisoner letter-writing dinners.

Since the early 1980s, public relations hacks have been working to reify the term “eco-terrorism.” By 2004, they became successful and a phrase that a decade earlier had no real meaning was now defined by the United States government and used to introduce legislation. In the face of global ecologic destruction and animal torture, those who try to end the suffering are the ones labeled terrorists. Join us in letting the ones who have ultimately been captured know that they have not been forgotten.

BK/NY – Tuesday, October 23rd – Come to a Green Scare(y) Halloween Card-Writing

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018
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 is 2018 and the US government’s war on environmental activists and animal liberationists is still being waged. A couple of years ago NYC ABC and Sacramento Prisoner Support responded with project FANG, a travel fund for earth and animal liberation prisoners and we have since provided funds to families and supporters to help ease the burden of visiting imprisoned loved ones.

With “Operation Backfire” defendant Joseph Dibee recently apprehended in Cuba, the imprisonment of Standing Rock water defenders, and the recent trials of “Valve Turners,” we are reminded of the backwards and arbitrary logic the State uses to deem who are “terrorists.” The truth is, those in power will always villainize those who seek to liberate and valorize those who seek to carry out real destruction.

In light of the coming holiday, we are sending Halloween cards to targets of the Green Scare as part of our every-other-week political prisoner letter-writing dinners.

Since the early 1980s, public relations hacks have been working to reify the term “eco-terrorism.” By 2004, they became successful and a phrase that a decade earlier had no real meaning was now defined by the United States government and used to introduce legislation. In the face of global ecologic destruction and animal torture, those who try to end the suffering are the ones labeled terrorists. Join us in letting the ones who have ultimately been captured know that they have not been forgotten.

BK/NY – Tuesday, November 21st – Letter-Writing Dinner For American Indian Warrior Leonard Peltier

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, November 21st, 2017
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 supper time again, and NYC ABC is back at The Base for our every-other-week Political Prisoner Letter Writing Dinner. As anarchists, it should come as no surprise that we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving– we’ll take your damned day off from work, but not in exchange for commemorating the historic and ongoing genocide of indigenous folks and the 250 million turkeys who are killed each year. While we might be eating the fruits of the fall harvest, don’t confuse that with an acceptance of the Thanksgiving myth.

This Tuesday’s dinner will focus on indigenous political prisoner Leonard Peltier and we are fortunate to have a guest speaker from NYC Free Peltier.

Leonard Peltier is an American Indian Movement (AIM) warrior. In the 1970s, the United States government continued its legacy of decimating indigenous communities, focusing on those organized and prepared to challenge its authority. Peltier is imprisoned for the 1975 shoot-out between the FBI and AIM in which two federal agents and an indigenous man were killed. Four years after his imprisonment, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request released documents which prove Leonard Peltier’s innocence and the FBI’s targeting him. And still, Peltier remains imprisoned. For more information and ways to help, visit whoisleonardpeltier.info

If for some wild reason you can’t make it out, but still want to support the prisoners, you can write to Leonard at:

Leonard Peltier #89637-132
USP Coleman I
Post Office Box 1033
Coleman, Florida 33521

BK/NY – Tuesday, November 7 – Letter Writing Dinner for Joe-Joe Bowen

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, November 7th, 2017
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

As prison uprisings continue to take place across the country by those who are facing some of the harshest forms of state repression, most recently in Kansas, South Carolina, Arkansas and North Carolina, this week we’ll be focusing on Joe-Joe Bowen, who is no stranger to rebelling against captors as a path towards collective liberation. We’re very lucky to have a guest speaker who will present the recent updates of Joe-Joe.

A native of Philadelphia, Joe-Joe was a young member of the “30th and Norris” street gang before his incarceration politicized him. Released in 1971, his outside activism was cut short a week following his release when Joe-Joe was confronted by an officer of the notoriously brutal Philadelphia police department. The police officer was killed in the confrontation, and Bowen fled. After his capture and incarceration, Bowen became a Black Liberation Army combatant, defiant to authorities at every turn. In 1973, Joe-Joe assassinated Holmesberg prison’s warden and deputy warden as well as wounded the guard commander in retaliation for intense repression against Muslim prisoners in the facility.  In 1981, Bowen led a six-day standoff with authorities when he and six other captives took 39 hostages at Graterford Prison as a freedom attempt and protest of the prison conditions.

 

If you will not be able to join us this upcoming Tuesday, you can still write to Joe-Joe (as per Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, only plain white envelopes are accepted) :
Joe-Joe Bowen* #AM4272
SCI Coal Township
1 Kelley Drive
Coal Township, Pennsylvania 17866-1020
*Address envelope to Joseph Bowen.

BK/NY – Tuesday, October 24th – Come to a Green Scare(y) Halloween Card-Writing

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, October 24th, 2017
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

In light of the coming holiday, NYC ABC is sending Halloween cards to targets of the Green Scare as part of our every-other-week political prisoner letter-writing dinners. We will also have hot off the presses copies of the 2018 Certain Days: Freedom For Political Prisoners calendars available. The theme of this year’s calendar is Awakening Resistance.

Since the early 1980s, public relations hacks have been working to reify the term “eco-terrorism.” By 2004, they became successful and a phrase that a decade earlier had no real meaning was now defined by the United States government and used to introduce legislation. In the face of global ecologic destruction and animal torture, those who try to end the suffering are the ones labeled terrorists. Join us in letting the ones who have ultimately been captured know that they have not been forgotten.

BK/NY – Tuesday, August 15th – Black August Card Writing Dinner

WHAT: Black August Card Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, August 15th, 2017
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
Hopefully you’ve been training in preparation for Running Down the Walls 2017. The competition will be fierce, the food at the after party will be delicious, and the solidarity with our imprisoned comrades will be infinite. Please take this opportunity to get more folks to sponsor you as a participant and help build the ABCF warchest and the 5 Borough Anti-Repression Committee. As a lead in to this year’s run, we are hosting another of our every other week Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinners. This week, NYC ABC will be hosting a Black August card signing.

Maybe you’ve been working too many hours a week to even notice the full-blown war being waged against you by cops and the ruling class. It is real and it is continuing. And of course there is another war– the war against folks imprisoned for their political beliefs and actions. And here’s where we bridge the two.  We will be sending greeting cards to Black revolutionary political prisoners and there’s an easy (too easy? POSSIBLY!) way for you to help. Just come by, eat some food, sign some cards, maybe meet folks you don’t already know, and show some base level solidarity with those behind bars.

BK/NY – Friday, March 10th – The Frontlines Are Everywhere: Grand Jury Resistance Tour

WHAT: Grand Jury Resistance Workshop
WHEN: 7pm, Friday, March 10th, 2017
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
Hot on the heals of NYC ABC‘s recent letter-writing dinner for water protectors held captive by the state, we are excited to host an event to help not only water protectors but all folks engaged in revolutionary struggle.

NoDAPL water protectors and the Water Protector Anti-Repression Crew are facilitating trainings across Turtle Island sharing knowledge about resistance to the grand jury convened against water protectors at Standing Rock. They want to build capacity for strong movement defense against state repression.

Strong movements and interdependent relationships make attempts to shut down our struggle obsolete. Let’s build our capacity for defending our movements together!

This two-hour workshop is open to all who have participated in the movement at Standing Rock, those who have supported the efforts on the ground from their homes and territories elsewhere, as well as all those who wish to continue fighting on the many frontlines that continue to emerge across Turtle Island.

The fight isn’t over at Standing Rock, as nearly 800 Water Protectors continue their battles in the courtrooms with some facing federal felony indictments that carry a potential of 15 years in federal prison. The grand jury convened against water protectors continues as does the resistance to it. As extraction becomes the norm and the government ramps up its repression against those who stand in resistance, this workshop holds valuable information for those who struggle for Indigenous sovereignty, earth liberation and a future without oppression.

BK/NY – Tuesday, February 14th – Letter-Writing Dinner For Mumia Abu-Jamal

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, February 14th, 2017
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

This week NYC ABC is happy to announce that we will be joined by a special guest speaker from the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home as we write to Mumia Abu Jamal. Mumia has recently filed a grievance to the officials at SCI Mahanoy regarding the cleanliness and quality of the water at the prison as well as their non-compliance in a court order to treat his hep-c and has asked that folks on the outside participate in a campaign to remedy those issues.

Mumia Abu-Jamal is an African-American writer and journalist, author of six books and hundreds of columns and articles, who has spent the last 30 years on Pennsylvania’s death row and now general population. Mumia was wrongfully convicted and sentenced for the murder of a Philadelphia cop. The demand for a new trial and freedom is supported by heads of state, Nobel laureates, distinguished human rights organizations, scholars, religious leaders, artists, scientists and, as important, millions of folks like you and us. For more information, be sure to visit bringmumiahome.com.

We expect to see you on Tuesday. If you can’t make it, please take the time to write a letter to Mumia:
Mumia Abu-Jamal #AM 8335
SCI Mahanoy
301 Morea Road
Frackville, Pennsylvania 17932

As you prepare to join us on Tuesday in writing letters to Mumia, please take a moment and heed his request with this action alert from the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home