from Twitter
we won’t be hosting regular open hours for the summer. Check back in with us late August
April 22nd Letter-writing for BLM Prisoner Josh Williams
from Philly ABC
Where: A-Space, 4722 Baltimore Avenue
When: Monday, April 22nd, 6:30-8:30 PM
Snacks and letter-writing supplies provided!
Join us on Monday for the next letter-writing for political prisoners, this time for long-term BLM prisoner Josh Williams. On December 24, 2014, in the heat of a protest, Josh who was 19 at the time followed a group who had broken into a QuikTrip convenience store. He decided to use lighter fluid to set a fire to a garbage can outside the store. It was put out before causing damage, but police investigated the incident, and two days later, as he was walking to a Christmas party, cops surrounded and arrested him. He spent nearly a year in jail before his trial. The following December, a judge sentenced him to eight years for arson– a sentence that grossly outweighs his crime.
Josh apparently gets unfairly treated by guards in the prison because they see his actions in Ferguson as anti-police. He also recently expressed interest in getting more mail. He likes reading Thrillers and the Bible. When he gets out of prison, he’s hoping to open a youth center in Ferguson, to give kids who grew up poor like him a chance to build community. His plans are still vague, but he feels committed to doing something positive with children.
We will also be sending birthday cards to political prisoners with birthdays in May: Alvaro Luna Hernandez (the 12th), Kojo Bomani Sababu (the 27th), and Doug Wright (the 31st).
Street Politics 101 at Anarchy Afternoons
from Facebook
This week we will watch films about the 2012 Quebec student strike on the anniversary of one of its largest (if not most successful) demonstrations.
Seven years ago, on March 22nd 2012, students in Quebec held one of the largest demonstrations in Canadian history. At the time, the organizers were hoping that sheer numbers in the street would give them leverage in the ongoing student strike. Many anarchists and other groups had already been taking a different tack, focusing on developing street tactics through continuous direct actions. After the massive demonstration failed to bring the student organizers to the negotiating table, the strikers seemed to en masse turn their attention to “economic disruptions.” Coming on the heels of a particularly volatile annual anti-police demonstration (held yearly in Montreal on March 15th), these economic disruptions took an explicitly confrontational form. The films chronicle the events that followed.
The main film we will be watching is Submedia’s Street Politics 101 (30 minutes). We will begin this film at 3pm
Clips from the film Insurgence will also be shown throughout the afternoon. This is a rare and powerful document of the period.
For more info on the Quebec student strike: https://crimethinc.com/2012/08/14/while-the-iron-is-hot-student-strike-social-revolt-in-quebec-spring-2012
[March 22nd from 3PM to 6PM at A-Space 4722 Baltimore Ave]
Trouble at Anarchy Afternoons
from Facebook
We will be screening the new episode of Trouble during Anarchy Afternoons. Anarchy Afternoons have been happening for several weeks offering coffee, tea, snacks, and discussion. It basically serves as open hours for A-space.
This week we will watch this short video put out by Submedia to help direct our discussion. The video is 30 minutes and is also available freely on the internet if you are interested.
Anarchy Afternoons runs from 1-6. The video will be shown around 3pm.
Here is description of this episode:
Cops are the front-line of the state, tasked with defending and reinforcing all illegitimate hierarchies of power. They are the armed enforcers of white supremacy who catch paid vacations for murdering Black children in the streets. They are the knock on the door to evict you from your home. They are the no-knock SWAT Team raid that shoots your dog. They are the corrupt overseers of the ghetto, the barrio, the favela. They are the unmarked cruiser that slows down to harass a sex worker. They are the vicious interrogators of rape survivors. They are the protectors of bulldozers and pipelines. They are the batons, flash bangs and rubber bullets used to break up our demonstrations, and put down our riots. They are the guardians of capital. They are the oppressor. And without exception… they’re all bastards.
As the overlapping and reinforcing internal crises of capitalism continue to pose an existential threat to the very foundations of state power, governments around the world are doubling-down on their internal security. In many cases, this has come in the form of intense militarization and counterinsurgency training… a process that blurs the traditional between domestic policing and military forces. But further equipping the police does nothing to address the root causes of oppression, exploitation and ecological destruction fuelling social revolt… if anything, it just ups the stakes.
trailer: https://sub.media/video/trouble-18-acab-trailer/
[March 1 A-Space Anarchist Community Center 4722 Baltimore Ave]
Feb 25th, 6:30pm: Letter-writing Event for Sean Swain
from Philly ABC
We are at it again with a new location and we’ve switched from the 1st to the 4th Monday of the month; as always all letter-writing supplies & snacks are provided!
Where: A-Space, 4722 Baltimore Avenue
When: Monday, February 25th, 6:30pm
This month we are writing letters to Sean Swain, an anarchist prisoner and jailhouse lawyer who has been held by the Ohio DOC since 1991. Before his incarceration, Sean worked as a union organizer and journalist. A home invasion by the relative of a court official led to Sean’s killing that person in self-defense, within his own home. Nevertheless, Sean was convicted of first-degree murder in 1991. Even though the conviction was overturned in 1993, he has still been held ever since. In 2012, Sean was blamed for a disturbance by a group of prisoners calling themselves the “Army of the 12 Monkeys”, and since then, he has been held in “supermax” (aka solitary confinement) basically every day.
In spite of his circumstances, Sean has been a huge force for helping fellow prisoners with their cases, and fighting for more livable conditions within the prison walls. He wrote the book “Last Act of the Circus Animals”, and also has a semi-weekly segment on “The Final Straw” podcast. Because he dares to push back, Sean faces massive repression by his captors, including repeated harassment and outright assaults. He has had to go on hunger strike many times, just to obtain basic human dignities. In spite of this, Sean has not lost his spirit or his sense of humor, and loves getting mail from comrades on the outside. Drawings, jokes, and solidarity are particularly encouraged (all of his mail is read by the guards, though).
If you are unable to make it to the event, you can drop Sean a line at:
Sean Swain #243-205
Warren Correctional Institute
P.O. Box 120
Lebanon, OH 45036
We will also be sending birthday greetings to political prisoners with birthdays in February and March: Veronza Bowers (Feb 4th), Kamau Sadiki (Feb 19th), Oso Blanco (Feb 26th), Ana Belen Montes (Feb 27th), Joy Powell (Mar 5th), Andrew Mickel (Mar 13th), Ruchell Magee (Mar 17th), and Jaan Laaman (Mar 21st).
Anarchy Afternoons
from Facebook
A-space has been an anarchist social center on West Philly’s Baltimore avenue for decades. This weekly event will prioritize the social center by holding regular open hours. Friday afternoons, A-space will be open for people to come in, hang out, and discuss anarchist topics.
At its most basic, Anarchy Afternoons will provide coffee/tea, wifi access, and space for people to read, write, and talk. Anyone is welcome to stop by for a drink and learn more about anarchism and its history. People with flyers for related events or anarchist literature are encouraged to come by to distribute material.*
As Anarchy Afternoons develops, there will be more intentional discussions based on short presentations, readings, and videos.
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*pls note: Anarchy Afternoons is an informal social space. It does not aim to form an organization or serve to increase membership in existing ones—groups are encouraged to promote events, but this is not a recruiting center. Anarchy Afternoons hopes to open up discussion space for connecting with each other without the pressure to join a group.
[Fridays 1-6pm at A-space Anarchist Community Center 4722 Baltimore Ave]
