from It’s Going Down
In a gesture of solidarity with the ongoing prison strike, we vandalized some UPS lockers in Queen Village with paint early this morning. UPS uses slave labor from prisons. Long live the strike! For the proliferation of attack against prison society!
from Instagram
Continued solidarity with the #prisonstrike at 21st and Walnut
Submission
It hardly seems necessary to summarize what has gone down inside U.S. prisons since September 9th. Hunger strikes, work stoppages, and riots have spread throughout the country on a scale that we likely aren’t even fully aware of yet. Some uprisings appeared took us by surprise, such as in several Florida prisons, while others presumably grew from recent organizing endeavors on the inside, such as at Kinross in Michigan or Holman in Alabama. By rough estimates, over 20,000 prisoners were involved in some way. That’s huge.
On the outside, solidarity burned so brightly all over the world. Banner drops, graffiti slogans, noise demonstrations and more showed that we had the backs of all who would partake in the strike. It is worth noting however that the vast majority of this took place the first weekend of the strike. But this prison strike—and the struggle against prisons more broadly—is about more than a day or a week. It didn’t start on September 9th and it isn’t ending any time soon. Some prisoners may return to work while others decide to stop working for the first time. It’s easier when there is a definitive date to take action on, to build momentum towards, but that’s not going to be enough.
Therefore, we would like to offer a call for renewed actions in solidarity with the prison strike and the struggle against prison society. Right now many are organizing anti-repression campaigns for striking prisoners and that is of course very necessary and not nearly as exciting work. But it would be a mistake to conceive of this struggle in a linear fashion—that is to say, a single wave where we demonstrate as it crests and write letters as it crashes. How many prisoners hadn’t heard about the strike until after it had started? How many knew but didn’t think people would actually be there to support them? Three weeks after the start of the strike, inmates in Turbeville, South Carolina rebelled against a guard and took over their dorm. How can we stop while inmates are still risking their lives for freedom?
We propose the week of October 15th – 22nd for a concentration of actions to remind everyone locked up by the State that we will always have their back. Once again, it is important to take these dates with a grain of salt. No one’s going to judge you if you take action on October 23rd, or in November, or even in 2017. Neither should anyone sit on their hands waiting for the 15th to get going. New Year’s Eve should also be kept in mind, which has traditionally seen noise demonstrations outside of prisons every year, despite being an equally arbitrary date.
“When times seem slow and uneventful we let ourselves stagnate, but imagination and revolt are like muscles: the less we use them the weaker they become. We can push back the boredom of less eventful times and point towards insurrection. Solidarity actions and struggling on our own timelines is a way we can create momentum and tension when there isn’t much.”
– “Our Own Timelines” Anathema, Vol 2 Issue 6
It is undeniable that many comrades exist outside of realities where organizing a protest or noise demonstration is tenable. Many of us are still searching for a few like-minded comrades, let alone attempting to bring out a crowd. There are still opportunities to act, whether it is a one or two person team dropping a banner or putting up posters, or hosting a letter writing or informational event that can help connect future accomplices. It certainly can never be overstated how important writing letters of support and calling in to prisons is in and of itself, but why pass on an opportunity to build our capacity?
If nothing else, we should all feel ashamed that the most active city in terms of U.S. prison strike solidarity actions is Athens, Greece. They already have such a head start but we can at least give them a bit of challenge, can’t we?
– Some Restless Uncontrollables
Poster (11×17) https://itsgoingdown.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/o1522-tabloid-2.pdf
Poster (8.5×11) https://itsgoingdown.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/o1522-letter-1.pdf
Image https://itsgoingdown.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/o1522-sq.jpg
___
from https://itsgoingdown.org/call-renewed-actions-solidarity-prison-strike-october-15-22/
Submission
Word of the September 9th noise demonstration at the Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) was spread through social media, flyers handed out at bus stops to people going on prison visits, flyers handed out around the neighborhood where the demonstration took place, as well as to people visiting the youth inside.
The point of the demonstration was to make noise for the youth on the inside and to give them a change to let loose, even if only in a limited way inside their cages.
A meet-up was organized via facebook north of the center at 48th and Aspen St. It became known after the demo that some people had problems finding the meet-up location and that this may have lowered turnout. At this spot a group of people in masks started setting up banners and handing out whistles as well as fireworks.
There was an awkward division between the masked up peeps and those who were not in masks. Although some communication happened between the groups, I would like to see more exchanges between people at demonstrations for a better understanding of why some people choose to wear masks and some do not.
People waited around and some started to set off bottle rockets. About 15 minutes after 8pm, someone with a megaphone said it was time to move (as a cop car had rolled by just earlier). The group moved ahead behind a set of banners down 48th toward the JJC. We took the streets and got generally positive responses from people in cars (unlike most demonstrations in center city where angry yuppies try to run marches down). Flyers about the prison strike and just about hating prisons in general were tossed into the air like confetti all along the march.
Some had decided to meet up at the JJC ahead of time. There was some confusion between the marchers and the people set up at the JJC. The marchers walked past the front of the center near 48th and Haverford about halfway down the block to the side parking-lot. The reason was that the front building is an office building for social workers and on the side of the complex behind the parking lot was where the youth were being held in “dorms.”
There was also some confusion expressed as to who organized the demonstration, framed as concern that the demonstration was a ploy by cops. The reason for this was the fireworks. There was fear that this would agitate the cops into giving people gun charges (which is not unheard of) or take it as an excuse to come smash up the demo. A few people left the demonstration because they felt unsafe, which is a completely reasonable response that deserves support. It is important for everyone to be able to assess their own risk. The remaining people joined the demonstration near the parking-lot.
As the noise demonstration went on we saw some people waving on the inside, but it was hard to see much because of the way the center is built to isolate.
Outside there was a cop with a camera taking video of the whole scene, especially trying to film people’s faces. “Civil affairs” – or protest cops who wear plain clothes and orange armbands to almost every protest – especially use this information. This information also has the potential to be integrated into facial recognition software, as more departments request funds for “upgrades” (this is the flip side of body-cameras). Eventually some people in masks took exception to this and started putting flags in front of the camera, drumming on the camera, and throwing trash at the cop. Some people shot fireworks at cops and shouted at them to quit their jobs or kill themselves.
Eventually after an hour and a half people started marching back toward Aspen. There was concern expressed that the march was moving too fast for some people. At one point someone shouted to the front to slow down. Making people with needs have to shout to be seen creates an unwelcome dynamic and could potentially lead to the most vulnerable being snagged by the cops. Collectively taking the responsibility to be more mindful of who is around us in the future may address some of these concerns about accessibility.
At this point there was a cop van in front “leading” (more like kettling) the march, but eventually someone threw a flagpole at the back of the van and it moved farther ahead. When the march got back to Aspen St, some people loitered (fuck the police, amirite?) around for a bit longer shouting at cops but eventually everyone dispersed into the night with no arrests.
Some concluding observations:
1) People are gonna do what they’re gonna do at these kinds of rackets, like bring fireworks and get rowdy. That’s the point of autonomy. There are no leaders or organizers whose goal is to keep things orderly. Just the opposite — the goal is to get disorderly. That said, we must be aware that our actions may “turn off” others and split the demo or cause people to leave. Fireworks, flag throwing, and camera blocking are new tactics that are an escalation in the context of demos in the last few years, which has the potential to both expand what people think as well as to demobilize protest state repression or some people avoiding demos that are not specifically designated as “peaceful.”
2) Safety at demonstrations is an illusion, or at the very least relative, and it is not something that can be guaranteed. Ultimately the cops define what is illegal. However, there are steps we can take, like being aware of where people are in the group and trying to keep people together who want to be in the relative safety of a group.
3) There are practical steps we can all take to lessen the impact of surveillance. Wearing masks and refusing to claim actions with named organizations can avoid repression/surveillance down the line because there is less in the way of social ties that can be tracked and people may feel empowered to organize another demonstration completely apart from the initial group who comes together on one particular night.
So take this as an invitation to keep up these demonstrations and be free in the streets.
-a (seriously) sweaty bitch
from It’s Going Down
A couple nights ago we went out and poured paint on a UPS Drop Box and blacked out some nearby security cameras with spray paint. UPS uses prison labor which is why we targeted them.
It was pretty fun and easy, here’s a link to find some boxes near you if you want to try it out too.
https://www.ups.com/dropoff
Click the menu “+See All Options” and then the menu “+Location Type” and check off “UPS Drop Box” for a map of all the boxes in the country.
from Instagram
#prisonstrike graffiti on bus stop at 8th and Lombard
Submission
September 10, 2016th
Last night was way too hot to be wearing a damn hoodie, but at least no one figured out i was the one who farted at the demo #worthit. Anyways some people came together and got a lil ignorant out front (actually to the side of) the youth prison in west philly, for the prison strike.
First Bernie showed up, but he got punched in the face and drove off in an Uber screaming about outside agitators. Then some reckless nobodies started shooting off fireworks left and right and slanging old sneakers on the nearby powerlines, real anti-civ shit. Cops were so scared that we couldn’t tell if they were sweating their underwear or pissing themselves. Taking pity on the knaves, people went to the police’s aid, helping them cover their video recording gear with black flags so it wouldn’t get wet during the flier storm. Some people drummed on buckets, some people drummed on the police’s camera, they weren’t into that. A masked up anarchist color guard of two traced obscene gestures in the air toward the cops, shouting 9/11 was an inside job.
We saw some waving from the inside, but not a lot, the fools who built the spot put a parking lot in the way so it was hard to see, plus even the parking lot had a wall on it, bruh!?! We took note of the parking lot as a potential place to dunk on the cops big time in the basketball game we call life, but like later, cause not now.
Some people had no chill. Like a cop got hit with an empty roman candle or a water bottle or something, like maybe a few times. A friend also got hit with a firework, but they were too hype to care, it just bounced off their aura, maaaan. People brought the whole toy store to the demo, like whistles, sparklers, flares, plastic harmonicas, even that new Furby that laughs when you tickle the belly, okay. On the way out some police car tried to lead the way, but we said “fuck off” and sent them some trash long-distance, maybe like half-court, crowd went wild.
No one got popped, locked or dropped as far as we know.
Long live the strike!
Free dat bois!
Toast marshmallows on the flames of insurrection!
Flip over prison society!
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ some other people might write a serious one so hang in there if that’s your thing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
-Some overdressed sweaty bitches
from Instagram
Today is the day. #prisonstrike
from Facebook
A nationwide prison strike is beginning on September 9. Movement for No Society is offering this workshop to consider prison strikes in context of the struggle for liberation today.
Presenters will give report backs on the events and organizing that led up to the strike, followed by a discussion on the following questions:
▲ What are some ways to get involved and contribute to this struggle?
▲ What is the history of similar prison actions?
▲ How have prison uprisings in the past decade contributed to making prisons a focal point of the struggle against white supremacy and capitalism?
▲How can we be thinking about anti-prison organizing beyond the prison abolitionist framework that’s currently getting mainstreamed?
We invite people to share their experiences with agitating/ organizing against prisons as well as their ideas for moving forward.
[September 11 from 7pm to 10pm at A-Space 4722 Baltimore Ave]
from Facebook
“This is a call to end slavery in America. This call goes directly to the slaves themselves. We are not making demands or requests of our captors, we are calling ourselves to action.”
Come out September 9th to show solidarity with prisoners across the country as they strike against prison slavery. We’ll be making noise at the Juvenile Justice Service Center to let prisoners know they have support on the outside, to high-light on the actions prisoners themselves are taking, and to show we’re watching and will not stand by as prison staff retaliate against individuals or deny them their collective right to organize.
Prisons are devastating our families and communities to turn a profit, this strike can end that.
“When we abolish slavery, they’ll lose much of their incentive to lock up our children, they’ll stop building traps to pull back those who they’ve released. When we remove the economic motive and grease of our forced labor from the US prison system, the entire structure of courts and police, of control and slave-catching must shift to accommodate us as humans, rather than slaves.”
Imprisonment affects all of us. With new prisons being built across Philadelphia and Pennsylvania we see more immigrants are being detained and deported, more of our loved ones are being held in pre-trial detention with extremely high bail, more of our youth are being locked away. Those who make it out are barred from access to social services, face with employment discrimination, and monitored by parole and probation officers.
Let’s show comrades and family inside we have their back.
[September 9 from 8 to 11PM at n48th St and Aspen St]
from Instagram
#prisonstrike September 9th
from Instagram
Saw some wheat pasted posters for the September 9th #prisonstrike in the Point Breeze neighborhood today. #iwoc #attica
from Facebook
Come out to paint banners, make signs, and eat snacks.
We’ll be getting ready for the upcoming prisoner strike on September 9th, and preparing for a noise demonstration on the same day in support of the striking prisoners.
Bring paint, markers, banner material, brushes, and anything else you want to work with.
Noise Demonstration:
https://www.facebook.com/events/615768345272416/
Learn more about the strike:
https://iwoc.noblogs.org/
https://supportprisonerresistance.net/
https://www.facebook.com/events/585509798294138/
[September 4 from 3 to 7PM at LAVA Space 4134 Lancaster Ave]
from Facebook
Black August is a period of reflection and action on prisons and resistance to it, in the spirit of people like Jonathan and George Jackson. In this discussion, we’ll focus on what prison means for community and what community means for prisoners.
[August 24 from 7PM to 8:30PM at 704 n5th St #311]
from Latino Rebels
The following is an open letter of demand to Jeh Johnson written by 22 mothers detained at Berks Family Residential Center:
The reason for this letter of demands is to make it known to you that since Monday August 8th we have started an “INDEFINITE HUNGER STRIKE.”
The Immigration Department has made a public announcement stating that in family detention center parents and children are detained no longer than 20 days.
WE WANT TO DISPROVE THIS INFORMATION!!
We are 22 mothers who are detained at Berks Family Residential Center, being mothers who have been from 270 days to 365 days in detention with children ages 2 to 16 years old, depriving them of having a normal life, knowing that we have prior traumas from our countries, risking our own lives and that of our children on the way until we arrived here, having family and friends who would be responsible for us and who are waiting for us with open arms and that immigration refuses to let us out.
Seeing these injustices, we have decided to go on an indefinite hunger strike until we obtain our immediate freedom because all of us left our countries of origin fleeing violence, threats and corruption that not even the government of each of our countries in Central America can control.
On many occasions our children have thought about SUICIDE because of the confinement and desperation that is caused by being here. The teenagers say BEING HERE, LIFE MAKES NO SENSE, THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO BREAK THE WINDOW TO JUMP OUT AND END THIS NIGHTMARE, and on many occasions they ask us if we have the courage to escape.
Other kids grab their IDs and tighten them around their necks and say that they are going to KILL themselves if they don’t get out of here. The youngest kids (2 years old) cry at night for not being able to express what they feel. For a long time, the children have not been eating well, but they have never paid attention to our complaints about the food until now.
We are desperate and we have decided that: WE WILL GET OUT ALIVE OR DEAD.
If it is necessary to sacrifice our lives so that our children can have freedom: WE WILL DO IT! Putting aside the threats we are receiving from one of the psychologists and some doctors in this facility.
We are calling on the government to take action on this matter and open their eyes, letting them know that IMMIGRATION is acting against the law and is mocking them, making arguments that are false; besides our children are entitled to freedom according to the case of Flores, and still they are here with us.
We hope that our voices are heard, so that we can have the FREEDOM that we NEED so much.
Signed,
The following call to arms is via immigration lawyer Carol Anne Mauer Donohoe:
HEY! Everyone who pretends to, or actually does, care about the fact that our government has imprisoned mothers and children who have committed no crime but to ASK FOR SAFETY, here’s your chance to actually DO SOMETHING. Call Field Office Director Thomas Decker at 215-656-7164 and tell him to release these families. Call your spineless Berks County Commissioners at 610-478-6136 and ask why they’re spending our tax dollars to make this suffering continue. Email Ted Dallas from the PA Department of Human Services, in charge of the WELFARE OF CHILDREN in the Commonwealth and ask why they are allowing the refugee prison to remain open even though the license has been revoked at [email protected].
