Running Down The Walls 2021 Reportback

  • October 3, 2021 1:08 am

from Philly ABC

We’re pleased to share the following reportback of our fourth annual Philadelphia Running Down The Walls in support of political prisoners and prisoners of war.

On sunny September 12, 2021, a light breeze persisted from off the lake in FDR park as participants gathered to check-in for their t-shirts, make donations, set up tables, and hang banners. For the fourth year in a row, the day kicked off an amazing yoga warm up lead by  Sheena Sood  to uplift the energy for the rest of the day. Our comrade Spiritchild from the  maroon party for liberation  emceed the event getting participants amped and queued up. Walkers left the start line around 11:10 am, followed by folks moving at a medium pace, and finally the runners around 11:30 am.

After the 5K, the crowd gathered as Spiritchild performed a song for the spirits of political prisoners, fallen comrades and ancestors, followed by pouring libations. Then we acknowledged the prisoners who were sponsored for and participated as part of the Philadelphia event: John Bramble and Paul Kali Hickman (Vaughn Correctional Center), Hector “Pica” Huertas and Jerome Coffey (SCI Pine Grove), Jacob Busic (Halifax Correctional Unit), Alejandro “Capo” Rodriguez-Ortiz and the 9 others participating with him (SCI Phoenix).

The first speaker was Mumia’s grandson, Jamal Jr. He started with the chant he’s heard his whole life – “Free Mumia!” – to remind everyone what the goal is, and then continued to share his raw emotions with us. Jamal spoke on how hard it was to see Mumia’s incision wounds from the recent open heart surgery, but his words come from more than just that. They come from a lifetime of fighting to free his grandfather. His call to action is for all of us to do one revolutionary act a day. See Jamal’s full speech from  Unicorn Riot’s  live stream  here.

I wish my grandfather was here to address you today. We have a puppet in his stead. I wish he was here, lending his voice for the liberation of others like he always does. I wish he was here laughing and telling stories, flanked by his wife, children, grandchildren, and other family. … He’s been abducted longer than most of us have been alive. Just think of that. … They intended to kill him, but the people had something to say about that. … They took him from me, and they still intend to hold him. I’m pretty sure we got something to say about that. They took him from my children, and they intend for him to die in there– to die behind enemy lines. … Freeing political prisoners is personal to me, because my grandfather has been a political prisoner all my life. He’s been a political prisoner most of my dad’s life. Bringing him home is the goal. You guys hear that? We got to bring him home. We have to.

We all got work to do, so I am going to require one revolutionary act a day. One revolutionary act could be sharing a revolutionary story. One revolutionary act could be joining in on a conversation of political prisoners and injustices that we need to challenge. There’s many ways we can do one revolutionary act a day… . When I’m asking you guys to voluntarily do one revolutionary act a day– don’t just do it because it makes you feel okay, you know it makes you feel right, makes you feel whole, makes you feel good, you know supporting political prisoners– do it because, you know, a lot of us, we don’t have a choice… In supporting political prisoners, and supporting revolutionaries, in a lot of ways you’re supporting the family members, you know, of revolutionaries … the ones who didn’t sign up for this.

The next speaker was former political prisoner,  Kazi Toure,  who was imprisoned for over ten years for his role in bombings carried out by the United Freedom Front (UFF) to combat Apartheid in South Africa and US Imperialism in Central America. Kazi traveled down from Boston to participate and share his wisdom, solidarity for Mumia and all political prisoners, as well as his experiences with Running Down The Walls both inside and outside prison. See Kazi’s full speech here.

Each year I see this [Running Down The Walls] growing and growing, more and more. And you know it’s something we really need to do because of the double standards that they have on this land. Where Mumia would already be out, and a lot of other political prisoners would be out. So we have to double our efforts.

As brother [Jamal] spoke before … [where] he was talking about doing one revolutionary act a day, I think the self-discipline plays into that. Just like where we start the day off with yoga, and then went on our walk and our run… we have to incorporate all that and study revolutionary movements, and who the political prisoners are. People should know them. They are in there because they made a choice. People made a conscious choice to fight against this government, and it’s racist, sexist, homophobic policies.

Following came a legal update from Nia Holston of the  Abolitionist Law Center,  on the current status of medical parole for political prisoner Russell Maroon Shoatz. Maroon has been imprisoned for 48 years and suffers from stage 4 cancer, to the point at which he is eligible for compassionate release into to hospice. However that didn’t stop a Judge last month from asserting this 78 year old man is an “undue risk of escape or danger to the community,” and denying his release. Nia and others from ALC are still fighting for his release, and they believe he will come home. See Nia’s full legal update  here.

I definitely want to acknowledge the family of Russell Maroon Shoatz that’s here today, and that we stand in solidarity with them. In August we filed a petition for compassionate release in his case, because of the illness, because of what he’s been going through, because he spent so long incarcerated. We’ve been working to file that petition to get him released. Now I have to say that unfortunately, Judge Scott of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas did deny that petition in August of this past month, but we are still working. We are still preparing the litigation to continue that fight, and we believe that we will win.

But I will say, as you all know here, we know that we can’t rely on the legal system to do what’s right. We know that we can’t. And so, all of the work that you are doing, all the good work you’re doing to organize this event, and all of the work that the Free Maroon Now coalition is doing to support the litigation is so, so important.

Next up, we were again joined by Robert Saleem Holbrook. Saleem is a former juvenile lifer who was released in 2018 after spending over two decades in prison. He spoke at last year’s event about the political education and mentorship he received from Maroon and  Joseph “Joe-Joe” Bowen  while incarcerated with them. This year he spoke on the history of Jericho and their new Philly chapter that formed a few months ago. He also echoed the strength and victories of our movements to free political prisoners. See Saleem’s full speech here.

Jericho was founded in 1998 after a call was made by  Jalil Muntaqim … for all national organizations that support the Black liberation movement and support radical things in this country, to come together and march on Washington demanding the release of political prisoners who were casualties of this country’s war against the Black liberation movement, and this country’s war against the social protest movement of the 60s and 70s. … Since 1998, I’m proud to say that we have brought home a lot of political prisoners. Something that at one time seemed impossible. Jalil Muntaqim, the political prisoner who made that call, is now home. However not only is Jalil home, his comrades are also home. … A lot of times when you’re in the trenches fighting, you sometimes forget our victories … but we have victories that we need to uplift, and I think as a movement we need to uplift these victories a lot more… . There are so many who are released that gave inspiration to us that we need to acknowledge when we’re in their presence.

We have a lot more work to do. We got bring home Mumia Abu-Jamal … Russell Maroon Shoatz … Fred “Muhammad” Burton … Joseph “Joe-Joe” Bowen … Sundiata Acoli … Mutulu Shakur … Leonard Peltier … You know today is his birthday, so we need to uplift Leonard Peltier’s presence [and] his fighting spirit today. Philly Jericho is part of this movement, this mass movement to liberate our political prisoners.

The final speaker was longtime ABCF member, Tim Fasnacht. Since 2005, Tim has been the person dispersing the monthly Warchest stipends to political prisoners and prisoners of war. He gave a brief update and history of the program. See Tim’s full speech  here.

Right now we’re up to 18 political prisoners [that] we send $50 a month. We also provide occasional legal money if someone needs help with legal fees. And [what] we also started over the past couple years as the Warchest has really grown, is a release fund. So we’re giving political prisoners who have been released over that last couple years anywhere from maybe $500 to maybe $3000 to help them get on their feet when they get out.

The Warchest started in 1994. It came about from comrades up in Patterson, New Jersey. They started writing and visiting different political prisoners. The first one they wrote to was Ojorie Lutalo … he’s been a huge inspiration to the formation of the ABCF in all different aspects, and he’s the one who coined the term “Warchest.” So you can thank him for it, you can thank Sekou Odinga and Sundiata Acoli – they’re the ones that kind of put together the list of people that we should get in touch with who were in need of financial assistance. We’ll just keep on doing this every year until they are all free.

Between speeches, we read aloud Running Down The Walls solidarity statements from political prisoners Oso Blanco and Bill Dunne, former political prisoner Jaan Laaman, and Capo on behalf of the Vaughn 17 prisoners who participated with us. Many people also signed up to join the Free Mumia listserv, which can also be subscribed to here. All the while, were accompanied by powerfully symbolic 18 ft. Mumia puppet in the background. If you appreciated the puppet, please donate to sustain that project. The speeches wrapped up with some short announcements of upcoming events and another reminder of the many political prisoners we’ve brought home, followed by a group photo on the pavilion steps.

We’d like to thank Food Not Bombs Solidarity for the snacks and refreshments, to Unicorn Riot for the full  livestream  of speakers, statements and announcements, and photographer Joe Piette for yet another collection of amazing photos. We were honored to be joined by former political prisoner Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3, who traveled all the way from New Orleans to be a part of the event. In that same vein, we were honored to be joined by and Kazi Toure and former Anarchist prisoner of war, Ojorie Lutalo,  as well as recently released Pennsylvania prisoners Arthur ‘Cetawayo’ Johnson (August 11, 2021) and Eric Riddick (May 28th, 2021).

We thank Prison Radio, Mobilizaton for Mumia, Campaign to Bring Mumia Home, and International Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal for all the support in promoting and making this event the success that it was. We would also like to thank Spiritchild for emceeing the event, Sheena Sood for leading the Yoga warm-up, Latziyela and Come On Strong  for printing the shirts, and people who tabled for Mobilization for Mumia, Here & Now Zines, IWW, Socialist Rifle Association, and a Black Panther support crew.

We thank the 200+ people who attended in person or remotely from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, California, Vermont, Illinois, New York, Virginia, Washington, Texas, Minnesota, Ohio, Arizona, Massachusetts, D.C., Malmo (Sweden), and Tokyo (Japan). Together we raised a total of $10,505 to be split between Mumia Abu-Jamal and the ABCF Warchest  that sends monthly stipends to 18 political prisoners with little or no financial support. A full breakdown of Warchest funds in and out since 1994 is available  here.  Funds available beyond the reserved amount needed for the monthly stipends will be disbursed as one-time donations to other political prisoners who demonstrate financial need, or to the release funds of the next comrades to come home.

We look forward to more successes in the next year as we further the struggle to free Mumia and abolish the carceral system! We encourage folks to donate what they can to the Ant Smith Defense Committee. An outspoken supporter of Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political prisoners, Ant is a beloved educator, community member, and organizer who participates in Running Down The Walls. Since October of 2020, he has been the target of trumped up, politically motivated charges related to protest during the George Floyd uprising. Follow the #FreeAnt  Linktree,   Twitter,  and  Instagram.  Make donations to freeantphl on  Cashapp or PayPal.

freeant-flyer.jpg

We want to close this out by commemorating former political prisoner and long-time friend and comrade of Philly ABC, Chuck Africa. After nearly 42 years in prison, on February 7th, 2020, Chuck was the last of the surviving Move 9 to be paroled. His cancer had already reached stage 4 by this time, but Chuck remained strong and optimistic.

Chuck spoke at  last year’s Running Down The Walls,  to which he called on the movement to take immediate action in supporting his imprisoned comrades Joseph Bowen and Steven Northington, and a list of women serving life without parole (or sentenced to death by incarceration).

chuck-africa-rdtw-2020-1.jpg

It was Chuck’s first and only public speaking engagement since his release. He was excited to attend the event again this year, and possibly speak again, but his health declined too rapidly in the month prior.

Around 3:00am on Monday September 20th, Chuck joined the ancestors after his four year battle with cancer that clearly worsened through incarceration. His family and close friends know him as a bold and selfless warrior, always standing up and fighting for everyone else before himself. He will forever be remembered as someone who loved with all his might, and we will keep fighting in his honor. #RestInPower comrade.

Until all are free,
Philly ABC

Meet “Mama P” of the Alt-Right Folk Duo “The Mamas and the Pepes”: Julie “Jewels” Green of Wallingford, Pennsylvania

  • September 29, 2021 1:24 am

from Anonymous Comrades Collective

Leave it to the alt-right to besmirch something as classic as the The Mamas and the Papas. In contrast to the acclaimed American folk band, “The Mamas and the Pepes” has been making racist music distributed by the “White Art Collective” since 2017, with titles such as “Anchor Baby,” “Pride and Privilege” and “Fake American.”

Thanks to the recent breach of Nazi-friendly domain registrar Epik.com by the hacktivist collective Anonymous, we were able to track down the identity of the front person and lead singer of “The Mamas and the Pepes” who calls herself “Mama P.” Since the hack by Anonymous was in response to Epik.com hosting an anti-choice website, what we discovered in our investigation was surprisingly topical.

“The Mamas and the Pepes”

Logo for the alt-right folk duo "The Mamas and the Pepes."
Logo for the alt-right folk duo “The Mamas and the Pepes.”

“The Mamas and the Pepes,” named as a spoof mash-up of the American band “The Mamas and the Papas” and the alt-right mascot “Pepe the Frog,” has been creating music with racist, homophobic, transphobic, antisemitic, Islamophobic and fascist themes since 2017 . Fronted by “Mama P” with “The Handsome Horse” on guitar, the duo has produced such songs as “Hate Crime Hoax”:

HATE CRIME HOAX
They pay Blacks & Jews & Muslims the most
So if you need your race hate sub-sid-ized
Have yourself a HATE CRIME HOAX
[archive]

Accompanying artwork for The Mamas and the Pepes' song "Hate Crime Hoax."
Accompanying artwork for The Mamas and the Pepes’ song “Hate Crime Hoax.”

and “You Gotta Go Back”:

You gotta go back where you came from
You don’t like us
You just like our stuff
We gave some to you, but it’s never enough.
So let’s coexist
With you OVER THERE
Over the wall, out of our hair
[archive]

The Mamas and the Pepe's encouraged snitching on undocumented immigrants to ICE on the web page for their song "You Gotta Go Back."
The Mamas and the Pepe’s encouraged snitching on undocumented immigrants to ICE on the web page for their song “You Gotta Go Back.”

In “Bad Optics” the lyrics reference the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory:

I took a trip back to my old hometown
and lo and behold – the children are brown!
I’m wonderin’ where all the white people went
This is the goal of the GREAT REPLACEMENT
[archive]

Accompanying artwork for the song "Bad Optics."
Accompanying artwork for the song “Bad Optics.”

Neither members of the duo show their real faces publicly, with “Mama P” using a literal sock puppet for her online appearances on neo-Nazi podcasts.

A "Mama and the Pepes" album cover. "Mama P" is represented by the sock puppet on the left.
A “Mama and the Pepes” album cover. “Mama P” is represented by the sock puppet on the left.

“The Mamas and the Pepes” are closely affiliated with the White Art Collective (WAC), a group of musicians and visual artists who promote white supremacist themes and other right-wing beliefs. “Mama P” conducts many interviews with other alt-right personalities (and even one of themselves) for their website and also hosts a music show on the WAC’s DLive channel.

One of the interviews “Mama P” conducted was with the Global Minority Initiative (GMI), a group that seeks to provide legal, financial and moral support for whom they call “political prisoners” (ie. neo-Nazis and other white supremacists who are incarcerated). She ends the interview with:

So please, whatever your belief system, taking care of our guys matters. It matters to me, and it should matter to you, too.

While there is much to criticize about the prison industry, by “our guys” “Mama P” means the white supremacists who are incarcerated for committing violence upon non-white persons and other minorities. “The Mamas and the Pepes” even did a promotional piece for the GMI in which you can hear their speaking voices:

<MEDIA>@http://accollective.noblogs.org

“The Mamas and the Pepes” also have a Gab account operated by “Mama P” on which they promote their material and post racist and LGBT-phobic messages, as well as anti-vaccination messages.

https://web.archive.org/web/20181127161843/https://gab.com/MamasPepes
[archive]
Racist post on Gab by "Mama P."
Racist post on Gab by “Mama P.”
Transphobic post on Gab by "Mama P."
Transphobic post on Gab by “Mama P.”
Anti-vaccination post on Gab by "Mama P."
Anti-vaccination post on Gab by “Mama P.”

They may not have known at the time but “The Mamas and the Pepes” was quickly attracting some unwanted attention by some nosy antifascists (us).

An Epik Fail

On September 13, 2021 the hacktivist collective Anonymous announced that they had breached the systems of Epik.com, a domain name registrar known for catering to extreme right-wing customers, in response to their hosting of an anti-choice website and would allow access to this information. The info dump proved to be a treasure trove for researchers and provided what we needed to track down “Mama P.”

 

OPERATION EPIK FAIL - https://archive.ph/S6loc
An “Epik Fail” for Epik.com; An epic win for antifascists [archive].

The official website for “The Mamas and the Pepes” was registered through Epik.com and the registrant’s information was present in this info dump, as shown below. (We have redacted some details, although this information is now publicly available):

 

“Julie Green”,”+1.215694****”,”in****@gmail.com”,”59 S ********** Rd, Wallingford, PA 19086″

Information for the registrant of "mamaspepes.com" was found in the Epik.com breach.
Information for the registrant of “mamaspepes.com” was found in the Epik.com breach.

A password used by “mamaspepes.com” and stored in plain text by Epik.com was an appreciative nod to violent right-wing extremist “Based Stickman” Kyle Chapman.

While this was a tremendous lead, by itself it was not enough, especially considering that some of the customer data in the Epik breach was deliberately falsified by customers who wished to avoid identification, so further scrutiny was necessary. A quick search of public records indicated that a “Julie S Green” was indeed a real person residing at the registered address, but we needed more proof to ensure that this was the person behind the account. A search of popular social media sites was not fruitful with such a common name. What we did have, however, was an email address: in****@gmail.com.

Upon researching this email we learned that it was also present in another information breach, that of the blogging website Livejournal. While this particular blog had been deleted, the username found in this data set was an important clue: “jewelsgreen.”

We located another now-deleted blog on an archive site belonging to a person calling herself “Jewels Green.” One of the images displayed on a blog post was also an image used on the Google profile for the in****@gmail.com  email address, though its orientation had been rotated by 90 degrees.

 

Public Google reviews made by the email address "insula@gmail.com." Note the profile image above [a baby's hand with an adult's hand].
Public Google reviews made by the email address “in****@gmail.com.” Note the profile image above.
An image found on an archived blog by "Jewels Green" is also used on the Google account associated with the email address "insula@gmail.com" found in the Epik breach [a baby's hand with an adult's hand]
An image found on an archived blog by “Jewels Green” is also used on the Google account associated with the email address “in****@gmail.com” found in the Epik breach (orientation rotated) [archive].

While this was simply a stock photo, we found no other instances of this particular cropping elsewhere on the internet. We also found a website, The Burgenland Bunch, in which she is listed with a surname “Sem” and the in****@gmail.com email address is linked. In this case, that email was publicly attached to “Julie Shana Sem” of New York, New York, born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Altogether, these were very strong indicators that we had found the person we were looking for. Further research made this indisputable.

 

 

Photo of "Jewels Green" found on an archived blog
Photo of “Jewels Green” found on an archived blog [archive].

“Jewels Green” was very active in anti-choice circles regarding abortion for a period of time between 2011 and 2017. She claimed to have had an abortion as a teen and to have worked at an abortion clinic, but came to regret her past. As such, there are numerous videos on the internet of her speaking appearances. We were able to compare her voice on these videos of her speaking appearances with the voice of “Mama P” found on the many examples of her speaking and singing. One of them may be found here, on her own YouTube channel.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq-eMNKakhc
Julie “Jewels” Green, aka “Mama P” in a video on her YouTube channel.

If that video happens to disappear, other examples exist:

We have these videos archived locally in case they are removed.

We compared Jewels Green’s speaking voice with the speaking voice of “Mama P” on her various white-supremacist podcast appearances such as one called “The After Party,” a short clip of which may be viewed and listened to below.

<MEDIA>@http://accollective.noblogs.org

We concluded that the voices were undeniably the same; Julie Shana Green, of Wallingford, Pennsylvania, aka “Jewels Green” was the person behind the voice and (literal) sock puppet of “Mama P” of “The Mamas and the Pepes.”

From Anti-Choice to White Supremacy

With the knowledge that “Mama P” was in fact anti-choice activist “Jewels Green,” much of the Twitter activity of “The Mamas and the Pepes” Twitter account (@MamasPepes) made clear sense, showing very specific knowledge of anti-choice talking points.

 

Postfrom @MamasPepes Twitter: "Planned Parenthood performs >300,000 abortion’s per year (per their own annual reports) and since the 1990s their market share in the abortion business has increased to 30%"
[archive]
@MamasPepes Tweet: "Now find a picture of what the baby looks like after an abortion and ask the same question. #abortion"
[archive]
Tweet from @MamasPepes: " W T A F FDA Acquiring ‘Fresh’ Aborted Baby Parts to Make Mice With Human Immune Systems https://michaelsavage.com/?p=22314 "
[archive]

 

(Further examples: [archive][archive][archive][archive][archive][archive][archive])

At some point Julie “Jewels” Green went from conservative anti-choice activist to full on fascist, as demonstrated by this awful parody of a Partridge Family song:

<MEDIA>@http://accollective.noblogs.org

 

Julie Shana Green
Julie Shana Green

Julie Shana Green was born on August 26, 1971 and claimed to have been “a 17-year-old drug-using high school drop-out” who was forced into an abortion by her then-boyfriend. She then claimed to have “worked at an abortion clinic for five years (from age 18 to 23)” and claimed to have been a pro-choice activist during this time. She graduated from Kutztown University in 1995 (under her surname previous to her marriage to Green, “Sem”) and then claimed that she quit working at the abortion clinic and became an anti-choice (so-called “pro-life)” activist.

Around 2000 Green got married and converted from her Lutheran faith to Catholicism, the faith of her husband, a prominent Wilmington, Delaware lawyer.

Julie Green (R) with her husband, a prominent Wilmington, Delaware lawyer.
Julie Green (right) with her husband, a prominent Wilmington, Delaware lawyer.

 

“Mama P”‘s extremist brand of Catholicism is reflected in this archived tweet [archive].

She was a copy-editor at feministsforlife.org under her real name of Julie Shana Green and later became a public speaker and editor for the same outfit under the name “Jewels Green.”

 

Julie Shana Green, aka "Jewels Green," in an anti-abortion rights promo.
Julie Shana Green, aka “Jewels Green,” in an anti-choice promo.

 

Julie "Jewels" Green at a speaking appearance in 2013 [https://archive.is/lO2BB].
Julie “Jewels” Green at a speaking appearance in 2013 [archive].
Picture of Julie Green on Twitter
[archive]

Her anti-choice activism continued through around 2017, and during this time she made many public appearances at anti-choice demonstrations. After around 2017 “Jewels Green” seemed to disappear from the anti-choice activism scene.

 

We can only speculate why such a notable anti-choice speaker who claimed to have converted from a pro-choice stance and who claimed to have had an abortion herself in the past left the scene so suddenly and thoroughly, but the slide from anti-choice into full-blown white nationalism is unsurprising. The crossover of racism and xenophobia into anti-choice circles is a well documented one. As Alex DiBranco, writing for The Nation, notes:

In recent decades, the movement mainstream has been careful to protect its public image by distancing itself from overt white nationalists in its ranks. Last year, anti-abortion leader Kristen Hatten was ousted from her position as vice president of the anti-choice group New Wave Feminists after identifying as an “ethnonationalist” and sharing white supremacist alt-right content. In 2018, when neo-Nazis from the Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP) sought to join the local March for Life rally organized by Tennessee Right to Life, the anti-abortion organization rejected TWP’s involvement.

The mention of Kristen Hatten is interesting since we found that Green (perhaps unsurprisingly) seemed to be a close associate of Hatten, as evident by their appearances together at anti-choice events.

Julie "Jewels" Green (center) with Kristen Hatten (right).
Julie “Jewels” Green (center) with Kristen Hatten (right) [archive].
Tweet from Kristen Hatten "liked" but Jewels green as it appears on archive.org.
Tweet from Kristen Hatten “liked” by Jewels green as it appears on archive.org.

Green also associated with several other extreme right-wing Twitter accounts, such as Ashley Rae Goldenberg (aka “@Communism_Kills) who is known to associate with white supremacists and Robert Spencer, operator of the Islamophobic website “Jihad Watch,” as evident by archived Twitter posts.

 

Twitter: the Mamas & the Pepes@MamasPepes: "It's GREAT to be white."
Twitter post by Julie Green operating the “@MamasPepes” Twitter account [archive].

In 2017 the white-nationalist folk musicians “The Mamas and the Pepes” appeared, with presences on Gab and other right-wing-centric internet platforms. While having strong opinions about abortion is one thing, Green obviously feels that her racist, white nationalist views are more dangerous to her social standing since she has only appeared from behind a cheaply made sock puppet. She has expressed on various racist podcasts that she cannot show her face. Apparently, she would much rather express her racist views with poorly written jingles and cheap cotton socks.

 

Julie "Jewels" Green
Julie “Jewels” Green

While we don’t know what made Julie “Jewels” Green disappear from the anti-choice activism scene to become a white nationalist folk singer who hides behind a sock puppet, we do know that she can put those socks back on her feet because she can’t hide behind them anymore.

Julie Shana Green of Wallingford, Pennsylvania.
Julie Shana Green of Wallingford, Pennsylvania.
Julie "Jewels" Green, aka "Mama P" of "The Mamas and the Pepes."
Julie “Jewels” Green, aka “Mama P” of “The Mamas and the Pepes.”
Julie "Jewels" Green, aka "Mama P" of "The Mamas and the Pepes."
Julie “Jewels” Green, aka “Mama P” of “The Mamas and the Pepes.”
Julie "Jewels" Green at a Star Wars event.
Julie “Jewels” Green at a Star Wars event. Interesting that she chose to side with intergalactic fascists, no?
(Photo by Lawrence Lucier/Getty Images) [archive]

A big shout-out goes to Anonymous, whom we are not affiliated with in any way, despite our name.  Thank you for your service!

September discussion: anarchists respond to COVID (and its world)

  • September 19, 2021 1:23 am

from Viscera

oin us Sunday, September 26th from 1-3 pm for a discussion about anarchist responses to COVID! This is a subject we’ve talked about a lot, but with vaccines, new restrictions, and the limited economic support from the state being rolled back things look a lot different now – well, except for the growing number of infections!

We’ll be reading two recent pieces, one from some French anarchists who attacked a vaccination site and one less spicy (but still good!) piece from Canada!

About an attack on a vaccination centre

Health on a human scale

We’ll be meeting in Clark Park near the chess tables, as usual!

Burning Ashli Babbitt Banner

  • September 16, 2021 1:35 am

Submission

A few anarchists residing on stolen Lenape land in so called Amerikka were alerted to the presence of a banner drop hanging from an electric tower along route 76 just outside the city celebrating the late far-right extremist, Ashli Babbitt, may she rest in piss.
Immediately upon getting notice of this we went to investigate and lo and behold there it was, hanging up defiantly exposing all the passing traffic to it’s utter filth. We just couldn’t allow that shit to fester in our town and following the proud anti-fascist tradition decided to take matters into our own hands. We got down to the tracks and to the electric tower and cut that shit down on sight!
We then took some arguably incriminating celebratory photos and decided to burn that shit in an old rusty barrel giving it the closure it deserved.
Photos attached along with the reddit thread that alerted us to it’s presence, within one day of the thread being posted we properly disposed of that banner. Can’t ever allow that shit to fester in our city!
https://www.reddit.com/r/philadelphia/comments/po54ld/how_long_has_this_ashli_babbitt_thirst_sign_been/

Anti-Prison Protest Raises Ruckus At Philly Youth Jail

  • September 15, 2021 1:47 am

from Unicorn Riot

On the evening of Thursday, September 9, several dozen anarchists gathered in West Philly for a noise demonstration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1971 Attica prison uprising. After marching in the street for several blocks, the unannounced protest arrived at the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center, a youth detention center on North 48th St that opened amidst protests in 2012.

[Video Here]

Protesters lit road flares, set off fireworks, pointed lasers and banged pots and pans to create a ruckus that served as a form of primitive communication with the youth prisoners locked inside the child jail.

A firework is launched towards the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center

Several of the youth could be seen waving and/or banging on the frosted windows of their cells, in an apparent gesture of appreciation for the noise and bright lights visiting them from the parking lot.

 

Youth locked up in the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center bang on their windows as the noise demonstration takes place outside.

After about 20 minutes, two Philadelphia Police cruisers arrived and the protesters quickly dispersed without incident.

Graffiti left in the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center parking lot

Before the protest ended, a member of the crowd read a statement reflecting on the anniversary of the Attica prison rebellion, written by Alejandro ‘Capo’ Rodriguez-Ortiz, one of the ‘Vaughn 17’ prisoner defendants prosecuted after the historic ‘Vaughn Uprising’ at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, Delaware in February 2017:

“50 years ago today, the death of dozens of warriors highlighted an issue that was previously kept in the shadows: The oppression faced by modern day slavery. It also gave us, the prisoners, the knowledge that our power wasn’t relinquished with our freedom. Behind every V17 stands the radiance of those sacrificed in the struggle to be free.

Those comrades showed what’s necessary to bring REAL change. That comes from physically fighting this machine of oppression. Not just simply ASKING for your dignity, BUT TO TAKE IT, by any means necessary.

The issues voiced 50 years ago are the same that we face today. All that proves is that there is only one cure for the malady of this affliction: a total amputation.

In a world where the people can be controlled by the threat of slavery, we’ll never be free. We have to abolish this whole system. No more concessions, they don’t get us any closer to freedom. Just talking will just bring us 50 more years of oppression & slavery.

They can make policy reforms & less oppressive & targeted laws all day. That doesn’t change the fact that there are more people enslaved in this country than the combination of the next three largest countries COMBINED! Our freedom doesn’t come retroactively with these meaningless reforms that are normally either impossible to get applied to our case or only affect a small, selected group.

Every step towards the abolishment of prisons should be attributed to the Brothers of Attica. Without them, a lot of warriors wouldn’t of thought that standing up to such an oppressive force was possible. Their blood helped loosen the foundation of the prison industrial complex. It’s our duty to finish the job, so that their sacrifice wasn’t without purpose.

We live in a different age. One where the people in our communities are now aware of the true purpose of prisons, as plantations. Now is the time to strike. Both the prisoners & our comrades in the world. We have the chance to live without the threat of slavery.

When will we take it?”

– Statement from Alejandro Rodriguez-Ortiz (Capo) on behalf of the Vaughn 17, on the anniversary of the Attica Rebellion

A flyer distributed along the march to the youth jail

“Running Down the Walls” Event Highlights Prisoner Support

  • September 13, 2021 1:42 am

from Unicorn Riot

An annual 5K run/walk/roll benefit called “Running Down the Walls” aims to amplify “the voices of our comrades behind bars, lifting them up in their struggles,” and provide material support, according to Philadelphia Anarchist Black Cross, the host of today’s event in South Philly’s FDR Park. After the participants finish their 5Ks, speakers will address the issues facing incarcerated people and the prison industrial complex.

This year’s run is in honor of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a high-profile prisoner for 40 years who suffers from multiple health issues.

[Video Here]

Last year’s Philly RDTW was featured in a short documentary by hate5six:

[Video Here]

he proceeds from the event are split with the Anarchist Black Cross Federation “Warchest Program” which includes incarcerated people like Leonard Peltier, Eric King, and Mutulu Shakur.

Cover image via IGD News.

Attica Uprising Commemoration March

  • September 12, 2021 1:47 am

from Twitter

Last night in Philadelphia, anarchists commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Attica prisoner uprising by marching to a youth detention facility where they banged pots and pans, lit road flares and set off fireworks to raise the spirits of the young people held inside:
[Video Here]

Support Kevin Berry of the Vaughn 17!

  • September 11, 2021 1:17 am

from Go Fund Me

Vaughn 17 member and politicized prisoner Kevin Berry is finally coming home after being locked down for 14 years. Kev was caught up in the system at an early age and has been in state prison since he was 18 years old. For the past four years, he’s been locked away in solitary in retaliation for standing up against the prison system in Delaware.

Kev is about to officially start his work-release program in Delaware, and we’re asking for help getting him on his feet. When he gets out of prison and starts his work-release job, he’s gonna have nothing — he needs clothes, food, and money as soon as possible. Your donations will literally go towards putting clothes on his back!

Kev has not only survived the so-called “justice system,” he’s also someone who has made significant sacrifices for our collective liberation. You can read his writings as part of the Vaughn 17 movement here and here .

If you would prefer to donate gift certificates or hotel vouchers (so he can save on rent while he’s trying to save up money), please do! You can email them to our riseup account (see below).

This comrade really needs and deserves our support right now. Thank you for showing up and showing your solidarity!

[Donate Here]

This Is America #147: Anti-Frat Action Goes Wild; Daryle Lamont Jenkins on Current Terrain; Philly ABC; Organizing Offline

  • September 3, 2021 1:14 am

from It’s Going Down

[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Welcome, to This is America, September 1st, 2021.

On today’s episode, first we speak with Daryle Lamont Jenkins about his recent travels to New York for an antifascist film festival and Portland for a mass convergence against the Proud Boys. We talk about fighting the far-Right in a post-J6 world, the need to build alternatives to the State, and the growing threat of the anti-vaxx/mask movement. We then talk with someone from Philadelphia Anarchist Black Cross about the history of the group and the importance of upcoming ‘Running Down the Walls’ events.

We then switch to our discussion, where we talk about the need for people to re-hone their organizing skills as posts on social media are often leading to diminishing returns.

  • September 11th – 12th: Running Down the Walls. Events to raise money and awareness for political prisoners. See list here.

Thursday August 26th: Letter-writing for Sundiata Acoli

  • August 26, 2021 1:28 am

from Philly ABC

sundiata-acoli.jpg

Black August began in the 1970s to mark the assassination of the imprisoned Black Panther, author, and revolutionary George Jackson during a prison rebellion in California. Each year in August we take time to honor captured freedom fighters of the Black Liberation struggle as we study, train and recommit to the struggle for freedom year-round.

In lieu of our normal Monday night letter-writing, we will be co-hosting a Black August event with Philly Jericho. We will be focusing on sending meaningful letters of solidarity to long-term political prisoner Sundiata Acoli. Sundiata was a prominent member of the Harlem chapter of the Black Panther Party. After targeting by the FBI’s illegal COINTELPRO, Sundiata continued the struggle underground with the Black Liberation Army. In 1973 he, Zayd and Assata Shakur were stopped by New Jersey state troopers. Zayd Shakur was killed, while Assata was wounded and taken into custody. One state trooper was killed during the incident and another injured. Sundiata was later captured and sentenced to life plus 30 years in a politically charged and biased trial. We will also send birthday cards to political prisoners with birthdays in September: Leonard Peltier (the 12th) and Maumin Khabir (the 15th).

Never written a letter to a prisoner before? No Problem! Join us at Clark Park (stone platform near 45th and Chester) and we will go over some of the basics and have all the letter-writing supplies and snacks available.

If you are unable to make the event, please send your solidarity to Sundiata at:

Sundiata Acoli (Squire) #39794-066
FCI Cumberland
P.O. Box 1000
Cumberland, MD 21501

Revolutionary Letters Marathon Reading Signup!

  • August 23, 2021 1:07 am

from Google Forms

Thank you for your interest in the marathon reading of the expanded 50th anniversary edition of Diane di Prima’s Revolutionary Letters, which will be released by City Lights Books in October 2021! We’ll be hosting the reading at Wooden Shoe Books in Philadelphia on October 16, 2021 from 6-9PM.

To help us plan the lineup, please fill in your name & contact info, availability, & the poem you would prefer to read. (Please feel free to add a 2nd or 3rd choice; we’ll be assigning poems on a first-come basis.)

If you don’t have a preference, we’ll assign you a poem within your available time slot(s). Some of the poems in here are previously unpublished & will be new to all of us!

We’ll be reading in order of the TOC, so please keep this in mind if you have any time constraints: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-06JUJzKcFZ5XBpHNxaA4TvUI0cno4HjzAAHe3tDbsw/edit?usp=sharing

We can’t wait to see you there!

[Form Here]

August discussion: All the terrible things we do to each other

  • August 22, 2021 1:28 am

from Viscera

This month we’ll be revisiting the theme of friendship – especially timely given the long pandemic and social strain that’s come with it. Join us in Clark Park (meet by the chess tables) Sunday, August 29th at 1 pm for a discussion of the essay The terrible things we do to each other.

And if when I say friend it means a certain willingness to throw everything away for a person you’ve just met or if you seek out certain intensities because you believe that is the purpose of friendship, to have grand and wild experiences, then perhaps we share a certain form of life—a certain idea of the good life, a common understanding of the word happiness.

Find it below, or imposed into pamphlet form here.

terribleterribleterribleDownload

#SHUTEMDOWN2021

  • August 20, 2021 1:29 am

from It’s Going Down

Philadelphia, PA:

  • August 21st: 8pm, more info here. Demonstration in solidarity with prisoners.

Looking Critically at the Brooklyn Center Riot: An Interview from Anathema

  • August 19, 2021 1:03 am

from It’s Going Down

Originally published in Anathema, an anarchist publication from Philadelphia, the following interview talks about the realities of the Brooklyn Center riot that kicked off in the wake of the police murder of Daunte Wright in the spring of 2021. 

This interview was conducted two months ago, which was already two months after the events this spring in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. The riot in Brooklyn Center took place in the context of the Derek Chauvin trial, almost a year after he murdered George Floyd. This interview was an attempt to reflect on one participant’s experience of the events in Brooklyn Center and consider what they tell us about how things might unfold in the future. For many of us, the George Floyd uprising has weighed heavily on our minds as we try to imagine next steps to take. What became clear to me in this interview was that between the George Floyd uprising and the Brooklyn Center riot — despite the direct influence and geographic proximity — was an expanse.

Although the Brooklyn Center riot was an outgrowth of the George Floyd uprising, it was also a reminder that the previous summer’s events would not be repeated. Now, after a relatively quiet summer, it seems all the more important to be looking toward the future rather than fixating our gaze on last summer’s uprising. In this interview, we explore some of the developments and unique characteristics of uprisings in the aftermath of the George Floyd uprising.

You were in Brooklyn Center in April. Can you describe what happened?

Yes, there was a police murder: Daunte Wright, 20 years old. He was basically trying to flee the scene where he got stopped. There was two nights of rioting — I am going to say rioting. Some people want to say “it’s not a riot, it’s a rebellion.” I am just going to say it was a riot.

People were throwing stuff at the cops. There was looting by car in the Brooklyn Center area, also in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs. The first night the neighboring police station got shot up; someone shot the front doors of it. Someone else shot at a cop — maybe 3 days after it started.

All throughout people were calling for the burning down of the police precinct (that was the focal point of the riot). They never succeeded. People tried. The police set up a gate. It was similar to what happened in Portland at the courthouse. But they didn’t actually breach the gate.

After the first two days of looting, arson, street fighting, and property destruction, there was basically a week of confrontational protests in front of the police precinct.

From what you witnessed, what have been the most significant changes since last year?

What’s been happening since the fall of last year, the police have been really ready for riots. So, when people engage in riot tactics, they need to outmaneuver the police. It can’t be this kind of frontal assault the way it happened in Minneapolis at the 3rd precinct.

That started with the Breonna Taylor revolt of late September. There isn’t 1000s of people in the street fighting the cops. That’s not happening.

Also, in Brooklyn Center, you would see people in black bloc or this “frontliner” aesthetic trying to stop young, mostly Black kids from setting things on fire and building barricades.

Wait — what would motivate people to dress up in black bloc attire in order to stop riots?

I don’t know. I just think it’s become a popular aesthetic and people have adopted it that have never experienced revolts before. It’s weird, this group called Minnesota Freedom Fighters — it’s basically like a nonprofit. Their goal is to deescalate riots, but they all dress in black bloc and wear gas masks and have umbrellas. It’s a strange thing that’s been imported from Portland, and originally from Hong Kong and Chile. It made sense in Portland and Seattle, but then once it makes it to places like Philly and Brooklyn it gets isolated from the insurgent activities happening. It’s very bizarre.

In Brooklyn Center, it’s almost exclusively young, Black, poor and working class still out there willing to engage in insurgent tactics. And they are becoming isolated.

Brooklyn Center is 20 minutes outside of Minneapolis and it’s very suburban. That’s what made the terrain really hard for rioting to happen. It’s pretty much a residential neighborhood with apartment buildings. There were two gas stations and a strip mall — that all got fucked up.

You say it was difficult terrain. What was the rioting like in the suburbs?

It made it harder to have a sustained riot that would breach the gates since there weren’t 1000s of people there. There were isolated forms of struggle: shooting at cops, the national guard. Winston Smith is an example of this. It’s not something everyone can participate in — it’s dangerous. But it’s also what’s happening in the absence of mass uprising.

A dollar store got set on fire. That whole strip mall got fucked up and looted. There was a really interesting moment: the owner of a pizza shop was like: I will make you guys some pizza. He started making pizzas for the crowd of potential looters. And that’s how he avoided his store getting fucked up.

There were a couple of militia people with assault rifles trying to protect the dollar general and they quickly got surrounded by young people who were like: you are not going to stop us. And they just walked around them. That was a very intense moment.

There were other people who didn’t have guns who tried to protect property and they just got beat up. The people who were rioting on the first two nights were still in the minority but they were able to do things.

What changed on the third night? Were the militias and peace police more successful at stopping rioters?

I think it was that in combination with police repression: the National Guard was out there; the FBI was out there. We got stopped by people who said they were working with the FBI.

We were just leaving an area where all the stuff was happening and got stopped by like 5 different squad cars. They took pictures of us, our tattoos, our injuries. We had all this stuff in our car (gas masks, body armor), but we didn’t have anything illegal on us. So, they couldn’t actually do anything. They were gathering intelligence. They interrogated us.

Each of us got separated; there was 4 of us. We got put in a different car. They tried to scare the shit out of us saying “you are all getting booked, you are getting processed and fingerprinted, we are impounding the car.” They asked us questions about how we knew each other and how we were connected. Then they just let us go.

People like got away with so much shit last summer that people got comfortable. The terrain has changed and people can’t get away with the same kind of stuff. People weren’t as aware as they should have been

Last year, especially with the pandemic, the State was not ready. That changes what people can do. There will continue to be smaller localized uprisings with short duration, and there’s a limit they will reach very fast.

Beginning with the Breonna Taylor protests in September and confirmed by the Walter Wallace riots in October, the cops got a lot more violent. One result of it is the multi-racial dimension has diminished. Because of the repression. The first time I noticed that was when I was in Louisville in September and it was mainly young Black people out there.

Were there anarchists in the riot?

Out of any political tendency, the anarchists went the hardest, but they were still a small minority. And they weren’t relevant “as anarchists.” The starting point should be what the people in the street that are fucking shit up want to do. It hasn’t been anarchist politics that has pushed people to be confrontational with the State.

What needs to happen next is burning down every police precinct in the United States. So that’s what we push for. We don’t push for people to become anarchists.

Brooklyn Center riot was localized and several months ago. Is it relevant to people in Philly now?

There’s things to learn from it. Things are becoming more atomized, more dangerous and falling into a more general outlaw culture. The impasse experienced in Brooklyn Center is happening in Philly too. There is not a full-blown uprising; instead, you see these more diffuse forms of struggle. When the Chauvin trial concluded, in Philly there was groups of young people on dirt bikes throughout the whole city, with cops chasing after them. It was clearly a form of resistance.

Final thoughts?

People don’t care what you say you are about. It’s whether you are perceived to be part of the riot. It’s those who are loyal to the spirit of revolt and everyone else. That’s the divide. If you are just being a spectator, you might not be so welcome. More than anything, it’s what you communicate by your actions.

Gavin James Hanf, Disinformation Propagandist of Pennsbury, Pennsylvania

  • August 18, 2021 1:07 am

from It’s Going Down

Karma161 gave fascist doxer Gavin James Hanf an 18th birthday present by exposing his racist activity online. Gavin is a recent graduate of Pennsbury (north of Philadelphia) who has doxed and harassed marginalized people and leftists under a multitude on online pseudonyms. He has been documented sending money to fascist domestic abuser Chandler Pappas and collaborates closely with pedophile Joey Camp.

[Twitter Thread]