Monthly Archives: November 2021

Year-end Giving for Political Prisoners

As 2021 comes to a close, the Anarchist Black Cross Federation is stronger than ever before. With community support, we have been able to donate thousands of dollars so far this year to political prisoners. Plus, the ABCF can now accept tax-deductible donations through our fiscal sponsor. With your continued support, we can further the struggle for freedom for all political prisoners.

This year was huge for the ABCF. We welcomed home several comrades after many years in prison: Jaan Laaman, David Gilbert and Russell Maroon Shoatz. As the struggle continues, we also added some newly incarcerated people to the list of people we support: Jessica Reznicek, Dan Baker. We are following cases coming out of the George Floyd uprising and ready to jump in lending support as needed. In solidarity beyond the imperialist border of the U.S., we officially extended our direct support to political prisoners held in Mexico who are now also on our list: Fidencio Aldama, José Antonio Arreola, José Luis Jiménez and José Gerardo Talavera. We also do our part in sustaining the international database of political prisoners on prisonersolidarity.com and have been able to lend monetary support for political prisoners internationally.

In addition to one-time contributions of funds upon a political prisoner’s release or in other urgent situations, our Warchest Program currently provides 17 prisoners with $50 a month to cover basic needs like stamps and phone time. From its inception in November 1994 to date, we have distributed over $158,000 in funds [view our latest Warchest Report accounting for funds raised]. Our internal fundraising has been solid with large and successful Running Down the Walls events, but we want to do so much more in 2022.

We are an all-volunteer organization, dependent on contributions from people who are passionate about social justice. Please make a gift and invite your friends to do the same. Opportunities to free political prisoners are in reach– help us make them come to fruition!

To donate directly to the ABCF, send check or money order made out to Tim Fasnacht to Tim Fasnacht, P.O. Box 8682, Lancaster, PA 17604 or use the links below. To get a tax deduction for donations of $500 or more, make your check out to GLACTS and send to Philly ABC, P.O. Box 8643, Philadelphia, PA 19101 so that it arrives no later than December 27th.

Get your hands on the 2022 Certain Days calendar

Get your hands on the Certain Days calendar today! Your favorite intercontinental, inside/outside collective has produced our SECOND calendar during the COVID-19 pandemic and despite major obstacles, we think you will love it.

This year’s theme is “Creating a New World in the Shell of the Old” and features art and writings by Alanna Kibbe, Comrade Z, David Gilbert, Daniel McGowan, Eric King, Hanif Bey, Jesus Barraza, Leila Abdelrazaq, Martha Hennessy, Montclair Mutual Aid, Oso Blanco, Peter Railand, Roger Peet, Shukri Abu-Baker, Tauno Biltsted, Wendy Elisheva Somerson, Windigo Army, Virginia Lee, Xinachtli and Yumigou.

Here is how to get them:
U.S. Orders
Burning Books
AK Press
justseeds

Canadian Orders
(1-9 copies)
Kersplebedeb/Left Wing Books

U.K. Orders

10+ copies (Bulk Discount)

Order for prisoners

Stores that carry the calendar

Decolonizing Our Work & Supporting Political Prisoners held by the Mexican State

Historically, the ABCF has supported political prisoners in the so-called United States. So as to not base our work around imperialist borders, we are now explicitly supporting political prisoners held on all of Turtle Island. To this end, we have added four political prisoners to our list of people we support:

Fidencio Aldama: an indigenous political prisoner of the Yaqui Tribe, from the town of Loma de Bácum, Sonora. He is serving 15 years and 6 months after being wrongfully convicted of homicide. It is believed that he was targeted due to his support for the indigenous community’s opposition to a gas pipeline.

The Nahuatzen 3: sentenced to 7 years in prison for “sabotage” ostensibly for their work as Purépecha rights defenders through Concejo Ciudadano Indígena de Nahuatzen: José Antonio Arreola, José Luis Jiménez, José Gerardo Talavera

We encourage folks to read about their cases and extend support to them. Notably, all four of these prisoners are indigenous rights activists who have been repressed and criminalized by the Mexican state.

Some additional cases to lend support to as they face charges and repression for promoting indigenous rights:

Fredy García Ramírez: spokesman for the Committee for the Defense of Indigenous Rights (CODEDI), was arbitrarily arrested on November 6th, 2019. CODEDI is an organization that has a long-term commitment to the promotion of the rights of indigenous communities to land, autonomy and self-determination. It focuses on the defense of human rights violations produced by hydroelectric and mining projects in the state of Oaxaca

The Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón 7: locked up for defending autonomous Indigenous governance against cacíques and political parties held since 2014 without trial: Jaime Betanzos Fuentes, Herminio Monfil Avendaño, Fernando Gavito Martínez, Alfredo Bolaños Pacheco, Isaías Gallardo Álvarez, Francisco Durán Ortíz, and Omar Hugo Morales Álvarez

NYCABC PP updates 11.16.21

Here’s the latest compilation of every other week updates:
https://nycabc.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/updates-16-nov-2021.pdf

NYC ABC, along with several other individuals and prisoner support
crews, now send hard copies to all political prisoners and prisoners of
war we support.

If you consistently mail the latest updates to a specific prisoner,
please let us know so we can insure there’s no overlap. The goal is to
have copies sent to all of the prisoners we list.

We’ve also been told that some prisoners are not receiving the copies
sent in, yet we aren’t getting rejection notices. If you are in steady
contact with a prisoner, please ask them whether or not they are
receiving the updates and let us know.

Free ’em all,
NYC ABC

Live discussion on Jamil Al-Amin’s case- November 11th

The live discussion will provide background on the unjust trial of civil rights and Muslim leader Imam Jamil Al-Amin aka H. Rap Brown, his relationship with Imam Luqman Abdullah who was killed by the FBI, and the ongoing effort to free him from unjust incarceration.

The speakers will include Attorney Kairi Al-Amin who is the son of Imam Jamil, and Attorney Maha ElKolalli who serves as legal counsel for Imam Jamil.

For more background information, read the recent Time magazine article “The Many Lives of H. Rap Brown.” 

Streaming live at: https://www.facebook.com/CAIRMichigan

Certain Days 2022 calendar is back from the printer!

Back from the printer!!!! It’s the 2022 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar! If you ordered already, they will be going out ASAP.
Now is your chance to order them. Here is how:

U.S. Orders:
Burning Books https://burningbooks.com

AK Press https://akpress.org/certaindays2022.html

Canadian Orders:
https://www.leftwingbooks.net/product/certain-days-freedom-political-prisoners-calendar-2022-creating-new-world-shell-old

Canadian orders (10 or more)
https://www.certaindays.org/order/

Prisoner orders:
https://certaindays.org/order/prisoners/



Your favorite intercontinental, inside/outside collective has produced our SECOND calendar during the COVID-19 pandemic and despite major obstacles, we think you will love it.

This year’s theme is “Creating a New World in the Shell of the Old” and features art and writings by Alanna Kibbe, Comrade Z, David Gilbert, Daniel McGowan, Eric King, Hanif Bey, Jesus Barraza, Leila Abdelrazaq, Martha Hennessy, Montclair Mutual Aid, Oso Blanco, Peter Railand, Roger Peet, Shukri Abu-Baker, Tauno Biltsted, Wendy Elisheva Somerson, Windigo Army, Virginia Lee, Xinachtli and Yumigou.

The Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar is a joint fundraising and educational project between outside organizers in Montreal, Hamilton, New York and Baltimore, with two political prisoners being held in maximum-security prisons: David Gilbert in New York and Xinachtli (s/n Alvaro Luna Hernandez) in Texas. Founding members Herman Bell and Robert Seth Hayes (RIP) were happily welcomed home from prison in 2018. Learn more about them at certaindays.org

Teach in on Dr. Mutulu Shakur’s case

November 3rd at 6pm
Zoom Meeting ID 840 7659 5973
bit.ly/freemutulu

Sharing an Important Request to support the commutation of Dr. Mutulu Shakur through an event co-hosted by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and other networks!: 

“We, the undersigned, demand President Biden, the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Prisons to immediately commute the sentence of Dr. Mutulu Shakur, a father, grandfather, healer, and human rights activist. Mutulu has imprisoned by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for over 35 years and has served his time. Dr. Shakur is 71 years old, has suffered 2 strokes, glaucoma, and has been battling Stage 3 bone marrow cancer for the last 2 ½ years. Despite being diagnosed with life-threatening bone cancer and catching COVID, was denied compassionate release and has been denied parole nine times. We must win his immediate release and the freedom of all political prisoners and prisoners of war.
For more information on Dr. Mutulu Shakur’s, visit https://mutulushakur.com/

1.Sign and Share the petition: https://campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/grant-clemency-for-dr-mutulu-shakur-a-father-grandfather-healer-human-rights-activist
2.Write Dr. Mutulu Shakur: Dr. Mutulu Shakur #83205-012 | FMC Lexington | P.O. Box 14500 | Lexington, KY 4051
3. Donate: in multiples of $35 to mark the 35 years Mutulu has been held at https://www.cadnational.org/ 

For More info: bit.ly/FreeMutulu

Native Lawmakers Ask President Biden to Release Leonard Peltier

By Darren Thompson – October 28, 2021 Native News Online
On Tuesday, October 26, a group of lawmakers sent a letter to President Biden advocating for the release of Turtle Mountain Chippewa member Leonard Peltier. The group of lawmakers are all members of federally recognized tribes and represent 10 separate state governments. 

Native lawmakers have asked President Biden to release Leonard Peltier.

The effort was largely organized by North Dakota Representative Ruth Buffalo (D-Fargo). Buffalo is a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations and is the first female Native American Democrat elected to the North Dakota Legislature, in December 2018. 

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“Leonard is an elder of very poor health and is from a Tribal Nation located within my home state of North Dakota,” said Rep. Buffalo to Native News Online. “He is housed in a facility with inhumane living conditions, where COVID-19 runs rampant and the water is contaminated.”

The letter of support for the Turtle Mountain Chippewa activist and political prisoner comes weeks after 11 members of Congress sent a letter to President Joe Biden, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Director of Federal Bureau of Prisons Michael Carvajal, and Southeast Regional Director of Federal Bureau of Prisons J.A. Keller, requesting the expedited release and clemency for Peltier. He suffers from diabetes and an abdominal aortic aneurysm. He is 77 years old. 

Peltier was convicted and sentenced to two life sentences in 1977 for the murders of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents Ronald Williams and Jack Coler. The agents were killed on June 26, 1975 during a confrontation with members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in 1975.

“We join the millions from around the world in calling for his release. We are simply asking the Bureau of Prisons to follow their own rules and release him,” said Buffalo. “Let’s do what is right. Peltier has spent 44 years in prison, and in the interests of justice and on humanitarian grounds, must be released.”

The Native American state lawmakers also reference Amnesty International, a global human rights organization with over 10 million member, supporters and activists worldwide, continues to call for his release.

Separate from the letter, during Amnesty International Virtual Activism Conference held last Saturday, a panel entitle, “Leonard Peltier: 46 Years of Injustice” in conversation with panelists Jean Roach, who was a teen on the scene of the incident at Oglala, Lenny Foster, Peltier’s spiritual adviser, and former federal district court  Judge Kevin Sharp.

Sharp recalled how he first went through Peltier’s file over the course of eight to ten hours.

“As a former federal judge and doing that as a former member of the military and doing that as a former attorney for Congress. All three of those jobs required me swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States. As I went through this file, I am appalled at what I see. There were mistakes by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and even the judge,” Sharp said. After reading the file, Sharp agreed to become Peltier’s attorney on a pro-bono basis.

The Native American state lawmakers’ letter ends with a plea to President Biden.

“We ask you, Mr. President, to do what is right. Let Mr. Peltier go home and live his final years among his people as an act of grace and compassion,” the concludes.

Others who have signed the letter are:

Ponka-We Victors Cozard, Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma and Tohono O’odham Nation, Kansas House of Representatives District 103

Mary Kunesh, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Minnesota House of Representatives District 41B

Tawna Sanchez Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, Oregon House of Representatives District 43

Jonathan Windy Boy, Chippewa Cree Tribe, Montana House of Representatives District 32

Mike D. Fox, Fort Belknap Indian Community, Montana Senate District 16

Peri Pourier, Oglala Lakota, South Dakota House of Representatives District 27

Red Dawn Foster, Oglala Sioux Tribe and Navajo Nation, South Dakota Senate District 27

Georgene Louis, Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico House of Representatives, District 26

Shane Morigeau, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Montana Senate, District 48

Sharon Stewart Peregoy, Crow Nation, Montana House of Representatives, District 42

Brenda McKenna, Nambé Pueblo, New Mexico Senate, District 9

Benny Shendo Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico Senate, District 22

Derrick Lente, Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico House of Representatives, District 65

Troy Heinert, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Senate Minority Leader South Dakota Senate, District 26

Jamie Becker Finn, White Earth Nation, Minnesota House of Representatives District 42B

Jamescita Peshlakai, Navajo Nation, Arizona State Senator, District 7

Tamara St. John, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, South Dakota House of Representatives, District 1

Richard Marcellais, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, North Dakota Senate, District 9

Heather Keeler, Yankton Sioux and Eastern Shoshone, Minnesota House of Representatives, District 4A

Christina Haswood, Navajo Nation, Kansas House of Representatives, District 10

Andrea A. Clifford, Northern Arapaho Tribe, Wyoming House of Representatives, District 33

Marvin Weatherwax Jr., Blackfeet Nation, Montana House of Representatives, District 15

Shawn L. Bordeaux, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, South Dakota House of Representatives, District 26A
Darren Thompson (Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe) is a freelance journalist and based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, where he also contributes to Unicorn Riot, an alternative media publication. Thompson has reported on political unrest, tribal sovereignty, and Indigenous issues for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Indian Country Today, Native News Online, Powwows.com and Unicorn Riot. He has contributed to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Voice of America on various Indigenous issues in international conversation. He has a bachelor’s degree in Criminology & Law Studies from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

NYCABC Letter writing event for Dan Baker (in person!)

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021
WHEREThe 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

We all know that life outside the walls is one precarious step away from the other side. Some released former political prisoners have referred to being out not as “freedom” but as minimum security, and unfortunately they know exactly whereof they speak. Truly no one is free while any single person is not. We know it, and the agents of authority know it just as well.

So while it is no surprise that the State surveils and targets those who actively work against oppression, the case against Daniel Baker is particularly shocking. To be charged and convicted for a hyperbolic post on a corporate social media platform is egregious, and the silence from so many apostles of “free speech” across the political spectrum is both predictable and appalling.

Our commitment to solidarity won’t waiver though, so this week we are asking you all to join us in writing to recently sentenced political prisoner Daniel Baker.

Daniel Baker is an anti-fascist activist who was arrested on January 15, 2021 for social media posts that called for defense against possible far-right attacks on the state’s capitol in the wake of the January 6th riots. Daniel was facing up to 10 years for two counts of transmitting a communication in interstate commerce containing a threat to kidnap or injure. On October 12th, 2021 he was sentenced to 44 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release.

Daniel Baker #25765-509
USP Atlanta
U.S. Penitentiary
P.O. Box 150160
Atlanta, GA  30315

The deal, as always, is that you come bringing only yourself (and your friends and comrades), and we provide you with information about the prisoners as well as all of the letter-writing materials and prisoner-letter-writing info you could ever want to use in one evening. In return, you write a thoughtful letter to a political prisoner or prisoner of war of your choosing or, better yet, keep up a long-term correspondence. We’ll also provide some brief updates and pass around birthday cards for the PP/POWs whose birthdays fall in the next two weeks thanks to the PP/POW Birthday Calendar.

Directions:
Getting to The Base is simple:
From the M Train:
Central Avenue Stop: Walk east on Myrtle Avenue (away from Hart Street, toward Cedar Street). We’re about two blocks down on the south side of the street.

Knickerbocker Avenue Stop: Walk west on Myrtle Avenue (away from Harman Street, toward Himrod Street). We’re about three blocks down on the south side of the street.

From the L Train:
DeKalb Avenue Stop: Walk south on Stockholm Street (away from Wyckoff Avenue, toward Irving Avenue). We’re about four blocks down, at the intersection of Stockholm Street and Myrtle Avenue.

From the J Train:
Myrtle Avenue Stop: Transfer to the M train and follow the above directions.