James River ABC Political Prisoner Letter Writing

Tuesday January 17^th
6-8pm

This month we will be focusing on writing to trans prisoners. Come join and bring a friend! All supplies provided, no experience necessary. We will also have Certain Days calendars for $15. All proceeds go to running this project.

Afterglow Coffee
1719 Summit Avenue
Richmond, VA

Contact: [email protected]

More than coffee or peanut butter
Or Big Bang returns all night through
more than a warm shower
or 100 laps in a loop
more than some decent toothpaste
or a couple of great books to read
would be for someone to say
“hey how are you doing,
are you OK? “
Merry Xmas

My inside bars are green 
 so I pretend to be in the forest 
 there’s predators lurking 
 big &small, gotta keep your wits about you 
 the climate is unpredictable 
 it just takes one miscalculation 
 and your ass is lost  
I scrounge what I can find to eat 
 keep my shadows close to me 
 the jungle is an unforgiving place 
 such is the BOP 

WHEN: Saturday, January 21, 2023 at 8pm
WHERE: P.I.T. Brooklyn – 411 South 5th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11211 (Directions below)
COST: Free, but we will have information to donate to Mutulu Shakur’s release campaign

Join NYC Anarchist Black Cross for our first installment of a winter film series. We’re starting off with a screening of Dope is Death, the 2020 documentary.

From IMDB: In 1973, Dr. Mutulu Shakur, along with fellow Black Panthers and the Young Lords, combined community health with radical politics to create the first acupuncture detoxification program in America. This form of radical harm reduction was a revolutionary act toward the government programs that transfixed the lives of black and brown communities throughout the South Bronx. Dope is Death utilizes an abundant archive while giving us insight into how the acupuncture clinic rose to prominence and, despite funding challenges, still functions to this day. Some of those who benefited from the program became acupuncturists themselves. Dr. Mutulu’s legacy is cemented within this profound story of community healing and activism.

This event comes on the heels of Dr. Shakur’s release December 16, 2022 from federal prison after serving 37 years. From Family & Friends of Mutulu Shakur:
Today, the morning of December 16th, 2022, Dr. Mutulu Shakur was released from prison on parole! The decision to grant parole is based on federal law guidelines for “old law” prisoners, finding that Dr. Shakur poses no threat to the community, taking into consideration his exemplary conduct in prison, his medical condition and how much time he has served. Mutulu is now with his family. This victory was secured by the steadfast support of his legal team, his family and his community comprised of all of you.

Family & Friends of Mutulu Shakur (FFMS) is greatly appreciative of everyone’s support over the course of Mutulu’s decades in prison. We ask that everyone respect Dr. Shakur’s privacy while he spends the holidays with his family and concentrates on his health and healing.

Support Dr. Mutulu as he adjusts to life on the outside by donating to his support crew directly.

Letters and packages may be sent to:
Dr. Mutulu Shakur c/o
Hirano Acupuncture Clinic
1139 North Brand Boulevard, Unit B
Glendale, California 91202

Getting to P.I.T.:
J/M Train – Get off at the Hewes stop walk south on Broadway for ~half a block, turn left on Hewes Street. It will be on the corner of South 5th Street and Hewes.

G Train – Get off at the Broadway stop and walk north on Union Street to South 5th Street, take a left on South 5th Street and it will be at the end of the block on the right.

Donate to Eric’s release fundraiser at https://www.gofundme.com/f/release-funds-for-political-prisoner-eric-king

1. It can always get worse… at CCA I thought nine months segregation pre-trial was wretched and surely illegal torture.. at Englewood low, I was stunned by the harassment that SIS would engage in and the bullshit they put my family through… At Florence medium I was enraged by how long it took emails and books to get through… since I’ve gone YEARS without visits, calls, mail, radios, I’ve been hospitalized by staff, been deprived basics like clothes, food and mail… They can always turn up the heat… And they will in accordance to your spirit and resistance. 
2. Most people you meet won’t be anti government, anti cop, or even anti prison… they will hate these institutions in relation to how they oppress them, but not the wider spectrum… This is why radicalization inside is so important and difficult; convincing someone who thinks Michael Brown “deserved it” that they are wrong and misguided is infuriating, yet necessary work. 
3. No matter what custody level you’re at being respectful and having a routine is VITAL. Eric McDavid hipped me to this at Englewood, but because I was surrounded by creeps, narcs and old folk, it didn’t seem relevant. I would learn though. Having the routine gives you a day structure and a bit of purpose, it gives meaning to a life that at times can feel meaningless. Being active keeps your brain up also… with respect, it’s just a good idea in prison and in life really. About 80% of my issues implied can come from reckless talk and could have been avoided.  
4. You’ll meet some really good people. People who will look out for you, fight for you, celebrate and mourn with you. You will not always agree on ethical or political issues, but if you push away everyone you will be wildly isolated and that is dangerous … You need people to have your back from other prisoners and from staff… Accept the friendship and use it to try to open minds and hearts. 
5. People who “support” you can be real friends, keep yourself open and don’t worry about posturing to impressed… To feel as if you “deserve” support or friendship… Some will stick around, some will fall off, neither is an implication of your worth… it’s OK to be you… To love Taylor, to feel for Ted, to have a complicated relationship with the church, to love English football while hating the English empire… be yourself and to be open to love and friendship. 
6. You don’t have to accept support from people or groups that make you feel conflicted… there’s no obligations… you can speak up and say “no thanks” without feeling guilty or self sabotaging. Trust yourself. 
7. Grow out your hair. Having long hair is fun, though also being a pain in the ass to dry. 
8. ASK For the help you want, trust the people who love you to back you. Be proactive with projects you want to start, believe in yourself and your ideas I took too long and people had to tell me it was OK to have wants and needs and to voice them. Prison is more enjoyable when you’re involved in things that make you feel good. 
9. Being anti fascist, anti racist, or a political prisoner does not remove you from the bullshit inside. You still live in this realm and have to follow basic guidelines… feeling outside it all will cause issues early on… you gotta find ways to walk the line while maintaining your ethics… you have to eat with potentially hateful people, but you don’t have to laugh at their nastiness. Be creative, you’ll find ways… like you can’t work out with other races, but you can teach and take classes with them… there are ways, but be safe. You are not above it all. 
10. Don’t let people try to buddy hustle you for drug money under the guise of mutual aid… folks will try to use your ethics against you… manipulation is real and so is scheming. People will pretend to share radical ideology, pretend to be interested… then use solidarity to scheme, steal addresses, steal phone minutes ect. Fuck them. There are trash people inside, just like outside. 
11. Never, ever, let yourself be a victim. 
12. Feel the hurt, be vulnerable with those you love and trust, let yourself stay human, not an institutionalized robot. You’re in this world, but it isn’t your world, there’s so much more to your life an existence than your captivity. 
13. Fight to win. 

Eric’s release fundriser is LIVE and can be found here https://www.gofundme.com/f/release-funds-for-political-prisoner-eric-king

WHAT: Noise Demo
WHEN: 9:00pm, Saturday, December 31st
WHERE: Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC, the federal prison in Brooklyn); 29th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, Brooklyn, New York 11232 (D/N/R to 36th Street or R to 25th Street).
BRING: Noisemakers, air horns, drums, anything that is loud!

On the noisiest night of the year in New York City, come help us remind folks locked up that they are not alone. NYC Anarchist Black Cross, in response to an international call for noise demonstrations outside of prisons, is asking folks to join us outside of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Come, not to appeal to authority, speak truth to power, or any other contrivance, but rather to stand with comrades, at a safe distance, and show direct solidarity to those on the other side of the wall.

The state, writ large, is targeting anarchists all across the United States and abroad. This will be both protest and celebration.

This is a call for a night of strong solidarity with those imprisoned by the state. Historically, New Year’s Eve is one of the noisiest nights of the year. This year, most of which has been consumed by a global pandemic, we encourage folks to take whatever measures are necessary to insure individual and community well-being, in response to both the virus and the state, understanding the balance each of us must strike for ourselves. Given our current reality, on New Year’s Eve gather your crew, collective, community, organization, or just yourself to raise a racket and remind those on the inside that they are not alone.

Internationally, noise demonstrations outside of prisons are a way to remember those who are held captive by the state and a way to show solidarity with imprisoned comrades and loved ones. We come together to break the loneliness and isolation.

We know that prison is beyond reform and must be completely abolished. It is a mechanism of repression used by the state to maintain a social order rooted in white supremacy, patriarchy, and heteronormativity. To come together outside of the sites of repression is to also stand in defiance of what they represent.

The logic of the state and capital—of punishment and imprisonment, must be replaced by a rejection of oppression and exploitation. This call is one step in that direction.

Wherever you are, meet on New Year’s Eve at the prisons, jails, and detention centers, be loud in solidarity with those imprisoned and to push forward the idea of a world free from domination.

We send this call in solidarity with those defying state repression of large scale dissent: from Iran to ongoing defiance in Chile by those facing repression as anarchists, and all of those in the spaces between.

We want a world without walls and borders.

We will fight together until everyone is free!

The NYCABC Illustrated Guide to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War has been updated. You can download it at https://nycabc.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/nycabc_polprisonerlisting_latesdec2022_02.pdf

This update includes updated mini-bios, photos, and address changes for several prisoners. This update includes the release of Mutulu Shakur (parole!).

The decision to grant parole is based on federal law guidelines for “old law” prisoners, finding that Dr. Shakur poses no threat to the community, taking into consideration his exemplary conduct in prison, his medical condition and how much time he has served. Mutulu is now with his family. This victory was secured by the steadfast support of his legal team, his family and his community comprised of all of you.

Family & Friends of Mutulu Shakur (FFMS) is greatly appreciative of everyone’s support over the course of Mutulu’s decades in prison. We ask that everyone respect Dr. Shakur’s privacy while he spends the holidays with his family and concentrates on his health and healing. Any inquiries to FFMS can be directed to [email protected], and we will be sure to release more information as it is available. May everyone celebrate the achievement of securing his release and deepen our commitment to a more just future.

See the Ways to Support page for the most up-to-date information on how you can reach out to and support Dr. Mutulu Shakur.

Dr. Mutulu Shakur comes home this week!  We are thankful to everyone who has contributed to the campaign and fundraising efforts.  The outpouring of support has been overwhelming and heart-warming.  We want to send a clear message – Mutulu is Welcome Here-by raising $50,000 this week to help insure him and his family has what they need to bring him home.  We can do this Together by donating and asking others to give as well.

 Will you donate this week and share the graphics below and ask others to give as well?  

Links to Family and Friends of Mutulu Shakur and Community Aid and Development can be found at https://linktr.ee/FreeMutuluNow

I still think about every fight
every scraping – making of knives
wondering what happened to those lives
they were sharpened for?
I still feel every spray
every breath it stole away
wondering what violence will come today
W/the squad at your door
I still hear every screaming voice
every life isolation destroyed
prison ain’t the place for a sensitive boy
I don’t want this no more

Eric King, November 30, 2022
Write Eric at:
Eric King #27090-045
USP Florence ADMAX
PO Box 8500
Florence, CO 81226

Buy Eric a book or two at tiny.cc/EK_Books