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.
We share a conversation between Daniel McGowan and Brian Whitener about the Certain Days calendar. The Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar is a joint fundraising and educational project coordinated between outside and inside organizers in the US and Canada. Its founding members Herman Bell,Robert Seth Hayes and David Gilbert were welcomed home from prison in 2018 and 2021. Today, McGowan talks about the history of the project, his own experiences with prisoner support, how the calendar supports folks on the inside, and some of the challenges to long-term organizing. McGowan reflects on his time inside following his arrest for Earth Liberation Front actions and emphasizes the importance of supporting grassroots movement organizations.
This one I did with my fellow Certain Days collective member Josh. We talked to Jay Beware for over an hour about the past and future of our calendar, political prisoners, the 2022 calendar and more.
Daniel and Josh talk about the nuts and bolts of putting the calendar together, working with political prisoners on the project, and supporting prisoners against state repression. Along the way they both talk about tensions they feel in political prisoner support in the present moment. Both embracing prison abolition, understanding the inherently political nature of all imprisonment, and holding firm on the critical importance of movement defense to the creation of a better future.
Daniel also shares many insights from his own time as a political prisoner on the vicious and arbitrary nature of carceral power and the role that political prisoners try to play teaching and sharing radical knowledge but also seeking to legally combat the most repressive facets of the prison system both inside and out.
Josh and Daniel reference a ton of great projects and ways people can get involved, we will include all of them in the show notes so make sure to check them all out and get involved. One in particular we want to draw folks attention to uprisingsupport.org which was created to support people facing political repression for their involvement in the uprisings in response to the executions of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others in 2020.
So this post was going to start off with a clever twist on the usual call for active inter-generational and intersectional solidarity as the only hope at this point for those who want anything other than outright fascism. But in light of the vigilante shooting of multiple comrades the other night in Portland, our clever arguments don’t seem apt. The ongoing collusion of state and right-wing violence directed at Black and Brown people, anti-racist protestors, and those perceived as being anarchist or anti-fascist, is chillingly horrific. The old familiar adage “we keep us safe” is as true as ever, because if we don’t, it is increasingly clear that truly no one will. But that “we” is open-ended, an invitation more than a definition. The more bridges we can build and maintain with any and all people struggling for a society based on solidarity rather than white supremacist, heterosexist domination, the stronger and safer we will all be.
One great way to build those bridges is to write letters to political prisoners! Engage with them, have a respectful dialogue; we all have things to learn from and teach each other. lf they don’t have the capacity to respond, be understanding, stay in the loop, offer your help to heir public support crews, learn about the context of their cases, and spread the word. You can start this week, by joining NYC ABC and Page One Collective in writing to Black liberation struggle political prisoner Ronald Reed.
Ronald Reed is a former 60s civil rights activist. In 1969, Reed was also among the students at St. Paul Central High School who demanded black history courses and organized actions against racist teachers. He was also instrumental in helping to integrate college campuses in Minnesota. During this period, Reed began to look toward revolutionary theory and began to engage in political street theater with other young black revolutionaries in the city of St. Paul.
Reed went on to join the Black United Front. In 1970 he was convicted of shooting a St. Paul police officer. Twenty-five years after the killing, Reed was arrested and convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree-murder. He is serving life in prison.
Please take the time to write a letter to Ronald: Ronald Reed #219531 Minnesota Correctional Facility-Lino Lakes 7525 Fourth Avenue Lino Lakes, MN 55014
For more information and what you can do to help, please check out the Bring Sundiata Home Freedom Campaign’s webpage and also follow on social media: https://sundiataacolifc.org/
Dan Baker is a social justice activist and former army vet. He went AWOL instead of fighting in Iraq, and then took his training to help defend Rojava with the International Freedom Battalion and was featured on VICE. Dan was also active during the George Floyd Rebellion and took part in CHAZ.
He was arrested on January 15th, 2021 after the FBI compiled social media posts related to Trump supporters’ actions on inauguration day to build a criminal case against him. Dan was facing up to 10 years for two counts of transmitting a communication in interstate commerce containing a threat to kidnap or injure. He was sentenced to 44 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release. His legal team is appealing the verdict.
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.
Hey everyone, it’s that time of the month again! NYC ABC and Page One Collective are back to remind all of you wonderful, exhausted, burnt out people that there are political prisoners! They need our support and friendship! An easy way to provide that is to write letters!
This week we encourage everyone to write to Daniel Hale. Daniel Hale is a whistleblower who was indicted for allegedly disclosing classified documents about the U.S. military’s assassination program. On March 31, 2021, he pleaded guilty to a single count under the Espionage Act, and on July 27, 2021, Daniel was sentenced to 45 months in prison.
“Ahead of his sentencing this week, Hale filed an 11-page handwritten letter to the court detailing the motivations behind his actions. In vivid detail, Hale recalled his own experience locating targets for American drone strikes. By some estimates, U.S. drone operations abroad, conducted by both the military and the CIA, have killed between 9,000 and 17,000 people since 2004, including as many as 2,200 children and multiple U.S. citizens. Those estimates, however, undercount the true cost of remote American warfare — as Hale noted in his letter to the court last week, the U.S. military has a practice of labeling all individuals killed in such operations as “enemies killed in action” unless proven otherwise.“
Please take the time to write a letter to Daniel Hale (and share a photo of your completed envelopes with us online):
Daniel Hale #26069-075 USP Marion P.O. Box 1000 Marion, IL 62959
On January 31st, the New Jersey Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the state’s leading parole case, that of 85-year-old Sundiata Acoli. The oral arguments were recorded and will be released at a later date. Click the link below to view our live-tweeting. The Court will decide if the parole board violated the law by denying Sundiata Acoli’s petition for release. Read the live tweets.
Sundiata has been imprisoned since 1973. Despite being eligible for parole since 1993, the parole board has denied Sundiata’s petition for release eight times; each time claiming that he was a substantial risk to public safety.
The New Jersey Attorney General argued on behalf of the parole board. In addition to the compelling oral argument given by lead counsel, Bruce Afran, persuasive oral arguments were made by counsel representing three of the seven legal teams that filed amicus briefs last fall to support Sundiata’s release. Four of the seven briefs focus on parole board bias, decision irregularities and judicial oversight. It is believed that Sundiata has received the most supporting amicus briefs in the history of New Jersey.
This could be Sundiata’s last chance for freedom after serving nearly 50 years: his health is declining and deteriorating due to early stage dementia, glaucoma and post-COVID-19 complications.
We are calling for community members nationwide, allied organizations, and institutions to support the release of Sundiata Acoli by signing and sharing the petition demanding New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy release him immediately. Our new goal is 25,000! Sign the petition at https://campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/bring-sundiata-home
Send a Postcard Bring Sundiata Acoli Home! Send a physical postcard to NJ Governor Phil Murphy. It takes less than 2 minutes to fill out the form and WE will send the postcard in the mail. Click the buttons below and share! #BringSundiataHome SEND A POSTCARD
In 2 weeks, on the 36th anniversary of his capture, join the #FreeMutuluNow Campaign for our Black Love in Action for Dr. Mutulu Shakur weekend! We are calling on all those who believe in love, justice & human rights to demand his immediate release.
Kick-off the Black Love in Action for Dr. Mutulu Shakur weekend with our virtual rally on Feb. 11th at 7PM EST. We’re inviting our people to educate, agitate & organize to #FreeMutuluNOW!
