SUNDIATA ACOLI IS 84 years old and has been in prison for nearly half a century. When the state of New Jersey locked him up in 1974, Acoli was not sentenced to die behind bars; he has been eligible for parole for almost three decades. The much-loved father and grandfather has an exemplary disciplinary record and a stellar history of work and academic achievement while incarcerated.His parole bid in February was denied. Acoli will likely not live long enough to appear before the board again.
The idea that this elderly Black community leader could be a risk to society outside the prison walls is laughable. Yet Acoli’s release does not appear to be on the horizon. He has been consistently denied parole since the early 1990s. His last bid, in February, was again denied. The parole board determined that he should be considered ineligible for another hearing for an extended but unspecified period of time. Acoli will likely not live long enough to appear before the board again.
Hey, its payday for a lot of people out there and those stimulus checks are rolling in. Please consider donating to the ABCF Warchest which sends $50 to 20 different political prisoners every month. The Anarchist Black Cross Federation (ABCF) initiated the Warchest program in November 1994 to send monthly checks to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War who have been receiving insufficient, little, or no financial support during their imprisonment. Its purpose is to collect funds from groups and individual supporters and send that money directly to commissary accounts of vetted Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War (PP/POW) via monthly checks. Since its inception, we have distributed over $130,000 in funds! Watch the Warchest video.
The 20 people who receive ABCF Warchest assistance:
Current segregated housing unit commissary ordering form
When someone is indicted federally, they are sent to either a private facility, or a Federal detention center (or held in county jail through US Marshal contracts). People indicted in Florence get sent to the Englewood FDC. Right now there are abortion bombers, people called killers, people called gang leaders, but not me. For the last 19 months, the admin or US Marshals (or both) have kept me in SHU (segregated housing unit) with no reason given.
At the FDC pretrial folks get to prepare for trial. They can call their lawyers daily and have in-person visits to review all evidence against them. At the fdc, prisoners have daily access to the law library and can print anything off pertinent to their case. In the SHU I am allowed 1 15 minute phone call per week with my attorney, we’ve never had an in-person visit, over a year and a half after being indicted, still haven’t been able to review our full discovery of evidence. There is a law library here and if you don’t mind filling a written request the guards will get you in there…. HOWEVER printing out documents can take weeks to retrieve, if ever. You will be charged for the paper and then told you never printed anything, maybe try again next week?
Being in the FDC is having a normalized pre-trial experience. You were able to make friends and enemies, use select fitness equipment and shower daily. You get to feel fresh air outside playing basketball or just walking the track. You can call or email your family as much as you like, you have a cell door so you can take a s*** without a guard monitoring your status. Real canteen is available to make your meals or buy songs for your mp3. You get to build bonds with the people around you, hear their stories and share yours. If you get a disciplinary write up you go to SHU you do your time (sanctions, it designated amount of time you will spend in segregation) then you come back, business as usual.
Since I’ve been back here I’ve seen the entire SHU get turned over except my neighbor Smiles and I, who has 8 months clear conduct and is spun constantly over his eligibility. Days ago someone who had masturbated in front of multiple staff members was allowed back for the second time, Smiles and I still wait…
The admin lies over and over, it’s a mind game “if you do this, we will reward you” then some other excuse arises. The main excuse is I am a “threat to security” no one cannot explain what this means, this is not a designation. There is no manual I can read to further understand as a threat to security, what I’m entitled. Meanwhile we’ll continue to wait, fighting a serious legal case while trying to maintain our sanity. The judges and prosecutors will say everything’s fine, but I haven’t seen the stars in two and a half years.
The system is rigged This is why we fight
Eric King #27090-045 FCI Englewood Eric is currently on mail restriction but can receive books and magazines.
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.
As spring rolls in across the northern hemisphere, every bird seems to be busy building nests, streets and parks are filled with neighbors enjoying the warmer air, and the sun is shining longer and brighter. As much as those of on the outside welcome the seasonal renewal, it would be remiss of us to not also give time and energy to our friends and comrades for whom freedom is continually denied. Solidarity is perennial. In light of this, we keep going on with our bi-weeklyletter-writing events, which remain socially distanced for the time being due to the ongoing pandemic. We will return to in-person events once it seems responsibly safe to do so, though we are not looking forward to returning to any “normal” that includes complacency with settler-colonial white supremacy.
This week please join NYC ABC and Page One Collective in writing to Joe-Joe Bowen. A native of Philadelphia, Joe-Joe was a young member of the “30th and Norris” street gang before his incarceration politicized him. Released in 1971, his outside activism was cut short a week following his release when Joe-Joe was confronted by an officer of the notoriously brutal Philadelphia police department. The police officer was killed in the confrontation, and Bowen fled. After his capture and incarceration, Bowen became a Black Liberation Army combatant, defiant to authorities at every turn. In 1973, Joe-Joe assassinated Holmesberg prison’s warden and deputy warden as well as wounded the guard commander in retaliation for intense repression against Muslim prisoners in the facility. In 1981, Bowen led a six-day standoff with authorities when he and six other captives took 39 hostages at Graterford Prison as a freedom attempt and protest of the prison conditions. More information here.
Please take the time to write a letter to Joe-Joe (and share a photo of your completed envelopes with us online):
Smart Communications/PA DOC Joseph Bowen AM4272 SCI Fayette Post Office Box 33028 Saint Petersburg, Florida 33733 *Address cards/letters to Joe-Joe.
c/o NYC ABC, the brand-new version of their amazing Illustrated Guide to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War is now available. It’s version 14.0.2!
This update includes updated mini-bios, photos, and address changes for several prisoners. Unfortunately, we are adding prisoners to the guide this month–Plowshares activists Clare Grady and Martha Hennessy and Water Protector Steve Martinez.”
Its payday for many of us. Donate to the ABCF Warchest and support political prisoners imprisone for decades!
The Anarchist Black Cross Federation (ABCF) initiated the Warchest program in November 1994 to send monthly checks to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War who have been receiving insufficient, little, or no financial support during their imprisonment. Its purpose is to collect funds from groups and individual supporters and send that money directly to commissary accounts of vetted Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War (PP/POW) via monthly checks. Since its inception, we have distributed over $130,000 in funds.
As Sekou Odinga (a former POW recipient) wrote, “Thanks much for the support you’ve been organizing, I really appreciate it. After not having any or very little support for so long, it now seems like (people) have all of a sudden realized that I am alive.”
Collecting Money
We are consolidating efforts going on around the country in support of PP/POWs in order to substantially aid such prisoners. There are many such efforts going on. Prisoner supporters are often small in number and finance, so it is usually difficult to meet the material needs of PP/POWs. We may be small pockets of resistance, however, we are also part of a much larger struggle. Former POW Ojore Lutalo said, ‘our enemy is consolidating their efforts against us, we have to do the same.’ One way this is done is through collecting monthly donations from groups or individuals. Many of us cannot afford more than $5, $10, or $20 per month. Alone, this does not amount to much. But, when we pool our resources and give that amount to one Warchest, we are able to make progress. The success we have had thus far attests to this. In the first several years, we were able to increase the number of prisoners we support with consistent support of up to $60 per month. Due to financial restraints in 1999, we were forced to reduce the monthly aid to $40 per recipient. However, since then we significantly increased the number of recipients, and in 2020 we increased the monthly stipend to $50 for the 19 current recipients.
Still, the need is more than we can offer at this time. With your help, we can change this– become a regular contributor, or contact us with your ideas! You can, for instance, support Running Down the Walls, an annual 5K held in and out of prisons all over the U.S. that raises money for the Warchest. Please help this much needed program expand and increase the number of prisoners supported and the amount they receive. There is any number of ways that you can do so. If you want to put on a benefit, please contact one of our chapters first so we can supply you with promotional and informational literature.
Where Does This Money Go?
All Warchest recipients are verified as political prisoners or prisoners of war based on international standards. The current Warchest recipients are:
“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 Post Office Box 110034 Brooklyn, New York 11211 [email protected]
