Category Archives: Prisons

General, North Carolina, Prisons, Racism, sub.Media

No New OC Jail + an update on the recent prisoner uprisings in Atmore, AL

No New OC Jail

no new oc jail

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This week Bursts spoke with the No New OC Jail coalition, which is opposing the building of a new jail in Orange County, NC. In this interview, we speak about the social conditions surrounding this opposition, as well as generalized opposition to the prison industrial complex.

More about this and to see this coalition’s petition, you can visit here.

Also included is a segment from our friend the Stimulator at www.submedia.tv about student uprisings in South Africa.

Announcements

Certain Days:

The Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar collective (www.certaindays.org) is releasing its 16th calendar in the Fall of 2016. Over the years, we’ve turned our attention to various themes: grassroots organizing, resisting repression, and visions of justice. The theme for 2017 is focused on what it takes to sustain our movements.

We are looking for 12 works of art and 12 short articles to feature in the calendar, which hangs in more than 2,000 homes, workplaces, prison cells, and community spaces around the world.

We encourage contributors to submit both new and existing work. The deadline for submission is March 15th, 2016.

For further information, such as submission guidelines, format, and so on you can visit this project’s website here

AN UPDATE ON THE PRISONER UPRISINGS IN ATMORE, AL:

From https://itsgoingdown.org/

“Things here are tense but festive. The C.O. and warden was stabbed…It has nothing to do with overcrowding, but with the practice of locking folks up for profit, control and subjugation. Fires were set, we got control of two cubicles, bust windows. The riot team came, shot gas, locked down, searched the dorms. Five have been shipped and two put in lockup.”

~A Prisoner at Holman Correctional

This week, prison rebels at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama staged two riots in three days—battling guards, building barricades, stabbing the warden, taking over sections of the prison and setting a guard station on fire. These actions come as no surprise to those who have been paying attention to the crumbling prison system in
Alabama and the increasing level of radicalization of the prison population there.

The uprising at Holman, and the conditions of Alabama prisons in general, provide a unique situation in which anarchist solidarity may prove strategic. Historically speaking, successful prison uprisings have often been the result of a degrading prison system (incompetence,
understaffing, weak administration) in combination with a high level of prisoner-unity and the development of a strong political subculture within the prison that supports and encourages acts of resistance. These conditions shift the balance of power between prisoners and their captors and allow prisoners more latitude to take bold action.

Prison rebels in Alabama report that guards often refuse to enter the cell blocks for months at a time out of fear of attacks. The conditions for rebellion are ripe in the Alabama prison system.

The connections that Alabama prison rebels and anarchists outside of prisons have cultivated over years have created a situation in which expressions of solidarity from anarchists may have an impact. There is a great possibility that news of solidarity actions will reach prisoners there and that those actions will make sense to these rebels.

Another way in which anarchist solidarity may prove uniquely valuable in this and other situations of prison rebellion is in our capacity to relate to these uprisings outside the framework of reform that the media, the state and the left will inevitably push them toward. We are already hearing the rhetoric of those outside Holman turning immediately toward reform, appeals to legitimacy in hopes of reaching journalists and liberals, and framing the riots as a ‘last resort’ after non-violent methods failed.

What we propose instead is direct affirmation, through action, of prisoners’ own revolt. In this, our solidarity is equally with those demanding better living conditions and those who say, quite simply, “they need to let us free up out this bitch” and “there’s only one way to deal with it: tear the prison down.”

In the spirit of diversity of tactics we’ve compiled a list of some ways to act in solidarity with prison rebels in Alabama. The intention of this list is to find ways to act in solidarity with the many, often contradictory, desires of the many different rebels involved in the uprising.

1. Publish and spread the list of demands, provided by journalists who were able to get in touch with some of the rioting inmates:

We inmates, at Holman Prison, ask for immediate federal assistance. We ask that the Alabama government release all inmates who have spent excessive time in Holman Prison — due to the conditions of the prison and the overcrowding of these prisons in Alabama. We ask that the 446 laws [Habitual Felony Offender laws] that Alabama holds as of 1975 be abolished. We ask that parole board release all inmates who fit the criteria to be back in society with their families. We ask that these prisons in Alabama implement proper classes that will prepare inmates to be released back into society with 21st century information that will prepare inmates to open and own their own businesses instead of making them having to beg for a job.
We also ask for monetary damages for mental pain and physical abuse that inmates have already suffered.

2. Call and write Alabama Department of Corrections officials:

General: http://www.doc.state.al.us/Contact.aspx
Holman: (251) 368-8173

3. Contact inmates at various Albama prisons in order to form bonds and connections on which to build struggle.
http://www.doc.state.al.us/InmateSearch.aspx

Currently you can type a letter into the first or last name section and get a whole giant list of inmates to choose from. It’s up to you to discern who you’d like to write to. We avoid inmates who are listed as having racist tattoos or sex crimes. However there are also several pen pal sites where you can find Alabama inmates who are already looking to maintain correspondence with someone.

4. Visit
https://itsgoingdown.org/call-actions-solidarity-alabama-prison-rebels/ for more creative ways to get involved!!

activism, Durham, General, Health, Immigration, Music, North Carolina, Prisons

Inside Outside Alliance on deaths in Durham County Jail, NC + medical neglect

Inside Outside Alliance in Durham

amplifyvoices.com
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This week we feature a conversation with Steve, a member of the Inside Outside Alliance, a group in Durham working to amplify the voices of prisoners, foster better connections with their family and loved ones on the outside and raise awareness (in the words of the prisoners and their families) of problems in the Durham County Jail with an eye towards holding the Sheriff’s Dept & local government accountable. More on this project at http://amplifyvoices.com.

 

This week we speak about the un-reported deaths in jail of Matthew McCain (January 2016), Dennis McMurray (January 2015) and briefly about the death of Raphael Marquis Bennett (August 2015). There is also a conversation on medical neglect (in Matthew’s case, he claimed he was not getting proper treatment for his diabetes and epilepsy).

Also mentioned is the work going on around different parts of North Carolina to get communities aroused against the recent snatching up with intent to deport latino youth by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during it’s recent spate of raids against folks accused of entering the U.S. from Central America in the past few years. These include: A student on his way to school in Durham, named Wildin David Guillén Acosta; Edwin Alvarez-Gálvez of Raleigh & Santos Padilla-Guzman of Cary are 3 of the so-called NC 6. Here’s an article students in Durham avoiding school for fear of ICE and words from teachers and admins at the schools expressing how dangerous they feel it is for the community. One organization on facebook working to keep folks informed on the raids can be found here.

Announces

No New Animal Lab

This is an update from our frieds at No New Animal Lab:
From their website http://nonewanimallab.com

On January 29th, No New Animal Lab, with representation from the Civil Liberties Defense Center, filed an anti-SLAPP Special Motion to Strike against injunctions filed on behalf of two executives of Skanska USA. Skanska and its key decision makers have been the subject of a year-long protest campaign, organized under the banner of No New Animal Lab, for their $90 million contract to build a large, underground animal research lab for the University of Washington (UW).

Skanska executives at the corporation’s Portland office filed for injunctions against four activists and “No New Animal Lab” in an attempt to stifle the growing national protests. Such lawsuits are known as “SLAPPs” (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) and are often used by corporations against protest movements in an attempt to chill dissent and disrupt campaign organizing. Rather than outright criminalizing protest activity, corporations attempt to exploit the legal system, dragging grassroots activists through frivolous civil court proceedings and draining and redirecting both time and material resources. SLAPPs exist to shrewdly muzzle movements that seek to hold corporations and their executives accountable and are backdoor attempts to legislate unreasonable restrictions upon speech and assembly.

“The campaign against Skanska is about challenging power–the power to callously decide the fate of thousands; the power to construct lives of suffering, captivity, and pain; and the power to evade accountability through the impersonal structure of corporations,” said a spokesperson for No New Animal Lab. “When you challenge power, you get a response. These SLAPP injunctions are just that–a response from Skanska, one of the largest corporations of its kind. The No New Animal Lab campaign interprets these lawsuits as a measure of its effectiveness.”

The No New Animal Lab campaign has grown substantially in the last year, and the pressure against Skanska is at an all-time high. In mid-January, hundreds of people from all over the country converged in New York to protest the company’s U.S. headquarters and CEO and President Richard Cavallaro, and Skanska’s largest U.S. investor, the Vanguard Group.

One way you can help right now is to make a DONATION to the campaign. Every penny goes directly to grassroots organizing and helping with legal costs. Support means everything in moments like these. To donate to this cause, and to learn more about this campaign, you can go to the website http://nonewanimallab.com and click on the red Donate tab on their page.

 

To hear the interview that we conducted with members of this campaign, you can visit our site.

Music

We finish up the show with three musical tracks from CrustWithSprings.blogspot.de and R-A-B-M.blogspot.com:

First we’ll hear a very new band called Baeden from Sydney Austrailia with track one off their 2015 demo entitled “iphone versus crusty slice”

Second is track one from Gudsforladt, which is a one person project from salem, mass. the track is off their 2016 self titled release.

Thirdly we’ll hear Wrang which is a black metal band from the Netherlands. This track is called eulogy to impermanence and is off their 2015 demo

Playlist

activism, Dissident Island Radio, France, gender, General, Immigration, Marius Mason, Notre Dames-de-landes, Prisons, Queer, Racism, repression, ZAD

Trans Prisoner Day of Solidarity + Action / State of Emergency in France

Trans Prisoner Day of Solidarity & State of Emergency in France

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This week we’re speaking wth Gary from Kansas City about the fast approaching day of solidarity with transgender prisoners which will occur this friday, January 22nd. In this interview we talk about Gary’s past experiences with the prison system, the original call out for this day by trans prisoner Marius Mason, and the conditions that trans people generally face in prison, and the importance of focusing on this issue. For more on this day, to get ideas and to give report backs, you can visit http://transprisoners.net/

For more on Marius Mason’s case you can visit http://supportmariusmason.org/

If you’d like to send our guest an email to get ideas on how to proceed, you can write Gary at gcwagaman@gmail.com

We also feature a segment from Dissident Island Radio’s mid December show of 2015 about the changed security situation in France since the Paris attacks by Daesh-affiliated militants. The host of Dissident Island speaks with Camille, the name for anyone coming from the ZAD and speaking about experiences there. In this segment, Camille talks about the State of Emergency declared by the government of President Francoise Hollande, the suspensions of rights to publicly gather, the extension of the State of Emergency for 3 months, the challenges to folks with dual citizenship, the nighttime raids of immigrant communities and experiences of the folks at the ZAD as they enter a period of possible eviction. Camille also talks about how the ZAD at times acts as a refuge to immigrants and refugees seeking a break from state repression on a self-defended land project.

Check out the twice a month DIY radio show out of the London Action Resource Centre by visiting http://dissidentisland.org/

Statement from Marius Mason for the Trans Prisoner Day of Action and Solidarity:

“January 22nd 2016

Happy New Year, Family and Friends!

Many, many thanks for so much support and care over this year from both long-standing friends and new pen pals. I feel very grateful and am always humbled by the encouragement and resources sent my way by folks who are doing so much already to increase our collective chances for survival. The news has been full of stories about someone winning the big money pool that has accumulated for the US Lotto – but the most important “win” has nothing to do with money. I am betting on the movement to win big this year: in getting more control over their communities and defending against police brutality and racial inequality, in winning more victories for animal and in the defense of wild spaces, in creating social relations based on respect, dignity and compassion for all people…. regardless of their race, orientation, creed or gender presentation.

Thank you for coming together today, to hold up those members of our community who struggle so hard behind walls to keep their sense of self intact. Sovereignty over our selves, our bodies is essential for any other kind of liberty to be possible. By reaching out to trans prisoners, you affirm their right to define themselves for themselves – and defend them against the overwhelming voices who claim that they do not exist, that they must allow others to define them. In the isolating environment of prison, this is toxic and intimidating, and amounts to the cruelest form of psychological torture. By offering your help and solidarity, you may just save a life. I know that for the last year and a half, as I have struggled to assert myself as a trans man, as I have advocated for the relief of appropriate medical care for my gender dysphoria – it has been the gentle and loving reminders of my extended family of supporters who have given me strength and courage to continue. Please join me in offering this help to so many others who need it to keep going. Never underestimate the healing power of a letter, those letters have kept me going…and I want to pass that gift on, if you will help me.

Thank you again for coming together on this day, for connecting to those on the inside who truly need you, who need you to see them as they really are and striving to be. Until the prisons are gone, we need to work hard to support those of us inside – especially those of us who are not always as visible to the rest of the world. We are always stronger together.

Marius Mason
January 2016″

Playlist here.

Animal Rights, Earth & Animal Liberation, General, Health, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Prisons, repression, Skanska

Solidarity with Nicole + Joseph, accused Animal Liberationists

Nicole and Joseph + Mumia

supportnicoleandjoseph.com
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This week we play a brief segment of last week’s conversation we couldn’t air for reasons of length in which Orie Lumumba talks about former Black Panther, political prisoner and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal. Mumia was sentenced to the Death Penalty for the shooting death of Officer Daniel Faulkner of the Philadelphia PD. We talk about medical maltreatment of Mumia over the last year concerning his prior undiagnosed type-2 diabetes and his hepatitus C. He contracted Hep C in 1981 from a blood transfusion related to the shooting surrounding his arrest. Mumia & his supporters are now trying to get access for Mumia and the other 10,000 prisoners in the state of PA who are known to have Hep C but which the government is denying due to the cost of treatment. For more info on Mumia’s incarceration, writings and activism, check out http://freemumia.com and for his and others radio commentaries, check out http://prisonradio.org

Following this, we speak with Petey, a supporter of Nicole Kissane & Joseph Buddenberg, two animal activists living in the Bay Area facing charges of conspiracy under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Petey talks about the people, about the case so far and a bit about the potential of a chilling affect left by AETA terrorism charges on the animal rights and animal liberation movements in the U.S. More on the case can be found at http://supportnicoleandjoseph.com

Announcements

No New Animal Lab

In December of 2012, Skanska USA was granted a contract from the University of Washington for the development and construction of the Animal Research & Care Facility, a secret underground lab intended to centralize animal research and vastly increase the number of animals that will be caged, abused, and killed. It was at this moment that Skanska chose to involve itself with the vivisection industry and to profit from the imprisonment and torture of endless generations of animals by literally burying them underground. They were eagerly prepared to make millions. What they were not prepared for was the animal liberation movement.

We here at the Final Straw Radio interviewed No New Animal Labs recently no the resistance to the Skanska USA lab at U W. In light of the contract being granted to Skanksa USA, the No New Animal Labs initiative is calling for supporters to #StormSkanksa: Swarm New York from January 15-17th of 2016. To find out more and get involved, check out http://nonewanimallab.com

Playlist

Move 9, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Political Prisoner, Prisons, Racism

Upcoming Parole pushes for Herman Bell + 3 of MOVE 9: convo with Orie Lumumba

Orie Lumumba on MOVE & Herman Bell

freehermanbell.org
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This week’s show features a conversation with Orie Lumumba. Orie is involved in the Move organization and the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal. We speak about the upcoming push to parole Debbie Sims Africa, Janet Halloway Africa and Janine Phillips Africa, the three remaining women of the Move 9. The Move 9 were 9 members of the Move organization whose house was raided in Philadelphia in 1978 after escalating conflicts with the Philadelphia police department and then-Mayor Frank Rizzo. The 9 were convicted of the death of Officer James Ramp during the raid, which the supporters and members of the Move 9 argue the 9 had no part in, that the shot was actually fired by the police department mistakenly. This was one of the many instances that the Move organization was repressed in Philadelphia during the 1970’s and 1980’s. The Move organization is a religious, vegan Black Liberation organization focused around social justice issues and bases it’s philosophy on the teachings of John Africa.

In February at the Malcolm X & Bettie Shabazz Educational Center there will be a rally around this parole push in New York City. There is also an online petition to push for the parole of these 3 members of the Move 9. More info on the struggle can be found at http://onamove.org and more on the parole push can be found at http://move9parole.blogspot.com

The second half of the conversation concerns the upcoming parole push for Herman Bell. Herman Bell was a member of the Black Panther Party and later a soldier in the Black Liberation Army who, with Albert Nuh Washington and Jalil Muntaqim, was convicted of the death of two New York police officers, Waverly Jones and Joseph A. Piagentini, in 1971. More on support for Herman Bell can be found at http://freehermanbell.org/

We talk briefly about police violence against Black people in the U.S., in the 1960’s and 70’s and again today in relation to development of Black Liberation struggles and the current Black Lives Matter movements. The petition ot push for Herman Bell’s parole can be found at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/677/086/596/in-support-of-parole-for-herman-bell-79c0262/

The podcast version of this episode, to be aired at the beginning of next week’s radio episode, will include a segment where Orie speaks about medical issues faced by Mumia Abu-Jamal in the state of Pennsylvania. Mumia Abu-Jamal is a former Black Panther and is a journalist who was given a death sentence for the shooting death of Philly PD officer David Faulkner in 1981 during a traffic stop. Mumia and his supporters have always held to his innocence in the death of the officer. Mumia’s now involved in a lawsuit (Abu-Jamal v. Kerestes) to address the lack of treatment by the state’s Department of Corrections of Mumia alongside the roughtly 10,000 prisoners in the PA prison system are suffering from Hepatitis C when an effective treatment is available. More on Mumia, his case and his health can be found at http://freemumia.com

Alabama, Anarchist, General, Michael Kimble, Prisons

“We need to kick it up a notch”: an interview with anarchist prisoner Michael Kimble

Michael Kimble

Michael Kimble
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First off some words from Sean Swain on morality. Spoiler alert: it may not exist!!

This time we’re speaking with Michael Kimble, who is a black gay anarchist prisoner incarcerated in Atmore, Alabama. Mr Kimble is active in many prison organizing projects, including the Free Alabama Movement. We speak about his case, his writings, a possible future for anarchist organizing, his upcoming parole hearing, and vampires among other topics. For more about his case and to read his writings, you can visit his support page at http://anarchylive.noblogs.org.

Apologies for the audio quality on this interview, since it was recorded from inside prison it is not always easy to hear. But stick with it, there’s some really good stuff here.

To write to Michael Kimble, or to send him books or zines, you can address letters to:

Michael Kimble
#138017
3700 Holman Unit
Atmore, AL 36503

To write support letters for his hopefully upcoming parole hearing, address letters to:

Alabama Dept. of Pardons and Parole
301 South Ripley Street
Montgomery, AL 36130

Info on what to say and how to word those letters of support please visit his support page

Playlist

Anarchist, Canada, Operacion Pandora, Police, Prisons, Racism, repression, Spain

A conversation about Operation Pandora II and words from Nyki Kish about GVI

Operation Pandora II + Nyki Kish

Belfast Jan 16th anti pandora demo
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Important announcement:
**There will be a vigil commemorating the death of Tamir Rice TODAY in Asheville, 3pm at Carrier Park, on the 1 year anniversary of his death. This 14 year old African American boy was gunned down without consequences to the cops who killed him. People will be meeting at 3pm, at the end of this show at Carrier Park off of Amboy road.. Come and support Black Lives Matter and demand justice. Please spread the word and bring flowers and signs against the death of Black people by Law Enforcement in the U.S.

This week on the show you’ll hear an interview that Bursts conducted with a comrade living in Spain regarding Operation Pandora and Operation Pinata, two government initiatives specifically designed to target and incriminate anarchists. In this interview, they get into how these initiatives operate, the real life implications of targeted governmental oppression, security culture and much more! To learn a little more about this topic you can visit http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net and search “Pandora, Pinata, and Beyond”.

First though, you’ll hear some words from Nyki Kish, incarcerated at Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. This is a segment of a reading of Nyki’s 4th recent blog entry concerning persecution of non-cis-heteronormative prisoners at GVI. We announced about this last episode. There’s a call-in-campaign ongoing to get the GVI to stop the repression. More information and updates on the Grand Valley Institution for Women and struggles there, check out https://gviwatch.wordpress.com/ and join the call-in campaign by dialing 519-894-2011, requesting to speak to the acting warden at GVI and inquiring why they are criminalizing LBTQ2+ prisoners. Or you could fax 519-894-5434 with similar requests. The warden has announced the allowance of a LBTQ2+ group to be formed among prisoners there, but the campaigners suggest continuing to call and fax to see if they follow through and what comes next.

More of Nyki Kish’s writing can be found at http://changeandprison.wordpress.com/

Playlist

activism, Anarchist, CounterInsurgency, Environment, Eric McDavid, General, Grand Jury, History, Jerry Koch, panel discussion, Political Prisoner, Prisons, repression

GE Trees update + pt 2 of former prisoner panel from NAABC conference, 2015

GE Trees + Former Political Prisoners

http://denverabc.wordpress.com
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This episode has two parts.

In the first segment of the episode, William spoke with Anne Peterman of the Global Justice Ecology Project, following up on the GE Trees Action Camp which took place in late September outside of Asheville. To hear the previous interview you can go to http://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org and search GE Trees, and to learn more about GJEP and to donate to Anne and Ruddy’s legal defense, you can go to http://nogetrees.org

The bulk of the hour we’ll hear the second half of the Former Prisoner Panel proceeding the North American Anarchist Black Cross conference in Denver, 2015.

On the panel you’ll hear from:

  • Jerry Koch, an anarchist who was incarcerated over 9 months for refusing to testify before a grand jury (for a second time) in New York, as he talks about his incarceration and his release.
  • Eric McDavid is a green anarchist who served 10 years of a 20 year sentence before release in January of 2015.
  • Lynne Stewart is a movement who served 2.5 years of a 10 year sentence, released due on compassionate grounds due to terminal cancer.
  • Kazi Toure is a formerly incarcerated member of the marxist guerrilla group United Freedom Fighters/Ohio 7.
  • Jihad Abdulmumit is national chairperson for the Jericho Movement and spent 23 years in prison for involvement in the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army.
  • Mark Cook was a social prisoner who founded a Panther Chapter in prison and became involved in the George Jackson Brigade.

The first half of the panel discussion can be found here: http://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2015/10/14/former-political-prisoner-panel-in-denver-2015-pt-1/

In this presentation, the panelists speak about experiences of re-entry, trauma of incarceration, support they’ve received, experiences behind the bars and critiques of how prisoners are supported. This event was hosted by Denver Anarchist Black Cross (http://denverabc.wordpress.com)

We lacked time to announce this benefit for Stephanie Wilson, a dear friend who was struck by a car while attempting to render care to a dog who’d been previously hit by another vehicle. The benefit is to raise medical funds for Stephanie. More info here: https://www.youcaring.com/stephanie-wilson-454345

Playlist

gender, Health, Neurodiversity, Prisons, Youth

The Case of Jessica Burlew

Jessie Burlew

freejessieb.org
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This week Bursts spoke with Beth, a member of Phoenix Anarchist Black Cross and a member of the Support Jessie B committee about the case of Jessica Burlew. Jessie is a now-18 year old woman on the autism spectrum and diagnosed with schitzo-effective disorder who’s been held in solitary confinement as a protective measure in a Maricopa County Jail. She’s being charged by the state in the death during a sexual encounter with her 42 year old man 2 years ago in what even coroners have deemed to be accidental. We talk about Beth’s case, about gender and courts, about child welfare, mental health and advocacy in the criminal system of Arizona.
More on the case can be found at http://freejessieb.org

But first, these announcements…

. … . ..

Marius Mason is an anarchist, an environmental and animal rights prisoner serving nearly 22 years in federal prison for acts of sabotage carried out in defense of the planet. No one was injured in any of these actions. After being threatened with a life sentence in 2009, he pleaded guilty to charges of arson at a Michigan State University lab researching Genetically Modified Organisms for Monsanto, and admitted to 12 other acts of property damage. The sentencing judge applied a so-called “terrorism enhancement” to his term which added almost two more years than the maximum requested by the prosecution. This is the harshest punishment of anyone convicted of environmental sabotage to date.

Marius is incarcerated in the high security Administration Unit at the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas. According to the prison’s own literature, the unit is “designed for female inmates with histories of escapes, chronic behavior problems, repeated incidents of assaultive or predatory behavior, or other special management concerns.” Marius has never violated any prison rules. Clearly, he is being held in this unit because of his political beliefs and in an effort to silence him.

The unit is frequently and unpredictably locked down for hours on end due to violence and suicide attempts resulting from the claustrophobic and oppressive conditions. Prisoners leave the building for medical treatment, but only after a protracted wait and fierce advocacy on the part of the prisoner even though Carswell is ostensibly a medical facility. Access to mental health counseling, medical care, and educational opportunities are greatly diminished because of security issues.

Due to shifting policies Marius unit is only accepting mail addresssed to Marie (Marius) Mason. This change has felt like a big step back in his plea to begin his transition (Mason is a transgender man). Additionally he has recieved little to no mail in the past weeks, leaving him in almost complete isolation from the outside world.

It’s asked that people write to him, to let him and the prison administration know that folks are keeping an eye on his situation.
Address letters to:

Marie (Marius) Mason 04672-061
FMC Carswell
Federal Medical Center
PO Box 27137
Fort Worth, Texas 76127

More about him and his case can be found at http://supportmariusmason.org

. … . ..

We have just received word that Eric’s trial is likely to be continued yet again. Eric’s public defender has entered a motion to continue his trial date until March 8th, so that we can have more time to prepare for trial or otherwise resolve the case. We expect that the judge will grant the motion.

As you may know, it’s been over a year since Eric’s arrest and pre-trial incarceration at CCA Leavenworth (a private prison operated by the Corrections Corporation of America) in Leavenworth, Kansas. Although for Eric and the rest of us it feels like it’s been a very long time, for a trial of this caliber, it’s pretty standard to spend a couple years in prison awaiting trial.

Many warm thank you’s to all those who have been making preparations to come to Kansas City for the trial. We hope to be able to give plenty of notice so that people can make clear plans to attend trial and show their support. We hope that, should Eric’s case go trial, friends and comrades will fill the courtroom.

We are also happy to report that Eric’s mail situation seems to be improving! Thanks to all of the efforts of people across the country to pressure the CCA mailroom to abide by the laws it purport to uphold. Although we dream of a world without “laws” or “rights,” in the meantime we’ll do what we can to keep our friend’s mail out of the trash. Thanks to all those who were willing to join in the effort!

For now, you can help by writing a letter to Eric, hosting a letter-writing night for him, donating money to his legal fund or buying a t-shirt. The road before us is long and expensive and it’s going to take a lot of support to get through it. Again, many thanks to all of you who have continued to show your support throughout this arduous process.

Link to Eric’s Fundraiser
https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/0yo

You can see more about Eric’s case at http://supportericking.wordpress.com

Eric’s Address:
Eric King
27090045
CCA Leavenworth
100 Highway Terrace
Leavenworth, KS 66048

. … . ..

This from https://rally.org/f/5os4KR80OFc, a fundraising site being used by supporters of Janey Waller, arrested in an obvious case of racial profiling, in which the cops said he “fit the description” of a crime he did not commit. A witness to the “crime” immediately confirmed that Janye had nothing to do with it, but Janye was still taken into custody where he was questioned and then leveled with serious charges related to last year’s protests in Oakland against the non-indictments for the murders of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

JANYE WALLER IS A YOUNG BLACK ACTIVIST, A LOCAL OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA. He lives and works in Oakland, providing financial support to his mother, his two younger brothers, and his cousin. He attended Berkeley Community College where he planned to major in Accounting, but had to take leave in order to help support his family, and he hopes to return to college soon. Janye also volunteers at a social center in West Oakland that works to empower black and indigenous people living in the Bay Area through education and mutual aid. Within this space Janye works tirelessly, helping coordinate and administer programs focusing on skills like urban farming, which foster both community and individual autonomy.
JANYE IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO IS CURRENTLY FACING SERIOUS CHARGES AFTER THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FLOODED THE STREETS DURING THE WAVE OF PROTESTS IN THE BAY AREA LAST WINTER. After several high profile police killings of young black men, the Bay Area, like much of the rest of the country, surged into a wave of protest and resistance. The state responded by using the legal system as a tool of repression, threatening incarceration and steep fines for some of those involved in these actions. It is sad but obvious that the one person getting targeted for that beautiful moment of protest is a strong and politicized young black man.

IT IS GOING TO TAKE TIME AND MONEY TO FIGHT THESE CHARGES. The legal process saps significant resources. Janye needs help with the costs of legal defense and the substantial bail amount that he borrowed.

Other ways you can help: COME OUT TO SUPPORT HIM IN COURT! This matters! Next court date: Monday Oct 19th, 9am, Wiley Manuel courthouse Dept 115. Also: HELP JANYE FIND A STABLE JOB! GET IN TOUCH!
Please give whatever you can and let others know.
email – freejanye@gmail.com

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In anarchy radio news, check out this newly minted podcast The Brilliant, which is recorded out of Berkley CA and features co hosts Aragorn! of Little Black Cart (an anrchist publishing house) and Bellamy formerly of Free Radical Radio. The Brilliant self describes as “an attempt to tell different kinds of stories, ones with complex moral plays, ones that aren’t so clearly stories, and ones that are of human size. Their motivation to tell these tales is a desire to see a proliferation of different stories and not just the simple morality plays of popular culture or the inverted, but otherwise identical, stories of the radical milieu.” Check out their archives, and stay tuned for upcoming episodes, at http://thebrilliant.org

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Since Sean Swain is still on communications blackout, Rydra of Free Radical Radio was kind enough to provide voice over for this week’s segment.

Playlist

Alabama, Anarchist, Bomani Shakur, Eric McDavid, General, Hunger Strike, Jerry Koch, Marxism, panel discussion, Political Prisoner, Prisons, Racism, repression

Former Political Prisoner Panel in Denver, 2015 (pt 1)

Former Political Prisoner Panel

denverabc.wordpress.com
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This week The Final Straw is airing some audio from the recent Anarchist Black Cross Conference which took place outside of Denver. This is a panel discussion which was hosted by the Denver ABC and includes a number of folks who had been formerly incarcerated and were speaking on the importance of supporting prisoners, among other topics. The panelists we’ll be hearing this week include: Lynne Stewart, Jihad Abdulmumit, Kazi Toure, Eric McDavid & Mark Cook.

  • Lynne Stewart was a movement lawyer involved in anti-capitalist and liberation prisoners since the 1960’s who was incarcerated this in 2010 to a decade in prison for passing a public statement on from her client, Abdel-Rahman, convicted in the first World Trade Center bombing. She was got out of prison in 2013 on Compassionate Release as she was dealing with Terminal Breast Cancer.
  • Jihad Abdulmumit is the national chairperson for the Jericho Movement and spent 23 years in prison for his involvement with the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army and and is on the Majlis Ash-Shura of Muslim Alliance in North America, or MANA. He is also a community activist, motivational speaker, author and playwright.
  • Kazi Toure is a former Black Panther and was a member of the United Freedom Front, an American Marxist guerrilla group active through the 1970’s and 80’s and carried out at least 20 bombings of government and corporate targets and 9 bank robberies. The UFF is also known as the Sam Melville / Jonathan Jackson Unit, as well as the Ohio 7.
  • Mark Cook became active in a growing leftist paramilitary underground in Seattle in 1967, which perpetrated a series of high profile bombings and robberies. He was co-founder of the Black Panther Party chapter in the Walla Walla State Penitentiary and served as its Lieutenant of Information for many years. In 2000, he was released after serving 24 years in prison for his participation in a bank robbery and jail break associated with the George Jackson Brigade in Seattle. The GJB was a leftist urban guerrilla group in the Pacific Northwest that carried out bombings, bank robberies and other actions to overthrow the U.S. government.
  • Eric McDavid, a green Anarchist who served a 9 years of a 20 year sentence and was released this January after a Habeaus Plea led the Government to release him. Eric was railroaded, along with two other young eco-anarchists, by the FBI and convicted of conspiracy to damage property, including planning to blow up dams in the U.S. Eric McDavid’s case is exemplary among Green Scare cases in it’s employment of an infiltrator and informant for the FBI who went by the name Anna.

In the next installment in coming weeks we’ll hear statements from Jerry Koch who was incarcerated for 9 months in a New York maximum security prison for refusing to give informaton to a grand jury, and was released on a Grumbles motion in January of last year. This’ll be followed by audience questions. For the full video stream of the event, check out http://DenverABC.wordpress.com. Thanks to Unicorn Riot for the recording.

Next week, tune in to hear Bursts conversation with Lawrence Jarach, a main editor of Anarchy: Journal of Desire Armed.

We’ve been listening to the first half of the former prisoner panel prior to the North American Anarchist Black Cross event held in Denver, Colorado this year. In an upcoming episode, we’ll hear the voices of Jerry Koch and Eric McDavid from the panel. The full video of this event can be found at http://DenverABC.wordpress.com or on http://unicornriot.ninja

Announcements

FAM Hunger strike

A founder of the Free Alabama movement is currently on hunger strike and in his 620th day of Solitary Confinement at Holman in Alabama. Robert Earl Council is on day 5 of hungerstrike for being denied adequate medical care. There is a request that folks call in to Holman and the DOC of Alabama to inform them that folks on the outside care about Robert Earl Council. You can call Walter Myers, Warden at Holman Correctional at 251-368-8173 or Commissioner Dunn at 334-353-3883

Bomani Shakur Events

On October 8th, several U.S. cities will be hosting events around the case of Bomani Shakur, also known as Keith Lamar. Bomani is facing threat of execution this year by the state of Ohio for alleged participation in deaths that took place during the Lucasville Prison Uprising of 1993, a charge which Bomani has always denied, claiming that he stayed in his prison wing to defend his cell. To find out more about his case, check out http://keithlamar.com