Tag Archives: free alabama movement

Strike Against White Supremacy: Mobilize for the September 9th Prisoner General Strike

by It’s Going Down


Across the country freeways are blocked, people take the streets, law enforcement officers are confronted and their buildings are occupied, and more and more people are questioning the institutions of policing and incarceration. In the past month, nearly every major city and many smaller ones have seen some sort of protest, demonstration, or disruption in the wake of ongoing police murders that have recently included two African-American men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. Helping set the context for this rebellion has been growing anger at both Trump and Clinton and ongoing resistance to white nationalist and fascist organizing which becomes more and more confrontational. At the same time, talk of abolishing the police and the prison system is no longer a fringe idea, as these positions are being discussed more and more broadly by wide segments of popular social movements. Continue reading →

FAM Leader Targeted and Tortured. CALL IN SUPPORT

Attention!!! James “Dhati Khalid” Pleasant, Free Alabama Movement Organizer, was arbitrarily transferred from St Clair population to Donaldson Correctional Facility and placed in a “Hotbay’ stripped Segregation Unit.* After repeatedly protesting the taking of all his belongings, he was sprayed with a chemical agent then placed in a shower stall the remainder of the night. Please call Donaldson Warden ASAP – Leon Bolling 205-436-3681

*a hotbay or stripped cell, also known as a suicide cell is a special unit often used to deprive prisoners of the most basic necessities on the pretext that they may harm themselves. The strip cell has no bed or furniture at all, prisoners confined there are denied all property including clothing, the temperature is kept low and the lights are on constantly. DOC’s claim to create these cells for mental health observation, but the conditions, sleep deprivation and isolation, are actually designed to cause or exacerbate mental health crises.

‘Enough Is Enough’: Prisoners Across The Country Band Together To End Slavery For Good

From ThinkProgress.org

by Carimah Townes Jun 15, 2016 1:26 pm

CREDIT: Industrial Workers of the World

Siddique Hasan, a current prisoner at the Ohio State Penitentiary, types in his cell block.

Siddique Hasan, a self-described revolutionary from Savannah, Georgia, has been waiting for a moment like this one, when prisoners across the country band together and say “enough is enough” when it comes to being treated like a slave.

“It’s time for a broader struggle,” he told ThinkProgress during his daily phone time in Ohio’s supermax prison. “People have to lift up their voice with force and determination, and let them know that they’re dissatisfied with the way things are actually being run.”

So far this year, prisoners have been doing just that. Continue reading →

Refrendar el 9 Sept A nivel nacional coordinada prisionero del bloqueo del trabajo y la protesta!

This is the Spanish language version of this post.

Esto fue creada con el traductor de google, nos disculpamos por los errores gramaticales o de cualquier defecto y estamos trabajando en una traducción apropiada.

Los presos en los EE.UU. han pedido y están planeando un paro de actividades coordinadas a nivel nacional como protesta el 9 de septiembre. Lea la llamada a la acción aquí.

Esta acción se merece y se beneficiaría enormemente de apoyo externo robusto. Si usted está involucrado en cualquier tipo de trabajo contra la encarcelación en masa, ya sea como un individuo u organización, por favor considere apoyar la huelga.

Envíe sus avales y compromisos de apoyo a PrisonerResistance@gmail.com y las publicaremos en este sitio y asegurarse de que está recibiendo actualizaciones acerca de maneras de hacer esa promesa.

Si tiene inquietudes o dudas, por favor, echa un vistazo a las preguntas más frecuentes a continuación o póngase en contacto con nosotros y estaremos encantados de discutir con usted o su organización. Gracias.

preguntas frecuentes Continue reading →

Forget Hunger Strikes. What Prisons Fear Most Is Labor Strikes

Prisoners throughout Alabama and Texas reclaim their humanity—and power—by shutting down the economic infrastructure of their prisons.

Raven Rakia For Yes!

On May 1, prison labor came to a halt in multiple prisons in Alabama, including Holman and Elmore prisons. Starting at midnight that day, prisoners stayed in their dormitories—refusing to show up for work at their assigned posts: the kitchen, the license plate manufacturing plant, the recycling plant, the food processing center, and a prison farm.
The prisoners’ demands were pretty simple: basic human rights, educational opportunities, and a reform of Alabama’s harsh sentencing guidelines and parole board.
The labor strikes are a turn from the most familiar type of political protest behind bars: the hunger strike. 
The strike in Alabama was just the latest in a series of strikes at U.S. prisons. On April 4, at least seven prisons in Texas staged a work strike after a prisoner sent out a call with the help of outside organizers. About a month earlier, prisoners in multiple states including both Texas and Alabama, as well as Virginia and Ohio, called for a national general strike among prisoners on Sept. 9, 2016, the 45th anniversary of the Attica Rebellion, where guards and inmates died during a prison revolt in upstate New York. Continue reading →

Endorse the Sept 9th Nationally Coordinated Prisoner Work Stoppage and Protest!

(esta pagina en Espanol aqui)

Prisoners across the US have called for and are planning a nationally coordinated work stoppage and protest on September 9th. Read the call to action here.

This action deserves and would benefit greatly from robust outside support. If you are engaged in any kind of work against mass incarceration, whether as an individual or organization, please consider supporting the strike.

Send your endorsements and pledges of support to PrisonerResistance@gmail.com and we will publish them on this site and make sure you’re getting updates about ways to make good on that pledge.

If you have concerns or misgivings, please check out the frequently asked questions below, or contact us and we’d be happy to discuss it with you or your organization. Thank you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Sept 9th?
Why 2016?
Who is calling for the strike?
Why does the language refer to prison slavery?
This action has the potential to put incarcerated persons in extremely dangerous situations if it isn’t well-backed and thought through. What about the danger?
What about demands, tactics and strategies?
How many / which prisoners are on board with the strike?
Who is coordinating outside support for this effort?
 What is IWOC, how did it start?
What kind of support is needed?
Any other questions or concerns?
 Continue reading →

The Thread Interviews Kinetik of The Free Alabama Movement

From The Thread. go there for links to everything mentioned.

EPISODE 1: June’s episode of The Thread featured interviews with Kinetik Justice, the leader of the Free Alabama Movement and the recent Alabama prison strike, and Cheri Honkala, the founder of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign and former Vice Presidential candidate.

Kinetik Justice is currently incarcerated at Holman Correctional Facility, and because of his involvement with the prison strike, is being held in solitary confinement. For more information about Kinetik Justice and the Free Alabama Movement, check out their homepage. You can also read their Freedom Bill that Kinetik mentions in his interview. You can also see Kinetik in the news.

Cheri Honkala continues to fight for the rights of people living in poverty across the nation. You can see more of the work she does on the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign homepage. Cheri continues to be on Front Line USA’s danger list for her work as a human rights activist. You can read about Front Line’s work with Cheri and other human rights defenders, click here. Cheri and her running mate in the 2012 election, Jill Stein, are currently suing the Commission on Presidential Debates. If you want to read more about their arrest, click here. If you want to read more about her lawsuit, click here.

Free Alabama Movement May Day Work Stoppage Interview

From Truth-Out.org

Free Alabama Movement May Day Work Stoppage Interview

Friday, 27 May 2016 00:00 By Ben Turk, Speakout | Interview

From May 1 to May 9, 2016, prisoners at multiple facilities across Alabama engaged in work stoppages, refusing to labor for the Alabama Department of Corrections. This strike was the second major work stoppage in prisons this spring. In April, prisoners in Texas refused to work for most of the month. The striking Alabama prisoners, along with revolutionary prisoners in other states, have also called for a nationally coordinated work stoppage and protest September 9 of this year, the 45th anniversary of the Attica rebellion.

At the end of the strike, we interviewed Free Alabama Movement (FAM) cofounder Kinetik Justice Amun to get a deeper understanding of the context and strategy of their work stoppage, as well as a better understanding of the state’s response and possible strategic lessons going forward. Kinetik has been held in solitary confinement at Holman Correctional since 2014 as retaliation for FAM’s work stoppage that January.

Continue reading →

Kinetik Justice and The Free Alabama Movement

12549113_1689257571353128_3652465867450969853_nPeace, Blessings and Revolutionary Greetings!

First and foremost, I’m honored that the Creative Energy and the Spirit of Our Ancestors have brought us all together, at this time and in this space. . . Amun Ra!

I am Kinetik Justice Amun (g/n Robert Earl Council), a New Afrikaans Political Prisoner of War. 22 years ago at the age of 20, I defended myself by shooting and killing a white man whose intent was to bring about bodily harm to me.
The white man I killed was a  U. S. National Guardsman Ronald Henderson, the son of a predominant family of affluence and cousin to Mayor in Enterprise, Alabama. The tragedy which I am serving a capital murder sentence of life without parole was a set up for my demise due to relationships of white privilege. As police officers intimidated and coerced the only eye witness, the judge appointed M. Dale Marsh, a friend of Mr. Henderson, as (my) Robert Earl Council’s lead attorney, the D. A. Empanelled an all-white jury and the judge assured a guilty verdict by amending the indictment with his jury instruction. Adding in an additional element of robbery to seal my fate to a capital murder charge. Continue reading →