Tag Archives: september 9

How Inmates are Organizing a Nationwide Strike from behind Bars

From Waging Nonviolence

Whenever an inmate and a guard get into an altercation, Melvin Ray sees an opportunity to connect and educate. After stepping in and trying to de-escalate the situation, he’ll talk to his fellow inmate and ask him how he got here. Not just “here,” in the sense of an altercation stemming from the emotional stresses of being incarcerated. Or “here,” in terms of the conviction that sent him to prison in the first place. Ray, ultimately, presses a larger point: “You’re not here because of that crime. You’re here because someone has figured out a way to make money off of you.”These sorts of one-on-one conversations are critical for organizing incarcerated people, and Ray — who also goes by Bennu Hannibal Ra-Sun — knows this better than anyone. He is one of the founders of the Free Alabama Movement, or FAM — a prisoner-led human rights group that is organizing what could become the largest nationwide prison work stoppage, starting September 9, the 45th anniversary of the Attica Prison uprising.

Along with Support Prisoner Resistance and the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, or IWOC, of the IWW labor union, FAM issued a call to action earlier this summer, with an estimated 40 prisons in 24 states expected to participate. Much like the inmates who took over New York’s infamous correctional facility in 1971, today’s prisoners are fighting against the conditions of their imprisonment, especially the conditions under which they are forced to work, which many describe as slavery.

Although some states allow prisoners to get paid for their labor, the pay is often less than a dollar per hour, and sometimes absolutely nothing. Half of those wages, in federal institutions at least, are withheld for room and board, victim’s programs and family support. Whatever remains goes toward buying the necessary commissary items for making life in prison tolerable. Essentials like toilet paper, deodorant, menstrual products and laundry detergent can each cost multiple days’ wages.
Continue reading →

Attica Is All of Us

Watch this video from Freedom Archives here.

September 9-13 mark the 45th anniversary of the Attica Rebellion. This massive prison takeover by hundreds of inmates and the callous repression and murders by the state of New York are part of a unique moment in US history. The legacy of Attica and the fight for human rights is carried on in the prisons of Georgia, Ohio, California and wherever people are caged for years on end.

 This Week May See the Largest Prison Strike in US History

From The Nation / John Washington

Across 24 states, inmates are sick of poisoned water, solitary confinement, and forced labor.

This September 9, we may witness the largest prison strike in US history. Potentially thousands of inmates across both state and federal prisons in as many as 24 states plan to engage in a coordinated strike and protest in an attempt to bring attention to the daily injustice of their lives. The strikers are calling for an end to “slave-like” working conditions, illegal reprisals, and inhumane living conditions.

Planned for the 45th anniversary of the Attica Prison uprising, the actions of September 9 will shed light on the often decrepit conditions suffered by the 2.4 million people in what is the largest carceral system in the world. They will also mark a new point in the fight against mass incarceration, and likely stand as a harbinger for further actions and strikes to come. Malik Washington, an inmate in the H. H. Coffield Unit in Texas and the chief spokesperson for the End Prison Slavery in Texas movement, wrote to me in a letter: “Prisoners in Amerikan prisons are sick and tired of being degraded, dehumanized, and exploited.”

Building a Movement Behind Bars

The September action didn’t come out of nowhere. Siddique Abdullah Hasan, an inmate in Ohio State Penitentiary and a member of the Free Ohio Movement, describes it as just the latest part of “an ongoing resistance movement” that has seen increasing numbers of work strikes, hunger strikes, and protests hitting prisons across the country in the past decade. Back in 2010, inmates in at least six different state prisons in Georgia staged a labor strike, protesting prison conditions and lack of remuneration for their forced labor. Continue reading →

September 9th PDX Teach-in, March & Noise Demo (2-8pm)

Find the facebook event here.


2PM: Teach-in at Chapman Square
3PM: March to Prison Profiteers
6PM: Reconvene at Champman for a Noise Demo @ the Justice Center (across the street from Chapman Square)

On Friday, September 9th, people across Portland and Northwest will converge in Downtown Portland in solidarity with the US wide prison work strike against prison slavery and white supremacy. Our goal is a mass showing of support with the growing prison rebellion in the US and to also march on the corporations in the Downtown area that make massive profits off of prisoner enslavement.

Slavery is legal in America. Written into the 13th Amendment, it is legal to work someone that is incarcerated for free or almost free. Since the civil war, tens of millions of people most arrested for non-violent offenses, have been used as slaves for the sake of generating massive profits for multi-national corporations and the US government. Today, prison labor is a multi-billion dollar industry which helps generate enormous wealth for key industries such as fossil fuels, fast food, telecommunications, technology, the US military, and everyday house hold products.

The strike, which starts officially on September 9th, the 45th anniversary of the Attica Uprising, is historic. The strike is being led by groups such as the Free Alabama Movement, Free Texas Movement, Free Ohio Movement, Free Virginia Movement, Free Mississippi Movement, and many more. Prisoners have asked that supporters hold noise demonstrations outside jails and prisons, protest, disrupt, and demonstrate outside of corporations that profit from prison labor, and also support the strike that is happening across the US. Continue reading →

Open Letter from Keith ‘Malik’ Washington

Peace and Blessings to all – my name is:
Keith ‘Malik’ Washington. I am one of the key spokespersyns for the End
Prison Slavery in Texas Movement. I am from Houston, Texas, specifically
the 3rd Ward. There are many Prison Authorities and Law Enforcement
Officials who will attempt to characterize our movement as violent.
I have never endorsed or promoted violence in this Movement simply because
it plays right into the hands of the individuals and Agencies who oppress
us.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, F.B.I., D.H.S., and numerous
Federal and State Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies are fully
equipped to deal with violence.
However as prisoners finally become visible in the media we must use this
opportunity to convey our thoughts and demands in an intelligent,
pragmatic, and respectful manner.
What scares T.D.C.J. about this movement is not the violence – it is the
prospect of two things:
1.) The threat of losing money from having to stop or slow operations of
the numerous Texas Correctional Industry Factories which generate millions
of Dollars.
2.) Being exposed in the main-stream media as an Agency which exploits,
oppresses, and abuses human beings in their care.
On top of being a spokespersyn for our movement I am also a proud member of
the Industrial Workers of the World and the Incarcerated Workers Organizing
Committee. Before I leave you I want to briefly state our Demands:
1.) On a National Level we want Presidential Candidates Hillary Clinton or
Jill Stein to craft Legislation that will Abolish Prison Slavery by
Amending the 13th Amendment.
2.) In Texas we want the Following:
A.) Good Time & Work Time credits which actually reduce our prison terms –
All of us, not some!
B.) An Oversight Committee for T.D.C.J.
C.) Right to an Attorney on Habeas Filings
D.) Abolish the $100 Medical Co-pay System
E.) Humane Living Conditions & Treatment

There are no Racial issues we have – it is well understood that there are
Black, White, Latino – Asian and Arab human beings who SUFFER inside Texas
Prisons.
We are pleading with the World to hear our cries for Freedom and Humane
Conditions. I leave you all as I came in Peace.
In Solidarity – Malik

Action Alert: Call to Support the Bronx 120

hi all, please call and share. https://www.facebook.com/events/328787930803467/
Earlier this year, 120 young people were kidnapped under “conspiracy” charges, and are now languishing in various prisons across New York, with no knowledge of their fate, and increasing abuse at the hands of the prisons. We have had reports from families and from those incarcerated that they have been denied medical care, have had their mail censored from friends and family, have woefully short (1 hour a week) visitation, and that at least one defendant has been last, possibly held in solitary. We will not stand for the abuse of black and brown people from our community! Treated like slaves, shackled, with no direct charges, just assumptions based off of social media and white supremacy. Leading up to our Sept 9th Prison Strike NYC-Solidarity w BX120 and all prisoners event, we are asking people to call MDC at (718) 840-4200* and DEMAND:
-Immediate Medical Care for all Prisoners
-Release of all Communication, and an end to censorship of letters and communication.
-Extended visting hours and days
-NO DISCIPLINARY SEGREGATION FOR ANY PRISONER
– DROP ALL CHARGES AGAINST THE BRONX 120!!

CALL OFTEN! We need to show that these abuses will not go unnoticed! No rest for the officials until all are free!

We are also asking that people please watch the video of the raids and read the letter by Paula Clarke, one of the mothers and send to as many people as you can. There is also a link to donate for commissary. http://www.bronx120.org/

*this is the general number for the prison; we have heard from family that the specific number for complaints and prisoner communication just rings and rings…no surprise!!

Washington DC: Noise Demo in Solidarity with Striking Workers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Baltimore/D.C. Based Organizations Make Noise In Solidarity With National Prison Strike.

Washington, D.C. – September 9th, 2016 –

On the 45th  anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, the most notorious prison rebellion in US history, prisoners around the country pronounced to once again make their voices heard. Refusing to work their assigned job is the direct action over 1,000 plus prisoners agreed to perform.

The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, D.C chapter (IWOC) has swiftly organized a “noise demo”  to match the prisoners’ efforts with disruptions from the outside. Calling for aid to strengthen effectiveness of the noisy action, IWOC has pulled support from organizations in Baltimore, Virginia and local support in D.C. The noise demo will take place on September 9th, the same day of the national work stoppage. IWOC is a national project of the Industrial Workers of the World, a radical labor union dedicated to workplace democracy and building a mass workers movement against capitalism. Continue reading →

September 9 Endorsement: RATPAC-PS

From Revolutionary Alliance of Trans People Against Capitalism – Puget Sound

In 8 days (9/9/16), the 45th anniversary of the Attica Prison Rebellion, there will be a coordinated work stoppage by prisoners across the US.

Prisoners are among the most acutely oppressed and exploited workers. Mass incarceration, historically speaking, has direct continuity with Southern chattel slavery (and under the 13th Amendment, slavery remains legal so long as the slave is convicted of something first. The criminal “justice” system, of course, has always been complicit in maintaining racialized enslavement.) Whether it’s private prisons, large-scale deportation (thanks Obama!), or prisoners being hired out to work for pennies at gunpoint, prisons exist to serve the ruling class. They enforce and reproduce white supremacy, and show brutally directly that the state does not stand outside capitalism, systemic racism, and the power of the ruling class – it administers and enforces them. Nothing short of prison abolition must be revolutionaries’ goal. Continue reading →

Prisoner SOLIDARITY: for September 9

From Arizona Prison Watch

September 9th is the 45th anniversary of the Attica uprising, a massive 1971 prisoner protest against dismal conditions and abuse, which ended with the state of New York murdering scores of people.

Given the continuing abuse, neglect, and enslavement of over 2 million imprisoned people in the US today, prisoners across the US have called for and will begin a nationally coordinated work stoppage and protest on Sep 9, 2016. Learn more at SupportPrisonerResistance.net. 

There is at least one Arizona demonstration on September 9, outside ASPC-Lewis, in Buckeye, and many others across the country in solidarity with those prisoners who will be stopping work. Oh yes, it’s going down!

The following is the most moving poem on prisoner support I’ve ever heard, from our brother Ben at Insurgent Theatre. He wrote this is the wake of Mariam Abdullah’s suicide at ASPC-Perryville in July…

Please share to help inspire people making personal connections with prisoners in the course of building this movement.  He’s an impassioned and committed prison abolitionist and anarchist – he and the folks he hangs with have done some great work towards liberation for all.

Great resources on the Attica uprising:

Attica Prison Uprising 101: A Short Primer

A story of Attica