From It’s Going Down
From August 26th to 28th, over 60 radicals from the Midwest, and from as far as Florida and New York, gathered in Columbus, Ohio for Bend the Bars, a convergence to build outside support and action for the nationwide prisoner strike this September 9th. You can see the prisoners’ call to action here.
ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH, we are calling on people across Rhode Island to converge in Downtown Providence to hold a rally and march in solidarity with the US-wide prisoner work-strike against prison slavery.
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
From SeanSwain.Org
“Hopefully Cara won’t have to be heroic by herself. If she is, shame on us.”
Aired July 2016 on The Final Straw
Write to Cara at
Cara (Adam) Bockerstette #A606000
Warren CI
P.O. Box 120
Lebanon, OH 45036
Listen to the audio, here.
The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee of the Industrial Workers of the World has been working with prisoners and groups from across the United States organizing a Nationally Coordinated Prisoner Workstoppage for September 9, 2016. In anticipation of state reprisals against our members on the inside and outside, the IWW General Defense Committee is expanding it bail fund to assist those fighting to end prisoner slavery.
Please donate and share this page!!!
IWOC National Prison Strike September 2016 event page.
Announcement of Nationally Coordinated Prisoner Workstoppage for Sept 9, 2016.
again, donate to the bail fund here.
On August 18 Austin ABC and the Houston IWOC chapter are calling for a phone blast and fax blackout to the main TDCJ (Texas Department of Criminal Justice) main office in Austin, Texas! This is happening on August 18, on the day of their next board meeting.
Call in (512) 463-9988 (Austin Office) and (512) 475-3250 (Board of Criminal Justice)
Script:
I am calling to demand that the TDCJ give in to the demands of Texas inmates who have been striking for humane living and working conditions, good time/work time, to repeal the 100 dollar medical co-pay, right to attorney on habeas corpus, and the formation of a TDCJ oversight committee. I also want to demand that inmates at the Coffiel Unit have access to clean water that is not contaminated. There is a petition being signed and delivered and we want these demands met I also demand that inmates not be retaliated against for going on strike to gain better treatment!
*****************************************
You can also send the image of the demands (inverted blacked out demands) via fax using this online service http://faxzero.com/
This image will be shared on the event page.
For Sender Information you can put fake information here.
For Receiver Information:
Name: TDCJ Board of Criminal Justice
Fax Number: (512) 305-9398
[for the event click here.]
From It’s Going Down
The following is an open letter of demand to Jeh Johnson written by 22 mothers detained at Berks Family Residential Center:
The reason for this letter of demands is to make it known to you that since Monday August 8th we have started an “INDEFINITE HUNGER STRIKE.”
The Immigration Department has made a public announcement stating that in family detention center parents and children are detained no longer than 20 days.
WE WANT TO DISPROVE THIS INFORMATION!!
We are 22 mothers who are detained at Berks Family Residential Center, being mothers who have been from 270 days to 365 days in detention with children ages 2 to 16 years old, depriving them of having a normal life, knowing that we have prior traumas from our countries, risking our own lives and that of our children on the way until we arrived here, having family and friends who would be responsible for us and who are waiting for us with open arms and that immigration refuses to let us out. Continue reading
On September 10 movement supporters will gather outside of Federal Correctional Complex Coleman (846 NE 54th Terrace, Wildwood, Florida) from 10 am to 12 pm to stand in solidarity with prison strikers across the nation.
Get to the event page here.
Bring signs, banners and drums to let the Bureau of Prisons know we are watching.
Several cities around FL are planning local events in and around their communities on Sept 9, then coming out for this on Sept 10.
One suggestion is a Friday demo at your closest jail or prisons, perhaps coupled with a potluck, letter-writing session and/or film showing about prisons, Attica, etc.
Check back on this page for further details and updates on the event.
Background:
Sept 9th is the 45th anniversary of the Attica Uprising in New York, where national attention was drawn to the problem of prisons in this country. This year there will public demonstrations in support of prisoners who have a called for a coordinated national work strike in response to extreme abuses they face, including toxic environments, discrimination and literal slavery based on the 13th Amendment which wrote prison slave labor into the U.S. Constitution. Continue reading
From It’s Going Down
Prisoners all over the country are gearing up for a strike in September. Let’s show solidarity with them, and let inmates know that we stand with them when they resist!
Noise Demo Wed. Aug 10th
Meet 8pm @ Woodruff Park
March to Atlanta City Jail
Bring Drums, Noise, Lights!
From It’s Going Down
Last night, Durham hosted a loud brass band concert benefiting a strike fund for prisoners joining up with the national strike in September. Folks distributed writings by prisoners and read their words over the mike in between songs. The show was capped off when a 17-piece brass band and banner-holders led a small march to the downtown jail. Prisoners responded by waving lighters or banging on their windows. The band finished off the march with a rousing and nostalgic rendition of “Pony” by Ginuwine. Really.
In the next week there’s a teach-in scheduled with former prisoners on the history of prison resistance as well as another jail demo, this time hosted by Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee folks. Both are geared towards raising awareness about the upcoming strike and getting folks pumped to be in the streets when September arrives.
