September 9th National Prison Strike

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Full Episode Transcript

• Introduction {0:01}
• The Hot Wire {1:45}
• An Anarchist Perspective on the Brexit Vote {9:24}
• September 9th National Prisoner Strike {24:15}
• Interview with Azzurra from IWOC {28:09}
• The Chopping Block: “Captive Nation” Review {1:12:26}
• Listener Feedback {1:27:42}
• Next Week’s News {1:38:21}
• Prisoner Birthdays {1:42:25}
• Conclusion {1:45:25}

The September 9th National Prison Strike is coming up! To learn more, check out the Support Prisoner Resistance site, in particular the zines Let the Crops Rot in the Fields by the Free Alabama Movement, End Prison Slavery with several articles about emerging prisoner movements, and Incarcerated Workers Take the Lead by Houston IWOC.

In our interview with Azzurra from the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, she referred to several texts, campaigns, and other resources, including: the Houston IWOC zine about the history of prisoner rebellion since 2008, the Attica Rebellion, Black August, the Flikshop app for sending postcards to prisoners easily and cheaply, Chicano anarchist political prisoner Xinachtli Alvaro Luna Hernandez and his Twitter account, Mumia Abu Jamal’s struggle for Hepatits C treatment, Rashid Johnson’s article “On the Questions of Race and Racism: Revolutionary National Liberation and Building the United Front Against Imperialism”, checking the IWOC website for ongoing updates, Jeremy’s Hammond’s recent trip to solitary confinement for “encouraging rebellion and criminal activities,” and criminologist Nils Christie’s article Conflicts as Property about how the state has appropriated our conflicts.

On the Chopping Block, we reviewed Dan Berger’s book Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era. It discusses, among many other things, the life, death, and legacy of George Jackson, whose books Soledad Brother and Blood in My Eye can be read in full online.

We interviewed Jon Active from Active Distribution in the UK about the Brexit vote. If you want to read more anarchist perspectives on it, check out these articles: “Building an anti-fascist culture post-Brexit” by some folks from the Anti-Raids Network, “On the tragic and the farcical of the British referendum” by the Void Network, and anarchist reflections on Brexit on Reddit.

Please support Kara Wild, a trans anarchist from the US imprisoned in France in connection with recent militant protests in Paris. Here’s a video of her in her former dwelling that she built and squatted in in Chicago. We’ll post more updates on how to direct support her way as soon as we get them.

In our listener feedback section, we shared a message from Jennifer Gann, a radical trans prisoner in California, who is requesting support. Check out her website to learn more about her case, or write to her at:
 
J. Gann #E23852
KVSP-D1–209U
P.O. Box 5103
Delano, CA 93216

We also referenced some other queer and/or trans prisoner solidarity links, including Black and Pink, the Trans Prisoner Day of Action and Solidarity, and a publication focusing on the writings of incarcerated women and trans and gender variant prisoners called Unstoppable.

Another listener suggested that folks interested in the struggles in Rojava, and their potential parallels with the Spanish Revolution & Civil War, check out these articles titled “The International Brigades and the social revolution in Spain, 1936–1939” and [“News of the Spanish Revolution: Anti-authoritarian Perspectives on the Events](http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/various-authors-news-of-the-spanish-revolution).”

And if you’re feeling down, just remember that in Phenix City, Alabama, an unnamed Taco Bell employee refused to serve four cops who came in to order food - because they were cops. That’s what we mean by Fight where you stand!

Prisoner birthdays this month:

Eric King # 27090045
FCI Englewood
Federal Correctional Institution
9595 West Quincy Avenue
Littleton, CO 80123
{August 2nd}

Bill Dunne #10916–086
USP Lompoc
3901 Klein Boulevard
Lompoc, California 93436
{August 3rd}

Debbie Sims Africa #006307
SCI Cambridge Springs
451 Fullerton Avenue
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania 16403
{August 4th}

Dr. Mutulu Shakur #83205–012
USP Victorville
Post Office Box 3900
Adelanto, California 92301
{August 8th}

Barrett Brown #45047–177
FCI Three Rivers
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 4200
Three Rivers, TX 78071
{August 14th}

Hanif Shabazz Bey (Beaumont Gereau) #5161331
Seguro Correctional Center
1252 East Arica Road
Eloy, Arizona 85131
{August 16th}
Address envelope to Beaumont Gereau, address card to Hanif

Maliki Shakur Latine # 81-A–4469
Shawangunk Correctional Facility
Post Office Box 700
Wallkill, New York 12589
{August 23rd}

Russell Maroon Shoatz #AF–3855
SCI Graterford
P.O. Box 244
Graterford , PA 19426
{August 23rd}

Ronald Reed #2195311
Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights
5329 Osgood Avenue North
Stillwater, Minnesota 55082–1117
{August 31st}