A SEVERLY mentally ill person, will be released from prison TOMORROW off a YOA. JLS helped to get his adult charge dismissed. His mom asks for help to buy him clothes & furniture for the room.
Raising $500 through #mutualaid
Cashapp $arebelsworld
Venmo @ arebelsworld
Total amount and over raised! The kid mom is in tears about this. His first day home atleast he'll have the basics due to the kindness of a Movement! We thank you all. Solidarity! #mutualaid#reentry#abolition
Today in Labor History April 21, 1910: Mark Twain died. William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature." He grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which provided the setting for “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn.” He apprenticed with a printer and worked as a typesetter, contributing articles to the newspaper of his older brother Orion Clemens. He later worked as a riverboat pilot before heading west to join Orion in Nevada. Twain was famous for his wit and brilliant writing. However, he also had extremely progressive politics for his era. Later in his life, he became an ardent anti-imperialist. “I have read carefully the treaty of Paris and I have seen that we do not intend to free, but to subjugate the people of the Philippines. We have gone there to conquer, not to redeem… And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.” During the Boxer Rebellion, he said that "the Boxer is a patriot. He loves his country better than he does the countries of other people. I wish him success." From 1901, until his death in 1910, he was vice-president of the American Anti-Imperialist League, which opposed the annexation of the Philippines by the U.S. He was also critical of European imperialists such as Cecil Rhodes and King Leopold II of Belgium, who attempted to establish colonies in African. He also supported the Russian revolutionaries fighting against the Tsar.
Many people have criticized him for his racism. Indeed, schools have banned “Huckleberry Finn.” However, Twain was an adamant supporter of abolition and said that the Emancipation Proclamation “not only set the black slaves free, but set the white man free also." He also fought for the rights of immigrants, particularly the Chinese. "I have seen Chinamen abused and maltreated in all the mean, cowardly ways possible... but I never saw a Chinaman righted in a court of justice for wrongs thus done to him." And though his early writings were racist against indigenous peoples, he later wrote that “in colonized lands all over the world, "savages" have always been wronged by "whites" in the most merciless ways, such as "robbery, humiliation, and slow, slow murder, through poverty and the white man's whiskey."
Twain was also an early feminist, who campaigned for women's suffrage. He also wrote in support of unions and the labor movement, especially the Knights of Labor, one of the most important unions of the era. “Who are the oppressors? The few: the King, the capitalist, and a handful of other overseers and superintendents. Who are the oppressed? The many: the nations of the earth; the valuable personages; the workers; they that make the bread that the soft-handed and idle eat.”
#BlackMastodon#BlackTwitter#Abolition#Communities#OurFutures I was watching our partial eclipse yesterday with my daughter in a local area. There's a row of food shops, cleaners, credit union and nail salons where we were sitting. The employees were getting permission to come outside and see the eclipse but of course none of them had any eye protection. We signaled for them to come over and share ours. In about 10 minutes we were surrounded by workers from four different ethnic groups. 1/5
This story about prison tech/tablet providers bribing sheriffs nationwide to stop in-person visits, making big $$ from tablets, has been on my mind since Alec K and Civil Rights Corps broke it last week.
In an alarming new intersection of policing and online surveillance, American cops are getting court orders demanding Google turn over names, addresses, and telephone numbers for tens of thousands of people who simply watched (however briefly) a YouTube video:
"Privacy experts said the orders were unconstitutional because they threatened to undo protections in the 1st and 4th Amendments covering free speech and freedom from unreasonable searches. “This is the latest chapter in a disturbing trend where we see government agencies increasingly transforming search warrants into digital dragnets. It’s unconstitutional, it’s terrifying and it’s happening every day,” said Albert Fox-Cahn, executive director at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. “No one should fear a knock at the door from police simply because of what the YouTube algorithm serves up. I’m horrified that the courts are allowing this.”
Although neither of the two cases mentioned in this article are likely to provide sympathetic victims (a suspected bitcoin seller, and folks watching a live stream of a publicly placed camera online) in the war against policing online spaces and mass surveillance, the plain truth here is that giving murderpigs the power to unmask perhaps hundreds of thousands of people for watching a video on Youtube sets a very dangerous precedent. We're not talking about CSAM here, and in a society that is actively criminalizing things like antifascist resistance, feeding unhoused people, and protesting an ongoing genocide, this extension of police powers (that is most certainly unconstitutional,) represents a clear and present danger to pretty much everyone who isn't obeying the current status quo.
Furthermore, I don't think it's wise to view this violation of civil rights in a vacuum. Court orders like this also dovetail into increasing repressive attempts by Pig Empire states to police online activity as a whole while collecting identifying data from pretty much everyone; take for example the attempts by American GOP governors to obtain government identification from literally every social media user in their state, or bills like the Kids Online Safety Act, which is ultimately a fascist trojan horse designed to ban LGBTQ content under the guise of "protecting children." As America slides more and more into an overt fascist order, it strikes me as a particularly bad idea to allow the violent reactionary enforcers of that order the power to reach into your viewing history on online platforms with clearly enforced terms of service. You can say that you don't have anything to hide, but the simple truth is that with an American judiciary and legislative branch riddled with fascists, that can change at any time they want to pass a new law, or redefine how an old one is enforced.
Imprisoning Palestine, Zionist colonialism through an abolitionist lens.
by Rawan Masri & Fathi Nemer, June 2023
"Today, more than ever, it remains crucial to center any discussion about Palestinian liberation through the lens of abolition and a complete rejection of carcerality. In this context, Incarceration is not only related to prisons and prisoners, but touches upon every aspect of our life. From the moment of birth, Palestinians must contend with being criminalized for existing. We are surveilled and censored, our oppression normalized, and our bodies corralled into various open-air and closed prisons.
Such tactics have always revealed more about the jailor than the prisoner, and the logics inherent to the carceral apparatus are shared between all oppressive forces. While the goal is to project strength and power, what it divulges instead is fear, insecurity, and self-doubt. Resorting to locking away the inconvenient reminders of a crooked system betrays its weakness, a society unable to function without constructed villains onto which the world's ills can be pinned.
#Abolition#BlackMastodon#BlackTwitter#CriminalLegalSystem@blackmastodon While I was in Canada I popped into the Toronto Black Film Festival and yep, I found something that inspired an #abolition thread. They were screening a documentary film called “Dancing in A-Yard, which documented a dance program that was established for men in a California prison. Most of the men were serving long sentences, with a few lifers in the mix. Many of them were sent to prison while they were teenagers. 1/5
#Abolition#BlackMastodon#BlackTwitter#CriminalLegalSystem@blackmastodon The men shared two things: they were all in pain and traumatized in the environment where they were raised and growing up none of them believed their lives mattered. The dance therapy allowed them to heal themselves and see themselves, and others around them as humans worthy of being loved. At some point they realized they could touch each other while dancing without triggering any toxic masculinity. 2/5
#Abolition#BlackMastodon#BlackTwitter#CriminalLegalSystem@blackmastodon
Each and every one of the men in the film was on a journey of transformation, but most of them were to remain in prison. Listening to their stories reinforced for me that we have to free our children from the toxicity of white supremacy that removes persons who could be role models from our communities; that re-enforces to them in their schools, in their housing, in their neighborhoods that aren’t worthy of love. 3/5
#Abolition#BlackMastodon#BlackTwitter#CriminalLegalSystem@blackmastodon Maybe if we viewed restoring our communities as a post-war effort, people could understand that tinkering with reform around the edges simply cannot work. If we want to be free, and I realize not everyone wants freedom, but for those who do, we really must give up relying on models infused with supremacy to find our solutions. Let us be bold and revolutionary. Here's the trailer for the doc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQaMgSqjbGY 5/5
Leonard Peltier has recently experienced a significant loss of vision requiring him to implore the help of fellow prisoners to do basic things like dial phone numbers for him to make calls, type his emails, and even assist him getting around as he cannot see well enough to walk on his own. This all is happening while USP Colemen I continues to be locked down, only allowing prisoners out of their cells for up to two hours. At 79 years of age, it is imperative that Leonard get treatment for his loss of vision right away.
On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (Feb 12, 14, 16), The Official Leonard Peltier Ad Hoc Committee will initiate call-ins to these four elected officials:
Senator Dick Durbin: Washington Office: 202-224-2152
Chicago Office: 312-353-4952
Senator Jon Ossof: Washington Office: 202-224-3521
Atlanta Office: 470-786-7800
Senator Alex Padilla: Washington Office: 202-224-3553
Los Angeles Office: 310-231-4494
US Representative Maxwell Frost: Washington Office: 202-225-2176
Orlando Office: 321-388-9808
Please join us during regular business hours (Mon, Wed, & Fri) to make calls to the four elected officials above. Below is a script with bullet points you can use for your calls. To help maximize results for this campaign, we recommend calling both their local and Washington DC offices to ensure the representatives are made aware of this important and urgent request. On behalf of Leonard himself, we thank you SO MUCH for your participation. Please follow us on social media and check our website for important medical updates related to Leonard.
Sample Script
(Make sure to include #1 and #6 in your calls!)
Hi, My name is ______ and I’m calling about immediate medical care needed for Leonard Peltier, whose prisoner number is 89637-132, and he’s in USP Coleman.
Leonard Peltier has suffered a significant loss of vision which poses serious risks, like him falling, and he now depends on other prisoners to be able to perform basic activities.
Leonard has not seen an eye doctor in over 12 years nor a dentist in over 10 years.
The Bureau of Prisons must immediately tend to Leonard’s current medical needs, or they violate the American Disabilities Act (ADA)* and violate Leonard’s 8th Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment.
The BOP must provide preventative medical treatment when not doing so could cause significant and severe health concerns.
Leonard’s blindness can be prevented or treated, and the BOP must provide immediate medical care to do that
Leonard has a hard time eating, and the BOP needs to provide immediate and adequate dental care.
Leonard is at risk of falling and he needs treatment and accommodations, so he is not dependent on other prisoners to do basic things.
----------End of Script--------------
A little more Background:
ADA requires accommodations for a person with any form of disability.
Throughout his incarceration, Bureau of Prisons medical neglect has caused Leonard permanent physical damage which could have been avoided by providing timely and proper medical care.
For instance:
· In 1986, Leonard suffered a stroke which resulted in him losing 80% of the vision in his left eye. When International doctors were allowed in to examine him, they concluded this could have been easily avoided if Peltier received regular timely medical care.
· In 1996, Leonard Peltier had two surgeries to treat his two abscessed teeth. He nearly died from blood loss, was kept in solitary confinement during “recovery,” and ultimately suffered permanent damage to his jaw.
I know publishing articles in It's Going Down is counterproductive to any academic career I want, but I am proud to publish with them. Unlike most academic publishing, their articles come out of (and promote) movement work and are meant to be directly useful in radical struggles.
I think that @igd_news has prompted me to produce some of my best writing:
“We’re Pro-Choice and We Riot!”: How Anarcha-Feminists Built Dual Power in Struggles for Reproductive Freedom
Podcast interview: Lessons From the Fight to Protect Abortion Clinics in the 1990s: A Discussion
"On this episode of the It’s Going Down podcast, we talk with both long-time anarchist organizer Suzy Subways and historian Spencer Beswick about how anarchists in the 1990s organized in the face of a deadly far-Right attack on abortion access across the so-called United States." https://itsgoingdown.org/clinic-defense-1990s-abortion/
Anyway, just thinking about how important movement-based institutions/infrastructure like It's Going Down are. I really appreciate the work they do. And I guess that's why they've been banned by the free-speech lovers at Twitter/Facebook/Instagram.
#BlackMastodon#BlackTwitter#Abolition@blackmastodon The problem in Oakland highlights the difficulty of working with the police who don't really have any interests in helping communities reduce crime. It's not in their financial benefit. Also, because of the way municipal government works when money is tight or re-election time comes around, the cuts will be made against the most vulnerable every time because they don't have political power. These systems are not built to accept reform. 2/2
#BlackMastodon#BlackTwitter#Abolition#AcademyDC@blackmastodon Here's my first abolition thread for the new year. One of the toughest problem s for our communities is crime within the community and we all know Black and Brown communities experience high levels of gun violence and its related crimes. But even within this context community based solutions are important and can be more effective then using the police to enforce security rather than help create safety. 1/3