From Tom Kutsch, September 9, 2016:

“… Inmates from several states, who had bound together with the help of activists and organizing groups, aimed the national strikes – which had been in the making for several months – against what they said amounted to slave labor conditions amid mass incarceration in the country.

The coordinated events, which organizers targeted in as many as 24 states, occurred on the 45th anniversary of the riots at Attica prison in New York – the largest prison uprising in American history – over grievances today’s protesters say are similar, including poor sanitary conditions and prison jobs that amount to forced labor.“

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/09/us-nationwide-prison-strike-alabama-south-carolina-texas

From Danny F. Quest, September 19, 2016:

“… Thousands of prisoners in over 24 states began a labor strike on September 9, the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, to demand better conditions and healthcare, the right to unionize and what one organizing group calls an “end to slavery in America.” But one would hardly know it watching major U.S. media, which has mostly ignored the largest prison labor strike in history. One week on, the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC News, ABC News, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, and NPR have not covered the prison strikes at all.”

http://wearechange.org/largest-prison-strike-ignored/

From Aljazeera: The Stream – September 26, 2016:

“For months inmates have been using smuggled cellphones and social media to mobilise strikes that began on September 9 in prisons across the United States.  

Prisoners refused to report to their jobs, demanding better wages and safer working conditions. Some inmates make as little as 12 cents an hour in prison work programmes, while some states reportedly don’t require wages be paid at all. Strikers and activists call this “modern-day slavery”. But correction officials have a different perspective. They say it’s rehabilitation, preparing those incarcerated with skills they’ll need once they are released.

This month’s strike came on the anniversary of the 1971 Attica prison uprising, when thousands of prisoners at a New York correctional facility took over part of the prison to demand better treatment. So, 45 years on, what’s changed?”

http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201609262257-0025288

PHONE ZAP: No Retaliation against Kinross (Michigan) Prisoners!

On September 10, over 400 prisoners protested peacefully at Kinross Correctional Facility in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, following the September 9 nationwide prison workers’ strike. While details are still emerging, we know that prisoners met with the wardens to peacefully communicate their demands. These demands included better wages, better quality and quantity of food, and no retaliation for the peaceful protest. Yet about 150 prisoners were accused of being instigators and were transferred to other facilities. In at least some cases, they were accused of “incite to riot” and placed in higher-security levels and disciplinary isolation.

***Call to Action!***

Please call Michigan Department of Corrections director Heidi Washington as well as some of the facilities where prisoners formerly at Kinross may be facing punishment (see numbers and script below). Call every day this week: Monday, October 3, through Friday, October 7.

After calling, please comment on this Facebook page to let us know what happened.

Peoples Power Assemblies: http://peoplespowerassemblies.org/

International Action Center: http://iacenter.org/2916/tues-oct-4-charlotte-uprising-national-day-of-action-solidarity-urgently-needed/

The next United National Antiwar Conference (UNAC) conference will be held in Richmond, VA on the weekend of April 21 – 23. Please join us. More information will be announced soon. https://www.unacpeace.org/

S O L I D A R I T Y   C E N T E R,

BringMumiaHome.com,  freemumia.com, &/or FaceBook for most updated info. Also See YouTube Update from May 2015 (please share this video). Also iacenter.org, millions4mumia.org

Dec. 9 Freedom For Mumia rally: mumia-dec-9-save-date-flier

Mumia audio commentaries: http://www.prisonradio.org/media/audio/mumia

No More Strange Fruit! Call to Action from Charlotte Uprising

No More Strange Fruit! Call to Action from Charlotte Uprising

On September 20th, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police killed Keith Lamont Scott, a disabled Black father who deserved to live. People have taken to the streets of Charlotte every day and every night to demand an end to the war on Black lives and Black communities. People on the ground continue to be met with police repression from the police murder of Justin Carr in the protests to the use of tear gas in crowds to the issuing of warrants for the arrests of people who have livestreamed from the frontlines.

Led by Black, queer & trans organizers & accomplices, the Charlotte Uprising has tirelessly inspired people to resist state violence and dream of new possibilities beyond the current conditions we live in. Freedom fighters in Charlotte are now calling on freedom fighters everywhere to host coordinated actions on Tuesday, October 4, which will mark two weeks since Keith’s murder.

Eleven days into the Uprising and Charlotte is still bubbling with righteous rage and energy. We see this rage and energy connecting cities across the country–from Tulsa, OK to San Diego, CA where communities are lifting up the names of Terrence Crutcher and Alfred Olango, both Black men killed by police. Black people are being criminalized, killed, and abused by the police state everywhere. We raise Charlotte’s struggle and demands alongside those of Black communities across the country fighting against the structure whose murderous shootings are what we deem modern day lynchings. Let our actions show solidarity with the resistance in Charlotte, as well as demanding an end to the anti-Black, classist, gender-policing system of police and prisons that holds so much power over our lives everywhere.

While recent uprisings have immediately followed the murders of Black men, it must not be lost on us that our resistance is in response to the same system that is killing Black women and femmes via police violence, criminalization of Black motherhood & self-defense, and the perpetuation of sexual violence. We must say the names of Korryn Gaines, Sandra Bland, Mya Hall, and the countless Black women and femmes whose deaths must invoke outrage and responsibility.

For folks in North Carolina, come to Charlotte! For folks elsewhere, organize an action–whether it be a rally, march, street theater performance, or turn up–to pull out your communities in solidarity with Charlotte, with Tulsa, with San Diego, with every city where Black folks are rising up and demanding strange fruit no more!

#CharlotteUprising
Follow this event page for specific details for Charlotte and actions in other cities. Submit information about your city’s action on www.charlotteuprising.com

Sept. 24, 2016 Charlotte, North Carolina