Boston ABC Update
Since last you heard from us, the Boston Anarchist Black Cross (ABC), a prisoner support and community legal defense group in Boston since 2003, has agreed to bottom-line a Northeast Defense project within the Northeast Anarchist Network. This came from a discussion at the Ithaca assembly, when four ABC members were present. We hope to act as a resource for affiliate groups and individuals in the Northeast Anarchist Network who are interested in, but less experienced with, legal support work. Decentralize the defense!
We continue our regular support of hundreds of prisoners by sending out literature, fulfilling research requests and maintaining pen pal correspondences. In July, we finished typing, compiling and editing submissions from prisoners on their resistance activities inside, and mailed out Volume 2, Issue 2 of Prison Action News (the biggest yet!) to over 300 prisoners. We keep up a $20 monthly contribution to Jericho Boston's commissary fund, which goes toward meeting the material needs of political prisoners. Boston ABC also maintains a bail fund, both for bailing out local activists and to contribute to the legal and medical costs incurred by state repression both locally and across the country. Recently, our support went international when we contributed to the defense and support of Shark, a Native Youth Movement warrior in "British Columbia," Klanada, who was arrested and is being held on some fairly severe charges for defending the land.
We've held some social events to attract people to our work and are excited to find ourselves operating with some new folks, including a public defender! With all of this fresh energy, we are working on revamping our Know Your Rights workshop, the revitalized version of which will be debuted at the Northeast Pre-G-20 Meet Up on Sept. 5 and 6 here in Boston. We're also working on assembling a workshop on prison abolition.
In July, we hosted two film nights at the Lucy Parsons Center. We screened Farm: Life Inside Angola Prison and Up the Ridge. We and the Lucy Parsons Center were astounded by the record-breaking attendance both nights and by the conversations that filled the space afterwards.
Like so much of the radical world, Boston ABC is pumped and preparing for the upcoming G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. Two collective members plan to provide on-site legal support in Pittsburgh during the summit, and a special fundraiser is in the works to have adequate legal funds on hand.
To support the prisoner support and legal defense work of the Boston Anarchist Black Cross, send blank checks or concealed cash (Boston ABC has no bank account) to:
Boston ABC
P.O. Box 230182
Boston, MA 02123