This year marked 15 years of new years eve noise demos at the Barton Jail in Hamilton. A group of around 50 people marched around the jail, setting off fireworks, throwing paint bombs and shouting our new years greetings to our neighbours who are locked up. The Barton Jail is a horrific place where every day people experience degradation, dehumanization, and neglect at the hands of COs, administration, and a Read More …
For the 15th year in a row, we lit up the sky with fireworks to deliver warm new years greetings to prisoners in Hamilton, ON.
Our first stop was to the George R Force Group Home, an open custody and detention facility for youth (ie. some residents may be allowed to leave at times, others aren’t). Whatever the name, this is a jail for kids, and is part of a prison system that we want to completely destroy. Around 30 of us filled the street outside, displaying our Happy New Year banner and setting off fireworks. We could only be sure that one kid caught the show, but hopefully it made a difference in their night. Read More …
By From Embers LISTEN HERE An interview with Jordan House and Asaf Rashid, authors of the book Solidarity Beyond Bars: Unionizing Prison Labour. We discuss the background of the book, some historical and legal precedents, the pros and cons of right-based approaches, the core strategic arguments for a prisoners union, and an exciting new initiative by prisoners in Laval, QC to form a union. With music from David Parker & Read More …
This past Wednesday, April 19, 2023, we received word that prisoners on all the ranges on the fourth floor of the Barton Jail had coordinated to begin a hunger strike. At the same time and without knowing about what was going on upstairs, prisoners on the third floor had drafted and circulated a five-page letter outlining their issues with conditions in the prison. It was signed by all prisoners on several ranges and was delivered to the superintendant. Once the prisoners on 3 learned about the strike, they joined in the next day, on April 20. Read More …
Anonymous Submission to North Shore Counter-Info On Saturday, we brought some friends together to write letters to the people accused of domestic terrorism and held without bond in Georgia. We talked about the case and about cop city and sent out as many letters as we could. It’s a small thing, but small gestures of solidarity like this are happening all over and we thought it might be worth saying Read More …
So-called Canada’s 13 premiers recently signed a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, urging stricter bail requirements. “The time for action is now, our heroic first responders cannot wait”. Hopefully, this short analysis can shed some light on the recent preparations made by the state to strengthen their security-apparatus. Hopefully, this will help us make our own preparations. Read More …
In the US and Canada, it doesn’t get that much lower than the prisoner. Excluded in every way, stripped of their most basic rights, exposed to humiliation and violence regularly, deprived of basic necessities, prisoners are at the very bottom of the social hierarchy, scorned and blamed by all the other classes. Prison crystalizes all forms of oppression and also props them up, and so organizing around prison can be a way of getting at the core of exploitative power relations in a community.
In Hamilton, our local prison is right in middle of the city, in between the cheap grocery store and the beer store. We pass it all the time, and it literally casts it shadow over us. Our goal in starting the Barton Prisoner Solidarity Project (or BAPSOP) in 2018 was to “thin the walls” and make it so we could hear the voices of our neighbours on the inside, make them feel a little less alone. Read More …
Since our last update, EllisDon has started work on the new prison in Thunder Bay, the so-called Thunder Bay Correctional Complex (TBCC). They started work in early November, and the pictures in this post show the status of the site.
Of course, this feels terrible to everyone who understands prison to be an insult to the human spirit, but work won’t be complete until 2026. There is also quite a bit of new info available that could be of interest to those of us who do not intend to just let these prisons get built. Read More …
This was our 14th consecutive year of marking New Year’s Eve in Hamilton with noise demos outside our local prisons. This year, we visited the Arrell Youth Prison on the Hamilton mountain before making the traditional stop at the Barton Jail. Read More …
For several weeks now, Faith Eagle, a prisoner of the centre, has been leading a hunger strike demanding an end to racist abuse from the guards, access to clean and safe drinking water, and access to timely medical treatment. Read More …
