Tag: Prison

Hamilton New Years Noise Demo Reportback 2023

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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 …

From Embers: Unionizing Prison Labour

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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 …

Hamilton: Reflections on Ongoing Hunger Strike in the Barton Jail (Spring 2023)

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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 …

Hamilton: Letter Writing Night in Solidarity with Atlanta Arrestees

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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 …

Bailing on Justice and Rearranging the Chains: Fuck Prison

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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 …

Practical Abolition from the Inside Out: Reflections on Prisoner Solidarity Organizing

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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 …

Escaping Tomorrow’s Cages: Winter Update on New Prisons

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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 …

Solidarity with Alfredo Cospito! From Barton to Bancali \\ Solidarité avec Alfredo Cospito! De Barton à Bancali

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We were out holding up a banner with a phone number on it to connect with prisoners at the Barton jail in Hamilton, Canada, the way we usually do, but we thought we would also take a moment to express our solidarity with anarchist prisoners in struggle.

Alfredo Cospito has been on hunger strike since October 20th to demand that he be moved out of segregation and have his phone calls, mail, and visits restored. He was placed in these conditions back in May essentially to punish him for staying involved in the anarchist struggle from inside. Read More …