June 11 th – International Day of Solidarity with Marie Mason, Eric McDavid & Long Term Anarchist Prisoners

The second anniversary of the international day of solidarity with Marie Mason, Eric McDavid, and other longterm anarchist prisoners is nearly upon us! To tell us about an event you’re planning, email june11 @riseup.net; to learn more about the day, click “about”; to download posters, hand-outs, and zines to distribute, click “resources”; to see the ever-growing list, click “events”; to find links to support pages and articles, click “links”; for news, or to read about last year’s events and acts of solidarity, scroll down.

 

June 5th, 2012: We’ve been told about events in 32 cities this year! Check out the events page for details. Less than a week to go… we’re excited!

One of the Never Alone tour stops was videotaped, and has been put online. You can watch it here.

May 27th, 2012:

Many more events and details! Check out the events page. The zines about Eric and Marie that the Never Alone tour distributed are on the resources page, as are the English and Spanish versions of this year’s callout.

May 20th, 2012:

There are a few more events and many more event descriptions up. If you’re planning an event, please tell us about it!

Portland folks put together this awesome video to promote their event and June 11th:

 

 

 

May 7th, 2012:

We’ve added a few events to the events page. If you’re putting on an event and would like us to list your plans, send us an email! Look for a June 11th callout on news sites soon.

April 16th, 2012:

We’d like to remind you that the Never Alone tour is happening right now. They say:

“The nationwide Never Alone tour will be coming to your town in April 2012, featuring the usual suspects speaking about long-term anarchist prisoner support. Focusing specifically on the cases of Eric McDavid and Marie Mason, the tour will mark the spots where the events of these cases unfolded, using multimedia presentations to bring the facts of these cases to light.

As well as raising awareness and support for Eric and Marie, the tour will also feature strategizing about how to more effectively grow a culture of resistance that can breach the prison walls and sustain us and our friends for the long term, a security culture beyond 101 workshop (updated for 2012, now with extra tech!) and some awesome guest speakers. Truly, you won’t want to miss this.

Suggested donation $5-15, no one turned away for lack of funds! ”

You can find their tour dates here.

***

Anarchist prisoners in Indonesia need your support! From hidupbiasa.blogspot.com:

“Now it is possible to send emails to three people imprisoned in Indonesia for their resistance. Friends and families will print those emails and bring them to the prison when they go to visit. As prison is a very isolating experience, receiving messages of support, even from people you don’t know, can make a big difference. All three prisoners will be able to read your letters if you write in English, but it may be difficult for them to reply directly – obviously they have no computers in their cells!

Eat and Billy
are two anarchists arrested for burning an ATM machine belonging to BRI bank in Jogjakarta, Java on 7th October 2011. Their trial is currently in progress. Email for either or both of them can be sent to blackhammer(at)riseup.net.

Hidayat (Yaya) was arrested on 26th December 2011 on a demonstration in Makassar, Sulawesi. The demonstration was in response to the brutal police repression of a port blockade in Bima, Sumbawa island, where the police had killed at least three people a few days before. Yaya is accused of damaging a police outpost, and is currently awaiting trial. You can write to him at swatantra(at)riseup.net .”

[UPDATE: Hidayat (Yaya) was released after a hearing on April 16th! From hidupbiasa.blogspot.com: “many of our comrades are still in prison and solidarity will continue as long as is necessary, until the prisons lie in ruins.”]

*************************************************************************************************************************************************

reportback from june 11 2011:

dear friends and comrades!

on june 11th, 2011 events were held in approximately 30 cities across the
globe in solidarity with marie mason, eric mcdavid and other long-term
anarchist prisoners. hundreds of people participated in this international
event – and marie and eric have been receiving your words, your pictures,
your love and energy that were poured into making this day a celebration
of resistance and an expression of solidarity with our friends and loved ones
on the inside.

if you missed a june 11th event but still want to participate, it’s not too
late! nyc has extended the

deadline to purchase raffle tickets until july 11 th. for more information,
visit www.supportmariemason.org

below are just a few excerpts from report backs from around the world. we
are including everything that we heard about – inclusion on the list does
not imply an endorsement.

in *detroit* they raised $560 and will split the sum between eric and marie.
about 35 people came out to detroit’s cass cafe and heard talks on the cases
and their political implications, plus a speaker who just finished 20 years
of hard time in federal prison, who described from his experience in the
system what daily life is like for marie and eric. the highlight of the
evening was when marie telephoned one of the organizers and everyone shouted
hello into the phone. she wasn’t able to talk to anyone else, but everyone
was buoyed by the phone call and so was she

in *bloomington*, folks tabled and distributed materials at both the
farmers’ market and at boxcar books. they were able to reconnect with some
of the ‘older generation’ who knew marie when she lived here and with a
number of people who had never encountered the cases before. boxcar is now,
also, carrying lots of information on marie, eric, june 11th and marie and
eric shirts!

in *austin*, (occupied tonkawa territory), treasure city thrift and deep
green austin hosted a letter-writing event at spiderhouse, a popular outdoor
cafe. they report: “as we wrote our letters, we complained about the
hundred-degree heat, until we realized how dumb it is to complain about the
heat while writing eric and marie… who will probably not be sitting at an
outdoor cafe with their friends any time soon.”

in *israel *there were two events – one in tel aviv and the other in
jerusalem. they raised $160 which we will be split 50/50. in tel aviv they
cooked an asian style meal: sushi, spring rolls, seaweed and glass noodles
salad with tapioca and bananas in coconut milk for desert. in jerusalem they
held an event in the mahatma- the jerusalem veggie bar – where they served
an italian style dinner. pizza, gezpacho, green salad, antipasti and
tiramisu for desert. about 30 people attended each event.
during both events they sold zines, cd’s, tshirts etc. after the meal in tel
aviv there was a drag show which is well known and much appreciated in the
radical scene in israel. the show deals with animal rights, the environment,
human rights, militarism, queer politics etc- its called “the mice and leah
goldberg horror picture show.” in jerusalem they screened a movie about
animal liberation. before both shows there were talks about marie and eric
and about the situation in the us, green scare etc.
after both shows people wrote postcards to marie and eric and took pictures
of people holding a sign that reads “i support marie mason” and “i support
eric mcdavid”.

in *columbus*, oh, redbird prison abolition staged a reading of accidental
death of an anarchist and raised $54 for amelia nichol, which insurgent
theatre matched for a total donation of $108. the event generated insightful
discussion and laid the groundwork for building a stronger, more cohesive
community.

in *minneapolis, *they made $150 and had over 30 letters written. they
invented a nutritional yeast bacon cupcake (which is pretty much the ideal
brunch cupcake) and watched the lorax. it was a moving time, and they had a
tele conference with eric’s partner that brought people to tears.

in *sacramento*, there was a film screening of “better this world” which was
attended by both of the filmmakers (who did q&a afterwards). about 30 people
were in attendance. the event began with a talk about eric and marie, then a
former political prisoner spoke about his experiences before, during and
after prison. over $100 was raised to be split between eric and marie. they
also debuted new “stop snitching” shirts designed by local artists, the
proceeds of which will go to eric and marie.

in *san francisco*, they raised over $2200! the evening began with a line of
people out the door waiting to attend the soon-to-be standing room only
event. former political prisoner, jake conroy of the shac 7, spoke about
marie and eric’s cases, his own experiences in prison, and the importance of
supporting those currently incarcerated. they then screened the new
award-winning documentary *if a tree falls: a story of the earth liberation
front*. the movie tells a powerful story that at times reflects marie and
eric’s own experiences. the evening was capped off by an amazing vegan bake
sale, silent auction, and raffle which left attendees with full stomachs and
some amazing items.

solidarity actions

argentina: atms burned in solidarity with marie mason & eric mcdavid
and other prisoners and combatants!

peru: arson of church in solidarity with comrades of the social war
marie mason and eric mcdavid

cambridge, uk: bank action in solidarity with eco-anarchist prisoners

finland: railways sabotaged in solidarity action

-logging equipment sabotaged in olympia

elf russia – informal anarchist federation / international network
claim series of attacks in solidarity with marie mason, eric mcdavid &
long-term anarchist prisoners

– development building & bank visited in tacoma

seattle: suv attacked in solidarity with eco anarchist prisoners

-banners in greece

these stories are only a small sampling of what happened on june 11th. but
they are representative of the kind of creativity and energy that we would
like to see poured into prisoner support every day of the year. we want june
11th to be a starting point – not an end in itself. we hope that everyone
feels re-energized and re-committed to the work that they do, to their
communities, and to our friends, lovers and comrades who are being held
hostage by the state.

thank you all…

yours,

june 11th solidarity

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *