National Anti-Prison Conference Set to Begin

2002 may be remembered as the year Texans rose up against the prison system.

The last two years -- marked by such struggles as the state-sponsored murder of Shaka Sankofa and the coronation of Texas' murderous ex-governor George Jr. -- have raised the stakes for criminal justice in this state. The death penalty in the United States (and its particularly harsh application in Texas) is under fire internationally. And, with the state-sponsored murder of Ponchai Kamau Wilkerson (Panthers United for Revolutionary Education), continued detention of political prisoner Alvaro Luna Hernandez, and videotaped cop murder of Luis Torres (among the many killed by cops) still on the minds of many, we have to ask, 'where is justice in Texas?' Perhaps it's on nowhere else like stolen land that one realizes justice is not given out, but must be fought for.

In January, organizers in Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio came together to protest the American Correctional Association, a prison-industry association built on private prison profiteers, razor-wire makers and others eager to turn a buck off the bodies of two million women, men and children caught in the system. The events and actions were empowering and lively, bringing together families, citizens and others to speak out against criminalization and incarceration. On July 26-28, that tradition continues in the form of an international conference against prisons and in support of captives behind the walls.

The first Anarchist Black Cross conference in North America since 1994 will be held July 26-28, 2002, in Austin, Texas.

The event, hosted by the autonomous Austin ABC collective and former political prisoner and Texas anarchist Chris Plummer, comes on the heels of the release of “A New Draft Proposal for an Anarchist Black Cross Network,” which advocated the creation of a new network of anarchist anti-prison groups. Organizers say they expect this conference will bring together organizers to network around issues of prisoner support, prison abolition and anti-authoritarian struggle; and for founding the Anarchist Black Cross Network.

Speakers scheduled include:

• Standing Deer Wilson, former political prisoner and longtime comrade of Leonard Peltier

• Robert King WIlkerson, former political prisoner and freed member of the Angola 3

• Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, former political prisoner and author of Anarchism and the Black Revolution

• Chris Plummer, former political prisoner [hear Chris' PSA for the conference]

• Rita "Bo" Brown, former political prisoner [invited]

• Longtime prisoner-rights activist Anthony Rayson

• Members of New York City ABC, who will present on INS detentions

• ABC activists from Seattle, Eugene, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago and elsewhere.

Some goals of this meeting include: to build our solidarity and communications among the various autonomous prisoner support tendencies; to learn together and from one another via our experiences, and educate on the ins and out of prisoner support, freedom campaigns, etc.; to get autonomous anarchist anti-prison groups acquainted and developing an ABC network; and to help people interested in prisoner support work to organize effective ABC groups in their communities. Those affiliated with an autonomous Anarchist Black Cross group, anti-prison group, prisoner support collective or who are active in the movement against prisons, criminalization and incarceration; and those interested in forming an ABC group or in being involved in supporting the movement against prisons and in support of prisoners are welcome to attend.

While its history is fuzzy, the Anarchist Black Cross has reportedly been around for close to a century.

The Anarchist Red Cross was started in Tsarist Russia to organize aid for political prisoners captured by the police, and to organize self-defense against political raids by the Cossack Army. During the Russian civil war, they changed the name to the Black Cross in order to avoid confusion with the Red Cross who were organizing relief in the country. After the Bolsheviks seized power the Anarchist movement moved the ABC offices to Berlin and continued to aid prisoners of the new regime, as well as victims of Italian fascism and others. The Black Cross fell apart during the 1930s depression due to the incredible demand for its services and a decline in financial aid. But in the late 1960s the organization resurfaced in Britain, where it first worked to aid prisoners of the Spanish resistance, which had not in fact died after the civil war and were fighting the dictator Franco's police. Now it has expanded and works in several areas, with contacts and other Black Cross groups in many countries around the world. The North American section started in the early 1980s.

For more information, contact: Austin ABC, P.O. Box 19733, Austin, TX 78760-9733 or email austinabc_@hotmail.com.

More Audio

Listen to Robert King Wilkerson and Chris Plummer expose the use of prison labor in Texas and Louisiana (MP3 file - 4 mins.)

Listen to Chris Plummer's recent speech in Austin on prisons, his jailing and the need for prisoner support (MP3 file - 24 mins.)