ART SHOW!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Wormzone for art show - it was a huge success!  The night was full of music, good conversation, and even a cooking demonstration.  PLUS, we made more than $700 that will be distributed among the artists.  Wow.

We plan to do it again this spring or summer, so if you know anyone inside, let em' know!  

Pictures will come soon.

RedBird goes to CANADA!

Yes, we went to Canada in February, and yes, it was totally worth the harrowing drive through a snowstorm, the bad motel room, and the hour-long stop at the border . . .

The reason for our adventure?  A conference called 'Breaking Bars, Building Bridges

Sean Swain: In Defense of Cece McDonald

http://supportcece.wordpress.com/

I have read about the case of Cece McDonald, who was attacked because she is a transgendered woman of color. She is now charged with two counts of murder because she survived and her attackers didn't. I don't know, but I suspect no police were present to protect Cece when she was attacked. No prosecutors. No judges. 

Cece was left to protect herself, so she did. She protected herself in the absence of police, prosecutors, and judges.

Occupy 4 Prisoners Demonstration

On Monday February 20th, the Occupy Movement called for a National Day of Occupation for Prisoners. There were actions all across the country. In Columbus, we had a workshop, delivered some letters, and supported friends inside who went on a hunger strike.

These are videos of the letter delivery action, so the fascists can never say we didn't ask them nicely.

OSP Occupy4Prisoners hunger strike

Siddique Abdullah Hasan

On Thursday Feb 23rd, Hasan recorded a statement about the hunger strike for PrisonRadio.org. Audio of that statement is available here.

Feb 23 Press Release
On Wednesday evening, twenty-five prisoners at Ohio's super-max prison ate their first meal since Sunday night. The hunger strike was inspired by the Occupy4Prisoners National Day of Action called by Occupy Oakland. According to Siddique Abdullah Hasan, one of the hunger strikers, they initially intended a one day fast as a "symbolic gesture, a way of locking arms with the people on the outside."

Lucasville Amnesty Website

We're super excited and proud to unveil a new website we helped create about the Lucasville Uprising.

It's at LucasvilleAmnesty.org.

Occupy, Liberate, De-Colonize:

An Open Letter to Occupy Columbus from Prison by Sean Swain

In 2007, in a published interview I observed that if Ohio prisoners simply laid on their bunks for 30 days, the system would collapse. I wasn't talking about just the prison system, but Ohio's entire economy.
I came to that conclusion because I recognized that 50,000 prisoners work for pennies per day making the food, taking out the trash, mopping the floors. We produce parts for Honda and other multi-nationals at Ohio Penal Industries (OPI), making millions of dollars in profit for the State. If we stopped participating in our own oppression, the State would have to hire workers at union-scale wages to make our food, take out the trash, and mop the floors; slave labor for Honda and others would cease.

Workshop Recap: Occupy 4 Prisoners

In response to the call for actions on Monday the 20th, and the call for book launches for Love and Struggle, we organized an Occupy for Prisoners workshop last Friday. Our goal was to create context and recruit people to participate in Monday's action. 

Occupy for Prisoners

America is the Prisonhouse of Nations, holding 2.3 million people behind bars. This is by far the highest incarceration rate in the world. The US police and surveillance forces are expanding every day. We live in the most sophisticated police state history has ever known. The state of Ohio houses over 50,000 prisoners and kills people on death row at a rate exceeded only by the state of Texas.