Sean Swain on the Anarchy Bridge!

Dear Occupy Cleveland Spokesperson

            (If you Really are a Spokesperson),

            I saw a segment on Fox 8 News out of Cleveland where, in a statement, you denounced the action of five Anarchists who allegedly intended to blow up a bridge. You denounced political violence, saying that it provokes the government to “take away our rights.”

            Before I address your denunciation of political violence, I would like to correct an error in your statement. Governments do not take away rights. They cannot take them away because governments cannot bestow rights in the first place. Rights are rights. They are ours. Governments can recognize the right or not recognize the right, whatever the case may be, but you possess the right in any regard. If a government does not recognize your rights, then you have a duty to yourself and to your rights (and everyone else subjected to tyranny) to compel the government to recognize your rights.

Prisoner Support Art

Greg Curry is currently incarcerated at Ohio State Penitentiary on false charges relating to the 1993 Lucasville Uprising. More from him can be found here.

Story of Healing and Forgiveness.

Last week I got a call from a woman who wanted to talk about creating a victim reconciliation program for people incarcerated in Ohio. Her name is Lynette Grace and she's a survivor of a violent crime. She has, completely on her own, reconciled with Johnny Bell, the man who stabbed her 20 years ago.

About Sean Swain

Sean Swain is a hostage held by a lawless rogue-state calling itself  “The State of Ohio”(1) He has been held without a legal conviction or sentence since 1991 for the self-defense killing of a court official’s relative who broke into Sean’s home and threatened his life. In 2011, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority gave Sean a continuance of 5 years without notifying his counsel of a full-board hearing as required by statute. None of the State’s laws apply in Sean Swain’s case. His next parole eligibility date is in 2016 but there is no reason to believe the State will have any greater regard for justice or truth than it does now, so Sean has stated that he will not attend that hearing.

Letter Writing Night for Cece McDonald May 29th

Come enjoy some company while lending support to someone going to prison for defending herself.

Tuesday, May 29, 7PM Kafe Kerouac, 2250 N High.

On June 5, 2011, Chrishaun 'CeCe' McDonald, a 23-year-old transgender woman of color, was walking to the grocery store with friends after midnight when a group of white bar patrons began screaming racist and transphobic slurs at them. CeCe was assaulted with a broken glass, puncturing her cheek and during the fight that followed, Dean Schmitz, a white man with a swastika tattoo was fatally stabbed. CeCe was charged with second degree murder, despite the fact that she and her friends acted in self-defense. On May 2nd, Cece pleaded guilty to second degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 41 months in prison.

Join us in calling for an end to racist, transphobic violence in our communities as we send letters of love and support to CeCe!


http://www.facebook.com/events/473203496029641/

COINTELPRO Workshop and Discussion.

What: We grew up believing we had the legally protected right to petition our government for redress of grievances. However in the 1960's-70's COINTELPRO disagreed. This government-run program targeted and harmed many individuals and organizations who are now recognized as visionary & heroic (Dr Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Albert Einstein, NAACP, CORE, Southern Christian Leadership Council, etc.) Since then both the Bush & Obama administrations have passed legislation further erroding our rights to dissent and eliminating many vital "due process" protections for both American Citizens & Foreign Nationals.

An Open Letter to Five Anarchists Accursed of the Intended Bombing of a Bridge in Cleveland.

18MAY12

Dear Friend,

            I don’t know your names. All I know is what corporate news media has reported. They say you are Anarchists, that you intended to blow up a bridge, and that you purchased what you believed to be explosives from a federal informant. I don’t know how much of that is true.

            I am going to assume for purposes of this letter that you are Anarchists. I hope that you are. In a world filled with mindless worshipers of hierarchy, freedom-loving Anarchists are too few and far between. I hope you to be Anarchists, just as I hope everyone to become Anarchists, to swear off slavery to bosses and tyrants and profiteers.

            I will also assume that you intended to blow up a bridge. I hope that this is true also. We are enslaved by a sprawling system that forces us to live poor, butchered half-lives, that reduces us to drones; it can only continue with our participation, and when we work to directly obstruct and sabotage that system, we create free space for greater resistance.

            By my way of thinking, you would not be destroying a bridge. You would be creating a future where there would be the absence of a bridge, and therefore the absence of a tool used by the larger machinery of enslavement.

OSP Hunger Strike Ends.

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012, Youngstown OH- OSP Hunger Strike Ends. After long negotiations with Warden David Bobby on Monday, May 7th, the hunger-striking prisoners at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) began eating again. Two of the men held out through Tuesday, unsatisfied with the agreement. The warden met with them separately, and they agreed to come off the strike. Warden Bobby reported that "by lunch time today, everyone was eating." This was confirmed by two prisoner sources. 

Senate Bill 70 creates an Arsonist Registry

The state of Ohio has decided to "fight" arson by creating a registry for people with arson records, similar to the sex crime registries. The above video introduces the topic, but (like all mainstream news) fails to explain why the state is addressing a problem caused by poverty, financial speculation, and poor urban management by stigmatizing and extending punishment for formerly incarcerated people.

OSP Hunger Strike Enters Second Week.

OSP Hunger Strike Enters Second Week.

Monday May 7th, 2012, Youngstown OH- Prisoners at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) continue the hunger strike they started on Monday April 30th, in solidarity with May Day. 

The number of prisoners refusing food has fluctuated from 24 to 48 over the last week, as some prisoners joined late. Communication with the super max prisoners has been limited since the beginning of the strike, but a clear list of grievances and demands has emerged from at least two sources. 

The two primary demands are:

1. Improved commissary practices and increased state pay. The prison commissary can set prices at up to 35% mark-up on basic necessities like shampoo, food, and soap. These prices fluctuate unexpectedly, and are often prohibitive to prisoners without outside support, as state pay is only $9 a month.

2. A transparent and accountable security level classification process. OSP houses level 4 and 5 prisoners, the highest security level in Ohio. Once prisoners are classified at these levels and transferred to OSP, there is no clear process for how they can reduce their level and get transferred out of the facility. Prisoners can spend years in OSP without any negative conduct reports and still have no hope of their level being reduced. 

Ohio Super Max Prisoners on Hunger Strike

Thursday, May 3: Ohio Super Max Hunger Strike Continues and Expands

 According to a level 5 prisoner participating in the hunger strike at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) there are forty-eight (48) prisoners who have refused nine meals and should be officially recognized as on hunger strike. Warden Bobby has not returned calls requesting information about the hunger strike.