Bloc Party: Don’t Forget that We’re Right

Originally posted to It’s Going Down

Rebellion. Rebellion is fucking spreading, friends. From the road blockade of Arizona last weekend to the prison rebellions spreading across the country, shit is getting pretty real. It feels like the intensity hasn’t waned much since Ferguson in August 2014, nearing two years of consistent and widespread resistance. While towns might not be erupting into flames on the daily, there has been a growing culture of “fuck this shit,” in response to our horrifying conditions on every front. From police murder to environmental devastation, folks are refusing to let up the pressure. It has been an exhausting time for many of us. But, we aren’t stopping and for that we cannot help but feel absolutely inspired.

Protest at Holman prison today and another scheduled for April 9 pic.twitter.com/8m7JTCNoRA

— FreeAlabamaMovement- (@FREEALAMOVEMENT) March 20, 2016

With the Summer around the corner and the Republican and Democratic Conventions looming ahead of us, we have been working on something a little extra special around anti-repression that we will be sharing with you all next week. As the resistance to Donald Trump and his fascist followers grows in intensity even amongst the Bernie Bros, who are willing to go toe to toe, engaging in physical confrontation with Trump’s legions, the Republican National Convention in Cleveland is on the minds of a lot more anarchists than it was last Fall. We’ve heard the rumblings of more than a few semi-retired bad kids that are considering dusting off their hoodies and goggles for another hurrah. This Summer could get ugly and we think there are some questions we need to be asking ourselves, our friends and our crews. We’ll be back with that next week!

How about all that news from the Bloc now?

We mentioned prison rebellion appears to be consistently spreading. Y’all. Michigan is getting in on this. According to one report:

An official says about 1,000 inmates at a prison in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula participated in a peaceful protest over food quality.

Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz says prisoners at Kinross Correctional Facility on Sunday left the prison yard about 20 minutes early in silent protest and on Monday most of the facility’s about 1,300 inmates didn’t get meals as usual.

The Detroit Free Press reports the protest related to complaints about the quality of food provided by Oldsmar, Florida-based Trinity Services Group, which last year replaced Aramark Correctional Services as Michigan’s prison food contractor.

The Associated Press sent an email Wednesday seeking comment from Trinity.

Gautz says it’s “the first issue that I’ve seen related to food in months.” He tells The Detroit News it’s “an isolated incident.”

#Inmates Protest Food Quality At Northern #Michigan Prisonhttps://t.co/64n9DDRZ4g

— CBS Detroit (@CBSDetroit) March 23, 2016

Hey, Mr. Gautz. If you think this is isolated, take a look at what’s up in Alabama and Texas. There is nothing isolated about prisoners taking to action in response to their conditions. There is about to be a lot less about it that can be construed as “isolated incidents,” as prisoners continue networking and building national movements to break their damn chains. Michigan, we fucking see you. Don’t stop until you get it.

Chuck Africa just released a statement on the genocidal violence towards indigenous women in so-called British Columbia. His call is inspiring, with our favorite line specifically addressing the role of men in this struggle:

And to all those identifying as men, WHERE THE HELL ARE Y’ALL AT?!

Send Chuck some love at:

Chuck Africa #AM-4975
SCI Dallas
1000 Follies Road
Dallas, PA 18612

Eric King is steady putting out poetry on his support page. We advise checking it often, since he is pretty prolific. There is a particularly good one on snitches this week:

You sure like to talk and plan

then turn witness for the man

your life’s more important

trust the community understands

hypocrite anarcho-snitch!

And as always, a good one on being incarcerated:

Them bronze keys

why do you exist

separation creates pain

and its balled up in my fist

Write EK about poetry, or your Harry Potter fan fiction:

Eric King
27090045
CCA Leavenworth
100 Highway Terrace
Leavenworth, KS 66048

Oso Blanco has an ongoing email campaign to call bullshit on the facility claiming he has been refusing his rec time. People who know Oso know he needs his rec time, and he hasn’t gotten it in over TWO MONTHS. Please take a few seconds and write an email to Hazelton USP at HAX/[email protected]. Make sure you clarify you are concerned about Byron Chubbuck #07909-051, and be as polite or as rude as you like!

Oso loves letters! Write him at

From Support Kevin and Tyler:

“[A]nimal rights activist Tyler Lang was sentenced to three months time served, six months home imprisonment, six months community confinement, and one year of supervised release along with $200,000 restitution. This sentence is for freeing 2,000 mink from a fur farm and spray-painting “Liberation is Love” on the side of a barn with his co-defendant Kevin Johnson. The fur farm closed down as a result of their action.”

Needless to say we are elated that Tyler got time served and that mink farm is gone. Direct action really does get the goods y’all, lets be fucking proud of our wins. While we are bummed Kevin and Tyler were ever caught, and that some precedent is being set with the AETA, things could have been way worse. Overall we think this was a well fought defense campaign for these two. As a friend said to us once, “Don’t forget that we’re right.”

In other good news, antifascist prisoner Jason Hammond is almost out!! His release date is April 16th, and his support crew are working hard to fund-raise for a post-release fund. You can donate here.

Meanwhile in Nebraska, two different facilities have seen their COs attacked by prisoners in just a week. The most recent attack in Lincoln left two officers stabbed. Things are really heating up in prisons across the country, and the stage is being set for something to boil over. Lets get ready to shake things up out here!

Down in Mexico, Nestora Salgado is finally free!! Even as she was leaving she vowed to continue her fight to free all 500 political prisoners in the Mexican prison system. So glad you can breathe free air again, Nestora!

Glad we got to leave y’all on so many high notes this week. Its a rare thing for folks like us, so lets relish it when we can!

Speaking of high notes, we want to give an international nod this week to prison rebels out there in Bolivia who took the roof of the prison. We see you and “solidarity” doesn’t quite touch on the feelings we have watching y’all. Fuck those who hold you captive. May every one of us find a way to the roof for a riotous revelry before we burn the motherfucker down.

– your friendly career bad kids