Bloc Party: Merry Fucking Xmas

Originally posted to It’s Going Down

Hey friends. We’ve said it a lot lately, but perhaps it bears repeating, things on the bloc aren’t always all that uplifting. That’s okay. Life is fucking brutal sometimes. If things were consistently uplifting on the bloc it doesn’t seem like we’d have to be fighting all that hard. We are fighting hard though. All of us. In one way or another. Thank you for doing that and please don’t ever stop, okay?

We’re late with this column. Mostly because this week one of our closest comrades lost their best friend who also happened to be their pops. While pops wasn’t exactly on the a-team, he was a dope dude and meant the world to our friend. So, this week’s party is going to party extra hard for pops. If you’re feeling like you’ve got an extra fourteen and half minutes on your hands take a listen to this and get to know a dude, or so to speak. 

Christmas was a bust. No one burned down a giant Christmas tree, Athens style, from what we can tell. There’s always next year!

Speaking of bad news, out in Colorado there have been fifteen police shootings since Halloween. Nearly once a week in Denver the pigs have shot someone. We asked some folks out there what the situation is looking like and it honestly sounds like things have been at such a level that anarchists, community organizers and others can’t even keep up. Send those kids some loving solidarity as they try and hold it down. When you’re finished sending that loving solidarity, send some giant FUCK YOU’S to Denver police and the rest of the pigs in Colorado. May 2016 be filled with more spontaneous sink holes that just swallow these assholes right up. 

Oh, right, Denver kids are up to something else this Winter. Looks like some bad kids from Denver are booking dates for a speaking tour called The Spaces Between that is all about what anarchy looks like when you don’t live in Oakland or Seattle or whatever. This tour is also part of a larger project to collect interviews with and essays from folks in those spaces between. If you are interested in setting up a date or participating in the project you can hit them up for more info: [email protected] 

Things are moving along with Joseph & Nicole’s court proceedings. They just had a hearing on the 21st and here is the report back:

Nicole and Joseph feel much appreciation for the show of support they received from the community today. Around 20 supporters came from San Diego, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and surrounding areas. There is no better antidote to repression than solidarity.

Today’s hearing was for several pre-trial motions. First, the defense argued for the case to be transferred to the Northern District of California, as travel to San Diego creates hardship for Nicole and Joseph. That motion was denied based on the likely timeline of the case — there are only one or two more pretrial hearings left until the case moves to trial.

The defense also argued that the State should present and reorganize the discovery, so that the defense could more easily navigate the information. Judge Burns granted that motion.

Lastly, Joseph’s attorney was able to successfully argue for his house arrest to be limited to a nightly curfew. So now Joseph is only on house arrest from 6pm to 7am, every day of the week! That’s great news, as he will be able to have a lot more personal latitude during the day. Thanks to everyone who has supported him along the way while he was on house arrest, especially those who donated from his wishlist. It has helped immensely.

A new pretrial motions hearing has been set: Tuesday, March 1st. Judge Burns has requested that a trial date be set at that pretrial hearing for a date no later than six weeks past March 1st. So it is looking like trial will be set for early spring.

Nicole and Joseph both feel a lot gratitude for the support that their case has received. Family, friends, and strangers traveled from hours away to be with these two as they endured the weight of repression in a federal courthouse. They look forward to the future as the case moves to trial.

Out in Chiapas it looks like the Mexican state is fucking with Zapatistas once again. This time they have executed a warrant that was supposedly withdrawn years ago, which it never was, and then held the comrade incommunicado and for a ransom of 166,122 pesos (around $8,000 USD). The state is using archeological sites of investigation as a cover for counter-insurgency and state terror. Never trust the academy or the state, amiright?

Also, in Chiapas comrades and supporters of Alejandro Díaz Sántiz denounced the horrible conditions of his imprisonment:

Former prisoners, family and friends of Alejandro Díaz Sántiz, indigenous Tzotzil prisoner in struggle, denounced the irregularities and abuses suffered in the case of the adherent to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle of the EZLN, detained in the Federal Social Rehabilitation Centre (CEFERESO) of Villa Comaltitlán, Chiapas.

In the permanent assembly for the release of Díaz Sántiz, attendees complained about matters which attack the human rights of prisoners, such as the isolation to which he is subjected, with only one 10-minute phone call every 15 days and one 45-minute visit every 15 to 20 days, which, it is specified, can only be made by a direct blood relative or spouse.

In addition, Díaz Sántiz, a member of those in Solidarity with the Voice of El Amate, is only allowed 30 minutes in the yard each day, which indicates that for the rest of the time he remains confined to his cell without access to pictures, reading or correspondence, pencil or paper.

A few days ago one of our friends went to serve a short sentence in jail for a misdemeanor he racked up out in Denver. He wrote a pretty dope letter the night before his partner and newborn baby kissed him goodbye for a couple of days. We’d encourage you to read it. He’s out now and snuggled up with his sweet family. We’re wishing the same thing is just around the corner for all our friends who are being locked up for much longer.

Here is some of that news from the inside:

Herman Bell is up for parole this February. Herman has been imprisoned in the state of New York since 1979 and while he has been eligible for parole since 2004, those sick fucks out there have denied him six times. Please take a second to sign the online petition to be included in his parole hearing. Seeing thousands of signatures on such a petition could make an impact and this is at the direct request of Herman and his supporters. It just takes a second, so thanks for doing that. 

Marius Mason just released another beautiful painting celebrating Leslie Feinberg. Send Marius a line and let him know how dope his art has been lately! You can write him, but he very likely cannot respond due to bullshit mail restrictions he has. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write though:

Marie (Marius) Mason #04672-061
FMC Carswell
Federal Medical Center
P.O. Box 27137
Fort Worth, TX 76127

Final Straw just did a great interview with Michael Kimble that you can download here:

This time we’re speaking with Michael Kimble, who is a black gay anarchist prisoner incarcerated in Atmore, Alabama. Mr Kimble is active in many prison organizing projects, including the Free Alabama Movement. We speak about his case, his writings, a possible future for anarchist organizing, his upcoming parole hearing, and vampires among other topics. For more about his case and to read his writings, you can visit his support page at http://anarchylive.noblogs.org. Apologies for the audio quality on this interview, since it was recorded from inside prison it is not always easy to hear. But stick with it, there’s some really good stuff here.

To write to Michael Kimble, or to send him books or zines, you can address letters to:

Michael Kimble

#138017

3700 Holman Unit

Atmore, AL 36503

To write support letters for his hopefully upcoming parole hearing, address letters to:

Alabama Dept. of Pardons and Parole

301 South Ripley Street

Montgomery, AL 36130

For info on what to say and how to word those letters of support please visit his support page.

Don’t forget that Casey Brezik has a birthday coming up on the 30th. Send that kid a card or a letter! Did you know Casey is really into dystopian sci fi? We know you are too, so write him about it! Also, he is teaching himself Japanese right now and would probably love to hear from folks who are on that tip.

Casey Brezik #1154765
Northeast Correctional Center
13698 Airport Road
Bowling Green, Missouri 63334

There is a lot more that we want to include in our end of year post for next week. For now we’re going to watch this video on repeat and find the strength to keep fucking fighting. Trust that next week we have something epic in store to say a final FUCK OFF to 2015 and ring in what is sure to be our baddest, bad kid year yet. Bring it the fuck on, 2016. Bring it the fuck on.