Durham, NC: New Graffiti for September Prison Strike

Submitted to It’s Going Down

A couple nights ago our small crew decorated a 30-ft. expanse of brick wall above the roof of a now-empty and abandoned school gymnasium in a high-traffic part of North Durham with the large, simple message: “FIRE TO THE PRISONS – SEPT. 2016”

It’s not a coincidence that buildings like this, which could be occupied and directly controlled by our neighbors and friends, instead sit empty under police surveillance, while buildings like the Durham jail fill up beyond capacity. Nor is it a coincidence that the City of Durham rushes to cover up graffiti pieces like this one, whether because they’re politically confrontational or gang-related or simply “ugly,” while artistic murals, hip foodie hotspots, and nonprofit politics form the accepted cultural vanguard of economic development and displacement. We may not be able to afford to live here in five years, but ’til then we’ll be damned if we simply sit by and let developers and white entrepreneurs paint over our walls with their beige-tinted social peace. Fuck them.

Lots of love to all the prisoners getting ready for September this year, and also to those on the outside organizing material support and solidarity. Solidarity with other folks in our town fighting for a cop- and prison-free world.

See y’all in the streets in September.

-some anarchists