Greece: Solidarity with Prison Rebels Against Slavery & White Supremacy

From Contra-Info

On August 4th 2016, an info event was held at Themistokleous 58 squatin Exarchia (Athens), with the participation of Contra Info translation counter-info network and ABC Solidarity Cell, where a comrade fromPortland ABC discussed details about the US wide mobilization against prison slavery and white supremacy on the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison rebellion (September 9th–13th 1971). Check out an interview on Radiofragmata web radio, as well as the recordings of the presentation during that event, here. (You can also hear another conversation, with the same comrade from Portland ABC, aired September 4th 2016 on The Final Straw.)

On August 25th, anarchist communist Tasos Theofilou, currently incarcerated in Koridallos prison (Athens), released a text explaining what September 9th mobilization in the US is all about. Excerpt from his writing:“Since 2010 there have been a number of mobilizations in US prisons, from hunger strikes and work stoppages to rebellions, for either elimination of solitary confinement or betterment of prison conditions, or the improvement of working conditions and remuneration.”

On September 5th, a meeting took place at the Polytechnic School in Exarchia, called for by the Solidarity Assembly for Political Prisoners & Imprisoned and Prosecuted Fighters. A new Athens-based assembly was formed to support the US prison strike. It was decided to release a poster inGreek and English, hold a PA’s gathering outside Koridallos prisons, and make a call for two days of solidarity action across Greece, between 16th and 17th September.

On September 8th, ABC Solidarity Cell published a statement regarding “US Prisons – The Dark Side of Slavery in American Society”. Excerpt from their text: “We are willing to manifest our solidarity in every possible way with US prison inmates throughout the duration of their struggle. In this direction, we call every collective, every cell of Anarchist Black Cross internationally, but also whoever wishes to support in their own way, to coordinate our forces on an International Solidarity Day that will be a point of reference for the international solidarity movement to supporting this struggle and will provide an opportunity for further intensification of our actions in the coming period. We propose this day to be October 1st. We consider the prospects, stakes and legacies that this particular struggle in US prisons may create to be an open challenge for every fighter who wants to contribute to waging an internationalized and coordinated struggle inside and outside prisons against modern slavery and the economic dictatorship of multinationals. Solidarity and strength to the struggle of prisoners in US prisons! Struggle is the only prospect of living with dignity! Fire to the prisons!”

On September 9th, the Urban Guerrilla Cell of Conspiracy of Cells of Fire FAI/FRI, namely Christos Tsakalos, Gerasimos Tsakalos, Giorgos Polidoros and Olga Ekonomidou, anarchists incarcerated in Koridallos prisons, released a revolutionary statement titled “Gentlemen, the Dragon Will Fly Out” in support of the US prison mobilization as of September 9th, and in memory of Jonathan P. Jackson, George L. Jackson, and Attica prison rebels. Excerpt from their writing: “In every part of the Earth, prisons are a monument of people’s enslavement. Prisons are the most concentrated form of tyranny; the face of Power, without any makeup; the punitive nature of democracy; the vengeful sense of its justice. Every attack, every act of rebellion, every mobilization that disturbs the operation of prisons is a kick in the guts of oppression. It challenges its omnipotence, within its own walls. Certainly, the September 9th mobilization against slavery in US prisons may not be the anarchist utopia of freedom we wish for, but it can be a pebble in the pond that creates small ripples in the water. And oftentimes these ripples precede the outbreak of an enormous tide…”

On September 9th, some anarchist prisoners in the 4th wing of Koridallos men’s prison published a collective writing in support of the US prison strike. Excerpt from their text: “We know how hard it is to fight capitalism there where it’s most powerful, in the US; we also know that depriving it of a part of its profits is the only thing that can inflict substantial damage. That’s why this prisoner strike is so important. That’s why we send our solidarity and greetings to the rebellious dignity of prisoners in the US.” (Full text translation here.)

On Friday evening September 9th, the newly formed Assembly of Solidarity with the Struggle of Prisoners against Slavery, alongside other anarchist supporters from Athens, held a noise demo in the proximity of Koridallos prisons to spread the word about the mobilization in US prisons, but also in solidarity with all inmates in Koridallos women’s facility, who are protesting the deplorable prison conditions since August 26th. During the action comrades unfurled banners reading: “Solidarity with the struggle of US prison inmates against slavery” and “From Koridallos to Lucasville, fight against prison slavery”.

On Friday night September 9th, ABC Solidarity Cell hung a banner at the gate of the Polytechnic School, on Patission Street (downtown Athens), reading: “Solidarity with the struggle of prisoners in the US as of September 9th – We are not made by history; we create history”.

In Agrinio (western Greece), comrades of Apertus squat expressed their solidarity with the US prison mobilization, as well as with inmates at Koridallos women’s prison: “(…) the resistance to the barbarity of incarceration is an integral part of social and class struggles taking place everywhere; against the restructuring, tightening of security, and privatization of prisons; the road to freedom passes over the debris of every prison.”

Now is the time for uncompromising complicity with prison rebels in the US, Mexico, and all over the world!