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Apr 2, 20

Political Prisoner and Prison Rebel Birthdays for April

Political prisoner and prison rebel birthdays for the month of April, 2020.

Inspired by the spirit of the Political Prisoners Birthday crew (and recycling some of their old artwork because why not?), here’s a short listing of some rebel prisoners who have upcoming birthdays in April.

For an introduction on how to write to prisoners and some things to do and not to do, go here. If you have the time, please also check IWOC’s listing of prisoners facing retaliation for prison strike-related organizing.

To start things off on a positive note, April used to be a really busy month for prisoner birthdays because four of the MOVE 9 were April babies (I’ll leave it to the astrology experts to work out what that means). This list will be a fair bit shorter this year, because now Delbert, Chuck, Janet Holloway, and Janine Phillips Africa will all be celebrating their birthdays in freedom, or at least outside of prison anyway.

A call has gone out to make April a month of action for Bomani Shakur, who is on death row as a result of a conviction related to the Lucasville Uprising. April might not see much traditional, in-the-streets action, but if you’re stuck at home looking for things to do, then maybe consider hassling Ohio politicians or officials about Bomani’s case online throughout the month. Similarly, Xinachtli has asked that people raise banners demanding his release on May Day; since we may not be in a position to have the usual mass gatherings on the street then, you could think about ways you can uplift his name and demand his release online instead. And keep an eye out for phone/email zaps in support of prisoners endangered by the pandemic.

Much as I hate to see even more of our lives and communications being enclosed by tech companies, it seems inescapable at the moment, so for anyone who doesn’t want to leave their house to buy stamps/cards/envelopes or to send mail, a reminder that many prisoners can be contacted electronically, via Jpay or similar services.

Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

Lebanese revolutionary political prisoner held in French prisons since 1984 for actions targeting U.S. and Israeli officials.

Birthday: April 2

Address:
Mr. Georges Ibrahim ABDALLAH
2388/A221
CP de Lannemezan
204 rue des Saligues
BP 70166
65307 LANNEMEZAN
France

Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald

Black Panther political prisoner, held in prison since 1969. As California uses Jpay, you can send him a message by going to jpay.com, clicking “inmate search”, then selecting “State: California, Inmate ID: B27527”.

Birthday: April 10

Address:
Romaine Fitzgerald B-27527
CSP- LAC
P.O. Box 4490
B-4-150
Lancaster, CA 93539
United States

Walter Bond

Imprisoned ALF activist serving 12 years for animal liberation arsons. DISCLAIMER: In a recent blog post, Walter declared that “I can no longer, in good faith, have ANYTHING to do with the polyglot mish mash of political and ideological insanity that is anarchism. Not with it’s groups, it’s thought, not of it’s ideologies and not it’s individuals… the whole aim of anarchy amounts to nothing more than a teardown of everything fair, pure and good. Anarchy upholds what is base and vile, and it makes degeneracy it’s standard.” You can make your own mind up as to whether or not you still wish to support Walter given his recent statements.

Birthday: April 16

Address:
Walter Bond 37096-013
FCI Terre Haute CMU
PO Box 33
Terre Haute IN 47808

Vadim Boyko

Antifascist football/soccer fan from Belarus, serving a four-year sentence for a fight with far-right hooligans. If you contact ABC Belarus at belarus_abc [at] riseup [dot] net they should be able to translate your message for you and send it on, or you can send mail in Russian or Belarussian.

Birthday: April 19

Address:
IK-17, ul. Pervaya Zavodskaya, 8
213004, Shklov, Mogilevskaya obl.
Belarus
Boyko Vadim Sergeyevich

Roy Brown

Ferguson rebel convicted of looting during the Ferguson uprising, along with other unrelated robbery charges. Missouri uses Jpay, so you can send him a message by going to jpay.com, clicking “inmate search”, then selecting “State: Missouri, Inmate ID: 1310047”.

Birthday: April 20

Address:
Roy Brown #1310047
Potosi Correctional Center
11593 State Highway O
Mineral Point, MO 63660

Mumia Abu-Jamal

Mumia is an award winning journalist and was one of the founders of the Black Panther Party chapter in Philadelphia, PA. He has struggled for justice and human rights for people of color since he was at least 14 years old; the age when he joined the Party. In December of 1982, Mumia, who moonlighted by driving a taxi, happened upon police who were beating his brother. During the melee, a police officer was shot and killed. Despite the fact that many people saw someone else shoot and then runaway from the scene, Mumia, in what could only be called a kangaroo court, was convicted and sentenced to death. During the summer of 1995, a death warrant was signed by Governor Tom Ridge, which sparked one of the most effective organizing efforts in defense of a political prisoner ever. Since that time, Mumia has had his death sentence overturned, but still has a life sentence with no opportunity for parole.

Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding Mumia as a contact by searching his name or “AM8335”.

Birthday: April 24

Address:
Smart Communications/PA DOC
Mumia Abu-Jamal #AM8335
SCI Mahanoy
Post Office Box 33028
St Petersburg, Florida 33733

Janiis Mathis

A former Vaughn 17 defendant. While the state has now given up on its attempts to charge Mathis in relation to the Vaughn uprising, he is facing continued retaliation, as he has been moved out of state to Pennsylvania, where many Vaughn defendants are being held on lockdown indefinitely (via placement on PA’s Restricted Release List) on vague and questionable grounds. More than two years later, these prisoners are still being abused for staying in solidarity with one another against the state.

Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “NU0423”.

Birthday: April 24

Address:
Janiis Mathis
SBI# 00492275
Sussex Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 500
Georgetown DE 19947

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