A-Infos (en) US, Boston, Anarchist journal BAAM #14 - Jericho 10/10 Weekend of Resistance by Molly

In honor of the 10 year anniversary of the Jericho Amnesty Movement, on October 
10 and 11, organizers and activists took to the streets of New York City to 
demand freedom for political prisoners in the US, reclaiming a weekend 
traditionally dedicated to Columbus, a bringer of torture, enslavement and 
genocide to the Americas. ---- On Friday 10/10, starting at 12pm there was a 
picket and rally outside the United Nations and then an un-permitted march 
through the streets, passing numerous embassies, businesses and consumers. The 
police were nowhere to be seen for the first half of the march, until we started 
entering the shopping districts. Even then, marchers ignored their calls for us 
to move off the street, instead chanting louder and mocking their sirens.

The march ended at a rally in Madison
Square park. Various affiliates of the North-
east Anarchist Network were represented--
from Pittsburgh and Boston to Providence
and Portland--however there could not have
been much more than 150 or 200 total and
many lamented the fact that it was held on a
Friday, when most workers would not be able
to take the day off.

    Saturday we marched from the Harlem
State Office Building, constantly chanting, to
a rally at Morningside Park with speakers and
music. Speakers included Chief Billy Tayak
of the Piscataway Nation, Iyaluua Ferguson
and Herman Ferguson, co-founders of the
Jericho Movement, and Ashanti Alston and
Kazi Toure, co-chairs of the National Jericho
Movement. There were representatives from
the International Center for Traditional Child
Bearing, the New Black Panther Party and
the Puerto Rican Independence Movement
among others. While everyone brought their
own perspectives, the messages from most of
the speakers had a similar theme: we are not
doing enough.

    In 1996, Jalil Muntaqim, a prisoner caged
in 1971 because of his work with the Black
Liberation Army in the struggle against rac-
ism and oppression, released a call out for a
demonstration on Washington DC in order to
demand the recognition and amnesty of all
US-held political prisoners and prisoners of
war. This mobilization materialized in March
of 1998 along with the birth of the Jericho
Movement.

    Ten years later the US still denies the exis-
tence of political prisoners and POWs in this
country, trying to maintain the façade of a
land of freedom and democracy. Meanwhile,
their numbers steadily increase as the govern-
ment "of, by and for the people" continues
to ensure the perpetuation of its capitalist,
neoliberal policies by imprisoning dissenters
and organizers of alternative models of liv-
ing. Freedom fighters of the 60s, 70s and 80s
have been languishing behind concrete walls
for decades, some of whom have died due to
age and medical neglect. Bashir Hameed of
the Black Panther Party and the Black Libera-
tion Army and target of COINTELPRO just
recently died in August of this year.

    Chief Billy Tayak commented that in the
natural world, before the concrete was laid
and cities were built, there were no prisons.
Prisons are not, like we are taught to believe,
a necessity. Through prisons and the criminal
injustice system in general, the government
is able to remove "undesirables" from the
streets, effectively ending the lives of those
that are deemed dangerous to the status quo,
those who would dare to speak out and fight
back against the oppression that keeps the
power in the hands of the few while most
people (and the planet) are exploited in order
to fill the pockets of the CEOs and politicians.
Liberation movements throughout the world
are diverse but we are all fighting a common
enemy, and we must never stop fighting for
the freedom of those that fought before us,
those that helped to lay the foundation of our
struggles.

    If you want to get involved, contact the
Boston Anarchist Black Cross (bostonabc(at)
riseup.net or PO Box 230182 Boston MA
02123 ) or the Boston chapter of the Jericho
Movement (jericho_boston(at)yahoo.com).
-----------------------------------------
See also:
http://baamboston.org (not allways avilable)
Email: wordup (nospam) riseup.net
_________________________________________
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