RVA ABC Presents: Prisoner Letter Writing Party
| Network: |
Global
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| Date: |
Monday, December 21, 2009
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| Time: |
7:00pm – 10:00pm
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| Location: |
The Wingnut House
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| Street: |
2005 Barton Avenue
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Come hang out at the Wingnut and learn about writing letters to political prisoners!
Talk about experiences writing to prisoners.
Then we can all write letters together.
Learn what a political prisoner is, and what is up with political repression these days.
We need prisoner support for folks who are locked up. You know you would want letters if you were in prison!
We will provide: paper, envelopes, pens, addresses of prisoners, tea and vegan snacks!
Please bring: Friends, money for stamps or stamps!
The Richmond Anarchist Black Cross is an autonomous Collective committed to prison abolition and prisoner support. As anarchists we are oppossed to all systems of oppression and repression and have concluded that prisons serve no positive function in society. We actively seek to abolish the institutionalized slavery of the Prison Industrial Complex. We are dedicated to working in solidarity with prisoners and drawing connections between a multitude of struggles.
The Richmond Anarchist Black Cross was started early in the Summer of 2008 by one older Richmond activist and one younger Richmond activist. While the collective has essentially remained 2 strong so far, we have been able to participate in some important activities in Richmond. We only see our collective becoming stronger and more effective as our organizing continues to expand. Richmond is fertile ground for anarchist work in general, and Virginia is definitely a state where the prison issue is relevant. While earlier in the year the state had proposed the construction of more prisons, the recent economic downturn has caused the Governor to decided to close 5 different correctional facilities within the state. This is a mixed blessing, because while it is most excellent that more prisons are not being built, there is also the concern that budget cuts will mean even worse conditions for those locked up. Our situation in Virginia will only get worse until folks realize that locking people up is not a solution to crime, and that we need to address the oppression and inequality of society in order to prevent behavior that is perceived as “jailable”. Currently, more people are being sent to prison, for longer periods of time, with fewer programs and resources available to them.
[‘Smaller budget cuts, shorter prison sentences’ just doesn’t roll off the tongue like burn all prisons now does it?]
We had a public meeting to try and attract more members, unfortunately the attendees lost interest. We attempted to arrange tutoring at the Richmond City Jail, but were turned down by the Sheriff’s Office (not surprising). We have held 3 letter writing potluck events, where we introduced the idea of the Prison Industrial Complex to folks, gave them some advice on writing to prisoners, and actually sent out 15-20 letters from each event. We screened the film Up The Ridge to expose people to the prisons system as it happens in their own backyard (Virginia). In July we participated in two protests against death penalty cases outside of the Governor’s office, and attended one death penalty vigil outside of the correctional facility and site of state sanctioned murder in Jarrett, Virginia. In August we had a benefit show to raise money for the stamps/copies/ envelopes we need to spread the good word. Recently, we have been distributing literature about prison abolition, our organization, and political prisoners. At the Richmond Zine Fest on October 11th we distributed a lot of free literature and held a workshop titled “Fuck the Prison Industrial Complex”.
Our fliering and pamphleting efforts will hopefully pay off in the near future as well, bringing us more interested people and more opportunities to educate folks. We are looking for the opportunity to lend our support to a specific political prisoner, with the hopes of finding one in Virginia.
Any advice, support, copies of informational fliers, letters etc. can be directed to our P.O. Box 6025 Richmond, Virginia 23222. Since our person power is currently limited it is hard to come up with original literature, having some information to photocopy would be really great. We also have an email, rvaabc@gmail.com and a myspace http://www.myspace.com/richmondabc.
Directions:
Here are a couple different routes to 2005 Barton Avenue, RVA 23222:
From Boulevard- Take Boulevard North, past the baseball diamond. After you go under the highway bridge, turn right at the stop light onto Brookland Park Boulevard. Follow Brookland PArk until there is a post office on your left, turn right at that stoplight onto NORTH Ave. Follow North Ave, until you hit a patch of cobblestones, here, turn left onto Poe. Take your first left onto Barton Avenue. The house is on the right, on the corner, it is brick.
From Meadow- Take Meadow North, across, broad street. Follow over railroad tracks, then when the Ambulance place is on your left, turn right onto Overbrook. Follow Overbrook until it dead ends onto North Ave. Follow North Ave, until you hit a patch of cobblestones, here, turn left onto Poe. Take your first left onto Barton Avenue. The house is on the right, on the corner, it is brick.
From Lombardy- Take Lombardy North, Past the Kroger and Lowes and super sweet black panther statue at VUU. Turn right onto Overbrook. Follow overbrook until it dead ends onto North Ave. Follow North Ave, until you hit a patch of cobblestones, here, turn left onto Poe. Take your first left onto Barton Avenue. The house is on the right, on the corner, it is brick.
From Chamberlayne/Belvidere- Take Chamberlayne north over the highway. Turn right onto Overbrook. Follow Overbrook until you hit North ave. Follow North Ave, until you hit a patch of cobblestones, here, turn left onto Poe. Take your first left onto Barton Avenue. The house is on the right, on the corner, it is brick.
From Jackson Ward- Get to Second street. Take second street north , it turns sharp to the left and then there is a stop sign at 1st street. Turn right onto first, crossing the bridge that goes over the highway. Follow 1st, through Gilpin Court, and over the nect Bridge. Then its called Monteiro. There is a downhill and sharp left turn up hill. At the top of the hill, turn right onto Barton Avenue. The house is on the right, on the corner, it is brick.
Ideas from an Anarchist in Richmond, Virginia 