JUNETEENTH: June 14-17 4th annual Fight Toxic Prisons Convergence and June 19 2nd annual End Prison Slavery Day
Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons
“By anarchist spirit, I mean that deeply human sentiment which aims at the good of all, freedom and justice for all, solidarity and love among the people, which is not an exclusive characteristic only of self-declared anarchists, but inspires all people who have a generous heart and an open mind.” – Errico Malatesta, Umanita Nova, April 13, 1922
Peace and Blessings, Sisters and Brothers!
Wow, how time flies. Four years ago, I was at the Pack Unit in Navasota, Texas, when I discovered that the prison unit had high levels of arsenic in the water supply! The oppressors at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality called me a liar. The fascist pigs who operate the Texas Department of Criminal Injustice retaliated. If it wasn’t for the mutual aid and solidarity of Panagioti Tsolkas and a few other dedicated free world supporters, the toxic water would have been ignored.
Sisters and brothers, people of color are disproportionately housed in prisons all across the United States of Amerika. Many of these prisons are plagued by toxic water, black mold, radiation or, as in the case of many prisons in Pennsylvania, they are located in close proximity to toxic sites, such as coal ash depositories which contaminate water and air breathed by the human beings forcibly housed at these toxic prisons! Contact fighttoxicprisones@gmail.com.
I am personally calling on PEOPLE OF COLOR in Atlanta, Georgia, and Mobile and Birmingham, Alabama; I’m calling on folks in South and North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and my home state of Texas to come on down to Gainesville, Florida, June 14 through 17, 2019, and come see what the Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons is all about.
Our sisters and brothers who are incarcerated need more of our people to take an active interest in these environmentalist movements. This Convergence in Gainesville is not just for anarchists; it is for all human beings who believe that together we can save our planet from imperialist multi-national corporations who seek to destroy Planet Earth and us along with it if we allow them to do that!
Come on Down to Gainesville and learn how to FIGHT TOXIC PRISONS today!
Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win, All Power to the People!
International call to action: 2nd annual day of action and solidarity with those who are fighting to end prison slavery in Amerika and throughout the world on June 19
by Comrade Malik, Chief Spokesperson, End Prison Slavery in Texas Movement
Revolutionary Greetings, Sisters and Brothers!
It’s that time again and I am sending out this call to action in order to encourage everyone who is passionate about abolishing all forms of slavery and involuntary servitude to come together in one united action of revolutionary solidarity on June 19, 2019, and protest against the enslavement, degradation and dehumanization of Amerikan prisoners and all human beings throughout the world who are subjected to any form of slavery or oppression!
As many of you know, June 19 is the day when Black people in Texas celebrate the freedom of their Ancestors, our Ancestors, who were held in SLAVERY for approximately two years after the entire nation acknowledged the Emancipation Proclamation. But the slave owners in Texas ignored this federal law.
June 19 is the day when Black people in Texas celebrate the freedom of their Ancestors, our Ancestors, who were held in SLAVERY for approximately two years after the entire nation acknowledged the Emancipation Proclamation. But the slave owners in Texas ignored this federal law.
This year’s call to action has special significance as the world’s eyes are trained on South Texas, where tens of thousands of asylum seekers from Central Amerika come to the United States seeking a safe haven but instead have found mistreatment, abuse, racism, and slavery. The legislative and criminal justice system in Texas continues to create the foundations for institutionalized racism and bigotry.
Do you realize that the U.S. Army had to ride into Galveston, Texas, in 1867 and announce that slavery had been abolished.
The state of Texas was so hell-bent on maintaining their slaves and profiting from slave labor that the U.S. Army had to show force to make Texas eliminate the practice of slavery. But it is still alive! Prison slavery is something that is being practiced and perpetuated in every state in the union and it has been codified by the most powerful legal document in the United States, the U.S. Constitution.
We must continue to call for the exception clause – or slavery – clause in the 13th Amendment to be struck down! We must finish the abolitionist work! Remember, sisters and brothers, that this is an international campaign which seeks to address the misogynistic practices of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as the genocide waged against Palestinian people.
The bigots who operate Texas prisons wish to silence my voice. I refuse to remain silent! On June 19, 2019, stand with us!
Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win, All Power to the People!
Keith “Malik” Washington is co-founder and chief spokesperson for the End Prison Slavery in Texas Movement, a proud member of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, an activist in the Fight Toxic Prisons campaign and deputy chairman of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party Prison Chapter. Read Malik’s work at ComradeMalik.com. Send our brother some love and light: Keith “Malik” Washington, 1487958, McConnell Unit, 3100 S. Emily Dr., Beeville TX 78103.
This article previously appeared on the San Francisco Bay View, and readers who find it useful may wish to donate to help make sure the print edition of the Bay View can still make it into prisons.
