133 lines
7.0 KiB
Plaintext
133 lines
7.0 KiB
Plaintext
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What is the Anarchist Black Cross?
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The Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) is an international network of autonomous
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groups of anarchists who work to ensure that imprisoned activists aren't
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forgotten.
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The origins of the Anarchist Black Cross date back prior to the Russian
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Revolution. An Anarchist *Red* Cross was formed in Tsarist Russia to
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organize aid for political prisoners and their families, and self-defense
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against political raids by the Cossack army. During the Russian Civil War,
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the organization changed its name to the Black Cross in order to avoid
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confusion with the Red Cross who were organizing relief in the country.
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After the Bolsheviks seized power the Black Cross moved to berlin. It
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continued to aid prisoners of the Bolshevik regime, as well as victims of
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Italian fascism and others. Despite the increasing demand for its
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services, the Black Cross folded in the '40s due to a simultaneous decline
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in available finances. In the late '60s the organization resurfaced in
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England, where it initially worked to aid prisoners of the Spanish
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resistance to Franco's fascist regime. In the 1980's the ABC expanded and
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now has groups in many different regions of the world.
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Working Towards Liberation
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We believe that prisons serve no function except to preserve the ruling
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classes. We also believe that free society must find alternative,
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*effective* ways of dealing with anti-social crime. But a decrease in
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anti-social crime is only likely to happen (and therefore prison abolition
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can only be a realistic option) accompanied by a dramatic change in our
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economic, social and political systems. These conditions lie at the root
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of both anti-social crime and the reasons for a prison system. Our primary
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goal is to make these fundamental changes. We work for a stateless,
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cooperative/classless society free from privilege or domination based on
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race or gender. But it's not enough to build the grassroots movements
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necessary to bring about these changes in society, we must also be able to
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defend them. The ABC defends those who are captured and persecuted for
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carrying out acts on behalf of our movements.
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Support for Imprisoned Activists
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The ABC aims to recognize, expose and support the struggles of prisoners in
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general, and of Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War in particular.
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The form our solidarity takes depends on each individual's situation. To
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some we send financial or material aid. With others, we keep in contact
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through mail, make visits, provide political literature, and discuss
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strategy and tactics. We do whatever we can to prevent prisoners becoming
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isolated from the rest of the movement. We fundraise on behalf of
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prisoners or their defense committees for legal cases or other needs, and
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organize demonstrations or public campaigns of solidarity with prisoners we
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support. We regard prisoners as an active part of our movement and seek to
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maintain their past and potential contributions by acting as a link back to
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the continuing struggle. Increased communication between activists both
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inside and outside prison inspires resistance on both sides of the prison
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walls. We hope that we can encourage other activists by providing
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assurance that even if you are persecuted for your activities, the movement
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will not abandon you: we will take care of our own. Through the ABC, we
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are building organizational support for resistance.
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Defending Resistance
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Outside of prisoner support work, the ABC is committed to the wider
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resistance in which many of these prisoners are engaged. We see a need to
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be highly organized if we are to effectively meet the organized repression
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of the State and avoid defeat. When power is challenged, be it in South
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Africa, occupied Palestine, Chile, Ireland or Canada, it inevitably turns
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to violent repression and political imprisonment to maintain itself. In
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1989 we set up an "Emergency Response Network" (ERN) to respond to
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political raids, crackdowns, death sentences, hungerstrikes, torture or
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killings of members of or communities we work in solidarity with. An ERN
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mobilization means ABC groups and others around the world send telegrams
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and phone calls, organize demonstrations or other actions within 48 hours
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of the network being alerted. For instance, two Greek anarchist prisoners
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reported to be held incommunicado and subject to torture were released from
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solitary confinement and allowed access to lawyers after the ERN's first
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mobilization brought demonstrations, calls, faxes, and telegrams to Greek
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embassies around the world. The ABC's international network plays the one
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trump card grassroots movements have in our deck: solidarity.
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Remember: We're Still Here
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We decide what prisoners to support and what work we will do on a
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case-by-case basis. We put priority on the cases of political/politicized
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prisoners and POWs as this corresponds to our committment to building
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resistance. Although imprisonment is in itself "political", Political
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Prisoners and Prisoners of War are being held specifically for their
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beliefs or actions. Unlike Amnesty International, we don't place
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judgements on what are valid and invalid expressions of resistance:
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non-violence is not a criterion for support. Unlike other organizations
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supporting political prisoners, we include those who were "politicized" by
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the prison experience and have since become organizers inside prison. Many
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"politicized" prisoners face increased harrassment in return for their
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activism.
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Getting Involved
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There are many ways of getting involved in this work. You or your group can:
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* Join your local ABC group
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* set up your local ABC group
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* donate labour, materials or money to the ABC
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* become active in the Emergency Response Network
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* or help as an individual by spreading information about prisoners,
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writing to them, making visits, sending reading materials and more...
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For more information on the ABC and getting involved, contact us at the
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address below.
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Chicago Anarchist Black Cross
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c/o WCF, PO Box 81961
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Chicago, IL 60681 USA
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(or you can put your local group's address here)
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@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
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@ Chuck Munson @
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@ Media and Microcomputer Center @
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@ College Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison @
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@ Internet: ctmunson@macc.wisc.edu @
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@ Bitnet: ctmunson@wiscmacc.bitnet @
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@ @
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@ "a library without walls tends to fall down" @
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@ @
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@ "A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can @
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@ learn in no other way" --Mark Twain @
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@ @
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@ "You cannot create experience. You must undergo it. --Camus @
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@ @
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@ "The human tendency prefers familiar horrors to unknown @
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@ delights." --Fred Woodworth @
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@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
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