Category Archives: Prisons

The Teardown in Review: Our 2020 Initiatives

2020 has been a strange year. On one hand, we saw the biggest uprisings in the US in a generation. On the other, covid has been a severe hit to radical movements, cutting our efforts off from the most important resource: each other. The rich and powerful want us to deal with this crisis as individuals: manage your own life, think of your own problems, stay at home and wait for experts to solve everything.

We aren’t waiting on any politician, CEO, or foundation. We have to reconnect, link up and make things happen. Here’s an overview of projects and initiatives the Teardown Community has been pushing forward in 2020. If any of these speak to you, please reach out so we can plug you in! We’ll also soon be announcing a covid-safe physical meetup to explore these and other radical efforts happening in Atlanta.

Atlanta Solidarity Fund

A project to coordinate fundraising, bail and legal support for protesters. In 2020 we provided more funds than ever before for bail and legal fees, but it’s still nowhere near enough due to unprecedented arrests this summer. Many are still facing charges and some are still in jail awaiting trial. We need help organizing fundraisers and raising awareness about the ongoing political repression of protesters, as well as help with jail support tasks.

Food Not Bombs / Food4Life

For over a decade, the Food Not Bombs collective based out of the Teardown has shared free food with the hungry in Atlanta. Since covid, the emphasis has been on our Food4Life initiative, which provides covid-safe delivery of free groceries to hundreds of households every week without fail. Many kinds of volunteers are needed to keep this operation ticking.

Atlanta Anarchist Black Cross

A prisoner solidarity organization, maintaining lines of communication with those locked in jail and prison throughout Georgia. AABC produces and mails a newsletter to hundreds of politicized and rebellious prisoners in the South, helping inspire prisoners to resist unfair conditions.

Copwatch East Atlanta

Copwatch has monitored police activity at the George Floyd / Rayshard Brooks protests this summer, working in teams to ensure that video evidence is available for those targeted for abuse or falsely accused of crimes. We’re also providing education for protesters about their rights when approached or detained by police.

125 Newsletters Mailed out to Rebellious Prisoners: Special Prison Strike Issue

Every month, Atlanta Anarchist Black Cross sends out a newsletter to about 125 prisoners who have expressed an interest in getting it. This month, in honor of the nationwide prison strike, we sent the issue out a bit early to give updates and encouragement. The newsletter goes to over a dozen prisons, mostly in Georgia. It contains news and updates about ways that prisoners are resisting the unjust conditions of their confinement, from protests and hunger strikes to legal actions. Prisoners write contributions, everything from poetry and art to social commentary and opinion pieces and updates about their own struggles for resistance. By responding to pieces from previous months, they are able to set up a sort of dialogue and express support and solidarity with each other.

The newsletter gets passed around from prisoner to prisoner, and each issue contains a note saying to write us if you want to get added to the mailing list. So the list of prisoners who receive it grows slightly each month. We have contact with several prisoners who are particularly down for the struggle and well connected with others in their prisons, so we get several new requests for the newsletter each month from them alone.

All told, each letter costs about $0.55 to mail, including stamps, envelopes, paper, and toner. We are only restricted in how many we can mail out by the amount of money we are able to fundraise. Each time we have a mailing, we pass the hat, and each attendee throws in a couple bucks. So far that has been enough to float our mailing each month, but money is tight for Atlanta Anarchist Black Cross.

How You Can Help

If you want to contribute content to the newsletter to update prisoners about things relevant to them, like struggles going on in other prisons, you can send us a piece and we will get it into the next newsletter. You can write it yourself or find it on the Internet.

You can follow Atlanta Anarchist Black Cross on Facebook and get updates about when the mailings go out, and come help us fold, stamp and seal the envelopes.

We always need money; you can contribute or hold a fundraiser, and get in touch via ATLblackcross.org.

Another huge need is pen pals for prisoners. It can be very isolating and disheartening to be in prison, and knowing that someone on the outside remembers them and cares can be a literal lifesaver. Each letter they receive means so much, far more than the effort that it takes you to write. You can set up an account at jpay.com and exchange emails with some prisoners (in some prisons they have access to tablets so they can email). If you would like to write one of the prisoners on our mailing list who expressed interest in having a penpal or need help with tasks from someone on the outside, get in touch via the website. There is a guide to writing prisoners on the website to get you started.

However you choose to contribute, your support is vital for prisoners who are brave enough to put everything on the line for their rights.