prisoner support, of course! Because unless we actually make this the last year of their world, our comrades will still be in there the next.The nationwide Never Alone tour will be crisscrossing the country in April 2012, featuring the usual suspects speaking about long-term anarchist prisoner support. Focusing specifically on the cases of Eric McDavid and Marie Mason, the tour will mark the spots where the events of these cases unfolded, using multimedia presentations to bring the facts of these cases to light.
As well as raising awareness and support for Eric and Marie, the tour will also feature strategizing about how to more effectively grow a culture of resistance that can breach the prison walls and sustain us and our friends for the long term, a security culture beyond 101 workshop (updated for 2012, now with extra tech!) and some awesome guest speakers. Truly, you won’t want to miss this.
When our friends and loved ones are snatched from us and held captive by the state, we become all too aware that we are never alone. The eyes of the state are always upon us, attempting to silence our voices and still our hands. To keep us from doing the work we know must be done. We must act despite this.
Because we also know that it is imperative that our friends on the inside know that they, too, are never alone. That we will stand by them throughout their time in prison, and welcome them with open arms when they return. That the struggles they were involved in continue on, and that they are empowered to continue on in struggle from inside the prison walls.
And we know that we can’t do this alone. We need the active support of our communities to give us the strength and courage to struggle for our friends and their freedom.
Our friends remind us of what is possible. They remind us that we don’t have to wait for permission to do what we know is right. They remind us that we are not powerless. Like Marie and Eric, we are tired of watching all that we love be destroyed by all that we hate. We know what needs to happen.
We are in it for the long haul.
Are you?
Find out more about the tour: http://neveralonetour.wordpress.com
Questions? Trolling? Contact us at neveralonetour@riseup.net.
On March 8th we were lucky enough to film this wonderful workshop by Jenna Peters-Golden of Philly Stands Up and AORTA (Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance) Collective. This workshop was titled ‘Capacity Building For the Long Haul’. We hope you enjoy this workshop and it serves you as a tool to help organize and strengthen your efforts and activism.Thanks to Red and Black Cafe for putting this event on!
“How do you sustain your vision for change? How do you connect the dots when there is so much to get done? How do you zoom out and look at the big picture? How do you stay strong, keep building power and maintain effective sustainability as an organization? In this popular education style workshop we will break down the elements of transformative organizing — concepts, structures and tools to strengthen your campaigns, craft coalitions and specifically, create meaningful organizations built to thrive.”
Here at Because We Must, we love social justice media, this often includes videos of sorts that inspire us and give us goosebumps. This video is certainly one of those videos. “On Revolution: A Conversation Between Grace Lee Boggs and Angela Davis”, this historical event was the kick off event for the 27th Annual Empowering Women Of Color Conference in Berkeley, Ca. We could write pages about how Grace Lee Boggs and Angela Davis have inspired us to be the activists we are today, but for now we would like you to look into them yourselves. My favorite part of the talk is around the 45 minute mark, where Angela Davis discusses how she thinks the topic of food is going to be one of the next big social justice struggles. She then talks about being vegan, and the connection between human and non-human struggles. Although its a lengthy video, its a very interesting one. We should all be having these sorts of discussion everyday, and I thank those responsible for putting this talk together.
“I am sometimes really disappointed that many of us can assume that we are these radical activists, but we don’t know how to reflect on the food that we put in our own bodies. We don’t realize the extent to which we are implicated in the whole process of capitalism by participating uncritically in the food politics offered to us by great corporations. I usually don’t mention that I’m vegan, but that has evolved, and I think its the right moment to talk about it, because it is, I think, a part of a revolutionary perspective. How can we not only discover more compassionate relations with human beings, but how can we develop compassionate relations with the other creatures with whom we share this planet. And that would mean challenging the whole capitalist industrial form of food production.” – Angela Davis
