Revolutionary Video Visits

by Safear I haven't seen my mother in 5 years. She lives almost 6 hours away from the prison I'm held captive in. Since COVID, the PA DOC has offered video calls for family and friends of prisoners. Outside folks can video call directly from their phone or laptop. But my mom refuses to set …

A Photo In Prison

by Safear In the era of social media, outdated technology is still a prisoners link to the world. Sometimes that means using a payphone in incremental limits. Other times it means posting a stamp on an envelope then waiting weeks to receive a response. Prisoners exist in the world pre-internet. Likewise, friends of prisoners quickly …

The Currency of Credibility

by Pierre Pinson and Safear Don't mistake elected and appointed officials as the only politicians. Politicians don't always dress in suits or roll in motorcades. Some dress in flannels and chant the latest revolutionary slogans. Unfortunately, there are many of them lurking in revolutionary movements. It's possible there may be a politician in your abolitionist …

The Interview

by komrade underground Versafire-- Words expire… Never! Would you die for the cause, or kill for the better? Defy all the laws, to keep a nation together? Fight for equal rights, So we can day see forever?! Or, would you bow to the man, When the waters get rough?  Forget ‘bout the plan, When the …

Prison Lives Matter: Journal in the Spirit of Nelson Mandela, Vol 1 Spring 2021

plm_1_7june2021-1Download In the Spring we helped our friends at PLM put out this zine to 800 imprisoned comrades. Here's a PDF for reading and distributing! -I https://abolitioniststudy.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/plm_1_7june2021-1.pdf

COVID

While the correctional guards' union is busy arguing that its members should not have to be vaccinated to work behind these walls, one of them has infected a prisoner here who was scheduled to be released. Because that prisoner was housed on my block, I and 46 other prisoners, all deemed high risk by the …

Dear Essex / 4.16.2021

Dear Essex, It is our birthday again. I am sitting here in this tomb of sorrow thinking about your weapons. Since I picked them up, I have been questioning whether I can carry the responsibility you shouldered. You told us that someone would have to answer the mail you leave, the messages on your phone …

You Gotta Learn the History: an Interview with Michael “Safear” Ness

Michael “Safear” Ness is an imprisoned abolitionist organizer at SCI-Fayette in Pennsylvania. IA is an outside friend and comrade.  IA: When and how did you become an abolitionist in your thinking? And in your practice? Safear: I’ve been radical since before abolition was in my vocabulary. Meaning, I was always someone who wanted to understand …

Defend Stevie Against Violent Retaliation!

Image: "Bars 1" by Josh MacPhee, thanks to JustSeeds. Description: Black background, with white bars bent and broken in the middle. Stephen Wilson, a Black queer abolitionist organizer and a prisoner of the state of Pennsylvania, is once again facing retaliation, harassment, and repression at SCI-Fayette. A rank-and-file prison cop named Digiacomo, who has for …

Study Groups & Moving Together: An Interview with Stephen Wilson

image credit: Fences, by Rini Templeton, thanks to JustSeeds Stephen Wilson is a Black queer abolitionist writing, organizing, and building study groups and community behind the wall at SCI-Fayette in Pennsylvania. Ian Alexander is his friend and comrade on the outside. This interview is the first in a series that will be published together as a …