Proposal for Prison Noise Demos Across North America on New Year’s Eve 2014/2015

Freedom will blossom in the ruins of the prisons.

by Some West Coast Anarchists / PSA

December 15, 2014

Over the past twelve months, new waves of revolt have swept over this continent and the entire world. Against the terror of the Mexican state and its bloody cronies, demonstrations, riots, and attacks have radiated outwards from Ayotzinapa. Triggered by the racist violence of U.S. cops, rebels across the middle of the continent have achieved a new level of intensity and coordination. Blockades and occupations continue to simmer and spread in the Canadian state, with burning barricades built by Mi’kmaq warriors in 2013 finally finding echoes in the Bay Area. It’s vital that we link our practice of New Year’s Eve noise demos to this eruption of social conflict.

Globally, these eruptions immediately find themselves in desperate conflict with the system, sometimes leading to the arrest and imprisonment of rebels and anarchists. For others, it has led to torture and death. The beginning of the year saw the arrest of Amelie, Carlos, and Fallon. As the year comes to a close, there are hundreds facing charges across the U.S. after months of wild anti-police demos. We have lost not only Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Mike Brown, and the Normalistas but also Remi Fraisse and, last year, Omar Aziz. Dozens of comrades remain in clandestinity, while others continue their struggles behind prison walls. These struggles range from the protests of rebel prisoners and immigrant detainees in California and Indiana, Tacoma and Houston, to the victorious hunger strike waged by Nikos Romanos and thousands of comrades across Europe.

Faced with this repression, our response is always revolutionary solidarity. Our support is not passive and charitable, but based on continually expanding the terrain of struggle against authority and capitalism. We not only continue the subversive projects that the state sought to interrupt with an indictment or subpoena, but find new ways to undermine the existing order. For us, prisoners are not idols and heroes, but comrades with whom we maintain dialogue and a critical perspective. We not only support them, but we count on prisoners for their support and ideas. Contact and knowledge of each other are the prerequisites for this relationship of solidarity.

From letters to actions, we practice solidarity with prisoners throughout the year in order to maintain this contact. Additionally, though, we organize noise demonstrations every New Year’s Eve outside the walls of prisons, jails, and immigrant detention centers. Sometimes these are the facilities where specific comrades are held and sometimes these are facilities in which social prisoners and rebels unknown to us have been left to rot. Either way, we use our voices, banners, sound systems, instruments, and fireworks to remind prisoners that they are never alone. Communication and coordination of our rebellious intentions and actions are possible no matter how high the walls. As new revolts extend against police, white supremacy, the state and capitalism, it’s more possible than ever to spread solidarity with those confined in prison, the place where these forms of power meet most violently.

Organize a noise demo in your town or city this New Year’s Eve. Link it to the struggles of prisoners but also to your own conditions and struggles. Let’s be sure that those detained and charged in the recent uprisings hear our voices, without forgetting those who’ve struggled with dignity for long years inside the prisons.

For the spread of revolt that could put an end to domination and exploitation inside and out of the prisons,

—Some West Coast Anarchists

Check out these related Newswire posts: