Tag: prisoner solidarity

Black August: “What Will You Do?”

Posted on by dirtysouth

Published on 8/05/2026

A zine version of this essay formatted for printing can be accessed here: https://malikspeaks.noblogs.org/files/2026/08/malik-black-august-2026-PRINT.pdf

As Black August approaches, I am reminded of the sacrifices of our revolutionaries, and our duty. To fight AND to win, as Assata said. The fascist police states repression is intensifying steadily. The violence of the military industrial complex spreads round the world threatening WW3 daily. The climate disaster we stare down daily is fueled by capitalists’ insatiable greed and need for “more.” What that “more” is I couldn’t say. The prison industrial complex warehouses black and brown poor people in a slow genocidal death march as the arm expands to immigration warehousing. These telecom and prison services companies exploit our people, squeezing every last dime from us, as they take our lives in here too.

So what DO we do? We do our duty. “It is our duty to fight AND our duty to WIN!” That’s what Assata reminds us to do: fight and win. And what a privilege it is to fight. The carceral state’s repression has claimed the lives of many, from turtle island defenders to prairieland defendants. Persecuted for their action, their resistance. We can say they did nothing wrong, but even in doing that, we enforce the state’s narrative that some things are OK and some are not. The state is an unjust beast, its violence a repressive tool that will not spare you, whether you move a box or shoot a gun or vote the wrong way. The state is on the hunt for dissidents.

So what do we do? We do our fucking duty. Our siblings sitting inside with decades or even for just a single day should not be made to wait for us to be “ready” for abolition. Oppression is here now, abolition is needed now, not tomorrow. Not one more should be dragged away by the state. Smothered without air to breathe. Soul and life force sucking.

While reading Martin Sostre’s biography with some siblings here inside SCDC, a part that stood out was Martin speaking on his being upset at the long arm of the political part of prisoner support and the absence of the militancy. At a time when Assata was sprung and those who carried out that daring liberation were hoping it’d ignite a movement and spark peoples’ minds, he saw as they soon found out, that the movement lacked much needed teeth. There’s an enormous focus on publications and print media, uplifting voices from the inside and even legal action for redress of conditions – still — prison is prison and we are abolitionists, are we not? Did Assata say it was our duty to fight and sustain? Fight endure? No, she emphasized our duty to WIN.

We do not win against the fascists if all we do is sustain our revolutionaries until their deaths inside. Keeping them comfortable — but ONLY within the confines of what the STATE ALLOWS. Canteen, calls, tablet time – sure, all things the state can profit from and will HAPPILY take your money for. But a political prisoner once said the best thing his support crew got him while inside was gunpowder and parts to make a gun. And so he did. Our duty is to fight and to win, the state is no omnipotent beast, not all powerful or inevitable. There was a time before and there will be a time after. That AFTER will not come without a push, a shove off a 30-storey building. It takes action; our people require that direct action, that immediate redress. The state kidnapped, ransomed, extorted and held hostage those you love, those who were undertaking their DUTY, what do we do? We do our duty, we fight and we win.

August 3rd approaches, commemorating the Underground Railroad’s existence. Think about that: the path to liberation was laid and paved in desperation for freedom and all these years later on, these modern plantations continue? We in the movement allow ourselves to just sustain them and attempt to bargain with the state for our fallen? If this country and its repressive tactics of labeling of any dissident as “Antifa” says ANYTHING, it’s that it doesn’t matter WHAT you do, you WILL be hunted, branded and persecuted by the state… so go big or go home, right? Where would the movement be today if our underground railroad meant that IF the state catches you, freedom will loom large, just on the cusp? If we could say “hold on Sib, we’re coming for you” — oh how bold our action might be! How scared the state would be to find that their MAIN tool of repression, incarceration with decades-long numbers, falls flat before our revolutionaries because our movement has teeth, because our movement doesn’t seek comfort INSIDE, but seeks liberation and freedom! Freedom for our people outside and abolition of the state everywhere! For the love of the people, freedom, and liberation, and because to do our duty and to do it well and WIN is the calling.

It’s the demand of Assata, Afeni, Mutulu, Martin Sostre, Hampton, Huey, Guevara, Tupac, George and Johnathan Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo and Clutchette, Harriet Tubman, Marcus Garvey — it is not an ask; it’s a demand that we do our duty and do it well.

Black August approaches, days of significance fill the month, a black history month the state will not give us –and that’s what makes it all the more special. Like Juneteenth prior to the state giving it to us, it’s special because it’s ours. We decide what’s important and relevant to us.

Black August is important for political education, physical fitness and unity. The three pillars of black August that should extend outside of these gates and fences and walls. Why? Because the underground railroad was not established by those not physically capable and fit. It was not established by those not versed in the systems of constraints, legal apparatus and cohesion that bound us into slavery. It was not functioning for so long without unity among those free and those held hostage enslaved.

G eorge Jackson is largely honored during Black August as he should be, being a fine example of what a black man should be. Steadfast and resolute. His example left for us a map to freedom, but he got the map from those who tread the path before him. Our people plotted this path with the stars, with our hair, seeking freedom is in our blood. As a people, we know what we must do. As abolitionists, we know what we must do. As revolutionaries, we KNOW what we must do. We must do our duty. A people cannot be so repressed that they cannot fight back. Inside and out, we must prepare. Build and establish these networks and roads, maintain them and act. Oppression is here now, it’s only intensifying. Our people and planet is dying. What will YOU do?

For Black August, work out in groups of no less than two. 100 reps of something per day. Collective reps will be reflected in the date’s significance (e.g. August 1-2, 1943 Harlem race riot = 1943 reps). It is not about what YOU can do but what we can do together OK? So link with people to do these reps, get 5 and divide it however you can.

Political education as well, at least one hour of study and reading per day together. Get a group, read and hold open discussion, discuss the date’s significance and what sparked it. No one knows everything, but everyone knows SOMETHING, and collaborative group discussions can spark ideas and create paths yet to be trod.

Unity is the most important pillar of Black August to me. Unity with your cohort outside AND your siblings inside. Learn and get to know your siblings, those around you. You’re more apt to fight and protect and defend the sibs you know than ones you don’t.

“Learn to see me as a brother instead of two distant strangers and that’s how it’s supposed to be / how can the devil take a brother if he’s close to me?”
– Tupac Shakur

Mentally fit, physically capable, and united together. That’s what’s it’s about.

Reading List

William C. Anderson, “The Nation on No Map” (2021)

Kuwasi Balagoon, “A Soldier’s Story” (2001)

Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin, “Anarchism and the Black Revolution” (1979)

Garret Felber, “A Continuous Struggle: The Revolutionary Life of Martin Sostre” (2025)

Eugenia Ginzburg, “Journey into the Whirlwind” (1967)

George Jackson, “Blood in My Eye” (1971)

George Jackson, “Soledad Brothers” (1970)

From malikspeaks

Media/Press Release: Free Dandelion

Posted on by dirtysouth

Advocates Call for Review in Case Involving Survivor of Sexual Violence

Palatka, FL — Advocates, community members, and supporters are calling for urgent review in the case of 23-year-old transwoman Mathew Temael, also known as Dandelion, who has been incarcerated at the Putnam County Jail since 2023 following an incident in which it is alleged that she had stood her groundin self-defense against Louis Stackhouse III, a convicted pedophile who had repeatedly sexuallyassaulted her.

As the Florida State Attorney’s Office threatening Dandelion with the death sentence, supporters say the case raises serious concerns about how the Florida criminal justice system continues a double standard of criminalizing survivors of sexual violence while protecting sex offenders, particularly when claims of self-defense and prior abuse are involved.

Mathew Temael was arrested and charged in the death of 70-year-old convicted child rapist, trafficker and pedophile Louis Stackhouse III. To ensure a fair trial, supporters are demanding that the State Attorney’s Office does not withhold evidence that will allow the jury to consider the full context of trauma, coercion, and immediate threat experienced by Dandelion prior to the alleged murder of Louis Stackhouse III.

“Survivors of sexual assault do not deserve the death penalty. They deserve to have their lived experiences fully understood within the legal process,” said one member of the Free Mathew Temael Legal Defense Committee. “If it is alleged that a rape survivor stands their ground out of fear for their life, that context cannot be ignored.”

Advocates are Demanding the Office Of The State Attorney R.J. Larizza, 7th Judicial Circuit to:

● Drop all charges
● Conduct a thorough, transparent, and trauma-informed review of all the evidence provided in the
case
● Present all evidence related to prior sexual assault and self-defense is fully presented to the court

The case highlights broader concerns about the systemic barriers that all sexual assault and domestic violence survivors face in getting favorable rulings and protection from the criminal justice system.

Community members are encouraged to express their concerns and call for a fair review prior to her May
14th pre-trial hearing by writing letters of support to:

1-B Putnam County Courthouse
410 St. Johns Avenue
Palatka, Florida 32177
Circuit Court, County Court
State Attorney, General Magistrate t

Community members are also asked to support by appearing at her trial, to be held at the Putnam County
Courthouse beginning May 14 at 1:30pm.

Media Contact: Free Mathew Temael Legal Defense Committee | mdtdefensecommittee@protonmail.com

4/27/26*

Have you ever been in a vulnerable moment? A dangerous one even? A moment where you really needed a warrior, a helper, a friend? These are the times when Dandelion always shows up, often in a flowing skirt with ribbons, billowing brightly in the sun. From coast to coast, dnn answers the call of those most in need. As a trans neuroexpansive indigenous migrant, she knows what it’s like to be targeted, attacked, & assaulted, yet she never acts out of fear for herself, only out of deep love for others.

That is why Dandelion has been accused of unaliving the man who raped her, Louis Stackhouse. Unlike our caring, brave Dandelion, Louis Stackhouse is an entitled white man, convicted child rapist, known trafficker, predator, and overall abuser who lived in the middle of a white supremacist controlled region of Florida. Rather than celebrate the removal of a known pedophile,
the State of Florida is trying to pin this courageous act on dnny. After 3 years of torture in Putnam County Jail, the State wants to start the process of giving Dandelion the death penalty on May 14th with pretrial.

It is up to us as kind caring humans left on this incredible Earth to stop them. We must resist. Share this information with everyone you know who still has an open heart and mind: friends, family, independent news outlets, social media. Share everywhere. dnny’s life depends on it. Write to the Clerk of Circuit in Putnam County FL to let them know how much we love dandelion, how much her presence in our communities means to us, that the charges should be dropped, and that they need to be freed immediately! This is the only way to reach the judge who has the power to dismiss the case. If you have any personal stories about how Dandelion has helped you or people you love, include that as well. 2509 Crill Ave, Palatka, FL 32177.

You can also add funds directly to Dnny’s commissary using her legal name, Mathew Temael and ID#23001768 on this site below:

https://web.connectnetwork.com/facilities/putnam-county-fl/

If folks would like to write to her directly, you can reach her on smartinmate.com. She is unable to
accept books or physical mail. You’ll have to register on the site and purchase credits to speak to
her there.


smartinmate.com
Mathew Temael #23001768
FL – Putnam County Jail

May all oppressed people be free.

Submitted Anonymously

*ADMIN NOTE: This submission was received in May, but we missed it. We sincerely apologize for this oversight. Therefore, the information provided may not be the most up-to-date.

Additionally, we were unsure as admins whether certain submitted materials were intended to be published. Some of the submitted material has been omitted in consideration of Dandelion’s legal situation. Additionally, we do not have explicit consent from Dandelion to publish. This was a difficult decision to make, but we made it out of careful consideration with the information provided.

Kevin Rashid Is Back in Virginia — Now He Needs His Legal Property

Posted on by dirtysouth

June 24, 2026

Dear comrades and supporters of Rashid,

We have an important update: Kevin “Rashid” Johnson has been returned from South Carolina to Virginia custody.

This is a major victory. Thank you to everyone who called, emailed, shared, and kept pressure on officials while Rashid was being held in South Carolina under retaliatory and isolating conditions. People power helped get him out of South Carolina exile.

But the fight is not over.

Rashid is now at Keen Mountain Correctional Center in Virginia, and he urgently needs access to his legal property, personal property, and a tablet for communication.

He has multiple lawsuits against VADOC and SCDC with upcoming deadlines. Without his legal materials, he may miss court deadlines in active litigation. Without tablet access, he remains cut off from the people helping him litigate, publish, communicate, and survive.

This is not a routine property issue. This is an access-to-courts emergency.

Please take action today:

1. Call Keen Mountain Correctional Center Main number: (276) 498-7411 Ask for the property department, property officer, property room, or whoever handles inmate property and legal property.

You can also call Warden Jessica King’s office: (434) 602-3103

2. Call VADOC Central Administration Lucinda R. Childs-White, Deputy Director of Administration (804) 887-7881

3. Use the one-click email tool on Rashid’s campaign page: bit.ly/free-rashid-june-2026

Tell officials:

Kevin Johnson #1007485 urgently needs access to his legal property, personal property, and tablet access at Keen Mountain. He has upcoming lawsuit deadlines, and without his legal materials he may miss court deadlines. Please release all of his legal property and personal property immediately, confirm that all transferred property from South Carolina has been received and inventoried, and provide tablet access so he can communicate and meet his legal deadlines.

Please also share the social media posts widely:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1979PTZcKN/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZp4zu3gFcr/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTBVUjgJe/

We got Rashid back to Virginia. Now we need to make sure Virginia does not continue the retaliation by blocking his legal access.

Demand: release Kevin Johnson’s legal property, personal property, and tablet access now.

Source: https://rashidmod.com/?p=4090

jail

Posted on by dirtysouth

one day in the last week of may. 2026. (on the oppressor’s kalendar.)
i went into the website for the tuskaloosa kounty jail.
&& out of about 650 or so registered kaptives.
i kounted every person who has been inside sinse 2023. (on the oppressor’s kalendar.)
so, people who been lokked up for at least 2.5 years at this point.
&& the jail website had 48 people lokked up on their list who had been in that long. of which, 37 were Blakk.
that’s 77%. in a kounty that is supposed to be around 33% Blakk. (in the oppressor’s sensus data.)

the breakdown year by year looks like this.
lokked up in 2023 – 20 Blakk ppl, 9 others.
lokked up in 2022 – 9 Blakk ppl, 1 other.
lokked up in 2021 – 7 Blakk ppl, 1 other.
lokked up in 2020 – yes, there was one Blakk person in jail in tuskaloosa who has been there sinse 2020.

i desyded to do the same thing in jefferson kounty (where birmingham is).
&& i found in their website, on the same day, 129 people who had been lokked up in jail sinse 2023 or earlier.
&& i found 114 of them were Blakk.
which is like 90%. in a kounty that’s supposed to be 43% Blakk. (in the oppressor’s sensus data.)

&& i know how i feel about this situation. && what i feel should be done about this. about jails. about kounties. about ameriKKKan states & the ameriKKKan way of life.

but what i don’t know is. now that YOU know.
what do YOU feel about this situation.
&& what do YOU feel should be done.
&& what will YOU do about jails ?
about kounties ?
about ameriKKKan states ?
about the ameriKKKan way of life ?
{{how}} will WE akt ?

Submitted Anonymously

Malik Muhammad: Update from South Carolina

Posted on by dirtysouth

The Biden admin’s fascist state propagated prosecution of me to “appear as hard on left wing extremists as the right.” This kicked off the politicized nature of my case. A “Black, Muslim, militant, extremist domestic terror threat,” as my FBI profile says. But I’ve been designated a “doomed man” in the words of George Jackson, long before the FBI did so. Born poor, Black, and Muslim, twenty five was the average age we’d make it to before being dead or in jail. The fascist state’s systems of oppression orchestrate the demise of doomed men, women, and children like this, daily, for fun. They love their controlled and manipulated statistics. 

I’m no one to be controlled. ODOC [Oregon Department of Corrections] found that out, clear and present. No matter the hole they put me in, nor the length of time they put me there, I do not capitulate. Nor does the community of love and solidarity and rage I have. The people who fight the state because resistance IS essence, because the people are what matter, their love endures. Oregon chose now — after all their state sanctioned violence did not break me — to make me the problem of another DOC, and to attempt to sever the ties and connections forged in the crucible of revolutionary love and struggle. They’ll succeed in making me another DOC’s problems, at least. But as an abolitionist, it’s nothing new. Our rage at the carceral state encompasses ALL prisons. Cuz none are free ’till we ALL are free, ’till ALL cages are empty, and all prisons are libraries. As a revolutionary, prison is just another front for the war. Any prison. 

So I’ll fight and resist on this new front, I’ll continue to agitate, aggravate, and organize against the state. I will NOT leave ODOC alone either. They will need to answer for their hole abuses, their hindering of my legal counsel, turning away visitors without cause or reason. Their blatant, racist political persecution. And their hope that sending me across the u.s. to the south would see me as a fish out of water — but I can swim anywhere. Anywhere the people are, I’ll build community through love, rage, and solidarity. 

ODOC did not like my cross racial study group. They didn’t like the education of the people because they prefer slaves. But to break free from the slave mentality, one must be ACUTELY aware of being one. That’s why education is the cornerstone to giving the people the tools to liberate themselves. Militancy without education is wanton aggression. Political education without militancy is all theory — academic. To forge both is to create a weapon most deadly against the state. So ODOC created a fictitious reason to put me in the hole, then created an in-house RICO charge because the other wouldn’t stick. They painted the blog and fundraiser as  racketeering and spreading propaganda.The DR [disciplinary review] (I wish I still had it) was as ridiculous as the RICO charge on the Stop Cop City siblings. They wrote it in such a way to convince their superiors I was a threat to be sent away. 

No one gets sent FROM Oregon to South Carolina, one of the most dangerous DOC’s in this fascist carceral state. The Lee County riots saw twenty one dead, forty five injured. This prison system has one of the worst overcrowding in the country. The intake and reception process takes up to 180 days — I’ve heard people be here longer — because they don’t have any bedspace. They get bedspace when someone is killed. Each soul carted off from R&E [Reception and Evaluation] to their prison is replacing a dead one. They passed an overcrowding act to let out nonviolent people. They make everyone eligible for parole and do percentages on their time, and still, they do not have enough beds for the people the state persecutes. R&E is three to a cell — one on the floor because there’s only two bunks. 

The food has no nutritional value — yesterday’s breakfast was bread and water. This system believing prisoners deserve bread and water is on par with this being the Bible belt, the Antebellum south, the home of those capitalists that sent poor racist whites to defend their ideal form of capital accumulation against the north and were rewarded with Black codes, the prisoner leasing program, and the mass incarceration we see today. Of course, they don’t even believe we deserve bread and water. We’re still only 3/4 of a human being. Work horses that need to be beat, not food. 

They mask the racism by having a nominally all Black staff. That means nothing. The overseers of the plantation are just inundated and indoctrinated to do the bare minimum, not think. They’re turnkeys, nothing more. That’s why they do not stop violence, much like how pigs on the street can hide behind the Supreme Court decision that ruled they have “no duty to protect,” so can these fascists let stabbings occur, even orchestrate them, and continue on overseeing the plantation. Who cares about another Black man’s death in here? Certainly not those coming for a check. Prisons are an otherwise destitute economy, providing careers for those not qualified to work at McDonald’s — which would be much more respectable. 

Thanks to this transfer and being in R&E, I missed the Eid meal in Oregon and could not participate in the one here. The state’s repressive tools seek to break me down and eviscerate my relationships, but the people who love the people, like I, don’t break so easily and exist all over the u.s. I take state repression as a sign I’m doing something right. Anytime you have the oppressor in a reactionary stance — it’s good. Their rigidity and yearning for consistency is their downfall. 

An anarchist’s greatest weapons are their critical thinking skills and adaptability. I adapt well. No environment can change me or break me. So I’ll do here what I do. I’ll organize, aggravate and agitate against the state. I’ll rally community. I’ll educate. I’ll grow ties, build bonds, and forge relationships that will endure lifetimes full of revolutionary love, rage, and solidarity. I’ll never stop fighting for the people. I’ll live, fight, and die for them because I love the people. Because I am the people, not the pig. And those that are with me, I hope it’s not out of pity, but cuz you realize this shit is killing you, too, however much more softly [1]. Ours is a love, rage, and solidarity that recognizes no imaginary border lines, abandons the constructs of time, permeates through walls, bars, and prison gates. It stays like the roots of an oak, stands tall as the fir, and may bend as the willow but still defies gravity and won’t break. Our love persists like daisies pushing through sidewalk cracks and dandelions blown through the wind, scattered from a child’s wish. 

I sit on the floor in this cell, meant for two but rooming three, awaiting the ticking clock to send me to what will be my residence for the next four years. And I am reassured, steadfast, and ready. This is an opportunity to meet new people, organize in a new space, a new state. To do whatever I feel called to, by my creator and myself. It feels like part of the plan, Allah’s plan. I will remember that resistance is essence. And no matter the circumstances, I’ll sow seeds of revolutionary love, rage, and solidarity.

At this time, they only give me two envelopes per month and four sheets of paper. I have to buy things from the “cadre” that work the units. It’s gross, prisoners exploiting prisoners, but that’s the deal. If I don’t respond right away to your letters, I will when I can. 

If anyone from my queer Ashville community would reach out, I’d love to talk more about the community you’re forging there. I’d love to know if there are any groups like CARE out here. 

Love rage & solidarity

Malik

Footnote

[1] From The Undercommons by Fred Moten and Stefano Harney.

Source: Malik Speaks! – 5/7/2026

Update on Malik Muhammed’s Forced Disappearance

Posted on by dirtysouth

According to a prison support group ( https://kolektiva.social/@malikspeaks/116361011946216063 ), Black, Palestinian, non-binary, anarchist prisoner Malik Muhammed has been transferred from “oregon” to “south carolina.” Malik’s locs were forcibly removed.

Retaliatory transfers between u.s. administrative divisions (“states”) & attacks on Black cultural expressions like hair have a long history. Retaliatory transfers are broadly known as ‘diesel therapy.’

For details on Malik’s forced disappearance by the PNW government: https://rant.li/okmana/malik-muhammad-has-been-tortured-and-disappeared-by-the-state-of-oregon

Submitted Anonymously

Alabama prison strike info

Posted on by dirtysouth

Alabama prison strike info via In Contempt:
https://incontempt.noblogs.org/2026/02/17/in-contempt-4/#call


Imprisoned Black gay anarchist Michael Kimble issued a statement with specific updates and action items to support those fighting at Ventress Correctional Facility:

On February 8th, 2026 Prisoners in the State of Alabama are doing it again! The Free Alabama Movement [FAM] made the call for prisoners to shut this shit down and prisoners throughout the state is answering this call to action on February 8th by refusing to participate in their own exploitation and oppression. There will be no work [slave labor].

The demands from prisoners at the prison I’m being held captive in [Ventress Correctional Facility] are:

Total abolition of prisons, elimination of LWOP sentences [life without possibility of parole] and the death penalty.

We refuse to continue playing a part in our own slavery, exploitation and oppression by withholding our labor power. Join us by being creative and fighting to abolish prisons. Some suggestions for those out in minimum kustody [so-called free-world]:

Banner drops

Agitation and education

Hold a screening of the documentary “The Alabama Solution”

Graffiti

Write a prisoner

Direct action

The state of Alabama Department of Corrections has already begun to attempt to derail the work strike by weaponizing food and limiting the amount of food prisoners can purchase from the commissary, and bird feeding us.

This morning we were served a small portion of soupy oatmeal, one slice of bread and a spoonful of jelly, and a spoonful of gravy. For lunch we were served one fish patty, one slice of bread, a spoonful of English peas.

We also suggest that you call and demand that we be given full, nutritious meals.

Ventress Correctional Facility Warden Karen Williams: 334-775-3331 Ext. 101

ADOC Commissioner’s Office 334-353-3870

ADOC Main Number 334-353-3883

Sample Script: “Hello, I am calling out of concern that over the past week, Ventress Correctional Facility has been weaponizing food by reducing what is included with each meal, as well as limiting food that can be bought at commissary. We demand that they be given full, nutritious meals at all times, and full access to commissary.”

Submitted anonyomusly.

Beneath the Prairie, the Concrete

Posted on by dirtysouth

December 11, 2025

What follows is a report on the organizing context in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in light of the political repression surrounding, but not exclusive to, the Prairieland Defendants. This comes after we were asked to present on anti-ICE organizng in Chicago and DFW by comrades in the Zizania feminist squat in Athens. At the bottom we offer the best ways to provide solidarity to Prairieland Defendants, but you can find the most up-to-date support website via prairielanddefendants.com. We also highly encourage you to share the zine version of this report available here in both US letter and A4 sizes.

The Prairieland case is a political repression case stemming from a protest in solidarity with ICE Detainees that occurred on July 4th at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, south of Fort Worth. There are currently 18 defendants facing life-altering state and federal charges. All but one are still in custody, being held on multi-million dollar bails and enduring horrific conditions. The accusations of the government are absurd, and the police response has been extreme, making it obvious that this is part of an effort to criminalize dissent along with the other high profile cases in Spokane, Portland, and Illinois. It has repeatedly been used by the Trump administration and its allies as an example of violence by “antifa.”

What do we know?

  • There was a noise demo held at the Prairieland Detention Center on July 4th in solidarity with ICE detainees.
  • In all, 18 people have been arrested and charged with a variety of crimes. 9 people were arrested that night, and another was arrested the next day during a raid on a house. The spouse of one defendant was arrested and charged with federal obstruction of justice with the evidence of a box of anarchist zines found in his car. One person the police believe to have been at the protest was detained after a 10 day manhunt involving the eventual arrest of 6 others. One of those arrested as part of the manhunt was charged with tampering with physical evidence for removing someone from group chats.
  • Loved ones have good reasons to believe the state’s narrative is ludicrous based on their knowledge of the defendants and statements defendants have made since their arrest.
  • As on November 13th, ten of the defendants have been combined onto a single indictment with a total of twelve charges. Seven others are charges separately on information.

What does the state allege?

  • The state alleges that toward the end of the demonstration an individual fired a gun at an Alvarado police officer. The officer was allegedly injured in the neck and was released from the hospital within hours.
  • The prosecution alleges that this was a coordinated ambush planned by all those in attendance. The subject of the manhunt and only accused shooter, Benjamin Song, is claimed to have been hidden by a number of individuals.
  • The DOJ claims that the defendants are part of a violent ideological movement they call “antifa.” As evidence they cite zines, political rhetoric, and many practices common for activists such as using Signal, wearing black, and asserting their rights when arrested. They also use as evidence the printing press found in 2 defendants’ garage, which they used to print books for small left-wing presses.

– From the Support FAQ on dfwdefendants.noblogs.org/resources/

Prairieland Detention Center, located just south of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, is one of ICE’s newest detention facilities. Holding kidnapped migrants and facilitating their deportations allows ICE to carry out the repression of the state’s internal political enemies. For example, the Prairieland facility detained Ángel Espinosa Villegas1, an anarchist participant of the George Floyd Uprising who was deported to Chile earlier this year and as of this writing, it still detains Leqaa Kordia2, a Palestinian participant of the Columbia encampment protests.

As mentioned in the quoted FAQ, this heavy repression of the Prairieland Defendants is being touted by the US government as its first legal case against “antifa.” Des Revol has been indicted on “corruptly concealing a document or record” for allegedly moving a box of zines, labeled as “antifa materials” by the government, from his spouse’s home. He is currently in federal prison with other defendants as his case moves forward and will likely be facing deportation proceedings afterwards3. In addition, a second FBI-led raid was conducted on the home of two defendants specifically to seize the printshop printer, the FBI justified this seizure by claiming their home printshop was used to print and distribute “antifa” and related “subversive” materials. Repression of anarchist publishing is nothing new of course, but this attack on speech in conjunction with the Oct 7th detainment of a local Filipino DACA recipient, Ya’akub Ira4, specifically for his advocacy of Palestinian liberation portend concerning headwinds for the currently unfolding repressive environment.

Setting aside the annoying and misinformed discourse of antifa in US social media, the significance of this legal maneuver should not be understated. Texas is located in the most conservative federal court circuit, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, the same court circuit responsible for bringing the case that overturned Roe v. Wade to the Supreme Court in addition to an attempt to bring a case to fully ban mifepristone (aka the abortion pill) in the US. On a bureaucratic level, this court also bucks standards of clearing its court dockets; its cases are heard at a much more rapid pace than other federal courts in the country. Already lawyers have expressed shock at the speed of the indictments and court hearings with the first of the trials starting in early-January according to the DFW Support Committee. To make matters worse, local Fort Worth courts have already felt emboldened to reprosecute organized leftist drag show defenders like Chris “Big Tex” G5 after their first failed attempts and the neighboring city of Arlington (the real host city of the FIFA World Cup Semifinals and Dallas Cowboy Stadium) has become one of the first cities to roll back LGBTQ anti-discrimination protections6. While Chicago is facing outright kidnappings from ICE, its legal justification, alongside heavier repression, may well come from this region.

All of this, of course, comes from a broader context. Texas is famously a bulwark for right wing politics and policy experimentation. In Johnson county alone, where the noise demo took place, Flock network surveillance cameras were used to collect evidence and prosecute a woman for allegedly self-administering an abortion. During the initial detention of Prairieland Defendants in Johnson County Jail, a fellow inmate (unrelated to this case) was forced to give birth in her cell and only afterwards was transferred to a hospital7. The sheriff of the county has been arrested, and released on bond, on unrelated sexual harassment, witness tampering, and aggravated perjury charges. In good old Texas fashion, a rally was held in the town in support of the sheriff after this news broke and a judge allowed him to continue working as sheriff8.

This last anecdote reflects the socio-political dynamics of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and Texas more broadly. Everyone knows about the stereotype of the rambunctious gun-toting and freedom-loving Texan cowboy, but the imagination of freedom in Texas was conceived under the dual world-constitutive violences of the slave plantation and frontier settler-colonialism. On a more granular level, social life is heavily influenced by evangelical churches and their thinly-veiled political allegiances. Social interaction is determined by whatever church one decides to attend or not attend. The counterculture doesn’t fare much better. What often passes for radical is open support for the Democratic Party or its social democratic critics. While not a novel dynamic, it nevertheless thoroughly limits the political imagination. For example, a punk benefit show was organized to raise funds for the Prairieland Defendants, but Growl Records, the venue that initially booked the show and regularly hosts punk shows, backed out of hosting the show 3 days before the event was supposed to take place in the interest of keeping the venue a “safe space” for both sides of the political spectrum i.e. safe for Trump supporters. In addition, the owner of Growl is allegedly friends with police officers who informed him that the show would be surveilled and arrests made for language used for “attempts” at inciting a riot. This cowardice is not an isolated incident, local crust bands have asked for noise permits when asked to perform at squatted venues. Luckily a venue was secured at the last minute, but this is emblematic of the stupidity and political cowardice of local punk and punk-adjacent communities, despite their ethnic diversity, working class composition, and most significantly, radical posturing.

To say the least, it’s an uphill battle for the dozens of us that live in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and actively seek and work towards the destruction of a settler-slaver conception of freedom that smothers us and is so readily valorized by people from all walks of life. Despite the grave legal implications from this case, there’s very little local support for the defendants, either due to pure ignorance or from being written off as “crazy extremists” or worse. Most “organizing” is relegated to digital spaces like discord servers or signal group chats due to the low-density suburban development of the entire metroplex resulting in car trips for simple errands regularly lasting 30+ minutes. Offline projects do exist of course and are important oases of radical relief, but if we are honest with ourselves, rarely do they become anything bigger than survival groups or glorified study groups with fluctuating attendance. We can contrast the Prairieland case with the recent inspirational anti-repression mobilization surrounding Sam Turnick’s arrest in Atlanta which of course comes in the wake of the Stop Cop City moment and the more robust radical community which preceded it9.

There’s sparse radical history or tradition for us to learn from. Significantly, and despite existing racial tensions, there was an absence of militant organizing and unrest in Dallas during the famous ‘long, hot summer of ‘67’ and its afterlife in the 1970s. Rallies and marches, especially from the left, are fairly uncommon and low in energy. When they do occur, rest assured they will be heavily policed by overzealous activists or groups like the Brown Berets and other state-communists like PSL and FRSO’s front groups. You can read the last two reportbacks on the haters cafe noblogs for a more in-depth look into these dynamics10. To date, if memory serves correctly, there have only been two small riots in the Dallas-Fort Worth area by those outside prison walls. The first after the murder of the 12 year-old Santos Rodriguez in 1973 and the second during the 2020 George Floyd rebellion. The latter really only describing some windows of gentrifying business getting smashed and graffitied — a low bar but better than nothing.

Whether due to Southern manners or genuine fear, open defiance against higher ups is rarely seen. Agree with the cop to his face and flip him off when he turns his back; truly the Texan spirit is rowdy! Local government collaboration with ICE is the norm and designations of “sanctuary city” or the like are rightly met with eye rolls and skepticism. Shame and ostracization are poor deterrents for people, including children of migrants, to join organizations like ICE and CBP. After all in the end, we all have to get our bag and even better if it’s in the service of a country that “we” were raised to be patriotic and grateful for.

Any sustained resistance — maybe more aptly described as avoidance — against ICE or the state in general, happens in the mundane. Undocumented communities already have a wealth of experience in avoiding the state from their homelands and through previous migration crackdowns. Recently there’s been increased reporting of ICE activities in Latino-majority areas of Dallas, but previous activities of so-called rapid response groups are stymied by the distance between neighborhoods and inflexibility of work life. Instead undocumented families and friends rely on each other by noting immigration checkpoints in WhatsApp groups, beginning their commutes earlier in the morning before the checkpoints are set up, and falsifying car registrations renewals or other bureaucratic necessities. Social ties, both genetic and chosen, are heavily relied on to bring amenities for those unable to travel outside their home or to raise funds via raffles or parties. Of course we are not uncritical of the fraught dynamics that this support can operate from, nor do we conflate this with an underlying practice of a latent “brown anarchy” as the direction of these actions often point towards an integration and even pride in the maintenance of broader capitalist American society, but in light of these practices, the skills and best practices recommended in pieces like “States of Siege” from Ill Will seem asinine by those of us raised and embedded in undocumented communities. Do so-called revolutionaries have nothing else to offer us?

We write this report not just to complain about the state of radical politics in DFW, but to emphasize the odds we’re up against. We are not trying to undermine the work of DFW Support Committee, and other comrades and groups, but the community is small here in Texas and lacks connection to broader networks. Haters Cafe is not blameless in this, we have so far failed to cultivate propulsive capacity to generalize an understanding of rebellion beyond the spectacular and recuperative (i.e. marches, activism, orgs, etc.) or a substantive counter-narrative to combat the deep acceptance and striving of suburban American ideals for most of the population. We often see the assumption that people of color, both immigrant and homegrown, are resistant to the latter values which is not just patronizing, but quite plainly wrong. There are various causes for this failure of a counter-narrative on our end from grave interpersonal failures to the constant demands of daily life, but instead of self-aggrandizing hopeful narratives that promote failed dead-end strategies, honest accountings of on the ground situations are what’s needed. Dallas is not New York, it is not Seattle, it is not Portland, it is not LA, it is not Chicago. Dallas is the rest of America crystallized in space and ideology and we need your solidarity and support from the outside to come out on the other side of this wave of repression stronger and more prepared for the inevitable next waves.

The best ways to be in solidarity with the Prairieland Defendants are the tried and true letter writing, fundraising, and awareness events. We encourage you to be creative and decentralized in this. Take a look at how people in your neck of the woods are already organizing themselves. You don’t have seek permission from the DFW Support Committee, just let them know if you think the increased visibility will be useful. You can find contact and commisary information for the defendants at prairielanddefendants.com along with a link to join the DFW Support Committee announcements signal. To contact the support committee for additional questions, their email is dfwsupportcommittee [at] hacari.com

Source: haters cafe