As #PrisonStrike2018 enters its second week, we gather to share updates and send prison rebels word of encouragement!

Asheville Prison Books has endorsed the national prison strike and will be hosting a meeting to share updates on the strike and prepare for anti-repression work.

After seven people were killed in a South Carolina prison earlier this year, Jailhouse Laywers Speak (a national collective of incarcerated people who fight for human rights by providing other incarcerated people with access to legal education, resources, and assistance) put out a press release calling for a two-week national strike beginning on August 21st, the anniversary of George Jackson's assassination, and extending until September 9th, the anniversary of the Attica Prison Rebellion in 1971.

From the APB statement:

Bringing more visibility to this movement will help combat the repression. Prison officials will be more hesitant with the public's eyes on them and will be less likely to mess with particular prisoners if they have outside support. This is one reason Asheville Prison Books is endorsing the national prison strike. We encourage you to spread the word about the strike. Post about it on social media and try to get news outlets to cover it. Have your organization endorse the strike. Start corresponding and building relationships with people inside.

We are also endorsing the strike because we believe it's necessary to support the movements that are attempting to transform the prison conditions that we work to mitigate every day: The lack of resources, the sense of isolation and boredom, the dehumanization and despair that comes with being viewed as disposable, and the physical danger and emotional trauma that comes along with the consequences of that disposability.

Newsletters, zines, flyers, and stickers

• Flyers & stickers: https://supportprisonerresistance.noblogs.org/nationalprisonstrike2018
• Solid Black Fist Official National Prison Strike Newsletter: http://sawarimi.org/npsnewsletter

Phone zaps

• "Scotty Reid Demonstrates EASY Human Rights Advocacy" (phone zap demonstration): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=251DPVDQ17A
• Winning Phone Zap Campaigns: An Interview with Oakland IWOC: https://itsgoingdown.org/organizing-winning-phone-zap-campaigns-interview-with-oakland-iwoc

Sources for updates

• Prison uprisings timeline: http://prisonuprisings.com
• Bloc Party @ IGD: https://itsgoingdown.org/category/columns/blocparty

Press releases

• National Prison Strike press release: http://sawarimi.org/national-prison-strike
• "Announcing Operation P.O.W.: NC Prisoner Calls for Truce and Solidarity with the National August 21st Strike": https://itsgoingdown.org/announcing-operation-p-o-w-nc-prisoner-calls-for-truce-and-solidarity-with-the-national-august-21st-strike

Miscellaneous

• "‘We knew where the power was’: Conversations with organizers of the North Carolina Prisoners’ Labor Union" by Jonathan Michels: http://sfbayview.com/2018/07/we-knew-where-the-power-was-conversations-with-organizers-of-the-north-carolina-prisoners-labor-union
• "The New Prison Movement: The Continuing Struggle to Abolish Slavery in Amerika" by Kevin "Rashid" Johnson: http://rashidmod.com/?p=2585
• "How Will North Carolina Escape Its Prison Crisis?" (State of Things episode Julie sourced the clip from): http://wunc.org/post/how-will-north-carolina-escape-its-prison-crisis#stream/
• Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron in Missouri has been on lockdown since May 12th after learning about the strike: http://www.newspressnow.com/news/local_news/possible-prison-strike-in-august/article_6f2997b0-d084-5dc1-9a9e-4659c87b0f9c.html
• South Carolina riot which prompted the call for the strike: https://avlpb.org/south-carolina-freedom-fighters-call-for-national-prisoners-strike
• "A Primer on the Nationwide Prisoners’ Strike" (2016): https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/09/27/a-primer-on-the-nationwide-prisoners-strike