Coming Out of Jail Stronger
by Starhawk In the many times I’ve been to jail, here are some of the overwhelming responses I’ve noticed in myself and which you might be experiencing: Rage: Jail is simply the distilled form of the larger violence around us. Anger is a sane and healthy response, but you may find it deflected onto your friends and families instead of directed to the systems of oppression we’re fighting. Warn your friends and coworkers to tread gently and not order you around for a while. Be prepared for flashes of rage, and try to remember whom we’re really angry at. Self-Blame: You’ve been in a system designed on every level to make you feel bad, wrong, inadequate and powerless....
Jail Support & Solidarity
by Midnight Special and Katya Komisaruk Jail/court solidarity is the name for a variety of tactics we use to take care of each other while we’re in the legal system. Jail/court solidarity involves a combination of non-cooperation techniques and collective bargaining. Although jails and courts are designed to make us feel powerless, through solidarity we can gain better control over what happens to us, by making decisions as a group; by acting in unity with each other; and by committing ourselves to safeguard each other’s well being. Jail/court solidarity has been used effectively in the civil rights, peace, environmental, and other movements to protect activists who were arrested. Every time there’s a choice in the legal process, activists can...
Solidarity in Practice
drafted in September 2001 in Washington DC; Revised 9/23/03 We are very different groups. We are not necessarily immediate allies nor are we each other’s greatest enemy. There are many things on which we do not agree. But, we will be in the streets together during the FTAA protests in Miami. We know that the police and media are trying to divide us in order to crush our movements. Solidarity is the way in which our diversity becomes our strength, we build our movements and we protect each others’ bodies, lives and rights. We believe we have some things in common. We believe in basic human rights and the need to live with respect and dignity. We believe we...