NYC Anarchist Black Cross

What: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner
When: 7pm (sharp), Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
Where: 885 Park Avenue, Brooklyn, New York (see below for directions)
Cost: Free

Do you ever feel like maybe, for once, you got just enough sleep? The world looks a little less miserable, life feels more…lifelike. Maybe it’s the weather in NYC, maybe there’s some well-worn metaphor about Spring, renewal, and new life that we should be carting out. Whatever it is, there’s work to be done and there’s no other time to do it. With that, we are hosting another of our every-other-week political prisoner letter-writing dinners.

This week we are focusing on Alvaro Luna Hernandez. Alvaro Luna Hernandez is a Chicano-Mexicano political prisoner sentenced to 50 years in prison for aggravated assault on a cop when he disarmed a sheriff attempting to shoot him.

Deeply effected by witnessing the murder of one of his friends by a known racist cop (yes, it’s redundant), Alvaro dedicated his life to fighting police brutality, especially as it was manifest against the Chicano community. From 1976 through 1990, Alvaro was falsely accused of murder (and after public outcry eventually released) and severely beaten by police, all the result of his work to end police brutality in Houston, Texas.

In 1996, Brewster County Sheriff Jack McDaniel came to Alvaro’s house, allegedly to arrest him for robbery (side note: the robbery charge was summarily dismissed). The cop didn’t have an arrest warrant and when Alvaro, unarmed, questioned the cop’s abuse of power, the cop pulled his gun. Before he could shoot, Alvaro disarmed the cop without injuring him, and fled.

Upon his capture, Alvaro was found guilty and sentenced to an unbelievable 50 years in prison. Since his imprisonment, he has been denied access to library materials, faced increasing censorship of his mail, and had to deal with retaliation from prison staff over his filing of grievances. A recent call-in campaign was announced to address these injustices.

If for some bizarre reason you can’t make it to dinner, please write to Alvaro from home. His address is:

Alvaro Luna Hernandez #255735
Hughes Unit
Route 2, Box 4400
Gatesville, Texas 76597

For more information, visit freealvaronow.blogspot.com

The deal, as always, is that you come bringing only yourself (and your friends and comrades), and we provide you with a delicious vegan meal, information about the prisoners as well as all of the letter-writing materials and prisoner-letter-writing info you could ever want to use in one evening. In return, you write a thoughtful letter to a political prisoner or prisoner of war of your choosing or, better yet, keep up a long-term correspondence. We’ll also provide some brief updates and pass around birthday cards for the PP/POWs whose birthdays fall in the next two weeks thanks to the Anarchist Birthday Brigade.

DIRECTIONS:
Getting to 885 Park Avenue is simple:
From the J/M/Z:
Flushing Stop: Walk southeast on Broadway (toward Sumner Place, away from Thornton Street) and make a right on Park Avenue. We’re halfway down the block, on your right.
Myrtle Stop: Walk northwest on Broadway (toward Melrose Street, away from Troutman Street) and make a left on Park Avenue. We’re halfway down the block on the right.

From the G Train:
Flushing Avenue Stop: Walk south on Marcy Avenue (toward Hopkins Street, away from Wallabout Street) and turn left on Park Avenue. We’re three and a half blocks down on the left.
Myrtle-Willoughby Avenues Stop: Walk north on Marcy Avenue (toward Stockton Street, away from Vernon Avenue) and turn right on Park Avenue. We’re three and a half blocks down on your left.

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. Otherwise, we’ll see you at supper.

This event is brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Anarchist Black Cross.–

ABCF-NYC
Post Office Box 110034
Brooklyn, New York 11211

nycabc[at]riseup[dot]net
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Free all Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War!
For the Abolition of State Repression and Domination!