Tuesday in Poughkeepsie—Rally in Solidarity with CA Prison Hunger Strike

The Hudson Valley Radical has organized a rally at Hulme Park this upcoming Tuesday, July 30th, @7:00 PM to stand in solidarity with prisoners on hunger strike in California. The rally will take place on the same day as rallies across California and in other states to push for the prisoners' 5 core demands. To learn how to take action now in support of the strike, visit the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity website. 

Below is information about the rally posted on the rally's Facebook Event page:

On July 8th, 30,000 prisoners in California went on hunger strike, demanding an end to solitary confinement, group punishment, and poor inmate programs. 

In California, over 10,000 people are currently locked up in Security Housing Units (SHU), some for years or even decades on end. This long-term solitary confinement constitutes torture under international law, which specifies that an individual must not be kept in solitary for more than 15 days. 

In New York's prisons, inmates are kept in similarly atrocious conditions, and our action in solidarity with the California hunger strike is also a protest against prison conditions in our state.

In California, prison officials have retaliated against strike organizers, declared participation in the strike gang activity, and denied strikers access to legal representatives or medical care. 

On July 26th, inmate Billy Sell passed away after being denied medical care for several days. Officials in California have called the death a suicide. Strike participants consider it murder by neglect.

Following the rally, we will write letters of solidarity to inmates on strike. We will also write to California officials calling for an end to deadly strike-breaking methods and the start of serious talks between the state and prisoner representatives.

To learn more about the California prison hunger strike, visit www.prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com

CA Prison Hunger Strike: Time to Take Action

30,000 prisoners went on hunger strike beginning on July 8th, with 2,300 participating in a work stoppage. At the end of two weeks, 1,000 prisoners remained fasting. Their 5 demands are:

1. End Group Punishment & Administrative Abuse
2. Abolish the Debriefing Policy, and Modify Active/Inactive Gang Status Criteria
3. Comply with the US Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons 2006 Recommendations Regarding an End to Long-Term Solitary Confinement
4. Provide Adequate and Nutritious Food
5. Expand and Provide Constructive Programming and Privileges for Indefinite SHU Status Inmates.

As George Zimmerman, the killer of Trayvon Martin, is allowed to walk free, may we stand in solidarity with the political prisoners and victims of circumstance that are locked up in prison today.
Visit Prison Hunger Strike Solidarity's website

Retaliation Against Hunger Strikers
Oakland, July 22, 2013 – As the California prison hunger strike enters its 3rd week, reports of retaliation against strikers have increased.  Last week it was reported that prison officials had moved at least 14 strikers from the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay to Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg), confiscated confidential legal documents, and forced cold air into their cells.  Later in the week, legal advocate Marilyn McMahon and one of her paralegals were summarily banned from visiting any California prison.  Reports that strikers have been moved to Ad-Seg or to entirely different facilities have also been coming from Corcoran State Prison.  The denial of medical care to strikers, especially those with preexisting health conditions, remains a widespread concern for families and advocates. Read On...

Take Action!
Tell the PBSP prison authorities to:

*Return the 14 prisoner Representatives to their cells.
*Return all their property, especially the legal documents guards have confiscated.
*Lift the ban on their attorney, Marilyn McMahon, so that she can again access her clients.
*Medically monitor the men to ensure that the prison has not destroyed their health!

1. Contact Pelican Bay Warden Gregory Lewis:
           phone:       707-465-1000 x5001
           email:              Gregory.Lewis@cdcr.ca.gov

2. Copy to Dr. Jeffrey Beard, Secretary of CDCR
           phone:      916-323-6001 (alternatively 916-445-5073)
           fax:                916-442-2637
           letter:     Dr. Jeffrey Beard, Secretary CDCR, 1515 S Street, 5th Floor; Sacramento, California 94283

3. Copy to Assistant Warden at Pelican Bay, Rawland Swift
          phone:      465-1000  x6254
          email:              RSwift@cdcr.ca.gov

4. Back up:  Public Information Officer at PBSP Christopher Acosta
          office phone:       707-465-9040
          cell phone:         707-951-0350

CONTACT THE 14 PRISONER REPRESENTATIVES:
1. Todd Ashker: C58191
2. Arturo Castellanos: C17275
3. Sitawa/ R.N Dewberry: C35671              
4. Antonio Guillen: P81948
5. Danny Troxell: B76578                
6. George Franco: D46556
7. Ronnie Yandell: V27927                
8. Paul Redd, Jr: B72683
9. James Baridi Williamson  D34288    
10. Alfred Sandoval: D61000
11. Louis Powell: B59864                
12. Alex Yrigollen: H32421
13. Gabriel Huerta: C80766                
14. Frank Clement: D07919

In writing to the Representatives— Include one sheet of paper, one envelope and one loose stamp so they can write someone outside the walls. You can address your letter with the person's name and number to Pelican Bay State Prison/SHU, PO Box 7500. Crescent City, 95532

Mr. Arturo Castellanos may not be able to receive your letter. He's on 'restricted mail' by the prison authorities.

Learn More
*Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity website
*California Prison Focus
*Rock Newsletters
*Solitary Watch
*Stop Torture CA
*All of Us or None
*New Afrikan Revolutionary Nationalism Collective in Cocoran Prison Security Housing Unit (solitary confinement)

#Justice4Trayvon: 10 Steps to Build the Movement We Need

by Chris Crass, Infoshop News

We are enraged, we are in tears, we are fearful for our kids, we are trying to make sense of what this all means through our own grassroots intellectual culture facilitated by Facebook and Twitter, we are taking to the streets and we are tired of watching the murder of Black boys and men sanctioned by the fundamentally racist U.S. legal system.

1. Demonstrate. Participate in the demonstrations taking place in towns, rural areas and cities in every region of the country. Tens of thousands of people are gathering to express our collective outrage and demand justice for Trayvon Martin and an end to criminalization of communities of color. Recruit people in your life to join you, g
et people out into the streets.

2. Grieve and Love. Connect to the pain of this moment and be with the pain that is all around us in our families and communities. Often we skip grieving and go to action, but grieving can connect us to a deeper power within us, and connect us to each other. Capitalism wants us to detach from our emotions, to detach from ourselves and the impacts we have on each other and the world. Liberation is a process of attachment to our humanity and the humanity of others. Love others as they grieve, be present, be supportive, and find strength in our relationships with one another.

3. Conversion. This is a moment of profound injustice that shines a light on white supremacy and the everyday racism of our society. This is a moment when people are searching to make sense of what has happened and what it means for their lives and their children. This is a moment when we can work for mass conversion, to raise consciousness, to awaken people in our lives and networks to the reality of injustice, as well as the possibilities of working for systemic equality. Do not be afraid of speaking truth with courage, take small steps, celebrate subtle victories, build your confidence.

4. Study. Take time to read and study those who have gone before us, learn the lessons from their efforts. Root yourself in the history of people’s movements for justice and equality. Read analysis to help make sense of the economic and political system and how white supremacy, patriarchy, homophobia and ableism are pillars to our unequal system. Learn about the visionary change others envision and develop your own vision.

5. Get Connected. Join with others working for economic, racial, gender and social justice. Join and support organizations working for change you believe in.

6. Throw down. Work on and support campaigns nationally and locally. Get involved in struggles to win changes and use those campaigns to get more and more of the people in your life involved. Get involved in whatever works for your life, all of what we do matters, when we do it together, with a goal and vision of where we are going.

7. Bridges Not Divisions. The divisions of race, class and gender play out in society and in our work for change. But anti-racism, feminism, class consciousness, disability justice, can all help us create powerful communities and movements.

8. Build Culture. Help create cultures of solidarity and love between our communities and different struggles. Everyday, in profound and subtle ways we are town apart from each other and told we are powerless. This self-defeating narrative in the minds of everyday people is critical for rulers to
maintain power. We must create narratives of mutuality, empowerment, and liberation.

9. Set goals. Goals for your work for justice, for your personal growth, and for your efforts to create cultures of solidarity and love. Find what motivates to take action, and remember that we are in this for the long haul.

10. Be Powerful. Develop your abilities through personal and collective efforts to be as powerful, effective, healthy, and whole as you can be. We need people who are fully alive to win and create the liberation we need. Remember that we grow in powerful ways through collective action for justice. Our trust in ourselves and in each other grows as we challenge illegitimate authority and realize the power we have together in creating a democratic society with equality and justice, truly, for all people. We are more brilliant, strategic, visionary, and effective then we know, when we believe in each other and ourselves, and take action together.

For Trayvon Martin and his family. For all the Black boys and men who are murdered in our society with impunity. For all of us who know that a better world is possible. Let us be courageous and let us see that we are the source from which powerful positive change comes.

Chris Crass is a longtime social justice organizer and author of Towards Collective Liberation: anti-racist organizing, feminist praxis, and movement building strategy.

California Punishes Hunger Striking Prisoners While Gov. Goes on Vacation

Note: 30,000 prisoners went on hunger strike beginning on July 8th, with 2,300 participating in a work stoppage. Their 5 demands, including an end to solitary confinement and cruel and unusual punishment, can be found here. This article was published as a press release by Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity, a coalition of grassroots organizations and community members in California. As George Zimmerman, the killer of Trayvon Martin, is allowed to walk free, may we stand in solidarity with the victims of circumstance that are locked up in prison today. Visit Prison Hunger Strike Solidarity's website to learn more and get involved. 

Oakland–At least 14 prisoners being held in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at California’s notorious Pelican Bay State Prison were forcibly removed from their cells and placed in more punitive isolation late last week, according to lawyers who visited their clients on Tuesday.

“They have been singled out for their participation in the ongoing California prisoner hunger strike and targeted because they are outspoken prisoner activists,” according to Kamau Walton of the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition. The 14 were placed in Administrative Segregation last Thursday.

Prison officials, also confiscated legal material from the prisoners, including attorney-client protected documents relating to a highly publicized federal class action lawsuit against the state of California. The lawsuit contends solitary confinement is a violation of prisoners’ 8th Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment, as well as their rights to due process.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) continues to lowball strike participation numbers – on the 10th day of the strike thousands are still participating throughout the California prison system, with at least 30,000 participating last week. Prisoners continue to call on the CDCR to negotiate over their demands.

“This is a clear attack against a non-violent protest,” says Anne Weills, attorney for several hunger strikers. “It is pathetic that in response to prisoners’ calls for basic human and civil rights, the CDCR responds by violating those rights.” Weills also notes that all 14 prisoners retaliated against had signed onto last summer’s Agreement to End Hostilities Among Racial Groups–a document issued from the Pelican Bay SHU, urging prisoners to resolve conflicts peacefully amongst themselves and to work to end wider violence in the prison system. The CDCR has refused to distribute the Agreement among prisoners.

In a statement issued this morning, strike representatives said, “on July 11, 2013, we were placed in Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg), where we are subjected to more torturous conditions than in the SHU. Despite this diabolical act on the part of the CDCR intended to break our resolve and hasten our deaths, we remain strong and united! We are 100% committed to our cause and will end our peaceful action when the CDCR signs a legally binding agreement meeting our demands.”

Governor Jerry Brown has been completely silent on the strike that has gained international news attention. He remains mired in multiple scandals in the California prison system. Brown will be taking a European vacation, visiting among other places, Dachau concentration camp in Germany. Family members and loved ones of the strikers are outraged.

Domestic Violence and George Zimmerman's Defense

by Salamishah Tillet, The Nation

George Zimmerman (Joe Burbank/Reuters)

Last year, when the murder of Trayvon Martin began making national headlines, a USA Today/Gallup poll found that public opinion about this case was divided along racial lines—72 percent of blacks said racial bias was a major factor in the events that led up to the shooting death of Martin, while non-blacks were significantly less certain, with 31 percent saying racial bias was a major factor and 25 percent saying it was not a factor at all. That same racial divide was reflected in surveys conducted in 1995 about the murder trial of O.J. Simpson.

The New York Times's Charles Blow was right when he said this comparison was a “bit loaded because the cases are miles apart in the details and circumstances.” But I do think there was one crucial link between Simpson and Zimmerman: both men repeatedly were accused of violence against women well before their murder trials began.

Zimmerman's attorneys successfully argued that those acts were inadmissible or irrelevant. But these accusations offer us other truths: that violence against girls and women is often an overlooked and unchecked indicator of future violence. 

It was well-documented that Nicole Brown Simpson was a victim of domestic violence. In Zimmerman’s case, two pieces of character evidence never made it to the trial. First, a recorded statement from Witness No. 9, Zimmerman’s female cousin, in which she said that he molested her for 10 years when they were both children, beginning when she just 6 years old. Second, a report filed in August 2005, when Zimmerman’s former fiancé sought a restraining order against him because of domestic violence.

The latter accusation is especially important because it provided the blueprint for Zimmerman’s own claim of self-defense again Trayvon Martin. According to the Miama Herald, Zimmerman:

...was also involved in a domestic dispute with his ex-fiancée, hair salon employee Veronica Zauzo. Zauzo claimed Zimmerman was trolling her neighborhood to check on her. At her apartment, they spoke for about an hour when she asked him to leave. He asked for some photos and paperwork and she refused. A pushing match ensued and her dog jumped up and bit him on the cheek, Zauzo claimed. Zimmerman, in a petition filed the next day, painted her as the aggressor, wanting him to stay the night.

In her petition, Zauzo alleged that Zimmerman has previously slapped her in her mouth as well.  According to court records, the Orange County circuit judge ordered them to stay away from each other for more than a year, but no charges were filed.

During the bond hearing, Zimmerman’s wife, Shelley Nicole Zimmerman, used the fact that that he filed an injunction against Zauzo as proof of his innocence.

Zimmerman’s pattern for violence had already been established: trolling a neighborhood for his victim, pushing her when confronted, attacking her character, and arguing that she was the aggressor when charges were filed against him. While the Assistant State Attorney Bernardo de la Rionda brought up both testimonies in bond hearing in April 2012, they were not presented as evidence during the trial. In contrast, the judge did rule that evidence of marijuana that was found in Martin's system was admissable.

Such differences led many (including myself) to conclude, as Mychel Denzel Smith wrote, that Trayvon Martin and Black Manhood Were on Trial. But they also reveal a system of power which relegates the experiences and voices of survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence as invisible and untrustworthy.

Unfortunately, these gender and racial disparities are even further exacerbated by Zimmerman's non-guilty verdict and the conviction of domestic violence victim, Marissa Alexander, an African-American mother who was sentenced to 20-years in prison for firing off a warning shot in 2010 to scare off her husband when she felt he was threatening her. Like Zimmerman, she claimed self-defense and tried to invoke Florida's "stand your ground" law. The result: a Floriday jury found her guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

In our current moment of post-verdict protests, we should reflect on several moments in which the legal system failed Trayvon Martin. But, as his cousin's and former fiance's disclosures suggests, the system fell apart long before the fateful night that Zimmerman profiled and murdered this innocent teenage boy. And I cannot help but wonder if Zimmerman had been held accountable for the violence he had already inflicted on girls and women, that Trayvon Martin might be with us here today.

This is part five in a series by the author on the global epidemic of violence against women. (Here is here posts on Serena Williams’s victim-blaming, the sexual assaults happening in Egypt, the forced sterilization of incarcerated women in California, and rape and social media, all featured in The Nation)

60+ Protest Trayvon Martin Decision in Poughkeepsie

A crowd of over 60 people gathered today at Mansion Square Park in Poughkeepsie, NY for a rally to protest the acquittal of George Zimmerman, killer of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Held on just over 12 hours notice, the rally succeeded in voicing a feeling of great anger and pointing the way forward toward a better world.

(Alexandra Weishaupt/YNN) Read YNN's coverage here

The rally continued Poughkeepsie's history as a site of protest against the racist profiling and mass incarceration of Black youth. Last year, the city held 4 protests amidst national anger at the killing of Trayvon Martin and the subsequent failure of Florida officials to arrest the killer. That a nearly all-white jury should allow George Zimmerman, who was arrested only after 45 days of protest, to walk free provided the spark for today's action.

Those assembled gathered into a large circle while speakers stepped to the center one-by-one. The day saw remarks from local white activists such as Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner, ENJAN member Fred Nagel, and supporters of the International Socialist Organization (ISO). Kira Woodward of the ISO called the "lynching" of Trayvon Martin and mass killings of Black Americans a violation of our "species-being."

However, the day truly belonged to the Black organizers who know what it is like to be in the crossfire of police and vigilante violence. Three ministers spoke along with community leader Mae Parker-Harris and Poughkeepsie 5th Ward councilwoman Ann Perry.

Perhaps the highlight of the event was an impassioned poem read by a teenager of color moved to write in the final hours of last night following the Trayvon Martin verdict. She slammed the apologists for George Zimmerman, discussing the poisonous effects of race hatred and white supremacy in a far more eloquent manner than can be described here after the fact.

Today's rally represents a decisive step forward in the movement against America's racist system of criminal justice. In so doing, it has also demonstrated the empowering possibility of the "People's Assembly." This concept embodies a form of horizontal, grassroots democracy (most recently resurrected in an initiative of the Workers World Party) enabling people to voice their demands and begin to fight against corporate power. Today, an assembly gathered to voice the people's verdict on George Zimmerman. In the future, a stronger gathering could challenge the very foundation of our society.

This is not an exaggeration---councils acted as alternative people's governments in Russia in 1917, Germany in 1919, Hungary in 1956, France in 1968, and Jackson, Mississippi even today.

Still, there's no need to get ahead of ourselves. The movement against all aspects of the "new Jim Crow" has been reinvigorated today, and additional assemblies have been called for throughout the week. If we refuse to go back to sleep now, the possibilities of tomorrow are boundless.

The next rally to protest Zimmerman's acquittal will take place tomorrow night @6:15 PM on the corner of Johnson Street and Broadway in Newburgh. As police in Newburgh were responsible for the deaths of two Black residents last year alone, the rally will also call for the implementation of a civilian review board to monitor the behavior of the Newburgh Police Department. 

Today @12:30: #HoodiesUp for Trayvon---Poughkeepsie Rally to Protest Zimmerman Acquittal!

Last night, a nearly all-white jury let George Zimmerman, the killer of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, walk free.

Here in Poughkeepsie, we won't let that be the end of the story. Over 30 people have already signed up for a rally TODAY @12:30 in Mansion Square Park honoring Trayvon Martin. Titled, "#HoodiesUp for Trayvon," this assembly provides an opportunity to the powers that be to hear the people's verdict.

Congressional Hispanic Caucus: Reject Border Militarization!

This is really critical---as Congress finally considers legalization for America's 11 million undocumented immigrants, regressives are hell-bent on making our border even more of a war zone in the process. With the proposed Corker-Hoeven amendment to the Senate immigration bill, 2X the number of US Border Patrol agents would be brought in, making the US-Mexican border as militarized as that of North and South Korea.

Tomorrow, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) will meet with Pres. Obama to discuss the immigration proposal. Currently, our "hope and change" president is supportive of the proposed immigration bill even with the murderous Corker-Hoeven amendment. Tomorrow, the CHC has a rare opportunity to change that by pledging to vote against the bill if it includes the border militarizing amendment.

That's exactly what Presente.org, a grassroots Latino/a organization has set up a petition to demand. Please add your name in demanding that the CHC reject the current bi-partisan devil's compromise!

For background information, check out this article from SocialistWorker.org on the truth behind the current immigration bill

Of Fireworks and American Dreams

On the morning of July 4th, I heard Billy Joel's "Allentown" over the radio.

Well we're living here in Allentown
And they're closing all the factories down

Specifically, the song is about a town's prosperity built on an era of American industry no longer with us. Broadly speaking, it's really about the myth and reality of the American dream. The song is catchy, nostalgic, angry, and, despite dating from 1982, surprisingly resonant for Independence Day 2013.

Out in Bethlehem they're killing time
Filling out forms
Standing in line.

 A two and a half hour drive away, the mid-Hudson area has long since faced the same de-industrialization as Allentown. A land once home to powerful industry and strong unions, it is no news that we now live in a land that is a shadow of its former self. Joel said he had considered using Long Island's Levittstown as the song's subject, but surely it could also have been Detroit or nearly anywhere in upstate New York. Anywhere that industrialists have fled in an attempt to exploit weak labor laws half a world away.

Well we're waiting here in Allentown
For the Pennsylvania we never found

At my Fourth of July party, actually held on 5th, the state of our nation came up in various ways. People in their middle age reminisced about high school in the 1980's, I talked globalization and the decline of American labor with a man (coincidently from Bethlehem, PA) in his 60's. One woman quipped about how Hyde Park, the home of FDR, was sure to close down an elementary school built as program of the Works Progress Administration in the 1930's.

For the promises our teachers gave
If we worked hard
If we behaved.

My music choice was a topic of particular criticism. Psy, of "Gangam Style" fame was attacked for the rather dubious claim that he "hates Americans." For many, the residue of American pride in the face of declining cause for celebration is a stubborn nationalism.

So the graduations hang on the wall
But they never really helped us at all

Of the attendees at our party were in the middle or at the end of working careers, though none were in the mines or mills. There was a substitute middle school teacher. A security guard. A retired psychiatric hospital nurse. An ex-Boars Head meat counter worker. A retired crime reporter. A part-time professor.

No they never taught us what was real
Iron and coke,
Chromium steel. 

The night before, we grabbed chocolate malts and Orange Juliuses from Dairy Queen and watched fireworks by the Mid-Hudson Bridge. People of all ethnicities and ages gathered for their yearly patriotic ritual. Even from the distance that we were at, they impressed.

Every child had a pretty good shot
To get at least as far as their old man got.

As we returned to drop off my grandmother, who at 77 had joined us at the fireworks in her lawn chair, a re-run of the Macy's Firework Spectacular was playing on television. Before Brad Paisley stepped up the the microphone, we were greeted with various people around the country speaking on the subject of the American spirit. Each, from a nurse in Moore, Oklahoma to a firefighter outside Boston, echoed a theme of community and mutual aid: "When someone falls down, another is there to help them up."

Something happened on the way to that place
They threw an American flag in our face 

Morsi Out! What's Next for the Egyptian Revolution?

The Egyptian Revolution, which has transfixed and inspired rebels worldwide since December of 2010, has taken yet another sharp turn. The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammad Morsi, the president of Egypt less than 24 hours ago, has today been ousted by a popular-backed military coup.

One of four anarchist tents set up in Tahrir Square over the weekend protesting Morsi's rule (Waging Non-Violence/Mohammed Hassan Aazab)

Though President Morsi was elected democratically one year ago, he won less than 25% of the vote in the presidential elections and managed to win the second round with only 15 million votes, edging out the Mubarak loyalist Ahmed Shafiq. After taking office, Morsi has done little to alleviate the economic woes of his nation, implementing a pro-Western, neo-liberal economic policy.

Since the end of April, the Tamarod or Rebel campaign collected 22 million signatures demanding his resignation, 7 million more than he won at the ballot box only one year ago. When Morsi refused to step down following a massive day of demonstration on Sunday, Egypt's Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) gave the former president a 48-hour window to leave office. Today, that window closed and Morsi has been forcibly removed.

Although Morsi's removal is a popular move by almost all accounts, Egypt is nonetheless in an extremely treacherous situation right now. Yes, the SCAF has called for new elections and promised to follow the will of the people. But the SCAF is also littered with Mubarak loyalists who will do their best to re-establish an autocratic state very much like the old regime. They have attempted to hold power for themselves before and will do so again if popular resistance doesn't prevail. 

But resistance has an impressive track record in Egypt, and there's no reason to doubt the power of the street now.

If anybody in Egypt is reading this, know that we believe in you and stand with you as the revolution enters a new and challenging stage. Know also that we strongly condemn the U.S. government for its imperial interventions in Egypt, from supporting Mubarak to supporting Morsi. Barack Obama does not speak for us. SOLIDARITY! 

Read an interview with Mohammed Hassan Aazab, an Egyptian anarchist, at WagingNonViolence.org

Victory! Flavia Perry Keeps Her Home for Good!

We received this e-mail from Spencer Resnick of Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson earlier today. Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson has been working for over a year now to keep those battling foreclosure in their homes. If your home is in foreclosure and would like help fighting back, please contact nobodyleavesmidhudson@gmail.com. 
This victory proves that resistance works!

Home Defenders,

It is with great pleasure that I announce that the auction is off! Together we have defended Flavia Perry's home! Bank of America has called off her auction and is instead working with her on an affordable loan modification. This is the biggest victory we've ever scored against the big banks here in the Hudson Valley.

This victory was only possible because we used both the shield of legal defense and the sword of public offense. We marched to the courthouse and held a trial of Bank of America in April. We got our elected officials to send letters. We called in to TJ Crawford. We marched and sang and shut down Bank of America in June. We had an incredible team of legal allies countering the banks illegal practices. Together we won.

So thanks goes out to everyone who marched, rallied, and sang with us. To those who called in and who wrote letters. To all the homeowners who fought for Flavia's home just as hard as they fought for their own. And thanks especially goes to Flavia and her family for never giving up in their long struggle for justice. Foreclosure is not an individual problem, it is a collective injustice that demands a collective response. Through solidarity and struggle we created that collective response, and Bank of America and loan owner Freddie Mac were forced to listen.

Flavia proves that this movement is not lying when we say, "when we fight, we win!" Even giants like Bank of America can be defeated. This is worth remembering as we continue our fight to put people before profit and defend the families of Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson.

The bank has offered Flavia a trial modification that she hopes will lead to an affordable loan modification payment plan to keep her and her family in their home and a part of our community. It is our hope that Bank of America and Freddie Mac will continue to work with the Perry family in good faith to reach a final modification agreement. Stay tuned for updates on our progress!

Once more, thanks again for all the hard work. Please spread the good news and share our updates on facebook.

Together in the struggle, we shall not be moved!

In Solidarity,

Spencer Resnick

Organizer

Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson
(845) 481-0703

c: (781) 686-3045

nobodyleavesmidhudson.org