Anticut 3: Austerity is Prison

The latest from Bay of Rage:

//July 8th, 6:00 sharp, don’t be late//
//Intersection of Broadway and Telegraph//

against capitalism
against austerity
against prisons
in solidarity with the Pelican Bay hunger strike

This is the third in a series of anti-austerity actions designed to resist and make visible the new age of austerity and crisis in which we find ourselves. As many will know, the state of California recently passed a devastating budget, inflicting deep cuts to health care programs, universities and community colleges, public assistance grants, mental health, and programs for the elderly and disabled. Resistance is more necessary than ever. Since it has become clear that neither corporations nor the state can provide jobs or resources for us, we need to begin providing for each other directly. To do that, we first need to get together, get organized and get going. This is what Anticut 3 is about.

But because any attempt to fight the austerity regime will be met by state repression -- which we saw a glimpse of during Anticut 2 -- and because the current budget will swell California’s already overcrowded prisons, we have decided that this next action should stand in direct solidarity with the important hunger strike by prisoners at the notorious Pelican Bay “Supermax” prison. Anticut 3 is dedicated to articulating the links between austerity and the prison system.

• be on time; we leave at 6:00 pm sharp
• bring noisemakers! pots and pans, horns, etc
• bring friends, banners, propaganda
• let’s keep each other safe
• for more information on the newly-passed California austerity budget, read this
• for more information about the Pelican Bay hunger strike, visit this website

also, be sure to make it to our comrades’ action in SF on July 7th: Take Back the Day

[Update Thursday 12:48 pm]: The Pelican Bay hunger strike is spreading -- even the official numbers (which are most likely underestimates) suggest that 6,600 prisoners from 13 of the state's 33 prisons are refusing to eat.

Also, if you can't make it to Anticut 3 on Friday, there are a number of other actions planned for this weekend. Check them out here, along with a couple new propaganda posters you can download and post around. As always, austerity is accompanied by the deployment state violence -- the murder of Charles Hill by BART cops last Sunday night is only the most recent and extreme example, but it can't be separated from the everyday violence of the prison-industrial complex. Solidarity with the Pelican Bay hunger strike!