Jeff “Free” Luers Statement for the International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners (December 2006)

Around the world millions of people are suffering from the abuses of power that have become all too common in our human societies. In dozens of countries, generations of people have chosen to fight injustice rather than submit to it.

We honor those people today. We raise our voices and our fists to salute those who have fought to free their homelands, who have struggled for self-determination; those who have demanded human rights; those who have raided laboratories and liberated animals; and those who have fought to defend our earth.

Today we shout our praises and offer our respect to those captured in the line of duty, serving their cause. We thank them for refusing to submit even behind bars.

On this day we bow our heads in reverence to those people who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives for freedom. We remember the price they paid and the loss that their family and friends still feel.

We offer more than our gratitude. We offer our solidarity. We make a promise to remember and honor those who have come before. We make a vow that the struggle will continue until all are free.

Too many people have had to fight for the freedom they should have been guaranteed at birth; too many have suffered the cruelty of capitalist exploitation.

The most important thing we can do today is to make a solemn oath: that ours is the last generation that will have to struggle; that we will apply pressure from all angles until these systems of oppression crack; that we will settle for nothing less than victory.

With the memory of those who have come before us; in solidarity with those still standing behind bars; while honoring those who gave their lives: We march forward to bring a new day with our heads high and our fists raised.

And I say to you that if we stand united with one voice and we act on our desire for liberation we will carry the day! We will win!

- Jeff “Free” Luers

Write to:

Jeff Luers

#13797671

Oregon State Prison

2605 State Street

Salem, Oregon 97310

USA

For more information: www.freefreenow.org