Milton, Ontario, Canada: Solidarity Demo at Prison

Infoshop News April 20 2010

On Sunday, April 18th, 40-50 Anarchists and their friends held a noise
demo in solidarity with prisoners locked up at the Maplehurst Correctional
Complex and Vanier Center for Women. This superprison is located 30
minutes west of Toronto. As the march began, the front sign into the
prison was spray-painted with the slogans “against prison” and “against
police.” We walked around the (large) perimeter of the institution with
banners, yelling fierce chants, lighting fireworks and banging on drums.
The prisoners mirrored our excitement with powerful rhythmic banging,
yelling and cheering. This enthusiastic response was felt deep in our
crew. We were inspired to see the immediate and tangible result of our
solidarity. The cops and screws were certainly not pleased with our
presence there (and we certainly are never pleased with their presence
anywhere). Despite the cops’ intentions, no arrests were made. On the way
out we cut through the parking lot to distribute flyers.

Here is the speech that was read through a megaphone twice – once next to
Vanier, and again near the maximum security wing of Maplehurst:

“There are about 1900 people locked inside this provincial superprison.
Over 2/3 of whom are awaiting trial and haven't even been convicted of a
crime.

“The reason I'm here today is to express solidarity with prisoners locked
behind these walls, and all prisoners fighting for freedom. I want the
people inside Maplehurst and Vanier to know that they are not alone; that
we are thinking of them out here, and we desire to destroy these cages
with them. With all its violence and cruelty, repression and isolation,
surveillance and harassment, prison is a daily reality that can’t be
ignored or tolerated.

“Ultimately, the reason I'm standing here is because I want freedom. Not
just this shitty excuse for ‘freedom’ we are offered on the ‘outside’ as
long as we stay confined within the realm of acceptable behavior. I want a
lot more than that. I want freedom from rape culture and patriarchy,
police repression and court battles. I want freedom from borders and
deportations, colonization and racism, and freedom from the State
constantly dictating my choices.

“We can gain strength to fight for a world that we want to see, and
challenge each other to create it. The dim reality that is this fucked up
world can be confronted, as the function of prison can be weakened by our
solidarity.

“I want to express solidarity with Giannis Dimitrakis, a bank robber and
anarchist revolutionary from Greece who has an appeal to his 35 year
sentence coming up on April 28. I also want to express solidarity with
comrades in Vancouver facing repression and charges for the resistance
during the Olympics. This is for all our comrades in Greece and everywhere
who are rising up real fierce to tear down the prison-world. Across
borders and oceans we can inspire each other and share struggle.

“There are no ‘humane’ forms of incarceration and punishment. Because the
one thing the state can never give us is our freedom. This we will always
have to take for ourselves.

“THE PASSION FOR FREEDOM IS STRONGER THAN THEIR PRISONS!”

Here are some chants to share:
“In Every City, In Every Town, Burn Their Prisons To The Ground!”
“They Can Take Our Lives Away, But Not Our Dignity! Our Hearts Will Pound
Against The Walls, Until We Are All Free!”
“Prisoners Everywhere, Solidarity and Love! Against The Violence of
Capital, Our Struggle Is One!”
“Maplehurst and Everywhere, Fire To The Prisons!”
“Milton To Greece, Fuck The Police!”