Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Siddique Abdullah Hasan and Jason Robb have started their hunger strike

Dear family, friends and supporters of the Lucasville uprising prisoners,

I am not aware of all of the factors that went into their decisions,
but I have been informed that rather than waiting as previously
planned, Hasan and Jason Robb have joined the hunger strike. I
received a letter from Hasan today stating that the warden and deputy
warden of OSP were questioning him about his plans to go on the
hunger strike based on information they had gleaned from the
internet, and that may have influenced their decisions. I think the
tremendous outpouring of support from all corners of the globe and
all across this country has strengthened their resolve. There has
also been phenomenal media interest with an op-ed piece by Denis
O'Hearn in the Youngstown Vindicator, interviews of Staughton Lynd by
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now and by KPFA, and an interview of Denis
O'Hearn by WBAI. Both Denis and Staughton are frequent visitors of
the prisoners. Denis wrote the biography of Irish hunger striker
Bobby Sands entitled, "Nothing But an Unfinished Song." Staughton
wrote the definitive book on the 1993 rebellion entitled,
"Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising." He and his wife
Alice were the attorneys in a class action lawsuit against OSP.

Please keep putting the word out about the rally at the entrance
gates to OSP in Youngstown at 1:00 on Saturday, Jan.15, Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. We are trying to coordinate car pools
and a car caravan from Cleveland. The 7-person van is filling up
fast. We need other people with cars who know they are going to this
rally and who have space in their car to contact us because lots of
people need rides.

Contact lucasvillefreedom@gmail.com or call 216-571-2518.

Send the attached flyer around to everyone you think might be
interested and print it out and post it in coffee shops, barber
shops, laudromats, libraries, supermarkets, you name it. Buy poster
board and markers and start making signs. If we have enough signs and
banners, the prisoners will be able to see us from their windows and
they will be so thrilled. Carloads of supporters are planning to
drive in from other states. Let's show them what Ohio activists can do!

Let's mobilize and make it big!

Sharon Danann
for the Lucasville Uprising Freedom Network

Siddique Abdullah Hasan and Jason Robb have started their hunger strike

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