The election of an unabashed anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, misogynist rape proponent to the highest office of the land does not signal a new America. The U.S. continues to outpace the rest of the world in incarcerating its people, more people have been deported under the current president than any previous regime, and police continue to kill with impunity. The opposition to this miserable world grows by the day.

The struggles and self-organization of prisoners is a good measure for the collective struggle for liberation, and those show there is much to celebrate, even as inside and outside we recognize the need to bolster ourselves for the future. After months of autonomous actions in prisons and detention centers across the country, against great odds prisoners coordinated a work stoppage in September and continued for weeks. They stared down the repression they faced and took action against an institution and a society that degrades their humanity and degrades us all.

 Locally, detainees at the Durham jail–some who’ve been there for years without trial, and others who’ve just landed inside–continue to stand up against conditions and treatment in what has been coined “The Plantation on Mangum Street.” A pod of detainees stood up against officers who attempted to limit their rec time and segregate them and the sports they could play by race. Earlier this year, Aramark lost the meal preparation contract it had retained for 20 years because of detainee’s writing letters, filing grievances and taking action. Detainees continue to push for the reinstatement of night-time walks, the right to remove officers from pods for misconduct, the lowering of commissary and phone fees, the lowering or elimination of bail, and a more rapid resolution of their cases.

This December 31st, we will show our support for these local, nationwide, and yes, international struggles and add to a growing New Year’s Eve tradition for a sixth straight noise demonstration at the Durham jail. We will gather at CCB Plaza downtown (at the Bull) for a march to the jail where we’ll show detainees–our comrades, friends, family and neighbors– solidarity and love. Please bring yourself and some friends, along with banners and signs, various lights and noisemakers of all varieties.

Fuck foreboding. Down with despair. A new world is in the air.

 Saturday, December 31 @ 7:30 pm.

Meet at CCB Plaza (Corcoran/Chapel Hill St) and march to the jail