The Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) started life as the anarchist Red Cross in early 20th century Russia. It was formed to organize aid for political prisoners captured by the police and to organize self-defense against political raids by reactionary forces during the Russian civil war. It was during the civil war that the name was changed to ‘black’ to avoid confusion with the Red Cross who were organizing relief in the country. After the Bolsheviks seized power the Anarchist movement moved the ABC offices to Berlin and continued to aid prisoners of the new Bolshevik regime, as well as victims of Italian fascism and others. The Black Cross fell apart during the 1930s depression due to the incredible demand for its services and a decline in financial aid. But in the late 1960s the organization resurfaced in Britain, where it first worked to aid prisoners of the Spanish resistance to fascism, which had not been crushed after the civil war. Today ABC’s can be found all over the world. London ABC aims to continue in this tradition.
Our primary function is to provide practical support to anarchist and class struggle prisoners who through their activity to bring about proletarian revolution have been stolen from us by the state.
Secondary functions
For capitalism to continue, the state must maintain the imposition of private property. To maintain the privilege of the ruling elites, access to the necessities of life must be kept unequal for the majority of us; the state deploys a variety of methods to achieve this end. These measures manifest themselves in multiple ways throughout our lives; from the brutalisation of an education system that teaches us ‘our place’ to the harsh discipline of the ‘adult world’ with its work or starvation ethos. Ultimately though, the state deploys its laws, cops, prisons, armies and murder to enforce class relationships.
Through the frameworks of a historical materialist position, prisons primary function is made clear to us; to deter and punish those who would dare to challenge private property through their attempts to survive in an increasingly brutal and competitive market place.
London ABC aim to be a ‘fighting’ force inside the larger struggle against authority and capitalism and have formed ourselves to also highlight the issue of prison as a political tool of our class enemies and to fight against it.
While our core activity and priority will remain the support of class struggle and anarchist prisoners through practical solidarity, we also aim to support the broader prison community through campaigns centred on the ‘rights’ of prisoners (such as access to education/decent food/anti-prison labour etc). While we recognise that the prison system cannot be reformed out of existence (only a social revolution will rid us of the threat of prison and the other repressions its existence disguises) we do not see this work as contradictory to our ultimate goal, the actualisation of a socially transformative revolution. Everywhere prison conditions are worsening and we intend to continue to support prisoners in their struggle for better material conditions while this rotten system persists.
London ABC is part of and seeks to strengthen the international co-operation of the ABC network, highlighting and organising aid for political prisoners captured by the police wherever they maybe. We welcome all communication from prisoners and their supporters both inside and external of the international ABC’s and look forward to working together to finally tear down the walls.
They are Inside for us. We are outside for them!!
INFO: www.myspace.com/londonabc
Contact:
abclondon@riseup.net 
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