Prisons, Prose & Protest - #19

Rants, Musings & More

I focus on what I can actually control and influence. This has been my orientation during most of my adult life. The past few years have cemented that this is the most fruitful way of living for me. So many distractions and so much noise fill our worlds. It’s easy to get swept up and to feel powerless and sometimes even useless. But we are, in fact, powerful when we harness our ideas and find others who also want to work with us on executing those ideas. There’s a lot I can’t impact, but there are quite a few things that I can do, so I try to do that within my capacity. 

I’ve been furious since the Supreme Court ended Roe. But I was already enraged before that because many of us had been demanding more than Roe, as it was never enough to achieve reproductive justice. But now we find ourselves with higher infant and maternal mortality rates and more people giving birth after being raped. This is the present that the Right and some “moderates” have wrought. 

Meanwhile, struggling abortion funds issued an open letter last month calling out Big Repro for failing to sustain the infrastructure for immediate abortion access. I posted and then erased a rant on FedBook a few weeks ago about the Left(s) and our abysmal failure to resource abortion funds. Rants aren’t particularly useful. 

What is there to do? We can work in our communities to help more people learn how to self-manage abortions through medication. Medical abortion is safe, and how to self-manage abortions should be common knowledge. I am doing my part to increase our knowledge and skills by organizing an abortion doula training in NYC next month. 

Next, we can and should each adopt an abortion fund. For those who can commit to becoming monthly sustainers, please do so. If you can organize a giving circle for a specific fund, do that. The need has increased exponentially. It is essential that abortion funds have the financial resources needed to do their critical work. I have been donating to the all-volunteer Palmetto Springs Abortion Fund regularly. Will you join me? I hope to raise $15,000 by October 30. To that end, I am offering a wall quilt by my friend Rachel Wallis as a raffle prize. Anyone who donates at least $50 is eligible. Link to raffle form is here.

In this month’s edition of Prisons, Prose & Protest, I share some thoughts about prison newspapers. I share a new zine of letters from a group of fabulous young organizers, I recommend two podcast episodes, several good recent articles, and much more…. 

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Prisons/Policing

Last year, I listened to an interesting lecture about printing in prison by historian Damon McCool, who presented information about two publications written and published by people incarcerated at Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) in Philadelphia. The lecture also introduced me to a digital humanities project titled Printing in Prison led by Dr. Whitney Trettien that explores the use of printing presses at ESP from the 1890s through the prison’s closure in 1971.

I have a few newspapers created and published by incarcerated people in my personal collection. Here’s one 1969 example published by incarcerated people in Arkansas called the Pea Pickers Picayune. After a period of decline, it appears that there’s currently a small resurgence of prisoner-published newspapers underway. I thought that I would share a brief history of USian prison newspapers as the feature for this month’s newsletter.

A [Very Brief] History of US Prison Newspapers

Prison newspapers have been an important—albeit often ignored and embattled—part of the US press for over 200 years. Newspapers in prison serve an important dual function: they provide information to prisoners about the outside world and inform those outside about abuses and inequities within prisons themselves.

The first USian prison newspaper was Forlorn Hope, published in New York State and edited by an incarcerated person. Prison newspaper growth accelerated in the late 1800s thanks in large part to the reformatory movement.

Reformatories were institutions designed for first-time “offenders,” and emphasized education and rehabilitation. In that context, many reformers challenged the consensus that prisoners should be isolated and cut off. Instead, they argued, it was important for prisoners to be informed as preparation for life outside. The New York State Reformatory at Elmira first published its paper, The Summary, in 1883. The Massachusetts State Reformatory at Warnerville/Concord Junction established its paper, Our Paper, in 1885.

Reformatory prison newspapers inspired publications in state prisons as well. The Depression gave an additional spur to prison publications; as other prison industries stalled out, prison officials saw prison newspapers as an alternative way to keep prisoners occupied. By 1935, incarcerated people in half of state and federal prisons were publishing newspapers and periodicals. By 1980, the Penal Press, an association of prison publications, included 190 members.

The circulation numbers of prison papers could be substantial. The New York State prison publication The Star of Hope printed about 5,000 copies during its heyday in the early 20th century, with about 3,000 copies going to prisoners themselves. By 1966, prison publications printed some 270,000 copies altogether, and served a readership of close to 2 million in the US and Canada. A third of these readers were outside prison.

The 1970s were the height of prison newspaper success and circulation. The 80s and 90s, in contrast, saw a major decline in the number and influence of prison publications. It is not clear why this happened, although it is likely linked to the general disillusionment with the goal of rehabilitation and the increasingly punitive philosophy of mass incarceration. For example, policymakers slashed higher education opportunities for people in prison in the 90s. The 1987 Supreme Court case Turner v. Safley, which sharply restricted prisoner speech, may also have affected prison newspapers. Finally, the prison uprisings of the 1960s and 70s may also have contributed to the decline of prison newspapers as administrators sought to clamp down on communications within and outside of facilities. Whatever the reason, by 2000, there were only five prisoner-published and -written newspapers left in the United States.

In the late 90s, some experts believed that the prison newspaper might become extinct altogether. However, over the last 25 years, the prison press has revived somewhat. As of 2023, the Prison Journalism Project counted 24 prison newspapers in 12 states. Organizations like the PJP train prison journalists and publish their stories online, ensuring that they reach a larger audience than print copies would allow. The internet and email, though often censored and heavily regulated in prisons, have made it easier to some extent for individual journalists in prison to get their stories out to mainstream publications.

State restrictions and open repression hamper the growth of prison journalism. The Federal Bureau of Prisons bans all journalism. Many state systems censor prisoner correspondence with the media or ban all business by and compensation for prisoners. Nonetheless, prison journalists continue to do important work. Prison reporters like Michele Scott and Juan Moreno Haines, for example, were a vital source of information about the outrageous failures to protect prisoners during the early stages of the COVID pandemic. Their work showed once again that prison journalism is a vital means for people inside and outside to expose one of the US’s most oppressive institutions.

Note: My friend Vikki Law’s forthcoming book Corridors of Contagion: How the Pandemic Exposed the Cruelties of Incarceration relies on some of the reporting by incarcerated people during COVID. You can preorder the book now.

Publishing

Our Anguilla Prison Massacre art book is finally available to order thanks to Booklyn, which is distributing it for us. You can order it here. Proceeds after costs will go to Survived and Punished NY’s mutual aid fund.

In the fall of 2023, Kelly Hayes and I facilitated an eight-week series of workshops with a cohort of young organizers. During our time together, we covered a number of topics, including relationship-building, book club organizing, mapping our movement ecosystems, fundraising, and narrative work. Amid horrific news cycles about an unfolding genocide in Gaza, these weekly gatherings were a balm. We invited participants to write a letter to new/young organizers at the end of our time together. A few took us up on the invitation. This zine designed by Andrea Kszystyniak brings together those offerings. We hope that new and young organizers find the wisdom shared as valuable and inspiring as we do. 

Prose

In August, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem published a comprehensive report on the torture systemically committed in the network of prison camps Israel has hastily established to house Palestinians taken prisoner since October 7. The report collects dozens of testimonies that “clearly indicate a systemic, institutional policy focused on the continual abuse and torture of all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.”

Mira Mattar writes in Vittles magazine about how the use since October 2023 of acute starvation as a weapon of Israeli genocide against Palestinians is part of a longer history of Palestinian nourishment being intentionally withheld and controlled by Israel. 

I really like this essay by Cheryl Rivera full of experience-based lessons about what it takes for mutual aid work to move "beyond crisis mode and become a tool for actually getting free of the exploitative structures of capitalism that undergird all of the basic functions of society.”

I encourage everyone to read this introduction to The Power to Win, a report about building power in movement organizing published by The Action Lab. The questions asked by this project—and the answers provided by the hundreds of organizers interviewed—are critical to this moment.

Marina Magloire writes about June Jordan’s life-long solidarity with Palestine—and about the intertwined personal, political, and professional consequences of her stance—in a stunningly beautiful and timely essay. 

I really appreciated this review of Abolition and Social Work, the wonderful book edited by my friends and comrades Mimi E. Kim, Cameron Rasmussen, and Durrell M. Washington. The review, by Astrid Watkins, “places the anthology in conversation with the 1951 and 2014 ‘We Charge Genocide’ (WCG) campaigns against the United States and the City of Chicago Police Department, respectively.” Because I both co-founded the 2014 WCG project and wrote an introduction to the book, the review engages significantly—and thoughtfully—with my work and draws on resources found in the collection of my papers held at the Chicago Public Library.   

In this Truthout op-ed, three abolitionist educators from Illinois (who are also my good friends) make the case for real, lasting decarceration with clarity, precision, and love.

Read this excerpt from Philip McHarris’s new book Beyond Policing for an overview of how organizing by Minneapolis abolitionists has helped advance a nationwide reimagining of safety. 

Tamar Sarai of Prism interviews two people involved with Chicago’s police torture reparations campaign about the origins and importance of the Chicago Justice Torture Memorial, which is finally being built. 

Podcast

This episode of The Guardian’s In Focus podcast discusses the intentional degradation of conditions for Palestinian prisoners in Israel under ​​extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, particularly the brutal intensification of abuse after October 7.

This episode of Criminal tells the story of Joan Little, a Black woman who in 1975 became the first woman in the country to be acquitted of murder on the grounds that she was defending herself against sexual assault. The podcast tells Little’s story through an interview with Karen Bethea-Shields, a Black lawyer who had just graduated from law school when the older white lawyer she worked with asked her to help him defend Little. 

Poem

I appreciate the reminders about smallness and making change in “Advice From a Raindrop” by Kim Stafford. I look forward to more chances to be “in their faces, shining, / festive, expendable, eternal.” 

Potpourri

I’ve been thinking of Jen Angel and her community. I continue to offer my love and respect. Thank you for being such guiding lights. 

The application deadline for the October NYC abortion doula training I’m organizing is September 6: apply here! 

I’m co-facilitating a bus tour in Chicago with my friend Essence on September 15. Join us! 

Our last Life Stories of Anti-Slavery Abolitionists book discussion is October 27—you can register here. We’ve read so many great books and had wonderful discussions since January 2023. I’ll miss this space.

Prison Banned Books Week is September 15-21, 2024.

My comrade Ki, of Woke Kindergarten, is a wonderful abolitionist educator who creates wonderful resources with and for young people and children. Here’s their zine pack. 

I’m really looking forward to And Water Brings Tomorrow, a documentary about closed prisons by Ashley Hunt, which will be released this fall.  

I really love the essential oils that Sea Grape Apothecary carries, as well as some of their other potions. 

Chantal Loial forever!

The Baldwin-Emerson Elders Project captures the stories of 200+ Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latine, and queer elders from across the US to document “the untold stories of activists, storytellers, and community builders who have witnessed and shaped monumental change in American public life.”

I am very excited for the Brooklyn Museum traveling retrospective of Elizabeth Catlett’s work and for the accompanying book edited by Dalila Scruggs, both coming in the fall and both titled Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies. 

Cool Library Thing of the Month

For the People: A Leftist Library Project (FTP) has created a special Public Libraries 101 publication to help everyone better understand how public libraries in the United States are governed and funded. We also offer suggestions for how anyone can get involved in public library advocacy and organizing. Read the new publication here!