January LFL Newsletter
January Newsletter
Letter From a Collective Editor
It is a New Year which means new beginnings, resolutions, and this year a new administration.
There is a lot of uncertainty about what lays ahead, but that does not mean that we are powerless and incapable of being a force for change. We must continue to build community and care for one another. Letters for Liberation remains committed to prison abolition and connecting communities to incarcerated individuals. Together we are strong and capable of many things.
Your January editor,
Shannon
Here’s What’s Up This Month
Meetings
All Hands Meeting
You’re invited, and invite a friend! This meeting is to get updates on what LFL is up to, any volunteer needs we have, and feedback about your penpalling experience that helps us better collaborate as a collective. It’s a space to connect with one another and hopefully make some new community bonds (you may find a friend local to you). Everyone is welcome! See our calendar for a meeting link and join our Slack group for the agenda.Monday, February 3 at 8 pm Eastern
New Pen Pal Orientation
Whether you’ve never been matched with a pen pal, want a refresher, or want to invite a friend to join the collective, you’re welcome at orientation meetings! If you can’t make these dates, please send us an email. We can often make small group meetings at different times happen.
Monday, February 10th at 6 pm Eastern
Monday, February 24th at 6 pm Eastern
Check our calendar for times and meeting links
Penpals Backend Working Group Meeting- Sunday, February 2nd at 8:30 pm Eastern at this zoom link
Refer to the calendar website, Slack, and Instagram for any schedule adjustments
Volunteer
Announcement!!! Physics and Math correspondence courses are now available for incarcerated folks! Might your penal be interested in an introduction to physics and mathematics? One of our pen pals is starting a mail correspondence course on elementary topics in the history of physics and mathematics, where instruction will be dialogue-based and person-dependent, and they are looking for prospective learners to connect with. No previous math or physics background is required!
If you think your pen pal would like to learn more about the low-stakes correspondence to learn some cool science, please reach out to jaselm@ad.unc.edu with an expression of interest and your penpal’s information for materials to be sent to them.
Please note this course is not affiliated with Letters for Liberation as we do not provide educational services.
Resources
You can sign a petition from The Sentencing Project to help expand voting rights to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. They estimate that four million Americans were denied the right to make their voice heard due to felony convictions.
Support
We accept donations via OpenCollective, where you can view details of our expenses. More details on our webpage.
Political Education
Part of organizing is building intersectional coalitions. Check out this episode of Beyond Prisons. This episode focuses on organizing resistance to climate change, ecological collapse and crisis, war, genocide, and imperialism alongside policing and imprisonment.
Let’s Discuss!
What radicalized you? Share your story about what made you realize that our system was oppressive and flawed? Everyone has their own awakening story whether that is motherhood, or having a loved one involved incarcerated. Share with us what brought us to our community.