July LETTERS FOR LIBERATION Newsletter
July Newsletter
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Letter From a Collective Editor
Big news! Our name change is official—the organization that began as Abolition Apostles is now Letters for Liberation! This change was arrived at through a collective process that began with soliciting input and suggestions from inside and outside pen pals, went through several rounds of ranked voting, and once we had a top choice, it was approved by consensus vote on Slack. Thank you to everyone who participated. And we’re not done! It turns out that changing your organization’s name isn’t just as easy as picking a new name. Our email, website, social media platforms, and communications all need to be updated. If you’re interested in helping out, please let us know, via email (for now, still abolitionapostles@gmail.com) and/or on Slack. We are also welcoming ideas or new initiatives or activities we might undertake as Letters for Liberation—got an idea? Please share! (And see the section below on volunteer opportunities for more concrete ways to collaborate.)
My Pen-Pal Journey
When I joined Abolition Apostles, I was already pen pals with three incarcerated friends in California (my “original” pen pal, who I started writing around 2016, and two of her friends who I ended up writing as well). Each of these relationships, plus the Spanish-speaking pen pal I started writing through Abolition Apostles, has been very different. Maybe because of how bleak everything has seemed on a national and international level these past months, I decided that for this newsletter I wanted to focus on the the amazing, inspirational journey of my first pen pal, Denise, who is now not a “pen pal” but a dear friend—the little sister I never had.
Denise got out about two years ago and while it hasn’t been easy, she has done nothing but thrive. Step by step she got: a lousy job, a lousy car, a good job, a good car, her own place, a dog, and a relationship with someone who loves and respects her. Last fall she flew out to visit me in New Orleans and a month ago, I flew out to California to attend her college graduation. She had already completed most of the coursework while incarcerated (despite not having graduated from, or even really attended, high school) and even with all the stress and struggle of surviving on the outside, she was able to transfer her credits, apply for financial aid, and complete her degree. I am a college professor and no one is more jaded about college graduations than professors…but attending Denise’s graduation ceremony was one of the most moving, inspirational experiences of my life. It wasn’t just knowing everything she had been through, it was seeing her entire family pull together to be there (and this is a family that has not always been there for her), plus friends from all along her journey who also came from near and far to cheer her across the stage. Afterwards we all went out to Benihana, and laughed and ate too much and discussed Drake vs. Kendrick, amidst other tables of families celebrating birthdays or anniversaries. It was both utterly wonderful and…so utterly normal. As proud as I am of Denise and her graduation (and did I mention she is already enrolled in a counseling degree program come fall?), I think what I loved the most was just seeing her have the normal life that she should have had 10 years ago and that seemed so far off when we first met.
Denise is exceptional, and none of my other pen pal relationships have blossomed into anything like this kind of friendship. I worried when writing this that I might contribute to setting unrealistic expectations for what most people pen pal’s relationships will be like. I have one pen pal still in prison and that has been a much more difficult relationship. Albert is funny, creative, and never ceases to surprise me, but we disagree about a lot of things, and I struggle knowing how to help him (especially when it is at odds with how he wants me to help him). We have gone back and forth negotiating boundaries over the years. Still, it brings me joy to be able to find him information online, make him laugh, encourage him, and to listen to his experiences and tell him some of mine. I am normally conflict-averse, and have a tendency to end relationships rather than work through difficulties…so sticking it out with Albert has actually been an important—and ongoing--lesson for me about how to work though disagreement and frustration rather than retreating to emotional safety.
Thanks for reading and if you would like to share some of your pen pal journey, please think about occupying the newsletter editor chair in a coming month!
Your July editor,
Dale
Here’s What’s Up This Month
Meetings
Refer to the calendar website, Slack, and Instagram for any schedule adjustments.
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! These typically happen at least twice a month. There’s one orientation scheduled for Mon, August 5, 6pm – 7pm
(https://harvard.zoom.us/j/98499143837?pwd=xEuULl6x9wMIe9705GUuuuITbNrj25). Other future dates are TBA. If you can’t make these dates, please send us an email. We can often make small group meetings at different times happen. See our calendar (https://www.abolitionapostles.com/calendar/) for meeting links.
Penpals Backend Working Group meets monthly to coordinate all the logistics related to supporting pen pals, including matching pen pals after orientations, responding to emails, maintaining the website and database, and more. All are welcome to join us on Tuesday, August 6th at 7:30 PM Central Time (8:30 Eastern, 5:30 Pacific). Meeting link: https://tulane.zoom.us/j/96858816880.
Book Club meets to read and discuss fiction books through an abolitionist lens. They are starting a new book at the next meeting, so now is the perfect time to join in! The new book is Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin, and they meet the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays in August and September. People can figure out what chapters we’re reading for which week on the #bookclub channel Join the #bookclub channel on Slack for more information to be kept up to our start date.
Texas Prison Mail Organizing Group has been meeting to organize against a recent change to Texas mail policy that negatively impacts our pen pals. If you want to learn more, check out the #tdcj-mail-organizing channel on Slack.
Support Squad is for anyone who would like a space to share and support one another in processing how pen-paling is going. We don’t have an August meeting date set but if you’d like to get or give some support please write us at abolitionapostles@gmail.com or post in Slack (either in the #general or #care channel)!
Volunteer and Fundraising Opportunities
The number of people inside waiting for pen pals is now well into the hundreds. LFL volunteer Max R. is spearheading a campaign to improve outreach to find more outside pen pals. We are hoping to design printable and screenshot-ready fliers, as well as improve our social media presence where possible. And are open to any other ideas people have for how to reach out to new pen pals everywhere. If you would like to be a part of this team, contact Max Rasmussen via email at maxrasmussen@mailfence.com or via Slack. Thank you!
We are looking for a new social media team!! THANK YOU SO MUCH to Katie, who has managed our our social media accounts for years. Please reach out on Slack if you are interested.
Volunteer Joe shares this update and mutual aid request for his pen pal Geno, who is about to begin his post-incarceration life:
“Just sharing this mutual aid request for my penpal Geno who is getting out of prison this summer! If anyone can help contribute to his GoFundMe, that would be wonderful: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-genos-reentry-needs Additionally, he's going to be settling in Wisconsin. If anyone has connections with any reentry programs/support organizations there that may be able to help Geno with things like finding employment, finding a home, etc. please DM me on Slack. I'm also gathering clothes for Geno to mail to his friend in Wisconsin who will be able to get it to him when he's out. If anyone has any gently used men's clothing (shirt size XL, pants 38 waist) that you'd like to give to Geno, also please let me know!”
In addition to our regular expenses, we will need to raise some extra funds to cover the costs of new domain names, email accounts etc. If you’d like to donate, you can go to our Open Collective page here, where you can also learn more about how our money is used.
Looking for other ways to get involved? We’re a completely volunteer-run collective, so there are always more opportunities! In particular, if you’re interested in being involved in orientations – sending reminder emails, hosting them, and/or sending follow up match emails – we’re always looking for more people. Send us an email (abolitionapostles@gmail.com) and/or post on our #pen-pals-backend channel on Slack to get connected.
Abolitionist News
Some good news! On July 18, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission voted to implement several new regulations on phone and video calling services in prisons and jails. As required by the 2022 Martha Wright-Reed Fair and Just Communications Act, the FCC laid out new price caps that prisons, jails, and their telecom providers must abide by, significantly lowering the existing caps which were set in 2021. The agency also made a number of long-sought reforms that will bring critical relief to families of incarcerated people and reduce incentives for bad policy in prisons and jails.
Let’s Discuss!
Are you looking for a question to help spark conversation with your pen pal? How about using our name change as a springboard to discuss names! What does your name come from and what does it mean to you? Have you ever changed your name or considered it? What would you change it to? Do you think names (or people, of organizations) can predict or affect their futures? How?
Have a great rest of your summer and thanks for reading!
Dale