Letters for Liberation Monthly Newsletter October 2024
October Newsletter
A Note From This Month’s Editor
Hi all-
I’m super pumped to be the Letters for Liberation Newsletter editor this month! I’ve been penpalling for three years now, I think. I started with one pen pal that I was connected to through the Illinois Prison Project during COVID-19, and then, I wanted more pen pals and found Letters for Liberation. I have worked in public libraries my whole career. Through that work, I have done a lot of social justice and equity work in the communities we serve. I wanted to do something more personally focused on justice and equity, and pen-palling was right up my alley. My four pen pals have changed my life and perceptions of the world. They are always there to listen to me, and I am there to listen to them without judgment. It’s been wonderful to see how they have changed and grown. I usually write to them during my train commute to downtown Chicago during the week. I like writing because it’s a mindful practice to slow down and focus on that for a while. My husband, daughter, and I visited one of my pen pals, Robert, who also lives in IL, which was a pleasant experience for all of us. I like sharing my pen pal experiences with my daughter (10); she has made them pictures and gotten incredible artwork back in response. I’m glad she’s had the opportunity to see them as humans and people who are kind and caring.
Your October Editor,
Renee Neumeier
How You Can Get Involved With Letters for Liberation:
Meetings
Backend Pen Pals Meeting: November 10, 6-7 pm (central) on Zoom
New Pen Pal Orientations:
November 4, 6-7 pm (central) on Zoom
November 9, 9 - 10 am (central) on Google Meet
November 12, 7-8 pm (central) on Google Meet
Volunteer
Earlier this month, we had an all-hands meeting to discuss how to reduce the length of our waitlist. Currently, over 1700 people in prisons have written to us to request a pen pal, and remain unmatched, with an average wait time of almost two years. We would love to reduce this wait time!
We’ve considered several strategies to help, and we’d like to invite you to do one of the following things:
If you’re interested in being a pen pal but haven’t yet been matched-- please join us for an orientation meeting! We plan to offer a few dates each month throughout the fall, and you can view the currently scheduled dates on our calendar.
If you’re currently a pen pal, consider sharing your experience with a friend (or more than one friend!) -- if they’d like to be a pen pal, they can fill out this form to learn about upcoming orientations.
If you’re currently a pen pal, would you be willing to take on another pen pal?
In future months, we’ll share updates about our waitlist and other ways to help. If you’d like to join us in brainstorming and planning or have any other ideas, please reach out via email (abolitionapostles@gmail.com) or on Slack!
Updates
The Care Team met this month to discuss how to connect with and support new pen pals to help ensure they have a positive experience. Their next steps are putting together some scripts to pilot, a survey to gather information from current pen pals about what they wish they knew at the beginning or what type of support they might be looking for, and questions to be added to the registration form to provide a heads up about someone reaching out to check-in. Interested in getting involved? Join the #care channel on Slack to share your ideas.
Support
We accept donations via OpenCollective, where you can view details of our expenses. More details on our webpage.
Pen Pal Spotlight
I asked two of my pen pals to write something for the newsletter. I left what they wanted to write up to them. Auner is in Texas and has been in solitary confinement for several years. But, he was recently moved to a new facility where he now gets to be in the yard with a few other people at a time (still in a cage) and can attend online classes to prepare him for parole.
David is in California and should be going up for parole in a year or two. He’s been working as a plumber and was recently appointed team lead. He tries to be active in groups and has been able to take some college classes in the past year.
Auner H. , Texas
First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who has made this organization possible, but I want to give a special Thank You to one of my best friends, Renee. I am writing today to share how much this organization helped. Thanks to y'all, I was able to find a great friend. To many people who don't know much about prison or solitary confinement, I want to share something with y'all. So, for many of us who are in prison whether it be in the general population or segregation/solitary confinement, and we do not have anyone who keeps in contact regularly or in contact at all, a letter means a lot to us, it shows us that there is still someone out there willing to give us a bit of there time and have an actual conversation that will keep our mind out of prison even if it’s just a letter it goes a long way. Many people don't understand that a simple discussion helps us stay in touch with the outside world no matter what's happening. It helps our mind escape these walls, even if it's for a while it gives us something to look towards even when we think there was nothing left toward to look for. Some of us have lost family and dont have no one left, some just lost contact with them and dont have any way of reaching out to them since we dont have anyone to help.
I have been lucky enough to have someone who took time out of her day to get to know me and vice versa. I have gotten to know her and about your organization. She has been there for me through some of my hardest times and some of my happiest ones. She has pushed me to be a better person as well. I'm in a program called CIPP RP (Corrective Intervention Pre-release Program). This is a Texas Prison program that just started for people in Segregation/Solitary Confinement. Basicly its a program for our release back into General Population or going back into the world.For those who don't know what the general population means, I'll explain. So General Population is where you start, where you are allowed to work, get contact visits if you qualify, and where you attend and sign up for classes and vocational trades. Many of us get placed into Solitary Confinement due to disciplinary infractions/cases or for being STG (Security Threat Groups). Some people are not even part of an STG but get labeled has one and are placed in segregation for it; the only way to get out for them is to sign up for grad (gang renouncing) and are told to say who is the one that put them down, why they joined and when they did it. Many who have never been part of any organization and can't provide the required information are not accepted because they think they're lying when they don't know anything since they were never part of any organization! I was placed in solitary confinement for a disciplinary infraction, which was a riot case.I have spent five years in solitary confinement for something that, at the most, should have been 2 years, if that. Until recently, when Renee (now one of my closest friends) contacted me, I didn't have anyone to stay in contact with me. She has been a great friend. If it wasn't for her, I don't know if I would have still been as strong as I am now. She has taught me a lot along the way. She has taught me that not everyone sees us the same and that people are willing to look our circumstances over and see us as people.I don't know if anyone can relate to any of this or has someone like I've been fortunate to have, but I would like to say to anyone reading this on the inside, hang in there. These walls can't hold us forever. They've got to let us go eventually. Some might say I've life w/out that doesn't mean anything. People still care, no matter what anyone says. We're NOT just a number! We’re people, and just like in any situation we've faced before, we can overcome it. It has ups and downs, but know you're not alone. We have overcome so much in life before and will keep on coming now. Keep y’alls head up Brothers and Sisters. For all of you reading this in the world know that y’alls letters do make a big difference even if for many people it might seem like a small thing, it makes a big difference in here knowing that we've someone to have a conversation with. Thank Y'all for your time, and once again, Special Thanks To my Wonderful Friend Renee
A note from David, California
Hello, everyone. My name is David, and I want to tell y'all how much I appreciate y'all for giving me the opportunity to get to know such an amazing person!! I've been blessed with Renee and her families time and love and its shown me to not take anything for granted and cherish everything.. Renee is a beautiful soul who has made me realize that life isn't what I was brought up to think it was; it's more beautiful and filled with laughter,joy, and, most of all, love. I've changed my life from when I first came in(13 years ago), and I can honestly say that I'm ready to step out of these walls. I couldn't do it without the help of my good friend Renee!!! She's taught me not to judge and see past people flaws and get to know them for them.. I honestly don't think my life would be where it's at if it wasn't for this organization, thank you for the opportunity to have an amazing friend in my life!
Abolitionist News
From the Marshall Project: ‘A Life Sentence.’ How Mississippi’s Forever Voting Ban Keeps Thousands From the Polls.
Advocate for innocent people whose cases have been investigated and proven innocent with the Innocence Project. Sign a petition, make phone calls, send emails, and more.
Political Education
A few months ago, I signed up for daily emails from The Equal Justice Initiative’s A History of Racial Injustice project. I highly recommend it.
“EJI designed A History of Racial Injustice as a set of tools for learning more about people and events in American history that are critically important but not well known. This digital experience highlights events on this day in history with rich detail and intuitive sharing features, and our award-winning wall calendar is a tactile resource for display in classrooms, community centers, offices, and homes. Please join us in this important and long-neglected conversation about race in America by sharing this calendar.”
Another newsletter I recently subscribed to is The Everyday Advocate. Each week, the newsletter ends with specific actions you can take to impact different things happening worldwide. Activist and artist Oh Happi Dani created it.
Guest Letter from One Love Prison Meditation Program
This month, we have a piece from Tim from One Love Prison Meditation Program. I came across One Love Prison Meditation and Tim’s work a few months ago on Instagram and thought it was an important service he was offering to people on the inside. I was inspired by how he built One Love Prison Meditation Program. I thought you all would benefit from knowing about his work!
Meditation has a deep history behind the walls. In these horrific places where people are fighting for their soul and humanity, the connection to Self and community is paramount.
I volunteered for many years bringing meditation gatherings into prisons and in 2018 founded One Love Prison Meditation Project to try and be there as much as possible for them.
It’s never been about saviorism, It’s about solidarity with our community that is at the forefront of fighting against our capitalistic white supremacist system.
I don’t believe that someone can truly be helpful to someone who is incarcerated if they also believe it is acceptable to cage them. Abolition is a requirement for Justice and for Self and Community actualization.
A lot of people don’t realize that in the prisons that I go into, these folks can’t even gather on their own to meditate unless an outside volunteer comes in.
It’s often the only two hours where they can have silence and be away from the guards.
“Meditation and Poetry saved my life in prison” Coral recently shared with me.
Mark shared “It’s so hard being in here emotionally and knowing my family is out there hurting too. This meditation class has really fucking helped to deal with my emotions and not get eaten up. I’ve felt some real genuine comfort in my body. I’ve been able to connect with my daughter and talk with her about our emotions.”
A phrase came to me last night thinking about our work…We bring Care till we burn it down(and we bring care after it’s gone).
There is always so much work to be done and I remember when I started One Love PMP one of my motivations was that if I keep going in maybe that will inspire others to go in and continue to be part of this ripple effect.
Over the last year, I’ve recruited 50+ life coaches, spiritual coaches, hypnotists, healers to work pro bono with an incarcerated person from our meditation gatherings. They communicate via email on the tablets and the phone. This has been an incredible support and they’ve done all kinds of amazing work together. From book studies to helping folks reconnect with their families and children to providing funds for commissary and cell phones for work release.
I want to share some final words from Vince…
“I believe that meditation practice is one of the most powerful transformative tools one has at one's disposal. For me, meditation is both a way in and a way out - it is a way into centeredness and inner clarity, and it is a way out of ignorance, delusion and suffering. For me, meditation is freedom. I have been attending our meditation group for two and a half years and what we have cultivated is incredibly beautiful and special to me. It is pure loving kindness and is the closet thing I’ve experienced to being on the outside during my time in prison”
We do 10 meditation gatherings a month for hundreds of incarcerated men, women, trans and non-binary folx. If you want to get involved in any way, please reach out to me at tim@onelovepmp.org and check us out on Instagram at One_Love_Prison_Meditation and our website www.onelovepmp.org
Until They All Come Home.
Blessings to you and yours.
In Solidarity,
Tim Bryant