Letters for Liberation Monthly Newsletter
May 2025
Letter From the Collective’s Guest Editor
I am sending all of you readers the warmth and rebirth that the Spring season brings. This time of year, at least for me, provides the opportunity to pause and reflect on all that I have to be grateful for. We have a lot in store this month as we continue to evolve and focus on how best to meet the needs of our writers (and there are many).
I feel like we've been saying this for quite some time, but it’s worth reiterating: we are facing incredible challenges due to an authoritarian and oppressive American regime. Due process has become a relic of the past, and many of our citizens and legal residents are being subjected to violence and illegal imprisonment. It is easy to feel overwhelmed. Keep in mind, though, that this is their goal. They want us to feel overwhelmed. They want us to feel powerless. What they don’t want us to remember, however, is that tyranny breeds resistance.
A powerful way of resisting this system is by building community and relationships. That is our ultimate goal here at Letters for Liberation. Community and relationships are what tear down the walls that divide us from our friends and loved ones, and these two things are at the heart of abolition. Join us! You’ll see below that there are many ways to educate yourself and get involved.
In Solidarity,
Your May 2025 editor, daniel m.
Our Month’s Opportunities
-Upcoming Orientations-
Please Note: If you have not been matched with a pen pal yet, you must attend an orientation to get matched. If you’ve already attended an orientation or are already an active pen pal, you are still welcome to come to orientations to connect with new members of the community!
New Pen Pal Orientation: 6/2/25 @ 6pm ET
New Pen Pal Orientation: 6/14/25 @ 2pm ET
New Pen Pal Orientation: 6/17/25 @ 8pm ET
-Volunteer-
Interesting in taking it up a notch and contributing to our community beyond pen paling? Here’s some of what we are looking for:
Meeting attendance, note-taking, and record keeping, document drafting, agenda making. Send emails to potential outside penpals about upcoming orientations, send emails about collective decisions, compile and send newsletters. Respond to emails. Host orientations. Receive mail from people inside prisons who want a penpal and enter their requests into our database. Manage our penpal database by matching inside and outside penpals and keeping records and notes. Social media. Website maintenance. Hold space for education and support through book club and listening groups. Collective referral to resources we’ve compiled or people who may have more answers. Dream, rage, problem solve. Your skills are needed!
If you’re interested, our next Penpals Backend team meeting is on Tuesday, June 3rd at 8:30 pm Eastern, at this meeting link: https://tulane.zoom.us/j/96858816880
We are also looking for an experienced outside pen pal who is good at setting boundaries and is interested in taking on a second pen pal. If interested, please email abolitionapostles@gmail.com.
-Resources-
Check out our FAQ for answers to questions about challenges with pen paling, how to send a book inside and how to use email services like Securus.
-Support-
We accept donations via OpenCollective, where you can view details of our expenses. More details on our webpage.
Pen Pal Spotlight
My pen pal’s name is Lennardo Payne and he is currently incarcerated in Texas.
I’ve had limited correspondence with Mr. Payne but did want to share a reflection about what’s happening for me recently. In my last letter, I took a chance. I was honest and vulnerable with my pen pal in a way I am not traditionally, even with the people I am closest to. This was a big deal for me! After placing the letter in the mailbox, I had a moment of panic, doubting my decision and questioning how my pen pal would receive what I shared.
Anyways, I am not sure that folks can identify with this but I am both anxious and excited to see Mr. Payne’s response. In my experience, I feel closer to people when I take a chance and be vulnerable with them. That was a big part of my decision to take this chance and I am confident I will experience a positive result!
If you’re interested in exploring the power of vulnerability further, check this out!
Abolitionist News
Abolition takes many forms and how we imagine its becoming is limitless! One great example can be seen in a new Netflix documentary titled “The Quilters.” Quilting becomes an expressive outlet for incarcerated men in a max prison. Their creativity is on full display as is their dedication to the craft. The quilts they sew are then sent to foster children.
The trump administration’s first 100 days has shown their unwavering support for the promulgation of private prisons. From reversing a Biden policy banning Justice Dept contracts with private prisons, to providing wildly lucrative contracts for ICE gulags, the administration has made our work as abolitionists more and more challenging. For profit prisons are rife with violent treatment of people and vile conditions, the information of which is widely neglected and suppressed.
Abolitionist Futures consistently curates collections and information that is closely related to our work and mission.
For an excellent hub that consolidates abolitionist news & stories around the internet, check out The Marshall Project’s records page.
Political Education
Check out an upcoming “Abolitionist Futures” event on Monday, June 9 at 7pm EST. Register for the event here. It will be an evening of deep and meaningful discussion with Immigrant Rights activists, focusing on the many ways the abolition and immigrant justice movements intersect.
An interview with Rachel Herzing and Justin Piché about their 2024 book entitled, “How to Abolish Prisons: Lessons from the Movement Against Imprisonment.” Some insightful commentary here from two leading experts.
Book nerds unite! Check out Haymarket Books’ wide selection of abolition titles.
Abolition in the Digital Age. This is an oldie but goodie and remains relevant 8 years later.
Continuing the focus on the intersection of immigration and prisons, this is a great one featuring the wonderful abolition staple Ruth Wilson Gilmore.
Let’s Discuss!
There’s lots of ways to connect with your pen pal in a deep and impactful way. Here’s a couple of quick prompts to get the starting/continuing your conversation:
What are your favorite books, music, or other art forms? How have they impacted you and what about them resonates most with you?
If you could give advice to any person who is struggling with a tough time, what would you say?
What are the things you are most grateful for in your life, and why?
Art From The Inside
We recently received a message from our friend Kenneth West. He has works in an upcoming show in Houston! Here are the deets:
Art From the Inside: Creative Freedom From Confinement
Date(s): June 23-July 18, 2025
2700 Bay Area Boulevard
Houston, TX 77058
For more info, visit: uhcl.edu/artgallery
Connect
Thanks for reading our newsletter! I am so grateful to contribute to such a fantastic and radical community. Feel free to subscribe to future newsletters here:
Our Socials
If anything resonated and you have further questions/comments/suggestions for me please feel free to email me at daniel.coexistence@gmail.com.
<3 Abolition Forever Ɛ>
This is from Scroll XVI of my project The Hidden Clinic. I wrote it as a prayer—not a statement. Not for applause. Just rhythm for witness. https://thehiddenclinic.substack.com/p/to-the-ones-who-were-set-on-fire