The Abolition Apostles Newsletter

December

Dec 22, 2023

Letter From a Collective Editor

Welcome, ya’ll! The vision for this monthly newsletter is to build a greater sense of connectivity within our community of outside penpals and supporters, amplify the voices of our inside friends, and provide awareness and transparency into how this collective organizes. Everyone is welcome, all of the time. In that spirit, you’ll be receiving thoughts and news from a different volunteer each month. We invite you to engage at any level that fits your capacity, including sharing it with your inside penpal, if you want! I am based in North Carolina and so is my penpal, so this letter reflects that, though I hope it will be of interest and use to everyone. I’m so grateful that you’re here.

Your December editor,

Karissa T.

Contact me at karissamichelletucker@gmail.com, on the AA Slack, or Instagram @weird_eyes

December at Abolition Apostles

Announcements

We’re in the process of choosing a new name for our collective! Please submit ideas here.

Upcoming Meetings

Refer to the website calendar, Slack, and Instagram for any schedule adjustments or additions, and meeting links that haven’t been generated at the time of this letter.

January 9th: Penpals Backend meeting. This working group coordinates penpal matching, our database and website, and more. Join the meeting to learn how you can be involved.

New Penpal orientations are typically on several Wednesday evenings per month.

January 15th (5pm PST/8pm EST): The Care Team is a loosely facilitated space that explores topics around penpal relationships.

Volunteer

Volunteering = building community. Talking within your circles about your experience penpaling is huge! Our current wait time for people on the inside to be matched is about 18 months. Every connection helps.

We’d love a few more volunteers trained in our financial process through OpenCollective. It doesn’t really require labor, but we want to spread accountability between multiple stewards.

Resources

There’s so much on our website. I also host a document of abolitionist resources specific to North Carolina. Your additions are welcome!

Support

We accept donations via OpenCollective, where you can view details of our expenses. Please refer to our website for additional disclosures.

Pen Pal Spotlight

DeShaunta (Desi) B. & Karissa T.

Desi and I started penpalling in 2020, and we both live in North Carolina. We don’t have a picture of us together, but here are pictures that each of us have in our spaces of one another!

One thing I love about Desi is his love for learning. He has something to offer on almost every topic. He introduced me to Richard Wright’s Native Son (subsequently, I recommend the Rashid Johnson cinematic take), H.E.R., and the artists Ruth Bernard and Emily Carr. Scroll further down to see some interactive artwork he sent me about solitary confinement. He loves chess and National Geographic, and hates prison food. He sent me a get well card when I was too troubled to write as regularly as I wanted to, and that moved me so much.

Desi was sentenced to life without parole, and we’ve been through both exhilarating and devastating rounds of how to combat it. Recently, a lawyer agreed to take his case, and I’m so in awe of Desi’s determination. I’m proud to call him my friend.

If you would like to support Desi, two things I’m gathering are letters of support for potential parole (here’s a template, email me if you write one!) and job leads! Not limited to NC. He’s interested in driving big rigs.

Abolitionist News

A victory: Calls in prison are now free in California! Read more.

A setback: Texas bill SB4 (effective in March 2024) gives law enforcement insane reach in stopping and arresting anyone on suspicion of “illegal immigration” and related actions, like baiting citizens to transport people and then arresting them for “showing up to smuggle,” which carries a mandatory 10-year minimum sentence under the bill. I’ve been learning about it from Che Guerrero.

Let’s Discuss!

Something to spark conversation with your penpal. This prompt will also be posted to Slack, Instagram, Twitter (X), and Facebook. Share your answer and your penpal’s answer, if you want.

If you could watch one movie with your penpal, what would you choose, and why?

Art From The Inside

Desi sent me this incredible and ingenious 3D diagram of his solitary confinement space. Even though I didn’t follow his instructions in recreating it to the letter, the third picture here shows the exact length and width of his cell using small spools of string that he sent, laid down on the floor from where I’m typing this.