Trans Pride Initiative

Prison Committee / Prison Letter Writers Virtual Meetup

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Pride Inside Shoutout: We have sent our first Pride Inside! video into the prison tablet system, but if you still want to submit a contribution, please do!

We would like EVERYONE to have a chance to participate in our Pride Inside Shoutout! campaign to show support for trans and queer family behind the walls of prisons and jails. Just make a short video with a positive message for folks to see during Pride Month, and we will send it inside!

All that is needed to participate is to shoot a short positive message and email it to admin@tpride.org or upload it here.

If we don't have enough in time to submit a second video this year, we will save new submissions for next year!

If you have questions, feel free to drop by the meeting and ask them, or email us and we will get back to you.

Happy Pride!

Remote Participation: We always need people to help write letters, and we encourage people around the nation and even around the world to join us! All you need is an internet connection and a willingness to help our siblings in prison!

Seeking Spanish language writers: We are always seeking more people to help with Spanish letters and translations.

Ideally we would like several people to share the work. If any of the persons who have written Spanish letters in the past are interested in writing, we would love to have you join us again, as well as new persons! We never want anyone to feel overwhelmed with the demands of this work, so we try to spread it out!

Our meetings are informal and the agenda can be changed, so let us know if there is something you want added!

1. Intros and check-ins

2. Updates and general info shares

• Unusual outcome to bail denial: Illinois eliminated cash bail, perceived as a set back to abolition work. However, preliminary data indicates the setback seems to have a silver lining. Courts have considered detention more carefully, resulting in decreases, and monthly average jail populations have fallen about 14% in urban and 25% in rural areas. Full report here.
• Dani discussing Ms. Snuggles' proposal for a new program: Many regular writers know Ms. Snuggles . . . she is trying to start a new program  addressing self-harm and peer support, and is asking for advice. Dan is working with her. We will discuss and see if we can help her.
• Reporter Reminder: If you feel a trans or intersex person may be a good contact for a reporter, ask them if it is ok if we provide their contact information to journalists. We will be keeping track of who is ok having their contact info shared with reporters so we can more quickly respond to legit journalist requests.
• Open discussion of any other information or relevant knowledge to share with others?

3. Discussion and questions about letters you are working on

4. Letter example (login required to see letters)

• We didn't have time last week, so this week, we still have on the agenda to look at the most recent letters from Sky and TPI in this folder. This response letter provides a good opportunity to go over with folks some issues going on throughout TDCJ and possible ways to discuss them. Some issues mentioned are
  • safekeeping housed in restrictive areas;
    
  • showers in ECB cells and "separate shower" requirements;
  • toilet partition and privacy considerations;
  • avoiding (some) retaliation for grievances, and why do grievances; and
  • negotiating transfers.
• As we have time, for the next several meetings, we will discuss excerpts from a conversation Nell had with an advocate in Connecticut that works with people in TDCJ. This person has coordinated and worked with TPI for several years, and this text is what was provided when Nell asked questions about how they do advocacy.
  
• And as always, bring up a letter you have seen but don't know how to address, we can put it on the list to talk about! This doesn't have to be a TPI letter, it can be any prison letter.

5. Go over letter writing process for new folks, if needed

The main link you need is the link to our prison letters tracking tool, which is where we find who to write and log letters completed.

For access, you will need a password. Just click register on the login screen and follow the instructions. If you have trouble, please let Nell know at nell@tpride.org.

And our public data explorer tool gives part of the larger picture to which you are contributing!

Our blog has a Prison Abolition Resources page here. We welcome your suggestions for additions!

If you were forwarded this email or are seeing it on the web and would like to subscribe, you can subscribe here!

Our mailing address is:

Trans Pride Initiative

P.O. Box 3982

Dallas, TX 75208

Our physical address is:

907 Morrell Avenue, Suite 101, Dallas, Texas 75203