"The Warehouse showcases the #abolition futures being crafted from the inside as people resist through direct action and artistic expression. This book is designed to inform, enrage, and ultimately inspire the same radical hope propelling incarcerated underminers of the carceral state." #BookRecs 📚

Get back to compassion this season by becoming a pen pal with Letters for Liberation! We’ve got three September orientations to get you started: 💌 Sat 9/12 @ 2pm ET / 1pm CT / 12pm MT / 11am PT 💌 Tue 9/15 @ 8pm ET / 7pm CT / 6pm MT / 5pm PT 💌 Sun 9/27 @ 6pm ET / 5pm CT / 4pm MT / 3pm PT 🔗 ⤵️

Study, fast, train, fight. The month is almost over, but we can carry the intention and discipline of Black August with us all year. Want to learn more about the origins of #BlackAugust? Check out the @pslnational.bsky.social piece titled “Study, fast, train, fight: The roots of Black August.”

45% of US adults and 1 in 7 kids have an immediate family member who’s been to #prison or #jail. Societally, we talk about prison precious little for how prevalent it is in our lives. These children’s books feature an #incarcerated loved one. We recommend them for everyone (not just kids)! 🔗 🧵 ⤵️

We believe in the longevity of #PenPal relationships that span #prison walls. Check out the most recent Letters for Liberation #newsletter to read Karissa’s heartening message, and see what #abolitionist resources are inside! 🔗 ⤵️

Demetrius Buckley thought his bond with his 11-year-old daughter was strong. But when he couldn’t physically protect his child from adult problems, he learned the limits of parenting via prison phone calls.

The Powerlessness of Parenting From Prison

Demetrius Buckley thought his bond with his 11-year-old daughter was strong. But when he couldn’t physically protect his child from adult problems, he learned the limits of parenting via prison phone…

themarshallproject.org

Did you know sunflowers will swivel to face the sun as they grow? Seeking warmth and light is so natural, it goes beyond human instinct. When you join Letters for #Liberation, you can be a light in someone’s life and welcome their light into yours. 🔗 ⤵️

Why should you become a #PenPal with Letters for Liberation? Here are our top 5 reasons! Check out our upcoming orientation schedule (🔗 ⤵️) and commit to joining our pen pal collective!

SNEAK PEEK 👀 Ever wonder what a #Letters4Liberation orientation entails? In just 60 minutes, you’ll learn how #abolition and #PenPal initiatives are related and get tips for starting a new friendship with someone inside the U.S. prison system. Within a few days, you’ll be matched with your pen pal!

Thank you to @prisonpolicy.org for compiling the research, and to all those who advocate for accessibility and reforms in our society and systems. #DisabilityPride #DisabilityPrideMonth

All it takes is an hour, and then you’re ready to meet your new #PenPal! Join an L4L orientation to learn about becoming a pen pal with someone on the inside. Over 1,500 people in U.S. #prisons are waiting to be matched with an outside pen pal, and every new commitment makes that waitlist shorter.

Who are you learning from? Our latest Substack newsletter (🔗⤵️) contains a collection of abolition-related book recs that can be crucial to informing the way we choose to live our lives and struggle in community. Have you read any of these? What did you think? What would you add to this list?

DID YOU KNOW? The current waitlist for people in #prison who write to us to be matched is over 3 years long! We want to connect these folks with a #PenPal much sooner than that — and to do that, we need folks on the outside!

“Across prison walls, relationships don’t fail because people don’t care enough… they fail because the system is designed to make care risky, distorted, and expensive.” - Anastasia Franco, @criticalresistance.bsky.social Watch the first episode of "Love and Relationships Across Prison Walls" 🔗 ⤵️

Every human being is worthy of friendship and connection. No human being is disposable. 1,500+ people in US #prisons are waiting to be matched with an outside pen pal through Letters for Liberation. Join the L4L community and connect with your new #PenPal this month! Get the details 🔗 ⤵️

Charles Long Jr. is UC Berkley's 2026 University Medalist. He graduated with a 4.0 GPA, a double major in sociology & social welfare, and a passion to improve the carceral system that had unjustly pulled him into its revolving door at a young age. Thank you for your example, perseverance, & voice!

Jails and prisons are not an alternative to mental health care. Thank you to @prisonpolicy.org for compiling the research, and to all those who advocate for #MentalHealth reforms in our society and systems. #MentalHealthAwareness #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth

Communication shouldn't be a commodity. When our loved ones can make and receive phone calls without worrying about the cost, they experience more connection, real financial relief, stronger families, improved mental and physical health, safer facilities, and better odds of coming—and staying—home.

Worth Rises@worthrises.bsky.social · 4mo ago

NEW @worthrises.bsky.social REPORT! Critical Connections: The Power of Free Communication in Prisons and Jails We analyzed data from correctional systems that made calls free, covering 330,000 incarcerated people. The results are remarkable. Read the report at connectfamiliesnow.com/poweroffree.

📢 INPUT NEEDED! We're putting together FAQs to help #PenPals navigate different state carceral systems. Have you come across questions you've had trouble finding answers to or other oddities while writing to your pen pal? Let us know (including what state they're in) in the comments!

This spring and beyond, May you dedicate your energy to the things you wish to grow 🌷 There are over 1,500 people inside US #prisons who are waiting to be matched with an outside #PenPal through Letters for Liberation. If you’ve considered joining the L4L community, now's a great time to do it. 🧵⤵️

👋 Have we met? We’re Letters for Liberation, and we’d love for you to get to know us! 🧵 (1/4)

Young artists aged 16-24 who have been directly impacted by criminalization/policing/punishment can apply for this residency & get $2500 to work on a creative project! Visit bit.ly/diyresidency26 to learn more. Please help us spread the word!

Today we’re spotlighting the org Interrupting Criminalization and their Beyond Do No Harm Storytelling Media Project, which gathers and amplifies stories of individual #healthcare workers who are taking action to interrupt #criminalization in the context of care within the medical system. 🔗 ⤵️

This month's #newsletter highlights #abolitionist publications, including an op-ed written by Jean Casella of @solitarywatch.bsky.social and Dr. David Cloud of The Bellwether Collaborative for Health Justice) cataloguing the harms of #SolitaryConfinement & urging #prisons to eliminate the practice.

We know what they say about April showers. What will you nurture this month? What will you help to grow? The Letters for Liberation pen pal program waitlist is over two years long for folks on the inside. Why not begin a long-term friendship with someone currently living in the U.S. #prison system?

Kenneth West is a mixed-media artist and writer who has very recently published his art collection with the collaboration of family, friends, and his L4L pen pal on the outside. We’re so proud of Kevin and everyone involved for working to share this incredible artwork with the world 💚 🔗 ⤵️

✨ CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS ✨ So many of our inside pen pals are #creators. Through writing, drawing, and a variety of artistic expressions, they bring color into a world desperate for glimmers of beauty. Here are two opportunities for folks on the inside to submit their work for publication ⤵️

The struggle for liberation is ongoing, and it takes many forms. Jaden put together our most recent newsletter from Minneapolis, where communities continue working tirelessly together to protect each other and oppose the unrelenting violence of our own government agencies. 🔗 ⤵️

You don’t need a 4-leaf clover to wish for more humanity in the world—and you don’t need to wait for a cosmic power to make that wish a reality. Our pen pal waitlist is 2+ years long for folks on the inside. This is your sign: Consider starting a long-term friendship with someone in a U.S. #prison.

Dr. Norman C. Francis lived a long life devoted to the advancement of civil rights in our nation, with a notable impact on higher ed. He advanced U.S. history as a lawyer, a man of faith, and the longest-serving president of Xavier University. #BlackHistoryMonth