1-2016 B&P Newspaper

january 2016 newspaper

SAN FRANCISCO SAYS NO TO NEW PRISON AFTER TWO YEAR STRUGGLE

“Through grassroots organizing we put our words into action to make clear that we don’t want jails that are newer and nicer. We want alternatives to imprisonment and permanent affordable housing, for people locked inside to return to their communities. And as we’ve shown today, we will make that happen through our collective strength.”

Activists have denounced the mass incarceration economy for disproportionately targeting people of color, the homeless, and those with a mental illness. While only 3 to 5 percent of San Francisco is Black, they account for over 56 percent of the jail population. People that are homeless, meanwhile, make up 28 percent of inmates. As much as 80 percent of inmates are kept on bail but cannot afford their own release.

The long-fought victory could redirect public funds from mass incarceration into rebuilding communities of color.

A San Francisco board decided on Tuesday to reject the construction of a new jail in the city following a two year activist campaign pushing for prison abolition.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors decided it would not go ahead with a grant of $80 million in order to fund the planned maximum security prison.

The board’s president London Breed said she seeks new alternatives to mass incarceration and the criminalization of mental illness and homelessness, which most often target people of color.

“We are not going to support a stand alone prison to continue to lock up African Americans and Latinos in this city,” Breed said at a rally on Monday, reported SF Weekly.

“We are not going to continue to lock up people who have mental illness and clearly need to be treated. We are not going to continue to lock up people who have substance abuse problems that need the kind of treatment that only a facility that specializes in those kinds of problems offer. We need to be better.”

The decision comes after two years of tireless campaigning by the No New SF Jail Coalition, an alliance of community organizations who have advocated for investing resources into public housing, healthcare and education.

“This is truly a victory for communities in San Francisco and people fighting jail construction everywhere,” Lisa Marie Alatorre, an organizer at the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness, said in a press release.

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“We’ve sent a message not just to San Francisco, but to all of California that we will not allow our resources to be squandered on jails that only serve to tear communities apart,” said Lizzie Buchen of Californians United for a Responsible Budget. “We urge all counties currently considering jail construction plans to take the lead from San Francisco by saying no to further imprisonment, and to prioritize the alternatives and resources that actually strengthen communities.”

Originally published on TeleSUR, December 16, 2015 http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/San-Francisco-Says-No-to-NewPrison-After-Two-Year-Struggle--20151216-0002.html

WHAT’S INSIDE

Dear friends, I hope this letter finds you as well as possible.

I know the holidays and the new year can be a particularly difficult time on the inside. I do hope that you received a holiday card from one of our volunteers.

I hope you know that none of you are forgotten and we continue this fight until everyone is free. Each year Black and Pink's resolution is to get us to a world free from prisons, and each year we renew our commitment to our family inside the walls.

While I write this letter there is certainly much going on across our country. President Obama has sent Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents into the homes of many people. He hope to deport hundreds of Central American families to countries struggling with wars created because of US foreign economic policies.

We are in the heat of a primary presidential election and are being bombarded with racism and Islamophobia from the Republican side. We are not being given much better options from the Democrat side with candidates who all support ongoing bombing wars in the Middle East. The occupying racist white militia in Oregon is getting lots of attention though everyone knows if they Statement of Purpose were Black, Muslim, or American Indians they would Black & Pink is an open family of LGBTQ have already been arrested or killed. There are efforts prisoners and “free world” allies who support each other. Our work toward the abolition all around the country to force politicians to resign or of the prison industrial complex is rooted even be arrested due to their neglect or intentional cover in the experience of currently and formerly up of violence against Black people and poor people. incarcerated people. We are outraged by In Chicago, countless protestors have called for Mayor the specific violence of the prison industrial Emmanuel to resign after he was part of covering up complex against LGBTQ people, and respond through advocacy, education, direct service, the police murder of Laquan McDonald by a cop, Jason and organizing.

Van Dyke. In Michigan, the people of Flint have been Black & Pink is proudly a family of people of all poisoned by dirty water they were forced to drink and bathe in after an Emergency Manager appointed by races.

Governor Rick Snyder changed the water from the About this Newspaper Detroit system to a contaminated river in Flint. People Since 2007, Black & Pink free world volunteers in Michigan are calling for their governor to resign as have pulled together a monthly newspaper evidence grows that he knew about the water poisoning. primarily composed of material written by our family’s incarcerated members. In response to While there is much harm coming from those in power, letters we receive, more prisoners receive the there is strength in knowing that people are always newspaper each issue! resisting.

This month, the newspaper is being sent to January 18th marks Martin Luther King Jr. over: 7,544 prisoners!

Day. This is a time when people across the country Disclaimer: pay lip service to the legacy of this great leader and Please note that the ideas and opinions expressed organizer. It is a day of community service and some in the Black & Pink Newspaper are solely those of the authors and artists and do not necessarily reflect references to the ongoing problems of racism today. the views of Black & Pink. Black & Pink makes no I want to use MLK Jr. Day very differently this year. representations as to the accuracy of any statements I want to encourage all of our Black and Pink family made in the Newspaper, including but not limited to members to think about one particular piece of writing legal and medical information. Authors and artists bear sole responsibility for their work. Everything from Dr. King. I want us to reflect on his “Letter from published in the Newspaper is also on the internet— a Birmingham Jail.” Have you ever read this letter it can be seen by anyone with a computer. By sending a letter to “Newspaper Submissions,” you before? It was written in April of 1963 while Dr. King are agreeing to have your piece in the Newspaper was locked up. He was denied any access to paper, but and on the internet. For this reason, we only a friend was able to get him a pen and a copy of a letter publish First Names and State Location to respect people’s privacy. Pieces may be edited to fit our written by a group of white clergy. The letter from these anti-oppression values and based on our Editing white clergy condemned the use of civil disobedience Guidelines.

by Dr. King and organizers across the South. The letter suggested that the “problem of racism” would be solved with polite conversation. These white clergy wanted to dialogue, not give up their racist power and privilege.

Dr. King wrote his letter as a response to these clergy and he wrote it in the margins of the original letter, as he had no other paper.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you needed to write something but did not have access to paper? Have you ever been in solitary and written on toilet paper or on scraps because there was a message CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS TO HOT you needed to get out? Dr. King's “Letter from a PINK! Birmingham Jail” is considered a key piece of writing in Seeking erotic short stories, poems, what some people call Prison Literature. All of you who AND ART by Black & Pink incarcerated and free-world family members for a write for this newspaper, all of you who write stories new ‘zine. To be mailed, art cannot about the harm inside prison, all of you who write your include full nudity. Please send thoughts about the politics of the day, you are part of submissions (and shout outs to the creating prison literature. You are continuing the legacy authors from the first issue mailed of Dr. King. When you write about seeking justice in January!) addressed to Black & from inside the prison walls, you are part of something Pink - HOT PINK. This is a voluntary larger than yourself. Prisoner writing is everywhere, project, and no money will be offered even where people least expect it. Did you know that for submissions, but you might get the many letters in the New Testament in the Bible were chance to share your spicy story with written from prison? Prisoner voices are needed for all many others! The zine will be sent 1-2 times per year. To subscribe to receive movements that seek justice. Black and Pink has the a copy of HOT PINK twice a year, responsibility to ensure your voices are lifted up and write to our address, Black & Pink heard by one another and by people on the other side of GENERAL. the walls. In this new year we commit to strengthening this movement. We commit to honoring your voices.

Page 2 A Message from Jason A Decade of Black and Pink Black and Pink Hotline Number Celebrating A Decade of Black & Pink Video Transcript Page 3, 4, 5 Letters to our Family Page 5 Celebrating A Decade of Black & Pink Video Transcript Continued Page 6 Poetry from the Heart Page 7 Black & Pink 2015 Year in Review Page 8, 9, 10, 11 Letter from Birmingham Jail Page 9 Black & Pink Family Feedback Page 11 Celebrating A Decade of Black & Pink Video Transcript Continued Page 12 Celebrating A Decade of Black & Pink Video Transcript Continued Addresses

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A MESSAGE FROM JASON

We keep our efforts growing know that once there were no prisons, that day will come again.

In loving solidarity, Jason

BLACK AND PINK HOTLINE NUMBER!!!

After over a year of thinking about how to make this happen we are now announcing that people can call

us. The phone number is 617.519.4387. Your calls will be answered as often as possible. We are not currently able to set up accounts, so calls must be either pre-paid or collect. The hotline will be available Sundays 1-5pm (Eastern Time) for certain. You can call at other times as well and we will do our best to answer your calls.

The purpose of the hotline is for 3 primary things: 1. Story telling. We are trying to collect stories of incarcerated members to turn into a recording that we can play at our 10 year anniversary celebration in October. Your voices are important to us and we want to make sure they are part of this event. We want to make time to record your story if you give us permission.

2. Supportive listening. Being in prison is lonely, as we all know. The hotline is here for supportive listening so you can just talk to someone about what is going on in your life.

3. Organizing. If there are things going on at your prison in terms of lock downs, guard harassment, resistance, and anything else that should be shared with the public, let us know so we can spread the word.

Restrictions: The hotline is not a number to call about getting on the pen pal list or to get the newspaper.

The hotline is not a number to call for sexual or erotic chatting.

The hotline is not a number for getting help with your current court case, we are not legal experts.

We look forward to hearing from you! This is our first attempt at this so please be patient with us as we work it all out. We will not be able to answer every call, but we will do our best.

We are sorry to share that we can only accept prepaid calls at this time. We apologize to anyone who has been trying to get through to the hotline with no success. We are still working this system out.

Thank you for being understanding.

CELEBRATING A DECADE OF BLACK & PINK VIDEO TRANSCRIPT White text on a black background: After ten years of building support for LGBTQ prisoners, members of Black & Pink gathered in Boston from across the country. This gathering, from October 16-18, 2015 was the first time many members met in person. It was an important chance to share stories of resilience and resistance, while building the movements for prison abolition, LGBTQ liberation and racial justice. A DECADE OF BLACK & PINK. [MUSIC PLAYING] LESLIE: I got involved with Black & Pink because I was incarcerated for a year. Well, they put me in a lock-up for a whole--the whole time I was there, because I was transgender.

JAYDEN: I’ve been incarcerated basically, um, about half of my life. Um, I got sexually assaulted in jail and, um, also they wouldn’t give me my hormones for two years. So, um, in that two years I became suicidal and all again.

RENO: Even though I didn’t hear all the times the COs beat me up all the times because I was gay or GLBT or not, I believe that’s--most of my trouble’s mainly been because of that.

CECE: It’s important to not forget about the people behind those walls.

Continued on Page 5...

LETTERS TO OUR FAMILY My precious family I need you all to know that you have made such a huge impact on my mental stability, my outlook on life, my plans for my future and my happiness.

I am doing life in CA. prison and have no biological family to speak of that supports me in any way, definitely not emotionally. I am an incest, abuse, rape survivor by the people who should have been nurturing me not torturing me.

But I am no longer the suicidal, unloved, unwanted, misunderstood leper I was convinced I was a year ago. I have the most amazing encouraging supportive family I coud ever ask for, My Black & Pink family. I decided on a whim to put my name on the penpal list. 4 of my B&P family members wrote me and reminded me that I am not alone. It has been so long since anyone asked me how I am doing or sincerely cared about my life. Thank you so much! I may never get out of here but the love you have shared by taking a little time out of your busy life to write me has given me a freedom I wouldn't trade for a parole slip! Thank ou Arden, Karen, Ariel & Stefanie. You literally saved my life.

For those of you beautiful people not sure if you make a difference in anyones life by sending a letter, I promise you, you do. It's been 11 months since my attempted suicide & I had planned on completing it on the 1 yr. anniversary.

Now my plans are to spend that day writing thank you notes to my precioos family for saving my life.

Love, unconditionally

Alissa Dear Black and Pink,

Hello to all of my Black and Pink family! I wanted to share some things with you. This is the first time that I have done this, so you're reading it first. You, my Black and Pink family, have encouraged me to feel comfortable enough to write this so... Thank you! I identify as a gay guy.

I am gay by choice and realized it when I was about 15 years old.

Before that I thought I was just strange. At the age of 47, I find myself at the brink of release from custody. In July I will walk out a free man after 11 years in custody for bank robbery.

This is my first time in the feds. I have served 98% of my time in lockdown because I am afraid to be in general population. That's the cold hard truth. Being openly gay in prison is very hard when you don't want to hook up with anyone. I prefer to ride solo as it's usually easier.

In my time I have been in a total of 14 institutions, including transfer centers. Being locked up so long has been hard but I have survived. I have been sexually assaulted, physically assaulted, verbally assaulted, and still I stand.

I abhor violence, and have never been in a fight. Oh yes! I've been assaulted. But the powers that be have saw me through every situation. My Higher Power has kept me from being permanently injured physically. Through that I have learned to take one day at a time.

Now I'm on the brink of being released. July 5, 2016 will be the end of my sentence. I have no resources. Reentry is something that this facility doesn't prepare you for if you are in SHU. Yet there are many of us here who are gay or transgender.

Because my conviction was in West Virginia, that is where I will be sent to. I am from Mississippi actually, and have siblings there. In all, I've served over 23 years of my life in prison. All of my priors are for burglary.

The numbers are against any released offender staying out of prison.

But I have made up my mind that I will beat those odds. In the past 10 years I have tried to kill myself twice. Because I'm openly gay I have saw a lot of adversity. I'm still here, though. I have drawn from my inner reserves and made it through. It can be done, and I'm proof of that. Whatever challenge you're facing, there is hope. Whether behind the wall or in the "free world" there are people who care. Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is very dim. But it is there. Real peace comes from inside of us.

To all of my brothers and sisters still behind the walls, stay strong. To those who have made it back to society, remember those of us who are still trying to survive here.

Love to you all!

David C., FL Hi my beautiful family. It's Robin again. I wrote a while back and had my letter printed. I was set down as being from NY, but I'm from NV. Nevada-Vegas baby! I'm in Ely Nevada right now. Well I'm writing in regard to some of these letters I've been reading about all these haters in the prison system, be it prison staff or other inmates and sometimes even our own family members. These people want to make rude comments or try to put us down for one reason or another. Maybe because you're gay or a "queen," trans or maybe it's your case that they're hating on.

Let me tell you something about these haters. They love to make these comments or write you up, put you in the hole or take away your belongings to get a reaction out of you. To play with your emotions. See when they control your emotions they win. In their minds they control you.

Don't let small minded people control your mind. They control you if you hate them back. Don't waste your time filling your mind and heart with hate. You are way too beautiful and intelligent than to let others control your behavior. I look at it like this, "Mind over matter." If you don't pay these haters any "mind," then they don't matter. If you and only you control your emotions, then you win, not them. No matter your case, or that you're gay, bi, trans, whatever you are! You are a winner. And where I'm from (Vegas) we love to win.

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Stay strong, stay beautiful and stay winning.

With love, Robin Las Vegas NV PS. Life is made up of 10% of what happens to you and 90% of what you do about it.

Dear Black and Pink,

The Senate must not be aware that a 20 year sentence is equal to over a half a million dollars. Using numbers courtesy of www.prisology.org, Source: Prisology v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, No. 14-969.

The BOP is requesting $6.9 Billion in funding for 217,000 federal prisoners in its custody and 39,000 employees. That's a total of 256,000 people to share this $6.9 Billion which is $26,953.125 or $27,000 dollars per person.

Multiply a 20 year sentence by $27,000 equals $540,000.00 or just over half a million dollars. Then times that by all the 20 year sentences already in existence.

And then the long sentence doesn't do anything! And does not work. The inmate sits in a cell 20 years and learns nothing. What is needed is intervention. The inmate should be allowed to attend classes or groups to decommission the idea that violence is fun! Only then will things change.

Besides BOP can not account for the 80% of their budget! Out of the $6.9 Billion dollar budget, they lose about $5,520,000,000.00. All they really spend on the inmate population is $1,380,000,000.00! Let's try something else.

Thank You for your attention to this letter and I hope to hear from you soon.

Selso, TX Unity!

"The world already looks down on us as if we're nothing, beats us and even kills us.

So it should be unthinkable to help them." - Ms. Priss

I grieve immediately whenever I see division within the LGBTQ community. Because Sistah's and Brotha's, we already live ing an ice cold world which treats us (LGBTQ community) as if we naturally have an infectious blood virus. Yet at times we belittle, criticize, express jealousy and hatred toward each other. Whereas we shouldn't ever assist those who disagree with our lifestyle by harming one another. For we can all offer something different, even identical twins possess different qualities. So let's celebrate each other's diversities oppose to an individual's indifference. And this can be accomplished by someone just like you. Yes, "YOU!" Because we must come together so we can unify our love by caring for one another. Which reminds me of a movie I once saw. Where a grandmother told her grandchildren: "A hand isn't powerful until it folds into a fist, cause a fist can strike a mighty blow."

Well LGBTQ community, we have to be that fist and with us standing united we can surely make a difference. For it's time to stop being a part of a problem but more so the means of a solution. Therefore I challenge you to find someone who's in our community and give them: a compliment, a smile, and hand to hold but most of all love. Forget about the dark unpleasant clouds (shade) of yesterday by celebrating days of eternal sunshine. Now I'm no fool, I know there's judy girls/guys in the life who are hard to get along with at times but let's love them too. Start with planting positive seeds cause chile', they do grow. So I dare you to pass this paper to someone in our community and give that person a hug of course. Because when we stand united as one we can deliver a powerful change. Yes the world is starting to open up towards us but there's still miles to go. So once again I dare you, "Yes you" to stop helping those in the world who dislike us by assisting our community by standing together! If you don't know where to start, if you happen to know of some shade or, shadiness, help turn that shade into sunshine. That'll always be a good place.

I love all my people and look forward to helping make a difference.

Ms. Priss Dear Black and Pink Family,

Solitary confinement is one of the most commonly employed methods of torture used by the profiteers of the Prison-Industrial Complex. It was a popular subject of eighteenth and nineteenth century literature but not much was really known about it. Useful data about its devastating psychological effects are now starting to emerge from government funded studies and private research.

In 1995, a liveral U.S. Supreme Court disingenuously claimed that disciplinary segregation is not an atypical and significant hardship because it's similar to administrative segregation and protective custody. Sandin v. Connor, 515, U.S. 472,484. Could the Justices truly have been unaware that the global consensus is that the hole is a form of torture? I think not.

What makes this ruling utterly outrageous is the presumption that administrative segregation and protective custody shouldn't require dur process. Not all victims of protective custody requested it, and it's never totally voluntary. "Administrative segregation" is a term of art applied by prison authorities when they don't want to follow due process procedures. It's used disproportionately against Black men and LGBTQ prisoners. It's sole purpose is to violate human and civil rights with impunity.

Every assignment to solitary should be reviewed at least every three days. Protective custody should require the victims consent. Disciplinary segregation should require due process of law. Administrative segregation should be abolished.

Robert

LETTERS TO OUR FAMILY CONTINUED Hello Black and Pink Fam...

My name is Lil Kool ya heard me...

Im from New Orleans but currently incarcerated in Texas (TDCJ).

Well I've been referred to this family by a dude here and as I started getting this newspaper I never once found the courage to write or before I started getting the newspaper I couldn't find myself to tell anyone how I felt and who I really am because of shame, scared and embarrassment of my sexuality. Well after the recent newspaper with dede from PA and Tammy from GA and also anonymous and Jada from NV. All that went out the window. I've never been Gay before or did sexual things with anyone as my gender (male). Maybe 2014 is when I actually found who I am and who Im really interested in (feminine man and transgenders).

So what that label me as world??? Yes I am ya heard Me...All these letters to the family I've read really had a tremendous impact on my life.

Instead of being ashame, scared of what others might say or embarrass. I took the honor to be encouraged by my black and pink family through these letters that we read and write. Among each other. These letter inspired me. Not only cause I found myself but because I can now be proud to share my new identity and not be ashamed. Scared or embarrassed. Thank yall for the inspirement. Ya heard me...with the help of these people I call family at Black and Pink.

Sincerely,

Lil Kool To my B&P Family,

I've sent 2 letters since my first and they either were lost or stopped by the prison. So I'm trying again. I hope this reaches you.

Life has been extremely lonely without Koinu (Dylan), and I've gotten no word from him. But I've pushed on and worked with my Gay and Bisexual Brothers to help cope. The prison officers have tried their best to bring me down with hateful words and actions but my friends and love for Koinu has kept me strong. I have 5 years and 10 months left and I want to see my man again.

I study Wicca and Buddhism and my LGBT Family and all this gets me through this. I read books on wolves, and gay paranormal romance by J. L. Langley and this gets me through this.

What I'm getting at is that we have to stay strong for our family, friends, and those we love.

We must not let the PIC. Win and bring us Down. I have no family on the streets and want you all to know, YOU ARE MY FAMILY!

You all don't judge, you just love. Thank you all. I love you all! So please stay strong for me, and our whole LGBT family.

Koinu, if your reading this, I love you and miss you. Stay strong and we will see each other again and we will not be separated again. I love yoU! You are my Wolf Pup!

Well I'll get this out and hope it gets into the paper.

Written with Love,

Shiro Kiba, WA Dear Black and Pink family,

Hello everybody out there! M y name is Joshua (AKA Sonorous Nocturne). Im 26 years old, white, gay and happily in love with this sexy boy who loves me back. I'm currently incarcerated in California serving a term of 15 years to life. Ain't that a bitch? But part of that is what I want to talk about.

What I want to say is controversial and might upset some of you, but please hear me out.

I write this letter in response to a few of the letters I have read in the Black and Pink newspapers. to those who have committed sex acts upon children. I do not wish to belittle you or what you did, but those of you who admit to such acts seem so riddled with guilt and I fail to understand why. I don't know the details or the why of what you did but I am sure that not all of you (if In fact none of you) are the kidnappers and rapists that society portrays you as. Was your sexual contact with a child so bad? Society would have you think so. But did you know that its only in the past 50 years that opinions and laws regarding sex and kids have changed? In ancient Greece and Rome it was a common and accepted practice for a grown man to take a 10-12 year old boy teach him about the body and sex through a hands-on approach. All throughout history children have been having sex and no one battled an eye.

For a boy, by 15 he should have a house, a wife and children. For girls, once she hit her period, it was time to be wedded and bedded. up until the 1950s, if a child went to a parent and said "So and so molested me", do you know what the response would be? If you didnt like it then stay away from that person.

Up to the 1970s, there were legal child pornography magazines, not to mention tons of sex parties where kids got involved. Talk to people in their 50s and 60s.

You'd be surprised at what some of them tell you.

Now it seems that society has forgotten what it was like to be a kid.

I ask all of you to think back to your own childhood for a minute. When you were 8-10 years old, did you have a friend or someone you trusted who you played "Ill show you mine if you show me yours?" Most of you probably did.

It was a secret and naughty and you liked it. Now how about when you were 11-13? Did you have someone close to you who you had your first sexual experience with? Again, most of you probably did. And it was awesome right?

When did you lose your virginity? Around 15 or so? Nowadays, everything you did was illegal and if found out, you could be arrested for. Some states have no hesitation in arresting an 8 year old who a "good samaritan" caught touching another boy. In my opinion, this is completely asinine. Picture if you will,

Page 4 that trusted companion who you played with and shared your first experience with. Now picture that person a little older, say 10 years. Besides age, what's changed? You still know and trust this individual, so why would you not do what you had done? Why does the fact that they're an adult change things?

People fail to realize that children are sexual beings just as much as adults are.

They approach adults about sexual interaction just as much as they approach other kids. Yes, there are bad people out there who do horrible things, but that doesn't mean that everyone who is accused of pedophilia is such a person.

Take me for example. As I said before, I am serving a term of 15 to life and as you no doubt must have guessed, for sexual conduct with a child.

But you must understand a few things about me before I can go into what happened.

I was raised in a small town in northern California. Not a bad place but very back woodsy. I was fairly asexual as a child and it wasn't until I was 12 that realized I liked boys instead of girls. I didn't really have any friends and the ones I had were girls. I couldn't express my sexuality like I wanted until I was graduating high school. It was the kind of school where the jocks wore flannel and had gun racks in their trucks. Because of where I grew up, I never had any sexual encounters with anyone. At 19years old, I had never kissed anyone I had never seen anyone naked (outside of porn) and had never touched or been touched by anyone. So when I was 19, I was visiting some relatives of mine for the holidays. My 9 year old cousin always loved being around me.

He would sit in my lap all of the time and we/d play video games and watch cartoons together. So imagine my surprise when he asked me to stick my hand down his pants. Yes, he asked me. Once I had asked why and that he was sure and knew what was going on, I did. It was something I had always wanted.

Maybe not him specifically, but I was so desperate by that time, I would have gladly done anything with any male who offered, regardless of age. My cousin enjoyed me touching him and I asked if he wanted to do any more. He have me a wicked smile and nodded, and so I performed oral sex on him. It was both mine and his first time and we loved it. We weren't caught, but we were found out and now here I sit.

I ask you, was what I did so wrong? Do I deserve a life sentence for giving a kid a blowjob? Do any of us who were simply in a consensual relationship with a minor? Just because the person is under 18 doesn't mean that they aren't sexually aware and/or active. No one was raped; no one was hurt. So why do so many of us have to forsake our futures for one simple act?

And what about if it was multiple acts over a long period of time? Why does that make a difference? If all parties understand what going on and willingly participate, why does age matter?

Did you know that the United States has the highest legal age limit in the world and the strictest laws regarding sex with children? No other country goes to such lengths to "protect" their kids. No other country arrests as many kids either. I read in a TIME magazine that the Czech Republic legalized child pornography and after 10 years, found that the crime rate for sex had dropped 25%. Im guessing that most of you have never seen any child porn. I have. I used to look for it as a kid because I wanted to see other kids, not adults. You'd be surprised at the fact that a lot of child porn doesn't involve adults. Just a kid or two in front of their webcam. Most of you have heard about kids "sexting" each other. Doesn't that prove my point? These kids are clearly sexually aware and quite willing to show themselves to others. How is a classmate different than an adult?

I end this by making this request: Please stop and rethink things. Take a good look at the world and the people in it. There are some monsters out there, but maybe some of those monsters aren't as horrible as you first thought.

Don't judge based on rumor and propaganda. Find out what really happened before you draw any conclusions. And to those of you suffering under the yoke of guilt and remorse, for touching a kid, reanalyze what you did. Maybe it's not as bad as they want you to think.

I send all my love to all family out there, even if I receive none in return.

Sonorous Nocturne, CA Black & Pink Family,

Hey everyone, hope that this letter finds you all doing well. I'd like to address a few letters that were printed in the September paper. But first I'd like to say hi to some of my friends I do not get to hang out with any more; we were once all on the same custody level, but now we are separate classes. I only get to see them in fleeting moments behind a door when I go some place during general movement. So, here's my shout out to my friends Ritchie, Chris and Matt: "Hey guys, love you all and think about you all the time."

Wiz Kid, TX- I agree with the part of your letter stating that prisons need to encourage adult relationships whether it is in or out of prison. But instead they outlaw inmate and inmate relationships behind these walls. Then when one inmate gets out of prison they are not supposed to have contact with an inmate still in. In the prison I am in they even deny visitors that have no 'prior' relationship with an inmate. Example given is if a pen pal wanted to meet the inmate they cannot. To top it off, when a sex offender gets out on parole they are not supposed to be in any sexual relationship.

The sodomy law was struck down by the federal court system back in the 00's, same-sex marriage is now nation wide. I know that PREA is there to 'help', but really it also hinders us. As Kiesha in TX said "It is a double edged sword." The prisons have criminalized homosexuality between these walls. It's understandable to ban a relationship between an inmate and staff, but where is

Page 5

LETTERS TO OUR FAMILY CONTINUED it right to outlaw/criminalize our sexuality?

Nikki AKA Skittlez in IL, gay 4 the stay not only infects females but males as well. I had started a relationship with someone. At first he wanted the relationship, but I was not wanting a relationship. I was trying to avoid 'falling' for someone. I did, however, end up developing love for him and I wanted a relationship. He told me that in the beginning he had thought he was in-love with me and that's why he really wanted a relationship, but now though he does loves me it's not the same. I turned him down too many times and it put those feelings down. We ended up dating anyway and he had always considered the two of us as an item. Deep down I did as well. So all-in-all we were together 4 years. We made plans for later in life and such.

He sent me a money order through his mom and she wrote me a letter letting me know that Michael's dad told him he cannot have contact with anyone from his past while living there and he was obeying his father's wishes.

That was about 5 months ago. He has not wrote since nor has his mother.

Since then I developed feelings (not in-love, just strong liking) for someone else (Chris) that I started dating the first weekend of October. We broke up about 3 days ago. We still really like each other and are still friends; but he's just not right for me right now nor am I right for him right now.

And even though both do have feelings for me (I have no doubt of that) both are (in my book) gay for the stay. Michael had never fooled around with a guy on the outs and Chris likes women (they both do) but has let a guy give him a BJ on the outs before.

Okay, my turn to bring up a topic. I am a 31 year old (32 come Feb 16, 2016), gay Wiccan. On the outs I came across alot of fake Wiccans. Wiccan only by claim. They just did not live up to the name (Rede). Coming to prison I've met so many more 'Wiccans' in name but not deed. So, here is a bit for all of us who call ourselves Wiccans. In short; eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill: an ye harm none do as ye will!

This 'only law,' has been the topic of many debates over the years.

And interpretation of it ranges from the slack to the extreme. Some only eat fruits because they interpret it to include plant life as well as ours. Some will go off when arguing with their boyfriend and punch the BF in the side of the head then ask, "Did I 'actually' harm him?" Like just because the damage is not perm. it's not harm.

The American Heritage Dictionary includes physical or psychological injury or damage. But there are many ways we can actually harm someone including emotionally (and not talking about saying no or breaking up but could include cheating on the person), and spiritually (which could be a bad representation of faith.) The traditional text poem from Doreen Valiente includes the lines "Live you must and let live, fairly take and fairly give."

The first part would be common sense. Fairly take and fairly give would include to not steal! So, common etiquette in prison right? Yet, I've seen many Wiccans steal from their cell mates before. And my fave part "true in love ye must ever be, lest thy love is false to thee."

When we cast a circle we usually ask, "It is better to rush upon this blade than enter the Circle with fear in your heart, how do you enter?" Which is answered with "In perfect love and perfect trust." The Greeks had a word for a type of perfect love: Agape. It means a Godly love. It is showing others the same love that the Divine show us. That should explain what we do for and how we treat others. I recommend asking yourself "Is this what the Divine wants me to do? Is this how the Divine should be represented?"

This is not only for Wiccans. Christians this is for you as well. I know plenty of 'Christians' who do not properly represent the 'Faith.' It is normally Christians who use the word Agape. I studied Catholicism for the last few years as well as studied a little Protestantism (and denomination that is not Catholic) with my friend Todd, who though is not part of the LGBT family and does not read Black and Pink, I would also like to say "hi" to, knowing/hoping that Ritchie will bring the paper with this printed over to Todd, so "Hey Todd, I miss you." Anyway, we studied the Greek tenses used in scripture, which has a huge impact on interpretation when you understand the tenses. No matter if you believe in confessing your sins to God, to each other, or to a priest or even if you believe in the once saved, always saved concept, the one thing that matters most is love (Agape.) Remember the story of the sinful woman.

It (Scripture) says the woman "LOVED much because she was FORGIVEN much," not the other way around.

Whatever your religion, if love is not a focal point you should probably rethink your involvement. Ozzy Osbourne wrote a song titled "Dreamer," lovely song, in which he sings "Your higher power may be God or Jesus Christ, it doesn't really matter much to me. Without each others' help there ain't no hope for us. Am I living in a dream or fantasy?"

Faith is important. It gives us a reason to hold on. A reason to learn to love. a reason to emulate love. A reason to teach others to love.

Many of you are Atheists. Hell, many people all over the world are. You can still have faith and show love. It may not be the same as the Agape love or a faith in a higher power, but it is atleast something that you can be proud of in life and pass virtues on to friends and family. Have faith in each other. Have love for others.

I used to borrow my friend's, Ritchie's, copy of Black & Pink to read the articles. I read a few of the letters and thought it was stupid. But, I kept reading the letters in the paper for some reason, I seen that the letters meant alot to people but I didn't know why.

In January I left PC (protective custody) to get back to Michael. I missed my friends in PC and would think about how I borrowed Ritchie's paper. When Michael left there was a hole left in me to fill. I felt alone, AGAIN, despite

having some friends still in general population. I missed reading the letters in the paper. I kept waiting for 'my' copy that did not come. Finally I wrote B&P again and soon later they started sending me my own copies.

The letters help us feel connected. We can read about others who are in our shoes. We can share our experience. I finally get it! Thank you all. May love & light always live in your hearts Blessed Be!

Brandon AKA Akasha, ID Dear Kings and Queens,

Love and blessings to you all, its me Charles "Smook" from Pennsylvania. I'm sure I am not alone when I say victory is ours, yes, I speak of the US Supreme Court's ruling for all states to allow gay marriage. As we marinate in joy let us simmer in sorrow for our lost and not forgotten dearly departed whom cannot enjoy their victory as well, in the flesh. So with all that said let's keep each other in prayer no matter what your belief system is there's power in prayer and a family that prays together, stays together. In February 2015 there's an article by sister Susie Lynn Moon at SCI-Rockview, now I can relate because even though I am a "top" I am a part of the PA DOC gay inmates, so sister continue to fight but also if you need any assistance please write to Lewisburg Prison Project c/o David Sprout, P.O. Box 128 Lewisburg PA 17837. Please stand strong in your fight cause it's deeper and bigger in the long run. There was also an article by sister Jakaelynn, NY word to the wise you are unique. Understand your differences turn people on so even when you're not "scoping" out someone "scoping" you out. Just do you, be you and stay true. Before I end it here let me send my love to Black and Pink for all the continuous positive work and so many efforts to do what they do. I love you all. Believe in God because he believes in you.

Charles "Smook" PA

CELEBRATING A DECADE OF BLACK & PINK VIDEO TRANSCRIPT CONTINUED ...Continued from Page 2... DESIREE: I think it’s been a total of like 13 or 14 times, um, so a lot of my, like, young adulthood has been, in and out of, like, hospitals, in and out of, like, jails, um, and just being in this, like, black, queer body, um, subjects me to a lot of, like, harassment and criminalization already, um, and a lot of [INAUDIBLE] already.

JOSE DAVI: My name is José Daví. Um, I’m originally from Puerto Rico, and I’ve been in United States for five-and-a-half years. We’re criminalized for, like, sex work, and, um, just being black and brown, um, or, like, presenting in a different way than society expects us to.

JAMILA: If you’re undocumented, for example, or an immigrant, and you break a law--like, jump a turnstile in New York--you’re gonna go to Riker’s first, and then you’re gonna have an ICE detainer, and then you’re gonna serve the same time--if not more--in immigration detention.

JORGE: I’m first-generation American. I’m full Mexican. Um, both my parents came across the border. I see the-- the separation and the-- just the horrible, like, instances that happen to families when, uh, one family member-especially the person who’s, uh, mostly making the financial gains for that family, um, or that couple--uh, gets deported.

JAMILA: Like, no. Ev-- no one’s disposable whatsoever. And, like, that’s, like, the reality of, like, what abolition is, right? Abolition isn’t, like, picking and choosing. At all.

[VOICEOVER] As an open family, that’s one of the things we’re really striving to do--to welcome each other in.

RENO: Well, while I was being incarcerated, a friend gave me the Newspaper and I started reading it. I didn’t know what I was reading. And, like, you know, what is this? And I-- I finally read it and I said, wow. This is finally what I’ve been looking for.

JENNIFER: I always liked getting the Black & Pink newsletters because it was like, OK, I’m not the only one with a struggle.

JEREMY: Our Newspaper now goes to almost 9,000 people on the inside.

PEACHES: When you’re behind walls, um, people don’t know how much a letter from s-- from the outside can be so important.

CODY: It lifts your spirits. I mean, it’s a very big, huge, emotional impact on you.

PEACHES: Especially when you don’t have no family, um, no one to actually come and visit.

CODY: My family disowned me because of my sexuality.

PEACHES: A letter says a whole lot.

...Continued on Page 11...

Page 6

POETRY FROM THE HEART The Heart Remembers Everything

Questions Unanswered

You see the thing of it is, is that you don’t even love yourself so how in the world can I expect you to love somebody else.

If only God can judge me Then who was the man in a black robe Looking down from his high seat With my future in his hand to mold?

Everything you did to me someone will come along and do to you, because that’s the way karma works you’ll go to sleep on a cloud and wake up in the dirt and you too will know what it feels like to hurt.

I’m so much better than you in so many ways that it amazes me, why as I ever with you in the first place, guess now I gotta learn from my mistakes.

If all things work together for my good Then why must life treat me so bad, Causing me problems I've never understood As my regrets build up to make me sad?

But somewhere down the line you’re gonna get what you deserve. And in your darkest hour when you need somebody most you’ll remember this moment and think of me, cause wounds heal and scars fade away but the heart remembers everything.

If everything happens for a reason Then why can't I figure the reason out?

All of my worries hang on like a lesson, Leaving me nothing but room for doubt.

When I Look at You…

If life supposedly gets better with time Then why does mine only get worse?

I can't seem to put the past behind Or overcome the ways that I've been hurt

I see the sun rise and the moon set, I can see the future and forget about my past.

I can see what I don’t want and everything I need to last. When I look at you.

I can see memories to be shared and stories to be told. A hand to hold when things get rough and the strength of love when I feel that mine is no longer enough. When I look at you.

I see more than what the rest of the world sees, I can see eternity, triumphantly exceeding the limit that was expected out of me. When I look at you.

I can see love and happiness whenever I look into your eyes. I’ve heard talk about angels but never seen one fly until you came into my life, That’s what I see whenever I look at you…

Tigger, CA

Wolf Pup When I think of you I don't feel so alone, My heart leaps when I think of your love.

I love your puppy poses, and the way you make me feel.

Oh, Wolf Pup, My love is unconditional.

When I hear Meteor Shower, I know I am yours, I will never forget, and never let go, For you are mine.

Oh my little Wolf Pup, I'll be true to you.

You are my first true love, You are my last true love, I cry knowing you miss me, I hurt knowing I can't hold you.

Oh, Wolf Pup, I won't let you go, I desperately need you.

I Shiro Kiba am Yours, Your eternal soulmate and handfasted husband.

Oh Wolf Pup, I LOVE YOU! Shiro Kiba, WA

Our bond is sacred, My collar, your leash, Tethered together on an existed plain, The power is strong, Our love is strong, hen I asked you to marry me and you said yes, I wanted to pounce on you and kiss you like no tomorrow.

There is so much to say, I love you my FoxPaw. I truly love you Furrever!

(Olive Juice)!! <3 <3 xoxoxo Babyboy, WA

If all human beings were created equal Then why do I always get the bad end of the deal?

It's as though I'm beneath all other people Which causes me a feeling that's quite surreal.

If America is really the land of the free Then why must I be locked away, Held against my will in captivity, in a place I thought I'd never have to stay?

If friendships were meant to last forever Then why do they always come to an end?

Why do they fail to make things better Leaving only a brokeness to mend?

If families are meant to have unbreakable bonds Able to turn to each other to confide Then why does everyone seem not to be fond, leaving each other drifting by the wayside.

If church is a place to go find peace Then why is there more drama in that place, Causing souls to become more uneased Instead of introducing souls to God's grace?

If everything is as simple as it seems Then why are my questions left unanswered As though there's a subliminal message unseen, Making the truth seem like a deadly cancer?

LaMont “Mont Epiphany”, NC

I Belong Here...

Who said that I can't be me, Because of what I am you don't like me.

Or, is it the label I hold you see but won't speak, You can laugh, you can point, call me names I'm no freak.

This is who I am proud to say, God created me, Been picked on in school till shattered and beat.

How can I deal with something I can't change, So I cry and I cry till I'm fast asleep.

I dream of a place where I'm expected to be, That took the weight off my shoulders and stood me on my feet.

They said here lies a place where you are now worry free, Welcome to an organization called "Black and Pink."

They said we are a family of non-judgement, so I began to think, Could I fit in, am I part of the missing link?

I awake in reality to nightmares I must face, To a formidable life of this uncanny environment of a dying race, So when my day starts again, I must move at a fast pace.

I ignore the whispers and the disgusting like stares, I'm now on a mission to someplace, somewhere.

I'll belong to a family, a family who cares, This will be my home for many,...many years.

Now I can finally say that I belong right here...

Teria, MA

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BLACK & PINK 2015 YEAR IN REVIEW

january

august

We wrapped up 150 holiday card parties (during which people sent cards of care to LGBTQ prisoners) in cities/towns across the United States, Canada, and three in Europe. Chicago chapter began regular meetings with “free world” pen pals to engage them in larger anti-prison organizing efforts in Illinois.

Boston created a prison/jail visiting program to reach people in Massachusetts.

The San Francisco/Bay Area chapter began their inside/outside study group, doing leadership development and community education with “free world” and prisoner members through a writing exchange and reflection process on prison abolition articles, over 25 “free word” and prisoner members committed to the project. The Chicago chapter had multiple prisoner members get released and join organizing in the “free world” chapter, this led them to create a “reentry team” that works on support efforts finding cash assistance and housing for formerly incarcerated members. Boston chapter bailed out another six people from jail and led a train the trainers for 30 people on how to do four different prison abolition workshops. On a national level we also recommitted to efforts to challenge the injustice of sex offender registries by joining local efforts in Illinois and Massachusetts.

february Black and Pink participated in Creating Change for the first time ever, connecting with larger organizations doing LGBTQ justice work. All chapters are participating in some aspect of the #BlackLivesMatter movement whether showing up at rallies or directly involved in front line organizing. NYC chapter raised $1600 to put on commissary for NY state Black and Pink prisoner members.

september

march

The Providence chapter announced a campaign to end solitary confinement in RI, after having had meetings with organizers at DARE and Brown University. Most of the work in September was focused on planning A Decade of Black and Pink, a celebration of 10 years of our work.

Black and Pink was part of the Color of Violence 4 gathering in Chicago, reaching hundreds of community organizers and building stronger relationships with Renata Hill and CeCe McDonald. Ohio chapter “free world” members reached out to all prisoner members at Lucasville to strengthen accountability and build stronger relationships. Black and Pink lost a transgender woman prisoner member to suicide in March, we partnered with two news sources to get information out about her suicide and the subsequent retaliation against those prisoners who exposed the truth of what was going on in the prison.

april & may Most of Black and Pink's work was focused on survey data entry for our National LGBTQ Prisoner Survey. This data entry involved getting information from 1,200 surveys entered into an online analysis tool.

june Nearly every chapter across the country had some kind of presence at their Pride festivities. In Boston, this included building new connections with formerly incarcerated people who then became more involved in the organization. By June, Black and Pink had also posted bail for six LGBTQ pretrial detainees in Boston. We also presented preliminary data from the survey at the Allied Media Conference in Detroit.

july Black and Pink Boston trained 26 people how to do court support and jail visits with LGBTQ people in the Greater Boston area. These 26 people have all participated in at least one court date with a currently court-involved person. This training prioritized working with currently and formerly court-involved folks who could support others in similar situations. The Providence chapter had it's first meeting with over 25 attendees! Four Black and Pink members attended the Gathering for Black Lives in Cleveland.

october Black and Pink brought together formerly incarcerated members from across the country (from 18 states) and non-formerly incarcerated volunteers to celebrate our work and vision the future of the organization. The weekend was kicked off with an incredible celebration dinner attended by over 300 people with brilliant speakers including CeCe McDonald, Ashanti Allston, and members of the Transgender, Gender variant, Intersex Justice Project. The weekend continued with 75 attendees on Saturday attending workshops and getting to know each other better. Along with skills building we prioritized healing arts as well. All attendees were invited to have massage therapy, acupuncture, and participate in yoga or get a facial and make up done. Saturday evening included wise words from Ashley Diamond ,who joined us via video chat as she was not permitted to join us, and three members of the New Jersey 4.

We closed the weekend with a strategic visioning meeting for the future of the organization on Sunday. This day long session was facilitated by Imani Henry and has put us on the path to creating a new national structure that is accountable to our greater vision. We also released our report, Coming Out of Concrete Closets, which has been shared with our prisoner membership and many free world policy makers.

november & december We wrapped up the year organizing nearly 150 holiday card parties across the US and Canada with a few parties in other countries as well. These parties made it so nearly everyone on our list got a holiday card this year, that's almost 9,000 holiday cards that went out to members locked up across the US. The real effort behind this was from Charlie in the San Francisco chapter, Reed in the Boston chapter, and Ty who used to coordinate the art project.

These folks did amazing work.

STRUGGLING FOR RIGHTS LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL

16 April 1963 My Dear Fellow Clergymen: While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in."

I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here.

But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea.

Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.

In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action. We have gone through all these steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation.

Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of Birmingham's economic community. In the course of the negotiations, certain promises were made by the merchants--for example, to remove the stores' humiliating racial signs. On the basis of these promises, the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to a moratorium on all demonstrations. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. A few signs, briefly removed, returned; the others remained. As in so many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us. We had no alternative except to prepare for direct action, whereby we would present our very bodies as a means of laying our case before the conscience of the local and the national community. Mindful of the difficulties involved, we decided to undertake a process of self purification. We began a series of workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly asked ourselves: "Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?" "Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail?" We decided to schedule our direct action program for the Easter season, realizing that except for Christmas, this is the main shopping period of the year. Knowing that a strong economic-withdrawal program would be the by product of direct action, we felt that this would be the best time to bring pressure to bear on the merchants for the needed change.

Then it occurred to us that Birmingham's mayoral election was coming up in March, and we speedily decided to postpone action until after election day. When we discovered that the Commissioner of Public Safety, Eugene "Bull" Connor, had piled up enough votes to be in the run off, we decided again to postpone action until the day after the run off so that the demonstrations could not be used to cloud the issues. Like many others, we waited to see Mr. Connor defeated, and to this end we endured postponement after postponement.

Page 8 Having aided in this community need, we felt that our direct action program could be delayed no longer.

You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension."

I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.

I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.

One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have asked: "Why didn't you give the new city administration time to act?" The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act. We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists, dedicated to maintenance of the status quo. I have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."

We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, "Wait."

But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness"--then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Courtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may well ask: â&#x20AC;&#x153;How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?â&#x20AC;? The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One

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STRUGGLING FOR RIGHTS CONTINUED has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.”

Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.

Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. Segregation, to use the terminology of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, substitutes an “I it” relationship for an “I thou” relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful. Paul Tillich has said that sin is separation. Is not segregation an existential expression of man’s tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? Thus it is that I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court, for it is morally right; and I can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances, for they are morally wrong.

Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws.

An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal. Let me give another explanation. A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that state’s segregation laws was democratically elected?

Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered. Can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured?

Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.

I hope you are able to see the distinction I am trying to point out.

In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience.

It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience.

In our own nation, the Boston Tea Party represented a massive act of civil disobedience.

We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.” It was “illegal” to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany.

Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country’s antireligious laws.

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom

is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.

Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.

In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn’t this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn’t this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn’t this like condemning Jesus because his unique God consciousness and never ceasing devotion to God’s will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? We must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence.

Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber. I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. I have just received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: “All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth.” Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.

You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self respect and a sense of “somebodiness” that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle-class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses.

The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups

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STRUGGLING FOR RIGHTS CONTINUED that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best known being Elijah Muhammad’s Muslim movement. Nourished by the Negro’s frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible “devil.”

I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the “do nothingism” of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. For there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest. I am grateful to God that, through the influence of the Negro church, the way of nonviolence became an integral part of our struggle.

If this philosophy had not emerged, by now many streets of the South would, I am convinced, be flowing with blood. And I am further convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as “rabble rousers” and “outside agitators” those of us who employ nonviolent direct action, and if they refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, millions of Negroes will, out of frustration and despair, seek solace and security in black nationalist ideologies--a development that would inevitably lead to a frightening racial nightmare.

Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained.

Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice. If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place. The Negro has many pent up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides -and try to understand why he must do so. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history. So I have not said to my people: “Get rid of your discontent.” Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action.

And now this approach is being termed extremist. But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Was not Amos an extremist for justice: “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.” Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Was not Martin Luther an extremist: “Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.” And John Bunyan: “I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.” And Abraham Lincoln: “This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.” And Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . .” So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary’s hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

I had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action. I am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in the South have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still all too few in quantity, but they are big in quality. Some -such as Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, James McBride Dabbs, Ann Braden and Sarah Patton Boyle--have written about our struggle in eloquent and prophetic terms. Others have marched with us down nameless streets of the South. They have languished in filthy, roach infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen who view them as “dirty nigger-lovers.” Unlike so many of their moderate brothers and sisters, they have recognized the urgency of the moment and sensed the need for powerful “action” antidotes to combat the disease of segregation. Let me take note of my other major disappointment. I have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership. Of course, there are some notable exceptions.

I am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. I commend you, Reverend Stallings, for your Christian stand on this past Sunday, in welcoming Negroes to your worship service on a nonsegregated basis. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for integrating Spring Hill College several years ago.

But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain

Page 10 true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen.

When I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows.

In spite of my shattered dreams, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and, with deep moral concern, would serve as the channel through which our just grievances could reach the power structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed.

I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: “Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother.”

In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard many ministers say: “Those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern.” And I have watched many churches commit themselves to a completely other worldly religion which makes a strange, un-Biblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular.

I have traveled the length and breadth of Alabama, Mississippi and all the other southern states. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the South’s beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious education buildings. Over and over I have found myself asking: “What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? Where were their voices when the lips of Governor Barnett dripped with words of interposition and nullification? Where were they when Governor Wallace gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?”

Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do otherwise? I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson and the great grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

There was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being “disturbers of the peace” and “outside agitators.”’

But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were “a colony of heaven,” called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be “astronomically intimidated.” By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests. Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound.

So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent--and often even vocal--sanction of things as they are.

But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.

Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world?

Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom. They have left their secure congregations and walked the streets of Albany, Georgia, with us. They have gone down the highways of the South on tortuous rides for freedom. Yes, they have gone to jail with us. Some have been dismissed from their churches, have lost the support of their bishops and fellow ministers. But they have acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. Their witness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of the gospel in these troubled times. They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment. I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the

Page 11

STRUGGLING FOR RIGHTS CONTINUED outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation -and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.

Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping “order” and “preventing violence.” I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.

It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handling the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather “nonviolently” in public. But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia, but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: “The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason.”

I wish you had commended the Negro sit inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face jeering and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy two year old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: “My feets is tired, but my soul is at rest.” They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience’ sake. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Never before have I written so long a letter. I’m afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts and pray long prayers?

If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.

I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil-rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.

Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood, Martin Luther King, Jr.

CELEBRATING A DECADE OF BLACK & PINK VIDEO TRANSCRIPT CONTINUED

...Continued from Page 5... CODY: I cried a few times because I’m like, somebody cares.

JOSE DAVI: Receiving letters and people showing up to court was really important in a lot of ways. Not only in supporting, but also putting pressure to the judge and the district attorney. Um, like, this person is not alone, you know? Um, and that really changed the outcome of my sentence.

TY: Every since I told Jason about my case, like, he’s just never missed a court date. He’s actually made me almost not miss a court date when I forgot.

DESIREE: And so that’s why I appreciate orgS like Black & Pink, um, in bringing us together because, like, they see how important it is--like, what we’re fucking facing when we’re locked up.

SPEAKER: This has been, 10 years in the making, and we are so excited to have you hear. Give yourself a hand for coming! [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] DAUNASIA: Last night was magical. I, like, never-- that was, like--it was, like, the opposite of a fundraiser. It was, like, a dope, like, community moment, you know what I mean?

[VOICEOVER] It was really powerful to see, um, the multiple awards that were given out last night.

LESLIE: I liked the awards they gave all the girls. Every award they gave a girl, ‘cause I mean, the transgenders are starting to stand up for themselves. I love that.

JASON: And there’s also dreams of what we should be doing as Black & Pink.

Very clear, one of the key, number-one priorities is we must immediately shut down solitary confinement everywhere. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] And members inside want us to tell their stories. One of the key pieces of advice they’re giving--key demands they’re making of us on the outside--is that this keeps happening. That stories keep being told.

MEAGAN: When my sister Cece made her speech about black, trans* women, and it was amazing.

CECE: This isn’t something that we’re making up. This isn’t something that’s just--we’re on a episode of of Law & Order. This is our real lives. This isn’t no script. And it’s time that people understand and respect us and give us our due. We led this movement. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] It’s time that people understand that. My transcestors led this movement.

DESIREE: I also really, really enjoyed CeCe McDonald’s speech, um, and her call to action to other folks, um, who are part of this movement. Um, and how important it is, to like, continue the work, like, not just, like, tokenize folks who are trans*. Or, like, [INAUDIBLE] specific about the rates at which trans* women of color are being murdered because it’s, like, we need more support than just, like, you saying something. We need you to show up in for us in tangible ways.

CECE: Let’s not just think about the people who are incarcerated. Let’s think about the people who are getting out of prison. Let’s think about the people--how to prevent people from going into prison. Let’s think about all the ways that we can stop this. And with the help of Black & Pink and so many organizations, we can bring liberation for trans* women and trans* women of color and the whole incarceral state. And we can abolish prisons, and we can make change. But it’s up to us. Now, are you down for that? [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ] Are you down for that? [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ] Get on your feet and tell me that you are down for that! [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] Thank you, everyone.

[MUSIC PLAYING] DESIREE: This is actually my first time being around so many, like, formerly incarcerated people who are a part of the community.

JOSE DAVI: Being in a room with tons of, like, queer and trans* people, like, abolitionists--it feels really good.

JORGE: We have, like, a, um, siblinghood of folks that--we all-- we all can look at each other and know that we can depend on each other.

JAMILA: Like, yesterday was incredibly emotional for me. Um, like, I was crying. And I’m not a crier at all. But I haven’t--again--shared my story or my situation, ‘cause I didn’t feel really affirmed or validated in it.

DESIREE: Like, we are all here for formerly and currently incarcerated queer people, and so it was really valuable to me to know that there’s a network of folks here who are invested in supporting us. Mmhmm.

...Continued on Page 12...

Page 12

STRUGGLING FOR RIGHTS CONTINUED ...Continued from Page 11...

PEACHES: Love.

[APPLAUSE]

DOUGLAS: Unity.

ASHLEY: The love feels so good. I just wanted to say that really quickly that it is so awesome to see all of you sitting in that room together. Um, it’s very powerful. Um, love is a powerful thing. I just wanted to say that right off the bat. Thank you. And this is beautiful.

MEAGAN: Bold, encouraging, and very powerful. Very unique.

CECE: You know, just being in such good company, just-- I love it.

JAYDEN: It’s been great. It’s like having a family that I didn’t even know I had, you know?

PEACHES: Um, this has been a time of-- of healing. Um, this has been a time that I’ve been vulnerable, but that’s OK. I’m human.

DOUGLAS: Like they said, you want to liberate your people. And that’s what we wanna do. We wanna-- we wanna grow.

MEAGAN: It’s definitely a movement. It’s-- it needs to be heard.

TANYA: Transformative.

JAMILA: Empowerment.

LESLIE: The black means I got that kind of power. And the pink means that the sweetness in me I ain’t gonna let nobody take it away from me.

JOSE DAVI: Abolition now.

PERSON IN CROWD: Woo! Abolition!

EVERYONE (SHOUTING): Abolition!

[MUSIC PLAYING]

LESLIE: You don’t stop because Black & Pink or, um, um, the party’s over.

Because the party’s still going on. We’re still fighting.

TANYA: We can all materially support one another. Um, and everybody has their own role in the movement. You know, like, everybody’s liberation is bound up in everyone else’s.

DAUNASIA: It definitely feels like a family in a way that-- that, um, people feel welcome and feel like they can add to, um, the liberation of all of us.

NICK: A lot of the people that we’ve written to have stated, you know, it’s really meaningful that there are people in Ohio doing this work. It’s not just people in Boston. It’s not just people in San Francisco.

JOSE DAVI: I feel like I know so many queer and trans* people that are not involved in Black & Pink. How do we reach out to those people and be like, like, we are not gonna be free until we abolish prisons.

The Decade of Black & Pink video was filmed by Debbie Southern and transcribed by Tasha(???)

RENO: And I’m determined to, to-- more to be a representative to all those that are still behind the walls and support them and let them know that you got a group of people out here that’s trying to fight for you.

TY: One thing that I like about Black & Pink is that I feel like I’m part of a family.

JEREMY: And I feel like I’m home right now.

DESIREE: For me, Black & Pink really represents solidarity and liberation.

JORGE: All inclusive.

SPEAKER: Home.

CECE: Black & Pink is revolutionary.

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Please Note: You can send multiple requests/topics in one envelope! Due to concerns about consent and confidentiality, you cannot sign up other people for the newspaper. However, we can accept requests from multiple people in the same envelope. There’s no need to send separate requests in more than one envelope. If you are being released and would still like to receive a copy of the newspaper, please let us know the address we can send the newspaper to!

Black & Pink - __________ 614 Columbia Rd Dorchester, MA 02125 If you would like to request:

Please write one or more of these topics in the top line of the address:

Newspaper Subscriptions, Pen-Pal Program, Address Change, Request Erotica, Religious Support & Volunteering (Send thank you cards to donors, etc.)

Newspaper Submissions- Stories, Articles, Poems &Art Black & Pink Organization Feedback-- Especially the Slip on Page 9

Black & Pink - General

Black and Pink Religious Zine

Black and Pink - The Spirit Inside

Advocacy Requests- Include details about situation and thoughts about how calls or letters might help Submit to Erotica Zine Stop Your Newspaper Subscription Black and Pink Hotline Number

Black & Pink - Advocacy

Black & Pink - Newspaper Submissions Black & Pink - Feedback

Black & Pink - HOT PINK Black & Pink – STOP Subscription

617.519.4387

Pen Pal Program: LGBTQ prisoners can list their information and short non-sexual ad on the internet where free world people can see it and decide to write. There will be a Pen-Pal Request Form in the Newspaper every 4 months.

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