Black & Pink News, Vol. 9, Issue 1—December 2017/January 2018

Black & Pink News

January 2018

By Edxie Betts

The artwork here and on the cover was created for the 4th annual Trans Day of Resilience project. 10 transgender visual artists and poets of color created art centered on trans resilience—a reimagining of Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20th), which memorializes those we’ve lost to anti-trans violence.

Volume 9, Issue 1

blackandpink.org

Page 3

Letter from the Nat’l Leadership Circle Dear family, We hope this letter finds you as well as possible, and that you are finding hope and comfort wherever and however you can. This issue’s letter comes to you from the Black & Pink Leadership Circle (LC), which functions as the Board of Directors for the organization.

In line with Black & Pink’s values, the current LC is composed of 8 majority formerly incarcerated and majority people of color volunteers from around the country. We engage in collective decision-making for Black & Pink at the national level, in consultation with you and the chapters whenever possible/appropriate. We want to let you know of a few updates from national leadership.

There have been some staff changes in the National Office. Following a vote by the LC, former National Director Tray Johns’s employment with Black & Pink has concluded.

This development was due to actions Tray took that were contrary to the values and mission of the organization, including disrespecting collective decision-making processes and attempting to use funds for unauthorized reasons.

Former National Organizer Monica James’s employment has also concluded, following actions Monica took that included risking Black & Pink funding and multiple inappropriate interactions with Black & Pink volunteers, leaders, and allies.

It was a complex situation with hard feelings all around that escalated in mid-November. Upon discovering

evidence of such actions with undesirable implications for the organization, the LC has worked over the past several weeks to ensure proper control of the organization and to ensure our resources are used in the best interests of our inside member family. The LC had hoped mediation and conflict resolution could happen in a way that truly embodied transformative justice values, and we regret this happened. There will be many community conversations to be had. We wish them both well in their next endeavors.

We’re very glad to announce that based on the strength of his nonprofit leadership experience and commitment to Black & Pink’s organizational longevity, we appointed Dominique Morgan as our new Interim National Director!

Dominique Morgan has been working in spaces of advocacy and support for nearly 10 years, beginning with volunteer work that quickly evolved to organizational leadership. As a queer, Black, formerly incarcerated individual, he brings the intersectionalities and lived experiences he represents to his work.

He’s also a phenomenal singer!

Dominique currently serves as the Board President on the LC, and will continue to do so for actions and decisions that wouldn’t constitute a conflict of interest with his Interim National Director position.

He’s assuming responsibilities of day-to-day operations and mission promotion for Black & Pink, and he already traveled from his home in Omaha, Nebraska to Boston to do on-the-ground work in late Decem-

ber. Dominique has smart and exciting ideas for both internal capacity-building and external outreach for Black & Pink that he’s implementing in collaboration and collective decision with the LC. We’re thrilled to have the role of National Director in Dominique’s excellently capable hands.

Dominique is also looking for someone to fill the role of National Organizer in the interim and already has a promising lead.

Thank you very much for your patience and understanding during this transition period. We’re sorry that this message couldn’t get out to you sooner, as we were still resolving active issues and were dealing with some confidentiality requirements that apply to nonprofit boards.

There may be some gaps as we transition responsibilities between individuals, and for that we deeply apologize. We’ve experienced some added delays to mail processing, but we’ve acted to limit those and resume that work—special thanks to volunteers in Boston! Please know you can always write to us, and we’re always open to hearing your questions, concerns, feedback, and suggestions. We’ve heard from a few of you already, and we want to be in communication with you all as much as we can. Throughout this process, we’re humbly reminding ourselves to center our values, including transparency and organizational clarity, healing and holding our complicated selves, and resisting all forms of oppression in the movement toward collective

continued on page 12

Page 4

Black & Pink News

December 2017/January 2018

In This Issue News you can use Letter from the Black & Pink National Leadership Circle pages 3, 12 Granted Clemency by Obama, Chip Dukes Rebuilds His Life pages 5-6 Transgender Officials Aren’t New; Openly Serving Is pages 7-8 Why So Many States Are Fighting Over LGBT Rights pages 9-10 Are Private Prison Companies Using Forced Labor? page 11

Black & Pink family Art pages 23-24 Letters pages 13-21 Poetry pages 12-18, 20 Submit to Black & Pink! page 22

Black & Pink’s new Interim National Director, Dominique Morgan (see page 3)

Statement of Purpose Black & Pink is an open family of LGBTQ prisoners and “free world” allies who support each other. Our work toward the abolition of the prison-industrial complex (PIC) is rooted in the experiences of currently and formerly incarcerated people. We are outraged by the specific violence of the PIC towards LGBTQ people, and we respond through advocacy, education, direct service, and organizing. Black & Pink is proudly a family of people of all races and ethnicities.

About Black & Pink News Since 2007, Black & Pink free world volunteers have pulled together a monthly newspaper, composed primarily of material written by our family’s incarcerated members. In response to letters we receive, we send the newspaper to more prisoners every month! Black & Pink News currently reaches more than 9,400 prisoners!

Disclaimer The ideas and opinions expressed in Black & Pink News are solely those of the authors and artists and do not necessarily reflect the views of Black & Pink.

Black & Pink makes no representations as to the accuracy of any statements made in Black & Pink News, including but not limited to legal and medical information. Authors and artists bear sole responsibility for their work.

Everything published in Black & Pink News is also on the internet—it can be seen by anyone with a computer. By sending art or written work to “Newspaper Submissions,” you are agreeing to have it published in Black & Pink News and on the internet.

In order to respect our members’ privacy, we publish only first names and state locations.

We may edit submissions to fit our anti-oppression values and/ or based on our own editing guidelines.

blackandpink.org January 2018 (United States)

Volume 9, Issue 1

Page 5

January 2018

Sun

31

Mon New Year's Eve Kwanzaa, 6th Day (Kuumba: creativity)

7 International

Programmers' Day Zora Neale Hurston born (1891)

14

1

New Year's Day Kwanzaa, 7th day (Imani: faith)

8

Tue

2

9

Wed Perihelion (earth closest to sun)

3

Peak of Quadrantid meteor shower

Thu

4

Fri

Sat

5

World Braille Day

6 Epiphany

10 African

11

12

13 Stephen

20

National Congress founded in S. Africa (1912)

Foster Memorial Day 1st public radio broadcast (1910)

15 Martin Luther

16

17 Muhammad Ali

18

19

21 World Religion

22

23

24

25

26 International

28 World Leprosy

29 Kansas Day

30

31 Tu

King Jr. Day

Day

Day

born (1942)

B'Shevat (Jewish new year of the trees)

Customs Day Angela Davis born (1944)

1 National

Freedom Day Langston Hughes born (1902), Black author

2 Groundhog Day National Wear Red Day World Wetlands Day

27 World

Holocaust Victims Remembrance Day

3

Granted Clemency by Obama, Chip Rebuilds His Life

By Roqayah Chamseddine

In Shadow Proof, November 6, 2017

Romaine “Chip” Dukes was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was one of four children to a mother, who suffered the many trials that accompany drug addiction. At the age of 13, after spending a tremendous amount of time on the street, his mother was incarcerated, and Dukes and his other three siblings were forced into the foster care system.

“I took it upon myself to leave foster care. So I ran away and lived on the streets until my best friend’s mom took me in and treated me as her own son,” Dukes told

Shadowproof.

This is where his life drastically changed. Dukes sold drugs to survive.

“While on the streets, I caught two drug cases that were four months apart. One was serving a dime bag of crack to an undercover police officer, which I got probation for, and the other was for possession of two grams of crack, which I also received probation for,” he said. “I ended up violating probation and serving one year in the Illinois state [prison] system.”

After Dukes’ mother was released from prison, she moved to Iowa where he visited and she tried to convince him to “leave the jar game alone and become a

productive member of society.” She offered him a place to stay. Dukes worked two jobs and attempted to get to know his mother again.

“It was a struggle at first getting to know my mom while I was still blaming her for my life being the way it was. While I was in Iowa, I started meeting people that were selling drugs, and they asked me to go to Chicago to get drugs and bring them back to sale,” Dukes said.

“After about eight months of working, I quit Starbucks and started selling drugs in Iowa. I ended up catching a conspiracy charge because my co-defendant was serving an undercover agent.

continued on page 6

Page 6

continued from page 5 So when he got caught, he told the people that I was going to Chicago to get drugs and that I was the source of supply.”

“I was arrested for conspiracy, went to jury trial and lost,” he said.

“Ultimately, I was found guilty and sentenced to life in federal prison.”

In 1997, when Dukes was 24-years-old, he was tried on one count of conspiring to distribute cocaine base and two counts of distributing cocaine base. He was convicted on all three counts and was given a mandatory life sentence, plus ten years.

Dukes realized that he was swept up in a federal sentencing racket that was intentionally discriminatory, and in the words of the ACLU, “perpetuate[d] a racial caste system when it comes to our criminal justice system.”

Once Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, the disparity in sentencing for crack cocaine and powder cocaine was stark: distributing 5 grams of crack cocaine, for example, would get a person a minimum 5 year federal prison sentence while distributing 500 grams of powder cocaine would get a person the same sentence.

According to the ACLU’s report, “Cracks In The System,” African Americans received federal drug sentences that were 11 percent higher on average than that of whites before mandatory minimum sentencing for crack cocaine offenses was enacted. Their drug sentences were 49 percent higher just four years after.

And so Dukes found himself, a nonviolent drug offender, watching as the most critical moments of his youth crawled by in federal prison—a place he was sentenced to

Black & Pink News

live out the rest of his days. “[The Controlled Substance Act] states that if you had two prior convictions which were felonies, and the offense that you are on now involved 50 grams of crack or more, it constitutes a mandatory life sentence,” Dukes explained. “When it comes to conspiracy charges, your sentence depends on the amount of grams sold throughout the whole conspiracy, which in this case was 185 grams.”

“In 2010, Congress passed legislation to change the ratio [from 100 to 1] to 18 to 1 based on scientific evidence that powder cocaine and cocaine that is cooked up is chemically the same. So why treat it differently?”

“Despite the law having been changed, it wasn’t to apply to any of us that was already incarcerated.

Under the new law, I was looking at a 10 year sentence,” he said.

Dukes sought leniency from President Barack Obama and requested “executive clemency,” which he received. He became one of 46 people who had their sentences commuted in 2015.

By that point, Dukes (now 43) had spent 19 years locked away in federal prison. His son, who was just 8-years-old when he was first imprisoned, was now 27.

“I missed practically his whole life as a child. I got the chance to spend one year with him before he was killed in a car accident,” he said.

A commutation is an important step forward for people fortunate enough to receive one, but it is not a finishing line for freedom. People with commuted sentences still face blinding obstacles when attempting to find work, housing, academic opportunities, financial assistance, and medical services.

December 2017/January 2018

Race and class play a direct role in shaping what an inmate’s future will look like after they’re released, especially after longer stints. The less support they have from family, friends, and mentors, the more difficult it may be for them.

When Dukes was released, he had a lot of moral support that helped him make it through. “Coming out after all those years, you need as much support as you can get. So shout out to my family and friends that held me down. They know who they are.”

“The first month I was out, I put in a whole lot of applications but never got called back. So I went to temp agencies, and I started working different jobs. I am determined to succeed,” he added. “I had to deal with a lot of obstacles, and I’m still dealing with them. All those years in prison, I can truly say that I’ve learned a lot about myself, people, the world in general, relationships, religions, etc.”

“I started working with this trucking company through a temp agency and after six months I was hired on. I had a baby boy who is 1-year-old now. He is so adorable.

And now, I’m trying to make this dream of owning my own business into a reality.”

Volume 9, Issue 1

blackandpink.org

Page 7

Transgender Officials Aren’t New; Openly Serving Is

By Marwa Eltagouri

In The Washington Post, November 9, 2017 Tuesday was a historic night for the nation’s transgender community, which watched as at least six transgender people won elections and paved the way for others to join them in leadership positions in the coming years.

Danica Roem became the first openly transgender person elected and seated in a state legislature, defeating 13-term incumbent Del. Robert G. Marshall, who called himself Virginia’s “chief homophobe” and who introduced a “bathroom bill” that would have restricted the bathrooms Roem could use. The Minneapolis City Council will have two transgender members: Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham, who gender advocates say are the first openly transgender black people elected to public office in the United States.

In Palm Springs, Calif., Lisa Middleton won a seat on her city council as the first openly transgender person elected to a nonjudicial office in the state. Tyler Titus will be the first openly transgender person to hold office in Pennsylvania after winning a seat on the Erie School Board. And Stephe Koontz, an openly transgender woman, won a city council seat in Doraville, Ga. The key word in these landmark wins is “openly” — these transgender candidates aren’t the first to be voted into public office.

The difference, historians say, is that Roem, Jenkins, Cunningham, Middleton, Titus and Koontz all campaigned as transgender advocates and were open with voters about being transgender. Voters then

Danica Roem, a politician and journalist who made history by becoming the first openly transgender person to be elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. Roem, 32, defeated Republican incumbent Robert Marshall in the 13th District.

elected them into their respective offices, in theory because they were the best candidates for the job.

Who is Danica Roem?

Twenty years ago, it was rare for candidates to display such transparency.

In 1992, former Boston Herald reporter Eric Fehrnstrom — who would later become a top aide and political strategist for Mitt Romney — outed Althea Garrison, a woman who had just been elected to the Massachusetts state legislature.

She has never publicly acknowledged her transgender status but is widely considered the first transgender black woman to hold public office.

Fehrnstrom was the first to publish Garrison’s secret, according to a 2012 GQ profile of Fehrnstrom.

“I can remember his glee when he found the birth certificate,” former Herald reporter Robert Connolly

told GQ. While Garrison has run for office several times since, including in this year’s Boston City Council race, she has yet to win again.

Experts say it’s possible that the revealing of Garrison’s transgender status affected her political career.

Susan Stryker, an associate professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Arizona, said that while Garrison was somewhat a perennial candidate — always running for something — she was ostracized and sidelined after the reporter made the revelation. At the time, it was unlikely for transgender people to have a public career, she said.

“It totally makes sense that in past years it was considered a liability,” Stryker said. “Trans people were medicalized and stigmatized. Trans people were expected to disappear into the woodwork. They’re considered crazy people.”

continued on page 8

Page 8

Black & Pink News

December 2017/January 2018

Transgender Officials Aren’t New; Openly Serving Is continued from page 7 Garrison could not be reached for comment. A friend, Gunner Scott, program director for the Seattle-based Pride Foundation, said that there are a variety of reasons she has not addressed her transgender status.

“I can only say she has never publicly come out as transgender,” he said. “But she has been friend to transgender people in the community during a time when other politicians may not have been.”

In 2003, Michelle Bruce became Georgia’s first transgender politician after running in a Riv-

erdale City Council race. She hoped to bring more jobs to the struggling town about 12 miles south of Atlanta. When she ran for a second term, she was sued by an opponent claiming election fraud, charging that Bruce misled voters by identifying as a woman, according to the New York Times. It’s unclear whether voters knew of Bruce’s transgender status before her election, but she told the Times she had always identified as transgender.

In 2012, Stacie Laughton became the first openly transgender legislator elected in New Hampshire. She never took her seat in the state’s House of Representatives, however, because news surfaced before her swearing in

“You read some of the comments written about me since I announced my candidacy; transphobia is alive and well. It exists all throughout our society. But at the same time, is that the lesson I’m here to teach my eight-year-old? No. I pointed out a nasty comment that was written about me to my kid, and I said, “See, I want to point this out to you. See the one mean thing that one person said? Yeah, but look at all the nice things other people said.” There’s a lot more nice than there is hate here. There’s a lot more people that are cheering me on than are trying to tell me that being transgender makes me a bad person.”

that she was a felon, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader. She pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges of fraudulent use of a credit card under the name Barry Charles Laughton Jr. More transgender people began running for office during President Barack Obama’s administration, beginning in 2008, as the transgender community appeared to receive more positive attention in the public sphere, Stryker said. She said last year’s election of Donald Trump — who in February rescinded rules on bathrooms for transgender students and in July proposed a transgender military ban — further encouraged transgender people to run for office, convinced that, as Stryker put it: “I have nothing to lose by running.

This is war.”

After Roem’s election, former vice president Joe Biden called to congratulate her.

As a Washington Post photo showing Rome’s reaction to that call went viral, Biden tweeted: “You’re going to make us all proud, Danica.”

According to the Pew Research Center, nearly 4 in 10 Americans say society has not gone far enough in accepting transgender people, but nearly a third say society has gone too far. Another third say society has been about correct.

But Stryker said one thing is clear: The elections of six transgender people Tuesday means that voters can expect a large slate of transgender candidates to run in municipal and state elections in 2018.

“It’s a very hopeful sign that people are willing to vote for trans candidates,” Stryker said. “It’s probably just the tip of the iceberg for what we’re going to see in the year ahead.”

Volume 9, Issue 1

blackandpink.org

Page 9

Why So Many States Are Fighting Over LGBT Rights

By Katy Steinmetz

In Time March 31, 2016

The Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling was supposed to settle the fight over LGBT rights, right? Not a chance. In 2016, states across the nation have been divided by a raft of new legislation—more than 200 bills advocates consider antiLGBT have been introduced so far this year, according a tally by the Human Rights Campaign. These measures take many forms and have many aims, but they are often rooted in social conservatives’ reaction to two things. Here’s a primer:

of a religious or moral belief. Maybe the bill is something a baker could cite when refusing to make a cake for a same-sex wedding. Or perhaps it would allow an adoption agency or foster program to refuse to help a gay couple find a child to rear.

In Georgia, where the governor vetoed a high-profile religious

The Same-Sex Marriage Ruling Caused a Backlash Support for marriage equality is at a record-high 60%, but plenty of Americans remain strongly opposed, according to organizations like Gallup. The court’s ruling has energized this large, if declining, group, and has led state lawmakers to propose versions of religious freedom bills in response.

Not all religious freedom bills are controversial. Many states and the federal government passed their own in a different era. (More on that here.) Today, these measures become lightning rods when they contain language that has the potential to provide legal cover for individuals or organizations to treat LGBT residents differently because

freedom bill on March 28, one lawmaker sponsoring it explained that “when the Supreme Court changed the definition of marriage, dynamics changed. There was a need for a law — for this law.”

Some state lawmakers in Indiana, where the governor signed and then amended a much-maligned religious freedom law last year, made similar statements.

An important backdrop is that while there is a federal law that protects people from being discriminated against based on qualities like race or religion, there is no statute that explicitly forbids firing someone because they are gay or evicting someone because they are transgender, for example. Advocates have been trying to pass one since the mid-90s and have never gotten through Congress. Most states don’t have nondiscrimination laws that explicitly cover sexual orientation and gender identity either, though many cities do.

Some courts have found implicit protections for gay or transgender people in prohibitions on sex discrimination. Other courts have ruled otherwise. Several cases turning on this point are pending, like this ACLU lawsuit in Virginia.

Many people mistakenly believe these protections already exist. And there is broad support for such protections, even among a good chunk of people who are against same-sex marriage.

Transgender People Are More Visible The second factor driving many of the state bills in the news is the growing visibility of transgender

continued on page 10

Page 10

Black & Pink News

Why So Many States Are Fighting Over LGBT Rights continued from page 9

Bathrooms?

people. Long marginalized even in the LGBT rights movement, transgender people are increasingly prominent in American culture and are fighting for stronger protection under the law. And many federal interpretations of existing laws are coming down in their favor.

This emergence has been met with vitriol among some lawmakers–one described it as a “virus that has broken out.”

Such language is reminiscent of the 1970s, when the increasing openness of gay and lesbian people prompted some fundamentalists to argue that they were out to “recruit” children. Until the mid-70s, many in the medical community still classified their sexual orientation as an illness. “Trans people were never this visible before,” says Equality Federation executive director Rebecca Isaacs. “It’s been both a really positive thing and its really also brought out the opposition with all of its fangs.”

The “virus” comment was made by a Republican lawmaker earlier this year in South Dakota, where the legislature passed a bill that would have required public school students to use bathrooms based on their “chromosomes and anatomy” at birth. Essentially, the bill would have served to ban transgender girls from girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms and likewise for transgender boys, had the governor not vetoed it. Actually implementing such a law would come with a host of complications and privacy issues.

Arguments about which bathroom transgender people should be using are often at the heart of today’s debates over public accommodations, a cumbersome legal phrase that basically refers to the way people are treated in the public square. When gender identity is protected in that sphere, that gives transgender people legal support for using the bathroom that aligns with their innate sense of who they are.

The North Carolina law that started causing such outcry in late March was largely driven by this issue. Charlotte, the state’s largest city, had passed non-discrimination protections for LGBT people in February. It was controversial and the bathroom question was at the center of it. The new law invalidated those protections (and similar ones in about a dozen other cities) by essentially saying that the state would be in charge of nondiscrimination matters and barring cities from adding protected classes that the state doesn’t recognize.

But the first thing one reads in the new law is language that explicitly requires people like students to use bathrooms that match their “biological sex,” defined as the sex listed on their birth certificate.

The Department of Justice and U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission have issued multiple rulings that say barring transgender people from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity is a form of sex discrimination.

The Department of Education has issued similar guidance, saying students’ gender identity must be

What Does This Have to do With

December 2017/January 2018

respected. State lawmakers pushing bills that aim to keep transgender people out of certain bathrooms often see themselves as pushing back against government overreach and a “commingling of girls and boys” that they believe is wrong. In South Dakota, state senator Brock Greenfield urged his colleagues to support the bill by looking at “what has happened in Washington, D.C., relative to this issue and the promotion thereof.” Until, “extraordinarily recently,” he said, “this issue was not an issue.”

In North Carolina, LGBT rights activists are asking not only that the law be repealed but that the state go further in the other direction, adding explicit protections covering sexual orientation and gender identity in non-discrimination laws.

What happens in that state will flesh out this story further: just days after Gov. Pat McCrory signed the bill, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of transgender and lesbian residents, alleging that the new law is a form of sex discrimination, as well a a violation of constitutional protections like the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause.

The state attorney general—a Democrat who is running against McCrory for governor—called the law “a national embarrassment” and refused to defend any named parties challenged in the lawsuit. McCrory, meanwhile, has since said he’s “open to new ideas and solutions.”

But don’t expect that to bring an end to these fights. On March 30, the Mississippi senate passed the “Protecting Freedom of Conscience From Government Discrimination Act.” Among its stipulations: gender is determined at birth, and the belief that reserving “sexual relations” to marriages between men and women should be protected.

Volume 9, Issue 1

blackandpink.org

Page 11

Are Private Prison Companies Using Forced Labor?

By Josh Eidelson

In Bloomberg November 8, 2017 On Nov. 15 the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver will hear arguments in a case that could change the future of the $5 billion private prison industry. Judges will decide whether a district court was correct in February when it certified a class action on behalf of around 60,000 current and former detainees who are suing Geo Group Inc., one of the largest U.S. private prison companies, for allegedly violating federal anti-trafficking laws by coercing them to work for free under threat of solitary confinement.

The case was first filed in 2014 by a group of immigrants who had been detained at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility run

by Geo in Aurora, Colo. Their key claim rests on the assertion that Geo violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, a law designed to stop human trafficking—a scourge many associate with sexual exploitation by gangs, not with government contractors’ treatment of detained immigrants. Their lawsuit argues that Geo violated the law’s prohibition on using threats to obtain labor.

“It would be forced labor for someone to say, ‘We’ll arrest you for not working for me,’ ” says David Seligman, who represents the plaintiffs. “It’s similarly forced labor to say, ‘We’re going to remove you from all contact with other

people.’ ” The lawsuit also argues that Geo, through an optional work program that pays $1 a day, violated common law against “unjust enrichment,” since extensive use of low-paid detainee labor has saved the company money; it employs only one janitor in Aurora who isn’t in custody, the plaintiffs say.

“There is, almost by definition, a focus on maximizing profits and shareholder value ” Geo says the case lacks merit and that it’s being scapegoated over what’s really a publicpolicy dispute. “Geo’s status as a government contractor puts it in the position of having to answer for what are essentially grievances against congressional and DHS/ ICE policies,” the company said in a March court filing. In a 2015 motion, Geo said the trafficking claim was “absurd,” because the anti-trafficking law wasn’t meant to apply to “federal detainees who are lawfully kept in the custody” of the government.

The lawsuit is one front in a longrunning battle over the existence of private prisons. Critics say letting companies run detention centers and prisons reduces accountability for potential abuses and that the profit motive encourages excessive cost-cutting. “There is, almost by definition, a focus on maximizing profits and shareholder value at any publicly held private business,” says David Lopez, who served as general counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under

President Obama and will argue for the plaintiffs before the 10th Circuit. “I don’t think the private prison industry really is different— it’s just its product is different.”

Conservatives say private companies outperform the government. “There’s certainly no way having the highly problematic ICE come in and take over management of these facilities is going to improve conditions, because the ones they already run are terrible,” says Adrian Moore, vice president of the libertarian Reason Foundation.

In August 2016, President Obama’s Department of Justice said it would phase out its use of privately run federal prisons. The next day, a Geo subsidiary donated $100,000 to a super PAC supporting Donald Trump. This year Trump reversed Obama’s private prison policy and awarded his administration’s first detention center contract to Geo. The company’s stock price has risen about 70 percent since Trump’s election. If the case proceeds as a class action, it will threaten other private prison companies that use inmate labor. “This case is what we call a business model case,” says Brandt Milstein, who represents the plaintiffs. “Another way to say that would be an ‘existential threat.’ ” BOTTOM LINE - Private prison companies have flourished under President Trump, but a class action could undermine their access to cheap labor provided by detainees.

Page 12

Black & Pink News

December 2017/January 2018

Letter from the B&P National Leadership Circle continued from page 3 liberation. We’ve all learned a lot about adhering to principles during crisis, having empathy for multiple and sometimes conflicting perspectives, and remembering to reach out sooner rather than later. The reason we put our time and energy into the LC is foremost to support you and to center you in a sustainable way.

Despite disruptions to the work, our amazing chapter members and volunteers have been incredible in supporting the LC and in continuing with local activities. We hope those of you who signed up to receive a holiday card enjoyed receiving one—about 300 card parties drew people together to make that happen. Court support training, coalition building, policy work,

Lost Souls All across the country, men & women fill penitentiaries to the capacity anticipated deaths, slowly dying from genocidal catastrophe Its a shame of how we die for ghetto fame When we consider ourselves to be sane Tables turning, twisted lives going against the grain for illegal proceeds, material love, and the killing sales of cocaine Stagnated malfunctions comes from the contact of potent marijuana blunts While death struck fatalities arise from the handling of AKs and pistol grip

community education, fundraising events, penpal matching, and individual prisoner advocacy are just some of the activities we know are continuing at the chapter level. The LC has been working on strengthening internal governance and setting forth policies such as ones on conflict of interest and social media usage. Dominique and the Fundraising Working Group have been in active communication with various funders and preparing grant applications to bring in more resources.

The Leadership Circle is also planning an in-person retreat soon to set strategic priorities and goals, assign concrete actions and next steps, and do some necessary healing to move the work forward and improve our organizational effectiveness. We’re looking forward to sharing with you what comes out of that and getting

your crucial input to inform us going ahead.

pumps Ignorance remains to keep us behind time While a lack of direction gives us the theory we don't mind dying No spiritual roots of religious ties Leaves one's mind to ponder about where the soul goes after the body dies Our bodies lay scattered throughout funeral parlors on display Dying young is a hell of a way of leaving this world today The words of our funeral: shall the world reap em Will the Lord grant us eternity for committing two-way suicide?

Lost soul or shall the devil and I continue to walk side by side?

Mental illusions of tombstones

and daisies Shattered dreams of this life continue to daze me Teenage girls give birth to the newborn who constantly cries Chasing dreams the distance despite their dilated eyes No mercy at the hands of this genocidal killer Living to reach old age becomes a hellified thriller There's no particular reason as to why life is treated so cold, Its just generation after generation to suffer from the illness of LOST SOULS

It’s cold outside, but the winter solstice has passed, which means the days are getting longer. We’re holding you close in our thoughts and sending you our warmest wishes. We’re so glad to be in the Black & Pink family with each and every one of you. We’re looking forward to a great new year filled with continued organizing and community building; to learn and unlearn from new experiences, mistakes made, and each other; to grow personally and collectively; and to build a more just world. Onward to a productive, reflective, and transformative 2018!

In solidarity, and with much love, B&P Leadership Circle

Thanks Jason for B&P, L.J. (GA).

P.S.—God bless yall

blackandpink.org

Volume 9, Issue 1

Page 13

Letters, Poetry from our B&P Family To my Black & Pink Fam, How’s my family doing out there?

My name is Edward “Sincere”. A Bi Black man locked up in America’s Prison industrial complex in Rhode Island. This is my second time writing. First let me say that I love Black & Pink and I respect everything ya’ll are doing for our LGBTQ community and all oppressed people. I have a chance of going home probably this year after being warehoused here at the RIDOC for 13 years. About 7 of which were spent in solitary confinement. It’ll be my first time back home Since I came to prison at 17 years old serving 24 years. If I’m lucky to come home this year I look forward to joining the Providence chapter of Black & Pink to fight the wrongs or us all and I look forward

to assisting chapters from other states If you need help. I refused to stop until you make change!!!

I received a pen pal from Black & Pink some time ago about two and a half years now. Her name is MJ. that’s a really good person, I love them, they have helped me out so much since we’ve been talking.

But they are in the middle of watching something for me on Facebook to start a type of platform for myself. If anyone has access to the internet please check it out. It’s called Red Art. it’s going to have art, limes and essays from myself and close friends from inside. Red Heart stands for Reaching Every Dream and Risings Together. Everything will be based on issues surrounding prison, LGBTQ and just life in general.

Lonesome Thought Why is it not all people think!?

People make judgements in just a Blink!

They don’t understand how we feel!

Yet believe they’re the ones being real!

But yet everyday we look for those that can’t be bought!

Is that a Lonesome Thought?

We can’t get all to care!

Yet we will get those that Dare!

Remember to ignore those that don’t think!

Just look to your friend at Black and Pink!

Do your best to get what you’re after sought!

Please Brothers and Sisters get rid of your…

Lonesome Thought!

By James M. (A.k.a. “Face”)

Before I forget, I won a lawsuit here. The RIDOC had a ban on some black history books, Muslim newspapers and books, and Black & Pink for some time now. I have won the lawsuit and they had to dismantle this list and I’m now receiving Black & Pink again.

A small note to Kara from Ohio: Hello there I read your letter and I want to help you so bad because I myself thought in law but only know RI law. So you don’t have a lawyer, you really don’t need one.

You could do it pro se, i.e. you represent yourself. Unless you rally a few people up in OH to sue wth you, you could do a class action and the courts will be forced to give you a lawyer. But I did find two addresses for you to use to your ability: ACLU ℅ Jeff Gamso, 4506 Chester Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44103 They help you with legal assistance. Also there’s this place called Ohio Justice and Policy Center that I found for you that also may be of some help if you write them. They educate and assist Ohio prisoners dealing with conditions of confinement. They also litigate on significant prisoner rights issues and run an empowerment program for Ohio prisoner: Ohio Justice and Policy Center, 215 East 9th Street, 6th Floor, Cincinnati, OH 45202 I really wish you well on your journey Kara. Cause them hell.

Always, Sincere (RI)

Page 14

If You Ever Fall in Love Fall in Love with someone who wants 2 know your Favorite color and just how you like your coffee.

Fall in Love with someone who loves the way you laugh and would do absolutely anything 2 hear it.

Fall in Love with someone who puts their head on your chest Just 2 hear your heartbeat.

Fall in Love with someone who kisses you in public and is proud 2 show you off 2 anyone they know.

Fall in Love with someone who makes you question why you were afraid 2 Fall in love in the First Place.

Fall in Love with someone who would never want 2 hurt you.

Fall in love with someone who falls in love with your Flaws and thinks you are perfect Just the way you are.

Fall in love with someone who thinks that you are the one they would love 2 wake up 2 each Day!

By William Zachary M. 2 Black + Pink Family

Black & Pink News

December 2017/January 2018

Our Black & Pink Family: Letters and Poetry Dear Black & Pink, Hello! I have been a member of B&P for longer than I can accurately remember, yet I’ve never written in as I chose to wait until the time felt right…My name is Tomcat, it has now been 27 years since I was last outside these walls. I was born intersex and now identify as androgynous both physically and sexually.

My partners are not chosen by genitals but by who they are. I started my time when I was 18 year old in 1990 and scared. At the time I chose to live as one of the “Tough Guys” and did so for 12 years, until I turned 30. I had an aha moment and realized I was tired of the “Game” and started being me. This is when and

choose to come to me and confide in me simply because they now I will shoot straight with them and maintain their confidence. Thankfully I am well respected by my peers as well as Staff and am able to help more than most. I may never be outside these walls again, however I still spend each day trying to make life better for myself as well as all around me. My best advice to all of you out there is this: Don’t waste time and energy trying to prove to everyone else you are something you are not, when you can be who you are and flourish into the being you are meant to be.

As I close I would like to tell Koriana that your outlook and commandments are inspiring and thank

“My best advice to all of you out there: don’t waste time and energy trying to prove to everyone else you are something you are not, when you can be who you are and flourish into the being you are meant to be.” amazing thing happened. Instead of having to fight daily for respect it was now being given freely, instead of hiding in the “tough guy” shell. I was open about who and what I am.

I never have nor will I force my sexuality on anybody, but I will tell you if you ask. This alone has helped me to become a confident person who is sought out by my peer for advice and assistance (by all in here not just family). My daily focus is to be there for anyone in need. Many

you for sharing. To Nathan R. and all my Brothers and Sisters in CDOC you may have heard of or know me and if you see me come say Hi! Be who you are and say what you feel because those who matter don’t mind and those who mind don’t matter.

(Anonymous) Blessed Be, Tomcat (CO)

Volume 9, Issue 1

Overcome My Feelings How can I overcome this feeling of darkness?

In which is like a black hole, swallowing whole.

Consuming the good and the lightness.

How can I dispel the feeling of mistrust? When the ones you love and give your all to, stabs you in the heart, crippling Dear Black & Pink, Wassup Family? My name is Damon and I’m currently doing time in Ohio. I’ve been receiving the newsletter for about two years and each time it comes I read it cover to cover. When I’m done reading the articles I feel “liberated” but also happy. I feel that way mainly because I am now totally aware that there are many people that feel the way I feel. Like the things I like and see things the way that I see them.

I wrote y’all about two years ago with a letter similar to this one but it never got printed. I still look for it in the newsletters to no avail so I decided to write another letter hoping that this one gets printed. I’m not doing this just to do it either.

I’m doing it because I’ve finally found a place where I can be ex-

blackandpink.org

you, disabling you, draining you of the love and genuine care...now who can you trust?

How can I disintegrate this feeling of hate? When all it takes is one seed to be planted, that seed is when loyalty breaks.

How can I expel the feeling of despair? When my hopes, all were sold dreams and as actly who and what I am without being judged and that place is with y’all. My Black & Pink Family.

I haven’t always had the courage to just be like “yeah, I like men and women,” but as I get older I realize that people are gonna hate us for whatever we do so if I’m going to be hated, I’ma be hated for being exactly who I am and not for who I am pretending to be. Hopefully, these words can and will resonate with someone and inspires them to just do them.

We the LGBTQ community are a beautiful dynamic. Love yourself and be proud of you. I’ll be getting released soon but I plan on staying loyal to Black & Pink. I also wanna give a shout out to Michael Moore from Lima, Ohio. You were the first person to introduce me to this lifestyle and just know that I love you for that and I always will. To

Page 15

I awake to reality they all vanished in thin air.

How can I push away this feeling of fuck you, the world and everything in it?

I’m losing myself of good reasoning, but fuck it.

Life’s a bitch, maybe one day I can overcome my feelings.

By Sincere the rest of the family, stay strong and keep y’all head up. Don’t let nobody hold you back. Well, I’m

“I haven’t always had the courage to just be like ‘yeah, I like men and women,’ but as I get older I realize that people are gonna hate us for whatever we do, so if I’m going to be hated, I’ma be hated for being exactly who I am and not for who I pretend to be.” out but I hope to see this letter in the pages of Black & Pink.

Love Always Me...

Damon (OH)

Share your artwork with the B&P community! see mailing instructions on page 22

Page 16

Dear Black & Pink, My name is Charles and I’m a 35 year old Puerto Rican and Black Federally incarcerated male. I’ve been down for five years and I’m shocked at homophobia.

LGBTQ community has no protection behind these walls.

Often they look the other way as inmates from mobs to simply attack the different. It’s ok to be a murderer or thief but god forbid if you love different or express who you are how you want to express yourself.

I’ve heard about your penpal service and felt compelled to join your fight. I received the newsletter and guards began asking about my preference. I asked why does it matter? But I know why, people want a reason to hate. They feel the LGBTQ lifestyle is sinful. I feel the same way about them. The majority isn’t always right.

Be happy who you are.

W/R in solidarity, Charles (MS)

Black & Pink News

December 2017/January 2018

You’re Fading You're fading The scent on the sweatshirt that you sent to your daughter is dissipating She puts it on and hugs herself imagining your arms Even uses it as a pillow case with hopes that your essence will intoxicate her enough that she can trick herself into believing that you're still here She keeps it tucked in a box in her closet I can't tell if it hurts her more to pull it out, or forget that it's there.

You're fading.

Pictures are painful so they're buried instead of displayed They live in dresser drawers b/c at least that way we can pick and choose when we can look at you and deal with the pain of knowing we will never have you here with us again You're fading Have you been getting my telepathic messages?

I talk to you everyday in my head but The only time I get to hear your voice is when Paper meets pen You're fading You told me I was your one and only but you lied.

You're not mine You belong to it The System the cage the walls the collect calls the C.O.'s the brick and the mortar and I'm just a mere mortal so.....

You're fading

Volume 9, Issue 1

blackandpink.org

I stay. Acceptant yet un-resigned to the fact that this is it.

This is our life.

Had I known then that I would've had to rely on that wrinkle in time that we had together to last me the rest of my life because you'd be stolen from us I would've hidden you.

Tucked you tighter under my breast, enveloped you deeper in my womb and swallowed you whole in hopes that no one could find you...but...

You're fading They came They found you and....

You're fading I look for you in every face I see It's a cruel game really Because they don't make em like you no more baby You're fading "I WAAANNT MY DAAAADDDY!!!" what do I do with that?

Tell me what to do when my hands can't break through brick every appeal every writ along with cries go unheard and the baby that you left at 8 months old is a young woman now and still crying about how much she wants her daddy?

Tell me.....what to do with that Because you're fading.

By Ashleigh C. (CA)

Page 17

Dear Black & Pink, Hello fam, this is your girl Monica. I’ve been receiving the B&P newsletter for several months now and it’s like receiving a christmas gift every month. So thank you to all the people (ie, volunteers, advocates, etc.) who dedicate their time to make sure all of us receive our issue, once again thank you!

I’ve been down over a decade and still have six more to go to expire, it’s been somewhat of a rollercoaster to say the least.

I’ve recently just completely came out, and identify myself and live as a woman. I have always known I was different but was scared to say anything. My generation wasn’t so accepting of anything that wasn’t considered “normal”, so while I had girlfriends I was sneaking off to be with men.

I am 39 years old. I knew during my early 20s I had a woman inside of me that wanted to come out. Finally with the help of my best friend, lover, and soulmate Numa, who I’ve been together with for a year and a half, encouraged me to let the real me out. Guess what?

I’ve never been happier.

Because of NDOC policies I cannot be given hormone shots because I wasn’t on them from the streets, So I got something for them (NDOC).

Monica (NV)

Page 18

Black & Pink News

December 2017/January 2018

Letters, Poetry from Black & Pink Family Dear Black & Pink, My name is Jeremy Brown but you can call me Pheonix. I am a 28 year old young black man who happens to be gay by the grace of life, and who happens to be incarcerated and held against his will in a Washington State Corrections Center. (LOL) I know it is not a funny situation to be in, but, I laugh because if I didn’t I would cry.

My heart hurts for the fact that I am serving 20 yrs in prison for crimes I didn’t commit, but I understand that if I had not been living as fast as I was I never would have been in that situation to even be accused. But I am not bitter or angry, I actually feel a little blessed. You see if I had not gotten kidnapped by the police, and thrown in prison, 2 things never would have happened: 1) I never would have gotten off the drugs. And 2) I never would have opened my eyes to see what was truly important in life, myself and everybody else.

People. I have had one hell of struggle through life but everybody has and there is always somebody who Dear B&P Family, This is not my first time starting a letter, but will be the first one I actually send. Everything I’ve written I did not believe anyone cared and to me meant nothin. Now I have a few things I would like to say after receiving my December 2016 issue of Black & Pink News.

In response to a piece in that issue I want to congratulate those who go to and stay in school and wish and am glad that there are

has it worse than you. So now I have set out on a path to hopefully heal a few hearts on the way. I have begun writing lots of poetry, short-stories, and I have started on my first novel.

I will be sending many to my family, all of you at Black & Pink, to share with all the rest of my family out there in the world or incarcerated somewhere in the darkness. I hope that I can be that little spark of light that helps to keep the dark at bay and keeps the sorrow in its place. I know we will have fun together.

This is a pleasant change for me from the everyday, and if I may say so myself, stagnant and dull chatter that takes place so repetitively in the day room here at the prison. Reading some of the letters others have written to you at Black & Pink they break my heart, but at the same time lift me up, because it shows that no matter how bad some of my families troubles may be they refuse to just lie down and take it. (No puns intended).

Instead they hold their head up high and continue to fight and carry on and spread the message of the legacy that

we as members of the LGBTQ family are fighting so hard to impress upon the world every single day: “That we are here and we are here to stay. You will not beat us into submission nor can you stamp us out. We will not cringe nor will we shy away. We will not concede a battle when the war is still being waged. You may feed us hate on a golden spoon but will eat it with love in our hearts and a smile on our face.” I love you all. To all of my weird, crazy, quirky, strange and wild people who are going through some things and feel that there is no way out and nobody loves you, I beg you to remember I do. I love you and pray for you everyday in the hopes that your horizon will show the light of the dawning when we no longer have to fell the eyes upon us, nor hear the whispers and laughs, nor feel the depths of somebody’s cruelty.

people who talk you into doing that. I only wish I had someone like that for me, maybe my life would have turned out different. I regret so much of my life and can never do anything to fix things or help the people I’ve hurt. It’s only after my arrest and freedom from drugs that I can see what all I’ve done. Blessed be those who make it to school.

I am too confused about myself to say certain things. I’m not what you’d say as “out” cause one, I don’t like men but I do like trans.

I’m neither top nor bottom but

switch. I like girls with strap-ons and c/d. So maybe someone can answer that for me. And two, I keep my business my own cause I hate drama.

I support everyone to do themselves. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It is still a tragic loss of our brothers and sisters in the Orlando night club shooting. I love you all my familia.

Sincerely Your Friend & Love, Pheonix AKA Jeremy B. (WA) P.S.—Here’s a poem to share: [editors’ note: poem on next page]

Merry meet Merry part, A-Kash Azrael (FL)

Volume 9, Issue 1

blackandpink.org

The Saddest Truth lonely. They weep for Our hearts they love so easily The sensation of this bemused. The whippoorwills herald the coming dawn The saddest truth confused.

No light now leads me out of the dark As fall the beads of pain. To breathe pure love, then feel it severed Is to know the hope of rain.

To douse and cleans away the sins Of past and pray for peace.

Though standing in the great deluge Only shadow from the east.

The stars are blind upon my night No sight can linger here. For Wraiths are dancing in our soul Filling us with fear. The fear to love, or be loved, That curse of living dead. One life to live, the tragic truth, Our story is still unread.

So open your heart and listen truly To the song the willows weep, The ballad of my Joy and Sorrow The dirge haunting my sleep.

They weep for the children Forgotten and

the wolf That howls, “If only.” They mourn for the drunk Who rages through the screams.

They mourn for the hopeless Who live without dreams. They cry for the young Who snuff out their own lives. They cry for the loveless Who can only ask, “Why?” They sing for the truth That none can escape They sing for the foolish Who run from their fate. They grieve for the whisper Upon the lovers lips. They grieve for the chill Settling in their fingertips. They lament for the journey and the mystery of it all. They lament for the madness and the dread of nightfall. They moan for the men laying spent with a sign. They moan for the friend who never says, “goodbye.”

Our truth is only time Our doom, our demise But you can always find a moment Through the tears in my eyes.

J.B. (WA)

Page 19

Hello BLACK & PINK FAMILY, My name is DEMIZ3, and this is my first attempt to write to BLACK & PINK. I have enjoyed reading the paper for many years, and have seen the progress. I feel proud knowing I am a part of such a strong, loving, and forgiving family.

I have been incarcerated for a little bit over thirteen years. For the first time in my thirtyeight years sentence (FOR AGGRAVATED ROBBERY) I can see the possibility of getting out. IM SCARED. I have always known what I felt inside, and who I was. Except to the world I was something all together different. I was a womanizing, gun toting, drug abusing, gangster. All that to hide that I am a loving, artistic, realistic, woman. I accepted who I am a long time ago, but did not come out to the world till 2009. I lost some family and some so-called friends. I even lost a tooth in a fight with some one that did not think I should sit at the same table with him in the chow-hall. I have been in population my entire time. This made things a little harder, but I never regretted my decision.I kept my head up no matter what the whispers said, or how the officers harassed and degraded me.

I knew who I was, and for the first time I loved me. I think now, “When I get out, then what?” I see parole in 2023, and its coming fast. I do have my mom, daughter, nephew, and niece as my family support. I am grateful for each and every one of them. What worries me are the ones that use to know me, and what will come with that. I start my hormones soon and I know I will change in ways that I can’t go back, but that was never an option any ways. So I will stay strong and reach out to my community I have only read about. This is my way of saying HELLO;), I want to come home.

ALWAYS..

DEMIZ3

Page 20

Dear Black & Pink, Hi it’s me Crystal. I am doing 20 years at 75% at Logan CC. I am into girls! This prison sucks. The CO’s just do us anyway they want to.

I have seen a good friend of mine die. She hung herself. Her name was Shorty Bang. RIP. We are just a number here. If you don’t have a support system at home, you’re screwed because state pay is $10 a month. Things are so

“We are just a number here. If you don’t have a support system at home, you’re screwed because state pay is $10 a month.” much here you can’t even get all your personals with that. They don’t give us no help here. People donate us stuff, we don’t get them, the CO’s do. I struggle everyday. I am one of those people who have no support.

The women here really don’t have nowhere to turn. We have very few CO’s or teachers looking out for us.

Thanks to everyone. Just remember Logan CC needs a lot of prayers.

R.I.P Shorty Bang, We all miss and love you. We’ll see justice soon if not God will judge on Judgement Day. To my B&P Family, I am a a first time writer. I am writing with a heavy heart. Well I come out 2 years ago as at that time as a 32 year old bisexual man.

But over the years I feel like I was still partially in denial because over these 2 years I have been more attracted to men. But a part of me

Black & Pink News

She, Me, He, We Kinky, curly, straight, blond, brunette, or locks your hair is beautiful, no matter what style you rock!

Bulging, squinted, beady blue, hazel, or green your eyes are sensual even when you’re acting mean.

Wide, pudgy, aquiline, hooked, curved, or pointed your nose is unique, worry not what others think.

Full, pouty, thin lipstick, gloss, or plain.

Your lips are tantalizing, your kisses ...insane!

A, B, C, D any size suits me your breasts are succulent, may I partake of thee?

would just rationalize and say well you still like women too because the type of guys you like are feminine.

But there have been times I see good looking men usually Hispanic that I have thoughts about.

I just feel confused because I thought I had (that was the) hardest part but I was wrong. I am stuck in a prison where there are a bunch of

December 2017/January 2018

Petite, athletic, plump a nicely shaped rump To merge our bodies into one, I’d jump when you say jump.

Long and lean, short and thick, bare or clad in fishnet, I love sexy leg tattoos and diamond encrusted anklets.

Pedicured, polished, natural sandals, sneakers, stilettos Every part of you is special, from your head to the tips of your toes!

Gay, trans, or bi, if you’re down with a girl or guy who cares what others think, We’re down with Black & Pink!

G.F. (IL)

closet family who refuse to help me due to they don't want anybody to know. I just wish I had a more support I guess what I am looking for is advice on what I should do. If you have any, please help.

Thank you and I love all of you beautiful people. :-) Tony (AZ)

Volume 9, Issue 1

Dear Black & Pink, This is my first time seeing and reading your magazine since.

I’ve been locked up in 2013. Your articles and letters you have printed in your magazine are very helpful and supportive to me, and it lets me know that I’m not alone in facing the challenges as an Inmate in ADC (Arkansas Department of Corrections).

I just got my hands on your newsletter (July/August 2016), and I feel like I need to tell my story, struggle, and the challenges I face being locked up for the first time on a short sentence. I don’t know if you will print this or not, but I do know it’s hard to get your magazine or others like it here at this unit. They say it “promotes” Homosexuality.

First off, I’m just a recently “out of the closet” gay man. When I was growing up, I knew that I was a little different than the other guys. I played sports and tried to do everything to fit in as one of the guys. I really noticed my attraction to other males when I was 13 or 14 years old. I was terrified and afraid of what my friends and family would’ve said or done so I remained in the closet. I never dated a male or female while I was in school. I was comfortable being with all of my male friends and terrified if any one knew about my attractions and “secret” crushes.

So eventually I got married to a female who was 8 years older than me; just so I can try to fit in with what my family and society expected out of me. My ex verbally abused me and mentally abused me for a while. I tried to make the marriage work because I was again terrified what my family, friends, and even Religion would’ve said or did. I didn’t want to disappoint my

blackandpink.org

family. The only good that came out of my marriage was my only child.

After my divorce, I became “lost” and didn’t know where to turn to for what I truly wanted, or how to get the support. So I ended up catching my charges and being arrested and eventually sentenced for 6 years in ADC (Arkansas Department of Corrections). As of today, I have been locked up for 3 years and 3 months. It has been a struggle at first to come out and finally open myself up and be truthful to who I am and who I truly wanted to be.

I finally got the courage to come out to my family in 2015, and I was terrified. By coming out I discovered that my family still loves me and supports me even tho I told them that I’m gay and I’ve been gay for all my life. I feel so free now and that a burden has been lifted off of my shoulders for the first time in my life. I hope to make parole this year, but I still face the discrimination from other Inmates because I’m gay.

I’ve also earned respect from many for being who I am. Many people need to know that because I’m gay doesn’t mean I want to go.

It don’t mean I want every guy in here. Don’t get me wrong, but I do want to find that one guy that I would like to be with. Some of these guys think because I’m a white young gay man that it’s okay to “secretly” make passes at me, or a take a dime on me as I shower. Well It’s NOT okay! All I can say is stop hating me for who I am and come to terms with themselves and stop remaining in the closet.

On March 16, 2016, a fellow gay man was attacked by a white gang member while he was asleep. I slept next to him and I barely wake up in time to cover my own head as the white gang member attacked me with a lock in a sock as a blunt weapon.

Page 21

I distracted the gang member long enough so my friend could get away, but I took a punishment for my actions. I suffered many cuts, bruises, and a broken right hand.

I went to the hospital that day and received 13 stitches to the back of my head and a splint on my right hand. A couple weeks later I was transferred to my present unit and since that attack I’ve had surgery on my right hand where they put a metal place in to help secure the bone.

“It is very hard to be a single white young gay man in ADC, but I’ll keep doing what I’ve always been doing: keeping my chin up, moving forward.”

As of today, I got physical therapy for my hand, and I still proudly tell people that I’m gay. I’m hoping to make Parole this fall, and I don’t have anyone who I can turn to out there in the LGBTQ community.

I’m not sure who to turn to or where to go to meet other LGBTQ. My family does support me, but they are all straight and don’t know either. I do look for PenPals and others who I can turn to and write to help me to make those connections out in the Free World.

It is very hard to be a single white young gay man in ADC (Arkansas Department of Correction), but I’ll keep doing what I’ve always been doing..... Keeping my chin up and moving forward and supporting others like me in here till I can go home and hopefully be able to keep supporting them from the outside.

Sincerely, William C. (AR)

Page 22

Black & Pink News

December 2017/January 2018

Buscando Contribuciones

Call for Submissions

¡Hola hermosa familia hispano-parlante de Black & Pink!

Seeking erotic short stories, poems, and art by Black & Pink incarcerated and free-world family members for a new zine. To be mailed, art cannot include full nudity. Please send submissions (and shout out to the authors from the first issue mailed in January!) addressed to Black & Pink — HOT PINK. This is a voluntary project, and no money will be offered for submissions, but you might get the chance to share your spicy story with many other readers! The zine will be sent one or two times per year.

Estamos buscando contribuciones en español para nuestras secciones de Cartas a Nuestra Familia y Poesía del Corazón. Por favor envía tu contribución escrita en forma legible y de no más de tres páginas a: Black & Pink — ESPAÑOL Damos la bienvenida a cualquier escrito de tu creación, pero dado el espacio y la variedad, no todas las contribuciones pueden ser aceptadas. Al enviar tu contribución, das permiso a Black & Pink para publicar tus escritos en forma impresa y en internet.

To subscribe to upcoming issues of HOT PINK, write to our address, Black & Pink — HOT PINK.

Black & Pink Mailing Information Write to us at: Black & Pink — [see table below] 614 Columbia Rd. Dorchester, MA 02125 Please note that 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 the Black & Pink News, please let us know where to send it!

Penpal program info: LGBTQ prisoners can list their information and a short non-sexual ad online where free-world people can see it and decide to write. There will be forms in upcoming issues.

Mail info: We are several months behind on our mail. There will be a delay, but please keep writing!

Email us: members@blackandpink.org

If you would like to request:

Address the envelope to:

Newspaper Subscriptions, Penpal Program, Address Change, or Volunteering

Black & Pink — General

Newspaper Submissions — Stories, Articles, Poems, Art

Black & Pink — Newspaper Submissions

Black & Pink Organization or Newspaper Feedback

Black & Pink — Feedback

Black & Pink Religious Zine

Black & Pink — The Spirit Inside

Advocacy Requests (include details about the situation and thoughts about how calls or letters might help)

Black & Pink — Advocacy

Submit to or request Erotica Zine

Black & Pink — HOT PINK

Stop Your Newspaper Subscription

Black & Pink — STOP Subscription

art by Black & Pink family

Happy Holidays!

Black & Pink 614 Columbia Rd. Dorchester, MA 02125 Return Service Requested

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID BOSTON, MA PERMIT NO. 1475