Black & Pink News: Volume 13, Issue 1 - March 2022

black and pink news

Volume 13, Issue 1

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For Black History Month I’ve been thinking heavily about the importance, the impact, and the necessity of “Black power.”

the next - decide you have too much…decide you are too much, while never asking themselves, “Am I just not enough?”

I had to ask myself- Is power enough to improve the lived experience of Black people in our communities?

And be clear -

As one of the most oppressed populations in this world - is access to power - access to privileges - the cheat code to an equitable lived experience?

As Black people we’ve tried to access power through titles, through education and most consistently through the eyes of and through the vocal approval of white people and those communities who exist in close proximity to whiteness.

And over and over again the very judging panel we walk in front of, reminiscent of the most cold and scary parole board you could ever think of, will one moment grant you admission to the in crowd and

White spaces don’t own this approach. Many communities of color - non-Black folx who benefit from their proximity to whiteness employ the same tactics.

For most of my life my biggest fear was being poor - being less than in this world and if I could change that, everything would be okay.

Living on the streets and surviving from sex work at 17, booking and writing checks to eat and survive, and in my mind my biggest battle was “I’m poor.”

I didn’t want to be powerless.

From group homes to juvie to prison - I just wanted power over my life. I wanted to experience liberation. I

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wanted to feel like I owned my destiny.

That’s a consistent story I hear from B&P members from all over.

And I can be honest and say that as someone who absolutely has accrued a level of power and access in our society - not at all equitable to my non-Black or white counter parts - queer or otherwise, that power is not enough.

I know I’ve evolved but to me, I’m still the girl who was excited for her first goodwill voucher in 2009.

To me I’m still the girl who in 2015, had my water shut off and I was showering at my gym and borrowing money from friends to pay my portion of my rent while already on a program for rental assistance.

I was using my pantry that Christmas to monetize my culinary degree to make

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In This Issue p5 - Letter from Dominique Morgan p8 to 9 - Black History Month: Because of Them We Can p10 to 11 - Loud and Clear: There is No Punk Without Black Women p12 to 13 - Criminalizing a Pandemic p14 to 15 - More and More Prisons are Banning Mail p16 to 18 - The Story Behind Black History Month p19 to 21 - My Experience with PTSD p23 to 31- Letters and Poems From Our Inside Family p32-35 - Coloring Pages

Cover Image by Camila Rosa, courtesy of Amplifier Inside cover art by Anthony Conover, courtesy of The Center for Cultural Power

Black & Pink News

MARCH 2022

Disclaimer

Statement of Purpose

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 antioppression values and/or based on our own editing guidelines.

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 20,000 people!

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plates and trays so I could flip that and record my Christmas album I was selling at the trunk of the Honda CRV that a good friend had given me for $200.

but it’s a start. The key is don’t stop there.

But people won’t know your story. Some won’t even care when they do and you need to be okay with that. The power in your story can’t be predicated on someone believing it or seeing the value in it.

Have PEACE. Maintain it like it’s a million dollars. Like it’s the rarest diamond.

Your story has POWER because it’s YOUR story.

So no - power isn’t enough

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Have heart - even when it gets hurt or it’s scary HAVE HEART.

Find and KEEP JOY. Your joy is individualized and just for you. Like the perfect pair of jeans. So don’t be jealous of someone else’s because it won’t even fit you.

Always seek CLARITY - In the storm of life it will be your

GPS. And know that your power is innate.

Is it sufficient armor in this world by itself?

No. But as Black folx we need armor, a shield, a sword and our wits.

And in my heart I believe…I have to believe…that will be enough.

Josh MacPhee, courtesy of JustSeeds

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Black & Pink News

MARCH 2022

Black History Month: Because of Them We Can In honor of Black History Month, we want to uplift Black TGNB and Queer leaders in our communities. It is only because of those who came before us that we are able to be where we are today.

Bryanna J. Esq “Black trans leadership is important to me because it is a constant reaffirmation of the passion and ingenuity of Black trans folks who more often than not have to self organize with limited resources. We constantly have to lead with scarce resources and create movements that shift cultures and break hearts open.”

Lawyer. Organizer. Podcast Creator. Fierce Leader.

Bryanna J. seemingly does it all. She is the creator/host of Girl Down Podcast and the former co-host of Box No. 512 Podcast: Grown Black Trans Women Talk. A Baltimore native that currently resides in the Washington, D.C. area, Bryanna uses the podcasting medium to address a range of topics from a Black, fat, queer, trans-feminine perspective. Bryanna is also a licensed labor and employment attorney who represents the legal rights of workers at a plaintiff side law firm based in Washington, D.C.

Assata J. “What marginalized groups need the most from the community is money. I know at first that sounds like an odd answer. However, money is what levels the playing field. When marginalized people don’t have money to provide basic necessities, our primary focus remains survival. Constantly, being in survival mode is exhausting and counter productive; then that creates stagnation. While I am aware that I could have said an apology, or equality, or even peace. However, with money in this capitalist society you are oftentimes provided all of the aforementioned once you have gained financial independence.”

Assata J. (AJ) is a native Washingtonian (DC), who has been serving the community from behind the scenes for years. Their impact reaches beyond just those in the DC area and they plan to continue to do the work so that more LGBTQIA2S+ folks can follow their footsteps.

They have decades of experience in HIV community awareness work, drug treatment services, and LGBTQIA2S+ education and a lifetime of traditional African American spiritual work & studies. AJ also serves their community using their other talents, such as make-up artistry and bartending. Thank you AJ for being a star amongst us.

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Alex “How can someone that doesn’t look like me or live my experience liberate me? They can’t, which is why we need Black trans leadership. It’s easier in my opinion to seek help from someone that can relate. We need more leadership in different aspects of the community. I believe leaders are born with leadership qualities, it’s the environment you are groomed in that determines whether or not you choose to use that ability. My mother was my biggest inspiration, she was all about service to the community and a true leader. It was natural for me to follow in her footsteps.”

Activist. Executive Director. Humanitarian. Fashion Guru.

Alex talks the talk and walks the walk in all that he does. From fatherhood to friendships he is consistently loving and cheering on those around him. He is known by many in the pageant and ballroom scene where he steals the show with his fits and charm.

Yet, Alex is also a champion activist for human and trans rights.

His passion for the community can’t be denied and we are grateful for him & his team at the I Am Human Foundation that provides services to LGBTQIA2S+ individuals all over the country.

“Empowering Lives One Human At A Time” is their mission and with Alex at the helm we believe they will do just that.

Daroneshia “It’s important to have Black trans women in leadership within non-profits because oftentimes we see them led by cishet people, who really don’t understand our experience, the needs of the community or understand where we’re coming from. Previous experience working in other non profit spaces, showed me we needed something for us led by us. As a Black trans woman, who is also the founder and executive director of the organization, I’m able to define programs and go directly to the community that needs us the most. My lived experiences have helped me be able to do the work the most intentionally and effectively!”

Daroneshia was born and raised in Birmingham, AL. She was the first Black trans woman to open up a resource center in Birmingham (TAKE Resource Center), and has spent the past 7 years bringing attention to the trans community in the city. Daroneshia’s life experiences fuel her passion for helping other trans women of color.

TAKE Resource Center has grown to be the only Black and Trans led non-profit organization in Birmingham to provide direct support services.

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MARCH 2022

Black & Pink News

Loud and Clear: There is No Punk Without Black Women

By Vanessa Willoughby, courtesy of Bitch Magazine The origins of rock ’n’ roll are whitewashed. Too often, white men are credited as the creators and innovators, overshadowing Black artists who birthed the genre and shaped its progression.

Black women musicians, in particular, have battled double standards. Since the early days, Black artists were expected to stick to specific genres, while their white peers were praised for taking “risks.” Betty Davis, who emerged in the late ’60s and ’70s, is now regarded as an influential funk-rock visionary, but her talent was misunderstood by the public and mishandled by label heads when she was professionally active. And during the early aughts’ pop-punk explosion, Canadian singer-songwriter Fefe Dobson fought pressure from her label to “rebrand” her image.

In a June 2021 interview with Refinery29, Dobson revealed that executives dubbed her “Brandy Spears,” in reference to their perceived disconnect between her race and the tone of her singing voice. “She’s Black, but she’s got this pop, white, voice. That’s how they [executives] looked at it,” she said. Dobson’s experience is just one example of how the industry discriminates against Black artists attempting to defy stereotypes.

As ’50s rock ’n’ roll paved the way for ’60s rock and ’70s punk, Black women were repeatedly erased from the narrative. According to the popularized version of music history, punk is rooted in straight white male rage. Today, groups including London’s Big Joanie and singers like Willow Smith remind

us that Black women have always been integral to the genre’s sonic evolution. Before Elvis Presley, there was Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Tharpe, who was born in Arkansas in 1915, developed a passion for music at a young age. She grew up performing gospel music with her mother and was first exposed to the guitar at age 4. She eventually moved to New York City, and her single “Strange Things Happening Every Day” was the first gospel single to cross over into the R&B top 10 charts in 1945. Tharpe’s popularity dwindled in the ’60s despite a notable 1964 tour in England, where she performed in multiple venues, including an abandoned railroad station. She died in 1973 and wasn’t inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until 2018. It’s a familiar tale: Black women are given their flowers in hindsight while many white men are worshipped by the masses and later mythologized.

Laina Dawes, the Black Canadian author of 2012’s What Are You Doing Here?: A Black Woman’s Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal, says that we tend to link rock ’n’ roll with whiteness because of deliberate industry marketing. Dawes says that executives used the labeling of “race records” in the ’40s as “a tool to sell to Black communities but also to determine what records would be played in certain radio markets.” By 1949, Billboard charts had dropped the term “race music” for “rhythm and blues.” While researching her book, Dawes interviewed a Black woman who covered the ’70s

rock scene for the Chicago Sun. She said that Black Southerners who were rock and roll fans often rejected the music once they migrated north because of the imperative need to blend in to their new environments and, thus, survive. “Spiritualism also caused Black communities to reject Black artists whose rock ’n’ roll stylings were thought to be ‘Satan’s music’ because of the harsher tonalities and pronounced, electrified guitars,” she says. Women such as Tharpe are viewed as outliers but, as Dawes explains, “Black women have been playing guitar since the 1800s, but that is never mentioned, as people are ‘visual’ in the sense that what they see in the general sphere is what they believe as true.”

Think of the bands associated with punk: the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, and the Clash. The critically acclaimed 1996 tome Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, written by former senior Spin editor Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, seems to uphold the history of punk as intrinsically white, framing both the genre and movement as a culturally insular reaction to the white establishment. In a 2013 interview with New York magazine, McNeil compared the beginnings of rap to the beginnings of punk. “It felt extremely similar,” he said. “I mean, because there was no guitars…. But I thought for the first time, white guys probably influenced Black guys.” McNeil reinforces the idea that punk is separate from Black culture,

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and that the genre was modeled in the image of whiteness.

Unfortunately, some Black folks also have invested in this mindset. “It’s important to note that Black communities have also excluded Black rock, punk, and metal artists for performing what they see as ‘white’ music, as they also believed the lie that rock did not originate from African American musicians,” Dawes says.

Such lies undoubtedly harmed Black women in the scene. One of punk’s underappreciated yet influential heroines, Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex, exemplified the genre’s rejection of consumerism, materialism, and the patriarchy.

Styrene, born Marianne ElliottSaid, hailed from Brixton, London, and growing up she felt alienated by both Black and white communities. “The good thing about punk is that difference was celebrated, but there was probably too much made of her differences,” Celeste Bell, Styrene’s daughter, told Another Magazine. “People were constantly asking her about being a woman, asking if she was a feminist, asking her about race and identity.”

Styrene, with her braces and DayGlo wardrobe, challenged cultural expectations through songs such as 1977’s “Oh Bondage Up Yours!” X-Ray Spex’s 1978 debut, Germfree Adolescents, received critical acclaim but the pressures of fame took a toll on Styrene, who felt uncomfortable with invasive celebrity culture and the push to sexualize her. Before a concert, she reportedly shaved her head in reaction to a violently traumatic experience. Around the same time, she also experienced recurring hallucinations, which led to her being misdiagnosed as

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schizophrenic and hospitalized for a few months. She wasn’t properly diagnosed as bipolar until 1991.

Following X-Ray Spex’s breakup in 1979, Styrene released a postpunk album in 1981, became a Hare Krishna initiate, and then left the sect a few years later due to misogyny. Styrene returned to music in 2008 and released new music up until her death in 2011.

Though her career abruptly ended, she inspired future generations of women in the industry, including FKA twigs, Karen O, and Beth Ditto. And without Styrene, we wouldn’t have the riot grrrl movement. In recent years, there has been a renewed commitment to amplifying Black musicians and their Black fans in the punk scene. The 2003 release of the documentary Afro-Punk paved the way for the now international Afropunk Festival. Afropunk may have evolved into a global phenomenon for Black punks and alt kids, but gender still impacts the scene. In one of her final interviews, Styrene told Flux magazine that she was hesitant to say that gender equality had improved over the past 30 years.

“I think that gender equality is down to the individual performer, I mean there are a lot more girls in bikinis looking sexy in videos,” she said. “I don’t think that’s gender equality myself.” Styrene was right to be skeptical.

“Since Poly first started her band back in the 1970s, things have definitely improved but that doesn’t mean we’re anywhere near to a meritocracy or even a place where it’s guaranteed if you work hard you’ll succeed,” author Stephanie Phillips, who’s also lead singer and guitarist in the Black feminist punk band Big Joanie, says. “There are still plenty of

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gender expectations placed on women, especially women from marginalized backgrounds.” Big Joanie, which formed in 2013, has earned the praise of fans, critics, and industry peers. Phillips adds, “We started in the DIY punk scene, which is very feminist so we haven’t had to deal with the worst that’s out there but it’s clear that, if we were three white men making the same music, we would have broken through years and years ago.”

The history of music has rarely been kind to Black women, who are often omitted from the discourse or treated as footnotes in their own stories. Dawes, whose book is approaching its tenth anniversary, says that her observations about the scene are still relevant. There are now more people of color involved but this hasn’t guaranteed wider inclusivity. Dawes suggests that in the United States, the racial reckoning ignited by the murder of George Floyd has emboldened “a handful of established punk, hardcore and metal artists who have been very open with their far-right conservative views, and their distaste for Black Lives Matter.” “How will these attitudes be reflected in the music industry?” she wonders. Black women may have created the blueprint for rock ’n’ roll, but their influence has been contested by our white-supremacist patriarchy.

Punk’s not dead—it just may not mirror the status quo. Black women are the past and future of punk but their present role is still shaped by the oppressive systems that govern us.

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MARCH 2022

Black & Pink News

Criminalizing A Pandemic

By Cody R. (TX) In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to remember the legal ramifications of the other pandemic, HIV/AIDS. Hopefully, you’ll never find yourself in the position of defending someone simply because they have an illness but there are important things you should know in any case.

Prior to 1994, the state of Texas had a penal code that made it a third degree felony,

punishable by up to 10 years in prison for a person living with HIV/AIDS to intentionally and without consent, transfer bodily fluids to another (Tex. Penal Code Ann. 22.012 (1987)). Although the state legislature amended the statutes to remove this statute in 1994, PLHIV/AIDS are still prosecuted for HIV exposure under general criminal laws including assault, sexual assault or even attempted murder. The assault statues in Texas make

the use of a deadly weapon an aggravating factor which provides a felony of the second degree for aggravated assault and a felony of the first degree for aggravated sexual assault.

To clarify, Texas statutes say a deadly weapon is anything that, in its use or intended use, is capable of causing serious bodily harm, injury or death.

Texas courts have held that the “bodily fluids” of a PLHIVAIDS may constitute a deadly weapon even when the alleged conduct poses no known risk of transmitting HIV, despite other cases within Texas that have stated a deadly weapon must pose more than a “hypothetical” chance of harm or injury.

by Roger Peet, courtesy of JustSeeds

Unlike 15 other states which have ”intentional (HIV) exposure” laws, Texas criminalizes PLHIVAIDS on a far broader scale and because HIV/ AIDS is strongly associated with bad behavior or stigmatized populations, such as men who have sex with men, transgender women and people of color, this criminalization tends to put an unfair bias towards these persons. In some states, HIV laws have even harsher sentences than those that cause death.

HIV is no picnic, but its completely manageable.

Considering it a “deadly weapon” is cruel to PLHIVAIDS who with a pill a day, can live a relatively normal life. These

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and maintain an undetectable viral load pose zero threat of transmission. Despite the hypothetical requirement outlined in Johnson, PLHIVAIDS are still being convicted and incarcerated in Texas prisons.

by Joel C. (NC)

Now, in light of COVID-19, what stops an overzealous prosecutor seeking 10 minutes of fame from charging a person for transmitting COVID-19, even if precautions were taken?

Nothing. Why stop there?

HPV? Herpes? Flu? In each of these illnesses, the bodily fluids meet the definition required of a deadly weapon as they’re capable of causing “serious bodily harm or injury or death.”

Here is where you ask: How do we defend against this? Here is where I shrug my shoulders.

Based on my research, I’ve found no prosecutions for illnesses aside from HIV which makes you question further, why HIV?

laws don’t target conduct likely to result in harm because there is a 1 in 100 chance of transmission, even without prevention methods. Yet still, thousands nationwide have been prosecuted under HIV criminalization. With this in mind, HIV criminal laws and punishments make no sense.

A man in Texas is given a life sentence for attempted murder after spitting on a corrections officer. A college student in Missouri received a 30.5 year sentence for having consensual sex with men he met online. A Michigan man with HIV charged

under the state’s anti-terrorism statute with possession of a biological weapon after he bit a neighbor.

I need you to understand, possibly most importantly, that today’s science states unequivocally that the chance of a PLWHIV/AIDS with an undetectable viral load transmitting the virus to a sexual partner is scientifically equivalent to zero. This stance (adopted by the CDC and other US health agencies) means that PLHIV/AIDS who adhere to their anti-retroviral therapy treatment

Until our courts understand the serious ramifications of allowing the criminalization of diseases, they will continue to ignore the well-recognized principles of criminal justice.

Riley is currently serving a 70-year sentence in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system for HIV-related charges.

He wishes to thank the Center for HIV Law and Policy for valuable information. He may be reached via his TDCJ number (01750077) or at the Michael Unit, 2664 FM 2054, Tennessee Colony, TX 75886

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Black & Pink News

MARCH 2022

More and More Prisons Are Banning Mail For people who are incarcerated, a letter or photograph from home goes a long way. But more jails and prisons are introducing cruel policies that mean people in those facilities never get them.

By Nazish Dholakia - Senior Writer, reprinted courtesy of Vera Institute of Justice After the 4:00 p.m. count every weekday, Monday through Friday, was mail call.

“There’s something about that mail coming through the slot and hearing your name get called that reminds you how valued you are. It was something I could take with me when I moved from facility to facility,” said Marcus Bullock, who was incarcerated for eight years from the age of 15. “It didn’t matter where I went, those photos would end up on the side of my bunk.”

The letters and photos from family and friends that Bullock received while incarcerated helped him not only while he was in prison, but also when he went home. Today, he is the founder and CEO of Flikshop, an app that makes it easier for people to stay connected to incarcerated family members and friends. Users can send personalized postcards, with a photo and a message, to people in jails and prisons across the United States.

Behind bars, costs for phone calls, video calls, and emails add up quickly. Physical mail has generally been the most accessible form of communication for people who

are incarcerated and their loved ones. For people in prison, those messages are a lifeline to the outside world. Maintaining personal connections eases their stress and anxiety and increases their chances of success after release.

But increasingly, departments of corrections are creating rules that obstruct mail correspondence—despite research that clearly demonstrates the impact that letters, photos, and cards can have for those behind bars.

More facilities have implemented bans on mail in recent years, including many in the last few months alone. In January, the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) adopted new restrictions on how the estimated 80,000 people incarcerated in its state prisons can receive mail. Incoming mail— including handwritten letters, cards, and photos, but excluding legal mail—will be digitized by JPay, a for-profit contractor that provides communication services to Florida’s prisons and jails. People in prison will only be able to view the scanned version on their personal tablets or at communal kiosks. They won’t get the originals, but

they can request to have scans printed for them for a fee: $0.10 per page for black-and-white copies, $1 per page for color.

Those charges are exorbitant for people who make pennies per hour and must also pay out of pocket for things like overpriced soap and doctor’s visits.

This means that people in Florida prisons won’t be able to run their fingers over the picture their child drew for them. They won’t be able to hold the handwritten letter sent by their mom. They won’t be able to receive postage stamps from friends and family, making it more difficult for them to write back.

“For us, for my husband personally, physical pictures are what keep him motivated.

They are what keep him going day to day,” Tatiana Sparks, whose husband is incarcerated, told FDC officials during a hearing about the rule. “Having a physical picture or having a physical card cannot compare to a scanned version that is printed from the kiosk.”

New Mexico banned physical mail in prisons in February and has contracted with another prison communications firm,

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Securus, to deliver copies to recipients. In North Carolina, senders must now use an app from the contractor TextBehind to draft letters or create digital cards and drawings. Fees start at $0.49 and increase with every photo or drawing. Alternatively, people can send mail to TextBehind’s Maryland facility, where TextBehind will scan it and deliver a digital copy to the recipient. The original will be shredded unless the sender pays a $2.50 return fee.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons in 2020 piloted—and later paused—Smart Communication’s MailGuard service, which scans incarcerated people’s mail and then delivers printed or digital copies. Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections was among the first to restrict traditional physical mail, in 2018.

People who are incarcerated in Pennsylvania only receive scanned copies of mail—letters that, on occasion, are missing pages and blurry, darkened photos in which faces are indistinguishable silhouettes.

Family members have said that mail is often scanned incorrectly, delayed, or lost; that tablets frequently malfunction and repairs take weeks; and that additional and hidden fees only add to the financial burdens they face. There are privacy concerns too, as these mail digitization systems subject both senders and recipients to heightened surveillance.

Bullock regularly gets emails from people concerned about these policies sweeping through

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their states. He thinks not only about the impact that mail restrictions have on families, but also on potential opportunities to connect with prospective employers who are trying to be intentional about their hiring practices.

“This is ex-ing out all of those opportunities for so many different people,” Bullock said.

Ostensibly, these rule changes are meant to prevent contraband from entering prisons—though there’s little evidence to support this invasive approach, which amounts to collective punishment. In Florida, for example, of the 3.1 million contraband items that entered the prison system from January 2019 to April 2021, only about 1 percent came in through mail.

Texas prisons stopped in-person visits and limited mail, but that didn’t stop drugs from getting in.

Reports confirm that most often, it’s staff—not “drug-soaked papers”—that bring contraband into facilities.

With no evidence that these bans improve security, it’s only the for-profit contractors that stand to benefit from these arrangements. There’s little transparency around just how many facilities have implemented policies that prohibit incarcerated people from receiving their original mail. But Smart Communications alone has sold its MailGuard service to roughly 100 jails and prisons across the country.

What is clear is that jails, prisons, and departments of corrections

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must abandon these restrictions on mail correspondence. For people with limited connections to the outside world, physical mail is cherished. Instead of creating obstacles in the name of “security”—a suspect motive— state agencies need to enable people in prison to preserve and strengthen bonds with loved ones and others on the outside.

Those ties play a massive role in helping people succeed when they go home.

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MARCH 2022

Black & Pink News

Here’s the story behind Black History Month — and why it’s celebrated in February

By Jonathan Franklin, courtesy of NPR Every February, the U.S. honors the contributions and sacrifices of African Americans who have helped shape the nation. Black History Month celebrates the rich cultural heritage, triumphs and adversities that are an indelible part of our country’s history.

This year’s theme, Black Health and Wellness, pays homage to medical scholars and health care providers. The theme is especially timely as we enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately affected minority communities and placed unique burdens on Black health care professionals.

“There is no American history without African American history,” said Sara Clarke Kaplan, executive director of the Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University in Washington, D.C. The Black experience, she said, is embedded in “everything we think of as ‘American history.’ “ First, there was Negro History Week Critics have long argued that Black history should be taught and celebrated year-round, not just during one month each year.

It was Carter G. Woodson, the

“father of Black history,” who first set out in 1926 to designate a time to promote and educate people about Black history and culture, according to W. Marvin Dulaney. He is a historian and the president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).

around racial injustice, inequality and anti-imperialism that were occurring in many parts of the U.S. were pivotal to the change.

Woodson envisioned a weeklong celebration to encourage the coordinated teaching of Black history in public schools. He designated the second week of February as Negro History Week and galvanized fellow historians through the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, which he founded in 1915.

(ASNLH later became ASALH.)

Fifty years after the first celebrations, President Gerald R. Ford officially recognized Black History Month during the country’s 1976 bicentennial.

Ford called upon Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history,” History.com reports.

The idea wasn’t to place limitations but really to focus and broaden the nation’s consciousness.

“Woodson’s goal from the very beginning was to make the celebration of Black history in the field of history a ‘serious area of study,’ “ said Albert Broussard, a professor of AfroAmerican history at Texas A&M University.

The idea eventually grew in acceptance, and by the late 1960s, Negro History Week had evolved into what is now known as Black History Month. Protests

Colleges and universities also began to hold commemorations, with Kent State University being one of the first, according to Kaplan.

Why February was chosen as Black History Month February was chosen primarily because the second week of the month coincides with the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

Lincoln was influential in the emancipation of slaves, and Douglass, a former slave, was a prominent leader in the abolitionist movement, which fought to end slavery.

Lincoln and Douglass were each born in the second week of February, so it was traditionally

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by Rodrigue B. (FL)

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a time when African Americans would hold celebrations in honor of emancipation, Kaplan said.

(Douglass’ exact date of birth wasn’t recorded, but he came to celebrate it on Feb. 14.)

Thus, Woodson created Negro History Week around the two birthdays as a way of “commemorating the black past,” according to ASALH. Forty years after Ford formally recognized Black History Month, it was Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president, who delivered a message of his own from the White House, a place built by slaves.

“Black History Month shouldn’t be treated as though it is somehow separate from our collective American history or

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somehow just boiled down to a compilation of greatest hits from the March on Washington or from some of our sports heroes,” Obama said.

“It’s about the lived, shared experience of all African Americans, high and low, famous and obscure, and how those experiences have shaped and challenged and ultimately strengthened America,” he continued.

(Canada also commemorates Black History Month in February, while the U.K. and Ireland celebrate it in October.)

There’s a new theme every year ASALH designates a new theme for Black History Month each year, in keeping with the

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practice Woodson established for Negro History Week.

This year’s Black Health and Wellness theme is particularly appropriate, Dulaney said, as the U.S. continues to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

“As [Black people], we have terrible health outcomes, and even the coronavirus has been affecting us disproportionately in terms of those of us who are catching it,” Dulaney said.

“There’s never been a time where Black people and others should not celebrate Black history,” Broussard said. “Given the current racial climate, the racial reckoning that began in wake of George Floyd’s murder ... this is an opportunity to learn.”

by Holy Moly UK, courtesy of Amplifier

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blackandpink.org

My Experience with PTSD A member of Black & Pink’s family recounts their experience with PTSD while incarcerated

By Mike P (CA) *Content warning: sexual abuse, torture, police brutality, medical neglect* My PTSD began early in childhood from sexual abuse but I was fortunate as I could keep it generally under control with sporadic therapy. I have never been afraid to seek out a psychologist.

But all that changed the day the police carjacked and kidnapped me and threw me in jail. I had zero criminal history and being trapped in such an alien environment caused my dissociation to manifest full force. For me, dissociation causes me to “freeze;” It can be be difficult for me to think and make decisions.

The world seems unreal, as if everything outside myself seems like a fake world.

Before incarceration, I could easily snap out of it; in prison, I felt paralyzed. Because I had never been in jail before, it took me several months to stop behaving like a (continued page 21)

by Mark B. (CA)

art by Jesus Barraza

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Volume 13, Issue 1

zombie. Once I began to resurface, I made every effort to function in this horrible reality.

Those first few months, my “public pretender” was able to manipulate me, especially since I knew nothing of the gross inequity of the legal system.

I was forced into indigency by the police. I had always been a “boy scout” who didn’t necessarily trust the police, the largest organized gang in the U.S., but thought at times they might be necessary. In jail, I found nearly every one of them to be vicious, brutal bullies with few exceptions. This, of course, made my PTSD worse.

Thankfully, when some inmates could see my near comatose state of mind, they showed me kindness: a book, a little extra food, etc.

So after about three months in jail, once I realized my lawyer was colluding with the prosecutor to set me up, I began going to the law library to study law relating to my case. No one else was fighting for me. The more I study law, the more I hate it because of how it is set up to harm poor citizens but it is necessary, if one wants to protect themselves, to study it.

A saving grace for me was a caring therapist who visited me weekly and who I felt I could trust. Most prison therapists are worthless. In jail and prison one must primarily care for themselves. Protect yourself physically and psychologically.

While in jail, I developed foot sores from the cheap, ill-fitting shoes. I also lost nearly 40

blackandpink.org

pounds from small portions of non-nutritious, unhealthy meals. I’m certain the stress and mistreatment did not help at all. The “Kangaroo trial,” a manipulated farce, was a daily struggle and stress. Having no legal support did not help at all.

When I reached prison, my foot injuries became serious.

Before my illegal incarceration, I was in very good physical and mental health. The deterioration happened because of incarceration. I developed a serious bone infection which needed massive doses of antibiotics. Being transfered from prison to hospital and back again several times triggered my PTSD to where I became zombized again. The EMTs, cops and most medical personnel did not care and even became verbally abusive when I did not respond quickly enough or could not respond at all. The abuse verbally and the sexual abuse (three times by guards, once by inmates) was done to me when it was obvious I was shut down.

I have always been a loving person but being abused was raising hate in me.

Unfortunately the battle to protect one’s self falls primarily in our own struggle to protect ourself. I am fortunate that I have many interests in life to busy me as a I work for exoneration. I read diverse topics voraciously and I write constantly. I write legal motions, penpal letters, fiction and nonfiction stories, study topics, draw cartoons, help others write letters and their legal documents, etc.

Page 19

My bone infection led me to being housed in the prison hospital which blessed me with single housing, a better bed, slightly better food and a building without politicking. It isn’t perfect and many of the problems are still there but any situation which gives small improvements makes it better.

Everyone isn’t the same and how PTSD manifests itself for you will most likely be slightly different for each of us. Because of the fact that we are born and are alive, we all deserve love and respect. Love, respect and appreciate yourself. For me, my spiritual life helps keep me balanced. I don’t drink, smoke or do drugs. Being interested in many things and attempting to enjoy life has been my “high.”

I regret I was so naive about the cruelty and criminality of laws, cops, lawyers, courts and prisons. I am less naive now and so I have begun a book about how the justice system ensnares us to make money off of us, how it continues the slave system, how both the guilty and innocent needlessly suffer.

Find your center, hope and strength and work towards your freedom. I hope you can do this to help battle your PTSD and regain a life in your control.

art by Leila Abdelrazaq

March 2022

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Volume 13, Issue 1

Page 21

blackandpink.org

Letters from our Inside Family

*content warning: police brutality* Hello B&P,

My name is Daniel, aka ChelseaNya. This is my first time writing to the family. I’m a trans woman who’s not happy, who’s sad and depressed now in the hole. A Sgt./Lt. said I spit on him while I had a mask on and my hands cuffed behind my back in medical. How in the world could I have pulled down my mask to spit on them? They said, “You’re going to get sprayed with O/C if you spit on me again.” They hit me with O/C spray in front of my trans sister. She started to cry after seeing what happened.

The Sgt./Lt. threw me in a cold shower for 10 minutes, holding me under the cold water with my hands still cuffed behind my back. They dragged me across the floor outside of medical into the coldness of outside. It took the Sgt./LT./C.O. to carry me down the stairs, carry me to lock up my lipstick icepick, going all over the place with my pants and women’s panties falling down. It was a mess. Then they said, “You won’t be getting dick for a very long time.” I now have a full, thick, unwanted beard on my face that they deny a barber to shave.

I send my love to all my trans sisters.

Love, ChelseaNya (IN)

A Letter to my Unborn Child Dear Bravery,

I am so sorry that we never got to meet. But I want you to know that, despite you never setting your feet on this physical earth, you did leave a spiritual imprint in this world. It took me over a dozen years to name you — but I will mourn for you infinitely.

I don’t care how you were made.

Your father may have been bad, but that didn’t make you less good. You are more than good due to his problems. You were great, and you still are a great strength. Within me, around me, as well as through me — you motivate me to fight not for myself but for you and all the could-have and should-haves that rack my brain every day.

I want to make it clear, I did not know that pill would harm you.

A friend got it prescribed, and her mom gave it to me. I was young and dumb, trusting it was for STDs. When I found out it was meant to abort you, the horror and pain that followed destroyed me. Because of the loss of you, I have had to regain my sanity and learn to build myself up every day.

I named you Bravery because Avery is a pretty name after the rooted word “aviary.” You fly so far above this humanity and mortal gloom. You are also brave. You had to have great bravery to be with me in that time as we struggled to survive.

You may not have literally survived in the end, but you are far more alive in my heart than any creature I have or will encounter in this lifetime and more.

What hurts most is not knowing if you would have been born a boy or girl. What gender would you have identified with?

What religion would you have believed? What colors, numbers, music or movies would you have enjoyed?

You would have been 13 now, almost 14. The age I was when I carried you. No food or shelter, no support or help. We carried one another through it all. I am only sorry it took me this long to validate you. I will never be able to replace you, nor would I want to — you are my guardian angel who lives on forever.

Your loving mother, Heather (CA)

*content warning: child abuse, police violence* Hi, Black & Pink, I pray this makes it in the Black & Pink Newspaper cause I’m a gay man and an inmate. I have mental health issues due to my past. I was beat and touched on as a kid growing up by someone I was supposed to love and trust. But I wish no harm on that person, I’ve forgave them which is not easy to do and now I have

art by Carrot

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Volume 13, Issue 1

blackandpink.org

Letters from our Inside Family

moved on.

But there are a few reasons why I’m telling you this one. It’s cause I just got called “gay” and beat on by a CO in a place where I’m more likely to be a victim which happens. I want young LGBT people to see this.

I’m 29 years old and been in and out the system from Ohio to California and I’m hear to tell ya baby, you have nothing to prove.

What happens to you and how you’re treated can not make you what you are. It can define you if you let it but understand when you step behind these walls, you’re only hurting yourself if that’s all you got. The COs don’t like us and the inmates don’t either. They only want us for what got. We are more than just sex/HIV/AIDS/gay/trans. We are people, fighters, brothers, sisters and most importantly the struggle of life. So understand now is the time to say I’m not a victim and second, young LGBT be somebody instead of nobody.

- Devonte C (CA)

Black & Pink Family, I want to wish you all a huge HELLO! I am a 56-year-old gay and have been gay my whole life and proud of it! I just want you all to know ... you are NOT alone. I have been in prison 37 years. (I was 19 when I came to prison) Most of my friends and family has moved on. So yes, I

Page 23

used to feel so alone. However, I have found another family. Yes, all of you. I now have a large amazing family. This family has pulled me through some times I never thought I would live through. So if you are feeling alone and depressed, just know you are not alone. Please take a breath and know you are part of a huge amazing family.

We all must show accountability, not just dreams and delusions ... our moves must be positive steps in the direction of complete unity. It’s impossible to fight our strengths if we continue to strive as one.

I love you all. Thank you for being part of my family.

Family Love

With Love, Keith C (CA)

Family LGBTQ+ Chilly

- Irvin P. (CA)

Black & Pink, Family: It’s impossible to fight our strength if we continue to strive as one. In necessary things there must be unity, and in all things, charity ...

As family, we must live together, just look how beautiful and pleasant it is when we all unite ... family means a tribe, a clan, a party ... but mostly it means the whole connection of one individual, man or woman ... with such inner restraint and determination that those beautiful seeds of a leader can’t help but bloom ... And his or her knowledge increases our many strengths - as we stand hand and hand.

Our haters remain wild in our mist, restless ... constantly seeking new ways to oppress us ...

Hey world! I can smile more. I can smile more cause I’ve went to a phase in my life of solitude and reflection.

I’m in the ad seg unit of this plantation Missouri Department of Corrections for a fight. I’ve completed my time but yet I’m still in the hole for a so-called bed space issues. But when prisoners come from the general population housing units 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, they say there are cells open. Ad-seg staff members are lazy and then get upset when you speak out or file complaints which are our right according to their policy as well as the U.S. Constitution. I have no choice but to view these inhumane acts as a designed system that was put in place to keep employment and for those who can get away with inhumane acts. The reason I can smile is because I know that the world is watching and

Page 24

Black & Pink News

MARCH 2022

Letters from our Inside Family

as the world watches, history has shown how power reacts to all threats.

I also have learned that people abuse power and that mistreatment of power is done so much that prison staff has got comfortable. Abuses of authority, creating fraudulent state documents which is prosecutable as a felony and blatant retaliation against prisoners. I know most who read can give me many examples of what I’m writing but we must never give up striving to expose this corrupt, racist, etc. system.

The pattern of practice of brutality, schemes and crimes against humanity has took place since 1619 and the end is near.

We have to step up and take our place in the affairs of humanity.

Black/Pink is a beautiful movement. We must use this new approach and revolutionize this outdated prison system.

This is a new era of time, my Black/Pink family. :) You have provided the people with the incentive to fight by allowing us a “VOICE.” Now it is upon us, the common people, prisoner class, to create programs that will meet our social, political and economic needs. About time y’all get this, I should be out of the hole. Until next time my dear and true friends, and may Black/ Pink continue to grow.

Love/Honor, Ghost (MO)

Dust Who am I? I do not know. I am told that I am made from dust?

So who am I? For I think I am flesh and bone. It’s just when I die, I return to the dust of the earth because that’s who I am, nothing more than dust.

Now me being a trans woman in prison with a life sentence with no hope of ever getting out.

Now I wish I could understand why I told the truth and how it was twisted into a lie. Now I am told I must learn to tell the truth and learn how to live a productive life. So I try to do what this prison system sez to do. I have been locked up since 2009. I go to the parole board in 2035. Why should I go to the parole board? It’s just a place to insult me more and tell me that I am not fit to go free, come back in (3, 5, 10) years. So who ever reads this, am I telling the truth?

Your sister from another mother, Brinda Lee (CA)

Response to Journal Prompts What are your hopes and visions for the future?

My hopes and visions of the future would be the same from any of the family. But I want to add to that. I would like to see a world where “The Family” acts or portrays what a real family is. Instead of putting the next person down because her and/

or she not look like what they identify as. Encourage and lift each other up and truly unite as a family, because we are all that we got. I see a place where parents teach their children not to judge a person because they look like something of what society thinks should look like.

To have God be the head of our household, not the One that is constantly judging but the One who is calling each and every person to come home to Him. I want the Family to stand strong and fight the good fight of faith that God has ordained us to do. And that is to help, love and cherish each other and to encourage one another to keep running this race until we reach the finish line.

What’s one (or your favorite) way you’ve seen yourself grow this year? What’s a way you hope to continue to grow next year?

One way I have seen myself grow is that I am able to be a true friend to someone. I can tell when someone is hurting or that they are mad. I have made myself available to anyone who seeks counsel or just lend them an ear. That I have a good judgment of what to say or not to say, when someone is dealing with loss or deep questions like, “am I a bad person enough that I deserve hell?” I have come to rely in my Higher Power who is Jesus Christ that has set me free from my burden as I go through my transition. And I hope that I continue to grow and be a

Volume 13, Issue 1

blackandpink.org

Letters from our Inside Family

guiding light to others that need a helping hand.

What advice have you received that has helped you the most this year? How about in your lifetime?

I am a part of the Inmate Advisory Committee (IAC), Rep for the trans women of San Quentin. Not only do I represent the trans women at this prison but I represent the population as a whole. I was also told that

I am an example in how I deal with CDCR officers but also with the Administration. I must uphold to the program that they have place here. Especially now that we are all dealing with the same threat, COVID-19. I must be that voice that the people voted for me to be for them and seek peace with all who are either working or living behind these walls. In my lifetime, I was told that I should observe everything around me so that I can be aware of what is going

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on around and to be able to keep people safe from harm. I never forgot those words that my father told me. It has helped me to be fair and compassionate when I needed to be. To solve problems when they arise. I am truly glad that I listened.

- Adriel R (CA)

*content warning: romantic loss, separation* I was incarcerated at New Jersey Training School For Boys. I was in a relationship with a gay partner. We were both age 16 and exploring our sexuality towards each other.

When a homophobic resident witnessed us holding each other’s hand, he told the unit SCO officers that we had a PREA incident. I was removed from the unit and separated from my partner at the time and was transferred to another facility. I lost my partner and I lost my housing unit and bed.

When I was returned to the NJTSB my partner and I had to stay away from each other.

- Jeff S. (NJ)

Dear Black and Pink, February 3 I got an old issue of B+P, my first copy. I just wrote my introduction letter but writing all of you answering questions and doing art for you

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MARCH 2022

Black & Pink News

Letters and Poetry from our Inside Family

has become my new hobby.

Today I am answering Julianna “Twister” M. (TX) about the Bible and homosexuality. Girl I read your thing, I cried about your own battles (shh don’t tell). I thought about it day and night for a week. Here is my thoughts.

God judges by your spirit. Not by your physical self but by the love within your heart. He knew man was flawed with sin. It doesn’t matter if this sin is lying, adultery, murder, theft or even homosexuality.

Jesus said to a crowd of men who tried prosecuting and adulterer: ”He who is without sin cast the first stone.” Even one of his disciples lied and betrayed him, even people crucified him.

Did he shun or condemn any of these people? No! Instead he shouted to the heavens “Forgive them Father, For they know not what they do!”

We all sin in some way everyday and we will more than likely sin again tomorrow. The Lord Christ Jesus knew this threefold, he died on the cross for those sins.

All he asks is for you to accept him fully within your heart with pure love for him, yourself and others and you will be free.

God judges your spirit, not your physical body. Example - your physical body is just a vase, your spirit is a flower.

When you’re at a store buying flowers to plant, they’re always

in those green plastic temp vases that’s always cracked and dirty and broken. That little green container is our physical bodies. Flawed!

Now the flower is our spirit!

Being transplanted into the earth to grow and become beautiful. So girl, go out there, TRANS-plant.

So Julianna “Twister,” capture your Tweety but do it and always accept God with your heart and I believe you will have no troubles. I hope this is helpful and I hope my response isn’t too late.

Love, Ms. Whitney June D. (IL)

Trapped inside with all this feminine pride, our struggles are true, and difficult to get through, my own flesh blood see my sexuality and say she don’t belong to me, forced to face discrimination when they say I am an abomination, cause I want to escape this fraudulent shell I was born into. Cursed I picked the most difficult path to live as a transgender woman in prison. All those imperfections bring out the beauty of my complexion with enemies and vultures. Hidden in plain sight just waiting for a girl to show her vulnerable side of emotions so they can pounce like a cat on a mouse never minding the cost to

our self esteem and self worth.

These men don’t care so why share the love we have inside and the tenderness we could provide only if these men could toss their pride aside. This is why I love a transgender woman with true care, we share struggles and strive to provide the life we are denied. I’m trapped inside.

- Miss Denise (CA)

The Flesh and Blood of Your King Exiled to this barbarous and chaotic wasteland Displaced from our rightful thrones Taken away from all we have ever known This is the bounty of what we sown Our kingdoms will not fall to us Like ripe summertime peaches All this I know Yet in this mirth my heart sings While my hand seeks your hand In the air comes sounds of a nightingale From my mouth love songs exhale Telling you in detail As I drop to one knee The beauties and virtues before me Chocolatey almond-shaped eyes Generous lips which tell no lies She is not a girl I need to protect

Volume 13, Issue 1

by Bella (NM)

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MARCH 2022

Black & Pink News

Letters and Poetry from our Inside Family

Never will she get you in a wreck For those reasons I just said And more I’m not here for just a woman to bed My head lays low to the majesty I ask to wed In everyway, everywhere, I declare My fealty is sworn to Queen Jazmine Robair Do not fear nor fret I’m not that starry-eyed boy you first met I will summon a fleet of armies, gold and alliances To fight and die for us Take back all that was lost We’ll rise to honor under heavenly shores It is written on the ancient scrolls in Mataxambor You’re the finest queen this world ever seen One glance and you’ll drift off in a dream And in time you will see I am both the beginning and end I am as old as Tutankhamen Young as a lion cub in his den I’ve brought children in this world And raised them up I buried my momma And seen too many lives given up I’ve crossed this wasteland 25 years Still graceful and clean as a dove Only the scars still appear All you see is exactly who I am No mere mortal man

From the clouds you can hear Celestial angels sing That I Am “The flesh and blood of your king” Here to serve your ministerial needs Honor your ancestral creeds Pleasure your sinful ecstasies Nourish your spirit to fulfill its legacies Magniloquent your soul above all I’ll rise for you Live and die for you To restore order to what is ours Because I am “Your sun and stars” - Kenneth A. (CA)

I can hide in a mirror, but I can’t hide behind glass I can change my reflection but I can’t change my mask I can say when things are wrong and try to make them right I can send encouraging words to help throughout the night I can stand alone if need be I prefer to unite, when I know that we’re standing strong enough to help withstand the fight Don’t try to change me just help me better Don’t try to fix me, I’m not broken but I’m tough as leather I have a meaning, a truth, that helps define me

It’s not my sex or my color but a heart that does bleed I know sometimes that I’m wrong I do stand to be corrected So please don’t hide behind that glass or that mirror and say that you’ve been neglected Cause everything we sat and more what we seen are the things that kept us blinded by or have us trapped right in between Sending you love!!!

- Shawn N. (LA)

leave me be i tell the wanderer inside a well of darkness companion to self doubt protective lingerer extirpating deeper shelter jarring my balance axis tilting upon which rests my frame disappointment to others disdainfully with eagle vision i see a crevice home a dwelling infinitesimal of joy - i reside loathing

Volume 13, Issue 1

Why are you my friend?

Leave. I breathe out.

- Rolf R (AR, MO, CO)

Lonely Sparrow Lonely is he who sits on the branch of eternal life and death, not knowing which way to go, his life has nothing more left.

Days come when to spread his wings has even become a task, with his head hung low his time is soon to pass.

A song is playing in his head, singing “You are not Alone” with tears in his painful eyes all he can do it silently mourn Here ye, here ye, is a voice heard from high and above.

Only if he believes in himself, “God” will express his desiring core.

Like “A Rose That Grew From Concrete” his life is twisted with thistles and thorns, with nowhere to go or anyone to turn to he feels all alone.

Anotherday is gone with the memories left to bind his broken heart, encasing his light and making his spirit momentarily dark.

Today is the day that tomorrow will “never” change, if he just have a little faith “God” will erase his unwanted pain.

So to him who seems far and afraid and in the path to be hit by Cupid’s Arrow, I thank “God” for I am no longer a lonely sparrow - Paul F. Jr. (GA)

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blackandpink.org

My tomorrows seem like they are a forever away, I close my eyes to picture your face and pray to God the image will stay.

My tears blend with yours as I feel your heart break within my chest, the winds that carry your I love yous to me is the only way I can tell that I am still blessed.

I await my tomorrow as today time stands still, while I don’t know what to do what to say, what to feel.

- CJ N. (NV)

*content warning: suicide* Dancing With The Devil Depression sets in and dark clouds hover over my soul Madness screaming begging me to lose control I breathe hard and heavy trying to catch a steady breath My mind racing with suicidal thoughts to end this with death I tell myself I have a beautiful niece I want to meet someday Look into her eyes and tell her I’m sorry for being away My heart is broken over that I’m in a state of misery But if I’m dead and gone, all my issues will be history I pray hard and I cry out to God to please help me Let me be strong and help me to finally see That while the devils dancing because he thinks he won this game I’m secretly laughing inside because I feel the same So until God answers that prayer

I’m sending from my HELL I’ll be dancing with the devil inside my cell -Angel O (TX)

Doodle Art Alley ©

Doodle Art Alley ©

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Black & Pink News

MARCH 2022

AUDRE LORDE Who was Audre Lorde?

Audre Lorde was an American writer, feminist, and civil rights activist—she was also an LGBTQ+ mom! She is famous for her strong poems about racism and love.

Try it out! Channel your inner Audre with this acrostic poem!

Find a word or phrase that starts with each letter below to describe the LGBTQ+ community.

coloring pages courtesy of Family Equality

L G B T Q

Volume 13, Issue 1

blackandpink.org

BAYARD RUSTIN Who was Bayard Rustin?

Bayard Rustin was a leader in the movement for civil rights, LGBTQ+ rights, workers’ rights and nonviolence. He even influenced Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and organized the March on Washington!

“We need, in every community, a group of ANGELIC TROUBLEMAKERS.”

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MARCH 2022

Black & Pink News

Call for Submissions 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 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.

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] 6223 Maple St. #4600 Omaha, NE 68104 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!

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:

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Black & Pink — General

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Black & Pink — Feedback

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Black & Pink — The Spirit Inside

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Black & Pink — Advocacy

Submit to or request Erotica Zine

Black & Pink — HOT PINK

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Black & Pink — STOP Subscription

Volume 13, Issue 1

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blackandpink.org

by Michelle C. (GA)

by Kut Throat (GA)