New York Women’s Prison Forces People to Go Without Showers or Recreation
The conditions at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility are akin to solitary confinement, local experts say — an apparent violation of state law.
https://theintercept.com/2026/01/23/new-york-prison-solitary-halt
@theintercept #theintercept #solitaryconfinement #haltact #Abolition
New York Women’s Prison Forces People to Go Without Showers or Recreation
The conditions at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility are akin to solitary confinement, local experts say — an apparent violation of state law.
https://theintercept.com/2026/01/23/new-york-prison-solitary-halt
@theintercept #theintercept #solitaryconfinement #haltact #Abolition
Today in Labor History January 26. 1682: Benjamin Lay was born in England. Lay emigrated to the Provine of Pennsylvania, in British North America, where he became a radical Quaker activist against slavery, and for the rights of women and animals. He was a prolific writer on abolition and his “All Slave-Keepers that Keep the Innocent in Bondage” was one of the first abolitionist works published in the 13 Colonies. In an act of protest, he once stood outside a Quaker meeting in the middle of winter, barefoot, and without any coat. When passersby expressed concern for his health, he asked why they were not concerned for the health of the slaves, who were forced to work in the snow dressed as he was. He also once kidnapped the child of slaveholders temporarily to demonstrate to them how it felt when one’s relatives were stolen and sold. In another act of protest, this time in front of his Quaker brethren, he quoted the Bible saying that all men should be equal under God, and then plunged a sword into a Bible containing a bladder of blood-red pokeberry juice, which spattered over those nearby. He refused to consume any products made from slave labor. He was a vegetarian. He was roughly four feet tall, with a hunchback. He referred to himself as “Little Benjamin.” During the 2012 Occupy Movement, the Occupy encampment in Jenkintown, PA, where Lay was buried, activists renamed the town square as “Benjamin Lay Plaza.”
#workingclass #LaborHistory #benjaminlay #slavery #abolition #racism #quakers #civildisobedience #directaction #feminism #animalrights #occupy
Today in Labor History January 26. 1682: Benjamin Lay was born in England. Lay emigrated to the Provine of Pennsylvania, in British North America, where he became a radical Quaker activist against slavery, and for the rights of women and animals. He was a prolific writer on abolition and his “All Slave-Keepers that Keep the Innocent in Bondage” was one of the first abolitionist works published in the 13 Colonies. In an act of protest, he once stood outside a Quaker meeting in the middle of winter, barefoot, and without any coat. When passersby expressed concern for his health, he asked why they were not concerned for the health of the slaves, who were forced to work in the snow dressed as he was. He also once kidnapped the child of slaveholders temporarily to demonstrate to them how it felt when one’s relatives were stolen and sold. In another act of protest, this time in front of his Quaker brethren, he quoted the Bible saying that all men should be equal under God, and then plunged a sword into a Bible containing a bladder of blood-red pokeberry juice, which spattered over those nearby. He refused to consume any products made from slave labor. He was a vegetarian. He was roughly four feet tall, with a hunchback. He referred to himself as “Little Benjamin.” During the 2012 Occupy Movement, the Occupy encampment in Jenkintown, PA, where Lay was buried, activists renamed the town square as “Benjamin Lay Plaza.”
#workingclass #LaborHistory #benjaminlay #slavery #abolition #racism #quakers #civildisobedience #directaction #feminism #animalrights #occupy
Just got another letter returned. This is the last one before I switched to the address in Texas where they are scanning the mail.
The State of Alabama is making no attempt to let folks know why they are returning mail.
None of us have heard from Willie since they started scanning all the mail. So we have no idea if he is getting any of it.
There are lots of issues with thinking a 68 year old who has been imprisoned for over 40 years would be able to figure out how to use a tablet.
Even if that isn't a problem, the guards probably don't care if a gang takes over and forces others to pay to use the tablets.
Other violations like that have been documented for years. Prisoners are forced to pay to sleep in their own beds, and if they can't afford that they sleep on the floor in hallways.
Just got another letter returned. This is the last one before I switched to the address in Texas where they are scanning the mail.
The State of Alabama is making no attempt to let folks know why they are returning mail.
None of us have heard from Willie since they started scanning all the mail. So we have no idea if he is getting any of it.
There are lots of issues with thinking a 68 year old who has been imprisoned for over 40 years would be able to figure out how to use a tablet.
Even if that isn't a problem, the guards probably don't care if a gang takes over and forces others to pay to use the tablets.
Other violations like that have been documented for years. Prisoners are forced to pay to sleep in their own beds, and if they can't afford that they sleep on the floor in hallways.
Today in Labor History December 25, 1831: The Great Jamaican Slave Revolt, the largest slave uprising in the British West Indies, began on this date. Samuel Sharpe, a black Baptist deacon, led the revolt of 60,000 enslaved people. The 11-day uprising began as a General Strike, but quickly turned violent. 14 whites and 207 enslaved black people died in the siege. However, another 340 rebels were executed afterward. The rebels had been inspired by the abolitionist movement in London and had intended to call for a peaceful uprising. The rebellion was depicted in Andrea Levy's 2010 novel, “The Long Song,” and in Herbert de Lisser’s The 1929 novel “The White Witch of Rosehall.”
#workingclass #LaborHistory #slavery #abolition #revolt #uprising #jamaica #samuelsharpe #rebellion #books #novels #writer #author #fiction #BlackMastodon @bookstadon
Today in Labor History December 25, 1831: The Great Jamaican Slave Revolt, the largest slave uprising in the British West Indies, began on this date. Samuel Sharpe, a black Baptist deacon, led the revolt of 60,000 enslaved people. The 11-day uprising began as a General Strike, but quickly turned violent. 14 whites and 207 enslaved black people died in the siege. However, another 340 rebels were executed afterward. The rebels had been inspired by the abolitionist movement in London and had intended to call for a peaceful uprising. The rebellion was depicted in Andrea Levy's 2010 novel, “The Long Song,” and in Herbert de Lisser’s The 1929 novel “The White Witch of Rosehall.”
#workingclass #LaborHistory #slavery #abolition #revolt #uprising #jamaica #samuelsharpe #rebellion #books #novels #writer #author #fiction #BlackMastodon @bookstadon
The card I'll be sending to Willie this year.
The card I'll be sending to Willie this year.
North Lake Correctional Center Noise Demo Reportback
"On Saturday, September 6, 2025, about 200 Michiganders gathered outside of the North Lake Correctional Center for a noise demo. Formerly a youth prison, since June 2025, North Lake has become an ICE detention center operated by GEO Group, holding over 600 people captive from various ICE raids across the Midwest."
https://unsalted.noblogs.org/post/2025/09/16/north-lake-correctional-center-noise-demo-reportback/
North Lake Correctional Center Noise Demo Reportback
"On Saturday, September 6, 2025, about 200 Michiganders gathered outside of the North Lake Correctional Center for a noise demo. Formerly a youth prison, since June 2025, North Lake has become an ICE detention center operated by GEO Group, holding over 600 people captive from various ICE raids across the Midwest."
https://unsalted.noblogs.org/post/2025/09/16/north-lake-correctional-center-noise-demo-reportback/
Our September prisoner letter writing night will be held on Sunday 9/7 3-5pm at Pipsqueak Gallery (16th and Spruce) in Seattle.
No experience necessary.
All supplies provided.
Just bring yourself!
Our September prisoner letter writing night will be held on Sunday 9/7 3-5pm at Pipsqueak Gallery (16th and Spruce) in Seattle.
No experience necessary.
All supplies provided.
Just bring yourself!
"In the first half of the year, at least 19 out of 49 dedicated detention facilities exceeded their rated bed capacity and many more holding facilities and local jails exceeded their agreed-upon immigrant detainee capacity.
"'There are so many things we’ve seen before — poor food quality, abuse by guards, not having clean clothes or underwear, not getting hygiene products. But the scale at which it’s happening feels greater, because it’s happening everywhere and people are sleeping on floors.'"
"In the first half of the year, at least 19 out of 49 dedicated detention facilities exceeded their rated bed capacity and many more holding facilities and local jails exceeded their agreed-upon immigrant detainee capacity.
"'There are so many things we’ve seen before — poor food quality, abuse by guards, not having clean clothes or underwear, not getting hygiene products. But the scale at which it’s happening feels greater, because it’s happening everywhere and people are sleeping on floors.'"
"We don’t only fight for the freedom of our compañeras but also for the abolition of prisons, and the search for a system of justice where punishment and punitivism are not the central axle"
https://comunidadplanetariajunax.substack.com/p/an-interview-with-no-estamos-todes
"We don’t only fight for the freedom of our compañeras but also for the abolition of prisons, and the search for a system of justice where punishment and punitivism are not the central axle"
https://comunidadplanetariajunax.substack.com/p/an-interview-with-no-estamos-todes
Midwest Prison Censorship Update 2025: Exposing the IDOC Mail Scanning Scam
"Prison censorship is a front in the fascist american project. For the millions buried by the largest prison system on the planet, we know that access to communication and reading materials remain one of the only ways people behind bars can maintain humanity. Prison is censorship, a system of walls and borders that criminalizes people and ideas: a system we are determined to break by building bridges of solidarity – through sharing books and publishing zines."
Midwest Prison Censorship Update 2025: Exposing the IDOC Mail Scanning Scam
"Prison censorship is a front in the fascist american project. For the millions buried by the largest prison system on the planet, we know that access to communication and reading materials remain one of the only ways people behind bars can maintain humanity. Prison is censorship, a system of walls and borders that criminalizes people and ideas: a system we are determined to break by building bridges of solidarity – through sharing books and publishing zines."
