Outside readers, you should reach in by the end of day TODAY!

We're sending out emails to pen-pals today! Please watch your email and be prepared to reach out to your new groupmates ASAP.

(Español abajo) Meet Juan! He is an honest, trustworthy, and loyal father of 3 who is really working on himself. He's committed to being the best version of himself he can, and is learning a lot from listening to his kids. Juan is bilingual in Spanish. Sign up to meet Juan tinyurl.com/AMP-signup

Support the incarcerated authors we're reading in our Inside/Outside reading group! You can find links books by Amos Don and Robert Raff at linktr.ee/AbolitionistMailProject Outside readers: you'll get an email from us soon with links to the PDFs of our selected readings from these books

“Malik Muhammad, who received the harshest sentence tied to the 2020 George Floyd uprisings, has effectively been disappeared by the state… 
This isn’t just neglect, it’s political repression, retaliation, and state violence.” ~ Alissa Azar

In Mass, we're fighting a new women's prison compound that includes therapy rooms+ SUD treatment. The recent DOC strategic plan includes concerning language about mothers in prison bonding with infants. The right thing to do is send mentally ill mothers home, not to paint prison walls pink #mapoli

If you signed up to read and discuss with us, we'll be reaching out soon! Thank you for the phenomenal response. Can't wait to get started writing an incarcerated person? View our member list here: tinyurl.com/AMP-members

We had such a huge response to our reading groups! We are all set on outside participants, but if you're interested in writing incarcerated people in an ongoing basis, become a pen-pal! ✔️ Learn about being a pen-pal: tinyurl.com/AMP-learn 🔍 Browse our members: tinyurl.com/AMP-members

MYTH: Some people need to go to jail to get treatment REALITY: Most people in local jails have substance use disorders, yet only a tiny fraction of jails provide medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder. Jails are designed for punishment, not care.

We've made our member list easier to explore. Browse members by categories like women, elders, LGBTQIA2S+, and BIPOC. You can filter further inside the category to find the right person for you Or reach out to [email protected] for help picking a pen-pal 🔍👥 Tinyurl.com/AMP-members

Q. I don't live in Massachusetts. Can I still participate? A. Yes! Our incarcerated members are in MA, but anyone in the US or Canada can join. If you're from Canada, sign up ASAP and tell us on the form. Prisons make rules to make international communication difficult tinyurl.com/AMP-reading

police lie, and have no duty to protect you

BREAKING: After ProPublica published letters written by children at the Dilley concentration camp, ICE officers raided the dormitories and confiscated the children's letters. I'm suing ICE to get them back. I'll explain it all in 45 minutes on @meidastouch.com here: www.youtube.com/live/H-D8SzR...

Incarcerated members tell us what it feels like to see another person on your unit kill themself. It feels like you might be next. And incarcerated people are clear who is to blame: MA DOC drives people to suicide. It is past time to end segregation and solitary and release SMI prisoners! #mapoli

Massachusetts remains the only blue state with a 287g agreement. Our Department of Corrections regularly collaborates with ICE, turning people who have done their time (and often lost status during it) over to be deported. @massgovernor.bsky.social must end the DOC's 287g agreement! #mapoli

Q. How short is a short reading? A. Incarcerated people in MA can only receive 5 sheets of paper at a time. All our readings will be 10 pages or less. We have had to do a little creating margin-moving and abridgements. More info, FAQs, and sign-up tinyurl.com/AMP-reading

Join us to write birthday cards to incarcerated people with @brooklinebooksmith.bsky.social again! April 10 5:30-8p (drop-in) Free, please RSVP: tinyurl.com/AMP-BB-April10 Hear from an incarcerated organizer around 7p And check out our upcoming inside-outside reading group! tinyurl.com/AMP-reading

The response from inside is already huge! Please help us pair #incarcerated readers with outside ones to discuss 3 SHORT readings. We provide the readings and discussion questions, you provide a little free time and an open ear to a reader who needs an outlet. More: tinyurl.com/AMP-reading #booksky

We're matching readers on both sides of the prison wall for literary conversations! Read 3 short pieces on 1 topic between April-July and hold informal, self-guided discussions. Open up new conversations and new friendships when you open a book! More info/sign up: tinyurl.com/AMP-reading #booksky

from a toothache. #AbolishIce. 1/ “Haitian man living in Boston dies in ICE custody, heightening concerns about detention centers Emmanuel Damas died after health care workers in an ICE center run by a for-profit prison company did not adequately treat a toothache, according to his family.”

Every human being deserves to be remembered on special days. Last night Booksmith patrons and AMP wrote more than 125 birthday cards to incarcerated people in MA. As an incarcerated organizer reminded us, these small connections can be literally lifesaving.

We're in track to send more than 700 holiday cards into Massachusetts prisons this holiday season, but we need you! Please help ensure all our members who want cards get them! Sign up at tinyurl.com/AMP-winter

Mass Bail Fund is coming to Springfield for a Liberation Workshop on Thursday, November 20th! Join us in Western Massachusetts as we build community power, learn how to post bail, and strengthen the network of people committed to keeping our neighbors free in Hampden County. RSVP: bit.ly/MBFNov20

We're having a great time at @boston-a-bookfair.bsky.social 12-6 Saturday 12-5 Sunday -Learn about being a pen-pal -Write a note to an incarcerated person -Browse member profiles -Buy a (vegan) treat -Attend our 3-4pm workshop on being a pen-pal and hear from Lady C, calling in from a MA prison

Thanks for including us as an example of People Helping Together. People on both sides of the wall need each other to build a just and free world. As we're all increasingly criminalized in the US, we need strong bonds with those already behind bars. Pen-pals are building new worlds together #mapoli

We had a great time at @brooklinebooksmith.bsky.social and sent more than 140 cards to incarcerated birthday people with your help. We're so thankful to BB for a generous card and stamp donation that allowed us to reach so many people. A member told us it was his best birthday in 50 years 😭

See you this weekend at Boston Anarchist Book Fair! We're tabling both days and holding a workshop Saturday. Stop by our booth to send notes inside to show incarcerated people in Mass that they are remembered, buy some baked goods so we can buy stamps, read member profiles, and become a pen-pal

See you tonight at @brooklinebooksmith.bsky.social !

Drop in to meet us Friday 10/10 between 6-8pm at @brooklinebooksmith.bsky.social You'll learn why pen-pals are important, get some tips, and then write birthday cards to incarcerated people. Birthdays are often complicated. Help someone know they are remembered. tinyurl.com/AMP-BB1010

Joe is a hard-working musician in 2 out of 3 bands in his prison. He loves psychology and hearing new things. He'd like a friendship where he can share and hear stories about life. Meet Joe at tinyurl.com/AMP-signup

Connection across walls makes a huge difference while people do their bid. Many of our inside members do not have regular contact with anyone on this side of the wall. And most out here don't reach in. Are you ready to change that? Learn more and get started tinyurl.com/AMP-learn

Sean is a hardworking and polite bisexual man who enjoys dogs, shopping, and working out. He loves being a sounding board for others and looks forward to volunteering to give back once he's released. His pen-pal should be open and honest. Visit tinyurl.com/AMP-signup to meet Sean!

This moment of heightened fascism and criminalization is a great time to enter into genuine community with someone living under extreme repression. As more people's identities become illegal, we have a lot to learn from people already surviving incarceration. Tinyurl.com/AMP-learn

Joe is a hard-working musician in 2 out of 3 bands in his prison. He loves psychology and hearing new things. He'd like a friendship where he can share and hear stories about life. Meet Joe at tinyurl.com/AMP-signup

We're thankful to Dean Spade for lifting up prison pen-palling. As more and more people, especially trans and disabled people, migrants, and BIPOC, are criminalized and incarcerated, we need to hold them down. Almost a third of our numbers are trans and many are very isolated Tinyurl.com/AMP-learn

Cai is a subversive Queer Anarchist who is also a card-carrying member of the Save the Manatees Club. He enjoys playing bass, writing haiku, and expanding his mind. He is hopeful about overturning his sentence.

folks, if you’re interested in prisons, I’d love your eyes on this: 2 writers in prison in TX/WA are publishing a book on why we should ban solitary confinement — & their own experiences with it They’ve agreed to answer questions we’d collect on why+how they wrote this That’s where you come in!

We're so excited to read with almost 100 people inside and outside! We have emailed group assignments and started mailing in readings. If you didn't get an email from us, of you're signed up and your inside reader didn't receive the readings, let us know ASAP!

Nelly loves the sports and the beach. She's part of the #FreeHer movement and a current college student. She believes life is what you make of it. She wants to know where your journey is taking you. Sign up to write Nelly at tinyurl.com/AMP-signup

Ed is an open and honest person who enjoys RPGs and music. He is working on recovery and is highly motivated. He wants to meet someone else interested in self-improvement. Though he is serious, he hopes to laugh with you. Sign up to write Ed at tinyurl.com/AMP-signup #PenPals

Frank is a Two-Spirit person seeking true and lasting friendship. Frank is both very alone and very lonely. He enjoys anything outdoors, is a compassionate, responsible, and caring person interested in meeting a friend who will be non-judgmental. Sign up to write Frank at tinyurl.com/AMP-signup

As encampments continue to be criminalized here in Boston and across the US, we hear the same tired lies recycled from 311 complaints to Reddit comment sections.

something interesting unfolding: bar advocates (part of Massachusetts' public defender system) are engaging in a work stoppage over pay rates, resulting in 102 people's criminal cases getting dismissed yesterday 👀👀

David in CT weighs in about temps above 100° during New England summers. In MA, cell temps have measured 115°+ Fans are $30 (1-2 months' wages) in MA prisons. The industrial fans in some common areas circulate hot air, but don't touch humidity. Very few areas available to incarcerated ppl have AC.

We're now taking people for the waitlist! Sign up at tinyurl.com/AMP-reading

We're so lucky to have no-cost calls from prisons and jails in MA, after a years-long battle. Emails are also free now. The result has been a huge re/connection for incarcerated people formerly unable to communicate with their loved ones and advocates. #mapoli

The USPS is a lifeline for millions of incarcerated people, but a letter can cost more than a dollar— a day and a half's work— once you buy paper, an envelope, and pen. Mail keeps people part off the world and keeps them safer. Write an incarcerated person today: tinyurl.com/AMP-learn

You can write cards to incarcerated people in Mass, wherever you are! Sign up for a virtual card party: an intro to why cards are important, tips on what to write, and time to write together. Monday, July 21 5-6pm (EST) tinyurl.com/AMP-virtualparty

Sign ups close on Monday! This reading group is designed to be flexible and start new convos across walls without the time commitment of reading a full book. Get a taste of Abolition, Sci-fi, or Self-improvement over 3 months.

We want to meet YOU this Sunday! Please join us to learn about being a penpal to an incarcerated person, ask questions, then match with an on-going penpal, or send a no-commitment card to an incarcerated person. RSVPs are helpful: Tinyurl.com/AMP-wmass #mapoli