Dear friends and supporters of Critical Resistance,
2023 has been a big year! Whether it was celebrating 25 years of Critical Resistance (CR) with a large fundraiser and panel in May, propelling our prison industrial complex (PIC) abolitionist campaign and project work forward, or gathering to strategize with our movement partners, we have done lots of organizing this year. As we enter into Fall 2023, we want to share more campaign and project updates, organizing resources we have created, and an invitation to plug into our ongoing work. Check out all of our summer 2023 campaign news, project updates, and new materials on our website here.
Please keep engaging with our campaigns and projects, using and sharing our materials, attending our events, and throwing down for PIC abolitionist organizing in your area. Thank you for moving toward abolitionist horizons with us. Every contribution of your time, money, and work to build people power for abolition keeps our campaigns and projects going strongly.
In solidarity,
-Shirley Leslie & Nick DeRenzi
(CR Development staff)
P.S. As always, please share this email with fellow staff, networks, and community. We appreciate you growing our movement and keeping people curious and excited about CR!
CR Oakland and Los Angeles members continue to build momentum in the statewide campaign to close at least 10 prisons in CA through CURB-- taking on leadership in grassroots outreach to workers, creating media & press coverage, connecting imprisoned people to the fight, crafting legislative strategy, and more!
CRNYC chapter members have continued outreach and media efforts to bolster support for the New York Dignity Not Detention (DND) campaign, as well as inside-outside organizing to advocate for releases not transfers. The chapter has also continued building its prisoner mail program, and has worked on recruitment strategies for bring in more members.
This summer, CR made some major advances developing new infrastructure to better manage correspondence & relationship building with thousands of imprisoned people.
Meanwhile, CR's prisoner mail programs remain strong, as issue 39 of The Abolitionist newspaper on reproductive justice printed in June, reaching major success throughout the summer, getting into the hands of over 6,000 people inside and outside of cages.
From creating new abolitionist workshops on labor & prison closure, to events on developing winning abolitionist campaigns, launching a new podcast, and distributing $11,000 of mutual aid funds to community members in need through The Zachary Project, CR has continued to created and circulate movement building political education, organizing, and survival resources throughout a hard summer of continued crisis.
Top Mural: Dom "TreatUNice" Villeda + Leslie "Dime" Lopez at 4400 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA
Bottom Mural : Leslie “Dime” Lopez at 4400 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA
