Send cards for February Birthdays and Black History Month Valentines

​Dear community,

This month, we will be sending Birthday cards to all of our incarcerated LGBTQ+ and HIV+ community members in California who have birthdays in February, and we will also be sending Valentine's cards to all of our incarcerated Black LGBTQ+ and HIV+ community members in recognition of Black History month. We do this to remind our inside family that they are loved and that we are together in this fight for our collective liberation.

If you can sign up to send a card or two from home (either birthday or Valentines), please fill out this form. We will send you the address(es) - and some tips if it’s your first time. RSVP and invite others on our fb event.

You will need to provide your own stamps and supplies, though we have plenty of both and can absolutely coordinate to get you some, if needed - just let us know!

Please send pics of your cute cards to flyingoverwalls[at]gmail[dot]com to be featured in future event invites!

***BECOME A PENPAL****

It is always a great time to become a penpal. If you want to start a penpal relationship, you can learn more and sign-up here anytime: https://blackandpinkpenpals.org/

Or if you want us to match you with a penpal, just reach out to us! Or check out our instagram page where we highlight potential penpals (@FlyingOverWalls).

Once you become a penpal, you can join this fb group to stay connected to other outside penpals for support and resources: https://www.facebook.com/groups/blackandpinkpenpalsupport/


***COMMUNITY EVENTS***

Later today (Fri Feb 4 at 2pm PT), there will be a talk on the new book Abolition. Feminism. Now. with Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R. Meiners, Beth E. Richie, and Mariame Kaba. More info here.

On Monday, Feb 7 at 5pm PT, join Rainbow Beginnings for an information and action meeting to Free Donald - the meeting will end with a zap of phone calls and emails to ICE. Donald is a gay Costa Rican immigrant whose dream is to live safely. He is currently held in a detention camp in Calexico California. ICE is not getting him the medical attention he needs - they are eager to deport him. Sign up here to get Zoom info and learn more.

On Wednesday, Feb 23 at 6:30pm PT, the Drop LWOP coalition and partners will host a premiere virtual screening of the never-before-seen documentary: Life Without Parole: Special Circumstances & The Other Death Penalty. This 13-minute video shares the stories of six individuals formerly and currently sentenced to Life Without Parole and their families, highlighting the cruel and arbitrary nature of California’s extreme sentencing laws and calling for long overdue change. A panel discussion and Q&A will follow, featuring documentary participants and moderated by Nicole Porter of The Sentencing Project. Register Here.


Monthly mail nights:

• Critical Resistance Oakland hosts volunteer nights on Tuesday evenings from 6-9pm.  They offer an orientation to their work each Tuesday at 7pm. If you’re interested in coming to volunteer night and learning more about the chapter or offering a hand, please contact: croakland@criticalresistance.org.
• PLP - has been doing books to prisoners nights - check out https://www.prisonlit.org/volunteer/ for info on volunteering.

Our partner collective, A.B.O. Comix, publishes the work of incarcerated queer and trans people with profits going back to them and their families. They have comic anthologies written and drawn by LGBTQ+ prisoners, including Confined Before COVID-19, as well as zines, artwork and merch. You can support the artists and buy copies for yourself or your penpals here.


***SUPPORT OUR CHAPTER***

We'd love to have you join our local leadership team and be a part of the behind-the-scenes of making Flying Over Walls happen! We meet monthly to plan events and projects and build our inside and outside leadership teams. To get involved, email us.

You can donate here to support our local chapter, and we will continue to prioritize using these funds to support our incarcerated members as well as any support we can offer to our formerly incarcerated community.


We have shirts (sliding scale $15-30) and tote bags (sliding scale $5-20) available by donation!
 
In solidarity,
FoW