Time to send some holiday love over the walls!

Dear Community,

We are so saddened to share of the passing of one of our inside leaders, Mauro (aka Shadow). Mauro was a kind, silly, and generous person who loved his partner Katt and also loved their pet gophers, tarot, and astrology. He died on the evening of the full moon eclipse in Taurus (November 19th). Our wish is for Katt, Mauro’s partner, to feel the love and support of our community. If you feel moved, please send a letter to Katt with messages of solidarity and strength as she continues to grieve this monumental loss. When you write, please mention you are a friend of FoW and indicate if you are sending a one-time letter or if you are open to receiving a reply. You can find Katt's address and some photos of Mauro here.

***HOLIDAY CARDS***

It's that time of year again! The holiday season can be a difficult and isolating time for folks inside. The holiday cards our community sends during our annual holiday card campaigns help to bring moments of joy, connection, and community to our inside LGBTQ+ and HIV+ family.

Join us this weekend - Sunday, December 12; 1-3pm PST - for our SF BAY Area annual holiday card decorating party where we will send some extra love to our inside members. We were planning to meet outdoors, but there's a 90% chance of rain on Sunday. Therefore, we will meet instead at a large warehouse space in Berkeley. RSVP here to get the address and other details. And you can use this fb event to invite your friends! 

Can't join on Sunday? Sign up to send cards from home through Black & Pink National. Check out the PenPal Pairing Site and the Black & Pink National website for more information, and register today to send some holiday love to our incarcerated family! 

Black & Pink National has cards you can print and send in, and so do we! Here are three images you can print at home, color in with markers or colored pencils, add a message, and mail inside: Two Snowpeople, Five Snowpeople, and Unicorn in the Forest. Send pics of your cute cards to us to be featured in future event invites!

***LEADERSHIP CIRCLE***
Interested in being a part of our outside leadership circle? We'd love to have you join us 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! Small stipends are available for those who are formerly incarcerated. 


***COMMUNITY EVENTS, NEWS & RESOURCES***

Our friends at Critical Resistance are also sending postcards to their 5000+ inside members. Find them in person on December 17 at their Freedom Friday & Prisoner Solidarity Mailing event from 4-8pm at 4400 Telegraph in North Oakland (more info on ig). After the holidays, stay involved by attending a mail night. 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.
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.

***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/


***SUPPORT OUR CHAPTER***

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. Contact us for details if you are local to Oakland or buy them in our online store!