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23. Although BTB does fill requests for recreational reading material, we prioritize the requests for political and educational materials. Because the objective is empowerment through self-education, and because funds and the time-frame (because prisoners are transferred so arbitrarily and frequently) are so limited, the collective decided to prioritize requests in this way. Therefore the books we send out most often (and those for which we always have a need) are African-American Studies, Latin American Studies, radical literature, English dictionaries and thesauruses, Spanish-English dictionaries, basic math/grammar/science texts, and ESL workbooks. In addition, several of us have developed relationships of substantial length with individual prisoners and political study groups. As a social change, rather than social service, organization, this aspect of our work is not only the most essential but also the most satisfying. It is through this exchange that we educate each other-learning not only about the criminal injustice system, but also about the prisoners, ourselves, and the world in which we live. The prisoners engage us in conversation, sharing with us that which they have learned through their experience in prison and that which they have learned through their own self-education. Through their experience and studies, many prisoners have developed a sophisticated radical critique. This they share with their non-inmate supporters so that, together, we can strategize for change.
24. The education of the public about prison issues should also always be an integral component of a prisoner education project. Such education has several manifestations. The primary level of education is the awareness one gains through correspondence with a prisoner-whether they are a volunteer who has come to pack books for one night or a core collective member that has been working with a particular prisoner for four years. In the first instance, new volunteers are often being exposed to the reality of the prison system for the first time. Even if they have read extensive theoretical musings about criminal injustice, a prisoner's request for books will almost always have far greater significance to them. Whether they simply ask for a number of books or attempt to engage the reader in sustained friendship, a few sentences can convey more about their reality than 200 pages written by a scholar that has never and will never experience what the prisoner has endured.
25. In this regard, BTB has initiated and sustained several other projects worth mention. Similar to the efforts of New City Press, we have undertaken several publication projects. The most impressive of these endeavors is Con Texts, a project that has generated three exhibitions of prisoners' art and a book, Insiders' Art. The art show Working Group, over the past two years, has collected, chosen, matted and framed the artwork of hundreds of prison artists. The works selected are not simply those of the greatest artistic excellence, but those that represent the emotions generated by prison life. The show has been displayed in the gallery of one of Philadelphia's largest bookstores; at Unlocking America, a conference examining the prison crisis sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania School of Public Interest Law; and Coalition Ingenu, the art gallery of Project H.O.M.E. The book, Insiders' Art, includes the artwork selected for the show, the words of the prisoners who created the art, and information to educate the public about the prison system.
26. (We have, however, moved beyond simply publishing texts and moved toward creating prison libraries. First, BTB established relationships with several prison librarians nation-wide. After assessing the library's needs, the prison librarian and the BTB library-liaison select those subject areas for which BTB can provide books. Later, the effectiveness of the books in meeting the needs of the prisoners is assessed. Second, BTB has established a relationship with the Philadelphia County Prisons. BTB not only provides the libraries with educational materials; the group also oversees the physical creation of the library space, and trains prison volunteers in its maintenance. Finally, BTB created a law library at a prison just outside the Philadelphia area.)
27. To reach a wider audience, BTB also sponsors and participates in educational events. For instance, over the past two years, the group has sponsored speaking engagements by Howard Zinn, radical activist-academic; Gary Webb, journalist and author of Dark Alliance; and Laura Whitehorn, former political prisoner. We participated in several conferences specifically addressing issues surrounding the prison-industrial-complex and conferences addressing the urgent need for radical social change. When requested, members of the group present to church and community groups-often exposing them to an issue about which they had previously known very little. In conjunction with several other organizations, BTB creates and distributes educational pamphlets as well as making available to the public the essays of prisoners themselves. The works created and distributed by BTB include How to Start a Prison Book Program Handbook and a BTB video. Several BTB members have personally assisted other groups in developing a prisoner education program; and, in the near future, we will be conducting a workshop in prisoner support--a primary component of which will be detailing the operation of a prisoner education project.
28. BTB has also undertaken work not dissimilar to the service-learning project mentioned above. For as important as working with those that are currently incarcerated, is working with those that are at-risk. That is, both at-risk youth and those that have been released from prison. BTB is presently developing a program with a soon-to-be-opened community center for high school dropouts. Through this program, BTB will work closely with the youth both at their center and our own as they participate in our mutual educational process. At their center, they will share a number of our operational responsibilities--receiving and sorting book donations. In so doing, they will become acquainted with the types of books useful to a books-to-prisoners program. That is, they will become familiar with the types of books that are useful for empowering prisoners. At our own location, the youth will join us in corresponding with prisoners. This will entail reading the words of prisoners, selecting books appropriate for their needs, and becoming acquainted with the arbitrary nature of prison restrictions.
29. Working with prisoners that are about to be or have been released is essential. Not only will the individual be immersed in a culture in which they were not previously able to sustain themselves; they will do so as a 'criminal'. Necessities such as housing and employment that had always been denied them by this economic system will become nearly impossible to secure. Those of us involved in prisoner support can assist ex-offenders by: helping them develop reading, writing and technical skills; helping them to create appropriate resumes or complete job applications; compiling lists of employment and housing opportunities and actively working with the ex-offender to pursue such.
30. Books through Bars has always attempted to create and maintain solid working relationships with other radical activist groups-both those doing prisoner support work and those doing radical work of a different nature. Members work closely with the Pennsylvania Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Mothers Organized Against Police Terror, the Free Bar-Rae Choice Campaign, Students and Youth to Stop the Execution of Mumia, Refuse and Resist, and the Anarchist Black Cross (a political prisoner support group); as well as with radical organizations that are not working in the arena of prisoner support (or whose scope encompasses prison issues amongst many others) such as Wooden Shoe Books (a radical bookstore), the defenestrator (local anarchist newspaper), the Derailer and A-Space collectives (local free spaces), Philadelphia Direct Action Group, R2KLegal, American Friends Service Committee, Womens' International League of Peace and Freedom, Self Education Foundation, and the Philadelphia Independent Media Center. While there are many effective groups with which BTB, as a whole and through its members, works, these endeavors are wholly community-based.
31. And though we believe that community-based work is the most critical to any radical social change movement, we have been remiss in establishing working relationships of any significance with student organizations. BTB has, at times in the past, been engaged in the service-learning projects of area universities; we have had student groups organizing book drives on their campuses; and we have organized educational events with such groups. The commitment to maintaining such alliances have been, however, far weaker than similar commitments to community-based activist groups. It is imperative, however, that those of us working in the area of prisoner support align with all of the organizations doing radical work. To do such, BTB is initiating several measures. Along community-based lines, we hope to establish with the various local prison-related organizations a 'work-trade' program through which members of BTB and those of, for instance, Pennsylvania Abolitionists would spend a portion of the time that they would normally devote to their own organization working with the other. Through this, we will strengthen our alliances while also raising our awareness of prison issues, exposing our group to alternative strategies and programs, and understanding more fully the work being conducted by our fellow activists. Along university-based lines, BTB is working to renew its relationships with area service-learning programs and student prison activists. Through the service learning programs, students and collective members will arrange special packing cafes at which the students will learn about prison life, the educational opportunities available to prisoners, and factors of race and class in determining who is imprisoned. We hope as well to establish such cafes for local student prison activists.
Conclusion
32. Through "Inside-Out," "Young Scholars Program, and "Books Through Bars," we can begin to see the outlines of how coalitions can respond to the current attack on urban/poor communities. Central to local organizing efforts, it seems, is the work of uniting community, school, and university resources. Only through such alliances can the resources and popular support be generated which can ultimately re-articulate the prison/education dynamic. For implicit in all the examples is the idea that social change occurs when citizens are organized and educated in how to move institutions towards policies favorable to their communities. While we have focused on the local community, we believe such alliances are necessary to successfully lobby within states for alternative budget allocations or more progressive criminal codes. Indeed the next stage for many of the alliances discussed above is to unite their efforts with national organizations and movements. We hope the relationship between the national movement and the local moment will be taken up by other essays in this collection.
33. Finally, we will not pretend that such an insight is particularly original. But then, cutting funding for the working poor or disproportionately imprisoning minorities is not very original either. Maybe at this moment in the new economy, what is called for is an old-fashioned alliance for political change.
Nicole Meyenberg and Steve Parks, Teachers for a Democratic Culture