The Imagination Reclamation Resource Guide - Websites
Corresponding with someone in prison can be incredibly enriching and mutually beneficial. Many people in prison have been abandoned by their friends and families. This website provides a bridge “leading into--and out of--America’s prison system.” The site has thousands of prisoner listings and lots of general information about writing to inmates. Sometimes people are plain ol’ looking for love before they get out of jail, but a lot of folks simply want to have friendships outside the prison walls. It is fun to find ways to create the most colorful, jam-packed-with-happiness letter-packages possible, without actually breaking any prison rules. If you don’t have a computer, maybe you could make a trip to your local library because--unless you already know someone in prison--you gotta spend time online to find someone.
Even more extensive listings, seeking personal friendships as well as legal resources. This site has a direct link to prisoners who are not receiving mail from anyone. WriteAPrisoner.com also features news on prison reform, and has forums, polls, and chat rooms.
Another pen pal service for prisoners.
A timer keeps count of people in jail and prison. On my last viewing, that number was 2,141,220. With the tagline “Research on the Crime Control Industry,” PrisonSucks.com offers tools and directions for conducting serious research. There are numerous links and resources, but the main focus is fact-finding. You can also order books and documentaries through PrisonSucks.com.
Peter Wagner, who maintains this kickass site, wrote The Prison Index: Taking the Pulse of the Crime Control Industry. This is a great resource for people who want to educate themselves while they sit on the toilet, and also for researchers, activists, and academics. The first nine copies are $10 each, and the price goes down for bulk orders from there. The Prison Index was published by the Western Prison Project.
The only problem in the whole wide world I have with this site is that it does not cover every state in the country. But its focus is nonetheless brilliant and it offers links and resources for people everywhere, so no one’s complaining. The best thing is its downloadable online magazine, Justice Matters. The magazine features in-depth investigative articles, and the September 2004 issue covered prison abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the United States. This is also where I found the first ten articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which I’ve reprinted on my website.
The site has fact sheets from The Prison Index that you can download. And, as if that weren’t enough, it lists all kinds of resources and ways for people (in the member states) to get involved locally. I have spent hours on this site. Western Prison Project, PO Box 40085, Portland, OR 97240
The official website of O/G Madd Ronald provides a place for gang members to creatively express themselves and brainstorm ways to work out differences without violence. O/G Madd Ronald is a huge ambassador for the gang intervention movement, and he gives talks and workshops to help communities understand how to deal with gang violence. The online newsletter also has a lot of great writing.
This is the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Its site features extensive news archives, current events, downloadable videos, a bookstore, and many other fabulous sources of information. This is a huge resource for anyone opposed to the death penalty. The CCADP provides legal assistance and resources to people serving death sentences. It also provides a pen pal service to people on death row all over the world. Many of these people’s lives will be spared if enough concerned global citizens write letters to their governments. Of course, here in the U.S., death row prisoners have no such luxurious rays of hope. Their best bet is legal exoneration or pardoning. It is very important for them to know that people do not want them to be legally killed. CCADP also puts up websites for folks on death row. You might notice that many people in the world support this site and are fully horrified that the U.S. has so many people living with the shadow of death hanging over their unfree lives. The fact that hundreds of innocent people have been exonerated from death row is enough to give one pause about this barbarian practice. A great organization to support or join.
The Families Against Mandatory Minimums Foundation has organized around dismantling unfair and very often racist sentencing laws. I tend to call them “three-strikes laws” because I am from California, which started this almost nationwide nonsense. The FAMM Foundation has local chapters all over the country, and it can help you to organize one in your community. Its action center has some really good guides on how to get started, and its newsletter has lots of news and information. The FAMM Foundation, 1612 K Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20006, (202) 822-6700
Similar to the FAMM foundation, FACTS is Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes. Proposition 66, which was written to amend this draconian and fuck-ass law, was voted down by California voters in 2004, but it was good to at least see people organizing around this issue enough to get it on the ballot. With the conscious resistance and assistance of more people, all of these laws will be rescinded, and people will serve time for the crime they commit, rather than life in prison for a fucken bong hit of weed. Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes, 3982 South Figueroa Street #207A, Los Angeles, CA 90037
This is Paris’s website. His absolutely mandatory CD, Sonic Jihad, is available here, but the news and commentary are what inspire me to check in with the site a couple of times a month. Guerrilla Funk links to Guerrilla News Network (www.guerrillanews.com), which is also a great general resource, but the two aren’t otherwise affiliated.
This publication has been around a long-ass time, way before there was ever an internet. But it has nonetheless seized upon this newfangled technology with willful abandon, posting current news on legal cases, an article archive, and links to activist groups all over the country. The physical publication itself is really worth subscribing to, and it offers special rates for incarcerated folks. When I lived in Seattle, I used to read Prison Legal News in coffee shops all the time, and I did not appreciate how much it informed my view of the world until after I moved away. Prison Legal News, 2400 NW 80th Street #148, Seattle, WA 98117
Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants. Okay, not the best acronym on earth, but what they do is great. CURE communicates with lawmakers on behalf of prisoners. They can help you to establish a state chapter in your community, and offer many ways for people to get involved with prison reform issues.
The ever-inspiring Prison Moratorium Project has its home here. It raises consciousness through workshops, rap and hiphop shows, and media outreach, and by lobbying local politicians. Sadly, it is only based in New York City, but its representatives travel around and give workshops anywhere. Its general objective is to teach young people how to be active in the prison reform movement, and to send those young people out to teach others. The organization is also really committed to the idea of building schools and colleges, instead of more privately owned prisons to supply slave labor to corporations. Prison Moratorium Project, 388 Atlantic Avenue, Third Floor, Republic of Brooklyn, NY 11217
I recommend spending an entire weekend, if possible, doing nothing but reading the vast news archives on this site. The online magazine features writers involved with gang communities. The site largely focuses on Los Angeles gangs, but it is just incredibly extensive nonetheless. Alex Alonso, the proprietor of this site, has also put together a great collection of documentary videos providing insights that you will be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.
Ms. Damali Ayo is one of Amerikkka’s most brilliant conceptual artists. In addition to producing her ongoing works, she regularly travels around the U.S., panhandling for reparations. Her only somewhat satirical website, rent-a-negro.com, not only provides a legitimate “service,” but is a fascinating study in white normative racism.
This comprehensive site includes definitions of white privilege, recommended books, newspaper articles, and other great resources. The site is published by the Monkeyfist Collective, a group interested in being a source of truth telling. This site is a great place to start.
This family-oriented site has sections specifically for teachers, teens, parents, and kids. The site includes lists of ways you can become a change agent, ranging from “tools for tolerance” to “explor[ing] hidden history.” It also includes a map of the U. S. that you can click on to find a social justice group in your state. Tolerance.org, c/o The Southern Poverty Law Center, 400 Washington Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36104
This might be one of the best sites on the web. It began as a school project, turned into a family site, and is now full of information about black American history, organizational tools, inspiration, motivation, and revolution. I have spent accumulative weeks of my life learning from this site.
The web version of the radio and television program. This program rules because it reports all the things that corporate media won’t, including protests, criticism of political leaders, and news that hasn’t been “whitewashed.” Democracy Now!, PO Box 693, New York, NY 10013
CARW stands for Coalition of Anti-Racist Whites. This is a group of whites from Seattle who get it. They are actively working to dismantle institutional racism through organization and education. This group of whites hold themselves accountable to people-of-color-led organizations.
This is the website for an ad-free magazine that deals with globalization, capitalism, consumerism, and greed. It has tons of information about which companies suck, and about creative ways of dealing with them. The magazine is based in Canada and can be reached at Adbusters Media Foundation, 1243 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6H 1B7, Canada.
Guerrilla News Network is updated daily. It’s a multimedia news source that gets into what’s really going on behind the curtain.
The Independent Media Center is an international collective of independent journalists. The main site is translated into eight languages, and there are over a hundred location-specific sites. This site is especially valuable because it is not centered on the United States or U.S. policy.
This mini-satire of The Matrix gives a great introduction to the meat and agribusiness industry, and at the end offers a whole buncha resources for further education. This is an engaging way to become acquainted with the politics of food.
