THE GRIEF COMMUNE

The prison system is one of the great sources of grief in America. At The Grief Commune, we support prison abolition. In the meantime, as just a little literary zine, we want to do what we can. These are three things we are starting in 2023:

 

(1) Letter writing campaigns

One way to alleviate some of the grief of incarcerated people and their loved ones is to establish relationships with those who are locked up. The goal is to establish relations with incarcerated people, a way of letting them know that not all of us out here have forgotten about them and helping fight the effects of isolation and the prison system’s failed punitive “justice.” These exchanges can have profound effects on the incarcerated person as well as on you. If you are interested in establishing a connection, please contact us and we will be happy to help.

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(2) Book donation campaigns

Many incarcerated people have little to no access to quality books, yet another barbaric method of the prison system to dehumanize and defeat human beings, yet another fact that gives the lie to the notion that the system has any interest in rehabilitation. We will hold book donation drives and send those books to people who need them. Once we get this going, we will have information on where/how you can donate books.

 

(3) Abolition newsletter

We will have an e-newsletter which will have articles, references, and resources about prison reform and abolition movements as well pieces that explore prison-related grief. Our goal is for this to eventually include the writings of incarcerated people as well. Once we get this going, you can get the newsletter emailed to you. You can also contact us if you want to contribute to the newsletter.