Dear friends,I am writing this letter on the eve of Mumia Abu Jamal's death row appeal.In 2008 the 3rd Circuit of Appeals granted Mumia a new sentencing hear-ing. Unfortunately the U.S. Supreme Court told the court to reconsider asthey threw out a case that was very similar (Smith v. Spisak). We musthope that Mumia's lawyers win and he is give a new sentencing hearing,hopefully overturning his death sentence. Even if Mumia wins this hearingwe know that this is not the end of our fight.You may be wondering, who is this Mumia Abu Jamal. Mumia was amember of the Black Panther Party, a radio journalist, community organ-izer, and Black power advocate in Philadelphia through the 70s. Mumia isconsidered a political prisoner because he was targeted for his actions asa Black radical organizer. He has been in prison since 1981 and on deathrow since 1983 for allegedly shooting Philadelphia police officer DanielFaulkner. At the time of his arest he was the President of the Associationof Black Journalists and had been reporting regularly on the violence of Philadelphia police oncommunities of color in Philadelphia. It is widely believed that Mumia is innocent. He has thesupport of the European Parliament, Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu, Amnesty International, hun-dreds of thousands of individuals around the world.The hearing on November 9th will only be examining Mumia's penalty, life in prison or execution;neither option is acceptable! The fight for Mumia parallels the fight for all prisoners. An organiz-ing effort of queer and trans people have been advocating for Mumia's freedom since 1999, theynamed themselves Rainbow Flags for Mumia. Black and
Pink
does not prioritize the freedom of political prisoners over those of social prisoners, however we recognize that political prisonersare often the targets of great repression by prison officials and yet often organize within the pris-ons for their own and all other prisoners' liberation. Mumia wrote that all prisoners are politicalprisoners in part because, "every prosecution is a public and symbolic act, a political act by thestate to give the populace an illusion of control, to show that we're taking care of this problem.'"When we fight for Mumia's freedom we must do so without diminishing the need to free all prison-ers. Those of us who organize with Black and
Pink
are struggling to abolish this system of vio-lence and each individual we can get out from behind the walls is a step in the right direction.When I think about the incredible support Mumia has it makes me wonder why each of the read-ers of this newsletter do not have the same support. The advocacy and support for Mumia hasbeen going on since his incarceration in 1981 (he has been incarcerated longer than I have beenalive). Certainly he is a good person and did incredible work before he was incarcerated, but Iknow that many of you are also good people who have done incredible things with your lives.Equally important to our collective pasts is your potential to do loving, justice-centered, radicallynurturing things in the future. The penal system itself is the inherent problem, and my question toy'all is, how do we get more people to join in the freedom of all prisoners? When you imagine amovement shaped by prisoners for the liberation of all incarcerated people, what do you imag-ine? Not only do we need to increase the number of pen pals for all queer and transgender in-carcerated people we need to work for true freedom. I know that I want to be able to list hun-dreds of thousands, millions, hundreds of millions names of people seeking the freedom of allprisoners and with the ideas and creativity of all of us I believe we will get there. I know this be-cause, once there were no prisons, that day will come again!In loving struggle,Jason
INSIDETHIS ISSUE:
Inspired byAnti-BullyingVigil, ReasonsNot toCommitSuicide
2
I Carry You inmy Heart,Update on
Andy’s Story,
Love
3
Positivity fromCheyenne
4
Eddie’s Story,
From a
THUG’S Eyes,
Hiding
5
Mrs. BreännaLynnDestiny'sStory, Tips for FightingDepression
6
Today I Cried,Remember Me, Poem
7
Thoughts, It’s
Not Easy, Me,My PreciousFriend
8
Ortiz vs. Jordan:Accountabilityfor Rape.
9
Newsletter Stuffers,Addresses,ElectionResults
10
BLACK AND PINK
–
NEWSLETTER, C/O COMMUNITY CHURCH OF BOSTON565 BOYLSTON ST, BOSTON, MA 02116
NOVEMBER 2010 ISSUE
Black and
Pink
Newsletter
Inspired by Anti-Bullying Vigil
PAGE 2NOVEMBER 2010 ISSUE
To the LGBT Community:As being in ad-seg on a tier where electronics are not allowed, I was greatly saddened and grievedfor the loss of these young lives
when I received October’s Newsletter. I became angry and hostile. I
wanted to lash out and hate those who hate our community. No! I thought, those victims of hate crimes*
wouldn’t want me to hate. Because hate is what drove them to the tragedy!
What can I do? I can say, I understand the pain they went through. I can understand why theychose that abrupt ending. I cry for them. What happened will only strengthen the rest of us. It becamean eye opener for the American public.
Days ago, I heard someone (a guard) say ―Only cowards kill themselves/‖ I shouted back ―So whydon’t you kill yourself?‖ He got the point. All those victims showed great strength in doing what they did.Suicide is not an easy thing. I’m not saying it’s good. Hell NO. I’s a very, very hard choice to make. I
should know. I should know.
It’s a large loss in life, a painful loss. A loss all of us will never get over, no matter how long.Those victims were no cowards. They’re heroes. They made our love so much stronger!
Several hundred people gathered together October 5th because of the tragedies! To those of you,inside or outside of prison, who are bullied and beaten, remember this!Hundreds of your brothers and sisters came together! We have numbers! We have each other!
We are not alone! Don’t hide. Show your pride. Stand up with your head held high, or we will only set
ourselves backwards.Use this tragedy, let it remind you of what we must do to prevent it again. Use it to push forward.
Don’t give up hope, don’t lose sight of the goals we must accomplish.
Hundreds came together to grow stronger while shedding their tears. Don’t ever forget that!
In strength and love,-Cail-
Reasons Not to Commit Suicide
1. You are a special person, and your Black &
Pink
family cares about
you
dearly! GLBT people haveNOTHING to be ashamed of. You are already a hero to us by being so strong day in and day out,and by sharing with this community. We need you in order to continue building this family! We needyour support in this struggle! Take it one day at a time, and please stay with us.2. Everyday look carefully for beauty
—
you might have to look hard, but it’s there. Even if it doesn’t
seem like it at times, life can truly be beautiful. Find it in a smile, in a kind word, and within yourself!3. The future is unknown, and it could be truly wonderful
—
- you need to be here to see it.
If you feel like it would be useful and you are able, do not be ashamed to talk to a mental health therapist
PAGE 3
I Carry You in my Heart
I want you to read this and remember this letter and think of it all the days ahead. And I want you to have a
special smile in your heart every time you do… Just from knowing that you never, ever have to wonder if you’re in someone’s thoughts, or if there’s anybody out there who truly and lovingly appreciates you be-cause… This letter is always going to be there to remind you that I think of you every single day, I carry you inmy heart everywhere I go, and I will always be enormously… Thankful for you!
(For John Mitchell, my love. From ―your Fruitloop.‖)
--Shelton Bollinger
Update on Andy's Story
Here is a quick update on my story that I have been talking about the last few times I have wrote. Shortly after I sent the update that was published in the July issue of this wonderful newsletter, I received a decision fromthe court in regards to my 1983 complaint. Unfortunately, the justice system let me down. I kind of expected it,so it came as no surprise to me. I did not even appear in court. The judge looked at the case and denied it flatout. The basic reason was that according to the court, the prison is allowed to discriminate against inmates if they so choose. How messed up is that?!! I could have appealed the decision, but I do not feel it is worth it.On the good side of things, I have since been allowed to have a roommate. I think that the head office of the
DOC in my state ―lit a fire‖ under this prison's rear
-
end and told them to ―shape up‖ so to speak. My friend that
I mentioned filed a similar complaint and his was denied as well. I suppose that the justice system will alwaysbe messed up until the day comes when the walls of the justice system are finally torn down and done away
with. As Jason so loves to say... ―Once there were no prisons, that day will come again soon.‖
Peace and Love,Andy
Love
Have you ever felt the autumn breeze on your face and smelled the sweet aroma of fall? Have you ever feltthe sun of a new day shine down on you and let you know everything is going to be okay?Ask someone close to you about love, and what it means to them. Share you own definition of what lovemeans to you. Take yourself down memory lane and reminisce on past love in life.Compare your love for your family to the love in the past. Then ask yourself, who hurt you more, your lastlove, or your family. Then see which one is greater, your love for your family, or your love in the past.Love is a strong emotion that does not like to be messed with. So, it comes down to this: love your family, notsome past love obsession.-Daniel HollandStationary in background by Todd Resanovich
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