Greetings! It’s less than 2 weeks ’till FTP brings the ruckus for prison abolition and environmental justice to the streets of Gainesville, Florida.

Find all the basic info about the locale, registering, donating, food, childcare, etc, here.

The Convergence is coming into focus, with a series of events planned in the lead-up, below:

Below is the #FightToxicPrisons (FTP) 2019 Convergence Schedule, subject to changes.Check the FB event page for additional updates.

————————————————-

FRIDAY, JUNE 14

[All at the Civic Media Center (CMC), 433 South Main St.]

10am Registration opens, snacks available all day. Program packet, maps of the city and housing details available.

1pm Light lunch

2pm – 4:15pm Presentation on Movement Lawyering for Prison Abolition and Environmental Justice” featuring activist lawyers TBA [CLE credit for lawyers]

4:30pm Workshop block

1. Abolition 101 (with TX Abolitionists)

2. Prisoner Support Basics (with Oakland IWOC)

6pm “No Borders Fest” at CMC: Music, poetry and speakers kick off the weekend convergence, featuring La Marea Vuelve, Villainus, Mike Africa Jr, Hugo Sanchez, and others.

———————————————-

SATURDAY, JUNE 15

[All at the Gator Wesley space, 1380 W University Ave.]

NOTE: The weekend schedule is intended to maximize small group interactions and personal connections, as well as expose the whole group to a wide range of concepts and perspectives.

We have diverged from the panel-focused schedule of previous years, which succeeded in relaying much important information and experiences, but did not leave as much time/energy for deeper personal connections. We hope this format will break down some barriers between presenters and participants and lend towards more effective, action-oriented movement building.

All that said, we also encourage participants to also take breaks as needed and spend down time from coordinated activities, to avoid information overload and fatigue.

9am Breakfast

10am- 10:30am Activist Speed Dating (an ice-breaker activity)

10:30am – 11:15am Opening Plenary “Who are we, What are we doing here” Intro to Gainesville, Florida and FTP (featuring: local/regional organizers and members of FTPs national coordinating team)

11:30am – 1pm Break-out sessions and full-group report backs. (At registration, people will be asked to choose their primary break out group of interest. Each will be facilitated/guided by experienced activists and experts on the topics)

1. Ecosystem Approaches to Abolition: examining the ways policing, surveillance and incarceration harms the natural environment

2. Decriminalizing Domestic Violence

1pm – 2pm Lunch (prisoner call-ins)

2pm – 3:30pm Confronting Race: A Breakout Session with the 3 following groups

Confronting Whiteness

Men of Color/ Non-binary

Women of Color/ Non-binary

3:30pm – 3:45pm Break

3:45pm – 5:15pm Break-out sessions and full-group report backs.

1. The Farm to Prison Pipeline? Looking at the USDA’s Prison Building Program and UF/IFAS’ use of prison slavery in agricultural research

2. Prisoner solidarity during disasters

3. Queer Prisoner Experiences (with Black and Pink)

5:15pm – 6pm Roundtable on Building Cross-Movement Solidarity

(Come prepared to represent your org, region or project. Individuals get 2-3 mins, clusters of 3 or more get 5-7 mins for opening go-around.)

6pm – 7:30pm Dinner with call-in from Mumia Abu-Jamal

8 – 10pm FTP Variety Show Open Mike! (song, story, stand-up, roast, poem, magic trick, dance, acrobatics… let’s see what you got! 3 – 7 mins each)

———————————————

SUNDAY, JUNE 16

9am Breakfast

10am – 11:15am Morning plenary

Carbon, Cops and Cages: the Strategic Value of Abolitionist Demands

11:15am – 11:30am BREAK

11:30am – 1pm Breakout sessions and report back to full group

1. Mining in prison towns, prisons in mining towns: lessons in rural EJ/abolitionist organizing

2. Updates from prisoner struggles in Louisiana and Alabama

3. Ending Money Bail: using community bail funds and bailouts to build the abolitionist movement

1pm – 2pm Lunch (invite casual prisoner call-ins)

2pm – 3:45pm Breakout sessions and report back to full group

1. Decolonization and Indigenous Prisoners (with Water Protectors Legal Defense and Leonard Peltier Defense Committee)

2. Beyond Borders: Immigrant-Led Resistance to Criminalization, Detention, and Deportation



3:45pm – 4pm Prison Strike Solidarity Roundtable



3:45pm – 5:15pm Prison Strike Solidarity Roundtable

(Reportbacks from prison strike support in recent years and next steps for growing resistance to prison slavery. Come prepared to share lessons from local efforts around the country and internationally.)

5:30pm – 6:30pm Free time / action prep / relocate to MLK Center, 1028 Northeast 14th Street

6:30pm – 7pm gather at MLK Center, snacks and drinks, capoeira demonstration

7pm – 7:30pm Free Community Dinner at MLK Center

7:30pm – 9pm “Ona Move!” Honoring Father’s Day and Juneteenth, an evening with former political prisoners of the MOVE Organization and their family

(Opening comments from local organizer Jhody Polk of the Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative, and others)

——————————————–

MONDAY, JUNE 17

8am breakfast

10am Father’s Day / Juneteenth #FreeThePeople Rally and Bailout at Alachua County Jail

#GreenJune #OperationEcologicalPartisan #OperationRootedSeedling #FreeTheDads