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Originally posted to It’s Going Down

The last two weeks we’ve focused somewhat more intensely on the things that have been most weighing on our minds, the topics most often brought up over that third cup of coffee. It’s hard out there. We all know this. We’re constantly reminded of it every time we turn on our phones, opening the Facebook or Twitter feeds. We are all struggling to survive this and honestly it is wonder any of us have because, in the recent words of a friend, it is unbearable what we’ve all been through. It can start to feel like we are all just pushing, pulling and tearing at something that we may never see crumble to the ground. Except that we keep going. We keep pushing, pulling, tearing and burning it all down because that is where the possibility for actual joy lies.

Over the last year we’ve been pleased to see how calls for solidarity actions or events have taken off so successfully on an international level. There is a connectedness of struggles that we can see blooming right now across anarchy land, near and far. This is worth cultivating. We saw how the Greek call for Black December ignited, pun intended. Building solidarity, truly tangible solidarity, is another way of sharpening our claws. Let’s keep that going, friends. With that in mind, we want to turn our attention to the inaugural Trans Prisoner Day of Action that happened on January 22nd. There are just too many actions and events to cover from across the globe, so we highly recommend you check out the TransPrisoners website for a complete list of events. Spanning 9 countries, we think its pretty fucking impressive. We decided to just focus on North America for the purposes of this column:

Toronto Anarchist Black Cross held a film and discussion event, co-hosted by Prisoner Correspondence-Toronto, and OPIRG Toronto. Cards were also sent out by attendees to show love and support to trans prisoners.

Vancouver IWW held a documentary screening about trans women who fought street harassment in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco in 1966. Funds were also raised for a local trans organization.

Gainesville took the opportunity to use January 22nd as the day to officially launch its new chapter of Black and Pink, complete with a queer dance party at the Civic Media Center!

Rochester turned out to write a big stack of letters in solidarity with trans prisoners! #TransPrisonerSolidarity pic.twitter.com/D2xx59lhsF — Jan22nd (@4TransPrisoners) January 23, 2016

In Denver, CO, the local Anarchist Black Cross chapter held a special letter writing on the 19th for trans prisoners. Also in Colorado, the folks in Dirty Hands Collective and the Durango Prisoner Letter Writing Night met up at Fort Lewis College in Durango for a letter writing lunch. Bloomington, Evansville, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Louisville, Albuquerque, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Buffalo, New York City, Rochester, Asheville, Carrboro, Durham, Athens, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Houston, Milwaukee, and DC all held letter writings, usually in conjunction with film screenings, discussions, music, or other artistic presentations about trans prisoners and the struggle for trans liberation and prison abolition.

Seattle showed the rad film, Criminal Queers, with a discussion afterward on anti-police, anti-prison, and prisoner solidarity work. Philly’s A-Space hosted a letter-writing and discussion event in conjunction with a know your rights training by Up Against the Law Legal Collective.

Philly also held a pretty rowdy noise demo outside of the Federal Detention Center downtown. What ended up being a ruckus queer dance party was made complete with vandalized police cars, snow balls thrown at the prison walls getting a “snowball makeover”, plenty of cop and CO heckling, and plenty of sassy banners. Kudos to you Philly for really giving a well rounded series of events on the 22nd!

Minneapolis also held a short noise demo with plenty of fireworks and banners reading “Fire to the Prisons” and “Not Gay as in Happy, Queer as in Fuck 12”.

San Francisco saw a benefit show for the TGI Justice Project. This punk and queercore lineup was great, with SBSM, Butanna, and Sorry, Not Sorry.

The corresponding zine to the day of action also had its release party in Austin, TX. Wow y’all. Keep it fucking coming. While this day wasn’t as “glamorous” as something like Black December, we think its a testament to the real leg work people want to put into making connections beyond prison walls. We hope there were stronger affinities built, for a rowdier January 22nd next year!

In other Prisoner related news:

The Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition is calling for a rally against prisoner torture on Feb. 1st in Sacramento. The media release can be found here.