Thursday, August 27, 2020 | 6pm-8pm
Virtual Zoom Event
Join us for the second installation of our Social Justice Summer series, raising awareness, support, and funds for social justice causes in the Bay Area. This evening we will hear from advocates who work with LGBQAI incarcerated populations: TGIJP, Flying Over Walls, and ABO Comix. Join us for an evening of zine art, card-writing, and learning!
Letterwriting is one incredible way we have to overcome the isolation intended by the Prison Industrial Complex, and we want our community on the inside to know we are thinking of them. If you can sign up to send a card or two from home, please fill out this form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfRr_XIVFOrYOVAgF5C-13EqDDga52ojYzQIpFTnl0vYumanQ/viewform). We will send you the address(es) - and some tips if it’s your first time. You will need to provide your own stamps and supplies, but we can coordinate to get you some, if needed.
Our Social Justice Summer special guests include Alex Binsfeld, Toran Ailisheva, and Casper Cendre:
Alex Binsfeld (they/them) is a white, nonbinary, queer person who was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. They are the Legal Director at the Trangender, Gender-Variant, & Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP): a group of transgender, gender variant and intersex (TGI) people—inside and outside of prisons, jails and detention centers—-creating a united family in the struggle for survival and freedom. In 2019, Alex launched the Incarcerated TGI Representation Network, which connects incarcerated TGI people to pro bono representation by attorneys trained by TGIJP in TGI cultural competency and representing people incarcerated in California prisons and jails.
Toran Ailisheva (they/she) lives in Huichin/Ohlone land, and is a co-founder and on the Leadership Team of Flying Over Walls/SF Bay Area Black & Pink. They are a queer-identified artist, writer, and expressive arts therapist, currently working as a union organizer in healthcare and mental health. Over the years, Toran has been involved in a variety of campaigns and movements in support of racial justice, Indigenous sovereignty, radical mental health, prison abolition, and anti-zionism, and is also a core member of the White Noise Collective.
Casper Cendre is the co-founder and director of ABO Comix, a prisoner advocacy group and publishing collective dedicated to amplifying the voices of incarcerated LGBTQ+ people through artistic expression. Through ABO Comix, Cendre has published annual comic anthologies featuring stories from currently incarcerated queer and trans artists. He supervises the publication of zines, books and graphic novels related to the effects of mass incarceration and works closely with individual prisoners to develop their art and more effectively tell their stories.
More on the organizations here:
TGI Justice Project is a group of transgender, gender variant and intersex people —inside and outside of prisons, jails and detention centers-- creating a united family in the struggle for survival and freedom.
http://www.tgijp.org/
Flying Over Walls / SF Bay Area Black & Pink
We are a Queer/Trans Prisoner Solidarity Project in the SF Bay Area and a chapter of Black & Pink. Our work towards the abolition of the prison industrial complex is rooted in the experiences and wisdom of currently and formerly incarcerated people. We are outraged by the violence of the prison industrial complex against LGBTQ people, and respond through advocacy, education, direct action, and community building. Our letterwriting & penpal program resists the violent isolation of the prison system by connecting queer and trans prisoners to community members outside of prison.
https://flyingoverwalls.wordpress.com/
ABO Comix
ABO is a collective of creators and activists who work to amplify the voices of LGBTQ prisoners through art. By working closely with prison abolitionist and queer advocacy organizations, we aim to keep queer prisoners connected to outside community and help them in the fight toward liberation. The profits we generate go back to incarcerated artists, especially those with little to no resources. Using the DIY ideology of "punk-zine" culture, ABO was formed with the philosophy of mutual support, community and friendship.
http://www.abocomix.com/
