Critical Resistance is excited to announce that we have hired a one-year Prisoner Correspondence Fellow to support our chapter-based Prison Mail Programs, deepen opportunities for participation and leadership of imprisoned and formerly imprisoned people in CR’s campaigns and projects, expand CR’s regional resource directories for imprisoned people in jails, detention centers, and prisons in different states and regions, as well as to help improve and streamline organizational bulk mailings to share resources and build collective power with folks inside.
CR’s Prisoner Correspondence Fellow, Anastasia Franco, joined CR in August as an intern supporting CR Oakland’s prisoner correspondence. With her sharp expertise as a formerly imprisoned person and former inside organizer, we are thrilled for her to extend and deepen her work supporting and building infrastructure for CR’s prisoner solidarity organizing and collaboration.
Welcome to the CR team full-time and congratulations, Anastasia!
From Anastasia:
I am grateful to be joining CR’s wonderful organization as the new National Prisoner Correspondence Fellow! I come to CR with seven years of in-prison activism experience, mainly focused on transgender rights and access, a Bachelor’s in Sociology with a Criminology emphasis, as well as a Paralegal highly experienced in civil rights, civil liberties, and constitutional law. I also work closely with some of our allies serving; as the membership organizer and leadership circle for Flying Over Walls (FOW), on the Cal. P.C. § 1172 strategy committee with Ella Baker Center (EBC), and an organizational lead with Transgender Respect, Agency, & Dignity (“TRAD”) Coalition.
My own experiences under the heel of the PIC, and strong desire to mitigate harms done to all of my people, is what brought me to this work. I am a problem solver and analyst at heart, and look forward to applying my background and skills to help support CR’s mission towards abolishing the PIC. Thank you again for welcoming me, and I am ready for an exciting year!
– Anastasia L. Franco (she/her)
Email: anastasia@criticalresistance.org