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Dear friends and supporters of Critical Resistance (CR),
Over the last year, CR has been hard at work advancing our campaigns and projects, creating resources and organizing tools, and building the movement for prison industrial complex (PIC) abolition. Despite formidable challenges posed by intensified repression of grassroots organizing, ecological disaster, an ongoing genocide, and attempted shifts toward heavier policing and imprisonment, we forge on.

The organization has charted a course to meet the moment and respond effectively to the shifting landscape by crafting a 5-year strategic plan, which will see us bolster the skills and organizing capacity of our membership, deepen connections between PIC abolition and other liberatory organizing fronts, and continue to advance abolitionist campaigns and analysis. Several chapters hosted work-planning sessions over the Summer to guide their campaigns and projects over the coming year, with their eyes firmly set on the horizon and the ultimate goal of complete PIC abolition.

As we gear up for what is sure to be an eventful remainder of 2024, we wanted to share exciting updates, new organizing resources we have created, and a standing invitation to plug into our ongoing work. Keep reading to see all of our summer 2024 campaign news, project updates, and new materials!

 

Campaign Updates

 

#CloseCAPrisons: CR Oakland & CR Los Angeles with the CURB coalition

In 2024, CR Oakland and CR Los Angeles have continued to organize with the Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) Coalition to close 10 California prisons by 2025. The campaign is four prison closures down and has compelled a $750 million cut to California’s corrections budget (the first reduction in years), and we are still going strong.

CR members continue to contribute to coalition planning, community outreach, legislative strategy, and media and communications efforts, in addition to building intentional relationships with people inside California prisons and their loved ones.

This year, we have done extensive community outreach to build momentum around the closure of the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC), a dilapidated prison in Norco, CA. CRLA and CURB’s regular outreach efforts at the prison across the past year have resulted in connections with over 100 family members and loved ones of imprisoned folks, and poised the coalition well for a July rally at the prison that displayed the people’s will for prison closure.

The coalition also gained support in the state legislature and senate for a bill (AB2178) that would shrink the prison system’s capacity by setting limits on how many excess beds CDCr is allowed to operate. Although Governor Newsom vetoed this bill in the name of his “California model” to expand imprisonment. We must now fight against CA Prop 36 which would harshen sentencing across the state, we will continue to fight fervently for prison closures in the state.

We invite you to join us if you, a community organization, or a loved one inside California prisons is interested in learning more about the campaign, please get in touch! 

 

Dignity Not Detention: CR New York City and the Abolish ICE New York/New Jersey Coalition!

On the East Coast, Critical Resistance NYC continues its persistent organizing within the Abolish ICE New York/New Jersey Coalition – its sights set on the Dignity Not Detention (DND) Campaign which would effectively end immigrant detention across the state. Combating immigrant detention has become all the more crucial with the ongoing rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy in New York and across the country.

CRNYC members have continued to support overall strategic planning for the coalition, engage in outreach and base-building, advance media and communications work, and support the participatory defense of people caged in immigrant detention. CRNYC helped organize community forums, develop political education workshops, organize legislative mobilizations, and hold weekly phone zaps to contribute to media and outreach work within the campaign. We invite you, your loved ones who’ve been affected by immigrant detention, or New York organizations interested in contributing to Dignity Not Detention to reach out and get more involved!

Following its previous anti-policing wins in Oregon, Critical Resistance Portland (CRPDX) has been rebuilding its membership and community relationships to soon launch an anti-policing campaign. CRPDX reconnected with community members and uplifted the international implications of PIC abolition in April during an open house and community discussion on policing from Portland to Palestine. To delve even deeper into policing and resistance to it, we hosted our Abolition of Policing workshop in August, where community members exchanged insight about the history and current manifestations of policing and the PIC in Portland and beyond. And we will soon reboot our prisoner correspondence nights! The stage is set and the moment is ripe for CRPDX to combat policing in the city and maintain the connections we’ve made across the years, so stay tuned for how to get involved!

 

CR is also supporting campaign development with Atlanta-based movement partners to stop the expansion of policing by shutting down the GILEE program (Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange) through the Demilitarize Atlanta to Palestine Coalition (DA2P). By advancing a strategic multi-tactic campaign, DA2P works to eliminate the GILEE program as a critical step towards eliminating deadly exchange programs and the expansion of the police state in Atlanta while creating locally-based infrastructure for active solidarity with Palestinian and global liberation. If you are in Georgia and want to get involved, learn more here!

 

Project and Other Updates

 

Resources

In June, we published Issue 41 of The Abolitionist newspaper, covering the intersections of PIC abolition and ecological justice including features spanning from Palestine to South Africa to Appalachia and Argentina. CR Los Angeles hosted a launch event to bring together anti-imprisonment, immigrant justice, and ecological justice organizers. Check out the entire issue for free on our website here. Stay tuned for the upcoming “Over The Wall” podcast on this issue, a combined episode covering Issue 42 which prints this December. 

For as low as $10 annually, you can support subscriptions distributed to 5,000+ imprisoned comrades for free. Subscribe yourself or an imprisoned loved one today to receive your copy of Issue 42 on anti-war organizing (printing in December)!

 

Prisoner Correspondence

In the last year, we have invested in strengthening our physical and digital infrastructure to ensure that our correspondence with thousands of imprisoned comrades is smoother and swifter than ever. We have also bolstered our people power – we will soon have mail nights up and running in each of our chapter cities! We are currently in the midst of recruiting new volunteers to answer our remotely-run prisoner phone lines. We will continue utilizing our robust correspondence programs to grow and deepen our political connections and engagement with imprisoned and formerly imprisoned people and their loved ones. Get in touch today to volunteer with our prisoner solidarity phone lines or mail programs!

 

Movement-Building

We are steadfast in our mission to build the movement for PIC abolition. Whether presenting on abolitionist campaigns at the Socialism Conference in August/September, hosting events on prison closure, attending the Rising Majority this past June, providing CR’s core abolitionist workshops to a budding abolitionist campaign in the Bay Area, speaking about the connections between abolition and decolonization, engaging heavily in Palestinian solidarity work, or leading strategy sessions with youth organizers in Chicago, we have continued to nurture relationships with community partners and strengthen the connections between abolition and all liberation movements. 

Thank you for showing up for our events, campaign mobilizations, volunteer opportunities, and workshops – and for supporting us with your time, effort, and funds! Please continue supporting and sharing PIC abolition with those around you. We send our deepest gratitude for your support of our organizing and cannot wait to share our future victories with you, our comrades, without whom this work would not be possible.
Onward!