Fight Toxic Prisons 2017 National Convergence in Texas

Social Media Event

This year’s convergence will include speakers, panels, workshops, protests and cultural activities, including an art show and hip-hop performances.

Some proposed topics:
– Mapping Toxic Prisons
– The History and Future of June 11
– Building Multi-Racial Alliances Against Incarceration
– EJ Lessons from the Pipeline struggles
– Next Steps to Free Leonard Peltier
– Reports from the Sept 9 Prison Strikes & the upcoming Aug 19 Mobilization to End Prison Slavery
– Queer and Trans Prison Resistance (J22)
– Prison Abolition under Trump
– Updates on the Letcher County BOP plan
– Long-term Support for Eco/Animal Prisoners
– International Movements against Prison Expansion

The convergence will occur in both Denton and the neighboring city of Fort Worth.

Closest airport is Dallas/Ft. Worth

Venue and schedule TBA

More info: FightToxicPrisons.org

Background

Last June in D.C. we gathered activists and revolutionaries from across the country to explore the intersections of the environmental movement and the struggle to end mass incarceration.

We also highlighted the role of political and social prisoners in bringing this cross-movement analysis to the forefront.

Then we took our voices to the streets of the Capitol, together with former prisoners and banners declaring support for those yet to win their freedom, we blocked the entrance to the Bureau of Prisons and then moved on to the major intersection between the FBI and the Department of Justice.

It was an amazing display of intersectional solidarity… And we’re doing it again this June, in Texas.

Why Texas?

Environmentalists know Texas as the financial headquarters of oil and gas empire that controls the nation’s political system, where fights against pipelines like Keystone XL and Trans-Pecos have captured the attention of the nation.

Prison abolitionists know Texas as home to one of the most brutal and corrupt state prison systems in the country, where extreme heat is coupled with tainted water, and vocal participants from the September prisoner strike like Keith ‘Malik’ Washington sit in long term solitary confinement, subjected to both.

Those who focus attention on support for political prisoners may know Texas as the current residence of prominent voices from the inside, such as Marius Mason, Ana Belen Montes and Aafia Siddiqui, who are locked in Carswell federal prison’s special Administrative Unit. This facility has faced years of scrutiny for its extremely restrictive policies and poor conditions.

Kicking off the Close Carswell Campaign

Prisoners and their loved ones have been documenting abuses in this prison for years with little to no response from the Bureau of Prisons who oversees it.

Technically the site is known as a Federal Medical Center (FMC) and is designed to house female prisoners who have special health-related needs. Over 1,500 prisoners are currently housed there. The facility is surrounded by toxic military Superfund sites from the Air Force base where it is co-located.

This prison also formerly held political activists including Lynne Stewart and Helen Woodson.

The goal of the Close Carswell Campaign is to immediately shut down the overly-restrictive Administrative Unit, which BOP states only contains 24 beds, and call attention to the poor general conditions of the supposed medical facility.

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