UPCOMING EVENTS
Involved with a local abolitionist event that you’d like us to share? Email decarceratewmassfundraising@gmail.com with the name, date, and time of your event with a short description and contact information.
Free Film Screening: “Daughters”
Join Decarcerate Western MA for a free screening of the documentary film Daughters on July 18th from 4:30-7:30 at the Brick House in Turners Falls.
June Bail Fund Book Club: “Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence, and America’s Prison Nation” (2012) by Beth E. Richie
Join the Bail Fund Book Club on Saturday, June 6, from 11am-1pm, at the Greenfield Public Library to discuss Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence, and America’s Prison Nation (2012) by Beth E. Richie.
Protest Song Open Mic
Come join us for a night of protest music and fund raising for Great Falls Books Through Bars and Decarcerate Western Mass on April 18th!
Signups start at 6pm for 10-minute sets.
Featuring a betrothed emcee and biddyboy on the mic and on guitar!
Light instrumental support for sets may be available, more details to follow. Find updates at https://www.instagram.com/lastditchbar.
Storytelling for Change Workshop
Through the Resiliency Project, we are having a “Storytelling for Change” workshop conducted by Growing a New Heart.
Over the course of four hours, we will engage with key aspects of essential stories, exploring how audience, character, conflict, and calls to action impact our message as well as the meaning-making for the storyteller. Every participant will leave with an essential story.
Attendees should come with an idea of the kind of story (general topic) they want to tell and to whom (general audience), so that we can workshop then together.
Space is limited to 10 participants.
RSVP below! Zoom link provided with RSVP.
April Bail Fund Book Club: “Who Would Believe a Prisoner? Indiana Women’s Carceral Institutions, 1848–1920”
Join the Decarcerate Western Mass Bailout Project in reading and discussing “Who Would Believe a Prisoner? Indiana Women’s Carceral Institutions, 1848–1920” (2023).
Political Education Interest Meeting
Join this virtual meeting on Monday, March 30, from 7-8pm, to learn more about getting involved with our political education work! We’re restarting our Political Education Working Group and would love for you to be part of it.
A link to the Zoom meeting will be sent to the email address that you use to RSVP.
Please reach out to decarwmassfundraising@gmail.com with any questions.
RSVP here ↓
February Bail Fund Book Club: “Unbuild Walls: Why Immigrant Justice Needs Abolition” (2024) by Silky Shah
Join the Decarcerate Western Mass Bailout Project in reading and discussing “Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex, Second Edition.”
Jail & Detention Support Workshop
Hosted by the Decarcerate Western MA Bailout Project and the Western MA Asylum Support Network, this workshop will provide practical ways for community members to support people who are held pretrial in jails or are being detained for reasons related to immigration.
There is a lot we can do to make sure people inside feel supported and to push back against the state's desire to criminalize and disappear people.
Masks are required and will be provided.
RSVP below!
Please use the message box to let us know about any accessibility needs.
Holiday Card Party
Join the Decarcerate Western Mass Bailout Project and the Abolitionist Mail Project to write holiday cards to people incarcerated in MA state prisons, to send them some love!
The winter holidays, with their emphasis on family and togetherness, can be very difficult and painful for people who are locked away from their loved ones.
Let’s send messages of hope to our incarcerated community members and tell them we’re thinking of them this holiday season.
Supplies and snacks provided.
Masks are required—and will be provided—when not actively eating or drinking.
RSVP below!
Please use the message box to let us know about any dietary restrictions or accessibility needs.
General Meeting
We hold a general meeting every other Monday on Zoom. Contact decarwmassfundraising@gmail.com for details. We’d love to have you join us.
General Meeting
We hold a general meeting every other Monday on Zoom. Contact decarwmassfundraising@gmail.com for details. We’d love to have you join us.
Re-Entry Kit Packing + CORI Sealing Training
Join us on Sunday, April 13, at 3:00pm at the Finders Collective in Turners Falls, to help pack re-entry kits and learn about CORI sealing!
We would love your help with packing re-entry kits for the people whom we bail out. Each kit comes with a backpack, snacks, personal hygiene products, writing materials, and more! We would also be very grateful for donations of these supplies. If you’d like to make a donation, please add your information to this spreadsheet.
We’re also pairing packing with a know-your-rights training about CORI background check sealing, facilitated by Community Legal Aid.
Masks are required and provided. 😷 We ask that you please stay home if you're feeling unwell (and we hope you feel better soon!).
RSVP (helpful but not required) here ↓
March Courtwatch
Decarcerate Western Mass runs a monthly courtwatch project to observe the workings of the district courts in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties.
February Courtwatch
Decarcerate Western Mass runs a monthly courtwatch project to observe the workings of the district courts in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties.
January Courtwatch
Decarcerate Western Mass runs a monthly courtwatch project to observe the workings of the district courts in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties.
Anti-Inauguration Party
Join us on Monday, January 20, in Turners Falls for our anti-inauguration party!
December Courtwatch
Decarcerate Western Mass runs a monthly courtwatch project to observe the workings of the district courts in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties.
Participatory Defense Training
A two day training facilitated by Silicon Valley De-Bug on participatory defense, a community organizing model for people facing charges, their families, and communities to impact the outcome of cases and transform the landscape of power in the court system.
Student Organizing Series: Security Culture
This workshop in our 2024-25 Fall student organizing series will be focused on security culture.
Courtwatch
Decarcerate Westenr Mass runs a monthly courtwatch project to observe the workings of the district courts in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties.
Student Organizing Series: Direct Action
This workshop in our 2024-25 Fall student organizing series will be focused on direct action skills and considerations.
November Bail Fund Book Club: “Tip of the Spear: Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt”
Join the Decarcerate Western Mass Bailout Project in reading and discussing “Tip of the Spear: Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt.”
Student Organizing Series: Legal Observer Training
The first event of our 2024-25 student organizing series will be a workshop on developing legal defense strategies for direct actions, focused on the different approaches to legal support and why having a plan ahead of an action is crucial.
Free Film Screening: “Sleep Dealer”
Join us for a free screening of Join us for a free screening of “We’re Alive” and “Angola 3” at Bookends in Florence.
Student Organizing Series: Legal Defense Strategies
The first event of our 2024-25 student organizing series will be a workshop on developing legal defense strategies for direct actions, focused on the different approaches to legal support and why having a plan ahead of an action is crucial.
Free Film Screening: “We’re Alive” and “Angola 3”
Join us for a free screening of Join us for a free screening of “We’re Alive” and “Angola 3” at Bookends in Florence.
July Bail Fund Book Club: “Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex, Second Edition”
Join the Decarcerate Western Mass Bailout Project in reading and discussing “Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex, Second Edition.”
Free Film Screening: “The Prison in 12 Landscapes”
Join us for a free screening of Join us for a free screening of “The Prison in 12 Landscapes” at Unnameable Books in Turners Falls.
Get Involved: New Volunteer Training
Learn more about volunteering for the Decarcerate Western Mass Bailout Project
Free Film Screening: “Criminal Queers” and “A Song of Love”
Join us for a free screening of Join us for a free screening of “Criminal Queers” and “A Song of Love” at the Brick House Community Resource Center in Turners Falls.
May Bail Fund Book Club: “Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World” by Dorothy Roberts
Join the Decarcerate Western Mass Bailout Project in reading and discussing “Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World” by Dorothy Roberts