Via 10 Forward:

Bring your rage, your grief, your dollars, and your collaborative spirit to a benefit show for the Defend the Atlanta Forest/Stop Cop City Bail Fund and E-Sims for Gaza. We will have educational materials, an incredible lineup to help you dance through the darkness, and plenty of opportunities to connect with liberation-minded friends

SCOTIA on Soundcloud

NITU @niiitu_ on IG

BIPRODUCT on Soundcloud

BITCRUSHR on Soundcloud

SPACE CAMP on Bandcamp

JOI AVERY @joy_avery on IG

MADEL on Soundcloud

Doors @ 6 / Show @ 7 / 18+ / $10-$20 Donation

Masks Appreciated. Elevator Access available through Mesa Verde’s foyer.

The UMass Prison Education Initiative is organizing a film screening and discussion of "Scheherazade's Diary" with film director Zeina Daccache in partnership with the Department of WGSS and the Decarcerate Western Mass Bailout Project. The film, "Scheherazade’s Diary" (2013), features a theater production that was created and performed by women incarcerated in Baabda Prison in Lebanon.

Screening | 2:30-4pm

Q&A with the director | 4-5pm

Remote option available for registered attendees. Click here to register.

National Lawyers Guild is hosting a virtual training for Legal Observers (LO) on March 9, 2024 at 5pm ET, hosted by Elliot Oberholtzer, a National Lawyers Guild attorney. LO’s particular role in an action is to observe and record the actions of police: their presence serves as deescalation and as protection against police violence. Anyone can be an LO; you do not need to be a lawyer or legal worker in your daily life!

Complete the form and sign up using this link or the button below.

A few notes about the form:

The form serves two purposes: 1) to collect some information from you to screen for eligibility to attend the training, and 2) to ensure that the National Lawyers Guild has the necessary background info on file if/when you begin to operate as a Legal Observer.

The form has 12 questions and should take about 8 minutes to fill out. Once you submit your form, you'll receive an email with a confidentiality agreement attached: please fill out and sign that agreement and return it to elliot.oberholtzer@gmail.com.

Once the screening is complete and we have your confidentiality agreement on file, you will receive the Zoom link to the training via email.

The Bailout Project is thrilled to be participating in Brew & Forge Poetry Night: A Celebration of BIPOC Poetry in the Valley. We hope to see you there!

Via Northampton Arts Council: Please join us for the first event organized by Franny Choi, the new Poet Laureate of Northampton, and Brew & Forge, an organization that builds connections between writers, artists, and social justice movements. Along with a reading by Franny, this event will showcase poets of color from across the Pioneer Valley and introduce attendees to powerful grassroots organizing happening locally. Readers include Jai Dulani, Abigail Chabitnoy, Lyrical Faith, Omkari Williams, and Cameron Awkward-Rich. Celebrate the richness of BIPOC poetry in our region, learn about local initiatives, and support writers and activists working for racial justice!

Admission is free. Donations are welcome and will go toward Brew & Forge’s work supporting poets and community organizers of color in Western Mass and across the Northeast.

Friday, March 1, 2024
Northampton Center for the Arts Flex Space at 33 Hawley
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

RSVP HERE


ABOUT:

Franny Choi is the author of three poetry collections: The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On (Ecco, 2022), a finalist for the Maya Angelou Book Award, Soft Science (Alice James Books, 2019), winner of the Elgin Award for Science Fiction Poetry, and Floating, Brilliant, Gone (Write Bloody Publishing, 2014). Their writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Paris Review, the Nation, and elsewhere. They are Faculty at Bennington College and the founder of Brew & Forge. The current Poet Laureate of Northampton, Franny is at work on a forthcoming essay collection. You can see their work at www.frannychoi.com.

Brew & Forge’s mission is to amplify the collective power of writers to alchemize dreaming and build capacity in movements for liberation, justice, and survival. Taking to heart Gloria Anzaldúa and Cherrie Moraga’s assertion that change requires both “the witch and the warrior, the myth-smasher and the myth-maker,” Brew & Forge is currently planning for the 2024 Witches & Warriors Retreat for BIPOC poets and community organizers. See more at www.brewandforge.com

This past June, a group of 20 women incarcerated at MCI-Framingham testified at a hearing live on Zoom in support of a prison moratorium bill — for the first time in legislative history!

Join Decarcerate Western Mass at the Brick House Community Center in Turners Falls at 6pm for light refreshments and a virtual screening of the testimony, followed by a conversation with recently released women, led by Angie Jefferson of Families for Justice as Healing, and updates on legislative actions.

RSVP below, and please use the message box to let us know about any dietary restrictions or other accessibility needs.

Masks are required to keep everyone safe. 😷🫶

This screening is presented by the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls and Families for Justice as Healing.

Event image via Families for Justice as Healing

RSVP here ↓

The first meeting of the Bail Fund Book Club will take place on Saturday, January 13, from 2-3pm, at Forbes Library in Northampton. We will be discussing Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Y. Davis.

To join us, please RSVP using the form below, and use the message space to let us know about any accessibility needs. We will meet in person with a virtual option. The link to the virtual meeting will be sent to the email you provide with your RSVP.

Masking for the in-person meeting is required to keep everyone safe. 😷🫶

We hope to see you there!

Please consider purchasing the book as part of our monthly donation program: sign up for a monthly donation of $25+, and receive the books directly from our partner, Massive Bookshop.

About the Book Club
We’re very excited to announce the debut of Decarcerate Western Mass’ inaugural book club! Open to all, this will be a chance to engage with abolitionist thought, connect with each other, and collectively build our political education, developing a shared knowledge base for advancing abolitionist struggle together. The group will meet every other month starting in January, with the option for members to be in touch more regularly in an online community, and books will be announced on our social media channels, on our website, and in our newsletter. (Sign up for our monthly newsletter here.)

Our first book will be Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Y. Davis. This selection speaks directly to the connections between the prison and military industrial complexes so glaringly evident at our current historical moment, highlighting the linkages between struggles against state violence and oppression throughout history and around the world. Davis illuminates the legacies of previous liberation struggles, from the Black Freedom Movement to the South African anti-Apartheid movement, and their vital relevance to abolitionist, anti-imperialist, and broader social justice movements today.

With the support of DWMA partner Massive Bookshop, we’re also thrilled to be able to offer a new way to support us through participating in our book club: become a monthly donor at the $25+ level and get each month’s title shipped directly to you.

You can sign up for the monthly membership here or make a one-time purchase here.

Please email decarwmassfundraising@gmail.com if you have any questions or would like more information.

RSVP below!

The winter holidays, with their strong emphasis on family and togetherness, can be very difficult and painful for people who are locked away from their loved ones.

Join us to write cards to people incarcerated in MA state prisons, to send them some love!

You can also write to our legislators to advocate for the prison moratorium bill.

We will provide the supplies and snacks. Masks are required to keep everyone safe. 😷🫶

Rocky Hill Cohousing is located on PVTA Route 44.

RSVP below!

Please use the message box to let us know about any dietary restrictions or other accessibility needs.

We hold a general meeting every other Monday on Zoom. Contact decarceratewmass@gmail.com for details. We’d love to have you join us.

Please help us collect signatures on Election Day (November 7)! You can sign up using this link.

The No Longer 3/5 Coalition is collecting signatures to end felony disenfranchisement in MA, and we need over 75,000 signatures before November 22 to get this issue on the ballot.

We want a big turnout on election day because everyone who goes to the polls is a registered voter!

Fill out the form in our bio if you can volunteer for a shift, and a coalition member will get you looped in and make sure you have forms in time. We will also make sure you know the do's and don'ts of signature gathering.

If you have any questions or would like more information, visit bit.ly/right2voteMA and/or email nolonger3fifths@gmail.com.

Want to help restore voting rights to people in prison serving a felony sentence in MA? Join the No Longer 3/5 Coalition to get this issue on the ballot!

We need to gather over 75,000 signatures from across the state before November 20, and we want a big turnout of signature-gatherers on Election Day, November 7, because everyone who goes to the polls is a registered voter! You can sign up using this link.

To prepare for Election Day, we are holding a training on Thursday, November 2, from 2-3pm. Register below or at this link.

If this time doesn't work for you, you can watch a pre-recorded do's and don'ts of signature collecting training that is available on our linktree.

If you have any questions or would like more information, visit bit.ly/right2voteMA and/or email nolonger3fifths@gmail.com.

Want to help restore voting rights to people in prison serving a felony sentence in MA? Join the No Longer 3/5 Coalition to get this issue on the ballot!

We need to gather over 75,000 signatures from across the state before November 20, and we want a big turnout of signature-gatherers on Election Day, November 7, because everyone who goes to the polls is a registered voter! You can sign up using this link.

To prepare for Election Day, we are holding a training on Thursday, November 2, from 2-3pm. Register below or at this link. If this time doesn't work for you, you can watch a pre-recorded do's and don'ts of signature collecting training that is available on our linktree.

If you have any questions or would like more information, visit bit.ly/right2voteMA and/or email nolonger3fifths@gmail.com.

We hold a general meeting every other Monday on Zoom. Contact decarceratewmass@gmail.com for details. We’d love to have you join us.

This event has been canceled due to inclement weather.

Join the Western Mass Bailout Project in gathering signatures to introduce a ballot question to restore voting rights to people serving a prison sentence for felony convictions. There will be a post-signature-gathering potluck. Bring a dish to share!

RSVP HERE

We hold a general meeting every other Monday on Zoom. Contact decarceratewmass@gmail.com for details. We’d love to have you join us.

Want to help restore voting rights to people in prison serving a felony sentence in MA? Join the No Longer 3/5 Coalition to get this issue on the ballot!

We need to gather over 75,000 signatures from across the state before November 20. Learn the dos and don’ts of signature gathering at our Zoom training on Wednesday, October 4, from 6-7pm. Register below or at this link.

You can also sign up by using this volunteer form, and a member of the campaign will get you looped in.

Want to help restore voting rights to people in prison serving a felony sentence in MA? Join the No Longer 3/5 Coalition to get this issue on the ballot!

We need to gather over 75,000 signatures from across the state before November 20. Learn the dos and don’ts of signature gathering at our Zoom training on Sunday, October 1, from 5-6pm. Register below or at this link.

You can also sign up by using this volunteer form, and a member of the campaign will get you looped in.

We hold a general meeting every other Monday on Zoom. Contact decarceratewmass@gmail.com for details. We’d love to have you join us.

From Block Cop City:

ORGANIZERS DEFENDING THE ATLANTA FOREST ARE GOING ON TOUR

The speaking tour will provide updates from ground zero, share strategic intelligence on the pivot towards mass action and invite folks to travel to Atlanta in November to #BlockCopCity. 

Each presentation will contain a portion on the history of the land the city is attempting to build Cop City on, a history of the movement to Stop Cop City, an outline of the movement's next phase (Block Cop City), and a short workshop to help interested participants form affinity groups and plan next steps. There will also be a Q+A portion. 

We expect these presentations and discussions to feed into regional training days organized in hubs across the country, which will give people tools for affinity group organizing and decision-making, tactical and safety training, and the confidence to participate in mass direct action. Aside from bringing people to Atlanta, we hope to spread skills & creativity related to mass direct action and participatory, democratic mass organizing, strengthening the prospects for other, local struggles.

Want to help restore voting rights to people in prison serving a felony sentence? Then join the No Longer 3/5 Coalition to help get this issue on the ballot. We are holding a western MA signature gathering planning session on Saturday the 16th from 1-3pm at Enlace de Familias in Holyoke. We are asking everyone to wear masks and will have a hybrid option if folks can't make it. We will be planning the signature collection schedule for September-November and will identify point people for various tasks and events.

Hope you can join us!

Join organizers and community members at Holyoke City Hall for the Neighbor to Neighbor Renters’ Rally, to protest high rents and poor living conditions and advocate for tenant protections and affordable housing.

We hold a general meeting every other Monday on Zoom. Contact decarceratewmass@gmail.com for details. We’d love to have you join us.

We hold a general meeting every other Monday on Zoom. Contact decarceratewmass@gmail.com for details. We’d love to have you join us.

Via @queersoupnight: Queer Soup Night is coming back to western Mass! We are teaming up with everyone’s favorite coffee shop @familiarscoffee to bring you our first event in the region of 2023.

Join us on Sunday, August 13, from 6-8PM to raise money for the @decarwmass Bailout Project.

Suggested donation is $10-20 cash but no one will be turned away!

We’re so grateful to those who have volunteered to help, especially the wonderful chefs who are cooking for this event: @shaffies and @capra_capretta, who will be making delicious chili and pozole (there will be vegetarian and vegan options!). And we’re so excited to be partnering with such a wonderful queer-owned business for venue!

We hold a general meeting every other Monday on Zoom. Contact decarceratewmass@gmail.com for details. We’d love to have you join us.