Join Black and Pink NYC and prison abolition work leaders Emma Caterine, Ceyenne Doroshow, Vikki Law, and Susan Rosenberg in a workshop panel about trans and queer prison abolition and advocacy in New York state.
LGBTQ people are incarcerated at excessive rates, and are often not centered in discussions around prison justice. This discussion will be a hands-on practical learning session for non-lawyers, friends of people incarcerated, family members, students, activists and others interested i...
Join Black and Pink NYC and prison abolition work leaders Emma Caterine, Ceyenne Doroshow, Vikki Law, and Susan Rosenberg in a workshop panel about trans and queer prison abolition and advocacy in New York state.
LGBTQ people are incarcerated at excessive rates, and are often not centered in discussions around prison justice. This discussion will be a hands-on practical learning session for non-lawyers, friends of people incarcerated, family members, students, activists and others interested in getting started in prison abolition work.
Our speakers will provide insight into best practices related to trans healthcare access, legal procedures, communicating with facilities, intervening in inmate violence, parole hearing support, and other topics most relevant to those working on the outside. Packets of legal forms and letter templates will be available for those in attendance.
In order to ensure accessibility for this event, we will have twenty-five round-trip metrocards available to those who email us (blackandpinknyc@gmail.com). Free childcare and homemade dinner with vegan and gluten free options by chef Emilie will be provided to all in Room 5414 (try to get there at six for the food)! CUNY Graduate Center is an accessible venue and has gender-neutral bathrooms available (Room C416).
Additional Information:
Black and Pink NYC is the New York City chapter of a national organization with queer and trans members inside and outside the walls. We are a community working for a world without prisons and we provide support, resources and advocacy for members through our pen-pal program, national newsletter, events around NYC, and informational databases. We have bi-monthly potluck brunches and letter-writing meetings in our member's homes, as well as various educational and community events. We will have sign up sheets for our listserv and upcoming events at the workshop.
Panelist Bios:
Emma Caterine is a founder and member of Black and Pink NYC. She has been doing prison abolition work for the past five years, with groups such as November Coalition, Virginia Organizing Project, Anarchist Black Cross, and Sylvia Rivera Law Project. She believes that prison abolition is a necessary step towards a socialist society, a trans-positive society, a sex work positive society, and, perhaps most important, a decolonized society where Black lives matter to all. Emma has been inspired and mentored by previous and current prison abolitionists such as Sylvia Rivera, Miss Major, Michael Blakey, Leonard Peltier, Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin, and Assata Shakur.
Ceyenne Doroshow was raised in Brooklyn and fought very hard for her day-to-day survival as a transgender girl. Now a grown lady, she has been blessed to be an advocate, caseworker, program coordinator, advisor, parent, grandparent, ex-escort, lover, and friend. She is the celebrated author of Cooking in Heels: A Memoir Cookbook, published by The Red Umbrella Project press.
Victoria Law is a freelance writer and editor who focuses on intersections of incarceration, gender and resistance. She is the author of Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women. She edits the zine Tenacious: Art & Writings by Women in Prison.
Susan Rosenberg is a human rights and prisoners rights advocate, public speaker, adjunct lecturer at CUNY Hunter College, member of prison writing committee PEN America, and a communications consultant for Sync It Communications. She is the author of award-winning memoir, An American Radical, in which details her 16 years in federal prison and her release from prison in 2001 through executive clemency by then President Bill Clinton.
Books, zines and other work by our panelists will be available for purchase at the event.
If you would like a metrocard or have any questions about the event, please email blackandpinknyc@gmail.com.
During the workshop, we will ask people to use the hashtag #QueeringAbolition on twitter. If you cannot make it, but would still like to join the conversation, follow the hashtag on Twitter during the workshop and tweet your questions!
Thank you to the following groups from the CUNY Graduate Center: Doctoral Students’ Council, QUNY, Sociology Student Association, Prison Studies Group, Postcolonial Studies Group, Africana Studies Group, SpaceTime Research Collective for sponsoring this event!
Photo credit to Billy Thomas for our event page photo: http://www.blackandpink.org/wp-content/upLoads/Thomas-Billy-Surreal-LGBT-world-8.5-x-11.jpg.
