Since the shelter-in-place ordinances began, MAPS and other organizations have organized and supported multiple phone zaps with varying targets. Phone zaps are one tool of prisoner solidarity—they have significant limits, but they can also have material impacts that improve conditions for comrades in need. Flooding prison phone lines can let officials and guards know they’re … Continue reading Updates on Recent Phone Zaps
Write Up From The Inside: K-Unit Dubbed “Korona-Unit” and the Approaching Disaster for Michigan Prisoners
Written 4/6/20 by Robert Winburn #222196 K-UNIT DUBBED “KORONA-UNIT” AND THE APPROACHING DISASTER FOR MICHIGAN PRISONERS In Michigan, both non-violent and violent offenders are sentenced to prison, not the death penalty. Thankfully, on March 30, 2020, Governor Whitmer announced she is considering early release of low-risk and/or vulnerable prisoners amid the Coronavirus. Plainly, in an … Continue reading Write Up From The Inside: K-Unit Dubbed “Korona-Unit” and the Approaching Disaster for Michigan Prisoners
Phone Zap: Stop Repression at Michigan Prison
Edward Walton, Edward Combs, and Eric Woods, three prisoners in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, together spoke out about bad living and labor conditions, racist treatment by staff, and a sham grievance process at Chippewa Correctional Facility. Now, all three are facing repression, particularly Edward Walton (pictured in the illustration) who has been placed in solitary confinement … Continue reading Phone Zap: Stop Repression at Michigan Prison
Solidarity Statement for Edward Walton, Edward Combs and Eric Woods
In January, Edward Walton, Edward Combs, and Eric Woods wrote an open letter addressed to “the people of the state of Michigan,” and apparently sent a copy to Governor Gretchen Whitmer and MDOC Director Heidi Washington. As the Detroit Free Press’s Paul Egan reported, the letter outlined a series of complaints about conditions at Chippewa … Continue reading Solidarity Statement for Edward Walton, Edward Combs and Eric Woods
Pack the Court: Support MI Prisoner Curtis Jones
When: May 31, 2019, 8:45am Where: Federal Courthouse, 410 W Michigan Ave # 107, Kalamazoo, MI 49007 Please come to Kalamazoo, MI to support Curtis Jones (#221006) in his civil action case against Michigan Department of Corrections. In 2015, he was placed in administrative segregation with a broken window in the middle of winter (February … Continue reading Pack the Court: Support MI Prisoner Curtis Jones
Email Support for Political Michigan Prisoner to get Paroled
In January of this year Michigan political prisoner and writer Rand Gould had his request for parole denied by the Michigan Parole Board. He is asking his supporters to read the letter below and then to email the parole board and Anthony King as soon as possible urging them to reverse their decision.
Beyond the Walls: Strategies of Solidarity Against the Carceral State
Join us Monday, April 15th at 6pm as we celebrate and distribute the newest issue of the journal, hear firsthand accounts about state repression and prisoner resistance in Michigan and discuss how you can get involved with MAPS’ efforts to support prisoner struggles. We hope you leave this event with practical methods of connecting with prisoner-writers as well as the broader movement, led by prisoners, against the carceral state.
Beyond The Walls: Prisoner Newsletter Release + Film Screening
Come celebrate the Winter 2019 issue of The Opening Statement with MAPS and friends! Join us March 2nd at 6:00pm Riverside Arts Center - 76 N. Huron St. Ypsilanti, MI featuring a screening of The Prison in Twelve Landscapes by Brett Story The Opening Statement is a quarterly newsletter written for and primarily by incarcerated … Continue reading Beyond The Walls: Prisoner Newsletter Release + Film Screening
Prisoner Strike: Marching for Prisoner’s Rights
This video coverage of a MAPS protests shows describes how “a group of community members made up of anti-prison activists and people who've spent time behind bars themselves marched through downtown Lansing this afternoon to raise awareness about a nationwide prisoner strike.” It features an interview with a MAPS organizer.
Activists march in Lansing for better prison conditions as nationwide prisoner strike continues.
This Michigan Radio interview features Dennis Boatwright, a man formerly incarcerated in the Michigan prison system, describing the importance of supporting prisoner protests and of paying attention to the demands issued during the national prisoner strike.
