Thanks! and Bake Sale Announcement

Heya,

First, we want to give a very big thank you to the Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship for their hard and much appreciated work this past weekend.  About thirty bundles of books were packaged up and mailed off to people imprisoned in Colorado, a new set of book shelves were built (and did we need the space!), lots of letters informing people in prison about the books-to-prisoners project were written, and five or six boxes of recently donated books were sorted.  Folks got a lot done, and we had fun doing it.  Thank you!

Unchained Books was only one of several community projects the Mennonite Fellowship worked on this weekend, and we’re inspired by their collective decision to seek out and work on local projects.

Second, we want to remind folks that Unchained Books is having a bake and book sale as a fundraiser this weekend.  We’ll have a couple of tables set up in the Old Town Square between two and five in the afternoon on this Saturday, April 17th.  We could always use more baked goods for the fundraiser and anyone who is interested in helping with the tabling is very much invited.  And if you’d like a tasty, home-made treat or something to read, stop on by and–by donating for a cookie or a hardcover–help us mail more books to people imprisoned in Colorado.

for cookies, books, and prison abolition,

Unchained Books

p.s. and thanks to the Mennonite Fellowship for the two delicious meals we were invited to!  Feeding each other is good stuff.

Unchained Books April Announcements

We haven’t been so good about getting out email updates, so we thought we’d send one out now (and post it here, too) announcing a few different upcoming books-to-prisoners events here in sunny Fort Collins.

In this announcement:

1. btp work-party, April 10th
2. bake and book sale fundraiser, April 17th
3. btp work-party, April 24th
4. “How to get what you need and avoid the end of the world while spending some-$0″ (free stuff fair) at CSU, May 6th

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1. First, we’re getting together on Saturday, April 10th for an all-afternoon work-party.  We have lots of request letters to read and fill, and several boxes of books to sort and organize.  We’ve been getting lots of great letters requesting all sorts of interesting books and subject areas, as well as a good variety of book donations.  Stop on by anytime during the afternoon!  The local Mennonite church, as part of their service learning adventure program, will be having several volunteers joining us–so, thank you!

BTP work-party
Saturday, April 10
2-6 pm
Unchained Books space

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2. Then, on Saturday the 17th of April, we’re holding a bake and book sale fundraiser in Old Town.  We’ll also have various zines, including prison-related texts, to distribute.  All donations will go to the ever-present shipping costs we incur when mailing packages of books to people imprisoned in Colorado prisons.

If you’re interested in helping with this endeavor by baking tasty morsels, helping with the tabling in Old Town, or in any other capacity, please contact Unchained Books at unchainedbooks@riseup.net.

Bake and Book Sale Fundraiser
Saturday, April 17th
1-4 pm
Old Town Square (near 10,000 Villages)

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3. The next get-together for filling requests and packaging up books is on the 24th of April.  Because we are just getting word about our project into a couple of prisons, we anticipate an increase in the number of requests we’ll be getting by the time of this work-party.

Expect a variety of hot drinks and snacks, so we can eat a bit while getting things done.

BTP work-party
Saturday, April 24th
3-5 pm
Unchained Books space

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4. We’ve been invited to participate in the upcoming “How to get what you need and avoid the end of the world while spending some-$0″ on the CSU plaza on May 6th.  We’re planning on having a table with information about the BTP project, materials for writing letters to political prisoners, and lots of free literature (and any other ideas folks come up with).  We’re looking for people to help set up, table, and basically kick it with everyone else at the fair.

Free Shit Fair
Thursday, May 6
CSU Plaza

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Thanks for taking the time to read through these announcements and happy spring!

for worlds without prisons,

Unchained Books

p.s. We still have a couple of Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoner 2010 calendars left (we know….it’s already April!).  They cost $12, $4 of which goes to Unchained Books and the rest to other great projects.  They have beautiful artwork and all kinds of information about liberation movements and struggles; this year’s calendar focuses on indigenous resistance.  Check it out here, and let us know if you’d like one.

Books-to-Prisoner Update

We got together this weekend and wrapped up several packages of books to send to people who’d written us requests. One of the writers told us how poor the library was where they’re imprisoned, while another person told us they now have several books which they share with other prisoners.

We got another shelf put up, which helped with our slightly disorganized shelving and we even started organizing the large fiction section by author’s last name!

If you’re interested in receiving email notices about our work-parties, contact us at unchainedbooks@riseup.net and let us know. We usually get together every two weeks to fill requests.

Ariel’s Benefit Show: Update and Thanks!

The benefit show for Ariel Attack went smashingly well!  Feeling Beastly, R.I.I.P. with DJ Panda, and 10-4 Eleanor all contributed their talent, energy, and passion in support of Ariel’s legal defense.  It was an evening with lots of different music and lots of fun!  On top of that, some cash was raised, as well as awareness about Ariel’s situation and, more broadly, the struggle against binary politics and identity.  At various times throughout the evening, folks could be spotted at tables or leaning against a wall reading the Denver ABC statement on the Colorado Democratic headquarters incident (available here: http://colorado.indymedia.org/node/2082).  If you haven’t read it, check out the statement—it helps give context to an incident which the capitalist press has only been able to comment on in the typical binary perspectives of Democrat/Republican and female/male.

There was also a pile of zines exploring all sorts of radical politics from prison abolition and prisoner support, radical feminism, and eco-action to insurrectional anarchism and historic anarchist though.  Folks listened to awesome music and left the evening with something to read later.

Unchained Books would like to give a very special thanks to 10-4 Eleanor, Feeling Beastly,  and R.I.I.P. and D.J. Panda for their solidarity and efforts—without you all this benefit would not have happened.  As we listened to R.I.I.P. rap against the prison industrial complex and representative party politics—and all the other music throughout the night, we all were aiding one of our friends currently besieged by that very system.  Ariel is still engaged in a legal struggle, so continue supporting them in the ways we can.

Thanks so much!