Other Ways to Help
Many formerly incarcerated people and other vulnerable people are in need of financial solidarity right now. But, that is not the only way to help. Here are some other efforts you can take.
“Bound But Free,” Lessie Brown, 2007, mixed media
One of the most important things you can do to support people in Michigan prisons and jails is support efforts to send them home. Several organizations have mounted campaigns to get people out of prison and jail in Michigan.
Campaigns to Get People out of Prison and Jails:
- Letter to Governor Whitmer asking her to use executive powers to release elderly, aging, and vulnerable prison populations (add your organizational or individual signature here)
- Joint letters from ACLU-MI, AFSC, and Safe and Just Michigan to the Michigan Department of Corrections and county jails
- ACLU-MI Campaign to develop proactive COVID-19 plans for prisons and jails
- HVDSA Phone Blitz to protect people in prison
Staying Connected While Inside:
Another way to support people inside is by communicating and connecting with them directly. Since the Prison Creative Arts Project Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners had to be postponed, PCAP has posted an online preview of some of the works art from the show. You can view the online preview and leave comments for artists in the digital guestbook. You can also write critique letters for artists to help development and nurture their artistic practice.
Earlier this year, a group of concerned citizens began the Mississippi Letter Writing Campaign, a campaign to write a message of support to every person incarcerated in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Their website describes how to participate in the campaign.
