Tonight we are discussing conditions in prisons and detention centres during the coronavirus crisis, and the challenges abolitionist/ anti-carceral activists are facing #HISTORYACTS

First up is Dave from @psn_ldn. The Incarcerated Workers Organising Committee was set up in the US in 2014 and organised the biggest prison strike in US history in 2016 to mark the anniversary of Attica #HISTORYACTS

. @psn_ldn is still affiliated with IWOC but has changed its name to more accurately reflect the holistic kind of organising it does. For example, it operates a buddy system/sources legal advice/assists with parole hearings/helps people after they've been released #HISTORYACTS

There are barriers to organising members in prison that have been exacerbated during the crisis, e.g. people leaving prison into lockdown and having to quickly learn how to use the internet and smart phones #HISTORYACTS

'The attempt to socially distance those inside prison has effectively led to mass solitary confinement' @psn_ldn #HISTORYACTS

The crisis has generalised and exacerbated existing conditions in prisons. E.g. difficulty contacting friends and family/ accessing accurate information about what is going on outside/ having access to showers and sanitation products @psn_ldn #HISTORYACTS

The group has been running a fundraiser to transfer to prisoners to use to buy food and make phone calls. Have raised and distributed just over £13,000, but both MoJ and private prisons attempt to inhibit these transfers @psn_ldn #HISTORYACTS

Have to ask: How do we articulate our politics, and who are we trying to appeal to? Often have to make discursive compromises when making abolitionist arguments @psn_ldn #HISTORYACTS

How do we navigate activist groups that are reformist, or focused on 'innocence', rather than abolitionist? @psn_ldn #HISTORYACTS

Thread continues here: https://twitter.com/HistoryActs/status/1262803534795472896?s=20