Sunday, February 10, 7-10pm
Presented by gloria galvez & Critical Resistance
Free

Please join us for a night of abolitionist poetry and movement hosted by Critical Resistance and gloria galvez, poets Vanessa Huang, Micah Bournes, Ra Avis, Alyssa Matuchniak, Christina Brown and choreographer Suchi Branfman and Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo. For a World Without Prisons will uplift local organizing against imprisonment in Los Angeles and leave the audience inspired to build toward community safety, health and liberation.

The event will showcase two newly-released volumes of poetry that are works dedicated to eliminating the prison industrial complex. CR is thrilled to partner with author and organizer Vanessa Huang in bringing quiet of chorus (UpSet Press, 2018), Vanessa’s debut poetry collection, to Los Angeles. The new book of work is based on years of organizing in the California prisoner advocacy movement, during which California’s 20-year prison-building boom was halted, and is yielding much respect from fellow organizers. “quiet of chorus lifts up the often muffled lineages of resistance to normalized state violence in contemporary life. Huang’s embodied poem-worlds stoke our yearnings for freedom and wholeness, and help enliven the path forward,” describes artist and activist Morgan Bassichis, formerly with the San Francisco-based CUAV (Communities United Against Violence). quiet of chorus books will be available for sale at the event.

Fight Evil With Poetry: Anthology Volume One, edited by Micah Bournes and Chris Cambell, features 30 poets including Avis, Matuchniak, and Brown and is a bold effort bringing together a diverse range of authors committed to resisting state violence and interpersonal harm. United by this solidarity, the authors contributed to this volume and have offered all proceeds from the book to benefit Critical Resistance’s efforts to fight for a world without prisons. Books will be available at the event.

Suchi Branfman and Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo will perform Bird Lady, a piece that tells the stories of MaryJane, a woman currently serving a life sentence at CIW (California Institution for Women) in Corona. “Janie” has rescued, and healed,1000 injured birds over the past 25 years inside the prison. They created this piece collaboratively with Janie, through interviews and visits. Bird Lady brings this powerful woman’s story into the light.

As part of the closing celebration, there will be a silent auction of Critical Resistance visual archive items, as well as free postcards, stickers and other propaganda. Guests will be invited to bring materials back out into the world to shift common sense and increase dedication for a world without prisons.

Refreshments will be served.

Critical Resistance seeks to build an international movement to end the Prison Industrial Complex by challenging the belief that caging and controlling people makes us safe. We believe that basic necessities such as food, shelter, and freedom are what really make our communities secure. As such, our work is part of global struggles against inequality and powerlessness. The success of the movement requires that it reflect communities most affected by the PIC. Because we seek to abolish the PIC, we cannot support any work that extends its life or scope. More on Critical Resistance at criticalresistance.org and on Twitter @C_resistance on Twitter.

gloria galvez is a Los Angeles-based artist and maintains a practice that disrupts, subverts, and dismantles bland and oppressive status-quo norms.

Accessibility information for this event: WCCW has a 36” wide ramp at our front entrance and a stairway with 8 steps and a rail. There are 2 gender neutral restrooms. One restroom is wheelchair accessible, with a handrail. We provide scent free soaps and encourage guests to attend our events scent free. If you require ASL interpretation, CART, interpretation for a language other than English, supervised childcare, or have any other access needs or questions, please contact [email protected] at least two weeks in advance. It is our practice to do everything we can to create a safe and accessible space.

*All members get 20% off paid programming. A limited number of free spots are also available for Warrior & Goddess level members. Email [email protected] to inquire about free tickets.

Our program costs go directly towards compensation of the instructors and staffers who work the event. We want to make programming as accessible as possible to anyone who is interested, however, so we offer volunteer opportunities in exchange for membership, as well as free community tickets to each program (number varies depending on capacity of the class). Email [email protected] for more info or to find out more about these opportunities for a specific event.