25/07/2026
Hello,
This is a message about the series: From the Projects to Prison Pipeline: Trauma Informed Justice - A Return to Humanity.
I'm reaching out because, once again, we have to cancel a Saturday session.
Every individual involved in this series - including a CommUNITY member - has been threatened. At least one has been served a cease and desist. Others have been pulled into offices and told not to participate, or face consequences.
I want to be clear with all of you: WE ARE DOING NOTHING WRONG. We are not participating in illegal activity. All we are doing is providing space for those behind concrete to share their lived experience, their expertise, and their solutions.
I also want to clarify something important: - at no point has DOC contacted CEO directly. Yet, they have gone through our website, printed our flyers, and they know my name. DOC claims it wants community support and relationships but it has yet to build a real bridge with us. Instead, because they cannot control what we do, they threaten and oppress.
These individuals only want to participate in a democratic process that addresses the issues affecting their lives, in a healthy and constructive way. They want to own their ideas and thoughts. The individuals tasked with facilitating this series only wanted to participate in civic engagement. DOC doesn't want that to happen. This could have been an opportunity for DOC to learn about our community's norms and culture.
I'm sharing this with you not just to tell you what's been happening behind the scenes, but because their threats will not stop us from continuing to work with and support our community members who are still incarcerated. But we need your help.
We've been communicating with other groups facing similar barriers. To determine the next steps, we want to bring everyone together to form a coalition that pushes back against DOC's intimidation tactics.
Would you join us? Would you be willing to support this fight? That could look like writing letters, making phone calls, or showing up - we don't have all the answers yet. What we do know is that we want to bring people together for a meeting of the minds, to figure out how we move forward, together.
If you're willing to stand with us, please reply to this message and let me know. I'll follow up with details on our first coalition meeting.
Thank you for believing in this work, and for believing in the people behind these voices.
In solidarity,
Adriane (ah-dree-aw-nay)
Chief Director of Operations - CommUNITY Empowerment Organization (CEO)
