Date/Time
Date(s) - Monday, 12/11/2017 - Sunday, 12/31/2017
All Day
Location
Klinger Studios
Categories
Friends,
Hamtramck Free School has been working with incarcerated artists and writers since 2012 in a prison outside of Detroit. We never fundraise, are 100% volunteer driven, and are very financially lean as an “organismization.” But the time has come when we need to reach out for support from the local art and activist communities. The Knight Foundation has urged us to finish raising the money we need for the $10,000 match grant we were awarded in 2015 or we won’t be able to utilize it. Now we are reaching out to everyone who’s ever been a part of the Free School family and anyone who wants to support from afar. No amount is too small to give. This campaign ends at midnight on New Years Eve.
The Writer’s Block is a volunteer driven, weekly workshop and space in prison for poetry, critical writing, political and philosophical discussions, activism, and community outreach. For the past six years, The Writer’s Block has provided a platform for incarcerated people to share their voices, writing, and art in order to reconnect with their communities, and themselves, in a multitude of ways in a place where neither creative expression nor open dialog are encouraged. Often in prison these practices lead to punishment and other forms of carceral retribution. We believe it is important to create and maintain these spaces. They strengthen interpersonal relationships inside prison and with loved ones outside, they provide safe spaces for introspection and self-cultivation, and they enable the various communities affected by crime and incarceration to be optimistic about release. We have done all these things out of a love of artistic practice, a love of the idea of and steps toward a world without prisons, and most immediately out of a love of each other.
We’re asking our friends and family to consider donating 5, 10, or 25 dollars to support the program. Larger donations of $100 to 500 help us sustain major annual needs. Each dollar is matched by the Knight Foundation and doubles the impact of your tax-deductible donation. If you or someone you know would like to make a donation, or to learn more, please click on this link.
Thanks for you for supporting Hamtramck Free School and the Writer’s Block over the years, and for considering this project during this busy time of year.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Rajewski
Hamtramck Free School
***We have selected Ioby as our crowdfunding platform, as they are an non-incentive based, social justice oriented organization that carefully considers the social benefits of each project they support. Money donated to our program is held on our behalf by Allied Media Projects, our fiduciary since 2015. All donors will receive a letter in January about their tax-deductible donation.***