We are excited to announce an evening with author and activist Nancy Kurshan on
Thursday May 9th at 7pm at
518 Valencia St – San Francisco
* Also Updates on California Prisons *
Nancy and the Freedom Archives have recently released Out of Control: A Fifteen Year Battle Against Control Unit Prisons. The book tells the inspiring story of the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown (CEML). Founded in 1985 to organize against control unit prisons and related inhumane practices at the notorious federal prison in Marion, Illinois, the committee’s work and influence spread nationwide, even as the practices at Marion became widespread in many other prisons in the U.S. and internationally. Written in a very accessible and eloquent style by Nancy Kurshan, a CEML co-founder and leading activist throughout its history, the book recounts how the committee led and organized hundreds of educational programs and demonstrations in many parts of the country and sought to build a national movement to expose and abolish “end-of-the-line” prisons. You can read an briefer online version of the book here which includes audio, video and links to documents. You can also check out our new search engine which features 300+ digitized documents, audio, and video from CEML’s history of prison advocacy. See praise for Out of Control below and please join us for this exciting event.
-Nathaniel
Praise for Out of Control:
Out of Control concentrates on the political analysis and commitment of the women and men of the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown – and a protracted and determined struggle to stop the physical and psychological abuse in control units in US prisons. I urge everyone to read and distribute this book.
— Lucy Rodriguez
