Mississippi Freedom Letters Campaign

Since December 29, 2019, there have been 15 deaths in Mississippi prisons, most of them occurring in Parchman Prison. The conditions at Parchman, in particular, are egregious. There is mold, flooding, plumbing is broken, people are sleeping on the floor. These horrific conditions have exacerbated instability for people who are incarcerated there, and in addition to some of these deaths happening due to acts of violence, many have been suicides.

If you are living in an unlivable situation, it would be be near impossible to focus on any goals related to higher education because you are just trying to survive. In addition to wishing safety to those incarcerated in Mississippi, especially at Parchman, the Freedom to Learn Campaign supports those enduring this crisis because we know that higher education in prison can only happen when you have a safe environment to support it. This is a matter of safety. This is a matter of human rights.

What can you do to support those incarcerated in Mississippi? You can get involved in the Mississippi Freedom Letters Campaign. This campaign started when a group of concerned citizens decided to take on the enormous task of writing a letter of solidarity and support to every single person incarcerated in Mississippi, which means over 30,000 letters.

In the past month, over 4,000 letters have been sent out from people all over the country. Folks are getting together and organizing letter writing nights in their communities. My name is Noelle Petrowski, I am a masters of social work student living in Chicago, and I am on the communications committee at the Freedom to Learn Campaign. I organized a letter writing night with people in my graduate program recently. With some snacks, some music, and a few hours time, we wrote over 60 letters. I will be planning another night soon. If you would like more information about the Mississippi Freedom Letters Campaign, and would like to organize your own letter writing night, please visit this website for more information.