Photo by Stefano Ghezzi on Unsplash

After the nationwide revolt across the United States, beginning with the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the incarcerated political activist and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal asked the following questions: What do we do now? What is to be done? How can this be directed towards really revolutionary ends? 

Michael Novick of Anti-Racist Action-Los Angeles said, “People need to rethink what is possible and what is necessary, because the quantitative leap in numbers should represent and enable a qualitative leap in resistance.”

In support of revolutionary action, I commit to the following 2021 New Year resolutions. They are both personal and political. As my foremothers said, “The personal is the political.” 

  1. I commit to my sobriety and addiction recovery. In the event of a relapse, I re-commit to living clean and sober. As an Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous member, I will seek a sponsor and work the 12-step program.
  2. I resolve to support the abolitionist demands of #DefundThePolice!
  3. I will continue to pursue my education as an incarcerated student toward my associate’s degree in arts and humanities from San Bernardino Valley College, Coastline College, and Hartnell College.
  4. I will continue to participate in rehabilitation and self-help programs, such as the integrated substance use disorder treatment program and classes sponsored by the outside advocacy group Amity Foundation.
  5. I will start a regular exercise routine at least three days a week and will make a conscious effort to limit my food intake with the goal of losing between 20 to 30 pounds.
  6. I will continue my poetry workshop lessons, writing and journalism mentorships, and work on completing my memoir.
  7. I will complete my electrolysis in the next few months and be scheduled for my pending sex reassignment surgery after a final medical consultation. The surgery was  approved over two years ago and has been repeatedly delayed.
  8. I will request transfer to a women’s facility under California’s new law, The Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act (SB-132), before surgery.
  9. I will continue my work with abolitionist, anarchist and transfeminist collectives, particularly as a co-founder of the Fireant Collective, a collaborative organization for anarchists, as a legal advocate for the Transgender-Variant and Intersex Justice Project and as a core member and organizer for Red Roses, a trans prison collective. 
  10. I will also use hashtags whenever appropriate.

#BlackTransLivesMatter
#SayHerName
#NoJusticeNoPeace
#DefundThePolice
#Schools Not Prisons
#FreeThem All
#ClemencyNow
#EmergencyReleaseNow
#FreeHer

 
Disclaimer: The views in this article are those of the author. The Prison Journalism Project has verified the writer’s identity and basic facts such as the names of institutions mentioned. The work is lightly edited but has not been otherwise fact-checked.

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Jennifer Rose

Jennifer Rose is a transgender writer incarcerated in Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad, California. She is a cofounder of the Fireant Collective, a collaborative organization for anarchists, a student in the college program, and a tutor in the peer literacy mentor program.