FTP 2019 Updates and Convergence Schedule

Greetings! It’s less than one month ’till FTP brings the ruckus for prison abolition and environmental justice to the streets of Gainesville, Florida.

Find all the basic info about the locale, registering, donating, food, childcare, etc, here. (Note: registration page is now also available in Spanish and language interpretation will be available.)

Remember that June 11, International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason and All Eco/Anarchist Prisoners is also this week.

Below is the #FightToxicPrisons (FTP) 2019 Convergence Schedule, subject to changes.

Check the FB event page for additional updates.

The full schedule below, and can also be found in this easier-to-view format

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FRIDAY, JUNE 14

[All at the Civic Media Center (CMC), 433 South Main St.]

10am Registration opens, snacks available all day. Program packet, maps of the city and housing details available.

11am- 1pm Amendment 4 CLE Course, details here

1pm Light lunch

2pm – 4:15pm Presentation on Movement Lawyering for Prison Abolition and Environmental Justice” featuring activist lawyers TBA [CLE credit for lawyers]

4:30pm Workshop block

1. Abolition 101 (with TX Abolitionists)

2. Prisoner Support Basics (with Oakland IWOC)

6pm “No Borders Fest” at CMC: Music, poetry and speakers kick off the weekend convergence, featuring La Marea Vuelve, Villainus, Mike Africa Jr, Hugo Sanchez, and others.

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SATURDAY, JUNE 15

[All at the Gator Wesley space, 1380 W University Ave.]

NOTE: The weekend schedule is intended to maximize small group interactions and personal connections, as well as expose the whole group to a wide range of concepts and perspectives.

We have diverged from the panel-focused schedule of previous years, which succeeded in relaying much important information and experiences, but did not leave as much time/energy for deeper personal connections. We hope this format will break down some barriers between presenters and participants and lend towards more effective, action-oriented movement building.

All that said, we also encourage participants to also take breaks as needed and spend down time from coordinated activities, to avoid information overload and fatigue.

9am Breakfast

10:00- 10:30 AM Activist Speed Dating (an ice-breaker activity)

10:30 – 11:15am Opening Plenary “Who are we, What are we doing here” Intro to Gainesville, Florida and FTP (featuring: local/regional organizers and members of FTPs national coordinating team)

11:30 – 1:00pm Break-out sessions and full-group report backs. (At registration, people will be asked to choose their primary break out group of interest. Each will be facilitated/guided by experienced activists and experts on the topics)

1. Ecosystem Approaches to Abolition: How Policing, Surveillance and Incarceration Harm the Natural Environment

2. Decriminalizing Domestic Violence

1:00 – 2pm Lunch with Prisoners (prisoner call-ins)

2pm – 3:30pm Facing Race: A Breakout Session with the 3 following groups

Confronting Whiteness Breakout Group
Men of Color/ Non-binary Breakout Group
Women of Color/ Non-binary Breakout Group

3:45pm – 5:15pm

1. Prisoner Solidarity During Disasters

2. Queer prisoner experiences (with Black and Pink)

3. The Farm to Prison Pipeline? Looking at the USDA’s Prison Building Program and UF/IFAS’ use of prison slavery in agricultural research

Roundtable on Building Cross-Movement Solidarity
(Come prepared to represent your org, region or project. Individuals get 2-3 mins, clusters of 3 or more get 5-7 mins for opening go-around.)

5:15pm – 6pm Building Cross-Movement Solidarity

6pm – 7:30pm Dinner with Mumia Abu Jamal, and others TBA

8 – 10pm FTP Variety Show Open Mike! (song, story, stand-up, roast, poem, magic trick, dance, acrobatics… let’s see what you got! 3 – 7 mins each)

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SUNDAY, JUNE 16

9am Breakfast

10am – 11:15am Morning plenary
Carbon, Cops and Cages: the Strategic Value of Abolitionist Demands

11:30am – 1:00pm Breakout sessions and report back to full group

1. Mining in Prison Towns, Prisons in Mining Towns: Lessons in Rural EJ/Abolitionist Organizing

2. Updates from Prisoner Struggles in Louisiana and Alabama

3. Community Bail & Bond Funds as Organizing Tools to End Pretrial Detention (CLE)

1:00 – 2:00 pm Lunch with Prisoner call-ins

2:00 – 3:45pm

1. Decolonization and Indigenous Political Prisoners (with Water Protectors Legal Defense and Leonard Peltier Defense Committee)

2. Beyond Borders: Immigrant-Led Resistance Criminalization, Detention and Deportation

4:00pm – 5:30pm National Prison Strike Solidarity Roundtable
(Reportbacks from prison strike support in recent years and next steps for growing resistance to prison slavery. Come prepared to share lessons from local efforts around the country and internationally.)

5:30 – 6:30pm Free time / action prep / relocate to MLK Center, 1028 Northeast 14th Street

6:30pm gather at MLK Center, snacks and drinks, capoeira demonstration
7:00pm Free Community Dinner at MLK Center
7:30pm “Ona Move!” Honoring Father’s Day and Juneteenth, an evening with former political prisoners of the MOVE Organization and their family
(Opening comments from local organizer Jhody Polk of the Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative, and others)

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MONDAY, JUNE 17

8am breakfast

10am Father’s Day / Juneteenth #FreeThePeople Rally and Bailout at Alachua County Jail