Urgent Request from Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund (PRLF)

Letters like the one below arrive at the PRLF mailbox every day, revealing what a difference Revolution newspaper makes to subscribers in prison. Those who have been cast off and written off by this system are lifting their heads, seeking to understand the world, sharing the newspaper and literature with other prisoners, and engaging with their cellmates, loved ones and the readers of this paper about what a profoundly different future could and should be. On average, each paper is read by a minimum of 5 prisoners. One ex-prisoner described the experience when the highly censored Revolution newspaper would slip through—“Word would spread and it was like Christmas. Everyone would gather around and the reading and debating would begin.”

Currently, 783 prisoner subscriptions come due by March 31 at a cost of $20,000. Previous contributors and new ones have stepped up to donate, thus allowing us to renew subs expiring in January and February. But there is an urgent need to raise $20,000 in the next month. A few PRLF supporters have written to express regret that, in today’s economic climate, they can’t afford to give as much as they hoped. These are real contradictions and we appreciate people’s understanding of how critical this newspaper is to those locked away from the world. PRLF encourages everyone to dig deep and also to spread the word to family and friends about why they support PRLF and encourage them to do the same. $350 will renew 10 subscriptions, and 7 people donating $10 each can ensure that two prisoners receive the paper for another year.

PRLF is a project of the International Humanities Center, a non-profit public charity, exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code (www.IHCenter.org) To contribute to PRLF, checks should be made payable to IHCenter/PRLF and mailed to:

International Humanities Center
860 Via de le Paz, Suite B-1
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund
1321 N. Milwaukee, #407
Chicago, IL 60622

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This letter is addressed to Revolution Books Chicago and was forwarded to PRLF:

Prisoner Writes on Revolution Issue on Darwin Day

Feb. 10, 2009

Greetings: I am writing to you from a Texas prison. I am a reader of the newspaper Revolution. It is a good paper and I make a point out of getting it into the hands of as many prisoners as possible. I was extremely interested to read in the latest issue that I have (#154) that Feb. 12th is Darwin Day 2009. Never before have I heard of anything like this and I think it is great. There is so much that I am in full agreement with in the call put out in the paper.

I agree with Darwin that, “There is grandeur in this view of life”—much more grandeur and meaning than in a creationist mythology. People in here often ask me how, as an atheist, I maintain “hope” and a positive outlook. I respond by turning the question around—How do you do that if you believe in a god? If there was a god he/she is either a maniac dictator, or completely indifferent. Either way, it’s not a very hopeful situation. I find more comfort in the random factors and the algorithms of nature, it leaves almost unlimited possibilities.

But, I am not writing this letter to share my philosophical ideas with you. I am writing to ask for your help. I would really like to get a copy of the book “The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: Knowing What’s Real and Why it Matters” by Ardea Skybreak. You would be amazed to see the amount of creationist (Biblical of course) “literature” that is pumped into the Texas prisons. There are even free creation classes taught by religious volunteers, but we’ve got to pay $180.00 to take a college biology course. Speaking of college, I am in a Cultural Anthropology class where the teacher is claiming that objective science and the various creation stories are just different routes to knowledge. I would like to have the Skybreak book to be able to combat this relativism, to share with fellow prisoners, and to get a solid understanding of evolution myself. Can you help? I cannot afford to pay for the books and I am asking you to donate it to me if possible. I assure you, it will reach the hands and minds of many other prisoners. We would really appreciate your help.

I look forward to hearing from you. Keep up the good work.

Salud.

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