Confronting HIV and Mass Imprisonment: the First Pilot of the Project UNSHACKLE Organizing Toolkit is Launched!

By Laura McTighe

Click here to download the pilot Project UNSHACKLE Organizing Toolkit!

We're excited to announce the launch of the first pilot of our Project UNSHACKLE Organizing Toolkit. Project UNSHACKLE was founded to kick start an ongoing national movement, building on and expanding existing networks for HIV prevention justice in and about the criminal justice system. This toolkit is designed to support organizations in mounting grassroots campaigns at the intersection of HIV and imprisonment in their local communities.

Crafting the Project UNSHACKLE Vision

With Project UNSHACKLE, we're linking across social justice movements to make sure that people in prison have the tools they need to protect their health. But we're also looking at how the rate and scope of imprisonment makes our communities more vulnerable to HIV. Reducing the number of people in prison, eliminating the barriers people face after imprisonment, and rebuilding community support networks are three critical HIV prevention justice concerns.

Ensuring We Have the Skills and Resources We Need

We know that if we're going to achieve the Project UNSHACKLE vision, we all need to be at the table, sharing our personal and professional knowledge. And we all need the skills to be able to communicate strategically with people not already in this work, and to mount campaigns that address the ways that imprisonment makes our communities more vulnerable to HIV.

That's why we're writing the Project UNSHACKLE Organizing Toolkit!

This pilot issue...

In this pilot of the Project UNSHACKLE Organizing Toolkit, you'll find

• Background information on the history of imprisonment and HIV/AIDS in the U.S.,
• Tools to help you communicate strategically about HIV and imprisonment, and
• Community organizing resources for thinking about HIV and imprisonment work that your organization can take on.

The Final Version...

In the final version of the Project UNSHACKLE Organizing Toolkit to be released early next year, you'll also find

• Step-by-step guides for five concrete campaigns you can do around HIV and imprisonment,
• A glossary of terms you'll see throughout literature about HIV and prisons,
• A bibliography of current research, and
• A resource list of organizations across the country that are doing work at the intersection of HIV and imprisonment.

Get Involved!

We'd love to hear your feedback on this pilot of the Project UNSHACKLE Organizing Toolkit. And we also want to be able to let you know as soon as the final version of the toolkit is ready. So please stay in touch with us!

If you have any questions or suggestions about Project UNSHACKLE, or want to be informed about when the final Project UNSHACKLE toolkit is ready for distribution, please contact:
Laura McTighe, Project Consultant/Trainer
lmctighe [at] champnetwork [dot] org
(212) 937-7955, Ext. 20.

We look forward to hearing from you!