Sex Worker Protest: Indymedia Link.

Hey all: here's the Indymedia link with a brief SWOP-USA article and links about their memorial and protest here in December. Show some support with your traffic.

http://indymedia.us/en/2009/12/40281.shtml

Sex Workers' Rights are Human Rights. ADC Protest.

Wow. Arizona has got to be one of the most punitive, misogynistic, homophobic, right-wing states in the country, and I just spent the past couple of days hanging out with the handful of women here brave enough to publicly take on the state legislature and the director of the Department of Corrections. Friends of Marcia Powell and the Sex Workers’ Outreach Project demonstrated Friday at the ADC, calling Ryan out on his own turf to take a stand against violence against sex workers. He had a week to respond to their letter before the rally. In the end it appears as if he’s too much of a coward to face - or to defend - the women in red.



Okay, so maybe I’m baiting him now. His decision to ignore them wasn’t cowardice so much as it was really cold strategy, an evasive maneuver by someone who could take us out in a heartbeat. He’s not afraid, and knows full well he can hurt us more than we can hurt him - it’s cowardice of another kind. Which is still not good news for the good guys. I don’t know why I kept thinking that if Ryan was one of those 16 guards who passed through Lumley yard the day Marcia died, he would have been the one to stop and offer her the assistance that could have saved her life. I want to believe that somewhere in there is a spark of humanity and compassion that we could connect on.


I’ve given him more benefit of the doubt that perhaps I should have. If he is not the man I hope he is – and is instead the man I think he is, the alternatives to my fantasy mean that more prisoners will suffer and die until he’s gone - and who knows if the person who replaces him will be any better?


I thought of all the lawmen in this state, Ryan might be one who would take the women from SWOP seriously, and treat them with respect. He did stop not long ago when I sent word that I needed help with something, and he responded professionally (albeit a bit gruffly – I think that’s just him), but I think that was a fleeting connection. I guess he’s as much a politician as the rest of them, though. That’s the kind of prostitution that should really be criminalized, because it damages people and destroys lives. He’s been there so long, and dug in so deep, that nothing new or different may ever come out of him than what we got from Stewart – in which case we just need to seize the legislature, the governorship, local jurisdictions, and the economic system we have in order to take over and dismantle the whole prison industrial complex…which is why I wanted to believe there was something decent in him to work with.

Now we’re back to looking at this whole beast again, not sure which part to start hacking away at first. I think since no one but the families seem to be on Ryan for prisoner rights – and Arpaio and Thomas already have strong constituencies of people opposing them - we’ll stick with Ryan and the ADC for awhile.


I know I’ve been too soft on him thus far, but cut me a break – he reminds me of my old man. Besides, I’m an abolitionist – I think we should give cops the same consideration we give criminals who want to redeem themselves; most people have the capacity to change for the better, given the right conditions and support network. If a convicted felon can do it, so can Ryan. If he wants to – that’s the key. But we’re running out of time before the next state prisoner is neglected, abused, suicides, or is murdered.


It looks like for now Ryan’s prisoners will have to try to outlast and outlive his tenure before there’s another opening for real change. Ryan personally quashed the idea of an early prisoner release this year for non-violent offenders, and legislators are now afraid to put their name on a bill that would give people more good time they can earn, with his adamant assertion to the media that the public would be at risk with an early release program. His lack of response to the letter from SWOP also strongly suggests that he doesn’t – and never really did – care much about the women ending up there – either why they’re there to begin with, or what happens to them once they become his prisoner. I’d retract it all happily if he proves me wrong, but I’m not expecting much anymore.


Ryan even provided a legislative committee this week with the “evidence” for the argument (via some guy speaking for prosecutors) that “mandatory minimum sentences” and mass incarceration are what’s brought down violent crime in this state.


Never mind that our rates of violent crime are still among the highest in the nation – kind of makes you want to see what others did to bring their rates down, since most states are deciding now that mass incarceration doesn’t really pay off. And the information from ADC that was presented in the Committee on Sentencing this week included an estimate that only 2% of Arizona’s state prisoners are first-time non-violent offenders. That’s hard to believe, given the number of people I personally know who went to prison as first time, non-violent offenders.

What’s minimum security for, anyway – aren’t all those folks low-risk/non-violent? Why do we even have minimum security if we can do a better job helping addicts and alcoholics clean up in community-based settings – where they can work and pay off fines and restitution a whole lot faster than in prison? And what about the mentally ill folks who we all know don’t belong in prison? It seems as if the Director of the Department of Corrections would want to mount a public campaign bringing attention to the inappropriate incarceration of the mentally ill (since they take up a lot of space and staff time in his prisons, and are so often victimized or put into isolation), and try to have their cases reviewed for transfer from criminal courts to probate (or mental health court, whatever folks call it here) – or for clemency, even. I consider many of them among the wrongly-convicted, too.

So Ryan’s putting his stuff out there for prosecutors to throw around, scaring everyone about the possibility of an early prisoner release endangering the community, and I can’t even get him to tell me who – of the 10,000 people he has working for him – I can talk to about how many prisoners are qualified for compassionate release, and why they keep dying in prison for non-violent crimes. I think we need to make sure they’re getting home in time enough to live a little and love their family before they die.


As for the community: you don’t know what you missed Friday because your media didn’t think it was “news”. They must still be pondering the significance of Tiger’s affair; what a revelation. It’s not as if we weren’t juicy enough, either - signs proclaiming “My ass is mine”, Coca-cola-style t-shirts reading WHORE, women in tight red dresses, bisexuals, ex-felons, anarchist men and women decked out in black, and men and women of all ages armed with chalk parading about on the ADC’s patio for an afternoon, waving to passersby and shouting “sex worker rights are human rights!” - that isn’t news in this state?

I can’t help but wonder what else is going unreported here - there’s a whole world out here that folks don’t know exists. We even created a little commotion with the legislature’s pages and security staff when we decided to deliver copies of SWOP’s letter to Ryan to them. No one (all white men) knew what to do or say; they certainly couldn’t take their eyes off us. The capitol police even tailed us until we left the grounds – and we were only a group of four, all of us over 40, I think. It was clear that we were asking something extraordinary when we asked that they deliver copies of the letter to a few mailboxes; the term “sex worker” kept distracting them, I think. And all the red, I’m sure. We certainly livened up their day, at least – one Republican aide was almost asleep on the couch when we first walked in. Good to see our tax dollars hard at work.

Anyway, the past few days with the SWOP folks have been amazing but exhausting – I’m just beginning to recover. I’m still sorting out and writing up what transpired, and where I think we'll go from here, so bear with me as I think out loud (I’m about to piss a lot of people off, but it’s not my intent to hurt anyone, so hold on…)



First, don't stress about the media blackout, really - the Phoenix New Times was a disappointment, but it made visible an elusive element in the structure of Arizona's liberal elite that seems to be deeply threatened by women's resistance: the patriarchy. Not many people ever talks about it here, do they? I bet when they do no one really pays attention. I think it’s the lack of support from the supposedly "feminist" men out here - not oppression by the sexist pigs - that most impedes progress on issues of great pertinence to women. The anarchist men are an exception as are a number in the anti-war movement. SWOP was prepared for a media blackout (so, New Times, I guess you are just like everyone else), and took their own footage, including interviews and the walk through the capitol buildings. It should be edited and posted after the first of the year – I’ll set up a link when it’s ready. In the meantime, I’ll also be posting this on AZ Indymedia, and wherever else I can. I expect we’ll be on our own for media now.

Trivializing things that are important to women is perhaps one of the few ways “liberal” white men can retain power. Since we would otherwise not put up with it, who but criminalized women will they be able to have power over if everyone else is free? They aren’t going back to the top of the hierarchy for a good long time once they fall, that’s for sure, whether they’re liberal or not. If I had it my way, it wouldn’t be a hierarchy – which is probably why I hang with anarchists. Perhaps I should be more understanding and patient with liberal white men, because they have so much to lose in some respects, and still commit themselves to our liberation movements – but we pay the greater price for lost time.

So, they can catch up with the revolution again when they stop whining about being unappreciated. We appreciate you for what you do if you do anything, not just because you’re white men who are willing to be counted on our side. Some men will sign up for anyone’s side if they think they’ll get the goodies in the end – and women happen to be the goodies for most of you. Ultimately, though, those who would deny us liberation and basic human rights can’t possibly really win, so whatever your motives, you’re better of with us anyway.

In any event, since this past week was all about remembering the dead and bringing the living out of the closet of shame, SWOP didn't stage either the memorial or rally as a mainstream “media event”, and were pretty low-key in their own promotions (though high enough profile in the demonstration, to be sure). I think most of their outreach was to their own constituency – they really weren’t expecting anyone else to care about Marcia or any of them, and were thrilled that Marcia has friends now where she seemed to have none before – except for a few other prisoners. I was the only one who seemed surprised not to see more familiar faces from Phoenix; the women from SWOP were pretty happy with the turnout, though, and their friends came up from Tucson to join us. Both events were intimate gatherings as a result -one just more public than the other. Between the two, this has been the most moving, powerful, and educational demonstration that I've ever been a part of - and I’ve done plenty in my years of activism. This even tops the Cronkite thing, and we had just a handful of people.

"No Human Involved" is the classification of homicide victims once used for murdered prostitutes, by the way - the other two options were "male" or "female". That's where the real story is that the media completely missed: Marcia just wasn't considered human by some guards when she was left out to die: she was, by one corrections officer's account after she died, a "biological serial killer." The pink underwear in Tent City, the cages in the state prisons, the police brutality in the streets, sexual and physical abuse by guards, assaults by other prisoners (the real criminals you put us with), the mandatory minimums for prostitution, the requirement that women convicted of prostitution register as sex offenders (do the johns have to so as well?) – it’s all about disempowering and discrediting women – one way of which is demeaning what is feminine when found in men (one of many kinds of misogyny practiced by Joe Arpaio).

I also think maintaining prostitution laws are about enabling the extra thrill that men get from “illicit” sex with brazen and defiant women. Really - what would all these cowboys do if we were no longer outlaws? Tie up their Rotary Club wives? Go after kids? C’mon, guys. Grow up. Some of you are just criminalizing and killing us for kicks – you’re the kind of people who need to be stopped before you contaminate the rest of the community...

The women of SWOP know exactly what the label the prison guards gave Marcia meant, by the way, and what the implications of such a characterization are. I knew when I heard it, too. That was her death sentence, and it was given to her long before she was even dragged into court and sent to prison – it just took awhile to pass it on and carry it out. It was handed down by the good people of this state in the name of “protecting families,” not just a few bad guards having fun. I doubt any of them even meant to kill her.

It's unfortunate that the community members who cared so much about how Marcia lived and died that they made a place for her ashes didn't pick up on any of this, support the SWOP demonstration, and learn what they could from these amazingly perceptive, independent, and fierce women. They may help us keep the same kind of thing from happening again. My life has been blessed by their presence, and I’ve made friends and allies that I know I’ll be working with down the road. I'm certainly more clear about who I can count on to stand with us the next time we position ourselves in public opposition to the state's top cop - who isn't Sheriff Joe. Ryan's the real cop, with far more authority, durability, and credibility among law enforcement officers on policy issues than Arpaio - and he has the keys to all the prisons.

Phoenix New Times loves to hate Ryan, and will thus probably help keep him around - they sure didn't want to let the rest of the Left know that SWOP was even going to be here, and it wasn't for lack of information. Sheriff Joe’s the money-maker these days - he’s just a clown with a badge and dying career now, but he’s still a big seller. Thomas too – I suspect a good many folks will turn out for the protest against him today – certainly the Phx New Times will be there – they saw the dollar signs and promoted the event. I don’t know why I expected that the New Times would have a different bottom line than the Republic – maybe just because they present themselves that way. White men sitting behind desks should not be trusted – much less anointed - to amplify the voices of the voiceless: they just make a production of the BS they think will sell to their audience (indicating that their function is to entertain us), and ignore the rest.

The Phoenix Anarchists aren't shy or afraid when it comes to pushing a social justice agenda, though, and they showed up in force Friday. They always bring a spirit of creativity, revolution, and solidarity to such events: they do whatever they can to stop people from being exploited and abused, without apology. Stan was good to see - he represents the Food Not Bombs connection with Marcia, the people who knew her from something other than her criminal record. There was also overlap among us with Copwatchers (all undercover), the anti-war movement, and even labor. I'm beginning to think that what I see most out here, however, are the exceptional individuals and small groups of comrades (Marcia's Friends, all along) who support numerous liberation movements – I don’t know how much actual cross-movement organizing is really going on, though I still think there’s some cross-fertilization at least from the overlap of activists who all go to each other’s events.

But I'm still new here, and feel like I'm on the outside looking in much of the time, so I may be missing something. The Anti-Sheriff Joe coalition is indeed an authentic amalgamation of different movements drawn together for a common cause; that's where I drew a lot of my initial impressions about cross-movement organizing happening here, which I think in that particular case are still valid. People have done a lot of good work together to end his racist reign on power (though I don't hear much about his misogyny and homophobia, as glaring as they are). Beyond the entertainment value, protesting Sheriff Joe has united members of the community, bringing forth a collective vision for a better Arizona. Still, it's a mistake to think that he's the source of the problem here that has us locking away so many unruly women and people of color in this state.

The rapidly rising rate of incarceration of women hasn't really even been on the anti-Joe agenda, though, so far as I can tell, nor has there been much feminist analysis of what's at the source of Arpaio's popular appeal - it's not just his racism. It's the other -isms that we are blind to, not what we and the world can see so well, that will prevent us from moving forward with a truly progressive agenda, leaving us circling the wagons in hopes that we just outlive the Right wing - we sure don't out-gun them here. Because of our blindness to our own biases and prejudice, and our investment in our own self-interest, too many people settle for compromises which allow them at the expense of our comrades. That’s been a problem for a long time. Covering white middle class liberal ass certainly won’t produce the magic formula that will liberate us all. Our collective chances are much better if we throw our lot in with the sex workers than if we hang with the people who “love” them who are secure enough in their own position with the status quo.

I think Arpaio is becoming more the distraction that keeps us from getting to the real thing than he is the problem himself; we are more at the source of the problem than he is now, because we know better. Our problem is in the silence that we greeted the sex workers with when they asserted that their rights are human rights, too. It's in the permission that male liberals - regardless of ethnicity - give each other to denigrate women's resistance and leadership while slapping each other on the back about how anti-racist they are. It's in the feminists who fail to see how critical they are to ending violence against sex workers - male, female, and transgendered - and how central to all other feminist struggles that particular task is.

The activist community here didn't respond with much more than a memorial service and calls for a softer, gentler prison when Marcia died, which troubles me. Perhaps no one knew what to do. The women at Perryville have been calling us for help ever since then, and we're the ones who have been ignoring them. The population of women in Arizona’s prisons is exploding – where are Arizona's women's rights' groups now? Over 50% of women prisoners in America are mothers - where are the family-centered organizations out here? Most women in prison have been physically or sexually abused - where are the victims' rights organizations out here? Ironically, their collective narrow-minded advocacy has helped brutalize many survivors of trauma and abuse, which doesn't tend to result in anyone’s "rehabilitation." If anything, it further traumatizes and marginalizes victims, transforming their pain into rage that will in turn victimize others. And why are none of them speaking out about state violence - who speaks for the victims of the state?

We need to reframe this whole "victim-perpetrator" analysis of crime to embrace the complexities of oppression, exploitation, racism, misogyny, classism, and other manifestations of fear and of hate as we try to identify the real crimes and criminals in our social landscapes. At present, we're putting victims in prison with their perpetrators, knowing full well that a certain number of them – particularly the most effeminate and vulnerable among the men - will be raped, beaten, and even killed...yes, misogyny kills men, too. If every judge was required to calculate the brutality with which some of the people they sentence to prison will be greeted, or the likelihood that they’ll develop a terminal illness and die there for having shoplifted, perhaps they would think twice about what they consider “just” punishment for violating norms that the privileged few have written into their laws. Maybe they would then elevate their duty to protect the innocent over their satisfaction with punishing who they think is “guilty.” They all need to spend a few days in prison without their robes on before they hand down another sentence like Marcia’s.

When liberation movements try to appeal to the mainstream, these are the first folks to get cut out of the deals - bottom line, even the Left doesn't like deviants who might make them "look bad". Emboldened by mainstream "allies" who are appalled by injustice, revel in the glory of rescuing the downtrodden, and enjoy hearing the sounds of their own protests, these sex workers are some of the most courageous fighters we have, and deserve respect. Once we distance ourselves from their red dresses and umbrellas, however – because we think they’re too in-your-face about it, or that their resistance doesn’t matter to anyone else - we isolate them and make it clear that no one will rise to their defense - or even notice if they're attacked. We are the ones who permit violence – we could stop a lot of it too. Instead we turn away, and let the full force of state and social repression come down on them.

We did that to our revolutionaries a generation ago – they are now our elders, and we have left them to die in prison. Our comrades with SWOP around the world face being targeted, beaten, arrested, imprisoned and killed for demanding that they be treated with respect and dignity, and only their fellow sex workers and a few good souls will honor them and remember their names - much less record their own names and faces publicly beside them in opposition to their treatment. That’s a sad commentary for a liberation movement to leave behind. I think we can expect to see folks from Puente the next time around, though – it seems they didn’t get the word in time to support us (that would be my responsibility – I guess I didn’t confirm with anyone there), but when we ran into a couple of their activists downtown after the demo, they were with us all the way. We’ll be counting on that – and they know we’re there with them, too.


I think the anarchists understand the phenomenon of the Left’s rejection and abandonment better than anyone because they've been hung out to dry a few times - which is why they are such reliable comrades to those of us whom even the progressives reject when the going gets tough. Women as “victims” are useful tools to garner sympathy for a movement or cause of any kind, left or right: our cries galvanize our men to come to our rescue, while the outrage that our suffering elicits prompts other women to assert their own critique. But when women who have been victimized (as well as gay and transgendered people among us) take up arms and lead the charge - especially prostitutes, who represent the secrets and sinful pleasures of so many - we defy progressive norms, too. We fail to be appropriately ashamed and vulnerable, which must emasculate some of the men who would otherwise come to our aid, and appears to threaten some of the women.

Along those lines, I think that the biggest challenge the Sex Workers Outreach Project posed to the community in Phoenix was to the progressives, not to Ryan. He conducted himself in perfect harmony with his title, position, and career trajectory. He consulted on Iraqi prisons, so even a gesture from him would carry more water with me than a gesture from the Left – I can guess what that gesture will be when you’re all done reading this, and I don’t think it will be an embrace. There certainly should be no confusion as to why so many of Ryan’s employees ignored Marcia as she called for help last May, anyway. He doesn't need to listen to what a bunch of whores have to say to him about the law, his leadership, or his prisons - especially not the ones who have behaved so badly as to become his prisoner. He doesn't even have to acknowledge our voice or presence except to do head counts - he can just pretend that we’re invisible and our objections to mistreatment are irrelevant; from there it's remarkable who follows his lead – everyone from the front-line guards to the Phoenix New Times.

A common enemy and collective strategy to defeat it doesn't necessarily make allies or friends, of course, and doesn’t substitute for cross-movement organizing. Not that I’m a great organizer, personally. The folks I’ve seen bridge the gaps most between groups are actually the anarchists (who comprise a large part of the anti-war movement, and wear a multitude of colors) – and they aren’t organizing, per se - they’re being. That’s kind of how I want to be. I don’t know enough yet about anarchy to declare it as my own political creed, but the anarchists here support liberation movements without much prejudice. Whether they're explicitly invited to or not, if they hear about an action against state oppression, they’re on it with their own artistic flair. That’s their tradition. As expected, Friday they were there.

In doing as they have, anarchists have built extensive networks across communities of resistance and can be counted on to vehemently and persistently, individually and collectively, register their opposition to racism, sexism, state violence, fascism, imperialism, war, exploitation of labor, environmental degradation, and just about every other evil thing perpetrated by the state, corporations and individuals in power on this planet. They’ve never forgotten about those we allowed to be taken prisoner, either – whole the rest of the left still clung to Clinton, they were all but abandoned. We should all be grateful to our anarchists for saying and doing all the things that the rest of us are afraid to, but that cannot be left untouched if we are to get anywhere. We may express our shock at anarchists’ brashness and lack of proper respect for authority (thank god for their example, frankly), but we’d all be toast without them; they put themselves between us and violence all the time, yet we are so quick to discount or disparage them as not being “realistic” in their actions or their vision. I happen to think they’re among the few people here with a real clue, and I’m glad someone has their eye on a better future than the rest of us seem willing to settle for.

With that I should stop offending everyone that isn’t an anarchist or criminal and put up my pictures – this is probably a sufficient drubbing for my friends on both the Left and the Right, assuming I have any remaining who will speak to me now.

Those of you who missed the SWOP letter to ADC Director Ryan, by the way, it’s not too late to catch up - read it and take notes - this begins here, it doesn’t end here. They told the truth, which has a lot of power no matter how much people try to render it invisible. They really gave us a lot to build on, and I’m not all that hostile once I settle down again - folks are welcome to drop in any time and tell me what they think. Just keep in mind that I’m much more the agitator than the organizer these days, so don’t expect diplomacy from me. I’ve lost my patience and temper with age, so if you have some ideas about how to do this better, get to work, because we could use a little more help out here. We aren’t exactly the most popular cause in town to begin with (unless we’re dead or not resisting), and I’ve probably just set myself up to be hit from all sides now, so if you don’t step up or get out of the way you’ll probably get hit by cross-fire.

You know how to find me.

Thanks again to all who showed up to support us – I knew I could at least count on the anarchists, my union organizing roomies, and Food-Not-Bombers to be there; they really haven’t missed a beat this whole time.

And of course, thanks to my partner in crime, Linda, who has gone out on a limb to make sure real justice is finally established here.

I think we’re all in for a long, hard ride if we’re going to make that happen.

From the Family of Marcia Powell: End the Violence.

I missed this first event on Thursday, though the photos below are from the art display there. 

I made it to the second, for which I have more text below.  To close observers, yes, I backdated this and tucked in under the other Marcia Powell post - just trying to keep things relatively chronological. I also do that when I want to keep a particular post at the top of the page for a few days...

 ------------------------------

December 17, 2009 – Tucson, Arizona:

 El Presidio Park, 160 West Alameda Street, Tucson, AZ.   

Performance art/art installation: 

  “No Human Involved (NHI).”

For many years, the term “NHI” was routinely used to designate murdered prostitutes on police homicide reports.  The central image for the art installation will be a physical representation of the Perryville Prison which will honor the Marcia Powell tragedy;  a performance piece/die-in and live  music are also scheduled.

"Marcia Powell was a prisoner of the State of Arizona. On May 19, 2009 she was locked in an outdoor cage with n shade or water, and cried for four hours in 107 degree heat. She begged for water. By the time someone noticed she was unresponsive, lying in her own feces, with 2nd degree burns from the sun. She reached the hospital in cardiac arrest. Her core body temperature was 108 degrees. The Director of the Department of Corrections had her life support removed. She died sometime soonafter. Her death was declared an "accident."










"For years official law enforcement homicide reports had three designations for murder victims. Male. Female. NHI ("No Human Involved"). That last designation was commonly used for murdered prostitutes."




 

"Marcia Powell was serving 27 months for prostitution. In Arizona there is a mandatory minimum for prostitution. 

1st time: 15 days. 

2nd time: 30 days.

3rd time: 180 days...

For Marcia Powell, it was a death sentence."



-----------------------------------------------

El Tiradito Shrine, 354 South Main Avenue, Tucson, AZ   

“Memorial Ritual and Vigil”

After the art display and die in in the park, everyone made their way to the  --------, where we performed a ritual to remember and honor sex workers victimized by violence. As soon as we had all gathered, we received carnations on which were tied the names of the dead. The candles on the alter we had encircled were lit, and the reading of the list of names began. As each one was called, we placed their flower gently upon the alter, now dripping with white wax. Flickering candlelight revealed anguish and grief in the solemn faces around me, as well as tears, a few from my own cheek. 

These women - and men and transgendered persons as well - know who their fallen comrades are by name and cause of death, and take considerable risk each year when they gather openly to pay tribute them and try to raise public awareness.  Not all sex work is criminal, of course, so their membership in SWOP isn't any kind of confession - but it sure sets them up to be scrutinized. 

Seeing what transpired in Tucson Thursday night, though, I understand why they do it - take this kind of risk. Plenty of sex workers won't - many aren't in a position where they can afford to safely, because of so many other vulnerabilities. Others feel safe enough and don't wan tot rock the boat. But these folks are at a point in their lives and political development where they can't afford not to make this struggle visible. 


Here, by the way, is where I found the family of Marcia Powell - among the Sex Workers Outreach Project and their allies. She was their sister all along - they've been fighting for her rights, too. The location of her ashes are now irrelevant: she has been claimed and will always be remembered as one of their own.

SWOP on Thom Hartmann

Slipping this on e under the post on the rally - this a the link to the December 18 Thom  Hartmann radio show that covered the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, interviewing one of the organizers right before the rally Friday. I just can't figure out how to listen to it once I get there.

7th Annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers Thom is joined by Deevi Danes, Project Manager with Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP), sex worker for over ten years and advocates for prisoners and sex worker rights, There is a rally today to remember Marcia Powell, a sex worker who died after being left in an uncovered outdoor cage in 107-degree heat at Arizona's Perryville women's prison.

Sex Workers' Resistance in Phoenix

Sorry to leave folks hanging all weekend – can’t believe it’s Sunday already. I was sick as a dog yesterday, but I'll have a report on the demonstration Friday sometime tonight (or in the wee morning hours – I really need to stop and crash awhile). It's more observation and analysis than a report, really, which is why it’s taking so long. This stuff is pretty loaded, and I don't want to be too reckless with it. Sometimes I need to stop and take a breath (or a nap) before speaking, or it gets me into trouble.



In the meantime, check out Vikki Law's site on women's resistance in prison:  Resistance Behind Bars. There's a lot there that explains why Marcia Powell was put in a cage in the first place, why she was ignored as she lay dying, why no coverage was given the three women who protested afterwards by setting their mattresses on fire, and why most of my attempts to communicate with Director Ryan and his staff these past few months have gone unanswered. It also accounts for why so little recognition has been given by the Left in Phoenix (which is anywhere this side of the far right, in this state) to the complex dynamics that perpetuate domestic, occupational, and state violence against sex workers, the SWOP members’ courageous acts of defiance, the artistic expressions of grief and rage and hope that have emerged from this on-going tragedy, and the insistence on honoring all human rights that the Sex Workers' Outreach Project brought to this discussion.

Back again later – if you’re on the East Coast, don’t wait up. I should be done by morning.  

Protest Rally Today at AZ Dept of Corrections.

Last night in Tucson was extraordinary. What a bunch of amazing people. I'll report more later.

------------

Please stand  with us for human rights today, in remembrance of Marcia Powell, 

and in solidarity with sex workers and prisoners of the state...

Rally at Arizona Department of Corrections HQ. 

1601 W. Jefferson St., Phoenix. 

High Noon.

Friday, December 18, 2009. 

 

Bring red umbrellas and/or single red carnations.

---------

2009 Sex Worker Remembrance List

December 17, 2009. International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. 
http://swop-tucson.org

December 18, 2009. Rally at Arizona Department of Corrections, 
1601 W. Jefferson St. Phoenix. 
High Noon.

---------

From SWOP-Tucson:  

This Years' Remembrance List: Sex Workers (pdf).

No Human Involved?

Today is the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers - what's so hard about that to get on board with? I was hoping our progressive media, at least, would be more on top of it. No sign yet that they are, so we protested. We hope they decide to look further into the story soon. They did a good job telling part of the story about what happened to Marcia - we really hope they decide to help tell the rest.


Tomorrow (December 18, 12 Noon) the women of the Sex Workers Outreach Project are rallying at the AZ Department of Corrections. A lot of people here did a lot of hand-wringing about Marcia Powell when she died, and again when that horrible report detailing her torment came out - but that was it. At least these women are trying to hold the state accountable for how women and prisoners can be so routinely and thoroughly dehumanized - treated by some guards as sources of entertainment when they suffer. 

Those folks in the community who really care about what's happening to both the men and women in prison should come to the rally and connect with us. There are many different ways to be activists - not everyone has to be like an anarchist.

As for the New Times, we hope they at least read the stuff we sent them, and call if they have questions. It would be swell if they could slip in an honorable mention of the significance of this day, and give info for the planned protest for tomorrow. We're asking allies to bring red umbrellas and/or red carnations, and/or wear red, to show solidarity.


Hope to see New Times at the ADC actually covering the event - it seems to be what you do best, and we didn't think anyone but you would care, much less get it. If you get it, then you owe it to the rest of us to fill us in.  A lot of lives are on the line.

Peg

SWOP-USA letter to ADC Director Ryan.

First: the protest rally information:


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What: Protest Rally: Marcia Powell's death, AZ Department of Corrections.

When: Friday December 18th, 2009 NOON

Where:  AZ Department of Corrections
             1601 West Jefferson St.
             Phoenix, AZ 85007

Sex Workers and allies are coming together in front of the AZ Department of Corrections on December 18th, as part of International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers, an annual event to call attention to violence committed against sex workers all over the globe.  Marcia Powell was a prisoner of the State of Arizona who collapsed and died from heatstroke last May after being locked in an outdoor cage and ignored for four hours in 107 degree heat.

You are invited to join us in Tucson, Arizona on December 17, 2009 (performance art/public installation and a candelight vigil) and in Phoenix, Arizona on December 18, 2009 (protest rally on the steps of the Arizona Department of Corrections).

Bring red umbrellas, to stand in solidarity! Signs are welcome.

Sex Worker Rights are Human Rights!

For more information: visit: www.swopusa.org/dec17 or call 877-776-2004 x 2.

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Open Letter from the Sex Workers Outreach Project and allies to Charles L. Ryan, Director of the Arizona Department of Corrections. Posted and delivered December 11, 2009.
­
December 17th is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. This event was created by Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP-USA), a national social justice network dedicated to the fundamental human rights of sex workers, focusing on ending violence and stigma through education and advocacy.
In 2009, sex workers from around the globe met gruesome deaths and endured unspeakable violence.  Some died at the hands of a solitary perpetrator; others were victims of serial “prostitute killers.”  While some of these horrific stories received international media attention (Boston, Grand Rapids, Albuquerque, Tijuana, Hong Kong, Moscow, Great Britain, Cape Town, New Zealand), other cases received little more than a perfunctory investigation.  Many cases remain unsolved, sometimes forever.

Today we are here for Marcia Powell, who was incarcerated for solicitation of oral sex and sentenced to over two years in prison - despite being found so mentally impaired at the time of sentencing that she had just been appointed a legal guardian. On May 19, 2009, after informing prison staff that she was suicidal, Marcia was placed in an uncovered outdoor cage at Arizona's Perryville prison for women, where she would presumably be "observed" until she was transferred to a more appropriate location. Reportedly, that's what they did with women who caused problems there: they put them in a cage and "waited them out". The same cages were used for "recreation" and as waiting rooms for those needing medical attention: the prisons filled up so cages were erected in the yards to add more space. Putting someone in there was routine; women were left in there all the time beyond policy, so no one thought much about Marcia complaining - except the other prisoners. Four hours later - after her pleas for water were ignored or mocked by guard after guard - she was found, collapsed, in 107-degree heat, and died on May 20th in the custody of the Arizona Department of Corrections.

Marcia was the victim of dual forms of injustice, as a sex worker and as a prisoner.  Sex Workers Outreach Project and other organizations are fundamentally opposed to criminalization of sex workⁱ. The prohibition of this work results in selective prosecution that puts some of the most vulnerable in our society at the mercy of a system that robs them of their basic respect and dignity. For decades efforts to curb sex workⁱ have not only failed to reduce incidences of prostitutionⁱ, but they have corrupted our justice system resulting in selective enforcement, racial profiling and inhumane treatment of those who don't have the financial resources to fight back. Violence against sex workers is epidemic and rarely taken seriously. The criminalization of prostitutionⁱ legitimizes this abuse so that sex workers are the targets of violent crime with little recourse. Marcia was referred to - after her death - as a "biological serial killer" in an employee blog (The Lumley Vampire). That suggests that her degraded social status as a "criminalized" sex worker had a considerable effect on the way she was treated at the hands of ADC staff the day she was left to die. It also raises the question of her abuse being the result of bias against her for a disability she may have also had.

Women prisoners are also the victims of an unjust system, facing extreme medical neglect, sexual harassment and abuse. The women's prison population in the United States has grown 800% in the past three decades, twice the rate of the male prison population. 2/3 of women in prison were incarcerated for non-violent offenses. (Institute on Women and Criminal Justice). As the death of Marcia Powell in the care of the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) shows, prison sentences can include the most extreme form of neglect and abuse.

We are here for Marcia and other prisoners, and sex workers, as we call for respect for human rights. As a result of an internal investigation, 16 people were disciplined.  An investigation is currently underway to determine whether or not criminal charges should be filed in her death.

"It's not enough to change a few people and policies. There is a culture embedded in the ADC that is pervasive throughout the prison system that reflects a disregard for the fundamental human rights of prisoners. There are exceptions to that, and the prisoners know who they are," says Peggy Plews of Arizona Prison Watch.

No critical analysis of the institutional culture that contributed to this abuse has been made public, but that analysis is essential to ending state violence.

In response to the death of Marcia Powell while in the custody of the Arizona Department of Corrections, we expect the following:

1. The Arizona Department of Corrections has an influential role in shaping policy. We ask that leadership be provided by the ADC in exploring models of restorative justice and addressing strategies such as criminal code and sentencing reform, early release programs for low-risk prisoners, community support through harm reduction, and re-entry programs to stop the revolving door syndrome that traps so many people.

2. An analysis of violence against sex workers (both inside and outside the Arizona prison system) should be conducted and a plan should be developed for reducing violence against sex workers in Arizona.

- An analysis of violence against sex workers (including male and transgendered workers) should include victimization while in state custody, police brutality, and domestic and occupational violence.

- Efforts to reform the prisons must go deeper than investigations into individual responsibility for Marcia's Powell's death. An analysis of how the culture of the correctional system employees/officers contributes to violence against prisoners is crucial.

3. A community-organized process for oversight in the prisons should be recognized which includes the voices of prisoners and their families.

4. Grievance policies should be reviewed and strengthened.

5. Cages should never be used to hold prisoners or to address overcrowding, which is the current practice.  Overcrowding must be addressed through reducing incarceration and recidivism rates.

6. Allocate sufficient resources to address the special needs of prisoners with psychiatric and physical disabilities, including education about complications of medications.

7. May 20th should be observed each year in memory of Marcia Powell and other prisoners who died in state custody.  On that day ADC should prepare a report addressed to prisoners, families and community-based oversight groups on human rights violations that have occurred over the past year and actions ADC has taken in response. The report should also include the Department's plan for the upcoming year to improve respect for human rights.

Sex workers around the United States are shocked to see this criminalization result in a death sentence for a prostitutionⁱ crime. This is one of many cases in which we observe conditions that are abusive, degrading and dangerous ranging from rape and other violence, to extreme medical neglect. These conditions violate the human rights of all persons deprived of their liberty to be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The UN Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) should be applied to all individuals.

In the wealthiest country in the world, where taxpayers spend billions on the prison system, it is horrific that this justice system has led to a death sentence for someone arrested for prostitutionⁱ.  It's been over 60 years since the UN Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) has been adopted. The Arizona Department of Corrections has been woefully negligent, in following the human rights protocol, which Eleanor Roosevelt, along with so many others, have developed. In less than a decade we've almost doubled the amount spent on our prisons in Arizona, and the Arizona Department of Corrections fails even the most basic requirement, to keep prisoners safe.

We ask that the Arizona Department of Corrections look at the 30 articles in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and review the treatment of individuals in the prison system in the light of these principles. Every ADC employee/correctional officer should have training in human and prisoners' rights principles and practices. ADC should provide leadership that demonstrates a respect for human rights.

We look forward to the day when prisons are no longer used to address our most pressing social problems. As social justice activists we challenge the discrimination that leads to criminalization and incarcerations. We promote human rights for all, as well as specific law reform. Recently enacted by the Arizona legislature, felony charges should be rescinded for prostitutionⁱ charges. Although the ADC does not have jurisdiction over many aspects of these injustices, ADC does have great deal of influence in many of these matters and ADC is also directly responsible for how prisoners are treated within this system. Sex Worker Outreach Project, in tandem with Arizona Prison Watch and Friends of Marcia Powell expects that the ADC establish real justice in the death of Marcia Powell.

Sincerely,


Tara Sawyer
Board Chair
Sex Workers Outreach Project


Peggy Plews
Arizona Prison Watch
Friends of Marcia Powell


Penelope Saunders
Best Practices Policy Project


Carol Leigh
BAYSWAN

Or as a ready to print PDF.

Week of Humanity and Action. Dec 13-19.

December 14 (note change from Tuesday to Monday - everyone has a different answer):

5th Special Legislative Session convenes.

Agenda includes finishing off the pesky teachers' union in retaliation for their political activism, fine-tuning legislation that helps the racist patriarchs further consolidate power (including the criminalization of dissent), and shifting tax burdens further onto the backs of the poor through sales tax hikes and upper-income tax breaks. This, while draining impoverished community resources and lives to feed dying small towns being offered no economic hope themselves without being told they have to buy into the practice - and should even share the profits of - of mass incarceration.


Legislators like Kavanagh talk from the affluent fortress of Fountain Hills about the need to make"sacrifices" with budget and tax cuts, while the people he's got the moral fortitude to starve (in order to protect his own interests) are our elderly, young children, minorities, and young mothers... generally, the same people who always get sacrificed by men like him and Pearce: members of the poor and working classes. They seem to fail to appreciate that growing numbers of us have recently fallen out of the middle class, and are taking a second look at these goons and their lawmaking. There's even a quiet but gathering storm of "moderates" in Republican strongholds, as more and more people across party lines are hit by gaps in health care coverage, mortgage scandals and foreclosures, and job layoffs...people who never thought it would happen to them or their families.


I think a lot of incumbents will be surprised to find that their usual BS doesn't have much traction anymore. Instead of offering solutions , these people are talking about spending more money for more prison terms for the kinds of economic crimes people commit to survive desperate times. Then they go selling jobs as agents of state violence and control to people in their own districts as if hosting a prison will be a blessing to their community, while helping the rest of Arizona be "safe".

Safe from who? I wonder who we are so afraid of, sometimes, considering the kinds of sentencing laws we've allowed them to pass. Do we need to use state violence to protect us from all those drug-addicted and mentally ill women in Perryville? Do we really think state violence would "help" them? Are we in that much danger from migrants willing to cross a desert and work in 115 degree heat while our citizens stand on a corner with a beggar's sign? Do we really want to be spending nearly 10% of our state budget on corrections instead of sending it to health care and education? I know there are dangerous, bad people who would cause further harm if left to run amok in society, but that doesn't account for the majority of people who we're told are filling our prisons these days.

So what kind of vision do Arizona's rising - or falling - leaders have for our future? Do they even listen to the versions we would choose? Why aren't they bringing us jobs offering education or hope to others, instead of punishment? Think of how many more people we could employ in rewarding, emancipating fields of work if we redirected some of our incarceration dollars. That would contribute so much more to the health of all of our communities.

Whether or not they realize it in their elected offices yet, the tide has begun to turn. We aren't all falling for this again.

I think that sums it up, so try to make your voices heard this weekend and throughout the week. Votes will be coerced out of every Republican legislator before they even walk in the doors Monday morning, but this is a long-term strategy we're working on here, not just a special session. If the people in power lack courage and imagination to lead the community where we say we really want to be, then we need to step up with our public challenges to their manipulation of prejudices and fears, and form our own visionary task forces drawing on research and reality and respect for human rights - not more right-wing rhetoric - to help us guide public policy...

December 17: International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (Tucson Memorial).

For those of you who want to demonstrate solidarity with the women from SWOP - or simply honor Marcia and other sex workers victimized by violence without engaging in public protest, contacting a legislator, or writing a letter - take a trip down to Tucson for this event Thursday night. It will be worth the drive. Then come back and write up a post for us about the experience - I really want to see how it is through others' eyes, and the more perspectives we exchange at this point, the better. Requests for anonymity will be respected.

December 18: Sex Workers Outreach Project Protest at the AZ DOC in Phoenix.

Click on above link for more info. Details will be posted later today - focus on your legislator this weekend. Please reinforce in writing and on the phone that sex workers' and prisoners' rights are human rights - we aren't asking for anything special: just a little more respect and humanity.

Remember to bring red umbrellas (and/or wear red or black). I'm sure if you have one to loan or donate and can't make it to the rally Friday, if you leave it at Conspire or the Firehouse (here's the Firehouse Gallery facebook site) this week and said it was for the Sex Workers' protest, the folks there would eventually figure out you were trying to get them to me - I need to hit them with some flyers this weekend anyway. I'll stop by both places Thursday for umbrellas or other creative contributions for the rally before heading to Tucson for the memorial.

If you're coming with a group, please drop me a line and let me know how many of you there might be. Bring your guerilla theatre troupes along! Copwatchers should come armed with their cameras, and I'd love it someone could film and edit the event to make a short video for the archives, so we don't just have whatever the mainstream media gives us. That way more than just a handful of people can walk up and be there - it could be Googled forever.

Look forward to seeing everyone. Remember to put your humanity to action this week, and call on others to do the same.

Sex Workers Outreach Project Rally: ADC.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

December 15: Begin 5th Special Legislative Session. Capitol Buildings, Phoenix. Be there.

December 17: International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (SWOP-Tucson Memorial).

December 18: SWOP-USA Demonstration at the AZ Department of Corrections HQ in Phoenix.

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Arizona Department of Corrections HQ

1601 West Jefferson, Phoenix (Corner of 16th Avenue and West Jefferson)

More photos will be posted to orient travelers soon. In the meantime, follow the link above to SWOP-USA for the update on the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, and the protest being held in Phoenix on the following day.

AZ Week of Action: Dec 13 - 18

This special legislative session will be during the week of the Sex Outreach Workers Project protest at the Department of Corrections on the 18th – which means the Capitol will be a site for actions by all sorts of groups in the days leading up to the event. Might as well just make that a Week of Action. Anyone who already has stuff planned for that week, please let me know. 

We do need support at the ADC on the 18th - especially women we can all blend in with. Scattered solidarity actions leading up to and happening on the 18th are as good as joining the protest at the ADC, though - especially for the folks who are already working away on people like Arpaio - just tie something into an action that week that demonstrates visible solidarity with sex workers demanding an end to brutalization, and send us pictures so we can show everyone that you're out there. We need to make our resistance more visible, as Puente and allies have done.

The "International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers" is actually on the 17th, when there will be a more somber event and memorial in Tucson, which people are welcome to - the red umbrella image on this page links to SWOP-Tucson, where you can get the flyer. I think we'll come up with a common symbol (umbrella?) or color (red or black?) or sign (end violence against...) or something that other groups can use to demonstrate the connection between seemingly unrelated events. Those are just some thoughts for now.

Contact me with other ideas.

The women with SWOP - USA are asking the governor to make a state proclamation officially recognizing the "International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers", by the way. Letters from the public to the governor's office supporting such a declaration would help. I would imagine that the unions, police organizations, women's rights groups, and advocates for survivors of violent crime would all be in support of such a resolution, and would register their support in writing.  

But they may need to be asked to do so, first.  

We could use a hand getting all this together next week, so if you’ve been wondering how you can help, I have all sorts of ideas. Please contact me if there's anyone out there interested in doing some community organizing - we need you now through Christmas, at least.

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New Special Session Expected to Begin December 14, but Don't Get Your Hopes Up About Any Arizona Budget Solution

Phoenix New Times
By James King in Budget Blunders

Thu., Dec. 3 2009 @ 8:50AM

​Arizona's lackluster Legislature is looking to call its next special session the week of December 14 to discuss ways to bridge the state's $1.6 billion budget gap.

Despite having no plan other than Governor Brewer's one-cent sales-tax increase that has failed time and time again in the Republican-led Senate -- and something called the "I didn't pay enough fund," where legislators are asking for taxpayer donations and is frankly the worst idea we've ever heard of -- legislators will duke it out once again to try to find a solution.

Considering the state maxed out a $700 million loan from Bank of America in less than a week, you would think legislators would view the situation as a bit urgent and not schedule proceedings for two weeks from now. Until the state has a budget and can pay back the loan, the interest owed to Bank of America will continue to rack up...