Meet The East Bay Operation Sending Literal Tons of Books Into Prisons

Volunteers make up the backbone of the Prison Literature Project. (PLP)

It’s as distressing a time on the planet as ever, a one-sided war blasting historic communities in Gaza to smithereens with United States tax dollars funding the whole thing. There are storms blowing the Bay Area sideways, more common and destructive thanks to climate change, and an ever-increasing wealth gap NPR recently described as “yawning.” Thankfully, there are ways to push back against all that oppression.

In Berkeley, the Prison Literature Project (PLP) has held it down against the forces of evil for more than 30 years. In a time when it’s increasingly-popular to fashion oneself as an activist this grassroots organization relies on volunteers to drop into its library to gather books requested by prisoners throughout the country. For those out of the loop, the United States carceral system is a business, and prisoners the batteries for profit extraction; Sending reading materials to the majority Black and brown folks behind bars is an ongoing humanitarian project open to anyone with a few hours available after work. “By sending free reading materials to those behind bars, PLP aims to foster learning and critical thinking,” the organization’s website reads. “We believe that all people have a right to read.”

(PLP)

(PLP)

Plugging into the abolition movement is a legitimate way to show power brokers you’re paying attention. In the Bay, Adamu Chan explored this through his recent film What These Walls Won’t Hold as it pertains to San Quentin and his own journey, though tapping in with the PLP is a far less grandiose but no less significant way to support the cause. For context, World Prison Brief found “the United States in 2021 had the sixth highest incarceration rate in the world, at 531 people per 100,000.” The country is at its highest rate of incarceration ever, and the highest percentage of that population are Black men.

That’s why the thousands of requests the PLP has fulfilled are significant. The PLP has moved literal tons of books, spanning all kinds of how-to books to radical texts, into American prisons, and it’s never had a paid employee or taken grants from the oligarchs of the world who so often move their money into philanthropy for tax evasion. The organization is always looking for volunteers to fill out book requests and complete administrative tasks. Donating to the PLP is a wonderful way to use your money for good, too.

Now’s as good a time as any to drop by the PLP and see what you can do. As Israel prepares to wipe out as many Palestinians as it can in Rafah abroad, as Chevron plunders the Bay Area to keep that war alive in Richmond, it can be depressing to try and get active. But the powers that be need to be held accountable, as cops drive over People’s Park and mayors lie through their teeth. Making sure our incarcerated family can live meaningful lives, after their sentencing ends and while it lasts, is just one way to show up.