2021, from Stevie

It has been quite a year. I am penning this message from my third prison in three years. And this, by far, has been the most oppressive. But throughout this trial, I have been able to depend upon the love and solidarity of so many. It is our connections that have sustained and empowered me. Thank you.

I hope to be released in 2022, making this my last end-of-the-year missive from prison. Until then, I hope to deepen my connections with all of you. Our strength lies in our relationships. In 2022, I would like to collaborate with more people especially on projects focusing on organizing, heteropatriarchy, labor inside, creating connections between Black and Indigenous liberation, critical Black studies, Black queer studies, disability justice, transformative justice and critical pedagogy.

I am truly grateful for your friendship and the many opportunities provided to me to grow and help other grow. May 2022 find us all closer to freedom! I want to thank certain people who have extended themselves this past year, helping me and 9971 grow:

Garret Felber (and M & J for sharing him with us), Ian Alexander (a pillar of any success we have), Steve S., Sarah Ji, Dan Berger, Murphy Austin, Emily Abendroth, eae, A Ram, Levi, Darius Bost, Dan Royles, Mari Cohen and Jewish Currents, Adryan, Alissa, Rory and Molly and Critical Resistance, Casey Goonan, Jonathan Feingold, Daniel Fernandez and The Nation, Max Fox and Pinko, Maxwell Grear, Eliza, Rachel and Sayeed, Charlotte Rosen (another pillar), Eli (I don’t know what I’d do without you), Tyler, Micah, Huey, Tue, Tricka, Kelly Lytle Hernandez, Darnell Moore (my bro), Katy O’ Donnell and Brandon and UNC Press, Joergen, Jared Ware (you help me think clearer than you know), Joseph Peterson and Maya Schenwar and Truthout, Michael Ralph, Ann Russo, Victoria Sorensen, Devyn Springer, Danielle Squillante, Amiri, Rose, Noname, Alex Weheliye, Sabirha, Kay Whitlock, Barbara Smith, Dr. Barbara Ransby and M4BL, Mariame Kaba (a continual blessing in my life), Ruthie Wilson Gilmore (thank you, thank you, thank you), Mia Mingus and Ejeris Dixon and Aishah Simmons (your work continue to nurture my growth), Liat Ben Moshe (for opening my eyes), and lastly, two people we lost this year whose life and work has helped me grow and heal: bell hooks and Russell Maroon Shoatz. Even as Maroon was undergoing treatment, he was gracious enough to pen an essay for In The Belly and a roundtable we did. I will never forget that.

Always,

Stevie