At Oakland IWOC we are constantly seeking improvement in communication in all forms: online, organizationally, in outreach strategy.  Here we are presenting our Bus Stop FAQ – a quarter sheet to hand out in more casual spaces, in plain language. We present this here to share some of our tools towards our vision of a world without prisons, and to make available a format that organizers of other groups might want to use/read/replicate/improve upon.

WHAT IS THE INCARCERATED WORKER’S ORGANIZING
COMMITTEE?
We are workers, students, community and labor organizers,
ex-incarcerated folks, and family members of prisoners who
act upon our share vision of share a common vision of a world
without prisons. We help California inmates build power,
form a union that reaches over the wall, and fight to abolish
prisons everywhere, inside-out and outside-in. IWOC has
chapters across the country, in nearly every major city, and
nearly a thousand prisoners as members.

WHAT IS THIS ABOUT?
We believe that prisons exist to uphold a system of white
supremacy and suppress mass discontent under capitalism.
Prisoners are on the front lines of a war by the “haves” and the
“have-nots”. We believe that a strong, prisoner-led movement
is necessary in order to both fight back in that war, and to end                              the hyper-incarceration of black, brown, and poor people.

WHAT DO YOU DO?
As outside members we write prisoners, to hear their
concerns, to collaborate on actions, and to project voices into
the outside. We also:
 Promote solidarity with prisoner actions, such as with
phone blasts and demonstrations;
 Directly support releasees on our jail support nights;
 Produce research and writing critical of the U.S.
prison system;
 Organize mutual education workshops, panel
discussions, and social events;
 Meet with other groups dedicated to organizing in and
around prisons and the communities they most affect.

“It is our duty to fight for our freedom,
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other,
We have nothing to lose but our chains.”
-Assata Shakur, Former U.S. Prisoner