Dear Beloved Community,
It feels bittersweet to share that on March 9th I will be transitioning out of my role as a full-time staff member. After nearly four years as the Director of Outreach and Community Engagement at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, I will continue trans, economic, and gender justice in another form as the new Director of Economic Justice Initiatives at the LGBT Center in Manhattan. While I’m thrilled to find ways to continue to resist and be a part of the collective fight for liberation, it is not easy to leave SRLP as a staff member and my heart feels heavy. I will support SRLP as a volunteer and continue on as a Collective Member in SRLP’s ongoing push against the prison industrial complex, finding ways to incorporate small acts of everyday abolition in our lives, and finding ways to make the world hurt a bit less. I am profoundly grateful to my comrades, wise counsel, and queer fam near and far for all the support and love they’ve provided me during the last few months as I move into a new chapter of my life.
I have learned so much during my time at SRLP. I am so grateful for the support, encouragement to stretch & grow, and incredible privilege of working with the amazing comrades, advocates, and community connected to SRLP through membership, volunteers, and fellow abolitionists.
During the last three and a half years, it has been a privilege to work as the Director of Outreach and Community Engagement and co-director of SRLP’s Movement Building Team.
During my tenure at SRLP, we have been able to expand our Prisoner Advisory Committee (PAC) membership to over 150 members, release several publications supporting our loved ones and friends on the inside, like the Self-Care on the Inside Guide, a brochure for legal advocates on how to support incarcerated TGNCI people, continuing the SRLP PAC calendar, and increasing the amount of correspondence and support to our membership on the inside through postcards, love notes, and updates. In the last six months alone, we’ve been able to host several volunteer days to increase the capacity of the organization, table at several community events, and relaunch SRLP’s newsletter to our membership on the inside, In Solidarity. I’m deeply excited for what’s to come and how we continue to build a movement that includes and is led by TGNCI people that have been impacted by the prison industrial complex. During the next several months, SRLP will continue to work on the relaunch of the 2007 ground-breaking report, It’s War in Here, and, as member of the logistical committee, I continue to be inspired by the generosity and vulnerability of PAC members who, without their leadership and love, this re-launch would not be possible.
I am also incredibly excited to introduce SRLP’s new Director of Outreach and Community Engagement, Kimberly Mckenzie. Kimberly has been involved with SRLP in many roles during the last four years, most recently as a non-staff Collective Member who has been a steadfast supporter of SRLP’s Movement Building Team. I am humbled and grateful to get celebrate these changes and welcome Kimberly into her new role. I trust that under Kimberly’s leadership, SRLP will continue to grow, stretch, and remain a part of the fight for liberation.
Kimberly Mckenzie (left) and JPP (right)
In the words of Leslie Feinberg, “My right to be me is tied with a thousand threads to your right to be you.” I am honored to continue to resist alongside SRLP & my communit(ies) and remain grounded in the promise that liberation is a collective process.
With love and gratitude,
JPP
Outgoing Director of Outreach & Community Engagement
SRLP Collective Member
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