by Yvonne/Hamdiya Cooks
Diana Block, University of California, San Francisco Senior Analyst, (Children?s Cancer and Blood Diseases), founding member of CCWP and Advisory Board member was honored with the prestigious Chancellor?s Award for Public Service from UCSF. Diana was recognized for her volunteer efforts as an advocate and organizer to improve health care for incarcerated women. A special luncheon was held at the University on May 4th where she and other award recipients were honored and received their awards.
Diana has worked in Pediatrics at UCSF for ten years. Her volunteer work is to be commended as she also volunteers as the financial advisor for the Women?s Building in San Francisco and is a steering committee member for Free Battered Women. Her dedication to CCWP has been instrumental to our growth and success. Diana assists in writing grants that contribute to our sustainability. Over the course of the last ten years, Diana has advocated for women in prison in many arenas; she visits prisoners in CCWF, CIW and the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, Ca.
As an activist, Diana collects and disseminates information about the long list of medical abuses which have been documented in women?s prisons, including needless deaths due to lack of emergency medical treatment; lack of diagnosis and treatment of such diseases as sickle cell disease, cancer, HIV and hepatitis C; lack of basic preventive health care and grossly inadequate nursing facilities. Diana helped work on legislative hearings about the conditions of health care in prisons, contacted media outlets, written many news articles, and continuously circulates information to the public through presentations to community groups.
CCWP Director Yvonne Cooks shared a few words about Diana. ?I met Diana over 15 years ago during one of her hundreds of visits to incarcerated women?. ?I knew then she could have given her skills and knowledge to the corporate world, however, her life choice was to work alongside the underserved and underrepresented women in society. I respect, appreciate and trust Diana Block?.
This award is well-deserved and long over-due. On behalf of all of us at CCWP inside and out, thank you Diana for your tireless energy and dedication to the well being of women prisoners.
Category: Issue 33 – Summer 2006
Lawrence ABC Publisher and Distributor sends free literature (including booklets, pamphlets, resource guides, and zines) to prisoners. Topics available include political theory, anarchist history and thought, and the prison industrial complex.
Unfortunately, in most instances we are not able to send books to prisoners, and we cannot provide legal assistance.
Please write to us for a list of materials we have available.
Lawrence ABC
P. O. Box 1483
Lawrence, KS 66044
Have you or a loved one been locked up because of Katrina? Critical Resistance (CR) is fighting for amnesty for people arrested because of the storm. We are looking for people whose cases were impacted by the hurricane (held beyond release dates, evidence destroyed by the storm, etc.) and individuals arrested for trying to take care of friends and family.
Contact: Critical Resistance
P.O. Box 71553
New Orleans, LA 70172
Email Linda@criticalresistance.org
Call 510-444-0484
AMNESTY SUNDAY IS DECEMBER 10TH, 2006
Faith-based organizations are being asked to dedicate services to amnesty, reconciliation and healing for those incarcerated in connection with the storm. Contact CR for information.
On Sunday, November 5th, The California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP) will be celebrating the 10 year anniversary of The Fire Inside newsletter with our honored guest, Alice Walker. Ms. Walker will read from her new book We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Light in a Time of Darkness, which will be released on November 1st.
CCWP is especially excited that Alice Walker, a writer who has illuminated the voices and experiences of women of color for the past four decades, will be speaking at an event which celebrates the writings of women prisoners in California for the past ten years. The Fire Inside began publication in 1996 with feature stories about lack of healthcare in prison and has continued publishing on a quarterly basis over the last ten years covering a wide variety of topics such as compasionate release, death row, SHU, work in prison, HIV/AIDS in prison, parole, and others. The Fire Inside is the only continuously publishing newsletter devoted to the issues that impact women prisoners and it is written through a collaboration between women prisoners, former prisoners, family members and advocates.
Please join us:
Sunday, Novemeber 5, 2006, 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
African American Art & Culture Complex
762 Fulton St., San Francisco, Ca.
CCWP will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of printing The Fire Inside newsletter with a program on November 5, 2006. We invite all women living in a CDC & R institutions to send us:
Poetry
Artwork
Short statements about what The Fire Inside mans to you
Some poetry and statements will be read at the Nov. 5th program and some will be printed in the program and ad booklet that will be distributed at the event. Artwork will be displayed at the event. We can?t promise to print everything we receive, but we?ll send everyone who sends us a submissiona copy of the program book. Help us celebrate the past 10 years and look forward to the next decade!