About Us

PARC is a prison abolitionist group committed to exposing and challenging all forms of institutionalized racism, sexism, able-ism, heterosexism, and classism, specifically within the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC). PARC believes in building strategies and tactics that build safety in our communities without reliance on the police or the PIC. We produce a directory that is free to prisoners upon request, and seek to work in solidarity with prisoners, ex-prisoners, their friends and families. We also work with teachers and activists on many prison issues. This work includes building action networks and materials that expose the continuing neglect and outright torture of more than 2 million people imprisoned within the USA; as well as the 5+ million who are under some form of surveillance and control by the so-called justice system. 

Recent Alerts

  • Protest BART Police Murder: Fruitvale BART 1-7-09

    Wednesday, January 7th  3-7 pm

    Last week, a young man - who of course happened to be african american - was gunned down by a BART
    policeman. Eye witnesses say he was handcuffed and on the ground when
    shot. People in Greece revolted for weeks when police shot a young man
    there. We are being asked to come to a rally on Wednesday, Jan 7th
    3:00pm at the Fruitvale BART station, where the killing took place.



    Subject: Community Rally to Protest Killing by BART Police

    There was a spirited rally this morning (Monday) at the BART headquarters in
    Oakland to protest the murder of unarmed 22-year old Oscar Grant by a

  • BART Police Brutality: BART Police Shoot and Kill Man at Fruitvale BART Station

    In the early hours of January 1st, BART police shot and killed a 22
    year old man, Oscar Grant, on the platform of the Fruitvale BART
    station in Oakland. Witnesses report that Grant was "lying on his
    stomach with his hands out in a non-threatening position when he was
    shot". Police have confirmed Grant was unarmed and have suggested the
    shooting was an accident. Grant lived in Hayward and leaves behind a
    4-year-old daughter.


    BART officials have not released the name of the officer who
    shot Grant. After the shooting, BART police seized several cell phones
    from people on the platform who said they had used the phones' cameras
    to record what happened. For the first two days BART officials told the

  • SF8 UPDATE

    Ths SF8 went back to court on December 17th--it was concluded that the Preliminary Hearing will start June 8, 2009, and conclude September 3. The Preliminary Hearing is the process to determine whether or not there are grounds for the case to go to trial.


    According to the blog at www.freethesf8.com:
    "Both Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim are essentially locked down in the SF County Jail, and continue to have their rights to parole hearings in New York state denied.

    There will be a preliminary examination of one witness on January 8 (time TBA) and the hearing on discovery on January 23 at 1:30."

See all Alerts

Prisoner Support Directory

Prisoner Support Directory 2008

Updated March 2008

Please print this directory and use it to assist prisoners in your community.

We correspond with and mail resource packets to prisoners, their friends and family members. We are the first point of contact for people to connect with prisoners' rights organizations, community organizations, prison literature and arts projects, family and visiting resources, health care and legal resources, parole and pre-release resources, and the prison abolition movement.

If you are interested in the Prisoner Support Project, call us at (510) 893-4648, or come to The Long Haul (510-540-0751, 3124 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA) every Wednesday night from 6-9 pm for Prisoner Support Night.


TOXIC SWEATSHOPS

Toxic Sweatshops

PARC is proud to release a new report, "Toxic Sweatshops: How UNICOR Prison Recycling Harms Workers, Communities, the Environment, and the Recycling Industry." For the first time, prisoners speak out on deplorable health and safety conditions within electronics recycling factories run by UNICOR. UNICOR, also known as Federal Prison Industries, is a government-owned corporation operated under the Department of Justice that uses captive prison labor in a range of industries, including the dismantling of electronics. Leroy Smith, a former safety manager at Atwater Prison, blew the whistle on UNICOR's facility there and was named "Public Servant of the Year" by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel in September 2006. Download the report here.