Dearest comrades and fellow hustlers, we’re sending immense care and strength to all y’all. Everyday there are new horrors, but there are also new visions of resistance and love. We’re here, we’re with you in struggle.
Here’s what we’ve been up to [at least what we *can* put out there on the internet] during the Fall, and what’s on the whoreizon for us this Winter.
Since August, we’ve been fundraising for our beloved comrade, Cam, to be able to settle past rent and start over. You can show up for them by sharing and giving to this fundraiser. As the holidays roll around, it would be great if we could get this fundraiser unstuck!
Back in early October, Alisha attended the national convening for Survived & Punished, on our collective’s behalf out in Oakland, CA. Here’s some excerpts from her talking notes thinking through the role and importance of Survivor Defense Campaigns in abolitionist feminist organizing:
“For us, in Support Ho(s)e, over these past ten years, it’s been a mixture of survivor defense campaigns–from my case, we launched the Justice for Alisha Walker campaign, and participated in several other campaigns as well. We spoke extensively with bail/bond fund comrades about the importance of supporting Chrystul Kizer, we worked on the Free All Dykes campaign to get our comrades home from federal lockup, and of course signed onto other clemency campaigns and grassroots efforts.”
She continued, “Personally I think the role and importance of survivor defense campaigns can’t be overstated. This is both how we build trust and connection AND help our comrades get free. It humanizes people inside prisons AND it does that practical work of challenging systems that invisibilizes folks.“
Later in October, Red joined Mariame Kaba on Kelly Hayes’ podcast Movement Memos to talk collectively about zines, making things together, anti-fascism and survival. You can listen to their conversation here.
In early November, our comrades Donna Dante and Kaia, attended a convening gathered by Community Justice Exchange in Chicago to talk about the insidious of care-washing and how to build across movements.
Then, Donna Dante and Kaia repped us at MadMade Print Fair! MadMade was a one-day, community-centered event on November 15th, held at Access Living, designed to celebrate, support, and showcase the creative work of artists living with psychiatric disabilities and mental health challenges. This is not just another craft fair—it’s a space built on inclusion, care, and cultural empowerment. MadMade was open to individuals and collectives with a focus on first person experience. They distributed zines, narcan, and other print resources.
This fair is a mad-positive, disability-affirming event focusing on individuals themselves, rather than their involvement in diagnosis or treatment, highlighting first-person experience regardless of formal diagnosis. It offers a counter-narrative to both the clinical and romanticized depictions of mental illness. Instead, it centers real people making real work that is beautiful, messy, joyful, angry, thoughtful work that opens conversation and creates community experience.
Over the past two weekends, our comrades Red & AH traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico to attend and present at the National Women’s Studies Association and the American Studies Association annual conferences. Red participated in the panel Whore Excess (at NWSA) with their talk, “Whores: The Outside/rs Outsider” alongside Kassandra Sparks, Lena Chen, Dr. Ayanna Dozier, and Dr. Lauren Levitt as well as the panel Surveillance Sex: Carcerality and Representation in Sex Worker Archives (at ASA) alongside Dr. Elena Shih, Dr. Ayanna Dozier, and Kassandra Sparks. AH participated in the Trans/Gender-Variant Caucus sponsored panel, Emergent Genealogies of Trans Identities, with their talk: “Must Trans Be Eternal? Against Prehistory as Prerequisite for Trans Persistence,” alongside Peter Cava, Porkorny Frankie, and C. Libby. Being able to connect our research, thought-work and art with other comrade-academics and worker-artists was really inspiring.
Upcoming Events & Actions:
Austin, Tx: Author Talk at BookWoman, TODAY, Monday, November 24th 7 – 9 PM
Join organizers (& besties) Red Schulte & Jenny Espino in conversation with organizer-editor Kelly Hayes to talk grief, hope & how to navigate the woes of justice work. Copies of Read This When Things Fall Apart: Letters for Activists in Crisis will be available! Masks required & provided! You can read an excerpt from Red’s essay at Truthout here.
Austin, Tx: IDEVASW December 17th protest vigil, Republic Square, 7:30 – 8:30 PM
Chicago, IL: IDEVASW December 17th protest vigil and community gathering, TBA
NYC: Bluestockings Cooperative Sunset Fundraisers, TBA
If you want to support our comrades and our work, please consider donating here.