Chicago Books to Women in Prison

We are proud to announce that Chicago’s fabulous feminist bookstore, Women & Children First, has made us their organization of the month for the month of July!

This means that W&CF will be generously donating 10% of every purchase to Chicago Books to Women in Prison. All you have to do is print out this coupon and present it at the time of purchase. Stock up because this promotion only lasts through July!

A big THANK YOU to Women And Children First for supporting our organization!

Can’t join us on Sunday? We have added additional hours just for YOU! We will now be packing books every Wednesday from 6-8pm. Sunday hours remain the same.

That’s right, along with Beyondmedia we are movin’ on up to a larger, snazzier space!
You can now visit us at 4001 N Ravenswood Ave, Suite 204C.

Thanks to all of our fabulous volunteers for your help in the move.

Yes, make it a double-CBWP week with Danny’s on Monday and AV-aerie on Friday!

We’re having a party with local djs (including Gutter Butter, Jessica Hopper, and others) on Friday, April 18th at AVaerie (2000 W Fulton).  This is a benefit for Chicago Books to Women in Prison.

Details:
Friday, 4/18
@ AVaeire, 2000 W Fulton
Doors at 9pm.
$10 suggested donation at the door.  Get in for $8 if you bring a paperback dictionary to donate.
There will be a drawing for prizes, including a 1-year iGo membership, massage gift certificates, a refurbished bike from Working Bikes, and other awesome stuff.

Get Nerdy with the hot bookworms from Chicago Books to Women in Prison Monday, April 14th, 9pm-2am, at Danny’s 1951 W Dickens. Danny’s is giving CBWP 50% of the bar as part of their 2nd Monday Peace Parties.

We would like to invite you all to support Chicago Books to Women in Prison’s next fundraiser, a play called Top Girls at Chicago’s  Live Bait Theatre.

Here’s what wikipedia has to say about Top Girls

The play is set in Britain and implicitly condemns the increasing incidence of Thatcherist values in society, and especially their effect on Feminism . . . It comments on the contrast between American feminism, which celebrates individualistic women who acquire power and wealth, and British socialist feminism, which involves collective group gain. I  The play argues against the style of feminism that simply turns women into new patriarchs and argues for a more socialist feminism that is about caring for the weak and downtrodden. The play questions whether it is possible for women in society to combine a successful career with a thriving family life.

We have about 20 tickets left for each night on Sat, March 15 (8p) and Sun, March 16 (7p). Tickets are sliding scale: $15-$25. Bring a date!

To buy a ticket (or two) please email us at  chicagobwp@hotmail.com with your name, night preference, and donation level. You can pay via personal check or paypal, and your tickets will be waiting for you at the theatre.

In general, women have lower lifetime chances of incarceration than men; however, black women (3.6%) have nearly the same chance as white men (4.4%) of serving time in prison. Among women, blacks are more than twice as likely as Hispanics (1.5%) and 7 times more likely than whites (0.5%) to be admitted to prison during their lives.

According to a special report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, women are more likely to lose their children due to imprisonment (BJS 2000). Among state prisoners, 65% of women and 55% of men have minor children. While 58% of these mothers lived with their children prior to admission, only 36% of fathers did. Mothers (46%) were also more likely than fathers (14%) to have been the only parent living with the children in the month before their arrest. Not only this, about 90% of fathers in state prison said that their children now lived with their mother, while only 28% of mothers said the father was the child’s current caregivers. Given this, it is not surprising that 10% of incarcerated mothers but only 2% of incarcerated fathers reported that their children were currently in foster care.

We have now made it much easier to give to CWBP, simply use any major credit or debit card through paypal. Give as little or as much as you like, click here, or use the sidebar link under “donations” from any page on the site.

Urbana-Champaign Books to Prisoners is hosting a National Conference of Prison Book Projects. Prison book project workers from all over North America will gather in Urbana, IL to share knowledge and build relationships. Paul Wright, founder and editor of Prison Legal News, will be the keynote speaker. For more information, visit http://www.books2prisoners.org/conference/.