On February 28th, 2026, the US military attacked the Minab all-girls school in Iran with two Tomahawk missiles, killing 168 people, most of whom were children. This initiated another war of aggression and continued the long history of US imperialist interventions in the Middle East. The Minab massacre is just one example of a long list of atrocities at the hands of the rulers in this country, under the banner of spreading “democracy” and “freedom.” The military operation on Iran, named operation “Epic Fury” by the US military, has been mockingly renamed by those opposed to the US-Israel war as “Operation Epstein Fury.” This highlighted the suspicious timing of launching their war of aggression, done simultaneously with the release of the Epstein Files, which further detailed the decades-long scandal and cover-up that implicated Trump, many other government officials, and some of the richest and most powerful people in the world—both Republicans and Democrats—as being literal pedophiles or their protectors and defenders.
On top of the crimes of mass murder abroad, the US ruling class benefits through the exploitation, extortion, abuse, capture, and murder of the most oppressed people inside the borders of this country. And while two million people suffer inside the prisons and jails of the US, the greatest criminals of all are sitting at the top, unscathed. This is the most basic contradiction in our society when it comes to ideas of “justice”: millions of people waste away inside the dungeons and cages of the US prison system while the greatest criminals in the world sit in mansions, benefitting from the immiseration of billions of people. No matter the crimes of the men and women locked up inside prisons and jails, they will always pale in comparison to the crimes of this country and the ruling class, the capitalist-imperialists.
This is what Malcolm X termed “the American Nightmare.” It’s what must be brought to an end to liberate humanity. Much more could be said about the injustice system and the mass incarceration machine in this country. From the ways laws are written and enforced to oppress the masses of people, with the 100:1 crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparity beginning in the 80’s, to the gun laws today, to the racist and prejudiced courts, who condemn the innocent to death row and systematically sentence oppressed people to longer prison terms for the same crimes as wealthier, privileged sections of society, to the inhumane conditions and mistreatment prisoners face inside the jails and prisons, locked away for years, stealing years of their lives while subjecting people to a culture of parasitism and trauma. Mass incarceration in the US serves the function of containment of the “unruly” populations the capitalist system had deemed no longer useful or no longer profitable to it. In summary, as US industry began to leave, and as Black people and other rebellious sections of society began to rock the foundation of this country with the threat of revolution, mass incarceration was America’s solution to put a stop to it. Now we must put a stop to them.
The Spark is a national issue of Cracks at Hotel California, a newsletter primarily distributed inside Cook County Jail (CCJ) in Chicago, IL. Since 2024, Cracks has been used as an organizing tool for prisoners and their families to come together to collectively struggle against conditions and mistreatment at CCJ, highlighting news reported from the inside (often disregarded by the local media), report on new developments regarding state laws and the jail’s policies, and work through the obstacles and contradictions in the fight against the mass incarceration machine. From these efforts to write and distribute Cracks, there have been multiple organizing efforts initiated from the jail, with prisoners coming together to write collective analysis of conditions and life inside, study groups reading Cracks and radical materials together, and protests both inside and outside condemning the brutal life at CCJ, where 6,000 people are subjected to “hell on Earth” and can be held for years awaiting trial.
The Spark is an effort to broaden our approach, to connect with prisoners around the country, and spread the struggle against mass incarceration. Chinese Communist and revolutionary leader, Mao Zedong, once invoked an old Chinese phrase in his writing to inspire party cadre: “A single spark can start a prairie fire.” When masses of people struggle against their oppressors, they can inspire more people to fight, and the fight against the system grows, until the oppressor is overthrown and the masses have the opportunity to take power and build a society free from exploitation and oppression. In the US, prisoners and a prison movement can be that spark.
Join us this summer in taking out The Spark and help reignite the prison movement! To the neighborhoods under the gun of police brutality to behind the walls of the jails and prisons, take out The Spark and go to the masses. Help support and build a defiant prison movement by getting as many newsletters into jails and prisons leading up to August 21st, George Jackson Day, where we are calling on everyone (both inside and outside the jails and prisons) to rise up against the mass incarceration machine. Get your crew, make a plan, send The Spark into your local jails or prisons, and join the rebel prisoners in protest on August 21st to demand an end to the mass incarceration machine. We are asking all people of conscious who want to see an end to this oppressive system to take up the call and distribute The Spark!
RoadMap
Below is a roadmap with some FAQs and suggestions on how you and your crew can help get The Spark out to your local jails and prisons:
How do I get The Spark?
The newsletter is uploaded on the Dare to Struggle website and can be downloaded for free. Once the PDFs are downloaded, find a local or online printer.
Download and print The Spark online
Version 1:
Middle Insert:
Version 2:
Ok, I have the physical paper. How do I find prisoners contact information at my local jail or prison?
If you are just starting out, there are a couple of ways you can go about finding prisoners to correspond with and send in the newsletter. To make it simple, see if there is anyone in your area already talking to prisoners and developing contacts with them and see if they would want to help you get the newsletter in. If you have to start from scratch, you can start by building a list of inmate contact information.
How do you find prisoners?
- Find one or two jails or prisons you want to focus on and start to develop a contact list of prisoners
- Go to your local jail or prison website. Most of the time, it will have an inmate look up. Sometimes you can type just a few letters or a generic name and inmate information will populate. You can now start to build your list.
- Messaging apps like GTL Getting Out can help produce lists of prisoners by simply typing in a few letters.
- Penpal Websites will list prisoner information to send material: https://writeaprisoner.com/
- Look up news stories in your area detailing arrests and high profile cases
- Use local social media accounts who post recent arrests
Cross examine:
- In order to make sure prisoners are actually detained and not discharged, use inmate lookup information on the jail or your state’s Department of Corrections website for confirmation. You don’t want to send in a bunch of newsletters only for them to get returned.
- Use prisoner messaging apps like Getting Out GTL to find prisoner information, including their facility, name, and ID number.
- Sidenote: While people can be inside jails for years for pretrial detention, the population is more in and out than the prisons. While we encourage people to send in the newsletter to the jails, you can run a risk of having more newsletters returned to you.
After you have made a list of prisoners, start to send in the newsletter.
- Do a packing party: get friends and supporters to donate envelopes, stamps, and money for printing, and help you write and stuff envelopes for newsletters to send in.
- If you are planning a protest on the outside for George Jackson Day, make sure to include a note with your contact information so prisoners can get in touch, for the day of protest and coordination afterwards.
- Make sure to look up how to properly address your letter to the jail or prison you are writing to
- Mail to prisoners typically must include the sender’s name and mailing address in the top left corner of the envelope or it may never get to the prisoner.
- If you don’t have a return address, feel free to use John Smith, PO box #25087, Chicago IL 60625
- Most mail will be addressed as follows:
- Full Name of Prisoner
- Prisoner ID Number
- Name of Facility
- Mailing Address
- Put a first and last name on the return address! Most jails / prisons will reject mail with just a one name on the return.
When you get the word out to the inside, spread the word about George Jackson Day on the outside.
- Make a flyer and promote your protest outside of the jail or prison on August 21st.
- Take out the newsletter to loved ones going to the facility for visitation and tell them about George Jackson Day
- Host events, reading groups, film screenings to promote George Jackson Day
Organize a protest for George Jackson Day on August 21st!
- If you hear from prisoners you have reached out to, see if they will take up the call on the inside or if their loved ones will join you on the outside.
- Take pictures and use the hashtag #GJD to compile media and pictures
- Invite your local media to GDJ
After August 21st, we will have a national meeting to sum up and make next steps!
Dare to Struggle 