On January 26th, long-time activist and political prisoner Marie Mason will be turning 50. Taking just a few minutes to send a card or write a letter to her is a small, but powerful act for those confined to a prison cell.
You can write to her at
Marie Mason #04672-061
FMC Carswell
Federal Medical Center
P.O. Box 27137
Fort Worth, TX 76127
For tips and guidelines on writing Marie, visit her about page here.
Here are some paintings recently shared by Marie with some of her supporters. You can see more of her work, including other paintings and poetry at Marie’s Writings, Pictures, Video page.
Marie wrote this poem after hearing a story about workers becoming ill in Nicaragua from working on rubber tree and sugar cane plantations.
The Isle of Widows, Nicaragua
The heat rises, steam
Moves
With the breath of trees,
Into the air
Haunted eyes speak
Their questions of a mystery
The men of science come to study
This embarassing plague
This withering away
That leaves the widows wondering.
What is the science of oppression? Continue reading ‘Marie Mason Poem for Nicaraguan Workers’
The Support Marie Mason Detroit crew raised almost $1000 on October 27 in a benefit featuring singer/songwriter David Rovics. It was a heartening turn out of solidarity and generosity by Marie’s community and friends. We plan to set up accounting procedures in the near future that will detail all incoming and outgoing funds.
The benefit served the purposes of raising needed funds, publicizing Marie’s case, and bringing the community together around prisoner solidarity in general as a necessary component of our movement, and with Marie in particular. Every little bit helps.
David Rovics Benefit Concert for Marie MasonOn October 27th, activist and singer/songwriter David Rovics will be performing in Detroit to raise much needed support funds for political prisoner Marie Mason. If you are in the Detroit area, check out this great event and bring as many of your friends with you!
If you are not near Detroit, you can look into organizing a benefit show with David through his website at http://davidrovics.com/organizeShow.php. David is a long time friend and supporter of Marie, talking about her case regularly on tour as well as writing the song, Marie for her. Learn more about David Rovics and his upcoming “No Fracking Way” Tour at www.davidrovics.com.
There is now a quick and easy way to send books to Marie- the Amazon Wish List. It features the books which Marie is currently requesting so you know just what to get her! Especially living under more restrictive conditions in FMC Carswell, this is a great way to support Marie.
If you would rather bypass amazon you must send the book directly from the publisher. Just make sure to email us at supportmariemason@gmail.com letting us know what you sent so we can update Marie’s wishlist.
Please make sure to read the following guidelines so that your book reaches Marie:
If you have an amazon.com account, you can add her wishlist to your profile for easy reference.
There are currently two books on her wishlist, Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology and The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World.
It would be great to see individuals and groups work to meet these requests! 
If you want to send a book to Marie via Amazon, please indicate that it is a gift and include your name. Otherwise, Amazon will not print your name on the paperwork that goes to the prison, and without the name of the person sending the book, the prison will not allow it.
In case you haven’t noticed, there is a lot of new content on the site.
New things that have been put up in the last few months include photos of Marie at Waseca prison just before she was transferred; new poetry and art from Marie; a new sticker design; and pictures of Marie’s cats. Click here to see these.
Also, we finally have Mason’s original sentencing transcript from 2009 available. Highlights include statements from an MSU bureaucrat and the sentencing judge, who both declare that Mason should be punished for violating the “marketplace of ideas.” Federal agents describe Earth First! as a “related organization” to the ELF, and Frank Ambrose is described as having taped “hundreds” of conversations with activists. Mason is absurdly portrayed as pulling the strings behind the I-69 campaign while she was on bail with at her mother’s house in northern Michigan. References to her support websites (undoubtedly including this one) are introduced as some kind of nefarious action. And Rod Coronado and Fifth Estate both make an appearance. Well worth a read.
Just to assure people, you CAN write Marie and she does receive letters.
However, a number of letters that people have sent to her, and that she has sent in reply, have been lost. Because of this, we recommend that you photocopy your letters before mailing them; that way you can resend them if they don’t arrive.
Marie is also interested in receiving books, as well as suggestions for good books at this time. All books must come from a publisher or a source like Amazon; must be softcover; and ideally should be sent one at a time.
Everyone should be aware that anything that you write prisoners – and especially prison officials – may have a direct impact on the prisoner.
Please do not write Carswell prison regarding Marie Mason’s food situation.
She wants everyone to know that she is vegan and can buy extra food through the commissary. If you would like to help her out, make a donation (which is used partly to buy vegan food) – but please do not write the prison.
