It’s been a little more than a year and a half since I was transferred to the Admin Unit at Carswell. Many folks have written wondering if I was in the hospital here, and no, I am not. The Admin Unit is just part of a larger compound that has a major medical center for the Bureau of Prisons. This unit is completely separate from both the compound and the medical center. It’s actually more difficult to see most medical staff from here because of the security detail that must accompany any of us if we leave the unit for any reason.

It is a very small world here; only some 20 women are housed here in complete segregation from general population. It is a mixed unit and serves as both death row and as a kind of control unit. We are fortunately not locked down as often as the men’s units are, as policy in the BOP is different for male and female prisoners.

I have been able to maintain my vegan diet, mostly at my own expense until recently, and will continue to do that. It has been easier to get a more healthy and varied diet here than before. The Carswell kitchen has consistent vegan options for meals with a few exceptions, as beans and rice and vegetables are mostly available.

Carswell is far enough from everyone I know that it makes it hard for people to visit. It’s expensive to travel, it’s intimidating to come here I’m sure…But my family and my friend Julie have all made the trip to get here, things went well and it was good to see my loved ones. Mostly I have been struggling to keep up with folks through mail and email. I have had some trouble these past few years with lost letters and such, but have resolved to track and increase my communication this year. If you have written a letter, or signed one of the wonderful message cards (after an animal rights convention, at the Heartwood gathering, from a prisoner support letter writing night)- thank you so very much and please know how much I appreciated your kind words and encouragement! I’ve been so happy to hear about walks in the woods (how much I miss being in the forests!), amazing bike rides, photos of animal friends and beautiful natural places and descriptions of all the great campaigns to save forests and animals, to stop nuclear pollution and to halt the Keystone Pipeline project!!!! You all rock with a vengeance!

Tomorrow I will turn 50. It’s a mile marker and a time to reflect on my life. Like all humans, I’ve made mistakes and have some small regrets. But I am still an anarchist, a feminist, an internationalist, a Wobbly and community organizer, a passionate Earth First!er, and am still proud to have played my part in the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front’s work to defend the wild and our non-human brothers and sisters.

My life has been spent in many movements, and all seem to be part of the process of necessary change. That experiment in social change is still ongoing and we must all keep trying, keep contributing what we can. My body is trapped here, but my heart is with you still fighting out there. Never give up, never give in, keep your minds open to inventing better compassionate ways to make
change happen. And write when you can. I’m a mom, I worry about all of you out there…..
As Woody Guthrie used to say, take it easy…but take it.

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.

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?
Dr. Mengele knew,
Lurching through the labs
Of a past that keeps repeating.
One watches without compassion.
One takes notes.
Hypothesis:
Can we demonstrate that decades
Of muscles, tortured and stretched taut,
Dessicated and starved,
Both trees and men
Carved
To pull the juices out
That make the wheels
That run the Machine -
That this is what makes husks of men?
Hypothesis:
The delicate dust, pot-pouri
This chemistry
That drapes the trees
A veil for the bride of industry -
Is it reliable to say
That this is why the kidneys
Fail?
How can we conceivably equivocate?
Data must be reproducable
After all,
We are concerned with methodology
Not murder.
But by measurement,
We engage and change
The very thing we measure.
Heisenberg knew everything.
The possibilities of multiple hypotheses
Obfuscates the issue
Like a miasma rising from the
Fermenting swamp
Of colonial relationships.
Old at nineteen
The bones pushing the envelope
Of brown skin
Internally imploding
One the Isle of Widows
One boy wants to know why he is dying.
So they take his blood,
Then shrug
And send him home to die.

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.

On 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.

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:

• No hardcovers
• Your name must be included on the gift note

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!

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.

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.