Try this reading program for prisoners, it is safe and legit. We have donated books to it.
Same thought. As it is, I hardly pay for anything on my beloved Paperwhite - currently reading A Princess of Mars. That’s free from the Kindle Store without any futzing around. Getting Project Gutenberg content should be a cinch. You can email PDFs to your own library.
It can’t hurt to mention where we can donate books to prisons
I have heard that The Kingdom of God Within You isn’t on the banned list yet.
Tolstoy’s relationship with Mohandas Gandhi
Mohandas Gandhi wrote in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Part II, Chapter 15) that this book “overwhelmed” him and “left an abiding impression.” Gandhi listed Tolstoy’s book, as well as John Ruskin’s Unto This Last and the poet Shrimad Rajchandra (Raychandbhai), as the three most important modern influences in his life.[4] Reading this book opened up the mind of the world-famous Tolstoy to Gandhi, who was still a young protester living in South Africa at the time.
In 1908 Tolstoy wrote, and Gandhi read, A Letter to a Hindu ,[5] which outlines the notion that only by using love as a weapon through passive resistance could the native Indian people overthrow the colonial British Empire. This idea ultimately came to fruition through Gandhi’s organization of nationwide nonviolent strikes and protests during the years 1918–1947. In 1909, Gandhi wrote to Tolstoy seeking advice and permission to republish A Letter to a Hindu in his native language, Gujarati. Tolstoy responded and the two continued a correspondence until Tolstoy’s death a year later in 1910. The letters concern practical and theological applications of nonviolence, as well as Gandhi’s wishes for Tolstoy’s health. Tolstoy’s last letter to Gandhi “was one of the last, if not the last, writings from his pen.” [6][7]
With other nonviolent activists
The Kingdom of God is Within You also had a great effect upon James Bevel, a major 1960s strategist of the civil rights movement.[8][9] After reading the book while serving in the U.S. Navy, Bevel came to the conclusion that he would be unable to kill another person. He thereafter sought and was granted an honorable discharge, and entered a seminary for religious training.[10]
I don’t know if it is an oversight or if the prisons think non-violent resistance is something they can handle.
Yes I know this was happening before Trump.
The point is Trump is where he is now because he is a symptom of a larger disease that is overtaking this country.
Apathy and cruelty in equal amounts. Because fuck you, thats why. That’s the response to everything now. Compassion and empathy dont make money, so they no longer matter to many.
I actually had a box of books I was going to donate to the local prison system, and then they stopped all donation programs. As far as I know there is no way to get books to prisoners where I live any longer.
No. At least, not in Ohio.
And this is what pisses me off the most. Its bad enough their policies harm people for shits and giggles, but it also prevents others like yourself from doing what is right and decent.
Seems like Jeff Bezos could probably get that policy overturned single-handedly with a privately funded lobbying/public outreach effort. It could be one of those rare occasions where corporate interests and public interest intersect to create change for a positive outcome (or at least change toward a less-evil outcome than the system we currently have).
Books Through Bars, BTBNYC, the Prisoners Literature Project, & other all-volunteer programs still send free books to prisoners. These groups maintain scrupulously updated lists of the regulations in various prisons about who can receive books, & what kind of books are banned. They also pursue lawsuits on behalf of prisoners whose institutions ban all books. If you’re not close enough geographically to donate books you can donate funds to help cover the cost of postage. Or find a nearby group & start volunteering; or if there is no nearby group, talk to your local anarchist bookstore about starting one yourself.
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