90 poems I didn’t write for you for Jasmine Richards

Abstract

Abstract In the long tradition of black women protecting and honoring black women, Jasmine Richards, a Black Lives Matter organizer in Pasadena California, was part of a group of activists who intervened in the arrest of a participant in a peace March in Pintroesca Parkin Pasadena on August 29th 2015. In a move designed to attack the Black Lives Matter Movement and to disrupt their work in Pasadena, Jasmine was arrested and charged with "felony lynching” a California law against taking a person out of police custody which carries a sentence of up to 4 years in prison. This summer after Jasmine began serving the 90 days she was sentenced to, I wrote (or didn’t write) the following poems as part of a project to send messages of love to Jasmine in prison. I sent the poem in the morning and later in the day I learned Jasmine was released from prison. This poem is for Jasmine’s freedom and for #blackgirlactivism, long may we love each other, remember each other and free the world.