Stand with Activist Facing Legal Battle

Dear community-

Sonja Wilde-de Vries was arrested and charged with a felony on August fourth while trying to visit her partner, King, for the first time in nine months. Initially they arrested and charged her with contraband smuggling 2-10 years, but when the X-rays, urine test and cavity searches came back negative, they charged her with Destruction of contraband, 1-5 years. Mandatory minimums apply.

Sonja is a poet, film director and social justice activist.

Her documentaries on incarceration, queer rights and soldiers speaking out against war have been shown around the world, and she has published three books of poetry.

Sonja has spent a lifetime of fighting for prisoner rights, ending mass incarceration and supporting Political prisoners as well as opposing U.S. imperialism around the globe. Wilde also has also been a lifetime advocate for LGBTQ liberation and immigrant rights. In 1990 she helped co-found Queers for Cuba, an educational solidarity group. Wilde led over a dozen trips to Cuba that were part education and part working alongside Cubans on farms and in construction. As a result of this work Wilde was asked to direct her first documentary film, GAY CUBA which was used in Cuba as an educational tool and was widely shown in the US, including on PBS.

In 2000, Wilde co-directed OUT:The Making of a Revolutionary, about political prisoners in the US. followed by Refuseniks , which focussed on Is***** soldiers who refused to serve in the occupation.

Wilde has also been involved with the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, serving on the board for many years. In recent years, Wilde has been an organizer with Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice, and other organizations.

For many years Wilde did poetry workshops with people in institutions, including Veterans, people struggling with addiction and people who had just been released from prison. An anthology " The Junkie who loved Horses" was a result of this (Accents Press).

Wilde also published three books of poetry with Finishing Line Press, Planting A Garden in Baghdad, Stealing Lorca's Bones and The Hour of Departure. During the 2020 Breonna Taylor uprising, Wilde used her photography to capture the power of that historic moment and has remained active in grassroots campaigns for social and racial justice.

Most recently Wilde has been working as an educator in JCPS, but lost her job because of the felony charge.

Meeting King;

Wilde-de Vries met King when she was working for KFTC two years ago. Their relationship was unexpected for both of them and began with long walks, discussing everything from art to activism, Kings muslim faith, and everything in between. They were married on November 5th , 2023 and have continued to build intimacy and partnership despite the tremendous obstacles. King's passions are boxing, reading, his faith and helping other people inside. He has educated himself on the legal system and functions as a paralegal for other inmates.

All donations will go to Wilde-de Vries legal costs and hospital bills. (It is now practice to conduct strip searches and cavity searches in first the hospital and afterwards in the jail) Irregardless of guilt or innocence, the person who was arrested is billed, and also billed for the stay at the jail (Shout out to comrades who paid the jail bill!)

Documentaries available through Third World Newsreel

Also, apparently key words are flagged by Gofundme and they keep "Pausing" my fundraiser because of it.

Photo taken at Braden Center fundraiser with activists Bob Cunningham and Becki Winchel. (by Gregory Conley)