National Occupy Day in Support of Prisoners – San Quentin State Prison

Occupy Oakland is participating in the National Occupy Day in Support of Prisoners.

WHERE: San Quentin Prison, East Gate

WHEN: Monday, February 20, 2012 (President’s Day), 12:00 noon – 3:00 PM

TRANSPORTATION: Meet at 10:00 AM for bus/carpool at 14th & Broadway in Oakland, or at 1540 Market & Van Ness in San Francisco,http://occupy4prisoners.org

WEBSITE/MORE INFORMATION:www.occupy4prisoners.org

CONTACT: occupy4prisoners@gmail.com

In the Bay Area we will “Occupy San Quentin,” to stand in solidarity with the people confined within its walls and to demand the end of incarceration as a means of containing those dispossessed by unjust social policies.

Prisons have become a central institution in American society, integral to our politics, economy, and culture. Between 1976 and 2000, the United States built on average one new prison each week, and the number of imprisoned Americans increased tenfold.

Prison has made the threat of torture part of everyday life for millions of individuals in the United States, especially the 7.3 million people (who are disproportionately people of color) currently incarcerated or under correctional supervision.

Imprisonment itself is a form of torture. The typical American prison, juvenile hall, and detainment camp is designed to maximize degradation, brutalization, and dehumanization.

Mass incarceration is the new Jim Crow.

Between 1970 and 1995, the incarceration of African Americans increased 7 times. Currently, African Americans make up 12% of the population in the U.S., but 53% of the nation’s prison population. There are more African Americans under correctional control today, in prison or in jail, on probation or on parole, than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began.

The prison system is the most visible example of policies of punitive containment of the most marginalized and oppressed in our society. Prior to incarceration, 2/3′s of all prisoners lived in conditions of economic hardship, while the perpetrators of white collar crime largely go free. In addition, the Center for Economic and Policy Research estimated that in 2008 alone, there was a loss in economic input associated with people released from prison equal to $57 to $65 billion.

Join us in listening to the voices of people in prisons and those who have had firsthand experience within the prison industry. There will be a full program based on the reading of statements written by people in prisons, other presentations, and music. Bring banners, solidarity, and a willingness to listen and learn about what is happening inside our prison system and why we need to stand up and demand change.

We ask that the spirit of solidarity with people in prisons, their loved ones, and formerly incarcerated people, create a safe space for all on February 20th.

END MASS INCARCERATION

*Abolish Inhumane Conditions and Torture
*Abolish Unjust Sentences Including the Death Penalty, Life Without Possibility of Parole, Three Strikes
*Solidarity with Prisoner Movements for Human Rights
*Free Political Prisoners
*End Repression of Activists
*Development of People Not Prisons

Called for by prisoners, sponsored by Occupy Oakland.

Endorsed by:

Angela Davis * Elaine Brown * All of Us or None * Critical Resistance * Campaign to End the Death Penalty * California Coalition for Women Prisoners * Kevin Cooper Defense Committee * Oscar Grant Committee * Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal * Iraq Veterans Against the War – SF Bay Area Chapter * STW Legacy Network * San Francisco Bay View Newspaper * and many others.