Chicago Occupy4Prisoners Report

The Chicago action of the National Day in Support of Prisoners was a success! We brought out a multi-racial, multi-generational crowd of about 150.

The rally was pretty spirited, but maybe a little too long with the cold weather. We had thought out a pretty amazing program that started with a speech at Jackson and Lasalle to connect Occupy to this issue made by a formerly incarcerated person. A Campaign to End the Death Penalty member then read this statement by Mumia Abu Jamal. We then marched to the Metropolitan Correctional Center for the rally. The rally began with a speaker going through why the prison system is the new Jim Crow and why we have to stand against mass incarceration. We had speakers talk about juvenile issues, gender/sexuality issues, political prisoners/political repression. A young woman in the immigrant rights struggle gave a great speech about immigrant detention centers, and deportation. A member of the International Socialist Organization also spoke about how budget cuts affect poor people of color and the misplaced priorities of a system that will shut down schools but spend millions bringing NATO/G8. Darby Tillis spoke about his experience on
death row and the torturous conditions inside prisons. Fred Hampton Jr came at the end and spoke as well.

One of the absolute highlights was looking up to the prison and seeing many of the prisoners flashing their lights on and off as an obvious symbol of solidarity.

Out of this rally there is an Occupy4prisoners working group being formed. The first official meeting is Sunday the 26th. That group will have to figure out what the next steps are coming out of the rally. The organizing leading up to Feb 20 put us in touch with folks from many other groups who we will want to work with in the future, as well as pulling new people into the working group who aren't already connected to organizations.