Tuesday, January 23
All Day
Call and Email!
We urge all our supporters to read and participate in this urgent action! Content below was originally posted on Oakland Abolition & Solidarity. Learn more about them here.
Since December 26, 2023, up to 30 prisoners in solitary confinement at Virginia’s Red Onion State Prison have been on hunger strike to protest the continued use of torturous long-term solitary confinement. Despite critical concern, outcry from the public and prisoner populations in the state, incarcerated people are still subjected to this brutal practice which has been renamed “restorative housing” since July 1, 2023 when measures were passed to limit its use in the state.
Leading these prisoners in this effort is longtime prison activist, revolutionary writer and artist, Kevin “Rashid” Johnson. Rashid has stated that no one will take any food at all until demands are met. As of the last update from nearly a week ago, Rashid has been taken to the medical wing having refused over 63 meals and lost over 30 lbs. Furthermore, Red Onion prisoncrats have formed a hungerstrike committee that is cutting off all communications possible including phone access, emails, visitation, and even legal calls.
“We have to protect Rashid because he fights for all of us,” said Shupavu wa Kirima, a leader of Rashid’s outside support, on January 18. Rashid has reported on conditions at Red Onion for over a decade. Rashid and his comrades, several of whom also have chronic health conditions, are putting their health at risk to demand an end to sensory deprivation and torture.
- Gather your people!
- Boost this call for support.
- Call and email all day Tuesday!
Virginia Department of Corrections: Chadwick S. Dotson, Director
Phone: (804) 674-3081
Email: chadwick.dotson@vadoc.virginia.gov
Virginia Department of Corrections: Kyle Rosch, Interstate Compact Liaison
(responsible for Rashid’s transfers)
Phone: (804) 887-8404
Email: kyle.rosch@vadoc.virginia.gov
Glenn Youngkin, Virginia State Governor
Phone (804) 786-2211.
Email: glenn.youngkin@governor.virginia.gov
We will be sharing updates during the day. Hit us up with reports of how your calls went!
– email at: admin@oaklandabosol.org or
– DM us on insta @oaklandabosol
Sample script:
“Hello, I am calling in support of Kevin “Rashid” Johnson and the hunger strikers at Red Onion State Prison. I am deeply concerned about the continuing brutality and use of long-term solitary that people inside and outside have been protesting. I am also deeply concerned to hear that Rashid is not receiving appropriate care for his prostate cancer and congestive heart failure. Please transfer Rashid to a facility with a medical center that can address his conditions. Thank you.”
Connect with Rashid’s ongoing support campaign
1. Email Shupavu wa Kirima: shupavu.wa.kirima[at]gmail.com
2. Visit Rashid’s website for his writings and ways to support
Articles and media
- WVTF Public Radio, “Virginia Prisoners Stage a Hunger Strike to Protest Solitary Confinement.”
- Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, “Abu Ghraib Comes to Amerika: Torture Unit under Construction at Virginia’s Red Onion State Prison” (October 30, 2010)
- Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, “Virginia Prisoners Hunger Strike at Red Onion State Prison” (December 28, 2023
- Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, “Beating Time: Racist Abuse Continues at Red Onion State Prison.”
