Tuesday, January 23
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Indiana Department of Corrections Administrative Office
302 W. Washington St. e 344
The carceral system continues to grind working families down. Incarceration doesn’t affect only people on the inside, it also worries, wearies, and oppresses families, children, coworkers, and friends on the outside—the people working to keep a home and a family while supporting and advocating for a loved one locked up.
When people are locked up inside, the people who love them cannot be free outside
You would think jail administrators would encourage sociability and responsibility among incarcerated individuals, rehabilitating themselves by learning how to work together and support each other. Yet,
administrators stoke division and ban able individuals who can communicate across class and race and nurture peace and unity behind bars.
The Prison Industrial Complex does not rehabilitate. It is a system of exploitation and torture promoted and built up by the state and paid for with tax dollars. The many sites of repression—schools calling police on five-year-olds, doctors calling police when a woman miscarries a pregnancy, and prisons where the state warehouses those they have dehumanized—try to drain the hope of families and jack up the fear of the working people. But that cannot happen and it will not happen—we can and will come together to demand humane treatment for our loved ones and the basic respect owed their families.
Queene is one that advocates with the family members of those affected by mass incarceration. As a member of FOCUS Families Initiative, Queene helps families who are new to navigating the carceral system and provides them with a system of support.
IDOC has banned Queene from communicating with her son who is currently incarcerated. Queene promotes unity and solidarity amongst prisoners to improve their conditions on the inside while supporting their families on the outside of the jail walls. We will join Queene at the Indiana Department of Correction administration office and join the calls of the community protesting retaliatory attacks against advocates for the incarcerated. Hit the streets for a day of action as we march inside the building to speak directly to the jail administrators demanding they lift the gate closure restriction against Queene. Let them know that when they mess with one working person then they mess with all of us! Only the power and strength of the community can undo this injustice. See you in the streets!
Featured image: The Indiana Government Center, which houses the IDOC Administrative Office. Credit: Deb Nystrom / CC-BY-2.0
