Dream Action Factory presents: People. Not Prisons.
Incarceration during COVID-19 and beyond
The following text and resources were developed by the ACLU of Maine and Maine Inside Out in conjunction WITH DREAM ACTION FACTORY
The convergence of COVID-19 with the nationwide movement to end police brutality brings renewed urgency to the work of dismantling prisons and demanding racial justice.
We invite you to explore this webpage to hear and learn about these issues from the ACLU of Maine, advocates with lived experience of incarceration and structural racism, and the young people of Maine Inside Out, a community of artists with lived experience who have a vision for Maine.
Thank you for joining in this urgent dialogue around cultural values of justice, solidarity and liberation. Keep scrolling to learn about these issues, where we go from here, and what you can do to help.
— ACLU of Maine and Maine Inside Out
Incarceration and COVID-19 | Injustice and Racism | Vision for Maine | Advocacy 101
Have a question about what you hear and see here? From 6 to 7 p.m. on June 25, 2020, chat with the ACLU of Maine by submitting a question or comment here. We’d love to hear from you!
Incarceration and COVID-19
Keep People Out
As the events of the last month have made painfully clear, it is time to reexamine the role and presence of police in our nation. Ours is an inherently racist police system that originated to exert control over Black people.
Today, people of color and especially Black people are brutalized and killed by police with near impunity. Black people are also far more likely to be stopped by police, arrested, charged with a crime, and sentenced to spend time in a jail or prison.
Combined with the fact that corrections facilities across the nation have become epicenters of COVID-19 outbreaks, it is imperative that we take immediate action to reduce police encounters with the public now. When police encounters do occur, they should prioritize de-escalation over arrest and summons over taking people into custody. For those who are already in custody, we can focus on bail reform. People belong at home with their families, not in jail awaiting trial.
Animation by Elyse Kelly, & Naghmeh Farzaneh
Protect People Inside
Prisoners and staff inside correctional facilities have little ability to physically distance or properly sanitize, and many people caught up in the system are already more vulnerable to getting sick. Prisons and jails should safely release people who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 and those who have completed most of their sentences. For those who are still incarcerated, we must expand access to testing, personal protective equipment, adequate sanitation and health care.
Welcome People Home
To facilitate safe re-entry into society for formerly incarcerated people, we should expand low-barrier access to shelter, food supports, health care, and other supports that ensure self-sufficiency, and provide individuals with case managers who can help them navigate the challenges of release.
Animation by Elyse Kelly & Anna Bron
Systemic Injustice and Structural Raciscm
Maine is not immune to systemic racism. In 2018 two white men attacked and beat a black man before chasing him with their truck in Biddeford. The same year, a Black man was served a no trespass order at a southern Maine grocery store for simply asking to speak with a manager.
Black school children in Maine are disproportionately suspended, expelled, and arrested at school for the same behaviors as their white peers. Today, people of color in Maine are bearing a far greater impact from COVID-19 than white people. Black and African American people make up over 24 percent of confirmed cases but only 1.6 percent of our total population, and lack access to the necessary testing, personal protective equipment and health care that would prevent such disparities.
Invariably, Black people in Maine face systemic barriers to education, health care, employment and justice. It will take all of us acknowledging and fighting against racism to prevent the next tragic incident from happening here.
Hear from Maine activist Ali about the reality of our system from history’s repetition of oppression on brown and black people in America:
Abdulkadir Ali (Ali) is an Ethiopian-American social activist who lives in Maine. From human rights violations to community leadership models, Ali speaks up on issues caused by systematic oppression that continuously occur in silenced communities. Stay in touch with Ali’s work on Facebook: Ali Ali, Twitter and Instagram. Cinematography for “Chess” by Alexander Sutula
Our Vision for Maine
We join with Maine Inside Out (MIO), our partner organization, in imagining a state that invests in community and people, not police and prisons. Where our resources go toward education, housing, and health care – the things that truly build us up and make us safer. In this moment, we have an opportunity to boldly re-evaluate and re-imagine the world we want to live in. The global crisis and ongoing state violence highlight the grave disparity between lives that are given value in our current systems and lives that are not.
These original art pieces were created by MIO youth artists with lived experience of the criminal justice system, including artists who are currently incarcerated. Young people experiencing incarceration in our communities are some of the most marginalized, yet hold much of the wisdom and experience required to lead us forward. This art is an invitation to listen, to imagine, and to join us in building a world where everyone matters and belongs.
Maine Inside Out is a community of artists and visionaries with lived experience of incarceration and structural racism and their allies. They build, practice and share models for community change to build a world where everyone matters and belongs.
Advocacy 101
Here are a few things you can do right now to advocate for communities that support people, not prisons. Thank you for taking the time to listen, learn, and act with us!
Listen
Learn
Act
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