#FreeOurMamas rally
#FreeBlackMamas Rally Demands Release at Philly Jails
Activists on both sides of the walls demand action from city leaders
PHILADELPHIA (May 15, 2020) Today, protestors held a car rally outside the Riverside Correctional Facility (RCF) to demand the release of people held in Philly jails and an end to cash bail. The action was led by currently and formerly incarcerated women, trans and non-binary people, and will feature speeches from women recently released from RCF and people still incarcerated there who joined by phone. The event took place on Friday May 15 when the car caravan convened at River Fields, at the Pennypack on the Delaware Park behind Riverside Correctional Facility.
“We are demanding that District Attorney Krasner, the First Judicial District Judges, and the Mayor take immediate action to free all our people from the Philly jails,” said Latonya Meyers, organizer with the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund. “It is completely unacceptable that in the midst of a global pandemic we are putting people’s lives at risk unless they can afford to purchase their freedom. All our mamas and families behind bars need to come home now.”
The action comes shortly after the largest ever Black Mama’s Bail Out, when the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund posted bail to free more Black mothers than any past year.
A large crowd of people in cars - people recently bailed out, family members of people currently incarcerated, and advocates - gathered to welcome home all the Black mothers and caregivers bailed out over the last month, many of whom attended and spoke.
The action was planned by organizers on both sides of the walls, and was broadcast via radio so incarcerated people could listen in. Huge signs saying “Free Our People” and “Free Black Mamas” were held up for people at RCF to see, as they made noise and banged on cell doors to join the protest and demand their release.
“We should not be sentenced to death by incarceration in a pandemic,” said Jae Garcia, an organizer of the action who is currently incarcerated at RCF and is speaking at the action via phone. ”None of us want to be the next statistic reported dead at RCF. We need the Mayor, District Attorney, and Judges to open their eyes and realize that all our lives are at stake here. There are thousands of people here that need to go home to their families and children. We should not be locked up with the key thrown out, especially when most of us are pretrial and innocent until proven guilty.”
More than a month into the COVID-19 outbreak in Philadelphia, there are still more than 3,500 people held in the Philadelphia jails. Despite massive protests and advocacy efforts, the Mayor, the District Attorney, and the First Judicial District have failed to take adequate measures to release people, and have released a smaller percentage of the jail population than nearby counties and most other US cities. In the past week, the jail population increased in Philly, leading to community outrage.
“I don’t think we should die in jail like animals die in cages,” said Luz Acevedo, an organizer who was recently bailed out by the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund. “There’s nothing we can do in there, we are locked in. Our rights are taken totally away. When this epidemic hits RCF, a lot of us are going to be dead. And I don’t know what the government is planning to do. We need a voice.”
Jae and other organizers detained at RCF invited their family members to participate in the action, and launched an action they call “#FreedomBloom,” where family members will tie a flower and a photo of their incarcerated loved one to the gate behind RCF for those inside to see, to humanize the people who are most at risk in this crisis and demand their release.
“Our voice, our movement, those closest to the problem are even closer to the solution” said the Dignity Act Now Collective (DANC), a collective of Black Womxn, trans and nonbinary people impacted by mass incarceration who are hosting and performing at the action. DANC also led a Virtual Re-Entry day earlier this week on the anniversary of the MOVE bombing, to welcome home mamas bailed out.
Follow the event live on facebook live at www.facebook.com/PhillyBailOut/ and www.facebook.com/DecarceratePA/.
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This action is organized by the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund, the People’s Paper Co-Op, Decarcerate PA, the Dignity Act Now Collective, Youth Art and Self Empowerment Project, and many organizers currently incarcerated at Riverside Correctional Facility.
#FreeOurMamas rally
#FreeBlackMamas Rally Demands Release at Philly Jails
Activists on both sides of the walls demand action from city leaders
PHILADELPHIA (May 15, 2020) Today, protestors held a car rally outside the Riverside Correctional Facility (RCF) to demand the release of people held in Philly jails and an end to cash bail. The action was led by currently and formerly incarcerated women, trans and non-binary people, and will feature speeches from women recently released from RCF and people still incarcerated there who joined by phone. The event took place on Friday May 15 when the car caravan convened at River Fields, at the Pennypack on the Delaware Park behind Riverside Correctional Facility.
“We are demanding that District Attorney Krasner, the First Judicial District Judges, and the Mayor take immediate action to free all our people from the Philly jails,” said Latonya Meyers, organizer with the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund. “It is completely unacceptable that in the midst of a global pandemic we are putting people’s lives at risk unless they can afford to purchase their freedom. All our mamas and families behind bars need to come home now.”
The action comes shortly after the largest ever Black Mama’s Bail Out, when the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund posted bail to free more Black mothers than any past year.
A large crowd of people in cars - people recently bailed out, family members of people currently incarcerated, and advocates - gathered to welcome home all the Black mothers and caregivers bailed out over the last month, many of whom attended and spoke.
The action was planned by organizers on both sides of the walls, and was broadcast via radio so incarcerated people could listen in. Huge signs saying “Free Our People” and “Free Black Mamas” were held up for people at RCF to see, as they made noise and banged on cell doors to join the protest and demand their release.
“We should not be sentenced to death by incarceration in a pandemic,” said Jae Garcia, an organizer of the action who is currently incarcerated at RCF and is speaking at the action via phone. ”None of us want to be the next statistic reported dead at RCF. We need the Mayor, District Attorney, and Judges to open their eyes and realize that all our lives are at stake here. There are thousands of people here that need to go home to their families and children. We should not be locked up with the key thrown out, especially when most of us are pretrial and innocent until proven guilty.”
More than a month into the COVID-19 outbreak in Philadelphia, there are still more than 3,500 people held in the Philadelphia jails. Despite massive protests and advocacy efforts, the Mayor, the District Attorney, and the First Judicial District have failed to take adequate measures to release people, and have released a smaller percentage of the jail population than nearby counties and most other US cities. In the past week, the jail population increased in Philly, leading to community outrage.
“I don’t think we should die in jail like animals die in cages,” said Luz Acevedo, an organizer who was recently bailed out by the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund. “There’s nothing we can do in there, we are locked in. Our rights are taken totally away. When this epidemic hits RCF, a lot of us are going to be dead. And I don’t know what the government is planning to do. We need a voice.”
Jae and other organizers detained at RCF invited their family members to participate in the action, and launched an action they call “#FreedomBloom,” where family members will tie a flower and a photo of their incarcerated loved one to the gate behind RCF for those inside to see, to humanize the people who are most at risk in this crisis and demand their release.
“Our voice, our movement, those closest to the problem are even closer to the solution” said the Dignity Act Now Collective (DANC), a collective of Black Womxn, trans and nonbinary people impacted by mass incarceration who are hosting and performing at the action. DANC also led a Virtual Re-Entry day earlier this week on the anniversary of the MOVE bombing, to welcome home mamas bailed out.
Follow the event live on facebook live at www.facebook.com/PhillyBailOut/ and www.facebook.com/DecarceratePA/.
###
This action is organized by the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund, the People’s Paper Co-Op, Decarcerate PA, the Dignity Act Now Collective, Youth Art and Self Empowerment Project, and many organizers currently incarcerated at Riverside Correctional Facility.