During Milwaukee’s 4th of July Celebration on the lakefront, local abolitionists towed a 20 banner suspended in the air by two bundles of helium filled balloons. The banner stated a clear message: “Prison strike Aug 21-Sep 9 / End Slavery #August21”
“Prisoners have been protesting against conditions and forced labor across the country and the state, but their plight is ignored because it occurs in the isolation of confinement. We’re doing this to amplify their effort and their demands.”
Prisoner organizers have called for a strike action from August 21st until September 9th of 2018. They issued a list of ten demands, including voting rights for prisoners, ending slavery in all its forms, and sentencing & conditions reform
that “recognize[s] the humanity of imprisoned men and women.”
These demands coincide with the work of prison reform and abolition organizations in Milwaukee, and will, if met, greatly improve the lives of community members targeted by the prison system. Milwaukee Neighborhoods have the highest incarcerations rates in the world, which feeds into the high racial disparities of the Wisconsin DOC.
Prisoner organizers choose August 21- September 9 because these dates memorialize a period of struggle from 1971 that started with George Jackson’s assassination in Soledad Prison and ended with the Attica Uprising. (https://mxgm.org/2017/08/02/
PICK ONE BASED ON ACTION:
Along the lakefront, supporters held 25 foot ropes to suspend the banner like a parade float along the beach filled with people celebrating Independence Day. Other participants handed out fliers and engaged people in conversation until police forced their message to be pulled from the sky.
OR
At the lakefront, after the banner lifted off the ground, the supporters attached it with ropes to nearby trees. Supporters placed it there with the intent of displaying their message to the crowds below until nightfall and the start of the Independence Day fireworks.
AND IF ARRESTS
Participants in the action were arrested by police. Charges are unknown at this time.
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