Free People Now!

Join us at Eastern State Penitentiary SUNDAY at 1PM to remind Governor Wolf that #IncarceratedLivesMatter. We are taking to the streets to call for the immediate release of thousands of vulnerable people who are at risk of death while in prison during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We rise up to protest the death of George Floyd, a man who was killed during an arrest for an alleged forged $20 check. We must do the same for the people in prisons who have been terrorized by state violence for years! Many of them are held behind bars for petty charges, technical violations, and wrongful convictions. Many are held for crimes of poverty such as what George Floyd was accused of. None of them deserve to die in prison because of the COVID-19 pandemic. THIS IS THE SAME FIGHT.

There are over 45,000 people locked in PA state prisons, where social distancing is impossible & access to medical care is severely limited. There are also infants, children and families locked up in ICE Detention Centers who are at risk from COVID-19. Incarcerated people are already more medically vulnerable than the general population, often for the same systemic reasons that made them vulnerable to the prison industrial complex. An outbreak of COVID-19 will turn the prisons into death camps!

We must never forget our Black political prisoners, such as Mumia Abu-Jamal, Russell "Maroon" Shoatz, Arthur "Cetewayo" Johnson, Omar Askia Ali, Joseph "Jo-Jo" Bowen and so many other Black revolutionaries behind the walls. Many of these people are elderly and have pre-existing illnesses due to years of brutal treatment and toxic prison conditions. We refuse to allow the State to murder our Black revolutionaries!

GOVERNOR WOLF HAS THE POWER TO PREVENT THESE DEATHS. We must do everything possible to push him to use his unlimited power of Reprieve to bring people home immediately.

SUPPORTING ORGS:
CADBI (Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration) - Philly + DelCo
HRC (Human Rights Coalition) - Phillly
Black Lives Matter - Philly
Philly for REAL Justice
Mike Africa Jr - MOVE
Refuse Fascism Philly
Movement Alliance Project
Free People Strike

WHAT IS THE FREE PEOPLE STRIKE?
Free People Strike is a collective of people on the outside who hunger striking to free people from prison during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are using the hunger strike as tactic knowing that people on the inside have used it extensively all over the world. We know that our lives have equal value on either side of prison walls. With so many lives on the line, how could we not fight with ours? No one should be in a cage. No one should die in a cage. We are refusing food until this point is clear and people are released home. We began our hunger strike on May 28, 2020 and we will continue until Governor Wolf meets our Demands!

DEMANDS: bit.ly/freepeoplestrike
To learn more visit: www.freepeoplestrike.net

8 of the 12 hunger strikers of the Free People Strike will be present, along with speakers from CADBI, HRC, BLM Philly, the MOVE family, and Philly for REAL Justice.

#BlackLivesMatter
#JusticeforBreonaTaylor
#JusticeforGeorgeFloyd
#JusticeforAhmaudArbery
#BlackLivesMatterInPrison
#ShutDownBerks
#AbolishICE
#AbolishPolice
#AbolishPrison
#FreeTheVulnerable
#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners
#FreeThemAll