National ‘Wear Orange’ protest in opposition of mass incarceration to be held October 30
On October 30 people across the country will wear orange as a symbol of their stance against mass incarceration.
Protesters will take to streets, high schools, college campuses and public transportation to challenge other to join the opposition of the oppressive system of mass incarceration.
The event, hosted by the STOP Mass Incarceration Network, selected orange because that is the color that prisoners are forced to wear — from the torture chambers in Guantanamo, to the infamous SHU units in California. Wearing the color is meant to turn it into the color of resistance, instead of imprisonment.
A press release for STOP states that the U. S. ” has the highest incarceration rate in world history. 2.4 million people, a huge number of them Black and Latino youth are in prison. Black men are incarcerated at a rate over 6 times that of white men, and given on average much higher sentences for the same offenses. We live in a society that offers no future to masses of Black and Latino youth except prison and punishment.”
The protest comes as part of a series of actions in conjunction with the October Month of Resistance, a move organized to “stop mass incarceration, police terror, Repression, and the criminalization of a generation.”
Participants are urged to send pictures, videos, and reports to smimreports@gmail.com.
For more information visit http://www.stopmassincarceration.net.