On Wednesday, October 10th, at 11:00a EST dozens of community members, including family of incarcerated people, their allies, activists and elected officials came together to advocate for critical reforms that Michigan’s Department of Corrections is in desperate need of. Attendees were asked to display an image of their incarcerated loved one on either a T-shirt, framed picture or poster; this doubled the number of faces that ’showed up’ in strong support.
There were a wide variety of speakers who shared their experiences with the criminal legal system and the changes that they wanted to see according to those experiences. These included impacted family members like Makiyah Clay, the daughter of inside NLA member, currently serving as the chapter’s National Communications Director. Her father, currently a secretary for the NLA 1024 chapter, was taken from her when she was less than a year old and now as a young woman in her 20s her memories of him are confined by visiting rooms and expensive phone calls. This experience was shared by another speaker, William Hawkins, whose father is the president of the local NLA 1024 Chapter. Hawkins, the son of a juvenile lifer, shared his frustration with not having his father present for the significant moments of his life including grade school sports games, graduations and his wedding. The harm caused by incarceration extends far beyond the incarcerated individual.
There are over 40,000 people forced to reside in Michigan’s state prisons but the number of people restricted in their life’s development due to the impact of Michigan’s mass incarceration problem exceeds far beyond that number into hundreds of thousands of people who are directly connected to those 40,000. Its heartbreaking to hear about that damage, to know that the years stolen from families can never be restored. For many enforced mandatory minimums aim to steal hundreds of more years from Michigan families.
However, in all of this there is a silver lining and that lining shined bright at NLA’s rally. A group of incarcerated organizers from the local Michigan 1024 chapter who had no access to the internet, no way to call their legislator, no ability to travel freely or to stand on the capitol steps were able stretch their banner across those steps in spite of all those and many other obstacles. They were able communicate to hundreds of people over the course of the months leading up to the rally to attend and were able to recruit dozens of impacted speakers. Through the many barriers they’d even attracted several representatives to speak in support of their initiatives. Incarcerated NLA organizers in the 1025 chapter hosted a very successful statewide rally at the most prestigious location for demonstration, all from the behind bars.
Through this effort it’s clear to see that one of the most powerful gifts that prisoners have is their organizing power. Their inability to be physically present with us fuels their passion, developing their recruitment and promotional skillsets. Imprisoned people are forced to build networks outside of their environment and to strengthen those networks. The NLA, as a national organization already has a strong network in comparison to the vast majority of inside organizations that compete for outside support, but NLA chapter 1024 was able to strengthen their statewide network by hosting this rally. Not only were they able to strengthen their own network but they also created a space for community organizers and family members to develop networks. The NLA developed that statewide network of criminal justice reform supporters while advancing their agenda to legislators.
I had the pleasure of speaking during the event about the Good Time Campaign to end mandatory minimums in our state by restoring good time credits and allowing prisoners to earn time off of their sentences for demonstrating good behavior, holding a job, completing their GED, earning degrees and otherwise demonstrating their rehabilitation. The goal of the state should be to have less people incarcerared and filter people out of prisons who are focused on equipping themselves to function as civilians on the outside. I’d brought a stack of #PassMIGoodTime Newsletters that left my hands faster than I expected after I spoke. I was pleased to see so many people committed to seeing Good Time restored in Michigan.
I was even more excited to see several state representatives like Kyra Bolden, Cynthia Johnson and other members of the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus, speak to the crowd in support of their demanded reforms, including ending mandatory minimums and restoring good time credits. They pleaded with attendees to be consistent with contacting the legislature about the reforms that they demand to see. While legislators continue to advocate for these reforms, it is imperative that they can identify concrete examples provided by their constituents as to why these reforms must be incorporated immediately.
It is our job as constituents to voice our concerns and organize in support of legislation that responds to those concerns. With multiple elected officials standing behind the initiatives of imprisoned people and their wide variety of outside supporters, any legislator that chooses to stand in the way of incorporating these reforms should be ashamed. I am always left in awe of what imprisoned people, especially in the state of Michigan, have been able to organize in our community from behind the wall.
This is not the first event that incarcerated leaders have organized and it won’t be the last. Inside organizers with the support of outside allies should be hosting events like this at the capitol building regularly until all of their demands are met, all of which are not unreasonable.
Michigan’s Corrections Department is far behind the majority of states, and rather than allowing this to persist, it is our responsibility as residents to make sure that our state closes that huge gap. It’s events like these that inspire and motivate me in the work that I do on their behalf and I eagerly look forward to participate in even more opportunities to collaborate with the NLA and other similarly aligned groups in Michigan and across the country.
