Updated with new cities and actions! This Monday, Feb. 20th, is the National Occupy Day of Action In Support of Prisoners. For information on events in Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Denver, Durham, Eureka, Fresno, Indio, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, SF Bay Area, and Washington, DC, see here. Prisoners at Ohio State Penitentiary will refuse food in solidarity on Monday.

The following statement was issued by a group of formerly-incarcerated members of All of Us Or None and Occupy For Prisoners. For more about why this protest has been called, see below.

To the Occupy Oakland family, all supporters of Occupy Oakland, and the larger Occupy Wall Street movement:

We are writing to appreciate everyone who has ever supported PEOPLE inside jails, prisons, and detention facilities throughout the country. We are also writing to ask for support from everyone planning to participate in February 20th National Day of Occupy in Support of Prisoners. PEOPLE in prisons – a nice name for cages – as well as formerly imprisoned PEOPLE, are one of the most marginalized and vulnerable populations in our society. We have been labeled as “offenders”, “criminals”, “convicts”, “ex-offenders”, “ex-cons”, and many other dehumanizing terms, and are scapegoated for causing society’s fundamental problems. We are PEOPLE, and not the labels they use. The real “criminals” are those who run Wall Street, who are responsible for genocide, racism, xenophobia, and all forms of discrimination. They lead the attacks against communities throughout America.

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