Dear John,  

We believe everyone deserves dignity and justice. But right now, more than 2.3 million people are locked up behind bars, subject to inhumane conditions and inadequate health care in a system that perpetuates cycles of trauma and fails to keep communities safe. With the pandemic, the dangers of imprisonment have multiplied exponentially.   

It’s long past time to dismantle our current system and build something new—a future where we respond to harm with transformative justice and resources that build community well-being, instead of tearing families and communities apart. 

That’s why, this week, people across the country are taking part in our National Days of Action to #FreeThemAll—urging public officials to take immediate steps to release as many people from jails, prisons, and detention centers as possible, and work toward a future without incarceration.

Will you help us bring about that future? Here are three ways you can join AFSC, partners, and communities to #FreeThemAll today: 

1. Join our virtual phone bank on Zoom today at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT: With partners Standing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) and the Detention Watch Network, we will make phone calls to public officials to #FreeThemAll and more. “Abolition Zaps” take place weekly through September. Register for more information. 

2. Contact your governor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) online. Tell them: Protect people from COVID-19 in prisons, jails, and detention centers!

3. Take part in an event in person or online. AFSC, partners, and community members have organized local protests, events, and online opportunities in California; Washington, D.C.; Florida; Illinois; Iowa; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; New Jersey; New York; North Carolina; and Oregon. 

We hope you join us for our National Days of Action to #FreeThemAll. And don’t forget to spread the word!

In solidarity, 

Lewis Webb 
Interim Coordinator of Healing Justice 

Kristin Kumpf 
Director of Human Migration and Mobility