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Big news: After weeks of public pressure, prison profiteer Tom Gores just
resigned from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) board
Over the last few weeks, Color Of Change joined forces with Worth Rises to
launch a public campaign demanding the LACMA remove prison profiteer,
billionaire, and Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores from its Board of
Trustees. And last week, Tom Gores resigned in shame.1
This is an important victory, John: It means we are putting
prison profiteers on notice: we won’t allow anyone to profit from the
violence of the prison industrial complex. It means we are demanding phone
justice, toxifying the prison telecom industry, and holding predatory
billionaires like Tom Gores accountable.
Here’s what you need to know: Gores is the founder and CEO of Platinum
Equity, a private equity firm that owns Securus Technologies. Securus is a
prison and jail telecommunications firm that rakes in more $700 million
annually by price-gouging predominately Black, Brown, and low-income
families with incarcerated loved ones — charging upwards of $15 for a
15-minute phone call. This is the system Tom Gores props up and directly
profits from.
By pressuring Gores off of the LACMA board, we just put all prison
profiteers on notice: We won’t let you sit on cushy boards or make
decisions about our communities while profiting from our pain. And we
won’t let you enjoy accolades while your racist, exploitative practices
tear families apart.
[ [link removed] ]John, we know our fight is far from over. We have to keep
the pressure on Gores to demand he exits the prison telecoms industry for
good — because there should be ZERO profit motive in the criminal legal
system. Click here to tweet at Tom Gores now.
On top of Securus, Tom Gores owns the Detroit Pistons. Gore’s affiliation
with the NBA legitimizes his reputation as a business owner and investor
in the exploitative prison telecom industry. As the owner of the Detroit
Pistons, a predominantly Black team, in a historically Black city, it’s
hard to believe a “philanthropist” like Tom Gores is naive to systemic
inequity. And we won’t stop fighting until billionaires like Tom Gores
stop profiting off of Black pain.
That’s why we’re calling on every organization affiliated with Tom Gores
to lead boldly in this moment. To build a more equitable world for Black
people, we must demand accountability from institutions that provide power
and prestige to racial capitalists, who commodify Black suffering.
[ [link removed] ]Tell Tom Gores: Divest from prisons and jails now. We will hold you
accountable!
This is how we win, John. We win justice by holding powerful
actors accountable through public pressure, direct action, and not letting
up. That’s how we pressured Tom Gores to leave the LACMA board. Now, we
must demand divestment from prisons and fight for our loved ones behind
bars.
That’s what we do — we win justice for Black people, and this victory with
LACMA sets a precedent that we intend to amplify: prison profiteers don’t
deserve a seat at any table.
[ [link removed] ]Help us continue the fight — demand action from @TomGores now.
Until justice is real,
Scott, Erika, Malachi, Marybeth, Ernie, Ariel, Leonard, Madison, Ana,
Erikca, McKayla, and the rest of the Color of Change team
References:
1. “Tom Gores resigns from LACMA board over prison phone investment”,
Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, October 9, 2020
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