Recently, Cori and the mayor of St. Louis toured our jails in the city.
John,
Recently, Cori and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones toured our jails in the city.
We need to tell you about the conditions Cori saw and have an honest conversation about how we treat people who are incarcerated in our country.
There are so many of our Black community members detained in these jails that are awaiting trial. The conditions are so abhorrent that detainees are begging for plea deals, even while they maintain their innocence.
They are begging to be sent to a penitentiary to escape jail.
The food has been sludge. A detainee told us he wouldn’t feed it to his dog. We saw one tray of food and we couldn’t recognize what some of it was.
They know jail isn't a hotel. But we're talking about human beings. People deserve respect.
As we left, some detainees chanted, “Free the slaves.” Those were the last words we heard on our visit.
We are still haunted by these words and hope it also makes you feel uncomfortable.
It’s an urgent reminder of how much work we need to do to end our incarceration crisis in America, immediately improve the way we treat human beings in our jails and prisons, and address the roots of white supremacy in our criminal-legal systems.
Cori has made it clear these issues are TOP priorities for her in Congress as she organizes and legislates for racial justice. It’s why the GOP and Fox News can’t stop talking about Cori and making racist attacks against her work to support those who are most vulnerable in our jails.
If you want to support Cori as she leads this work, make a $5 donation today to power her efforts to lift up the voices of those who have been traumatized by incarceration and fight for urgent change.
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Thank you,
Team Cori
