Prison(er) Advocacy and Activism Series

End the Prison Industrial Complex (EPIC)

http://endthepic.wordpress.com/about/ - End the Prison Industrial Complex is a Prison Abolition group in Kingston, On made up of citizens in that town.  Really great, radical work - I highly recommend a look at their blog - below.


The problem around the existence of the Prison Industrial Complex as they (and others) see it:


"Politicians use prison expansion and tough-on-crime legislation as an effective PR strategy to divert people’s attention from the economic, social, and environmental crises of the day. While politicians claim that prison expansion is an economic engine, it actually further criminalizes communities of colour, immigrants, queer folks, drug users, and poor people who become easy scapegoats for our social problems."


Check out this link too.  An anti-prison expansion zine made by the same grassroots activists in Kingston and posted in a PDF file.


http://endthepic.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/superprisonreading.pdf

Old Prison Reform Joke - New Twist


Not related to "End the Prison Industrial Complex" is this New Twist on Old Joke, now referring to Conrad Black: 


"A conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged; a liberal is a conservative who’s been indicted; and a passionate prison reformer is a conservative who’s in one."