Prison inmates nationwide, seeking to put pressure on the country's penal system, began a two-week strike on Tuesday. The strike was timed to begin on the anniversary of the killing of jailed African American activist George Jackson. He was killed by a guard in 1971 after taking guards and two inmates hostage in a bid to escape from San Quentin State Prison in California. The final day of the strike — Sept. 9 — also carries symbolism. That's the day in 1971 that the Attica Prison riots began in New York, eventually leaving more than 40 people dead when police stormed in to re-take the facility. Prisoners leading the protests say the strike is aimed at ending what they call "modern-day slavery." Inmates complain they are paid pennies on the dollar per hour for labor. This is made legal by an exemption in the 13th Amendment which allows involuntary servitude for those who convicted of crimes in the United States. The event is spearheaded by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, a network of imprisoned prisoner rights advocates based out of Lee Correctional Institution in South Carolina and supported by the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC), a prisoner-led trade group. Inmates plan to abstain from reporting to their assigned jobs, halt commissary spending, hold peaceful sit-in protests and refuse to eat during the strike. “Prisoner participation depends on their location and privilege status,” said Amani Sawari, a prison reform activist and spokesperson for the strike. “If inmates are working they can suffocate the prison industrial complex by reducing their spending. In some detention facilities, prisoners may not be working so they might do a sit-in. It all depends.” More:Larry Nassar moved from Arizona prison because lawyers say he was assaulted hours after placement in general population More:Paul Manafort trial by the numbers: 27 witnesses, 18 charges and a potential 305 years in prison More:Santa Fe High students return to site of deadly Texas shooting with more security The call for action comes as a response to a prison riot that took place in Lee Correctional Institution in South Carolina in April of this year, resulting in the death of seven inmates and injuring of over a dozen others. Inmates posted videos on social media showing the aftermath at the budget-strapped prison. “Initially, a strike was planned for 2019, but the Lee prisoners wanted a now-response. We want to make sure that things like this don't happen in the future,” said Sawari. A prison official at the Lee county jail said that officials are aware of the planned strike. "We are currently monitoring this situation for any activity within the prisons," prisons spokesman Dexter Lee said in a statement. "The agency will take the necessary actions to ensure the prisons are safe to operate." The prisoners released a list of 10 demands on the IWOC website that include, in part, the immediate improvement of prison policies, an increase in prisoner wages and rescinding laws that prevent imprisoned persons from having a chance at parole. The inmates also call for more rehabilitation services and voting rights. Prisons in at least 17 states are expected to participate in the protests, according to Sawari, with a majority of them located in the South and West Coast. On Aug. 21, U.S. cities participating will include Seattle; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; San Jose, California; Corona, California; Los Angeles; Phoenix; Omaha, Nebraska; San Antonio, Texas; Asheville, North Carolina; Black Mountain, North Carolina; Atlanta; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Des Moines, Iowa; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Minneapolis; Philadelphia; Boston; and Brooklyn, New York. Experts say there is a chance the protest may drive change in some detention centers. "If the strike is widespread enough, it could be effective," said Lea Johnson, professor of law at the University of Florida's Levin College of Law. "These circumstances like poor labor conditions, poor prison conditions, unpaid labor, and lack of access to mental health treatment exist seemingly behind closed doors. By going on a national strike, you pull back the curtain and it can force legislators to act." Follow Dalvin Brown on Twitter, @Dalvin_Brown<doc-sep>Thousands of prisoners around the country are launching a 19-day strike on Tuesday to protest ultra-low pay, forced labor, and otherwise poor conditions in prisons across the U.S. The strike, which was organized by a group of incarcerated prisoner rights advocates, is planned to conclude on the 47th anniversary of the 1971 Attica prison riot in upstate New York that ended with the deaths of 29 inmates and 10 hostages. Inmates plan to refuse to work, and a smaller number plan to go on hunger strikes and conduct sit-ins. Organizers expect prisoners in at least 17 states will participate, according to Vox. Advertisement The prisoner rights advocates speaking out against what they see as exploitative labor practices have gained attention in recent weeks as thousands of California inmates were sent off to fight what has become the largest wildfire in the state’s history for just $1 an hour. These firefighters, who volunteered for a vocational training program offered by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, are often disqualified from the work after release because a required credential is denied to anyone with a criminal record. Advertisement Advertisement Hundreds of thousands of prisoners are also employed in jobs outside and inside the prisons, most commonly doing work to maintain the prisons. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, the average prison worker makes around 85 cents an hour. In 2017, inmates in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, and Texas were not paid for most of their work. Proponents of these low-paying jobs have argued that inmates benefit from the work experience and that prisons, which are already often cash-strapped, cannot afford to pay more; opponents have argued that prisoners do need real wages to be able to buy basic necessities other than food in the prisons. Advertisement The 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution bans slavery and involuntary servitude, except “as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” This explicit reference to forced labor for prisoners in an amendment banning slavery has led advocates to feel justified in arguing much of the billion-dollar prison industry is reliant on slave labor. The strike is calling for a public boycott of companies, such as Victoria’s Secret, Starbucks, Microsoft, and JC Penney, that have benefited from prison labor On top of their labor complaints, prisoners are also protesting what they describe as poor prison conditions, often arising from overcrowding and underfunding. Earlier this year, a prison riot in South Carolina that caused seven inmate deaths sparked protests by those who partially blamed understaffing for the violence. The group organizing the protests has released a set of 10 demands, including improvements to prison conditions, an end to unpaid or underpaid labor, and an increase in rehabilitation programs. “Fundamentally, it’s a human rights issue,” the group said in a statement. “Every day prisoners are harmed due to conditions of confinement. For some of us it’s as if we are already dead. So what do we have to lose?”<doc-sep>Inmates across several US states are launching a three-week prison strike, protesting what they call racist sentencing laws, inhumane conditions, and lack of pay for prison labor that amounts to slavery. Spearheaded by a group of prisoner activists called Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, the strike is supposed to take form of civil disobedience from August 21 to September 9. Protesters have published a 10-point list of demands, centering on restoring the voting rights of prisoners and ex-convicts and treating those imprisoned with dignity. #August21 A nationwide prison strike is coming. Prisoner organized and led. 2 min ✊🏾 video laying it out. pic.twitter.com/9OUkrDYLJA — IWOC (@IWW_IWOC) August 13, 2018 Among the other demands are an “immediate end to prison slavery,” with everyone in prison to be “paid the prevailing wage in their state or territory for their labor,” and an “immediate end to the racial overcharging, over-sentencing, and parole denials of Black and brown humans.” The activists are also demanding the abolition of several laws and federal programs that have imposed mandatory minimum sentences, require states to ensure violent offenders serve at least 85 percent of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole, or restrict prisoners’ ability to file lawsuits. PRESS RELEASE: NATIONAL PRISON STRIKE AUGUST 21-SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2018 pic.twitter.com/Mzbb4e96yp — Jailhouse Lawyers Speak #August21 (@JailLawSpeak) April 24, 2018 The American Civil Liberties Union has endorsed the strike, arguing that its key demand is the restoration of voting rights. Most US states bar prison inmates from voting, and in some cases deny the franchise to former prisoners as well. Only two US states – Vermont and Maine – allow all current and former prisoners to vote. Incarcerated people are planning a nationwide strike starting tomorrow, their demands include better living conditions, sentencing reform, educational and rehabilitation opportunities, and an end to prison slavery. #August21https://t.co/abSFcgVxnJ — Watching The Hawks (@WatchingHawks) August 20, 2018 Though the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, adopted after the Civil War, allowed for suspending the voting rights “for participation in rebellion, or other crime” – clearly targeting the citizens of Southern states that fought to secede – the phrasing has allowed states to temporarily or permanently disenfranchise felons in general. The other major grievance of the prisoners comes from the 13th Amendment, which in 1865 abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” This, they argue, means that slavery is alive and well in the US prison system. North Jersey DSA supports and proudly endorses the nationwide prison strike set to begin August 21- September 9th. Prison labor is slavery and we demand its abolition. Burn Down The American Plantation! #August21https://t.co/ZUJITFJflw — North Jersey DSA 🌹 (@NorthNJDSA) August 14, 2018 Another connection to slavery is symbolic: August 21 is the anniversary of the 1831 slave revolt in Virginia led by Nat Turner. On the same day in 1971, prison activist and founder of Black Guerrilla Family, George Jackson, was killed during an attempt to escape from the San Quentin prison in California. Activists have referred to both anniversaries as meaningful for their choice of a starting date. #ThisDayInHistory#August21, 1831 Nat Turner launches an all-out rebellion against the American plantation. 187 years later, the Civil War is over but slavery is NOT. Today, the #NationalPrisonStrike kicks off on #NatTurnerDay. #prisonstrike#TDIHpic.twitter.com/FuQvS7jPdG — dissident poetry. #August21 (@raiseablackflag) August 21, 2018 September 9 was chosen as the strike’s closing day, to commemorate the 1971 rebellion at Attica Prison in upstate New York. Some 1,300 inmates at Attica demanded an end to slave labor and police brutality for four days, before a crackdown by law enforcement resulted in 39 people dead and 128 injured. The 2016 prison strike, also organized by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, chose September 9 as its starting date. The US has the most prisoners in the world + the most prisoners per capita. Many of them are treated like slaves, working for corporate America for pennies. So we are the largest slave state in the world. This is why a massive nationwide #PrisonStrike started today. — Lee Camp [Redacted] (@LeeCamp) August 21, 2018 The US ranks first in the world both in the total number of people in prison and the incarceration rate (655 per 100,000). There are approximately 2.3 million people in a wide range of prisons and jails in the US, according to the most recent figures by the Prison Policy Initiative. If one includes another 3.7 million currently on probation and about 840,000 on parole, the US judicial system actually exercises control over nearly 7 million people. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!<doc-sep>
What may shape up to be one of the largest prison strikes in modern U.S. history began Tuesday, with inmates across the country protesting what they call “modern day slavery.” The nearly three-week strike targets poorly paid prison labor, prison conditions and life-long sentencing, and was spurred by deadly riots earlier this year at the Lee Correctional Institution where seven inmates were killed. Through labor strikes, hunger strikes and sit-ins staged from Aug. 21 to Sept. 9, protest organizers are demanding an end to what they see as exploitation and racism in the world’s largest incarceration complex. “Prisoners understand they are being treated as animals. We know that our conditions are causing physical harm and deaths that could be avoided,” Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, a nationwide inmates’ collective, said in a pre-strike statement. “Prisons in America are a warzone,” it added. It’s unclear how many of the almost 2.3 million people serving time in America’s vast incarceration system will risk substantial penal retaliation to join the protest. But the movement has the potential for massive operational disruption as correctional institutions rely on prison labor, from cooking and serving the meals, to washing the laundry, to maintaining the grounds. As correctional facilities from coast to coast are hit with strikes, here’s what to know. Who is protesting and why Led by inmate organizations like Jailhouse Lawyers Speak and Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, the 19-day strike has countrywide reach with at least 17 states reportedly participating so far. The strike comes in response to bloodshed at the Lee Correctional Institution in South Carolina, which was deemed one of the deadliest prison brawls in recent memory. At the April 15 uprising, sparked in part by gang-related violence, at least seven inmates bled to death from stab wounds, while 22 others suffered injuries. “South Carolina is only a reflection of the issues facing other states and governmental buildings of confinement. This is a systematic problem born out of slavery that this nation must come to grips with and address,” Jailhouse Lawyers Speak said in its strike manifesto. Strike organizers have spelled out 10 demands, including improving living conditions to “recognize the humanity of imprisoned men and women” and ending racialized sentencing that discriminates against “black and brown humans.” They are demanding an end to “death by incarceration,” or sentences without parole, and calling for increased spending on rehabilitation support. The strike also hinges on prison labor, which is often compulsory and remunerated in just pennies. Thousands of captive laborers go to work each day for the multi-billion dollar, for-profit prison industry, yet some reportedly earn as little as 4 cents an hour. David Fathi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) National Prison Project, points out that even in states that do not operate compulsory labor schemes, the power discrepancy between the inmates and those who guard them leads to possibly coercive scenarios. Prisoners are in “a situation where the usual checks on employer exploitation and abuse simply don’t operate,” he told the BBC. Prison labor captured a national spotlight amid the devastating wildfires in California, when it was revealed that many of the volunteers risking their lives are inmates getting paid just $1 an hour. Why the dates of the protest are significant The strike is bookended by dates seen as flashpoints in the criminal justice system. The strike began on Aug. 21, 47 years after African American activist George Jackson was shot dead during an escape attempt from San Quentin Prison in California. The strike is scheduled to end on Sept. 9, the anniversary of the Attica Prison uprising, when inmates took over the correctional facility in upstate New York. The state of American prisons America has less than 5% of the world’s population, yet holds nearly 25% of the prisoners. By the National Research Council’s count that amounts to nearly one in every 100 adults currently in prison or jail. In February, British courts ruled that the combination of harsh sentences, poor medical treatment and excessive use of solitary confinement made imprisonment in America a human rights violation. The strike organizers offered a similarly stark assessment: “Every day prisoners are harmed due to conditions of confinement. For some of us it’s as if we are already dead. So what do we have to lose?” Write to Laignee Barron at Laignee.Barron@time.com.