Moms of men in Tamms Supermax stand up to AFSCME

Action to close Tamms: “I am a mom” and “I am a man

 

Saying they support Governor Pat Quinn’s proposal to close Tamms Supermax prison, TY10, many moms of men in Tamms, Darrell Cannon, a Chicago Police torture survivor who was wrongfully convicted and served 23 years in prison (the last 9 in Tamms) before being exonerated, family members and other former prisoners will hold a march and press conference on April 4, 2012, Noon, at the James R. Thompson Center at 100 W. Randolph St., on the anniversary of MLK’s death.  Families Say “The issue is human dignity, not jobs”

After the press conference, they will march peacefully from IDOC’s headquarters and governor’s office at the James R. Thompson Center over to AFSCME, Council 31, headquarters at 205 N. Michigan Avenue. The marchers will be led by moms, dads, sisters, and other loved-ones of men at Tamms.
 
In a statement by organizers of the march, they voiced support of Governor Quinn’s proposal to close Tamms supermax, stating that “the opponents to closure are the correctional officer’s union (AFSCME) and downstate legislators.

“Our march will honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 44th anniversary of his assassination in Memphis, and commemorate his collaboration with AFSCME in the effort to win both worker’s rights and civil rights for striking sanitation workers. In doing so, we celebrate AFSCME’s progressive past and remind the governor, the Illinois Department of Corrections and the union that closing Tamms supermax is not about jobs, but about human dignity.” 

Marchers will carry signs that read “I AM A MAN,” first carried in Memphis, but here signifying that men at Tamms, and prisoners everywhere have fundamental human rights. Other signs will read “I am a mom” and “I am a son” to indicate that the families of men at Tamms are also devastated by the prison’s soul destroying regime of solitary confinement and sensory deprivation, stating that those most affected by the prison live in Cook County, not Southern Illinois.

Other signs will state:

People with signs that read:
I am a man (after the signs from the civil rights movement)
I am a mom (after the signs from the civil rights movement)
I am a Nun (we have some sisters with us!)
Torture is a crime not a career

My brother is a human being

My son is not a paycheck

We support unions that support human rights

Tamms shocks the conscience

Tamms destroys lives

Close Tamms

A healthy economy is not based on suffering

What would MLK do?

Also scheduled to be at the march are: Jean Maclean Snyder, Attorney
Laurie Jo Reynolds, Organizer, Tamms Year Ten
Professor Stephen F. Eisenman, Tamms Year Ten
  
TY10 is a grassroots, all-volunteer organization committed to closure of the supermax, and ending the use of long-term solitary confinement and other forms of cruel, degrading and inhumane forms of punishment and incarceration in Illinois. It was formed in 2008 on the tenth anniversary of the opening of Tamms and has worked with state legislators to reform, and now close the prison.