America is currently in the midst of the biggest prison strike in the nation’s history.
Campaign ActionInmates in approximately 12 states and 29 facilities have taken part in the strike to protest free prison labor. Organizers have estimated that about 24,000 inmates have taken part. The strike, which began Sept. 9 on the 45th anniversary of the Attica uprising, was organized in large part by the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC).
As you can probably imagine, it's not easy to organize prisoners. Access to the outside is limited, there is little transparency about what occurs inside, and rules are aggressively enforced. The limitations of such a strike make this movement that much more remarkable. The Intercept reports that "For months, inmates at dozens of prisons across the country have been organizing through a network of smuggled cellphones, social media pages, and the support of allies on the outside."
The IWOC worked with the Free Alabama Movement (FAM), a group of inmates at William C. Holman Correctional Facility, to organize the strike. Holman is one of the worst prisons in Alabama, an understaffed, overcrowded facility where violence is common.
"They cannot run these facilities without us," said one organizing flyer. "We hope to end prison slavery by making it impossible, by refusing to be slaves any longer."