What is Jail Support?
Jail Support (or “jail sitting”) means providing support in the form of food / water, rides or bus fare, basic first aid and resource guides to people being released from Baltimore’s central booking. It does not matter why someone was locked up, we want to acknowledge that arrest and incarceration is a dehumanizing experience. We believe that every prisoner is a political prisoner, that all prisons are operated with political purpose to oppress, punish and extract labor from those that our state deems “criminal” – which are primarily those of us who are Black, poor, or mentally ill. We are abolitionists who also believe that direct service work and revolutionary struggle are connected. Our goals, through this work, are to bear witness and provide comfort, to de-naturalize petty abuse at the hands of the police and corrections facilities, to resist, and to build relationships within the struggle for a prison-free world. We are NOT a legal aid organization and have no formal legal training.
Who are you?
We are a collective of people of different backgrounds – some of us are activists, some are social workers, some of us have incarcerated friends or family. We would love to have anyone interested join in the work, in particular anyone who has direct experience inside the criminal justice system. We are not cops, we do not corroborate with the jail, the criminal justice system, or police. If you are excited by this endeavor, please check out the “Get Involved” tab above.
WE ALL WE GOT, WE ALL WE NEED. POWER TO THE PEOPLE.
*The current schedule for Jail Support is every Sunday 4pm-10pm, outside Central Booking on Eager St. at 301 East Eager St.*
To email for more information about volunteering or organizing with us contact: baltimorejailsupport@riseup.net