Meeting to Support the GA Prison Strike

The Georgia prison strike ended officially on December 17th. It ended on the condition that a fact finding coalition would be permitted access to several of the Georgia prisons to investigate conditions inside as well as begin the process of negotiation on the demands. The coalition has since discovered that on or around Dec 16th Terrance Bryant Dean was severely beaten by guards while handcuffed, nearly to death according to prisoners' accounts, and his whereabouts concealed from his mother who had contacted the warden. 37 or more men, whom the Georgia DOC had deemed conspirators of the strike, remain missing - their status and whereabouts unknown.

"The Coalition is raising concerns about the potential cover up of an attempted murder and the refusal, to date, of the prison to identify the missing 37 or more inmates deemed “conspirators” by the DOC."

Elaine Brown, a member of CCPR (Concerned Coalition for Prisoners Rights), the fact finding group entering the prisons, will be coming to give us an update and discuss how we can support a national campaign for prisoners rights. Hundreds of organizations nationwide have begun organizing around this strike and are beginning to develop a nationally coordinated network.

Here's the general structure of the meeting:

1) Elaine will address the group about the situation in Georgia -- what is happening with the 37 missing inmates -- and how CCPR is planning to respond in terms of nationally coordinated joint actions. January 15th may be the first day of action.
2) discuss how we can assist CCPR and what actions we could take in the Bay Area to draw national attention to the strike and related issues.
3) break into committees to develop the programs we've discussed.