Tonight: Shut Rikers Info Session in Ridgewood, Queens

Join us tonight Thursday, April 18, 2024, at 7pm for our Shut Rikers Info Session hosted at event space Nowadays in Queens (56-06 Cooper Ave, Flushing, NY 11385). This will be an opportunity to learn more about the crisis at Rikers and our organizing efforts to shut down the notorious and deadly jail complex! Learn more about the info session here!

During tonight’s Shut Rikers Info Session, we’ll:

• Discuss the current conditions at Rikers Island Jail Complex.
• Share our campaign demands and recent updates.
• Provide action steps to get involved in the fight to shut Rikers.

Got questions about Rikers? Join us this Tonight April 18th at 7pm!

For more information or to answer any questions about tonight’s info session, please reach out to Yonah at yonah@katalcenter.org. 

Tomorrow, Friday April 19: Katal at Brownsville Safety Alliances Community Resource Event

Join us tomorrow Friday, April 19, 2024 from 12pm to 4pm as we’ll be talbing for our Shut Rikers campaign at the Brownsville Safety Alliances community resource event (300 Mother Gaston Blvd Brooklyn, NY 11212). This event brings much needed services and organizations directly to the residents of Brownsville by meeting them in their spaces. We look forward to discussing our Shut Rikers campaign and the need to invest in true public safety: housing, health care, education, and jobs. 

For more information about the tabling event or if you’d like to join us, please reach out to Melanie at melanie@katalcenter.org. 

Next Wednesday, April 24th: Shut Rikers Phone Zap

Join us next Wednesday, April 24th, from 12-1 pm for our Shut Rikers Phone Zap via Zoom! Click here to RSVP. We will be calling City Council Members to demand they take immediate action to end the suffering and violence unfolding at Rikers. The City Council must swiftly pass Resolution 183, which calls on the federal courts to immediately appoint an independent receiver to take over Rikers and improve conditions until it is shut down.

This morning, fifteen female members of the City Council sent a letter to Mayor Adams calling on him to reduce the number of women incarcerated at Rikers,  cancel the city’s plan to expand their capacity to jail women and gender-expansive people, and invest in things that keep women out of jail: mental health care, supportive housing, and alternatives to incarceration. This further underscores the need to shut down Rikers and invest in our communities. Until that happens, the federal courts must step in to reduce violence and save lives. 

 Join us on Wednesday, April 24th from 12-1 pm for our Shut Rikers Phone Zap!

No prior experience is needed. If you know any friends, colleagues, or family members who would like to join this phone zap, please share with them this registration link: katal.info/phonezap 

Got questions? Reach out to Melanie at melanie@katalcenter.org. 

Katal Quotes of the Week

These are some of the quotes we’re thinking about this week.

“You can jail a revolutionary, but you can’t jail the revolution. You can run a freedom fighter around the country but you can’t run freedom fighting around the country. You can murder a liberator, but you can’t murder liberation.” –Fred Hampton

“We must shake our conscience free of the rapacious capitalism, racism, and patriarchy that will only assure our own self-destruction.” –Berta Cáceres

For printing and distribution, download the Katal Weekly Update PDF version.

Katal works to strengthen the people, policies, institutions, and movements that advance equity, health, and justice.

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Email: info@katalcenter.org
Phone: 64 6.875.8822.