Outreach in Harlem with The Brotherhood Sister Sol
Brotherhood Sister Sol participants and Katal staff headed out to do outreach on July 31 2024
This week we partnered with The Brotherhood Sister Sol (BroSis) to train roughly 50 high school students to do outreach and door-knocking in their communities for our Shut Rikers campaign. For more than 25 years, the nonprofit has worked for social justice through education, organizing and training. With a focus on Black and Latinx youth, BroSis supports young people in claiming the power of their history, identity, and community to build the future they want to see.
On Monday we facilitated a “Canvassing for Change” training with the BroSis participants to teach them about this vital organizing tool. On Tuesday and Wednesday we spent the afternoon doing outreach in their communities. The young people knocked on doors and spoke with neighbors about the crisis on Rikers and the need to invest in our communities. They brought so much energy and passion to the canvassing – and we were able to get dozens of people to sign our petition calling on the mayor to shut Rikers. Check out more photos from our time with BroSis here.
The Brotherhood Sister Sol and Katal debriefed the outreach session on July 31, 2024
July 31: Rally to End Solitary Confinement at New York City Hall
Katal staff interns gathered with allies at the #HALTSolitary rally at City Hall on Jul 29, 2024
On Saturday, July 27, Mayor Adams issued an emergency order to suspend the implementation of Local Law 42 – which ends solitary confinement in New York City – the day before it was slated to take effect. This move comes after the city council overrode the mayor’s veto of the law in January 2024. This is Adams’s latest move to stymie reform and keep this tortuous and deadly practice going at Rikers. On Monday, July 29, we joined the #HALTsolitary Campaign for a rally on the City Hall steps to demand that the mayor and Department of Correction (DOC) implement the law fully and effectively, to finally end solitary confinement. Check out a video from the rally.
Tabling at Brownsville Safety Alliance Community Event Last Week
Katal staff led a tabling session at a Brownsville Safety Alliance event in Brooklyn on July 26 and July 27.
On Friday and Saturday last week, we tabled at the Brownsville Safety Alliance community resource event about our Shut Rikers campaign. The goal of the event was to connect Brownsville residents to health care, social services, and organizing groups like us! We spoke with directly impacted community members about the ongoing crisis at Rikers, how things have gotten worse since Mayor Adams took office, and how our communities need investments in mental health and transportation, not incarceration.
Throughout August, we are continuing to hold info sessions and tabling sessions at community centers, senior centers, and libraries across the city. This Friday, August 3, we’re tabling from 1–5 p.m. at the Patterson Houses’ Neighborhood NStat event at 301 E. 143rd Street in the Bronx. If you’re in the neighborhood, please stop by and chat with us!
If you would like us to table at a library or senior center in your neighborhood, please contact Lakenya, our apprentice community organizer, at lakenya@katalcenter.org.
Next Week: Phone Zap on Wednesday, August 7!
Join us next Wednesday, August 7, from noon to 1 p.m. for our Shut Rikers Phone Zap via Zoom! Click here to RSVP. We will be calling New York City Council members to demand that they take immediate action to end the suffering and violence at Rikers. With at least 32 deaths among people in DOC custody since Adams took office, 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.
Join us at noon this Wednesday, August 7, for our Shut Rikers Phone Zap!
Got questions? Reach out to Ricky at ricky@katalcenter.org.
Katal in the News
- On Monday, July 29, our director of advocacy, Yonah Zeitz, spoke with David Lombardo from The Capitol Press Room about S.5877 – Salazar / A.5709 – Gallagher, which would increase the number of members on the State Commission of Correction and diversify its appointments. Jails from Buffalo to New York City to Suffolk County are in crisis – and our state needs and deserves an effective independent watchdog. Read the full interview.
Katal Quotes of the Week
These are some of the quotes we’re thinking about this week.
“It is our duty to fight for our freedom.
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to lose but our chains.”
― Assata Shakur, Assata: An Autobiography
“The Brotherhood Sister Sol continues to demand the closing of Rikers Island. The jail has been, and continues to be, a horrific place that is a stain on our city.” ― Abraham Velazquez, Jr., liberation program coordinator at The Brotherhood Sister Sol
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Katal works to strengthen the people, policies, institutions, and movements that advance equity, health, and justice. Join us: web, Twitter, Facebook! Email: info@katalcenter.org Phone: 646.875.8822
