CCR First Wednesdays: Hunger Strikers

Date 

Add to My Calendar Wednesday, August 6, 2014 12:00am

Location 

Join CCR at our monthly First Wednesday social to mingle with radical minds and for a short program about hunger strikers. We will discuss what inspires the world's longest hunger striker to continue her fight, and how hunger strikers at Pelican Bay, Guantánamo and the small Indian state of Manipur have kept their struggles in the public debate and created meaningful change.

When: Wednesday, August 6th at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Von Bar (6 to Bleecker; B/D/F/M to Broadway-Lafayette) We apologize the space has stairs and is not accessible.
RSVP: Click here to RSVP online. Space is limited, and we recommend you RSVP in advance.

CCR Hosts

  • Vincent Warren, Executive Director
  • Omar Farah, Staff Attorney. Omar represents clients in Guantánamo including hunger striker Tariq Ba Odah.
  • Jessica Lee, Bertha Justice Institute Fellow. Jessica is finishing up a two year appointment at CCR where she worked on a range of cases and participated in two delegations to India and South Africa and met with Irom Chanu Sharmila, the “Iron Lady of Manipur” who has been on a hunger strike since November 2000.

“This is the third anniversary since we began using peaceful actions collectively to push for an end to the use of long-term solitary confinement. If we look back and remember before July 2011, we prisoners were alone, isolated, not being heard. We wrote newspapers and nothing was printed. We wrote lawmakers and never heard back. Few people knew how many of us were locked away in windowless cells for 23 hours a day (often more) here in California. Few understood how many others are kept in various forms of isolation here in our state in other SHUs, Ad Seg cells, mental health cells, including women and juveniles. Almost no one understood California’s place as the state that uses solitary confinement the most of anywhere … Today we celebrate our movement. We do not rely on the legislature or the courts alone. Only by a strong growing movement of those of us inside and our supporters outside do we have any hope to make all the changes that we need. You keep CDCR’s feet to the fire. We are grateful that you stand with us.” Statement from Pelican Bay representatives, July 2014
 

Last modified 

July 30, 2014