We had a warm and impactful #CutShutINVEST Community Conversation last night, moderated by Katal members Nikki and Tiffany! At the top of the event, we held a moment of silence for those who had passed away due to COVID-19 while under the custody of the CT Department of Correction, reflecting on our #FreeThemNowCT campaign.
Following our moment of Silence, our members Jason and André shared their differing experience in the system due to systemic racism, while also detailing the negative impacts community supervision has had on them following their arrest:
“We were both around the same age when we were arrested, we were in our forties. We were both educated married professionals. We were working and had families. Up to that point, we had similar experiences, but then they diverged due to race.” – Jason
“I was out of prison for 5 years before I got my first job. For a person, who had gone to school and work and all that, it hurt. Being in that situation hurt.” – André
We then went into smaller, intimate discussions in breakout rooms to discuss the ways in which Connecticut needs to do more to continue to cut the incarcerated population, and cut the number of people on probation and parole.
Join us at our next #CutShutINVEST Community Conversation on Thursday, May 27 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm! During that conversation, we will be focusing on how Connecticut can shut prisons down, especially as the number of incarcerated people in the state continues to decline. Register here!
