Invest/Divest: A Post Election Strategy to End Mass Incarceration and Fund Our Vision

How can we end mass incarceration and move forward our vision for our communities after this election?

Across the country, organizers are struggling to figure out what the recent election means for our communities and organizations. This webinar will introduce the invest/divest framework that is more relevant now than ever. This framework is based on defunding the institutions of mass incarceration and using those resources to fund systems that strengthen our communities. These local and state campaigns may be especially important in the post-election climate.

The Movement for Black Lives recently lifted up Invest-Divest as one of its major demands in A Vision for Black Lives: Policy Demands for Black Power, Freedom and Justice. The platform demands "investments in the education, health and safety of Black people, instead of investments in the criminalizing, caging, and harming of Black people," and lays out several specific ways to make this happen.

In addition, Communities United, Make the Road New York, and Padres & Jóvenes Unidos recently released a report called The $3.4 Trillion Mistake: The Cost of Mass Incarceration and Criminalization, and How Justice Reinvestment Can Build a Better Future for All. The report details how the U.S.'s misguided criminal justice and immigration enforcement policies put $3.4 trillion into harming communities of color over the last three decades. It also recommends robust initiatives to reinvest those funds in meeting critical community needs.

Speakers

• Marbre Stahly-Butts of the Center for Popular Democracy will discuss The Movement for Black Lives policy statement and how it can be used to support local campaigns.
• Jim Freeman of Grassroots Action Support Team and one of the authors of The $3.4 Trillion Mistake, will share that report's major findings and its implications for local and state campaigns.
• Carlil Pittman of Communities United in Chicago will discuss their statewide organizing efforts using this framework.