Decarcerate Now: A Virtual Quilt Project
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In collaboration with the Chicago Community Bond Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic, For the People Artists Collective is curating a virtual quilt to memorialize individuals who have died of COVID-19 while in the custody of Cook County Jail.
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On April 8, 2020, Cook County Jail was named by the New York Times as the "top hot spot" in the nation's pandemic. Over 300 people incarcerated there have tested positive for COVID-19, and the rate of infection has climbed to 68 out of every 1,000 people.
As artists and cultural workers, we know that mainstream media narrative consistently dehumanizes the lives lost within the state’s walls, often providing very little more than a duplication of their arrest report or criminal histories. We believe no one’s life is disposable, and any death from COVID-19 that happens in custody was absolutely a preventable death.
We also grapple with the reality that some of the people we are memorializing in this project have caused harm to people in our communities, and in no way aim to erase that actuality. We want to recognize survivors while also believing that carceral punishment, and death by incarceration, is not the solution to combating physical, sexual and domestic violence in our communities.
We urge you to join us in taking action now to demand #MassReleaseNow from Cook County Jail by 1) signing this petition to State’s Attorney Kim Fox, 2) calling your elected officials & demand #MassReleaseNow and 3) sharing this virtual quilt project on social media.
As artists and cultural workers, we know that mainstream media narrative consistently dehumanizes the lives lost within the state’s walls, often providing very little more than a duplication of their arrest report or criminal histories. We believe no one’s life is disposable, and any death from COVID-19 that happens in custody was absolutely a preventable death.
We also grapple with the reality that some of the people we are memorializing in this project have caused harm to people in our communities, and in no way aim to erase that actuality. We want to recognize survivors while also believing that carceral punishment, and death by incarceration, is not the solution to combating physical, sexual and domestic violence in our communities.
We urge you to join us in taking action now to demand #MassReleaseNow from Cook County Jail by 1) signing this petition to State’s Attorney Kim Fox, 2) calling your elected officials & demand #MassReleaseNow and 3) sharing this virtual quilt project on social media.
In Memory Of...
Click the names to see an artist's portrait in remembrance.
This quilt was last updated on May 10, 2020.
If you would like to get involved by creating a portrait, contact us at forthepeopleartists at gmail dot com.
The Artists:
Monica Trinidad, Grae Rosa, Danbee Kim, Naimah Thomas, Julie Yunhee Moon, Cori Lin, darien r. wendell.
Recommended Readings:
- Flo’s Call to Action: Release People From Jail to Protect Public Health via Chicago Community Bond Fund’s website
- As Coronavirus Spreads Through Prisons, States are Failing Incarcerated People via Truthout
- Activists are Rushing to Pay Bail for Inmates Amid Coronavirus Threat via CBS News
- Chicago Community Organizer Works to Reduce Prison Population at America’s Single Largest Jail Site Amid Coronavirus Outbreak via Newsweek
- Locking People Up Won’t Help Combat Sexual Violence via Ann Russo/Transform Harm
- Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind via Rachel Kushner/Transform Harm
- As Coronavirus Spreads Through Prisons, States are Failing Incarcerated People via Truthout
- Activists are Rushing to Pay Bail for Inmates Amid Coronavirus Threat via CBS News
- Chicago Community Organizer Works to Reduce Prison Population at America’s Single Largest Jail Site Amid Coronavirus Outbreak via Newsweek
- Locking People Up Won’t Help Combat Sexual Violence via Ann Russo/Transform Harm
- Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind via Rachel Kushner/Transform Harm
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This virtual quilt project is inspired by Rachel Wallis' Gone But Not Forgotten quilt project, in which she created a collaborative memorial quilt for individuals killed by the Chicago Police Department or while in police custody since 2006.
This virtual quilt project is inspired by Rachel Wallis' Gone But Not Forgotten quilt project, in which she created a collaborative memorial quilt for individuals killed by the Chicago Police Department or while in police custody since 2006.