Street blockade in response to a call for a National Prisoner Strike beginning September 9th (the anniversary of the Attica prison rebellion in 1971). The National Prisoner Strike is led and organized by prisoners in states across America who will be participating in work stoppages and hunger strikes to demand an end to inhumane and exploitative conditions. Prisoners are often forced to work against their will and are typically paid less than 25 cents an hour to do everything from fight wildfires, make telemarketing calls, and sew McDonald’s uniforms. Organizers of the National Prisoner Strike are asking for supporters to demonstrate outside detention facilities and businesses profiting from prison labor to expose and challenge this injustice. Groups leading this effort include the Free Alabama Movement, the Free Texas Movement, IWW Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, and many others across the country.
Blockade organized by Black Lives Matter Portland, All African People’s Revolutionary Party, Showing Up for Racial Justice PDX, Marilyn Buck Abolitionist Collective, and the Portland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines.
Learn More: http://blmpdx.tumblr.com/post/150152877687/solidarity-with-the-september-9th-national
News coverage: http://koin.com/2016/09/09/protesters-snarl-traffic-block-max-lines-in-portland/
