Columbia Prison Divest Week of Action

Did you know that Columbia has at least $8 million invested in the private prison industry?Want to learn more about how you can get involved in Columbia Prison Divest and help us reach our goal of getting Columbia to divest from the CCA, G4S and the GEO group?

Want to learn more about mass incarceration, the prison-industrial complex and what you can do to stand up for real justice?

In solidarity with several campuses across the nation, join us Monday April 14th through Friday April 18th for a Columbia Prison Divest Week of Engagement, a demonstration that the students and community members of this campus will not stand for an industry that profits off of the commodification of human bodies and the destruction of vulnerable, marginalized communities. Through a series of events, performances, discussions, and interactive activities, we hope to teach and learn from each other about what divestment looks like, and what it could mean for putting an end to a fundamentally broken criminal justice system. This week will be in collaboration with a number of Columbia student groups, including Students Against Mass Incarceration (SAMI), AlterNATIVE Education, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), cIRCa, Radical College Undergraduates Not Tolerating Sexism (Radical CUNTS), LUCHA, Columbia Prison Reform & Education Project (PREP), Freedom School, O.G., and Potluck House.

NOTE: Times/ locations subject to change
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Monday April 14th: Intro to CPD
* During the day, we’ll be tabling and handing out flyers, food + merch in Lerner and around the Sundial area- come talk with us about our campaign and what we’re asking from Columbia!
* Join us in the evening from 6-8pm in the Malcolm X Lounge for Unequal Opportunity to Miseducation, a conversation co-facilitated by Columbia Prison Reform & Education Project and AlterNATIVE Education, part of the intercollegiate A Native Education. Afterwards, come show your support for CPD by participating in our “We support divestment because…” photo project with friends and student groups.

Tuesday April 15th: The Construction of Mass Incarceration
* We’ll be tabling again in Lerner and handing out flyers, food + merch. Come by and talk with us about the history of the American prison system, mass incarceration in the U.S., and the movement to divest from private prisons.
* Join us in the evening from 7-10pm for “The House I Live In” Screening with Dr. Carl Hart facilitating a talk-back afterwards.

Wednesday April 16th: Questioning “Justice”
* During the day, CIRCA, the Intercultural Resource Center’s arts collective, will be featuring a selection of student art, music, and spoken word performances in response to the prompt “Questioning Justice” around the Sundial area.
* Join us in the evening from 7-9pm for a conversation about criminalization facilitated by LUCHA and Columbia University Students Against Mass Incarceration.

Thursday April 17th: Strategizing Alternatives, Making Connections
* Stop by Low during the day to learn more about CCA, G4S, and the GEO Group, and brainstorm alternatives to investing in the private prison industry through our interactive Money Wall.
* Come by Low at 3pm for a teach-in on maps, mass incarceration, and settler colonialism facilitated by Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine.
* Join us in the evening from 5-7pm in the Malcolm X Lounge for a discussion on Sexual Violence, Punishment, and Healing in the Age of Mass Incarceration facilitated by Radical C.U.N.T.S.

Friday April 18th: Moving Forward
* We’ll close the week on Ancel Plaza (in front of East Campus) from 2-5 pm. Have friends who want to know more about Columbia Prison Divest? Come by and chat with us! We’ll be providing informational flyers about our work and the work of other community groups across the city concerned about issues of mass incarceration. Later, we will host a speak-out/ cypher around the theme “Re-imagining Justice”
* Join us in the evening at Potluck House at 7pm for a kickback co-sponsored by O.G. where we will be sharing food, and ideas about what the fight against mass incarceration looks like moving forward.