Victory Alert!
In an announcement made earlier today, a spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase told Reuters, “we will no longer bank the private prison industry.”
Since 2010, Freedom To Thrive has been targeting Wall Street banks, like JPMorgan Chase, for their role in bankrolling an industry that profits off pain and keeps our families in cages. JPMorgan Chase is a member of the “million shares club,” owning over one million shares in CoreCivic and Geo Group, two companies that together are responsible for incarcerating over 60% of families held in immigration detention and more than 120,000 people confined in the prison system.
Through grassroots organizing, we are witnessing the power of the prison divestment campaign. We have picketed the homes of bank CEOs, testified at public hearings, and have successfully demanded our universities, cities, pensions, and other institutions, divest from prisons and invest in communities. And with over 4.8 billion dollars divested we are winning.
But on the road towards abolition, divestment is just one stop. We are fighting for full liberation and freedom for all of our communities locked up behind bars in prisons, jails, immigrant detention centers, youth jails, monitored on electronic shackles, and under state surveillance.
We envision a world beyond prisons, police, and borders. A world where our communities are not subject to the punitive criminal and immigration systems. A world where we can all enjoy real safety.A world where our communities have everything they need to thrive.
We celebrate this victory but know that there is more work to do. Join us in the fight for liberation!
Prison Industry Divestment Movement 