Everyone deserves dignity and justice. But in the United States, 2.3 million people are locked away in prisons, jails, and detention centers, where they are subject to civil and human rights violations and a lack of access to adequate health care.
With the pandemic, the dangers of imprisonment have multiplied exponentially, making every sentence a potential death sentence.
Join AFSC and communities across the U.S. for our National Days of Action to #FreeThemAll on Sept. 9 to 13.
The dates mark the 49th anniversary of the Attica uprising, when more than 2,000 people incarcerated in upstate New York took over the yard of Attica Correctional Facility, demanding freedom, wages, education access, medical care, and more.
Get involved
1. Join an in-person or online event.
- See our listing of events by state.
- Register for our call to reflection and worship for #FreeThemAll (Sept. 13, 7:30 p.m. ET)
2. Organize an event in your community.
Register your event today to be featured in our listing. Then check out our toolkit for organizers to start planning.
3. Take action online.
Tell your governor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP): Protect incarcerated people from COVID-19 in prisons, jails, and detention centers!
4. Become a partner.
Please register here as an official partner and we'll add your name to our partners' page!
Why organize? Why now?
Why #FreeThemAll
Instead of trying to “fix” the systems of incarceration we have, it is time for us to build something new.
Highlights: "From Attica to Abolition" webinar
Hear from Attica organizer Tyrone Larkins, environmental and racial justice organizer Siwatu Salama-Ra, immigrant rights and reproductive justice organizers, and AFSC staff Laura Magnani and Debbie Southorn. Plus, get our learning resource toolkit.
Attica Prison Uprising 101
Learn more about the Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 using this primer for educators and organizers, created by By Mariame Kaba of Project NIA.
Why we support the call to #FreeThemAll
No one is served by keeping millions in cages—not in pandemic, not ever.
Protecting people in prison during COVID-19
AFSC's Jacqueline Williams discusses why we must free people from incarceration now while continuing our work to abolish prisons.
I'm an immigration attorney ill with COVID-19. But it's my detained clients' lives I fear for the most
As we jump through bureaucratic hoops and submit motion after appeal after petition, people are getting sicker and more scared, writes AFSC's Joelle Lingat.
COVID-19 cases are rising in U.S. prisons. I’m worried my father might be affected
Government officials must work to protect incarcerated people during this pandemic, writes Kharon Benson.
Check out our listing of events by state, both in person and online.
Want to organize an event for our days of action? Register your event today.
Posters and graphics
Download our posters and graphics for actions, events, and sharing online.
Get resources to organize an event in your community for our Days of Action.
AFSC store
Order #FreeThemAll t-shirts online.
Take action
