Justice Parade for Incarcerated Youth

Nov 6, 2015 | Virginia Cure

JUSTICE PARADE: This summer in Richmond, a group of incarcerated youth, artists, and legal experts came together to re-imagine the juvenile justice system. Join us for a parade to celebrate their brave and brilliant voices!!! Join community groups from across Richmond to advocate and envision a more safe, equitable, and just world for us all!

WHY: Because there are over ten thousand youth locked up each year in VA. Because we spend over $130,000 to incarcerate one teen for one year, while spending only $11,000 to educate them. Because 40% of youth locked up are between 8 AND 14 YEARS OLD. Because 70% of incarcerated youth are re-arrested after 3 years. Let’s say it together…PRISONS DON’T WORK!

These youth are the future of our world and we to all work together to reinvest in our communities, keep our families together, and stop supporting punitive systems that are expensive, outdated, and don’t work!

HERE’S 4 QUICK WAYS TO PARTICIPATE:

1. Do you work with youth? Work with them to create posters and/or banners for the parade in responseto the prompt: “What can you/we do to create a world where no youth are locked up?

2. Are you a musician? BRING YOUR INSTRUMENTS AND SINGING VOICE! The teens wrote protest chants this summer and we’ll be working with a live marching band to perform them throughout the parade.

3. Are you part of a student group? Community organization? Or just have a lot of friends??? ORGANIZE A GROUP AND COME TO THE PARADE!

4. NO MATTER WHAT….Please Join Us!!! We’ll have silk screened posters that the incarcerated youth created for you to hold! T-shirts they made for you to wear! Protest chants for you to sing and dance too!