Today is my brother's 20th birthday; he's spending it behind bars. He's been incarcerated for over a month - exiled from loved ones, support systems, medication - after violating his strict probation & is waiting for his next hearing. The system has got to go. #AbolitionNow [1/6]
Accountability shouldn't mean that a 20-year old (or anyone for that matter) should be thrown away and disappeared from society. My brother needs and deserves ongoing support and treatment, neither of which he is receiving while incarcerated. This is not ok. [2/6]
To make matters worse, it's EXPENSIVE to speak w/ loved ones who are incarcerated. Just 2 text msgs & one 15-min phone call a day would cost me almost $200/month. And that would be just for me... What if my brother also wants to talk to my parents & 2 other brothers? [3/6]
What's wild is that many jails and prisons across the country are MUCH worse. It can easily cost families 2 to 3 times that amount to communicate with their loved ones. This is absurd. #AbolitionNow prisonpolicy.org/phones/state_o… @PrisonPolicy [4/6]
My heart is heavy as I mentally prepare for a video chat with my brother later this evening. I need to find strength and put aside my feelings of powerlessness for a few moments to wish him a happy birthday. None of this is ok. [5/6]
"Homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness...are only a few of the problems that disappear from public view when the human beings contending with them are relegated to cages...But prisons do not disappear problems, they disappear human beings" -Angela Davis [6/6] 
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