Tamms is a city in southern Illinois that is home to the state’s supermax prison. In a supermax men are housed in solitary confinement for no less than 23 hours a day. What started as one-year program facility, several men have been there since it’s opening in 1995: that is 17 years! The United Nations’ Human Rights Declaration has deemed long-term isolation torture. While the supermax facility was a popular trend for “corrections” in the 80’s and 90’s, many states have closed these facilities due to their high financial cost.
On the tenth anniversary of Tamms, SAIC alum Laurie Jo Reynolds (LJR) and others founded an organization called Tamms Year Ten (TY10). This group has been fighting for the closure of Tamms for seven years. On February 22, 2012 Mayor Quinn announced the purposed closing of Tamms Correctional Center. While this was a huge victory for TY10, the fight is far from over. The state of IL has a super strong workers union (AFSCME) and the correctional officers have come out swinging. Many politicians from southern Illinois (Senator Forbes, Representative Phelps, Ex Gov. Edgar, and Lt Gov Shelia) have also created a backlash of arguments against the closing. These forces main concerns are the number of jobs lost (about 300) and the safety of the public (which is ridiculous considering none of these men would be released into the public, most would be transferred to Pontiac Correctional Center which was home to Illinois’ Death Row).
I just got home from one of TY10’s meetings and you could sense the excitement in the air. First thing on today’s agenda was organizing and TY10 just adopted an excellent tool for it called Base Camp. This program is an organizer’s dream because it allows you and your group’s members to post and keep track of events, meetings, assignments, campaigns, etc. LJR was a prominent voice of the meeting, partially because she was the most knowledgeable about the recent events taking place and also because she has lots of experience dealing with policy work and organizing.
Action is critical right now with closure proposal being announced. The closure is in no way guaranteed and everything could change in the blink of an eye. In order for TY10 to secure this closure, everyone is called to action. This task is more daunting than it may seem, the network of TY10 participants is huge and the spreadsheet of contacts is a mess. Once TY10 has found the active participants, there is a list of crucial events and projects almost a mile long: these include campaigning for politicians with excellent stances on criminal justice reform for this coming election, lobbying for the COGFA hearing to be held in the Chicago area instead of down state and organize a mass attendance of TY10 supporters, keeping pressure on our political allies to do the right thing in the House and Senate Appropriation Committee budget plan, and thanking endorsers and encouraging their continued participation during this crucial time. This is on top of the routine concerns of TY10 of corresponding with men in Tamms and their family members about their treatment, the Photo Project for Men in Solitary Confinement, and continued press on the horrendous human rights violations taking place at Tamms.
The great thing about LJR is her ability to create and open democratic space in which there is room for everyone’s voice to be heard. Her goal is not to dictate but to collaborate. She asks for volunteers for tasks and allows people to be in control of their participation. She has a great knack for playing off people strengths and creating an infectious movement towards action. Watching her orchestrate this meeting into roles for everyone, including herself, reminded me that although there can be a driving force in a group, that person alone can’t accomplish as much as the collective.
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