About Me
The Human Rights Coalition (HRC) was founded in 2001 based on the radical notion that there was a vital segment of the population missing from the organizing work against prisons: the families and loved ones of the over two million prisoners in this country. Not just as spokespeople or tokens, but in decision-making positions, deciding what campaigns to do and what issues to address. Incarcerated brothers took this idea, and asked their family members as well as some supporters to take the lead in building such an organization, and the HRC was born.Our first meeting was in the house of one of the men who helped form the idea of HRC. The meeting was small and a mix of former prisoners and prisoners' family members, but it was very clear there was a great deal of untapped energy there that could be very powerful if focused. So many of the people who attended felt powerless in the face of the prison administration. They had been focused on helping their loved one as best they could, but had not really thought they could change the entire structure, but just talking with family members and the former prisoners, they realized that they were a very big growing constituency in this country, and that constituency, once mobilized, would be a very dedicated one, because they are fighting for their loved ones.And we realized we had to have the wisdom of those who are incarcerated guiding our struggles, because they know without a doubt which issues are most pressing. HRC is guided by an advisory council made up of incarcerated individuals who have worked with HRC and provided tremendous help.In 2003, we welcomed HRC Texas into the world, started by a dynamic brotha Hasan Shakur, who currently resides on Texas' death row. The original vision of HRC was to expand to a national organization, with chapters across this country, working in our individual communities in different ways, but with the same goal: changing a criminal justice system that focuses only on punishment, not on rehabilitation and transformation, and addresses the larger social issues that affect people's lives.Since its founding, HRC has worked in various ways to change the prison system and to help our loved ones. We have sponsored film showings, book readings, panel discussions, poetry slams and concerts. We have worked with other organizations on issues like parole for lifers, solitary confinement, education in prisons and prisoner abuse. We have answered hundreds of letters from folks locked down, and have provided resources, referrals, and assistance wherever we could. We have supported family members, offering them a place where they can come and talk to people who have the same experience, where they can get guidance, information as well as understanding. We have also served as a support system for prisoners coming home; tried to find jobs, housing, educational programs, and linked them up with ex-offender groups who know what they are going through.There are many fronts to fight the prison system on, so many issues to address, but the voices of those most affected: prisoners' families, ex-prisoners and the prisoners themselves, have to be at the forefront of any movement to change and, sometime in the future, to abolish the prison system entirely, because we are the ones who know the intimate pain this system causes.
