Youth United Against Incarceration Symposium

PennGSE will be hosting the Youth United Against Incarceration Symposium this Friday (2/16), 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. at 3700 Walnut Street.  The Mass Incarceration Project is a Workshop School tradition in which students spend three months learning about the history, statistics, and human stories behind mass incarceration, ultimately planning a city-wide symposium of youth to share what they have learned.  The goal of the symposium is for high school students to share what they have learned about the root causes of mass incarceration and how to take a stand against these systems of injustice.

Co-sponsored this year by the Office of School and Community Engagement (OSCE) and HEARD (Hub for Equity, Anti-Oppression, Research and Development), this symposium will engage nearly 175 students from 5 local high schools in a morning of presentations and activities including:

• Pardon Me with DoMoore Films - Watch a short documentary about who individuals are going through the pardon process following convictions.
• Know Your Rights with The Education Law Center - Learn about your rights in school, especially regarding school discipline
• Fight the School to Prison Pipeline with The Advancement Project - Learn about how the STPP works and how students across the country are taking a stand to demand more money invested into their learning communities, rather than school police.
• Know Your Systems with The Philadelphia Defenders - Learn about each step in the juvenile (in)justice system – from arrest through any hearings, trial, and detention time – as well as how you can advocate for yourself throughout the process.
• Support Behind the Walls with The Human Rights Coalition and the Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration - Learn how to advocate for the human rights and dignity of our incarcerated kinmates.  This workshop will also provide the opportunity to write a letter to either a loved one you have behind the walls or to a state legislator demanding change.
• The Truth About Prison Labor with Eastern State Penitentiary - Learn about the origins of prison labor, how it affects our country today, and ways we can create positive change.

If you are at PennGSE this Friday, the symposium will be taking place in the second and third floors of Stiteler. Please come by — welcome the students and their faculty, see what the students are doing, and lend your support.