News & Events
Mourning Our Losses San Quentin Remembers
Mourning Our Losses recently gained access to San Quentin TV’s coverage of the November 2021 vigil hosted by Mourning Our Losses San Quentin. The event honored the lives lost to Covid-19 in San Quentin State Prison. This video was produced and directed by Brian Asey of MOLSQ.
Call for Volunteers
September 19, 2022
MOL is seeking volunteers to assist with transcribing memorials, poems, and other writings, managing social media, and conducting research (no research experience needed!).
If you are interested in volunteering, please email us at: mourningourlosses@gmail.com.
Mourning Our Losses at San Quentin
April 27, 2022
On a Friday afternoon in November, 200 people gathered in San Quentin’s Lower Yard to pay tribute to the many lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendees included the prison’s residents, formerly incarcerated people, and volunteers from the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area. Participants walked a commemorative lap of silence and held up photographs and portraits of 25 of the people lost to COVID-19 at San Quentin.
Read more about this event in the San Quentin News: https://sanquentinnews.com/the-march-of-memories/
Mourning Our Losses and Texas After Violence Project Announce New Grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
January 31, 2022
Mourning Our Losses and its fiscal sponsor, the Texas After Violence Project, announce receipt of a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the largest supporter of the arts and humanities in the U.S., to continue the work of honoring and memorializing those who have died while living and working in carceral settings across the country.
Click here to read the press release.
Anthony Ehlers is an activist for prisoners rights, an artist, a poet, and a Northwestern student earning his BA. James Scott, Anthony's beloved friend and cellmate, lost his life to Covid-19.
News from the Inside by Anthony Ehlers
January 5, 2022
We in prison are in a unique and unfortunate position. We are in the care of the state. The state of Illinois, IDOC in particular, is responsible for our health and safety. Let's examine how that has played out for us...more than 30 men have died here of Covid 19. There are less than a thousand men here. That’s a 4% mortality rate, FOUR TIMES THE NATIONAL AVERAGE. It's mostly because of the indifference and neglect of staff, and insufficient medical care. Many of these men were immuno-compromised, and died as a result of not being separated and quarantined properly.
The Illinois Governor JB Pritzker mandated that ALL state employees be vaccinated. Employees of IDOC and their union AFSCME actively fought the vaccination order. They actively resisted the order to get vaccinated, despite the fact that they are in positions to care for inmates in Stateville. It's their job, their responsibility to keep men here safe and healthy, and out of harm's way. Yet, they refuse to get vaccinated. Approximately 30% of the staff here at Stateville are vaccinated.They are still actively fighting the vaccination order, and are trying to use the religious exemption.
-
Under these circumstances you would think the staff at Stateville, though unvaccinated, would take special care not to get Covid, or pass it to others. Unfortunately, that is not the case. They all decided to get together at Woodridge, Illinois, rent out a banquet hall and have a Christmas party. It turned out to be a super spreader event. Over 100 staff members subsequently tested positive for Covid. They came to work and passed it on to their co-workers, and the men they are supposed to be caring for.
Friday, Dec. 31 st, the tac team (tactical officers) escorted outside medical personnel to administer Covid tests to prisoners here in the facility. They have decided to test everyone in the facility twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Today is Tuesday, Jan. 4th; they came around this morning to administer tests to everyone. The tester revealed that Friday's tests found 140 Covid positive tests of prisoners. 140 positive tests!!! It's spreading like wildfire in this place thanks to the stupidity, and indifference of the IDOC staff. The members of the tac team who came to administer tests this past Friday have all subsequently tested positive.
They are NOT quarantining those men who have tested positive, despite having an empty cellhouse in which to place them. They are instead doing NOTHING, leaving these men in place. So, if my cellmate is positive, and I am not, I am still forced to stay in the cell with a Covid positive prisoner. How is this even remotely acceptable as a medical practice? It violates every protocol set up by the CDC!! It puts men's lives in danger.
There is a cellhouse here, E-House, which is nearly empty. There are only about 30 guys in the cellhouse currently. That means there are over 100 cells they can place those with Covid positive tests in. Yet, they have devised a policy of quarantining in place, which jeopardizes the health and safety of not only staff, but every other prisoner around them.
I am in C-House, on 6 gallery. Unbeknownst to me, several guys in my general area have tested positive for Covid. Sunday, when we went to the shower, these men with positive cases were allowed to go with us who do not have Covid. We were not told! We were not given the choice to take our own health and safety into consideration. Had I known, both I and my cellmate would have refused showers so that we did not have direct contact with Covid positive prisoners. The staff put us in the untenable situation of having direct contact with these guys. This violates every Covid protocol from the CDC and everywhere else. IDOC is continually placing us in danger, without even telling us.
These Covid positive prisoners who have been allowed to quarantine in place use the same phones that we do. The phone is passed from cell to cell, Covid positive prisoners touch it, breathe into it as they talk on it....then pass it on. Again, we are not being told that these guys are Covid positive, nor are we being given any cleaning supplies to clean our cells, or the phones. We do not have bleach or disinfectant to sanitize the phones...we do not have hand sanitizer or any other cleaning product. IDOC is giving us NOTHING to protect ourselves with. We are not being provided with essential cleaning supplies so that we can protect ourselves.
We are in the midst of an outbreak, yet we are only on a quasi-lockdown. We do not have school, chow, or yard, but every other prisoner with a job is out of his cell, running around, unmasked, and ungloved, doing everything from passing out trays, to passing out water....they do this so that the staff does not have to work. When one prisoner was asked why he did not have a mask or gloves, he responded "I asked, but they said they don't have any for me". Staff also walk around maskless and gloveless passing out mail, food, and Covid. This outbreak is not being taken seriously in any way whatsoever.
We are not being provided with essential cleaning supplies, nor are we able to buy them from the commissary. They do not sell bleach wipes, or baby wipes..they do not sell hand sanitizer, and for the past 4 months, they have not even sold us soap!! The most basic of cleaning supplies are not given to us, or sold to us at all. FOUR MONTHS without soap!
Things here are on the edge, men have been protesting. Today, the entire C-House refused our food trays. Some men have declared hunger strikes, others, have told staff openly about killing themselves. We are barely getting fed, bread has become a luxury and a treat. Yet, men are refusing their food, protesting over IDOCs policy of keeping Covid positive guys in place, endangering everyone around them. Many guys here are vaccinated, but no one wants Covid!! There are still immuno-compromised men here, diabetics, cancer survivors, Covid can, and will still kill people, and IDOC has placed all of us in danger.
The lives of prisoners don't matter to most people, but we are fathers, sons, brothers, uncles and friends. Our lives matter. We need people to let IDOC know that our lives matter. Please speak up, and speak out before it's too late.Things here are on the edge, men have been protesting. Today, the entire C-House refused our food trays. Some men have declared hunger strikes, others, have told staff openly about killing themselves. We are barely getting fed, bread has become a luxury and a treat. Yet, men are refusing their food, protesting over IDOCs policy of keeping Covid positive guys in place, endangering everyone around them. Many guys here are vaccinated, but no one wants Covid!! There are still immuno-compromised men here, diabetics, cancer survivors, Covid can, and will still kill people, and IDOC has placed all of us in danger.
The lives of prisoners don't matter to most people, but we are fathers, sons, brothers, uncles and friends. Our lives matter. We need people to let IDOC know that our lives matter. Please speak up, and speak out before it's too late.
Mourning Our Losses Spring 2021 Report
May 31, 2021
On Memorial Day 2020, we launched the Mourning Our Losses site. Our goal was to create a space of remembrance and mourning for those whose friends, loved ones, and colleagues passed away behind bars during the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, we could not have imagined what a dedicated, generous, and talented group of volunteers would join this effort, both in freeworld and behind the walls.
This Memorial Day, we're releasing a Spring 2021 Report, to reflect on the work that has gone into creating this space over the past year. We deeply appreciate the time and energy of all of our volunteers, who have made this project possible.
The report covers highlights of our memorialization and advocacy work over the past year, includes quotes from inside volunteers, outside volunteers, and loved ones about this project, and describes some of the conditions that our incarcerated members continue to face today. Visit http://bit.ly/mol-spring-report to read the report.
Portraiture by volunteer EJ Joyner featured by Mother Jones
May 25, 2021
Volunteer Elisabeth “EJ” Joyner’s portraits of people who have passed away behind bars during the pandemic were featured by Mother Jones. EJ’s portraits are highlights of the Mourning Our Losses site. “Our goal is to honor them,” EJ told the publication. “I refuse to allow these people to be remembered in their moments of misery.”
Click here to read the full piece, and learn what our memorialization effort means to EJ, as a person currently incarcerated.
Toolkit: Parole Releases Now
May 18, 2021
Mourning Our Losses created a national advocacy toolkit that focuses on urging parole boards to facilitate releases from prison and promote decarceration.
Parole board members are among those directly responsible for upholding mass incarceration. But according to the Prison Policy Initiative and research Mourning Our Losses has conducted, state parole boards generally approved fewer releases in 2020 — at the height of the pandemic — than they did in 2019.
Visit bit.ly/ParoleReleasesNow to learn more and take action in your state.
Virtual Vigil: Marking a Year of Loss Behind Bars
March 27, 2021, 3pm ET/12pm PT
Mourning Our Losses hosted a virtual vigil to honor the lives of those who have died while living or working behind bars during the past year.
To mark a year of loss, we heard from directly-impacted people who lost loved ones behind bars and honored the names of those who have died. The vigil featured Cassandra Greer-Lee, Chanthon Bun, Page Dukes, Xavier Washington, Michelle Alexander, and inside organizers.
Click here to view the video recording and event program from from the vigil.
Honoring our collective losses behind bars
March 27, 2021
Mourning Our Losses published a new webpage, titled “Losses,” to shed light on the collective losses experienced behind bars during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Losses page includes a list of all the names of those who have died during the pandemic that MOL has been able to identify; photographs and artwork we have received directly from volunteers and loved ones; and words shared with us by contacts within the walls of confinement.
Visit the Losses page here. To view the full works linked on the Losses page, visit our archive on the Texas After Violence Project’s Sheltering Justice collection.
Mourning Our Losses featured in The New York Times
January 13, 2021
The article, “Losing a Loved One Twice: First to Prison, Then to Covid,” features Mourning Our Losses and several of our contributors. From our team member Page Dukes: “There was just no space for the grief of people who had loved ones dying inside. That grief has been very much disenfranchised because of this idea that people who were in prison somehow deserved to have Covid — and to die of Covid — more than other people.”
Click here to read the story.
Toolkit: Protect Incarcerated People from COVID-19
January 4, 2021
Mourning Our Losses created an advocacy toolkit that focuses on protecting incarcerated people from COVID-19 by urging state officials to grant emergency releases and guarantee early & ongoing access to the vaccine for incarcerated people.
Visit http://bit.ly/CovidPrisonToolkit and follow the action steps listed for your state to fight the spread of COVID-19 in prisons.
Together Against COVID: Not Forgotten
December 23, 2020
Mourning Our Losses and hundreds of others participated in a virtual vigil hosted by U.S. PIRG to highlight the real cost of COVID-19. We honored those we have lost by posting recordings saying the names of 20 people, including individuals who lost their lives behind bars during this pandemic. Additional details are available here.
Mourning Our Losses Virtual Vigil
October 8, 2020
On October 8th, Mourning Our Losses hosted an online vigil honoring the lives of people who have died in prisons, jails and immigration detention facilities in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. The vigil was a part of the COVID-19 Week of Mourning.
Mourning Our Losses featured in The Washington Post
September 3, 2020
An article in the Post detailed the work and mission of Mourning Our Losses and featured discussion of memorials for Madonna Watson, Derick Coley, and Anthony Blue, all found on our website.
The full story is available here.
Mourning Our Losses Website Launch
May 25, 2020
On Memorial Day, Mourning Our Losses launched its website to memorialize, honor, and spread awareness of the humanity of people who lost their lives while living or working behind bars during the COVID-19 pandemic.