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Locked in Solidarity Toolkit

Welcome to Locked in Solidarity.

Since 2014, we have been setting aside time the second week of February for Locked in Solidarity, as CCDA’s National Awareness & Action Week on Mass Incarceration. Locked in Solidarity creates the space needed to listen to stories of people in our communities who are directly impacted, to learn about the greater impact of mass incarceration, to pray, and to engage public sector officials who have the power and position to impact change.   

Join us!

We invite you to join us by learning more and loving those affected by incarceration in your community. Then, we encourage you to courageously take a step to host awareness events and advocate for them in your spheres of influence.



Why Should We Care?

CCDA communities know firsthand the impacts of mass incarceration and are working to develop a strategic, sustainable advocacy to influence systemic change. We are actively engaging people in our association and the broader community through spiritual formation, education, leadership development and bringing our experiences and understanding to public square.

While it is essential to look at the systemic injustices and work to ensure that there are just public policies in place at federal, state and local levels when engaging mass incarceration, people can also engage the issue with solutions beyond a legislative response.

Churches and community-based programs that work with prevention, intervention, support for families separated by incarceration, and re-entry are all essential to providing support to those impacted by this growing phenomenon. We, as faith communities, need to look for opportunities to serve those affected with support services. Read more on our white paper here.

Getting Started

Start here to help educate and strengthen your community’s collective understanding of the issues around mass incarceration and how to get involved in collaborative change.


A Glimpse: Facts around Mass Incarceration

Prison Policy Initiative is a great resource for learning more about mass incarceration. Take a look at:

Resources from Practitioners

Trainings
Blogs

  • Becoming a Violence Interrupter

    We need to be willing to sacrifice our time. This is the quickest way to interrupt violence and create lasting change.

    Read More

  • Interrupting Violence: Locked in Solidarity 2025

    This year’s Locked in Solidarity theme is Interrupting Violence. Together, let us disrupt cycles of harm, challenge systems of oppression, and cultivate peace and justice in our communities through intentional acts of restoration and advocacy. 

    Read More

  • The Realities of Restorative Justice

    I love restorative justice. It works, but sometimes, it takes a lot of prayer to navigate our messiness and bring the truth that sets us free.

    Read More

LIS with InFaith in North Carolina
LIS with InFaith in North Carolina
LIS with REAL Community Covenant Church in Indiana
LIS with REAL Community Covenant Church in Indiana
Unlocked: An Open Mic Night on Mass Incarceration in Pasadena, CA
Unlocked: An Open Mic Night on Mass Incarceration in Pasadena, CA

Raising Awareness in your Community

There is opportunity to make each day’s action and/or event unique to your community, and as such, we encourage you to follow these general guidelines:

  • Register your event online so we can support you from the national office as well as share the collective work we are doing throughout the country.
  • Host your event in a church, public venue or community center some time during the second week of February
  • Have people directly impacted by incarceration share their stories and experiences
  • Invite important community leaders to share this opportunity: police officers, school leadership, elected officials at local, state and federal levels
  • Make it an open event so that community members and media will be able to attend
  • Use and encourage the use of #lockedinsolidarity for all your social media surrounding the event
  • Utilize the Locked in Solidarity graphic to promote your event – flyers and Facebook events
  • Collect names and contact information of individuals who are wanting to more deeply engage a movement to overturn mass incarceration
  • Register an articulate community member/leader to be the media contact for your site
  • Share at least three names and contact information of local individuals with the CCDA National office who are willing to speak to media if asked.




Event Planning

 

 

 

 

 

Utilizing LIS as a Media Tool

Sharing how mass incarceration impacts our CCDA communities is essential.  Utilizing media is an important way to raise awareness and take action. Some of us live in communities impacted by mass incarceration or have attended a CCDA conference to learn more about the broken system. Others must be made aware of the far-reaching impacts of mass incarceration so they can join us in the collective effort to dismantle this injustice.

Media is a great way to get people interested in your community’s LIS event, and can be used to share information we learn while there. Sharing photos, videos, or thoughts is an accessible way to inspire, train, and connect your community to take action.

Promotion
Create an event on Facebook and invite others through social media. Circulate the LIS flyer to promote your event.

Social media is a key element of message sharing. Connect with others across the country by using the #lockedinsolidarity or #LIS202_ hashtag on all of your social media posts. Live stream your event on Facebook Live, Twitter and Instagram to share with your entire digital network.

Earned Media
Earned media through news outlets or online publications can further the reach of your LIS event coverage.  We at CCDA have put things in place to help support your message by sending media advisories. A summary of the event, along with quotes of local people reflecting on their LIS participation, is likely to get covered by media outlets.  It is not unusual for a reporter to walk into your event or call you for an interview. Because of this we advise:

    • Choose an articulate community member/leader to be the media contact for your site

    • Share at least three names and contact information of local individuals who are willing to speak to media if asked

    • Help prepare those who may be interviewed to share their story.  Sometimes it can be very intimidating to speak to the media – preparation can help get the right message across

While press may come to you, another form of media is Opinion Editorials (Op Eds) and Letters to the Editor (LTE).  Both of those formats, which vary in submission guidelines, are opportunities for local people to submit their opinions or responses in an article to their local papers.  See an example of an Opinion Editorial that was written by a CCDA practitioner and published in his local paper. Here is a link to his article.

Please reach out to info@ccda.org if you have questions. We are eager to support your efforts!

Utilizing LIS as an Advocacy Tool

Locked in Solidarity is our national week of awareness and ACTION around mass incarceration.  We recognize that while it is good to be aware of an issue that is impacting our communities and support those voices impacted, we want to take what we have heard and learned and move into a direct action response.

One of the primary purposes of LIS is to create an opportunity to do direct advocacy.  Public sector officials need to know that there are leaders in their community who want to work together to impact change on this issue.  Those officials can be, but are not limited to: police officers, sheriffs, ICE detention officers, school & community officers, public defenders, prosecutors, the mayor or city manager, local school board & council members, state level and federal elected officials, state and county department heads and staff who work under the judicial branch.

Entry Issues

Entry Issues

Most of mass incarceration’s legislation will need to be changed at the state and local level.  While each state has its own separate legislative issues, we have listed some state campaigns in this toolkit that are happening in many places around the country.  Our hope is that there might be entry issues in which you begin to engage.

    • Ending cash bail

    • Diversion programming

    • Post-secondary education opportunities

    • Ban the box

    • Voting rights

    • Death penalty

    • Private prisons at state level

    • Private ICE detention facilities at federal level

    • Mandatory minimums

Collaborate with others working on this in your region. Because legislation is always in constant motion and there are different layers of government, we have found a couple of online resources to help you see what is happening in your state. ACLU’s 50 State Blueprint is a helpful resource to stay engaged and connected with others who are working on these issues in your states. Here is a recent report by Prison Policy Initiative on COVID-19 response by state.

Impacting the effects of mass incarceration may seem daunting but you and your community are not alone.  Many leaders, artists, faith communities, people directly impacted, and numerous others have been working together to highlight the injustices and are seeking to make change together. Check out the winnable criminal justice reforms in 2022 here.

How to Engage

Here you can find a letter with the framework for writing an invite letter to public sector officials. You can also:

    • Send them your flier or Facebook invite.

    • Tweet at them directly and send the landing page that may house your event electronically.

    • Call them and ask to speak to their scheduler and invite them to join you.

If they are unable to attend, and many will be unable, set up meetings to discuss this community issue.  Those meetings can be officially scheduled or “drop by” type meetings.  Building bridges to public sector leaders means meeting them where they are at.  They serve the public and their buildings/offices are accessible.  Find out how to get some face time and when you do, bring people in your community to share how they are impacted.  Bring the people who shared during your LIS event.  It is so important for them to share their stories to those who can make change. Our legislative toolkit here can help you figure out how to reach out to your legislator.

Creative Ways to Meet

Creative Ways to Meet

Some creative ways beyond an invite to the LIS service or meeting with legislators are:

    • Host a lunch or dinner roundtable event with local public officials and your community to share concerns and engage.

    • Invite public officials to one of your regularly scheduled community or youth events, invite both sides to share stories and commit to working together.

    • Hold a solidarity vigil outside a detention center, prison or jail.

    • Do a rally or march at your state capitol, city building or other public building.

Advocacy Opportunities 2023

Advocacy Opportunities 2023

Consider participating alongside CCDA members on specific initiatives around advocacy for ending mass incarceration below!

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Share with the Association

As mentioned earlier, we want to raise our collective voice as an association around the issue of mass incarceration. Let us know what you are learning, what you did for your event, or specific advocacy initiatives you were a part of during #LockedInSolidarity. You can share your feedback here. May God empower us to love and courageously advocate for those affected by incarceration. #WeAreCCDA