"Preach Teach Act"
an Ending Mass Incarceration and Odyssey Impact initiative.
Tracing its lineage through the history of slavery and Jim Crow, the multigenerational epidemic of mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex are dominant expressions of systemic racism in U.S. society today. We acknowledge, as faith leaders, that this system of oppression and violence was supported and perpetuated too often by those who twisted the sacred words of the Divine. Today, we stand ready to reclaim our prophetic traditions, reify our belief in true justice, and redeem those who’ve been imprisoned and enslaved.
Pledge
to Preach, Teach, and Act to combat these injustices.
Preach
Preach on any topic related
to mass incarceration.
Teach
Teach the ways we can
interrupt the system.
Act
I will act in partnership with those who’ve been impacted.
Your faith calls you to act in instances of immorality and injustice. The current criminal justice system is filled with them!
We invite you to join over 1,000 clergy of all faiths and people across America with moral courage, and make a pledge to engage your congregation in the year to come. During the months of March through May 2020, we are asking clergy and leaders to find a way to PREACH about an issue related to mass incarceration. Local community need to see that leaders of faith and moral courage publicly standing for the poor, the desolate, and the convicted. The religious calendars and the themes of these seasons provide a theological opportunity to bring time-honored religious traditions to speak to modern-day life. Then, over the course of the summer of 2020, leaders of faith and moral courage will TEACH about the theological implications of mass incarceration, to change the narrative about those who have been incarcerated and those who are doing the incarceration. Finally, as we lead into fall of 2020 and into a historic moment in the United States, leaders of faith and moral courage will ACT, in some way, towards ending mass incarceration. By signing the pledge below, you’ll be taking a concrete step towards dismantling the mass incarceration and clearing the way for righteousness, for living into the call of Isaiah “to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.”
We pray that you’ll join us, for we are stronger together.
Sign the pledge today.
Ready to get started?
Together, we can make a real difference.
