Theresa Shoatz

Theresa Shoatz discusses the fight against the expansion of the prison industrial complex (PIC), and the effect that the PIC has on young people, working-class families and communities of color. She is an anti-prison industrial complex activist involved with Decarcerate PA and many other groups. Her father is Russell Shoatz, a Black Panther Party member and co-founder of the Black Unity Council, has been in jail for 40 years. He has spent 30 of those years in solitary confinement. She has been organizing about issues of prisoners’ rights since a young age.