Give Us Our Crowns

Statistics show:

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• The United States has the highest rate of incarcerations in the world. Its prisoners are overwhelmingly black and latino.  

• Often the starting points for their path to incarceration are the school systems.

• Students are being expelled, suspended, or arrested for minor offences that typically would require a trip to the principal’s office.

• These students who are forced out for smaller offenses become hardened and stigmatized and often fall behind in their school work.

• Many even eventually drop out, while others commit crimes in their communities.  

   

It was in this vain that we created “Give Us Our Crowns”.  This is a movement about reframing how people see children that are most affected by the school to prison pipeline—those that are impoverished and minorities-- and bringing awareness to the systems and forces that contribute to this distorted perception. Our slogan is: coronation over incarceration. Give Us Our Crowns believes if teachers, school administrators, police officers, parents, community members, and even the students themselves recognized the value and potential of a child who is educated in an enriching and restorative environment they would seek out solutions to keep them out of jails instead of putting them in.

 

Our mission is to use art to bring awareness to our community about the school-to-prison pipeline and promote restorative justice over incarceration. 

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