Today, the doors to the Tamms “Supermax” prison in downstate Illinois close for the last time. No longer will inmates there be kept isolated from all human contact, locked in their cells 23 hours a day, in conditions that many argue clearly meet the definition of torture.The closure of Tamms came about through the actions of Governor Quinn, who vetoed all funding to keep the prison open, but it would not have been possible without the years of grassroots organizing and advocacy by community groups and the families of prisoners held there, including Crossroads Fund grantees. Groups like Tamms Year Ten utilized art, poetry, direct action, public education and political advocacy to build awareness of the inhumane conditions at Tamms. Their work was instrumental to building the political will to close the prison.Crossroads Fund gave our first grant to fund organizing around conditions in Tamms in 2002, and have funded the work of Tamms Year Ten consistently since 2007, when we were the first foundation to support their work. Laurie Jo Reynolds, of Tamms Year Ten, believes that support from Crossroads Fund was a crucial part of their success, “We are indebted to Crossroads for this victory. They had faith in our initial effort to communicate with the men at Tamms and expose the conditions there. Whether our campaign was Quixotic or not, they saw the need to counter the demonization of people in prison and challenge the rhetoric of “the worst of the worst.” They supported the essential next step, moving beyond public opinion to public policy. We had no major organizations backing us, and little time to fundraise, but year after year, we could count on Crossroads.”Crossroads Fund is proud to support grassroots organizations in Chicago, many of which bring about historic victories for racial, social and economic justice. We were among the first foundations in Chicago to support LGBTQ organizing, anti-death penalty organizing and more. We are happy to add Tamms Year Ten to the long list of our grantees who have accomplished great things through the power of raising community voices.
