Areas of work
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A Letter to the Outside
Inmates write about conditions at CCJ The following is a letter sent to Dare to Struggle – Chicago from a group of inmates inside Cook County Jail’s Division 11. Inmates have requested the letter be published in full to further expose conditions inside the…
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Cracks at Hotel California: What happened to Attica?
A call to action from Dare to Struggle – Chicago For more than 6 months now, Dare to Struggle – Chicago has been going out to Cook County Jail, talking with inmates and their loved ones about the horrors behind its walls. The conditions…
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January 3rd Memorial for Alteriq Pleasant
Alteriq would be celebrating his 30th birthday this day, but he died in the custody of Cook County Jail after experiencing a medical emergency. Alteriq should still be here along with so many more. Learn more from an interview with his mother, Vicki Willis,…
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“A Compromise from the Start”
An interview with a Chicago Police district council member Every time we go out to talk to people on the streets about their experiences with the Chicago Police Department, Dare to Struggle hears stories about the routine harassment and abuse that young Black and…
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Cracks at Hotel California: Incarcerated for Over a Decade without Being Found Guilty
Fredrick, a Cook County Jail inmate for 13 years, discusses the conditions of the jail, the violation of rights of inmates, and how the system is stacked against them. Shortly after this interview, Fred was found guilty on the charges of attempted murder My…
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Cracks at Hotel California: An Interview with a Recently Released Inmate
Antwand, a recently released inmate, discusses how collective punishment is weaponized in Cook County Jail If there’s a fight on the deck and they apprehend the two people on the deck, they still punish th entire deck. They’ll put the entire deck on lockdown…
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An Interview with the Mother of a 22-Year Old Inmate of Cook County Jail
Lucy, a mother of a 22-year-old inmate in Chicago’s Cook County Jail, discusses the conditions there, her son’s fight to get out, and the system he is up against My son was arrested June 2023 on an attempted murder. They arrested him and put…
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At Least A Dozen Prisoners Set Themselves On Fire In A Virginia Supermax Prison In September 2024
In a two week span, at least a dozen Black men set themselves on fire at Virginia’s Supermax Red Onion State Prison. Two of these individuals, Ekong Eshiet and his cellmate Trayvon Brown, self-inflicted third-degree burns on September 15, 2024 in a desperate attempt…
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Cracks at Hotel California: Exposing the Realities of Cook County Jail
Issue #1 Nov-Dec 2024 A modified interview with Vickki Willis (Alteriq Pleasant Foundation) mother of Alteriq Pleasant, who died in Chicago Police custody at Cook County Jail. The last time I spoke with my son was July 19, 2022, and he called to tell…
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