Mass Incarceration

  • Notes on O22 from Inside CCJ

    Notes on O22 from Inside CCJ

    A letter from participants of the October 22nd National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality inside Cook County Jail When we dare to struggle, we dare to win, and we either STAND for something of FALL for anything. To all the men and women apart of this revolutionay struggle, remain resilient and dedicated to the […]

  • Free Adrian Rucker

    Free Adrian Rucker

    The following is a letter from 25-year-old Adrian Rucker, the young man arrested “in connection” to the June 5th killing of CPD officer Krystal Rivera, with minor grammatical edits. Rivera was shot from behind by her partner, Carlos Baker, a Chicago cop with a lengthy rap sheet of complaints against him, including multiple instances of […]

  • Protest Sheriff Tom Dart 9/23

    Protest Sheriff Tom Dart 9/23

    Protest Sherriff Tom Dart’s speech at City Club Chicago! Tell him how you really feel! Tuesday, September 23rd, at 11AM at 111 W Grand Ave Chicago IL In June, Dare to Struggle stood alongside side families and inmates to hold a people’s trial against Tom Dart for crimes against the people. The verdict was unanimous: […]

  • Rinse & Repeat

    Rinse & Repeat

    Why reforms can be unreformed in the talk shop of legislative politics On August 22nd, the Chicago Sun-Times published an article citing the reversals of six high-profile misconduct rulings enacted by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA). In all but two cases, COPA ruled that the accused officers should be fired from the department, […]

  • OVER 6,000 CHECK-INS AT HOTEL CALIFORNIA

    OVER 6,000 CHECK-INS AT HOTEL CALIFORNIA

    Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke’s sadist mission to expedite detention at Cook County Jail and swell the mass incarceration machine On August 4th, the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice released a report stating that the number of incarcerated persons at Cook County Jail (CCJ) “rose above 6,000 for the first time since March […]

  • Cracks at Hotel California Issue #7 – Black August

    Cracks at Hotel California Issue #7 – Black August

    Commemorate Black August 2025 at Cook County Jail! Black August (BA) is a commemorative month which recognizes the sacrifices and struggles of Black people in the ongoing fight for freedom and real liberation from the American nightmare. It’s a month-long observance for reflection, study, and self-discipline, in honor and memory of those who came before […]

  • FREE VINCENT HILL!

    FREE VINCENT HILL!

    A letter from Vincent from inside Cook County Jail Hello My Name is Vincent Hill. I recently received a newsletter from Dare to Struggle. Thank you for taking time out your day to reach out to me, as I’m eager to tell my story in the hope of it helping my family. It has been […]

  • A Letter to the Outside

    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 jail and the problems people inside are facing. We salute them […]

  • DCFS: Department of Child Abuse and Family Separation

    DCFS: Department of Child Abuse and Family Separation

    Children abandoned in dingy juvenile cells amidst a mental health crisis, left to rot in fluorescent-lit cubicle offices overnight with strangers, dumped in emergency rooms and deprieved of access to adequate medical care, and cuffed in full-body shackles as they are displaced from one facility to another with little explanation—all while awaiting placement in foster […]

  • Cracks at Hotel California:  What happened to Attica?

    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 people are forced to endure are deplorable. Food and water that […]