Strides for Social Justice: Breaking a World Record for Prison Awareness, Research and Mass Education
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Running 95 Marathons in 95 weeks across the country to raise awareness on the US Prison System.
On Prisons
UCLA's Undergraduate Team of Researchers
A little more on the runner...
"Since 1984 the United States is the #1 country in the world with the largest rate and head count number of prisoners." -Michelle Alexander
Since the Criminalization of Drugs in 1984 the rate of incarceration has increased, also known as the War on Drugs.
This has led to mass incarceration in the United States and has increased the number of incarcerated prisoners across the country. Legislation has also extended the prison time for those who are caught with drugs.
It's effects? People with drug possession are incarcerated for a longer time period than someone who has committed murder crimes. This not only sustains the prison number across the country but also increases the rate as more people get arrested. Women's incarceration rate is not that far behind.
"As students we cannot take our knowledge for granted, we have a responsibility to educate our society in issues that affect them. Lack of mass society educational attainment/background is no excuse"-SFSJ
My name is Areli Rios and I am currently an undergraduate at UCLA. I have been long distance running for seven years now. Awareness on the prison industrial complex system is one that I believe should not go overlooked since history shows that the rate and number of incarceration has never been so high as it is today. As a citizen, creating awareness about the prison system all the while Breaking a World Record is my way of creating awareness on this social justice issue that a large part of our population fall under.
-Thank you so much for your time!
Feeding Cycle of Prisoners: What are some Causes? "Felon's" as Second Class citizenship
What it means to be classified as a felon:
The label felon makes it hard for ex-convicts who only had a minor drug convictions to reintegrate into society.
Why?
Being labeled as a "felon" makes it hard for ex-convicts to gain access to jobs making it much more difficult to sustain a family, or even themselves.
As depicted in Garza's Documentary, "When Will the Punishment End?" lying about their status to potential employers is often the only reason they are able to gain access to a job.
Furthermore, loosing access to financial aid also hinders their ability to achieve an education or profession.
It's easy to see how privileged some of us are, since we are able to engage in these spaces without much thought, yet forget to help reintegrate those that we have marginilized.
Areli Rios
President '15
Majors: Political Science, Chicana/o Studies and Spanish'15
Evelyn Menjivar
Director of Journalism'15
Major: Sociology 15'
Roy Rojas
Documentary Director '15
Major: Economics '15
Fatima Urquilla
Vice President '15
Major: Psychobiology '15
Minor: Film '15
Paulina Sepulveda
Director of Marketing '15
Majors: Spanish and International
Development Studies '15
Running as Funding Solutions
If you run the right marathon, then you'll be running with over more than 5000 people in one race. This makes it a perfect space to raise awareness on the prison dilemma. My goal is to run 95 marathons in 95 weeks and break the World Record for the Youngest Woman to 100 marathons, to raise awareness on prisons and fundraising for ex-convict friendly resources. ​
To help fund the races and expenses donate at: Strides for Justice.
To help fund Homeboy Industries donate at: Homeboy Industries
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