“The Prison Industrial Complex” (PIC) is a term we use to describe the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social, and political problems.

“The Prison Industrial Complex Is...” Created Winter/Spring 2011 Illustrations by Billy Dee

The Prison Industrial Complex is built on the belief that some lives are worth more than others. 1

The PIC tears families apart. 2

The Prison Industrial Complex takes a foothold in your underfunded public school when counselors are replaced with cops. 3

The PIC is where you spend your “best years” just trying to survive. 4

The Prison Industrial Complex is the new industry in town when all of the old factories close down. 5

The Prison Industrial Complex targets people from certain neighborhoods, especially poor people, people of color, young people, and lgbtq+ people. 6

The Prison Industrial Complex criminalizes immigrants. 7

The Prison Industrial Complex is where you are likely to end up when you outgrow the foster care system. 8

The Prison Industrial Complex releases you without a decent education or training, and then calls you a failure when you can’t find a job on the outside. 9

The Prison Industrial Complex imprisons more Black men today than were slaves in 1850. 10

The Prison Industrial Complex locks up more women and mothers today than at any other point in U.S. history. 11

The Prison Industrial Complex means that it costs much more to imprison someone for a year than to educate them. 12

The Prison Industrial Complex criminalizes dissent. 13

The Prison Industrial Complex is the reason why nearly 1 in 10 African-Americans cannot vote. 14

The Prison Industrial Complex warehouses hundreds of thousands of mentally ill people who have been denied appropriate health care on the outside. 15

The Prison Industrial Complex disproportionately incarcerates people for nonviolent offenses. 16

The Prison Industrial Complex is the modern-day extension of slavery in the USA. 17

The Prison Industrial Complex is the modern-day extension of slavery in the USA. 17 “Well, today, they are working in the state of Alabama everywhere from McDonald's to Burger King to Wendy's, Holiday Inn, Best Western, even local beer distributor Bama Budweiser. They're also, you know, working for car part manufacturers that supply big automotive companies like GM, Ford, Honda, Toyota and others. They are doing public works along highways. So they're doing a whole lot of things.”

The Prison Industrial Complex means that over 7 million people in the U.S. are in jail, in prison, on probation or on parole.That is more than the populations of Detroit, Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, & New Orleans combined. 18

The Prison Industrial Complex is not about rehabilitation, it is about control. 19

The Prison Industrial Complex is inhumane. − It is time for change. 20

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Excerpt (7:15) “A third of Finnish prisons operate as ‘open.’” Natalie Moore

“[O]ne of Finland’s open prisons, which allows inmates to leave for things like work or school.”

“KaisaTammi-Moilanen is the director of both the…men’s and women’s open prisons.”

“Christian, an inmate…wears a neon yellow municipal uniform to work – the same uniform worn by regular city employees.”

“Anu Partanen is the author of ‘The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life,’ and has worked as a journalist in both the United States and Finland.”

“The women’s prison has a dormitory-style wing for pregnant women and mothers with young children...”

“[The] women’s prison has…a wooded trail and small lake.”

“Suomenlinna Prison is a 15- minute ferry ride from Helsinki.”

“Suomenlinna Prison is… located on an island that was once a maritime fortress and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.”

“Sinikka Saarela is the prison director at Suomenlinna Prison.”

“Vanaja’s men’s prison, one of Finland’s open prisons that allows inmates to leave for work or school.”