All protest comes with risk. Use our risk assessment guide to determine how best you can take action or show up for your friends and loved ones who are taking action.
While we can never predict how the state and its agents will act, there are ways we can prepare--whether or not you decide to hit the streets--to stay safe and connected to community.
We keep us safe, Chicago!
UPDATE: This guide is now available as a downloadable pdf. Link in @chitorture bio.
If you are hitting the streets this week, please be safe, look out for one another, and know that you have rights!
Rehearse the 3 magic phrases with your comrades, friends, and community members:
- Am I free to go?
- I will not talk. I want my lawyer.
- I do not consent to any searches
#KnowYourRights
With the DNC in Chicago this week, there is increased police and military presence across the city.
We encourage you to get familiar with your rights if you are arrested.
Remember, you are entitled to 3 CALLS IN 3 HOURS. You do not have to tell the police anything without an attorney present, and police are prohibited from monitoring, eavesdropping, and recording any calls with your attorney.
For legal help, save these numbers:
@fdlachicago
1-800-LAW-REP4
(1-800-529-7374)
@nlgchicago
872-4NLG-CHI
(872-465-4244)
This Saturday! Join us at CTJC for a free screening of two short films! One Million Experiments and The Next Act Is Freedom take unique looks at our work in the context of our broader movements for systems change and abolition. After the films, we’ll be joined by filmmakers and featured artists for a Q&A. Free to attend!
Come join us this Wednesday, April 29th for a FREE training with @UPLC on the Just Housing Amendment.
Did you know, in Cook County, landlords cannot discriminate against renters just because they may have been arrested or incarcerated? Join us this Wednesday to learn about your rights as renters. #JustHousingAmendment #rentersrights
After nearly 11 years, the Chicago Park District is seeking public comment on the proposal to name the unnamed playground on 53rd & King, Ronald “RonnieMan”Johnson.
To do this, we need your support! Visit: bit.ly/ronniemanpark and let the Park District know that you support the naming!
You can do this in 4 ways:
1. Submit your comments through the form on the website bit.ly/ronniemanpark
2. Call 312-742-0067
3. Send an email to: [email protected]
4. Or write to the Chicago Park District, Department of Legislative & Community Affairs, 4830 S Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60609
RonnieMan’s mother, Dorothy Holmes, is committed to ensuring her son’s memory lives on through service to others while fighting for justice and accountability. Every year she gives back to the community where her son took his last breath. She supports the community that supported her in the immediate aftermath, and it is where his legacy lives on.
Help Dorothy cross the finish line by letting the Park District know that you support the naming!
Support all families fighting for justice for their loved ones.
Visit: bit.ly/ronniemanpark today!
Thanks to everyone who came out for the Justice in Action event on Tuesday at the Freedom Defense Center of Austin! It was an informative afternoon learning about our rights, police accountability, and reentry resources.
📅If you missed it, join us for the next resource fair on May 1st!
🔗More information is available at the link in bio.
This week, IPP's formerly incarcerated Ambassadors gathered for a trauma-informed training to support their advocacy and public speaking work. The session was hosted by our friends at @chitorture -- an organization providing trauma-informed resources and politicized healing support to survivors of police violence and institutionalized racism. Thanks, CTJC!
Tomorrow night, don’t miss this FREE, in-person training designed specifically for people on Illinois Mandatory Supervised Release (MSR) and those who support them.
Learn:
- Your basic rights under MSR laws
- Real tips & best practices to stay compliant
- How to avoid violations & revocations
- Strategies to better support loved ones on supervision
Wednesday, March 18 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM 6337 S. Woodlawn Ave, Chicago
Hosted in partnership with Chicago Torture Justice Center & MacArthur Justice Center.
Join us at the @hydeparkartcenter on MLK Day (Jan. 19) for Chaos or Community!
The Chicago Torture Justice Center and the Mud Theatre Project are the subjects of a short film produced by Pentimenti Productions and students at the Hyde Park Art Center. The film centers around the Resilience Arts Festival, a theatre and arts festival by and for people impacted by incarceration. The inaugural Resilience Arts Festival took place on October 2024.
Chaos or Community is an all-day event at the Hyde Park Art Center. Programming begins at 11am.
The film will be screened at 3pm.
The event is free, but reservations are encouraged. Link in bio.
See you there!
History matters.
Chicago Public Schools teaches about the history of torture in Chicago and the movement that led to reparations for survivors.
Thank you to the students at STEM
Magnet Academy for sharing this lovely quilt with us!
Support our work!
https://tr.ee/UwyWehYZ-y
In October 2025, we collaborated with the Mud Theatre Project on the first ever Resilience Arts Festival!
It was the first arts festival of its kind: theater and art created and performed by incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people.
We were able to give stipends to 38 currently incarcerated artists for sharing their work.
Support our work!
https://tr.ee/UwyWehYZ-y
