Roca’s theory of change is that young people, when re-engaged through positive and intensive relationships, can change their behaviors and develop life, education, and employment skills to disrupt the cycles of poverty and incarceration.
The first phase of the Ban the Box has focused mainly on government agencies and public hiring practices. We demanded these changes in public agencies to educate public officials about the needs of the communities they were elected to serve. Since the campaign’s inception, a wide range of advocates including formerly-incarcerated people, legal aid organizations, re-entry service providers, civil rights partners, and elected officials have initiated Ban the Box campaigns.
Black & Pink is an open family of LGBTQ prisoners and “free world” allies who support each other. Our work toward the abolition of the prison industrial complex is rooted in the experience of currently and formerly incarcerated people. We are outraged by the specific violence of the prison industrial complex against LGBTQ people, and respond through advocacy, education, direct service, and organizing.