Photopetitions!

Summary: These are actions involving taking individual and collective photos of the members of your group, congregation, or organization. Taking and sharing photos publicly helps us personalize and humanize the #NoNewYouthJail movement. We know that opposition to this project is broad-based. We know that our movement is thousands of people strong. Sharing photos helps us show how wide, organized, and powerful opposition to this project really is.

Action Goals:

  • Invite our communities to identify their personal stake in the youth jail project.
  • Generate personalized photos of opposition to the new youth jail.
  • Capture group opposition to the new youth jail project

Action A: Photobooths!

Overview:

  • Prepare photobooths
  • Invite your group members to take photos
  • Share the photos with the #NoNewYouthJail Coalition
  • Post the photos to your organzation’s social media accounts

Materials:

  • Printed #NNYJ Photo placards. You can find templates here.
  • Cameras good quality phone camera or better
  • Backdrops like solid color bed sheets, tablecloths, or tapestries
  • Branded backdrops for your group (banners, signs, etc.)

For Organizers: SETTING UP THE PHOTOBOOTHS  

In Advance:

  1. Print photo placards. You can find templates here.
  2. Secure camera(s) and photographer(s). If your meeting or gathering is very large, you might consider setting up multiple photo booths to speed up the action
  3. Secure backdrops for photo booths. Solid color backgrounds (like sheets or tablecloths, or a colorful wall work wForell). You could also invite group members to paint a banner, or you could stand in front of a banner or sign from your organization.

Day Of:

  1. Setup your photobooths by designating photo booth locations (in front of your organization’s sign?) and affixing backdrops, if applicable. Wide masking tape or thumbtacks can work well.

For Organizers: FACILITATING THE ACTION

Here’s an optional script for your action. It may not suit every setting.

1) FRAME THE ACTION (timing: about 5-10 minutes to introduce the action)

We’re going to take photos showing our individual and collective opposition to the new youth jail. Everyone will take 2 photos: one on one of our cameras, and one on your smartphone, if you have one.  

We’ll be (a) building a facebook photo album of [organization] members opposed to the jail, and we’ll also ask every person in this room to (b) make a personal post on social media showing your opposition to the jail. We do this for a few reasons:

    1. Humanization of the #NoNewYouthJail movement: Because there are only so many people that can show up to a city council meeting at 2 PM on a Monday, or who are able and willing to physically block the construction site with their bodies,  opposition to projects like this can be seen as a small minority—a “fringe” opposition group. But we know that opposition to this project is broad-based. We know that the #NoNewYouthJail campaign is thousands of people strong. Sharing photos of ourselves helps us show how broad, organized, and powerful opposition to this project is.
    2. Expanding our reach: There are [  # ] people in this room! You all know a lot of people too—people who maybe haven’t made up their mind about the youth jail. Maybe the people in your family, network, community don’t know that someone they know is powerfully, vocally, opposed to the project. Maybe they’ve been looking to plug in, but don’t know how. Now they’ll know that you’re someone they can have that conversation with as they sort out their feelings. That you’re a resource for getting plugged into ACTION.

**We recognize that there are some specific reasons why someone might not want their photo taken or published (immigration status, legal reasons). If that’s true for you that’s ok–please make sure you participate in the other 2 actions. If you’re made mildly uncomfortable with the idea of taking a photo that will be public, we encourage you to nudge yourself a little, prioritizing our individual and collective power to take action over uneasiness that may come with taking action. It will be so amazing if we have an album of [50? 100?] photos!!!

Here’s how this is going to work.

  1. First, take a few minutes to complete the photo placard: Reflect: why are you opposed to the jail? Does your opposition/moral outrage come from your identity as a parent? A teacher? A social worker? A taxpayer? What’s an identity you hold that is in conflict with our county’s investment in caging our youth? What do you think would be compelling to decision makers?
  2. Next, take your completed placard to a photo booth (point to photobooth locations). Bring your smartphone with a camera, if you have one. **If it’s more accessible to you to do these actions while seated in your chair, flag one of us down and we’ll sort out how to bring a camera to you.
  3. Finally, post your picture to your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts using the hashtags #NoNewYouthJail and #PeoplesMoratorium
  4. Ok, Let’s do it!

2) TAKE ACTION (timing: calculate ~5 min for people to fill in their photo placards + about 1 minute per person for photo taking, + 5 min for posting photos to social media)

3) CELEBRATE ACTION (5 min)

    • Celebrate: that was amazing!
    • We just took [##] photos, demonstrating specific and personal opposition this horrific project, and FOR justice solutions that are led by, and work for, our communities.

**Organizers: insert Action B here if your group will take a group photo. See below!

For Participants: HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Organizers, you can share these instructions verbally or in written form with people in your group who want to participate.

  1. Fill out your photo placard. Take a few minutes to reflect: why are you opposed to the jail? Does your opposition/moral outrage come from your identity as a parent? A teacher? A social worker? A nanny? A taxpayer? A nurse? An uncle or godparent? A student? A grandparent? An artist? A voter? What’s an identity or perspective you hold that is in conflict with our county’s investment in caging our youth?
  2. Take your completed placard to a photo booth. Bring your smartphone with a camera, if you have one. We’ll take 2 pictures—one on our camera, and one on yours.
  3. Post your personal picture to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter (or all 3!). The goal is to engage our personal networks. Maybe the people in your family, network, community don’t know that someone they know is powerfully and vocally, opposed to the project. Maybe they’ve been looking to plug in, but don’t know how. Now they’ll know that you’re someone they can have that conversation with as they sort out their feelings. That you’re a resource for getting plugged into ACTION. You can use the hashtags #NoNewYouthJail and #PeoplesMoratorium. You can beam your photo at Dow Constantine by tagging @kcexec on Twitter and Instagram and @ExucutiveCOnstantine / Dow Constantine, King County Executive on Facebook.

Sample posts:

Opposition to Dow Constantine’s racist Youth Jail is strong and widespread. I’m a [_____] opposed to the Youth Jail because [_____]. Join us!  #NoNewYouthJail #PeoplesMoratorium

If you #resist Trump’s racist agenda, you should #resist @kcexec Dow Constantine’s racist agenda, too! #NoNewYouthJail

Caging our kids isn’t how we care for our community. #NoNewYouthJail #PeoplesMoratorium

Hashtags: #NoNewYouthJail #PeoplesMoratorium #LoveTheYouthStopTheJail

Handles: Twitter: @kcexec | Instagram: @kcexec | Facebook: @Executive Constantine / @Dow Constantine, King County Executive

For Organizers: SHARING THE PHOTOS

You should now have a collection of photos taken on a decent quality camera. Now you get to share them!

  1. Email your photos to nnyjcoalition@gmail.com from the No New Youth Jail Coalition. We’ll add your photos to our growing collection! We may use some photos in our social media strategies, or in art projects or other projects demonstrating opposition to the jail.
  2. Create a Facebook Album and post it to your organization’s Facebook Page. You can see an example here. Share your album on your organization’s Twitter account.
  3. Post a collage pic or several pictures (slides style) to your organization’s Instagram account

Action B: Group Photo!

Materials:

  • A banner or sign representing your group, congregation, family, or organization
  • A #NoNewYouthJail sign. You can design your own, or contact email address to borrow a banner from the #NoNewYouthJail Coalition.
  • Camera (good quality phone camera or a quality point and shoot or better camera)

Instructions

  • Gather your congregation, organization, family, or other group together
  • Hold both your organizations sign/banner and the #NoNewYouthJail sign/banner
  • Take a good group photo (as an added bonus, you could take a short video of your group chanting, in call and response style: “No New! Youth Jail!”
  • Share your photo (and video!) with nnyjcoalition@gmail.com, and post them to your organization’s social media accounts using the hashtags #NoNewYouthJail and #PeoplesMoratorium