Beyond the Bars: Maine’s Abolition Night
6:30pm, doors at 6pm
Free with RSVP via USM
Join USM’s Catherine Cutler Institute and the Center for Effective Public Policy with a capstone variety show to this year’s Beyond the Bars conference. The Thursday program of the conference will include a performance event, the fourth-annual Abolition Night, which will showcase local and national talent in a community-building celebration of solidarity and support between and beyond correctional walls. The evening will bring together activism, theater, music, and more.
The event is free and open to the public with registration.
The 2nd annual Beyond the Bars: Maine is a multi-day civic engagement event focused on deepening connections, expanding networks, and inspiring advocacy efforts in Maine and nationwide to transform systems that contribute to mass incarceration.
Mass incarceration continues to devastate communities, particularly those already marginalized by systemic inequities. Beyond the Bars: Maine responds to this crisis by centering the voices of directly impacted individuals to catalyze transformative change. This year’s theme, “Solidarity in Justice: Collective Care, Safety, and Generational Healing in a Digital World,” will guide workshops and events aimed at creating resilient, safe communities through alternative models of crisis response, as well as promoting healing from systemic oppression and trauma—both individual and collective.