Pusha T & John Forte Perform At Calipatria State Prison For #SchoolsNotPrisons Tour

Pusha T has been using his voice in a very powerful way over the last several months. As an avid supporter of Hillary Clinton, King Push has been helping fight for prison reform and the rights of prisoners. Most recently, the Virginia rapper performed a historical set at the Calipatria State Prison for the #SchoolsNotPrisons tour.

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CALIPATRIA, CA (September 19, 2016) – In the first-ever live music event at Calipatria State Prison, Pusha T and John Forte performed yesterday as part of California’s statewide #SchoolsNotPrisons tour. The Sept 18 performance was the fourth stop on the historic arts and music tour advocating for more spending on education and health, including investments focused on the future success of incarcerated people.

The historic visit began with a meeting with the Warden and staff followed by a tour of Calipatria State Prison, a male-only correctional facility housing 3,841 people in Imperial County, California. The concert took place in the middle of the prison yard and was attended by hundreds of inmates and prison staff.

“Putting an end to mass incarceration is important to me. It’s something I’ve watched destroy a generation of my peers”, said Grammy-nominated artist Pusha T. “I was able to go to Calipatria and see there was still inspiration and hope in the inmates, that was motivation for me to keep fighting for this cause.”

The 2016 #SchoolsNotPrisons concert tour is a call to action for an end to massive spending on incarceration that is standing in the way of California’s ability to invest in education, health and prevention. California state prisons incarcerate more than 128,000 people at a cost of over $11 billion a year.

Investing in health and education is not only essential for community safety, but also to the lives of incarcerated people in California, nearly half of whom end up back in prison after being released. About 45% of California state prisons inmates were treated for several mental illnesses, according to a 2014 Stanford study, and 65% of people in American prisons and jails meet medical criteria for substance abuse and addiction. Incarcerated people who take part in college courses are less likely to be arrested again and more likely to find a job after release.

In each community, the #SchoolsNotPrisons tour is supporting local advocacy campaigns against the overuse of punishment and incarceration, including issues such as harsh school discipline, immigrant and refugee detention, the high cost of youth prisons, the lack of services for the formerly incarcerated, and the impact of incarceration on families.

“The #SchoolsNotPrisons tour is about highlighting the importance of investing in health and wellness over punishment and incarceration,” said Mike de la Rocha, founder of Revolve Impact who also performed. “Yesterday’s historic performance at Calipatria State Prison was about the inherent dignity and humanity within every family member, whether incarcerated or not. Investing in the health and education of incarcerated people is essential to their well-being and to their success after they are released.”

The #SchoolsNotPrisons Arts & Music Tour is being produced by Revolve Impact, a social impact firm at the forefront of integrating organizing and the arts to drive communities to action. The California Endowment and The California Wellness Foundation are providing support for the tour, in partnership with TIDAL. For the tour schedule and more information, see http://SchoolsNotPrisons.vote.

About Revolve Impact
Revolve Impact are architects of mass movement building campaigns. A social impact firm at the forefront of integrating organizing and the arts to drive communities to action, Revolve Impact changes culture by transforming systems, policies, and people. Founded in 2014, Revolve Impact provides policy, marketing and strategic media expertise to a wide-range of influential artists, nonprofit and government entities, corporate communities, and philanthropic foundations. For more information, visit Revolve Impact’s website atRevolveImpact.

About The California Endowment
The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation, was established in 1996 to expand access to, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental affordable improvements in the health status of all Californians. The Endowment challenges the conventional wisdom that medical settings and individual choices are solely responsible for people’s health. Through its ‘Health Happens Here’ campaign and ten-year initiative Building Healthy Communities, The Endowment is creating places where children are healthy, safe and ready to learn. At its core, The Endowment believes that health happens in neighborhoods, schools, and with prevention. For more information, visit The California Endowment’s website at Calendow.