Jerome Dillard is fundraising
For the family of Ramiah Whiteside
Ramiah Whiteside, the Associate Director of EXPO EX-incarcerated People Organizing, passed away on December 4th, 2022. This fundraiser is to help his family give him the tribute his life deserved.
Ramiah allowed all who met him to recognize formerly and currently incarcerated people deserve to be loved. Ramiah was peace, love, and light walking.
After 25 years of incarceration, Ramiah began his work with EXPO in 2019 with the purpose of shining a light of awareness and truth that others refuse to acknowledge. Through daily contact with men and women currently incarcerated in Wisconsin, he stayed informed about what was happening inside Department of Corrections facilities that is often kept hidden – either purposefully or by negligence – from people on the outside.
More than anything, Ramiah used his powerful yet gentle voice to share these stories with legislators, media, and communities to advocate for change within the system. His goal in all of this work was to see the use of any form of incarceration be the absolute last resort, rather than the first choice, in our penal system.
Ramiah's words...
"My name is Ramiah Whiteside, and I am the Associate Director for EXPO of Wisconsin. Despite being home since 2019 after surviving over two decades of incarceration, my reality still goes through a prison filter. All throughout my incarceration, there were flu outbreaks. To my knowledge, there was never a fatality. That has changed with COVID-19. At least eight people I knew personally have died from COVID-19, and all of them should have and could have been released YEARS AGO. Maybe it is cheaper to bury us than care about us to some people”.
Ramiah always asked, “What else can I/we do?” And “How can I/we do it better?” He meant it, he sought to always be there for others in any way he could.
Ramiah will be missed by far too many to list, and we promise to carry his light and love with us in our work every day. 100% of all proceeds will go directly to Ramiah's family.
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