Sarah Hollows - 2017 NOLA to Angola Bike Ride

Nola to Angola is an annual three-day, 170-mile bicycle ride fundraiser. We ride from Orleans Parish Prison in New Orleans to Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Each rider raises money by soliciting sponsorships from family and friends. The funds raised support the Cornerstone Builders Bus Project, which sends free buses every month for family members to visit their incarcerated loved ones.

Unfortunately, climate change and the false leader of post-truth America have not obliterated these facts: Louisiana is the prison capital of the world (this is not an exaggeration) and is known for its harsh mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Many people are in prison for crimes they didn't commit and non-violent crimes, living far away from their families and communities, in what is a grotesque and truly unimaginable environment. All told, there are over 38,000 people incarcerated in Louisiana alone, and among black men from New Orleans one in fourteen is in prison. Angola Penitentiary is the largest maximum security prison in the United States (having made the immediate transition from plantation to prison when slavery was abolished) where the average sentence for prisoners is 93 years, and 95 percent of people serving time at Angola will die there under current laws. These facts are abhorrent and unacceptable and demand multiple strategies of response grounded in love and imagination (as well as financial support!)

As an organizer of this 3-day ride I'm trying to raise $5 for every mile ($850) to fund the much more difficult journey of those families that remain connected despite being separated by distance, time, fences, bars, and glass. Our goal as a team is to raise $40,000 - enough to fund a full year of buses to 5 different prisons across the state. Can you help?