Our Loved Ones

There are over 4,000 people incarcerated at the Cook County Jail and 3,000 people on staff. Both are particularly vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 because physical distancing measures are nearly impossible to implement, resulting in the wide spread of the virus across the jail complex. The jail has one of the largest known outbreaks in the country. The virus has already taken the lives of seven individuals incarcerated while awaiting trial at the jail, and three correctional staff. They are our loved ones. They are someone else’s loved one. They are people who we know and people who we care about. They need the same protective resources that we need during COVID-19. 

Community Partners in Dialogue—CCJ (Cook County Jail)

While we recognize the many challenges the Cook County Sheriff department faces as they make efforts to contain and prevent the spread of the virus, it is also important to shed light on the conditions that occupants of the jail encounter daily. Practicing social distance is difficult, if not impossible, because incarcerated individuals are living in shared spaces where they sleep 3 feet apart from cellmates, share showers, bathrooms, phones and other common areas. They have had limited access to products that meet CDC recommended guidelines to prevent the rapid spread of the Coronavirus. Even rigorous handwashing is impossible due to limited access to hand soap. 

These conditions make it clear that the ability to adequately practice social distancing and access to protective products are also questions of privilege.  While I have experienced marginalization due to race and gender, it is also true that I have class privilege. This is not a statement expressed in guilt or shame. It is the truth about my social status. And as the program director for McCormick Theological Seminary’s Solidarity Building Initiative, I wrestle with these tensions.  

As a person with social privileges, I am faced with one question: how might God be calling me to “remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them?” Hebrews 13:3. 

In partnership with Community Partners in Dialogue—CCJ (Cook County Jail), Community Renewal Society, where I serve as a board member, is supporting a joint fundraiser to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) for inmates. I urge you to join us by donating to this cause.  Go to support.mccormick.edu and choose the #DOJUSTICEFUND. Then, in the comment section, let us know that you are a friend of CRS. 

Jia Johnson 
Program Director, Solidarity Building Initiative McCormick Theological Society 
Board Member, Community Renewal Society