By Marc H. Morial, (To Be Equal #4) – The Census is one of the most powerful tools the African American community has to claim our rightful voice in the political, legislative and social institutions of our nation. Unfortunately, it also is one of the most abused. One of the ways the Census is abused […]
New Annie E. Casey Foundation Report Recommends Policies to Help Millions of Children with Incarcerated Parents
Baltimore, MD – In a new report released recently, A Shared Sentence: The Devastating Toll of Parental Incarceration on Kids, Families and Communities, the Annie E. Casey Foundation recommended policy reforms that would help millions of children who struggle with emotional and financial instability as a result of having an incarcerated parent. Research shows that […]
Filmmakers Bobby Marvin Holmes and Justin Gladden Release “Free Young Blood,” a Documentary About the Mass Incarceration of Black Men
Baltimore, MD – Many consider young Black males to be under a state of emergency. The mass incarceration of Black males has become a growing concern and highly debated in many socio-political arenas. Yet, two important questions remain: What is the cause of it? and How do we stop it? Just two days before the […]
Bill Clinton To Protesters: You Are Defending the People Who Kill the Lives You Say Matter
He’s at it again. This time I have to say President Clinton held his own against the protesters – even though their issue is valid and a point I often make. Both Clinton’s must realize they can’t change the facts and statistics about how his tough on crime bill contributed to the high incarceration rate […]
Have Blacks lost their spirit for social activism?
by Jessica Williams-Gibson – Some are concerned that the kind of activism advocated by leaders such as Rev. Derek King (left) and Rev. Al Sharpton is not as strong in the Black community today as in the past. During the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s, African-Americans mobilized and marched for issues such […]
Beyond the Trayvon Martin Mobilization by Dr. Ron Daniels
A Movement to End Mass Incarceration and Rebuild America’s “Dark Ghettos” All across America a massive mobilization is in full force demanding justice in the horrific and unjustified death of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman. It was a vigilante style killing aided and abetted by Florida’s wild, wild west “Stand Your Ground” […]
In Prison Reform, Money Trumps Civil Rights
By Michelle Alexander (NYTimes.com) – The legal scholar Derrick A. Bell foresaw that mass incarceration, like earlier systems of racial control, would continue to exist as long as it served the perceived interests of white elites. Thirty years of civil rights litigation and advocacy have failed to slow the pace of a racially biased drug […]
Unlikely Allies Call for Shifting Spending from Prisons to Schools
By Nirvi Shah (Edweek.org) – The NAACP has joined forces with fiscally conservative groups, former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, and others to persuade legislators and policymakers to shift the growing amount of money spent on prisons to education. In a new report called “Misplaced Priorities: Over Incarcerate, Under Educate,” the NAACP compiled research […]