Bill Strickland- A win, win, win, win, win win, win situation - for America

Bill Strickland makes change with a slide show | Video on TED.com

Bill Strickland

Now that the tears are out of my eyes and I can type, I have to say, that this talk is a "Must See", watch it A.S.A.P. and then forward a link to a friend. This man has  engaged a cross section of Americans in order to help us find our own solutions to our problems, by attacking the problems at the public, corporate and the the private levels. As opposed to dictating top-down solutions and bailing out corporate entities that are too big to fail. The focus must be placed on collectives, such as have been created by the likes of Mr. Strickland and those who have aligned themselves with him, in which Americans have already taken the initiative to begin the reconstruction of the the cultural, educational and the economic infrastructure. Not only is Mr. Strickland's model bold and innovative but it appears to be coming about with a high degree of self financing, without major funding from the government. As he points out, if the government would like to get involved, they could start by getting discount on the monies being spent on the prison system, since education costs about 35% or so, less and has the added benefit of creating an America that will be more competetive in the world marketplace.

Bayview Hunters Point Center for Arts and Technology

 This is such and amazing example of Americans working together to solve our problems that I would go as far as to declare it to be revolutionary. Bill Strickland has pieced together a collection of multi-cultural, multi-generational, public, private, corporate, retail and manufacturing interests- all cooperating in a way that is mutually beneficial and as an added bonus the country as a whole is being strengthened. I would call that a win, win, win, win, win win, win situation.
 I'm glad to know that President Obama has  selected  Bill Strickland for the newly formed White House Council for Community Solutions. Let's try to make sure that they have the opportunity and our support to implement some of these solutions.

Gathering of Hearts Poverty Tour-Lambert, Ms

The people of Lambert, MS speak out. Povety is not diminishing in the United States
and we need some to help guide the people to overcome their circumstances.
The politicians of today appear to have no interest in the poor at all. This has to
be the fastest growing demographic in the nation yet the power structure feels that it
has the luxury to ignore this group.

Buzz ***237 millionaires in Congress

I was scanning today and came on an article on
BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ....that says that
237 members of congress are millionaires. Hmmmmm times are tough, huh?

The 2014 Update is even more interesting.

Profiting from Prisoners

Profiting from Prisoners is one heading
in an article written for Colorlines Magazine by Angela Davis.
Profiting from Prisoners is excerpted from a 4 page article titled,
Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex

As prisons proliferate in U.S. society, private capital has become enmeshed in the punishment industry. And precisely because of their profit potential, prisons are becoming increasingly important to the U.S. economy. If the notion of punishment as a source of potentially stupendous profits is disturbing by itself, then the strategic dependence on racist structures and ideologies to render mass punishment palatable and profitable is even more troubling.

Prison privatization is the most obvious instance of capital’s current movement toward the prison industry. While government-run prisons are often in gross violation of international human rights standards, private prisons are even less accountable. In March of this year, the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the largest U.S. private prison company, claimed 54,944 beds in 68 facilities under contract or development in the U.S., Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Following the global trend of subjecting more women to public punishment, CCA recently opened a women’s prison outside Melbourne. The company recently identified California as its “new frontier.”

Wackenhut Corrections Corporation (WCC), the second largest U.S. prison company, claimed contracts and awards to manage 46 facilities in North America, U.K., and Australia. It boasts a total of 30,424 beds as well as contracts for prisoner health care services, transportation, and security.

Currently, the stocks of both CCA and WCC are doing extremely well. Between 1996 and 1997, CCA’s revenues increased by 58 percent, from $293 million to $462 million. Its net profit grew from $30.9 million to $53.9 million. WCC raised its revenues from $138 million in 1996 to $210 million in 1997. Unlike public correctional facilities, the vast profits of these private facilities rely on the employment of non-union labor.

Eddie G. Griffin (BASG): Judges Sent Juveniles to Prison Receive $2.6 million in Head Count Kickbacks

Eddie G. Griffin (BASG): Judges Sent Juveniles to Prison Receive $2.6 million in Head Count Kickbacks

I have always thought that private prisons create a serious conflict of interest.
This case simply reenforces my belief that prison, as a business, has to have as a goal, filling as many places as possible. IMO this case will prove to be just the tip of the iceberg.

Please read and pass this story on and keep the discussion alive, asI am sure the railroading of our young people into the prison system has not ceased to occur. We have to get peoples attention and engage them in hammering out a solution to this situation.

While you're at it Eddie Griffin has more info about

"the prison industrial complex on his blog. Eddie G. Griffin (BASG)

I personally believe that this topic is related to and should be considered along with the topic of pretrial detention.

We must get into steering monetary resources away from penalizing our youth and start using these resources for the training and education of our young people. This is one way we can begin to break the cycle of crime and punishment in poor and marginal communities.

I'd like to discuss prison labor as being related to the two previous subjects because it stands to reason that if these young people are not receiving training to work outside, they will be fit only to fill some very low paying albeit profitable (for someone), prison labor positions.

The National Public Service Council To Abolish Private Prisons Blog has more articles related to the above topics. Maybe we can convert these prisons to educational facilities.