Dice Raw Documentary

A message to young people of color...
Don't get caught in the Prison Industrial trap.

To the rest of us...
We have to work to create circumstances that protect our young folks...
 

Angela

Angela Davis - Tireless in Her Quest for Justice

You can read about Angela on wikipedia, take the time and do so.

"Blues, Legacies and Black Feminism" by Angela Davis

an audio presentation.



See also

Angela Davis on the Prison Abolishment Movement

Jim Crow Must Go - The Prison Industrial Complex

The Internet Archive is an excellent place to cruise around for information. There is so much going on there, that you just never know what's going to turn up. Videos, radio and TV programs, old public domain images and texts are among the things I've found. Now I'm going to share a little treat I came upon with you. Would you believe "The New Jim Crow"? Yup it's in there. If you haven't read it yet then fire up your iPod/Pad and get crackin'.

M. Alexander's The New Jim Crow

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Michelle Alexander argues that mass incarceration of people of color in the US constitutes the newest structure of racialized social control, replacing slavery and Jim Crow to create an African American undercaste. She argues that the vastly disproportionate imprisonment (and the resultant disenfranchisement and exclusion from numerous aspects of mainstream society such as education and employment) of African Americans constitutes the single most important impediment to equality and civil rights..

Listen or Download below.

The New Jim Crow: Introduction

The New Jim Crow: Chapter One - "The Rebirth of Caste" Part 1
The New Jim Crow: Chapter One - Part 2

The New Jim Crow: Chapter Two - "The Lockdown" Part 1
The New Jim Crow: Chapter Two - Part 2

See the results of my New Jim Crow search

http://archive.org/search.php?query=new%20jim%20crow%20AND%20mediatype%3Aaudio

Is the US war on drugs racist?

"as the war on drugs rages in US inner cities, the issue has not come up on the campaign trail of either Obama or his Republican presidential opponent, Mitt Romney."

  Is the US war on drugs racist? - Inside Story: US 2012 - Al Jazeera English

Drug Sentencing Disparities

"About 14 million Whites and 2.6 million African Americans report using an illicit drug
5 times as many Whites are using drugs as African Americans, yet African Americans are sent to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of Whites
African Americans represent 12% of the total population of drug users, but 38% of those arrested for drug offenses, and 59% of those in state prison for a drug offense.
African Americans serve virtually as much time in prison for a drug offense (58.7 months) as whites do for a violent offense (61.7 months). (Sentencing Project)"

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.

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.