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.

Marion Wright Edelman Started the Childrens Defense Fund in the early 1970's

and she's been going strong ever since.

I didn't know anything at all about this dynamic woman until I saw a mention
about Malaak Compton-Rock and her trip to South Africa with the Bushwick Kids.

The Bushwick Kids Malaak Compton-Rock



Well this video really made me want to know more about
Malaak Compton-Rock was doing. So I dug around and found ;

Angel Rock Project and African Ancestry Help Teens Find Roots



One thing led to another and I found this:

Malaak Compton-Rock Children's Defense Fund



So this is where she got her inspiration?
I really wanted to know more about Marion Wright Edelman.
So I googled and searched youtube and guess what?
There is no end to the data on Edelman or the CDF
I see right away that President Obama made the wrong call
for the Health and welfare cabinet position.

Then again ms Edelman appears
to be working too well to be in government.

Introduction to the Children's Defense Fund




CDF Freedom Schools® Program Introductory Video




CDF President Marian Wright Edelman Health Care Reform Testimony



At this point, I'd say if you want to be on a winning team,
look up ms Marion Wright Edelman ASAP.

Peace out.

BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA.ORG

BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA.ORG is an online destination for free video streaming and distribution of fresh factual and fictional media related to the global black experience. Here you can watch free full-length streams of select documentary and narrative shorts, purchase to own engaging downloads, DVDs, and engage with multi-platform public media projects.

I was so delighted to discover this site that I only watched a couple of videos and didn't really explore it very much before I decided to put it on the blog right away. Hopefully you'll explore it more carefully and return with some helpful feedback pro or con. I also hope to see you spread the news so that more of us can benefit from the effort that's being made here.
It is productions such as this that will help to bring us to a place where we are able to see the potential we have to advance ourselves through cooperation
and mutual understanding. We should do whatever we can to help ensure the success of this and other projects like it.

Young Black Woman Facing 15 yrs for Jumping Line?

We really do need to get our collective act together and put a system in place for handling this kind of thing, which is popping up as often as ever, it seems to me.
Issues like the Jena 6, or the executions of Sean Bell and Oscar grant and the general injustices Black folks have to deal with, won't ever just go away if we wait for the "good will" of white people to kick in. while I'm sure that there are white people out there who possess the good will to support our cause, we must take the lead and take the situation in hand.

Now I am reading about Heather Ellis of Kennett, Mo.who is facing 15 years in prison after cutting line in Walmart. ( I wonder what would happen if all the Black folks in the US declared a 1 month moratorium on shopping at Walmart? Do you think we could convince the good folks at Walmart to hire some top legal minds to defend this sister?) We have to stop acting like losers and play to our strength.

What's Going on with the Oscar Grant Case?

The following post is from James Rucker, executive director of colorofchange.org:

ColorOfChange.org members gathered at the Alameda County Courthouse in Oakland Tuesday to confront District Attorney Tom Orloff over his handling of the Oscar Grant case, and to demand that he explain his decision not to charge a second BART police officer for his actions in the moments leading up to Oscar Grant's murder.

The event was a huge success and garnered lots of good local news coverage, including reports from most of the local TV news media. Our members delivered more than 20,000 petitions -- collected in less than two weeks -- to Orloff's office. This number reflects just a portion of the nearly 45,000 ColorOfChange members who have expressed outrage, demanded justice and pledged vigilance since Oscar Grant's murder on New Year's Day.

We sent Orloff a strong message that the public is continuing to watch his handling of this case. Orloff now has to answer the charge that he is failing to uphold California law in his refusal to bring charges against BART police officer Tony Pirone (who struck Oscar Grant in the face, apparently unprovoked, and then kneeled on Grant's neck as the 22-year-old Hayward man was shot in the back and killed by another BART officer). We're deeply concerned about what Orloff's lack of action against Pirone says about his commitment to pursuing justice throughout the case, and we think it's essential that people who care about justice for Oscar Grant continue to demand accountability.

Our effort was supported by Dereca Blackmon, a leader of the Oakland-based Coalition Against Police Execution. Dereca and I addressed the crowd before joining ColorOfChange members to carry the stacks of petitions into the courthouse and up to the ninth-floor, where the District Attorney's staffers accepted them without much comment. We're still waiting for a public response from Orloff.