Lights.. Camera.. GUILTY!

I’m going to tell you all a secret: Reality TV makes me really angry.

Ever since the first season of The Real World in 1992, more and more television has been composed of reality programs because they are cheap to produce, draw in a good audience and.. well, let’s face it.. the old adage goes, real life is stranger than fiction. And it bores me. I don’t care about Jon and Kate or Survivor and frankly, as much as I love P.E., thinking about Flavor Flav getting down with any of the girls on Flavor of Love gives me nightmares.

But while going through some daily blogs, I saw a piece that stopped me in my tracks. Michael Santos, prisoner and author of the book Inside: Life Behind Bars in America presents an interesting question: Can Reality TV Advance Prison Reform?

Let’s get into it after the jump! … Continue Reading

Posted by:

Steve Romain

5% of the World’s Population, 25% of its Prisoners

That’s America, alright, and the numbers come from an article on prison reform written by Mark Lange in the Christian Science Monitor. As yall know, we’re big supporters of the Youth PROMISE Act over here at 99p.  The statistics from the American Prison system are horrendous; recidivism is practically guaranteed for many people who serve time, because they leave these “crime schools” with complicated paroles and no preparation in life after jail.  As Mr. Lange writes:

Mass imprisonment of nonviolent offenders amounts to justice by lock-down – and lets government off the hook for results. The only stakeholders this system serves are elected officials, including judges, who are rewarded for posing as “tough” on crime without solving it – and the lobbyists and interests paid to build and run prisons.

… Continue Reading

Posted by:

Sam Patton

Rev. Yearwood & Kevin Epps on our prison crisis

The criminal justice system in America almost guarantees what Kevin Epps calls the “vicious cycle of recidivism” that keeps thousands of Americans from fulfilling any fraction of our social dream.

Rev. Yearwood’s experience working with T.I. is an incredible example of artists becoming activists and giving back to their communities. Working from the ground up, working with our neighbors to build healthier lives, pushing the system to reveal its prejudices and injustice…for activists like Yearwood and Epps, it is the work of a lifetime.

Posted by:

Sam Patton