Have people truly lost their minds? It seems that people find more and more pleasure in the suffering of others. If it was not for mean spirited jokes, there might not be any comedy at all. I am no different than anyone else, I have certainly laughed at a friend that took a spill (after I helped them up of course), but I wouldn’t try to record it and profit off of a low point in someone else’s life. Unfortunately for people who get locked up in Franklin County, everyone does not feel the same.

There is a weekly publication in my city called Slammer which displays anyone who has been jailed in the county in the previous seven days. For only $1, anyone who has the whim can pick up a copy of Slammer and know who is in jail and for what. There are even stories in it that highlight popular cases and they are often written in a humorous tone.  So I guess we shouldn’t be surprised to walk in any corner store in the ghetto and see some young brothers laughing about one of their boys having his face on the front page; each of them knowing that it could be either of them in next weeks.

I guess the problem is not the paper but the trend that makes the paper possible. The question is how to get those young brothers to start getting angry about their friend being arrested for whatever reason. What they do not realize is that they are the ones that can turn this entire thing around, my only question is how to get them to realize it.

Prisons in Texas are said to be “big business”.  We have many rural towns that have large prisons that serve as the major economic drivers for the schools, hospitals and jobs in this little know places. But as we engage in our decennial census count we must examine how these prison populations are being counted for the purpose of delivering services to Texas communities.

The Census Bureau requires that individuals are counted at the address where they reside as of April 1^st . The Houston Chronicle reported that Harris, Bexar and three other large urban communities will lose about 67,000 residents to rural Texas because prison inmates are counted where they are in prison.

The problem then becomes that the prisoners who were convicted will not lend needed resources back to their home counties. Thus, urban areas that need more schools, jobs and programs will lose out due to how the count is taken at the national level.

What’s more, rural legislators are open to possibly gain seats that belong to inner city folks during reapportionment – 99 problems and it looks like the hood gets one more…

Check this out folks … this is crazy moving:

This video is based on the writings of Massachusetts inmate Darrell Jones. Since his incarceration, Mr. Jones has maintained his innocence and spent the last 23 years fighting to stop the devastating cycle of violence and incarceration he is witnessing. This video is about hope and responsibility on an individual and government level . If the men and women behind bars think that no one expects more of them, if they believe that this great “change” Obama spoke of meant everyone else but them, the results are disastrous. Without hope, the prisons are currently breeding violence, racism and anger to be released back into our streets (97% of men come back out) fueling this endless cycle of violence and incarceration. If Obama is able to address terrorists and school children alike, then why not this prison system when it is holding so many of our people?

Here’s one excerpt from Darrell’s letter, to show its resonance and unique perspective:

Mr. President, I once read in a news article that listed the top music artists you had on your iPod. Among them, it listed Jay Z. Well, with 24 years in prison, I’ve never seen an iPod, and neither have many of the men around me, but I do know that daily I see many very young males walking around me with “Spiritual iPods” that are playing in their ears, the songs of Notorious B.I.G. singing the words “You’re nobody unless somebody kills you”. Yet two things are clear, sadly, Biggie did become bigger in death, and that many of these kids who have never seen their families together during a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner meet them for the first time in a casket with their eyes closed at a funeral. So, what troubles me is not so much that they’re willing to die, but that they don’t even want to leave here (prison) and get back to living.

For more information and to read the full letter or to contact Darrell directly, please go to www.obamaanswerthis.com.

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!

Much of Santos argument has to do with the fact that two out of three prisoners is reincarcerated within a few years. The facts that they lack resources to rejuvenate their lives or return to “communities that reject them” are absolutely dead on. Santos establishes that, “few find employment opportunities that will allow them to earn sufficient incomes for shelter, clothing, and the basic necessities of life. The prison system seems a perfect design to foster high recidivism rates, and taxpayers suffer the consequences.”

The high cost of prisons – both in financial and personal means – are drastic. Maybe exposing the brutal lifestyles inside prisons will make people more aware of the realities of the prison system, as Santos argues. However, it might create more of a divide between people who are locked up and people who watch people get locked up, dehumanizing them in a sense. It’s hard to say. What do you think?

In the middle of downtown Miami, a tent city exists not far from the mansions and beaches that Miami is famous for. Yet despite their proximity, neither community ever mixes—it’s forbidden by law. Why? Because the tent city is “home” to approximately 70 sex offenders, who are forced to live there due to a local law that mandates sex offenders who abused children must remain at least 2500 feet away from locations where there are high concentrations of children.

This is outrageous! All of the people who are forced into the tent city have served their time in prison; completed the punishment that society had chosen for them. So how is it that they are still being punished long after they’ve left prison? They’re living in cramped tents with no running water or electricity. They’re cut off from friends and family. They are given no support, whether financial, medical, psychological, or otherwise. They’re surrounded by other sex offenders, many of whom suffer mental or physical disabilities. And in the middle of all this, they are supposed to rehabilitate, recover, and become productive members of society?

WTF? How are you supposed to go on with your life, start over, and become a better person in conditions like that? Who goes along with schemes like this?

Apparently, a bunch of people do. Police drop newly-released offenders off at the site. Local politicians won’t touch this issue with a ten foot pole, afraid that people will accuse them of being sympathetic to sex offenders. Some offenders even have drivers’ licenses with the underpass as their home address. It wasn’t until early this month that one brave city commissioner, Marc Samoff, dared to say something. He wrote a letter to Charlie Crist, the Governor of Florida, begging him to close the tent city and provide housing for the current inhabitants.

Kudos, Mr. Samoff, for recognizing that this is an issue that extends far beyond partisan politics–it’s a matter of human rights and basic dignity.

Here’s hoping the rest of Miami catches on.

There are a number of images that permeate our collective psyche. Some are tragic, others hopeful. Every now and then, there is an image that embodies a state of mind so well that it can’t be described or explained. You just have to see it.

On June 4th, 1989, a young, unidentified man stood directly in front of a line of tanks in Beijing, China to express a sense of dissatisfaction, attempting to stop the Chinese government’s attacks on young activists.

Despite the defiance of Tank Man, the struggle continues.

Those who attempt to commemorate the massacre of Tiananmen Square are treated harshly, and news media who want to document their candlelight vigils are turned away. Police have been guarding the square, with the intent of suppressing any protests. As of this writing, no protests have occurred.

Yet, the legacy of what happened on June 4th, 1989 lingers on. Katie Diamond of the League of Young Voters Education Fund in Portland, ME had this to say:

While the work we do at home is really important, it’s even more important to see how Youth Activism is a world-wide movement–this allows us to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself, and also allows us to see ourselves in a greater international context.

In times like this, we have to always remember wise words like this:
“Life is beautiful. Life is a struggle. Life is a beautiful struggle.” -Mos Def

The recession has had drastic effects on families nationwide. Personally, I know it is having a drastic effect in my household, and I have not seen anyone profiting from this economic downturn. So, every now and then, it is fantastic to see something good happening as a result of such a terrible economic climate. A rose that grows from concrete, if you will.

It would seem that as a result of the economic downturn, the current prison strategy is essentially ‘too much’ to handle in the current economic climate and states are starting to pursue prison reform as an viable option, as well as methods seen in the Youth Promise Act.

Check out some of these statistics:

• In Wisconsin, “by 2019 the number of prisoners is expected to have swollen by another 25%, with a price tag of $2.5 billion.”
• Michigan “spent a staggering 22% of its general fund on corrections last year.”
• “Three judges in California have instructed that state to cut its prison population by one-third by 2012.”
• “The Pew Centre on the States, a research outfit, reports that one in 100 Americans is incarcerated. One in 31 is in prison, on parole or on probation. “

Many states, other than the ones listed above, are considering reforms due to the dire economic climate. It just goes to show ya: money talks, and when it does, people listen.

We have to expect our government to take on the real problems in our neighborhoods. We’re not used to counting on them for change, but we should be able work with them and make something important happen.

There are over 80 cosponsors of the Youth PROMISE Act right now; we’re trying to get up to 150, but that’ll take all of us working together, contacting our representatives and telling them personally that we want their support for this pivotal piece of legislation.

Go to 99problems.org/youth-promise to send a message to your representative. It only takes a few minutes but will mean a world of change.

When Isaac started his voter registration campaign, he quickly came to realize there were many more issues to tackle in Colorado. Like the struggle of single mothers to hold jobs and raise their kids. Or ex cons who can’t find a job, anywhere.

What is it that sometimes turns us against the needs of our neighbors? We must look past the superficial, past our varied histories or roads taken, and see that we need each other to get where we want to go: a healthier community, with equal rights, and neighbors who help you get what you need.

We’re serious about this. The Youth PROMISE Act is the biggest step we can take right now to keep the kids of America out of prison.

Please get involved; speak up for all the youth who’ve been given the right to remain silent.

Stand up for the leaders of tomorrow.

Send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to start the discussion in your community.

Write your Congressional Representative to let them know you support the Youth PROMISE Act!

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.

As we have highlighted in past posts, the prison system in America is huge, incredibly flawed and extremely industrialized. However, there is a note we haven’t touched on yet: what about people who have been imprisoned for crimes they have not committed?

Take, for instance, the case highlighted above: Herman Adkins was sentenced to 42 years in prison, and served 12 before he was proven innocent by retrial. Allow me to reiterate this: He spent 12 years behind bars, away from his family, friends and loved ones for NO REASON other than witness misidentification.

What can we do to stop this? The people at the Innocence Project, as well as other organizations in the Innocence Network, dedicate their lives and resources to ensuring a fair trial for all, by bringing new technologies such as DNA testing to older cases. The work that these organizations are doing is unparalleled and extremely necessary in modern America. We must do our best work to ensure that no voice – no matter how frail – is unnecessarily silenced.