End the New Jim Crow!: September 2015

Community Panel discussion in Kingston

Cornel West at Marist Sept 30

Dr. Cornel West on Race, Class & Justice in America: Where Are We Now?
Wed, Sept 30 at 7:00 p.m.
McCann Center Arena at Marist College, Poughkeepsie

Marist College is very pleased to launch the 2015 Autumn Academic Lecture Series on September 30 at 7:00 p.m. with a lecture by one of this country's most provocative voices on the topic of race, Dr. Cornel West. Widely regarded as one of the most important intellectuals on race relations in the United States, West has been hailed by the New York Times for his "ferocious moral vision and astute intellect." Dr. West has authored more than 20 books, including the highly regarded and best-selling Race Matters and Democracy Matters. Known for his skillful oratory and as an outspoken advocate for racial justice, Dr. West is a frequent guest on television shows of Bill Maher, Steven Colbert, C-SPAN, and many others. He has appeared in more than 25 documentaries and made his feature film debut in The Matrix. Dr. West was a tenured professor at Harvard and is professor emeritus at Princeton University and professor of philosophy and Christian practice at Union Theological Seminary.

This past year has witnessed growing awareness in the nation of continued problems in urban America, the ongoing racial tensions that continue to exist, and the alarming and tragic number of shootings of unarmed black men. President Murray, in his memo to the campus community on September 10, 2015, charged the academic area of the college, including our faculty and academic leaders, "to engage our students directly in the national conversation on race and urban challenges." I believe there would be no more appropriate launch to this important discussion than Dr. West's lecture.

Criminal Justice Reform/Alternatives to Jail Expansion

....to join my Jobs Not Jails organization, E.N.J.A.N. (End the New Jim Crow Action Network), and our Real Majority Project Saturday, Sept. 26th at 10 am at the Family Partnership Center Lateef Islam Memorial Auditorium at 29 North Hamilton Street in Poughkeepsie (12601) for a follow-up open and public forum I'll be facilitating:

"Criminal Justice Reform/Alternatives to Jail Expansion: State-of-the-Art, Cutting-Edge Best Practices from Across the U.S."

www.facebook.com/events/1180372555321933/

Speakers will include the following (list growing!):

-- Odell Winfield and Geri Wilmott of http://www.ENJAN.org/

-- Soffiyah Elijah, Executive Director, Correctional Association of NY-- www.CorrectionalAssociation.org/

-- Dr. Vanda Seward, Program Administrator for the Kings County Re-Entry Task Force and Director for the nationally known ComAlert program-- recognized in NYTimes editorial eight years ago and by Harvard as being incredibly effective in drastically lowering the recidivism rate there:
mobile.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/opinion/29thu3.html?referrer
scholar.harvard.edu/brucewestern/publications/report-evaluation-comalert-prisoner-reentry-program
www.brooklynda.org/re-entry-programs/

-- Rita Zimmer, founder and Executive Director of Housing Plus Solutions-- see www.HousingPlusSolutions.org/
(thx tons to Geri Wilmott for her PoJo column on this)

-- Elisabeth Swavola, Vera Institute Senior Program Associate at the Center on Sentencing and Corrections
www.Vera.org

-- Kevin Kelly, Tompkins County Opportunities for Alternatives and Resources Board President
www.OARTompkinsCounty.com/

What Is the Drug War

Angela Davis to speak Wed at Vassar (open to public)

Social justice icon and political activist Angela Davis to speak in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Vassar’s Women’s Studies Program.

Angela Davis, a social justice icon of the 1960s and 1970s who went from the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” list to a distinguished career as a professor and author, will speak at Vassar College to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Women’s Studies Program. Her talk, “Our Feminisms: From #occupy to #sayhername,” will address the past, present and future of women’s studies.

Davis’s lecture will be held on Wednesday, September 16, 5:30 pm, in the Chapel. This event is free and open to the public.

Recently, an overriding theme of her work has been the range of social problems associated with incarceration and the generalized criminalization of those communities that are most affected by poverty and racial discrimination. Davis is a founding member of Critical Resistance, a national organization dedicated to the dismantling of the prison industrial complex (a term she helped to popularize). Internationally, she is affiliated with Sisters Inside, an abolitionist organization based in Queensland, Australia that works in solidarity with women in prison.

http://internationalstudies.vassar.edu/news/announcements/2015-2016/150916-angela-davis.html

DC protest of Cheney's call for war

Man Fails To Rip Banner Away From Dick Cheney Protester Half His Size
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dick-cheney-protester_55ef0ba4e4b093be51bc326a

Here is Michaela Anang after she emerged from the building.

Vets For Peace joined Code Pink for the event. Picture by Ellen Davidson

Arrest rates for area communities

USA Today Police Survey
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/experiments/usatoday/2014/11/arrests-interactive/

HYDE PARK POLICE DEPARTMENT
2011-12 ARREST RATE PER 1000 RESIDENTS
BLACK RATE: 86.3
NON-BLACK RATE: 21
(Blacks arrested 4.1 times more often than non-Blacks)

TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE POLICE DEPARTMENT
2011-12 ARREST RATE PER 1000 RESIDENTS
BLACK RATE: 125.1
NON-BLACK RATE" 34.1
(Blacks arrested 3.66 times more often than non-Blacks)

BEACON POLICE DEPARTMENT
2011-12 ARREST RATE PER 1000 RESIDENTS
BLACK RATE: 93.3
NON-BLACK RATE: 47.6
(Blacks arrested 1.96 times more often than non-Blacks)

NEWBURGH TOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT
2011-12 ARREST RATE PER 1000 RESIDENTS
BLACK RATE: 143.5
NON-BLACK RATE: 46.1
(Blacks arrested 3.1 times more often than non-Blacks)

KINGSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT
2011-12 ARREST RATE PER 1000 RESIDENTS
BLACK RATE: 458
NON-BLACK RATE: 103.7
(Blacks arrested 4.4 times more often than non-Blacks)

Talk on the Drug War

http://survivalandtransformation.com/2015/08/06/what-is-the-drug-war/#comments

WHAT IS THE DRUG WAR?

A SPECIAL LECTURE BY

PAUL BERMANZOHN {KINGSTON ENJAN MEMBER}

9/23/2015

6PM

Community Groups to Protest Freeman’s Fatal Accident Coverage

Several community organizations will participate in a demonstration at 3:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 8, 2015, in front of the Daily Freeman’s Building on Hurley Avenue, Kingston.

The demonstrators will protest of the newspaper’s initial coverage of the four area young men, Kaireem Marks, Jr., Jante Clark, Adam McQueen and Dante Crump, who were killed in an automobile accident in Saugerties on August 26. The story included the criminal records of some of the victims. That information, however, was subsequently deleted from the newspaper’s website following an immediate outpouring of community denunciations.

Rev. G. Modele Clarke, president of the Ministers’ Alliance of Ulster County, said the inclusion of the victims’ criminal records was grossly insensitive and irresponsible.

“It appears to be a knee-jerk reaction to criminalize and diminish the lives of black victims after these tragic events,” Clarke said. “We saw it in Ferguson, last year with Michael Brown, in Staten Island with Eric Garner and several other similar instances across the country.”

Odell Winfield, president, of End Jim Crow Action Network (ENJAN), said the newspaper’s decision to include the victims’ criminal record was ill-advised.

“Releasing that type of information while the community is hurting so deeply is not only insensitive, it tends to devalue the lives of these four young men,” Winfield said.

Several community organizations are sponsoring this demonstration. They include: The Ministers’ Alliance of Ulster County; Kingston Council of Churches; End New Jim Crow Action Network (ENJAN) Citizens Action of New York and Midtown Rising.

For further information, contact Rev. G. Modele Clarke: 914-388-0671

Third Community Policing Forum Scheduled

Rev. Dr. G. Modele Clarke, President

Rev. Arthur L. Coston, Sr., Treasurer

Rev. Jim Childs, Chair Advisory Board

Ministers’ Alliance of Ulster County

8 Hone Street * Kingston, NY 12401 845-339-0773

Third Community Policing Forum Scheduled:

The Community and the Police, How Is It Going?

The Ministers’ Alliance of Ulster County will host its Third Forum on Community Policing.

The Community and the Police
Tuesday, September 8th,

6:30 PM

New Progressive Baptist Church, 8 Hone Street, Kingston

Panel: Kingston Police Chief Egidio Tinti and Kingston Mayor Shayne Gallo

The reason for the third community/police forum is find out what progress has been made by the Kingston Police Department on issues previously raised by community members. It will also include new community concerns to be brought to the attention of Chief Tinti and Mayor Gallo.

These ongoing forums have begun the transformational process of developing an effective community policing environment in the City of Kingston.

Come out and let your voices be heard.

'Ban The Box' in Kingston

Last night at Kingston Common Council Caucus, two resolutions Alderman Brad Will sponsored and shepherded through the Laws & Rules Committee were approved without opposition by the eight Aldermen present:

Resolution #186 of 2015 to 'Ban The Box' will effectively reduce the chance of recidivism for rehabilitated individuals and provide them with a fair chance / 2nd chance at employment to support their families. This Committee Report was motioned by W4 Alderman Nina Dawson (D) and seconded by W9 Alderman Debbie Brown (R). I want to thank all the residents and citizens of Kingston (Barb Stemke, Cassandra Burke, Odell Winfield and many others) and beyond for their strong support and perseverance on this important issue. As a result of your hard work - and once details are worked out with our Civil Service Commission - Kingston will join Newburgh, New York City, Rochester, and Buffalo in the State as leaders in banning the box.

Thank you for working together to Ban the Box in Kingston.

Barbara Stemke

ENJAN PAGES

Cornell West