Meeting January 9

Our next ENJAN meeting is on Wednesday, January 9, at 6:30 PM in the African Roots Library of the Family Partnership Center, 29 North Hamilton St., Poughkeepsie. Agenda items:

• Jeff: Followup with Chief Pape
• Kat: Planned meeting with NYS Assembly-person Didi Barrett, Jan. 10.
• Bill: Plans to show 1.5-hour documentary American jail.
• Kat/Jeff: Court watch status.

Dog Whistle Politics and Local Elections

Thousands of innocent people are in jail.

Vassar College lecture

Lecture: Barbara Ransby, "Social Justice and Freedom-making in the 21st Century"

Thursday, September 13
5:30pm
Main Building, Villard Room

The full title of Barbara Ransby's lecture is "Social Justice and Freedom-making in the 21st Century: Lessons from Martin Luther King Jr., Ella Baker and The Black Lives Matter Movement." Ransby is Distinguished Professor in the departments of African American Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies, and History at University of Illinois at Chicago. There she directs Social Justice Initiative, a project that promotes connections between academics and community organizers. Her most recent book was published this summer: Making All Black Lives Matter: Re-imagining Freedom in the 21st Century." Sponsored by the Dean of Faculty.

People's Institute for Survival and Beyond

We are ENJAN (End the New Jim Crow Action Network The weekend Sept. 28 & 29 2018,  @  St. John’s Episcopal Church, 207 Albany Avenue, Kingston, NY 12401 Again weekend Nov. 2, 3, 4, 2018 @ Oakwood Friends School, 22 Spackenkill Rd, Poughkeepsie, NY We will bring facilitators from the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, to the Hudson Valley, to conduct a two and a half day workshop entitled  UNDOING RACISM.   Enrollment will be open to the community (limited to 35 participants).   Your donations will allow us to offer scholarships to residents in the Hudson Valley. Help us raise the funding to bring this important workshop to Dutchess County.   Thank you in anticipation.

View Campaign

ENJAN regional gathering

Dear Friends,

Save the date! On Saturday, September 15th we will come together, for the third time, as groups inspired by Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow.  At this regional gathering, we will have an opportunity to build our connections, discuss key issues, and think together about how we might support each other's efforts into the future.  Some new groups that have formed this year will be introduced as well.

The event will kick off at 10:30 am and end at 4 pm.  There will be a potluck lunch during the event.  There will be more information to follow.

The location is at the Christ the King Episcopal Church in Stone Ridge located at 3021 NY-213, Stone Ridge, NY 12484 (The church where we held the event the last two summers).

Thanks!

Jillian DiFalco

Kingston ENJAN

Fabian Marshall suing City of Kingston

POSTED: 08/04/18, 1:00 PM EDT | UPDATED: 10 HRS AGO

3 COMMENTS

KINGSTON, N.Y. >> A city man who was tased and arrested in a September 2015 incident is suing the two Kingston police officers involved, alleging they violated his constitutional rights. 

Fabian Marshall, 27, alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York, that he was subjected to excessive force by the officers, which caused him physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, and lost wages. 

The suit names Kingston police officers Jeremy Arciello and Michael Mills as defendants and seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

According to the lawsuit, Marshall was waiting on Broadway at approximately 10:30 a.m., Sept. 4, 2015, for his aunt to give him a ride to work. At that time, Marshall was approached by Arciello while police officers were trying to find a “short, bald, middle-aged, light-skinned African American man” who allegedly had pushed an elderly rider off his bicycle near Broadway, the suit said.

http://www.dailyfreeman.com/general-news/20180804/kingston-man-sues-city-police-for-allegedly-violating-constitutional-rights-in-2015-tasing-incident

National Night Out at Civic Center Plaza

ENJAN is pleased to have been invited to participate in National Night Out at Civic Center Plaza in the City of Poughkeepsie on Tuesday, August 7, from 5-8pm. National Night Out is a community building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie.  Please help spread the word about this event by sharing this FB event. 

You can also help by staffing the ENJAN table at the event. Right now we have:

• 3:30-6:00 Kat and Earl (with help from Darrett)
• 6:00-8:00 Cathy and John
• 7:00- 8:00 James (J.J.)

Kat has everything we need, except chairs. Please bring your own chairs. Kat has the table, materials, and a case of water for donation.

James is going to bring everything back after the event. Shannon will pick up the table at the August 8^th ENJAN meeting. Earl will pick up the leftover materials from our table at the August 8^th meeting. 

It would be great to have couple more volunteers. So please let Shannon know if you will be able to spend any time at our table.

Police Policies Revealed

Police Policies Revealed

When are police officers authorized to use force? What is the process for handling and correcting officer misconduct? How are officers using high-tech surveillance technology? New Yorkers have a right to know what rules the police are following to keep us safe. But far too often, police departments across the state don’t have clear or specific policies in place, or they are made with no community input and hidden from the public.

https://www.behindthebadgeny.org

Lumberyard presents d. Sabela Grimes

Lumberyard presents d. Sabela Grimes

A BRIDGE STREET THEATRE PRESENTATION

JULY 27 - 29 FRI @ 8PM, SAT @ 7PM, SUN @ 2:00PM

LUMBERYARD CONTEMPORARY PERFORMING ARTS

PERFORMANCE VENUE INFO

Bridge St Theatre; 44 W Bridge St; Catskill, NY

PERFORMANCE TIMES

JULY 27 AT 8PM

JULY 28 AT 7PM

JULY 29 AT 2PM

TICKETING INFO

Tickets start at $25.

All tickets are to be picked up at Will Call.

No late seating. No refunds.

BUY TICKETS:

https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/990636?_ga=2.933431.723402584.1532546699-725328814.1532546699

DARK MATTER MESSAGES,  a new work by d. Sabela Grimes

“One of a mere handful of artists who make up the vanguard of hip-hop fusion”

Dark Matter Messages is a collection of live poetry, video projections and music interwoven with improvisational movement meditations that realize AfroFuturism as a means to play within the nowness of impending futures. Moved by how Octavia E. Butler invents interrelated notions of humanness in her Parable Series, Dark Matter Messages dreams Butler’s unfinished manuscript, Parable of the Trickster, into a live performance experience.

D. Sabela Grimes, a 2014 United States Artists Rockefeller Fellow, is a choreographer, writer, composer and educator whose interdisciplinary performance work and pedagogical approach reveal a vested interest in the physical and meta-physical efficacies of Afro-Diasporic cultural practices. Described by the Los Angeles Times as “the Los Angeles dance world’s best-kept secret” and as “one of a mere handful of artists who make up the vanguard of hip-hop fusion,” Grimes is considered one of the most imaginative and innovative artists in his field.

Just Released

Juneteenth Protest June 19 in Poughkeepsie

JOIN US FOR A JUNETEENTH STATEWIDE PROTEST TO #FREEnewyork. On June 19th, at jails and courthouses across the state, we will lift up the voices of directly impacted people and call out urgent injustice: Mass pretrial incarceration. Guilty until proven innocent. A price on our freedom. With Juneteenth actions in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, NYC, the Hudson Valley, and Long Island, we will shift the landscape in New York State and win real change. The time is now.

In Poughkeepsie, join us at the 236 Main Street (office of Dutchess County District Attorney Bill Grady)at 5:30 PM. From there we will march to Poughkeepsie City Court. With music, performance, and the power of collective voice, we will: 

• Demand accountability from Governor Cuomo and NYS’s elected leaders.
• Demand emancipation from a racist and discriminatory pretrial system.
• Demand complete overhaul of bail, discovery and speedy trial laws.

RSVP & spread the word at: bit.ly/juneteenth-hudsonvalley

DETAILS

• Date: June 19th, 2018
• Time: 5:30 PM
• Location: 236 Main Street, Poughkeepsie 

WHY JUNETEENTH?

June 19th, also known as Juneteenth or Freedom Day, commemorates the abolition of slavery. But as directly impacted communities know, we are not yet free.

Police Chief Thomas Pape to speak

City of Poughkeepsie Police Chief Thomas Pape is scheduled to speak on the topic of procedural justice for 20 minutes tomorrow evening, June 6, at the Catherine Street Center, 152 Mansion St., Poughkeepsie during an open meeting of the Dutchess County Human Rights Commission. The meeting takes place from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Chief Pape's presentation is scheduled to begin at 6:20 PM. The full agenda of the meeting is here.

Thanks to Earl for calling Chief Pape's presentation to my attention,
Bill

Poor People's Campaign Nonviolent Moral Fusion Direct Action Training

I'm sending out a reminder for Tuesday's event. Please join us!

Poor People's Campaign Nonviolent Moral Fusion Direct Action Training

Tuesday, June 5
5:30-8:30pm
Family Partnership Center
29 N. Hamilton St. Poughkeepsie
Dinner & childcare provided

If you are interested in attending, please RSVP so we can have enough food on hand: bit.ly/hvppc6-5

If you can't attend, please consider a small donation here: http://bit.ly/BHAJustice

(BHA has generously offered to help offset the cost of providing dinner, through their Social Justice Fund).

And PLEASE SHARE! Forward this email to your network and print out the flyer to hand out.

More information about the campaign is on the flyer!

--

Beth Poague
9 West Church Street
Beacon, NY 12508
845.489.8318

Beacon Prison Action events:

 * "Photo Requests from Solitary" at Beacon Library, June 9th-July 7th with opening reception Saturday the 9th, 5-7

  * Talk/Discussion in the gallery space, Thursday June 14th 6pm 

A combined flyer is attached. And the event is on FB at:https://www.facebook.com/events/1521352904641380/

I'd love your help in spreading the word, or to see you there!

-Laurie

Juneteenth in Kingston

Community Involvement Committee

The Community Involvement Committee of the Dutchess County Criminal Justice Council is sponsoring a forum to provide an update on the Justice & Transition Center (the new jail), the recent Stabilization Center, the CJC's annual report for 2017, and more.

The forum will take place on Thursday, May 24, at 1 pm at the Catharine Street Community Center.

Attendees are asked to RSVP to Shirly Adams by sending an e-mail to sadams@catharinecenter.org or calling 845-437-2272.

I hope that many folks from ENJAN can turn out to learn what's happening and to express our concerns!

“Bethlehem to Brooklyn: Breaking the Surface”

Protest for Fabian Marshall in Kingston, NY

-Friday, May 4, 7-8:30 PM. Film “Bethlehem to Brooklyn: Breaking the Surface” at the Holy Cross Santa Cruz Episcopal Church, 30 Pine Grove Ave, Kingston. Free Documentary spotlights the world of Latinx, African- American, and Palestinian teenagers struggling with the circumstances of their daily lives. They don’t resort to violence, but find a way to resist through activism. SPECIAL GUEST: Fabian Marshall, who was tased 21 times times by the Kingston Police, will talk about efforts to bring racial justice to our local communities. Sponsored by: Middle East Crisis Response mideastcrisis.org, Hudson Valley BDS hudsonvalleybds.org, Jewish Voice for Peace - HV jvphudsonvalley.org, and Veterans for Peace. Contact: mecr@mideastcrisis.org or 845 876-7906

Samuel Harrell

Justice for Samuel Harrell

On April 21, 2015, correctional officers at our local prison beat to death Samuel Harrell.  Three years later, those same officers are not only free from criminal prosecution but are still on the job.

Please join Beacon Prison Action as we mourn Sam's death, call for accountability for this heinous crime, and organize toward systemic reform:

Three-Year Vigil Saturday, April 21st 6pm Polhill Park, Beacon (corner of Main St & 9D near Bank Square Cafe) Please come early to sign a letter to Cuomo.

White people as outraged?

A Starbucks arrest shows black Americans are robbed of their power

Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez

Men arrested for ‘loitering’ had no choice but to keep their heads down, out of fear for their lives. For black people, it’s a familiar situation

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/19/starbucks-arrest-black-men-race-us

Faith and Ee-Entry April 12

Thursday, April 12

6:00-9:00 p.m.

Catharine Street Community Center 

(69 Catharine Street, Poughkeepsie) 

(This event is being sponsored by

Dutchess County Interfaith Council, Inc. and

Dutchess County African American Clergy Association.) 

The Intersecton of Faith and Re-Entry:

The Role of Faith Communies in Helping

Formerly Incarcerated Through Faith-Based Initiatives

Inequities of mass incarceration are true in Dutchess too

Inequities of mass incarceration are true in Dutchess too

Geri Willmott, Valley Views
Published 1:29 p.m. ET April 4, 2018

More and more concerned citizens in this county and beyond believe our criminal justice practices need to align more closely with our constitutional rights. Recently in Poughkeepsie, Just Leadership USA (JLUSA) and #FREEnewyork co-sponsored a town hall along with our End the New Jim Crow Action Network (ENJAN) and the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Poughkeepsie. The event featured formerly incarcerated men and women who highlighted the inequities of mass incarceration for: Blacks, Latinos, women, the poor, the mentally ill, and addicts.

Picked up in a neighborhood sweep when she was a 20-year-old mother, Rasonia Squire explained through her tears why she gave up her right to a trial, and pled guilty to a felony, although innocent. “I had to get back to my daughter,” she repeated emotionally. Besides, ”I knew my family could not afford a lawyer,” she noted. Along with others on the panel, she revealed the shame of being arrested and having to tell her mother.

Full article:

https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/opinion/valley-views/2018/04/04/inequities-mass-incarceration-true-dutchess-too/466160002/

MLK Visit to Cold War Berlin

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Visit to Cold War Berlin (1964) Martin Klimke Professor of History at NYU Abu Dhabi Sunday April 8, 2018 5:00 pm Aula, Ely Hall, Vassar College In commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination, Professor Klimke will discuss the impact of Dr. King’s visit to Cold War Berlin in 1964. Klimke is the author of numerous books on transnational protest movements, processes of cultural transfer, and global networks of dissent. His most recent book is: Handbook of the Global Sixties. Poughkeepsie poet Gold Wilkerson will recite one of her poems she wrote in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thursday, March 22

The criminal justice reform committee of the Dutchess County Progressive Action Alliance (DCPAA) will meet on Thursday, March 22, 2018, at 6:30  PM at the Boardman Road Library in the Town of Poughkeepsie. Agenda: Discussion with Steve Micchio, Executive Director of PEOPLE, Inc. about alternatives to incarceration for individuals suffering with mental health issues.

Right to Know Act

Voting Behavior and Punitive Policies

Prof. Ariel White, assistant professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will deliver a lecture "Voting Behavior and Punitive Policies"  on Thursday, March 15, at 5:00 PM at SUNY New Paltz in Lecture Center, Room 102. Prof. White will discuss her research into two headline-generating trends that may at first glance seem unrelated: U.S. incarceration rates that are among the highest of any developed nation, and disaffection from government leading to low voter participation, including in New York State, which has one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the country. 

For more details, see here.

COMING HOME GRADUATION 2018

COMING HOME GRADUATION 2018 TO TAKE PLACE MAR. 13

The public is invited to bear witness as the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship honors the graduates of its Coming Home Program on Tuesday, March 13 at 6 p.m. at the Fellowship, 67 South Randolph Avenue, Poughkeepsie. This is the third Coming Home class to graduate in as many years.

The Coming Home Life Skills Empowerment Program seeks to empower men and women who are returning from incarceration and is based on a well-established model carrying a track record of success and over a thousand graduates in the New York metropolitan area in the past two decades. Participants work with facilitators and mentors to support personal healing and growth, life skills development and reintegration into the community. It is sponsored by the UU Fellowship of Poughkeepsie, The Beck Institute on Religion and Poverty, and The Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service.

Participants begin each Tuesday evening in the 19-week program by enjoying a communal dinner, served each week by a different local congregation. This is followed by meetings in which participants are matched with a mentor and explore life skills development, goal-setting, and sharing their personal stories. The program culminates in a graduation ceremony, to which all members of the community are invited to celebrate the achievements of each of the graduates.

The graduation ceremony will begin with coffee, desserts and snacks. There will be music and (short) speeches; the graduates will be invited to speak about their experiences in the program; and their mentors will share their experience of mentoring these extraordinary individuals.

The Coming Home Program is made possible in part by generous grants from the New York State Convention of Universalists, the Unitarian Universalist Association and The  Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley, including:

The Jeannette F. Schlobach Fund

The Jonah Sherman Family Fund The Richard S. & Harriet K. Fein Fund

The Stevens Family Fund

The William & Marcella Teahan Memorial Fund

For more information, contact Pat Lamanna at patla42@gmail.com or 845-309-3853.

Upcoming Events of Interest

Dear friends, 

I would like to invite you to take part in the following events. Please also help spread the word by forwarding this message, sharing the Facebook events (linked below), and telling your contacts.

Best,

Jamie

Thursday, March 8, 7:00-9:00, The Living Roots of Civil Rights

Library at the AJ Williams-Myers African Roots Library, 43 Gill Street, Kingston

Angeline Butler and Muriel Tillinghast will visit Kingston’s African Roots Library to share their insights into effective organizing, movement building, and non-violent activism, each one with over fifty years of experience on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement. Join us as we honor the 58th anniversary of the first mass sit-in arrests in the south, February 27th, 1960 and the subsequent collaboration with the Highlander School around March 8th, that same year. Angeline Butler and Muriel Tillinghast both rode with the Freedom Riders, as part of a broad effort to secure mass transit rights for African-Americans. Muriel was also part of “Mississippi Summer” in 1964 to increase black voter registration. Their remarkable stories were recently published in the inspiring new book Hands on the Freedom Plow (from Illinois University Press). Music will be included. 

Sunday, March 18, 3:00-5:00, Film Screening: Dolores

Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, 300 Wall Street, Kingston

Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century—and she continues the fight to this day, at 87. With intimate and unprecedented access to this intensely private mother to eleven, the film reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing one’s life to social change. Directed by Peter Bratt.  The film is in English with Spanish subtitles. The screening will be followed by a community discussion (Spanish-English interpretation will be available). Snacks will be provided at this event!

Thursday, March 22, 6:30-8:30, Film Screening: Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker

Library at the AJ Williams-Myers African Roots Library, 43 Gill Street, Kingston

“The kind of role that I tried to play was to pick up pieces or put together pieces out of which I hoped organization might come. My theory is, strong people don’t need strong leaders.” --Ella Baker. From the Young Negro Cooperative league in 1930 to the NAACP in 1940 to the Southern Christian Leadership Council in 1957 to the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee in 1960 and on into the 1970’s and 80’s Ella Baker walked the walk, talked the talk, and did the work for the Black Freedom Struggle in America. She was not someone who looked for the spotlight. She was an organizer and a teacher who devoted her life to building the grass-roots organizations and developing the local leaders without whom the movement could not have been sustained. This is how she earned her nickname – “Fundi”, a Swahili word for a person who passes skills from one generation to another.

Sunday, March 25, 3:00-5:00, Sign-Making Party for the Black Women's March

Library at the AJ Williams-Myers African Roots Library, 43 Gill Street, Kingston

Join Rise Up Kingston and the LGBTQ Community for Racial Justice for a sign-making party for the Black Women's March on April 7th. Bring your poster board, art supplies, and friends! About the March: Black Women’s March: Continuing the Legacy of Harriet Tubman, We March Out of Love, Care and Concern for Our People!!! April 7th, 2018: CVS parking lot, corner of Broadway and Route 119, Tarrytown, New York. You can support the efforts here: www.callblackline.com

March For Our Lives (March 24)

Giving Life - LGBTQ & Black Excellence

Please join us this Sunday from 3:00 to 5:00 for Giving Life - LGBTQ & Black Excellence. See below for more details about the event.

Best,
Jamie

Hi All,

I’m writing to let you know we are so excited to be welcoming our friends from The Tenth Zine (“Black, Gay and Unbothered”) to present this Sunday at 3 pm at Giving Life - LGBTQ & Black Excellence at the Center. Taking its name from a W.E.B DuBois essay titled “The Talented Tenth,” The Tenth is a biannual publication that champions black LGTBQ voices via photographic essays, in-depth interviews, prose, and events. Since the magazine’s first edition was released in 2015, it has received widespread acclaim for its presentation of counternarratives of black gay and bisexual lives, and for its ability to push boundaries and offer stunning visual imagery of and by black LGBTQ artists.

Khary Septh, the Editor in Chief, will be joined by two of the magazine’s creative directors to speak about the intricacies of the black gay experience and creative responses in the face of complex challenges—from digital engagement to classism—and examples of modern day trailblazers of Black Queer cultural resistance.

We hope to see you there!

Jake Salt I Director, Programs & Services
300 Wall Street I Kingston, NY 12401
845.331.5300

Dutchess County Jail: one of the worst in NY

State report on Dutchess County Jail shows reforms are needed now

Rebecca Edwards, Valley Views Published 1:39 p.m. ET Feb. 19, 2018

Dutchess County Jail one of the worst in the state. 

Few of us check the news nowadays without a sense of dread. The Poughkeepsie Journal’s Feb. 14 headline hit particularly hard: “Report says Dutchess County Jail one of the worst in the state.” Yes, the state Corrections Department identifies our jail as one of the five worst in New York.

Full article:
https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/opinion/valley-views/2018/02/19/dutchess-county-jail-reform/350659002/

Whose Streets? to show at Vassar College

Screening of Whose Streets?, a film that seeks to capture the narratives of Ferguson, MO residents in response to the murder of Michael Brown in 2014. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and has been nominated for several awards. Following the screening, there will be a discussion with the director, Sabaah Folayan.

What: Screening and Discussion with Sabaah Folayan, director of Whose Streets?

When: Monday, February 26, from 5:30-8:00 pm

Where: Rockefeller Hall, Room 200, at Vassar College

The screening and discussion is open to the public.

Free Ahed Tamimi and Black Lives Matter in New Paltz

Michelle Alexander at Marist

Michelle Alexander -- highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, social justice advocate, and legal scholar -- will discuss the topic of her acclaimed best-seller, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, at the Marist College Student Center on Thursday, March 1 at 7:00 PM. In the book, Alexander peels back the curtain on systemic racism in the American prison system to reveal how mass incarceration has come to replace segregation. Alexander's talk, which will be moderated by Marist faculty members Tia Gaynor and Jocelyn Smith Lee, will explore the myths surrounding our criminal justice system from a racial and ethical standpoint, and offer solutions for combating this epidemic.  

Seating in the Theatre will be by ticket only, and only Marist students and staff can obtain tickets. Seating with live-feed viewing will be available in SC 3101, SC3102-05, and the Cabaret. No tickets are required for live-feed viewing, and the public is invited to attend.