| |
 |
Friday, February 7, 2003 |
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"No society since Nazi Germany has built so many prisons in such a short time. Each of those prisons is a school or a hospital that will never be built."
- - Mike Davis
RHINO HERE:
For those not familiar with the HBO TV series, "OZ", it's an hour dramatic (an understatement) series which ruggedly portrays life in a maximum security American prison; the fictitious "Ozwald Penitentiary". Each program segment is introduced by a black, dreadlocked, paraplegic prisoner who "breaks the fourth wall", (looks into the camera & addresses the viewer directly). His rant is usually creative & always poignant, concerning the ills of society being the primary cause of his & his fellow inmates incarceration.
I'm sure many people have watched a portion of their first episode of OZ & turned it off the first time they saw a brutal beating or rape or murder. Being a long time pacifist, I understand that queasiness, but if one can get past the violence, there's a lot of wisdom to be garnered from the points the show's writers & producers have been attempting to get across for the several years it's been on.
THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Following up on last weeks theme of Human Rights, today I highlight the "Prison Industrial Complex" (PIC) which many people believe is an industry run rampant on the rights of the poor. The huge increase in raw numbers and percentages of its citizenry that America has been incarcerating over the last couple decades amounts to not only a new form of racism, it's also a new form of slavery, with many businesses taking advantage of cheap labor & captive consumers.
Below are excerpts from, & links to, 2 articles which describe the new slavery & the massive profits being generated from it. For THE BOTTOM LINE, misson statements of a few organizations working in the field of prisoners' support.
"Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex"
An article by By Angela Y. Davis
Imprisonment has become the response of first resort to far too many of the social problems that burden people who are ensconced in poverty. These problems often are veiled by being conveniently grouped together under the category "crime" and by the automatic attribution of criminal behavior to people of color. Homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness, and illiteracy are only a few of the problems that disappear from public view when the human beings contending with them are relegated to cages.
Prisons thus perform a feat of magic. Or rather the people who continually vote in new prison bonds and tacitly assent to a proliferating network of prisons and jails have been tricked into believing in the magic of imprisonment. But prisons do not disappear problems, they disappear human beings. And the practice of disappearing vast numbers of people from poor, immigrant, and racially marginalized communities has literally become big business...
SEE THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT:
http://home.ican.net/~edtoth/lawprisonrace.html
The Prison Industrial Complex
Correctional officials see danger in prison overcrowding. Others see opportunity. The nearly two million Americans behind bars -- the majority of them nonviolent offenders -- mean jobs for depressed regions and windfalls for profiteers.
An in-depth, 3 part series on the rising tide of the business of incarceration by Eric Schlosser, THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY, December 1998
SEE THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT:
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/98dec/prisons.htm
9:09:03 AM 
|
|
THE BOTTOM LINE - Prisoner Support
Critical Resistance is an organization working to end the Prison Industrial System.
http://www.criticalresistance.org
Here's their mission statement:
Critical Resistance seeks to build an international movement to end the Prison Industrial Complex by challenging the belief that caging and controlling people makes us safe. We believe that basic necessities such as food, shelter, and freedom are what really make our communities secure. As such, our work is part of global struggles against inequality and powerlessness. The success of the movement requires that it reflect communities most affected by the PIC. Because we seek to abolish the PIC, we cannot support any work that extends its life or scope.
Critical Resistance offers intelligent educational materials including several powerful documentaries. One they call, "THE CRITICAL RESISTANCE DOCUMENTARY". Produced in conjunction with Critical Resistance & Deep Dish TV's America Behind Bars Series, it actually consists of 2 documentaries drawn from their historic Critical Resistance Conference.
"INCarcerated", outlines the growth of the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC), the social trade-offs made to support it, and the PIC's place in the global economy. (23 minutes.)
"Visions of Freedom" features highlights from the historic 1998 founding Critical Resistance National conference, weaving together music, poetry, and speakers. (29 minutes.) suggested Donation $20.
For more info on this and other video & audio programs by Critical Resistance, go to
http://www.criticalresistance.org/index.php?name=crgoods
The Prison Policy Initiative
The Prison Policy Initiative conducts research and advocacy on incarceration policy. Our work starts with the idea that the racial, gender and economic disparities between the prison population and the larger society represent the grounds for a democratic catastrophe. Our conception of prison reform is based not solely in opposing a rising rate of incarceration, but in evolving to a better way of addressing social problems than warehousing our citizens in cages.
http://www.prisonpolicy.org/
JusticeWorks Community
JusticeWorks Community, a nonprofit organization based in Brooklyn, New York, was founded in 1992 by criminal justice experts, exprisoners, and religious leaders in response to the social crisis triggered by the tripling of the female prison population in one decade. The mission of JusticeWorks is to educate, organize and mobilize a national partnership of religious and secular grassroots groups to advocate for just and humane criminal justice policies for women. http://www.justiceworks.org/aboutus.htm
The Prison Dharma Network
Rhino's Blog reader & Zen author/activist Gary Gach has assembled a list of organizations that assist prisoners who practice Buddhism.
http://awakening.to/engagement.html
One of them, The Prison Dharma Network (PDN), was founded by a federal prisoner, Fleet Maull, in 1989. This Buddhist support network assists prisoners, prison volunteers, and correctional workers in the practice of contemplative disciplines, with emphasis on the meditation practices of the various Buddhist traditions.
http://www.prisondharmanetwork.org/
JEWISH PRISONER SERVICES INTERNATIONAL
JPSI is a not-for-profit, publicly supported, volunteer outreach program providing an international network for individuals and organizations serving Jewish prisoners and their families. Its purpose is to:
- Share information and resources.
- Raise the consciousness of Jewish communities about the issue of Jews in prison.
- Encourage the participation of other individuals and groups.
- Make Jewish educational, religious, cultural and spiritual resources available to prisoners.
- Formulate guidelines of service to Jewish inmates and their families before, during and after incarceration.
http://www.jewishprisonerservices.org/
"RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com)
Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged.
SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT:
http://www.rhinosblog.info
RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES:
http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG)
http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES)
Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
All copyrights belong to original publisher.
8:46:05 AM
|
|
© Copyright 2005 Gary Rhine.
|
|
