Mass Incarceration. The New Jim Crow. The War on Drugs. Thanks to Professor Michelle Alexander these phrases are now intimately linked in the minds of social justice advocates and faith leaders as we begin a critical struggle for fairness, justice and human rights in the criminal courts, police precincts and prisons of America. The Next Movement is convinced that America can do better, and that the majority of Americans would want us to do better, if they knew the truth. The truth ─ about systemic incarceration, structural second class status, completely uneven law enforcement practices, oppressive and selectively enforced laws ─ that is filling the prisons of America.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Campaign to End The New Jim Crow brings Michelle Alexander to New York

Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness was in New York City to lecture and participate in a panel discussion on issues surrounding the mass incarceration of primarily men and women of color. Speaking at Riverside Church, when Dr. King gave his famous Vietnam speech, she was again called upon to tell truth to power.

She was hosted by the Campaign to End The New Jim Crow and the Prison Ministry of Riverside Church.

The links below take you to YouTube videos of the key activities:

  • Click Here to see the press conference held outside the church (the first speaker is Joseph "Jazz" Hayden, one of the leaders in this effort and a close partner with The Next Movement)
  • Click Here to see Michelle Alexander's lecture
  • Click Here to see the panel discussion featuring an excellent range of experiences
There is a tremendous amount of work to be done, and this excellent event is evidence that organizing is taking place nationwide to do it.


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