NSA Data Mining or Drug War People Mining . . .

An interesting article in Nation of Change eNews today, on the moral challenge to support NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden. As I consider the various information flowing through all of my media and news outputs on this subject, I have to admit . . . I'm still not sure.

I'm not sure if Snowden is a hero, traitor, or somewhere in between.

I'm not sure if the government capturing and sifting through meta data seeking to shine a light on potential enemy plans for our demise is worth the sacrifice of a bit of my personal privacy.

I'm not sure if one day we'll be sorry, or that this is "the tip of the iceberg" or "the first domino."

What I am sure of is that America is sliding into a police state, and that we have been sacrificing our constitutional rights in another way that has caused no panic among the media, the pundits, the government or the majority of people. We have allowed the war on drugs, and associated stretches of police and prosecutorial power to all but eliminate our rights to privacy, freedom from unwarranted searches, the expectation of probable cause, the right to a jury trial . . . and on and on, but where is the cry of indignation.

When the rights of poor, black, and brown individuals, inner-city communities and even rural communities, are laid bare and treaded on with abandon, there is little concern raised on CNN, FOX, ABC, hell even The Onion. Even as our investment in prisons begins to exceed our investment in higher education, few are noticing or caring.

Given the reality I witness, that the NSA is tapping into our data streams isn't surprising in the least. Frankly, I prefer the passive data collection to the active stop-and-frisk, "random" traffic stops, racial profiling, and other tactics used in the interest of "justice."

Daryle Brown

If Only Common Sense Weren’t So Uncommon . . .

This is not the way to create safe communities

Once again, the public is subjected to totally thoughtless commentary from people to whom we entrust our safety, and general quality of life. Once again, a politician is putting forth policy ideas that if implemented would be incalculably worse than the problem they are seeking to solve. Once again, for want of a headline, a completely senseless proposal is getting attention it does not deserve, wasting resources we can’t afford, and misleading the public.

We were utterly disappointed in Senator Mark Kirk’s bizarre solution to the gang and gun violence problem we have in Chicago. We are revolted by the senseless violence and deaths that have plagued some of our communities, but the idea to lock up 18,000 members of one particular gang as a solution is thoughtless, simplistic, and devastatingly wasteful. 

You lock up 18,000 black men and then what? Most certainly, any gaps in the drug trade would be immediately filled either by “dealers in training” or the competition, and most likely spur a new round of competitive warfare; ultimately, our communities would be less safe, less stable, and less livable.

For all of that “less,” it will certainly cost more. In fact, the $30 million that Senator Kirk has requested is a rounding error compared to the $810 million it will cost to imprison that many people.

It is sad and disturbing that Senator Kirk and his staff appear to have done no research on this issue — not with the leading academics, not with the local politicians, not with the communities. It seems the best we can hope is that this is somehow a ploy to bring attention to this problem.  

What we suggest is that the $30 million dollars (money he plans to request from Congress) be combined with Mayor Emanuel’s $50 million dollars (the amount he hopes to raise through the Chicago Public Safety Action Community Fund) and redirect it to projects and programs that do make our communities safer, by creating opportunity for young men and women who otherwise would work in the underground drug economy: job training, jobs, education, behavioral health services (including drug addiction services), and other community-based services.  

While we are a bit encouraged by his meeting with Congressman Rush and a fresh commitment to engage the community on the issue of public safety, the danger is that this was merely a face-saving tactic. In the coming days, we will also seek to meet directly with Senator Kirk to offer our suggestions for real solutions to our community’s issues.

For now, please take a few minutes to write and send a letter to Senator Durbin (or call), and encourage him to skip the inflammatory rhetoric and focus on community focused solutions:

Senator Mark Kirk 524 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC, 20510 202-224-2854

Dr. Patricia Simples
Daryle Brown
The Next Movement committee