Building a Movement of Ex-Prisoners

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http://counterpunch.com/glasgow02182011.html


From Montgomery to Los Angeles and Beyond



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As formerly incarcerated people, every day is another reminder that we do not have full access to our civil and human rights. Having served our sentences and returned home, we face circumstances that often seem designed to prevent our full participation in our communities and country: stigma for having a criminal conviction. Barriers to gaining meaningful employment and decent housing. Barriers to constructive educational opportunities. Lack of access to healthcare. Denial of our voting rights.

This is a widespread problem. Consider this: there are nearly 2.4 million people incarcerated in prisons and jails in the U.S. today. Most people currently incarcerated are coming home -- according to the Department of Justice, over 700,000 people were released from incarceration in 2006 alone. Across the country, over five million people are under state supervision like parole or probation. There are millions of people who are currently and formerly incarcerated, and millions more who were never incarcerated but have a criminal conviction—all of whom live, every day, without our full civil and human rights.

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From February 28 – March 2, 2011, formerly incarcerated people from around the country will gather in Montgomery and Selma to develop a common platform regarding restoration of civil rights, stopping prison expansion, elimination of excessive punishments, and protecting the dignity of family members and communities. The gathering, hosted by The Ordinary People's Society of Alabama, will include formerly incarcerated leaders from dozens of groups from round the country, including co-conveners All of Us or None (CA), Women on the Rise Telling Her Story (NY), National Exhoodus Council (PA), A New Way of Life (CA), Direct Action for Rights and Equality (RI) and more.

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The only way to secure our full civil and human rights is to organize a people's movement. Launching this national movement from the epicenter of the Civil Rights struggle is a symbolic action of great power, invoking similar moments such as Stonewall, the Great Grape Boycott, and the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments. A follow up gathering is scheduled for Los Angeles in November 1-2, 2011. Formerly incarcerated people are building Civil and Human Rights Movement for the 21st Century. We hope you'll join us – in Alabama, Los Angeles, and beyond.
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this is a good thing - hope it will grow and be productive

[Proud Liberal Dem]

1. Very few people are willing to really "go to bat" for ex-prisoners

Which has, unfortunately, allowed things to get as bad as they are- to the point that people whom messed up and had to go to jail/prison but whom served their time are perpetually punished even AFTER they get out. The logic of, for instance, requiring people to take some kind of action to restore their voting rights in some states after having been incarcerated for certain offenses strikes me as particularly bizarre and outrageous. Another thing is that a lot of people probably would've been better served being on probation and serving their sentence out in the community instead of being locked up. We should divert some of the money from prisons to hiring more probation officers for people who only committed minor/victimless offenses and focus on incarcerating violent/predatory individuals instead. There is probably only a relatively small percentage of people who absolutely HAVE to be incarcerated to protect public safety and a much larger percentage of people whom don't IMHO.

[xchrom]

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