Incarceration Nation (Alternative Radio)

Prof. Michelle Alexander, AlternativeRadio.org; Wisdom Quarterly

AR (Program #ALEM001) recorded in Santa Fe, NM, Sept. 12, 2012. (Nessom-Marshall)

 

Prof. Alexander (AR)

From the auction block to the cell block, there is a trajectory from slavery to Jim Crow to the best pretext for systematic racism and segregation ever devised, the "War on Drugs." 

The latter has resulted in mass jailings characterized by deep racial disparities.

 

The US is likely to send about one-third of young black men to jail. The criminal "justice system" -- which is more criminal than just -- functions as a modern system of racial control. Millions of people, primarily poor people of color, are being swept into the nation’s prisons at a profit to some and a cost to all.

Overcrowding is more profitable for guard's union (AP)

Those millions are then relegated to a permanent subordinate-class status which strips them of basic civil and human rights supposedly won for all during the Civil Rights era. The numbers are numbing. In all, the US holds 2.3 million behind bars and 4.8 million more on probation and parole. 

The more people who are locked up, with just cause or not, the more some profit: police departments who get additional funding for more incarcerations rather than lower crime rates, who keep assets seized even if no one is charged or, if charged and tried, found not guilty. 

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Not only do rural areas get paid to have prisons located in their precincts, millions are employed as guards and other functionaries within the "prison-industrial complex." The industrial part of the complex is called the Corrections Corporation of America, the largest private prison owner and operator. 

  

Prisons are bad enough when run by the state, miserable warehouses with torture and abuse dispensing collective punishment and wasting lives rather than rehabilitating anyone. They get much worse when a corporation cuts corners at every turn to increase their profit margin at the cost of  human misery and a disservice to society.

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Canada seeks to restrict religious freedom

Barbara Lamb; Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly

Anyone can be imprisoned, tormented, and deprived of humanity (ULC/themonastery.org)

  
As Buddhist practitioners some of us volunteer serving a prison community (mutually supportive sangha). We have seen how spiritual practice can transform lives and lead to real rehabilitation.

Unfortunately, the Canadian Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews, is cancelling the contracts of all part-time, non-Christian chaplains in federal penitentiaries -- with the expectation that the spiritual guidance of prisoners of all faiths will be provided by full-time chaplains, who are predominantly Christian. 

  

Overcrowding (Paul Holt Ministries)

This means that thousands of prisoners will be denied spiritual support grounded in their own tradition and practice. Please consider signing the following petition, which calls on Vic Toews and Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reverse the decision and uphold the rights of citizens behind bars.

Please forward this petition through social networks (email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Help make this issue visible to many more who believe religious freedom is one cornerstone of a democratic society. PETITION

• Freedom of Religions for Canadian Prisoners (upaya.org)
• Does Canada have a problem with non-Christian chaplains?

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Burma's Saffron Revolution Faces Violence from the Government.

YANGON, Myanmar -- At least four people were killed and 100 injured Wednesday as Myanmar's security forces clamped down on anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks, according to officials and witnesses. About 200 people were also arrested, as many as half of them Buddhist monks, as soldiers and police cracked down on tens of thousands of protesters who swept across Myanmar's commercial hub Yangon, according to witnesses and diplomats.

Myanmar officials said at least three monks were killed, including one who was shot as he tried to wrestle a gun away from a soldier. Two other monks were beaten to death, they told reporters.

Police used batons and teargas, sometimes firing warning shots over the crowd to disperse the protesters.

But throughout the day, the protesters regrouped.
James: We knew that it would come to this and we morn the death of those who sacrificed their lives for the liberty of the masses. We grieve with this tense, down-trodden, oppressed country. I am so proud of these fearless monks, nuns and citizens. It takes amazing strength to march for your rights in the face of violent backlashes. Yet I urge the demonstrators to continue their steady wearing down of the walls of oppression if they feel the call. Stay safe as best you can as you face down the paper dragon. Don't let them intimidate you, they can not stop the masses no matter how many bullets and clubs they wield.

May the injured heal quickly and may the imprisoned monks and civilians be freed immediately.

May the government realize it's mistakes and turn to talk rather then violence. To engage in violence is cowardly, very unskillful. To sit down, talk and more importantly listen is the hard part but the only way to unite people to have pride for their beautiful, noble country, solidify reconciliation and hope for a better future. Do not respond to violence with more violence. Let us all heed the voice of the great Guru and master of non-violence, peaceful opposition, Mahatma GandhiMahatma Gandhi:

I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life. I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.

James: May those in the military who are Buddhist cease and desist their abuse of the sangha and fellow citizens. May they realize the error of their ways and leave the military to allow Democracy to wash over the country and clean off the grime of oppression and brighten the faces of all Burmese. A new day is dawning.

May we continue to write our leaders to keep the pressure on the Burma junta leadership to stop this madness. They must know that the world is watching and will hold them responsible for tese crimes against humanity. Let us also urge our leaders to lobby China (the junta's closest ally) and India to help intervene and broker a peace accord. Here are a few email addresses that you might want to use:

American President George W. Bush: comments@whitehouse.gov

The United Nations: inquiries@un.org

Speaking of the U.N., I hear from CNN International that the U.N. Security Council will soon convene to address the Burmese Golden Revolution. Let us urge the U.N. to work with the junta to send a peace keeping for to "the golden land."

In closing, I'd like to end my post today with one more inspirational quotes from Gandhi:

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always.

CLICK HERE to reach the page where I found the Gandhi quotes.

AND, CLICK HERE to see many pictures regarding the on-going protests.

By the way, I have started to use the old name Burma to protest the Myanmar government.

~Peace to all beings~

PHOTO 1: Burmese military blocking a street in Yangon, Burma during a 9th day of protests by monks and civilians. Photographer unknown.

PHOTO 2: Burmese monks march in protest of the junta government. Photographer known but I will not post the name here for fear of reprisals. I'm not sure if the photographer is in Burma but I won't take that chance and risk this person's safety.

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