News

Inmates Strike for Prison Reform

Published

8 years ago

October 10, 2016

By Jessica Lussenhop BBC News Magazine

The US is currently in the midst of the largest prisoner strike in its history. Prison reform in the US has typically been in the hands of politicians and activists – but now the actual inmates want their say.

On Sept. 9, the 45th anniversary of a bloody 1971 prison uprising in Attica, New York, inmates at prisons throughout the US staged a coordinated strike in an estimated 11 states.

The epicentre of the protest movement is the troubled William C Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama and a group of inmates and allies there called the Free Alabama Movement. FAM partnered with the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee to spread the word to various prisons through direct mailings and prisoner news publications.

Inmates have even found ways to communicate about the strike using social media accounts, which can be maintained by friends and family on the outside.

“That’s very difficult to organize, and this is, even taking the most conservative version of the facts, the largest prisoner strike in recent memory,” says David Fathi, director of the ACLU National Prison Project.

The goals were many, but among them is an end to cheap prison labor. In the US, prison inmates do all sorts of work, from fighting fires, to sewing undergarments, to farming the land and cleaning up road kill on the highways.

For these kinds of duties they can be paid as little as 15 cents an hour.

While private companies do contract with prisons for cheap labor, Alex Friedmann, the managing editor of Prison Legal News, says the vast majority of the work is to help run and maintain the prison facilities themselves.

“Prisons really work off the back of prisoners,” he says, noting that inmates do not receive minimum wage, worker’s compensation or overtime and cannot unionize. Most of their money ends up spent at the prison’s commissary or to use the phones.

“They cannot run these facilities without us,” reads one piece of organising literature. “We hope to end prison slavery by making it impossible, by refusing to be slaves any longer.”

The strike’ end goal, according to the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee – is that by raising prison wages, costs for the institutions will go up and the profitability of contracting out prison labor will go down, eliminating any profit-making incentives for incarceration.

Prison reform has been a huge topic of conversation in the US for some time. The federal government just announced that it will end its use of private, for-profit prisons. Several state governments have elected to either scale back or at least study their use of solitary confinement.

The Federal Communications Commission began capping the rates that prisoners have to pay to call the outside world – rates that previously could be as high as $1 a minute.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

22 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

California Black Media

Yahushua’s Law: Senate Advances Bill to Protect Students from Extreme Weather

In a significant move towards student safety, the California Senate Education Committee passed Senate Bill (SB) 1248, also known as Yahushua’s Law, on April 3. The bill is named in memory of Yahushua Robinson, a 12-year-old student from Lake Elsinore, who tragically died due to a heat-related illness during a physical education class in 2023. It is a pioneering effort to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Yahushua Nyerere Robinson (Courtesy Photo)

By California Black Media

In a significant move towards student safety, the California Senate Education Committee passed Senate Bill (SB) 1248, also known as Yahushua’s Law, on April 3.

The bill is named in memory of Yahushua Robinson, a 12-year-old student from Lake Elsinore, who tragically died due to a heat-related illness during a physical education class in 2023. It is a pioneering effort to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Authored by Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Bakersfield) and co-authored by Assemblymember Akilah Weber, M.D. (D-La Mesa), SB 1248 directs the California Department of Education to develop comprehensive guidelines for schools regarding student activity during all extreme weather conditions.

“No student should ever lose their life on campus to extreme weather when we can take steps to protect them by preparing statewide plans to minimize exposure to the most harmful elements of exposure,” Hurtado said after introducing SB 1248.

The bill stipulates that schools must implement safety measures which include monitoring weather forecasts, postponing or relocating outdoor activities during hazardous conditions, and ensuring students have proper hydration and access to shade. It also requires schools to establish clear communication plans to keep parents, teachers, and students informed about potential weather hazards.

Supporters of the bill include the Robinson family, advocate Christina Laster, Bold Enterprises LLC, California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute, Familias Empoderadas del Valle Central National Action Network, The Black Student Advocate, and the Ventura County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Thanking Hurtado for introducing this crucial legislation, Weber said, “The story of Yahushua Robinson last year was heartbreaking. We have protections for farm workers and other industries in the case of extreme weather, now climate change is forcing us to also extend similar protections to students at school.”

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

3 days ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.