August 11, 2019

Who Cares ABout Fair Elections?
By Juliane Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The US House of Representatives passed the Securing America's Fair Elections (SAFE) Act in June by a nearly totally partisan vote of 225-184 in late June. Only one Republican voted for legislation that would mandate paper ballots, increase election security, and create safeguards to prevent foreign interference in our elections. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) opposes the legislation and won't even allow it to be introduced or voted on in the Senate.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was eloquently angry when she raised a series of questions, "I just would really like to know from my Republican friends, what's wrong with replacing outdated, vulnerable voting equipment? What is wrong with requiring paper ballot voting systems to ensure the integrity of our elections? What is wrong with enacting strong cybersecurity requirements for elections technology vendors and voting systems? We must be relentless in the defense of our democracy, fighting on all fronts to keep America safe."

Republicans don't seem to want to defend democracy, though. They simply want to win. And McConnell, who behaves like the 45th President's handmaiden, has abandoned his duty as Senate leader in favor of partisan shenanigans. Former special counsel Robert Mueller III testified that Russian election interference was happening even as he testified, too many Republicans chose to ignore his warning because it does not serve them. McConnell is among those who seem to hope that Russian interference aids Republicans and perhaps ensures the reelection of the most odious human being ever to occupy the Oval Office.

Meanwhile, people are organizing and attempting to overcome interference by mobilizing the Democratic base of voters. Barbara Arnwine, who founded and leads the Transformative Justice Coalition (www.tjcoalition.org) gathered dozens of activists to participate in a day-long strategy session on voting rights on August 7, fifty-four years after the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965. Arnwine's organization is among the many planning to ensure both voter turnout and election fairness in the upcoming elections. With so many focused on the 2020 election, and appropriately so, it is essential to note that 2019 elections are also significant. Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi will elect governors, New Jersey, and Virginia are among those who will elect state legislators, and some cities will elect mayors.

Activists can use these elections to test our broken system, and as practice, perhaps for 2020. But activists must also be clear that Republicans don't seem to want fair elections. If they did, McConnell would schedule a vote on the SAFE Act, which provides dollars for better, safer, voting technology.

Both houses of Congress are on recess this August month, and won't reconvene until after Labor Day. Most members of Congress will say that they aren't taking a six-week vacation because they are also working in their districts. Citizens need to meet with them, organize town hall meetings, and get input from those recalcitrant Republicans (all of the Democrats voted for the SAFE Act) on why they eschew fair elections.

Some of them use a "state's right" argument, suggesting that states can manage their own elections on their own terms. African Americans understand states' rights all too well. States' rights made it necessary for our nation to pass a Voting Rights Act, despite the guarantees included in the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. The question to ask is the questions Speaker Pelosi asked when the legislation came up for a vote on June 27. What's wrong with election fairness?

It is indisputable that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections to aid the 45th President. It is undeniable that millions of voters have been purged from the polls since 2016 with Secretaries of State eager to influence elections, as they did in both Georgia and Florida in 2018. It is indisputable that while Florida voters attempted to restore votes to former felons, the legislature undermined that vote by requiring people to pay all fines and fees before they are allowed to vote.

If the Congressional vote on the SAFE Act is any indication, Republicans don't want election fairness. They want to win by whatever means necessary. We've invaded foreign countries to "ensure democracy," but our Congress does not have the decency to ensure democracy at home. Since the government won't do its work, civil society organizations will have to. Kudos to Barbara Arnwine and the Transformative Justice Coalition for their work on voter fairness!

August 8, 2019

Virtual Bridges: Technology Helps Inmates Prepare for Life Outside Prison  
By Rachel Holloway

 

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Are American prisons doing their jobs? Are they rehabilitating inmates rather than simply punishing them? More than that, are the nation’s prisons adequately protecting society in exchange for the billions in taxpayer dollars spent annually to fund them?

 

These are just a few of the fundamental questions that have arisen as the nation debates ways to reform the American criminal-justice system. And they are vitally important questions, at a time when 68 percent of the prisoners who are set free each year find themselves rearrested within three years.

 

In many quarters, the growing consensus is that the nation’s prison system is failing in critically important areas, including dismantling the problem of recidivism. At the core of the problem is what critics describe as an outdated approach to criminal justice that inordinately focuses on deterrence (prison confinement) and punishment (again, prison confinement).

 

The approach, critics say, sharply limits a prisoner’s contact with support networks that can be vitally important after prison. This includes friends, relatives and other key members of his or her community who could help find jobs, temporary housing and other supports needed to reintegrate into society. To make matters worse, many prisons fail to offer tools and programs that effectively address many of the obstacles in a former inmate’s path to resuming a normal life, including a lack of adequate education or job training.

 

Technology: The New Vocational Trainings

 

Now, though, experts say the prospects for slowing the revolving prison door have been improved with the advent of technologies that include digital tablets, teleconferencing tools and the like inside prisons themselves. From New York and Atlanta to Detroit, Austin and Los Angeles, corrections officials are employing digital programs and tools to help inmates prepare for the arduous task of reintegrating into society. These technologies provide everything from online vocational instruction to regularly scheduled video chats and visits with family.

 

The need for such an approach appears to be bolstered by statistics. A 2016 study that surveyed more than 1,300 prisoners from nearly 100 prisons provided a number of telling trends and insights, including:

 

·       94 percent of inmates have no more than a high school education, at a time when employers are looking for employees prepared to meet the demands of a high-tech economy;

·       30 percent of prisoners who had in fact attended high school did not ultimately earn a diploma;

·       While 37 percent of incarcerated adults reported using a computer in their jobs prior to their incarcerations, only 10 percent reported using a computer in their prison job assignments;

·       Incarcerated adults who used a computer in their current job scored higher in literacy than their peers who did not use a computer;

·       58 percent of inmates completed entire prison terms without having finished any kind of educational program while in prison;

·       While only 21 percent of prisoners were studying for a formal degree or certificate, over two-thirds (70 percent) of incarcerated adults reported that they wanted to enroll in an academic class or program;

·       Twenty-three percent of incarcerated adults said that they had participated in a job skills or job training program during their current term in prison;

·       Incarcerated adults who participated in a job skills or job training program scored higher in literacy and numeracy;

·       Fourteen percent of incarcerated adults were on a waiting list for entering a job training program.

 

Dollars and Sense: Redirecting Correctional Costs

 

Currently, the average cost of incarceration per inmate is $31,286. Experts argue that by reducing recidivism rates, taxpayers’ money can be redirected from correctional expenditures to public health and education initiatives.

 

The demand for these technologies has helped expand a little-known industry of prison communications providers. These companies specialize in helping state and federal correctional officials implement new programs which allow prisoners to educate themselves, communicate with loved ones and succeed upon release. In order to achieve these goals, they are investing heavily in the development and distribution of new tools such as digital tablets.

 

This industry’s involvement recalls an urgent time more than a generation ago when private companies were tapped to help government corrections officials expand capacity at a slew of public prisons that had become dangerously overcrowded in states around the country.

 

The most dramatic improvements for prisoners because of these technological investments has been seen in the area of education. Once a unique privilege, these programs have now become much more widely available.

 

The statistics underscore the importance of such investments. Individuals who receive an education while in prison are 43 percent less likely to become repeat offenders. And access to job training helps build the foundation that will help these individuals be better positioned to find employment upon release.

 

Currently, there are several companies working in this space, but one in particular is leading the way. Securus Technologies—which is based in Texas but operates nationally— serves correctional facilities in 47 states.

 

Since Securus began offering digital tablets a few years ago, more than 85,000 incarcerated people around the country have enrolled in college courses, earning over 50,000 college credits. This is no small accomplishment, especially since the link between education and a reduced recidivism rate is so strong.

 

The Chief Growth Officer of Securus, Russell Roberts, says that his firm is dedicated to increasing the services available to those incarcerated. That means not only expanding a variety of communication services, but also providing education, training and operational services like bringing grievance requests online to modernize the incarceration experience. The company’s representatives believe they’re helping revolutionize how the nation brings technology to inmates.

 

“There is a crisis of recidivism in this country,” said Roberts. “And we need to make sure that when incarcerated individuals have served their time, we’ve prepared them to be successful on the outside. Technology enabled services brings these opportunities to scale.  We’re proud to make these investments because we see the impact of our technologies every day on the lives of real families.”

 

Education the Ultimate Motivator: Ronnie Hopkins

 

The impact of these tools can best be seen in the stories of individuals like Ronnie Hopkins. Mr. Hopkins was incarcerated in Grafton Correctional Institute in Ohio for seven years where he served time for manufacturing methamphetamine and possession.

 

While on the inside, he saw his fellow inmates using tablets and he enrolled in an educational program called Lantern. Through the program, he was able to take GED courses and passed the test on his first attempt. He then began taking college credits through an online program offered on Securus tablets by Ashland University.

 

Upon being released, he used this educational foundation to complete his degree at Ashland and get a full-time job at Christian Healthcare Ministries.  “Were it not for my faith and my education, my experience in prison would have been very different,” said Hopkins. “Studying gave me a reason to get up in the morning. And the promise of a better future after finishing my sentence was the ultimate motivator.”

 

In the past, incarcerated individuals like Mr. Hopkins would have seen their access to educational courses curtailed by logistical barriers. From limited classrooms, to inadequate writing materials and lack of instructors, the availability of digital tablets has helped resolve many of those limitations. As a result, access to an education is no longer contingent on prison location and individuals like Mr. Hopkins have the opportunity to take courses in an array of vocational and academic subjects.

 

But beyond their success in expanding prisoners’ access to education, these technologies have also been pivotal in maintaining prisoners’ connections to their communities so that they have networks of financial and emotional support upon release. Experts note the psychological impact of being in the relative isolation of prison, including anxiety, paranoia, hypersensitivity, and deep-seeded alienation.

 

To help address these issues,prison communications providers now offer email and video conferencing tools in addition to their educational programs. Being able to stay connected has produced a more reliable support network for ex-offenders in the days and weeks immediately following their release, when are they most vulnerable to recidivism.

 

Meanwhile, video streaming technologies allow families to communicate more frequently with their loved ones, while enabling experiences that were previously impossible, including seeing a son’s first at bat, watching a daughter’s wedding dance or saying goodbye to terminally ill parent.

 

In Mike Baldwin’s case, he served over 25 years in a number of correctional facilities in  California. The three years before his release were served at the California State Prison at Corcoran, where he had access to a Securus tablet.  Mr. Baldwin credits these communications tools (i.e. email, chat, etc.) with allowing him to reconnect with his children, who had moved to Florida at a young age, and who he had not seen for more than two decades. In the time he had his tablet, he estimates to have sent thousands of emails and messages.

 

“I was able to buy my grandson a Christmas present and then watch him open it on Christmas morning. That kind of connection gave me hope, and made me want to invest in my rehabilitation,” said Mr. Baldwin. “To this day, I still use the JPay app on my phone to communicate with friends that are still behind bars.”

 

Playing It Safe: Online Security Measures

 

To be sure, technologies in prison have raised questions about security risks, and whether they could be used to introduce contraband into facilities or allow inmates to coordinate criminal activities from within prison. But to confront these issues, the technologies are equipped with significant security and monitoring features that prevent their misuse. For example, tablets are unable to connect directly to the internet, and emails are screened like any traditional written communication to prevent problematic activity – say threatening a victim or communicating with a fellow gang member.

 

Officials from Securus say that  these technologies both benefit incarcerated people and improve a prison’s security infrastructure.

 

“The reality is that with smart investment, correctional facilities can modernize their technological infrastructure, keep everyone safe, and empower incarcerated Americans with the tools they need to successfully re-enter society after their release,” said Roberts of Securus.

 

“Finding this critical balance is at the heart of what we do, and in terms of results for both officers and incarcerated Americans alike, we think our work speaks for itself. It is possible—in fact, it’s already being done.”

August 10, 2019

When Will This End?
By Dr. E. Faye Williams

(TriceEdneyWire.com) —The Black community is not going unscathed by Donald Trump’s concentrating on dehumanizing our Hispanic brothers and sisters. We care deeply about the people harmed in that horrific crime we have just witnessed in El Paso. Because our ancestors have gone through being uprooted from Africa, through the brutality of slavery, the harshness of Jim Crow, the inhumanity of lynching, and because the impact of these horrific white supremacy hate crimes are still with us, we’re going through our own pain and the pain our Hispanic brothers and sisters are facing

Almost every politician who made a statement about El Paso, said what politicians too often say, “Our prayers are with the people of El Paso” and almost as a second thought, they add Dayton. How little these politicians care when they end their comments with prayer. Prayer is fine, but Fannie Lou Hamer said, “You can pray until you faint, but unless you get up and try to do something, God is not going to put it in your lap.” When the people of Ohio showed up at Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s meeting shouting, “Do something,” I knew they understood what Fannie Lou said.

What’s going on is about racial hate and the worship of guns. Haters’ insecurities, along with the constant urging through his racist rhetoric, Trump has shown us he’s the “Leader in Chief” of ignorance, hate, racism and meanness. On his unwelcomed trip to El Paso, he couldn’t rise to being a consoler. Instead he chose to exploit racial tension.

Last week he was spewing his evil thoughts about Rep. Elijah Cummings for doing his job as Chairman of the House Oversight Committee. This week he’s spewing hateful words about people who’re already suffering from recent tragedies and stealing parents from their children. His lack of caring wouldn’t allow people to grieve in peace.

What are we going to do with this mad man? Sixteen more months of this evil behavior coming out of the White House is intolerable. Everyday that he remains living free on our taxpayer dollars, he slices more decency from our nation. People outside our borders must think all Americans have gone mad to tolerate such madness from one man who is obviously shredding all the goodwill President Barack Obama built with people around the world.

To quote James Baldwin in “Fire Next Time,’ he said, “Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure does not testify to your inferiority—but to their inhumanity.”

Our hearts bleed for our Hispanic brothers and sisters. While our hearts bleed, we aren’t out of the woods either, and it’s time for us to join hands to lead the change we need. Let’s not accept the demonization of each other by anybody. Trump has no intention of bringing us together. That falls on us. 2020 may seem like a long way off, but it’s our hope that more of us will see that all of us owe it to our ancestors to work and vote against evil.

Nothing should stand in the way of unity exercised for the causes we share. Beto O’Rourke has been a real champion on making us understand the beauty of the people of El Paso. He left the Presidential campaign to go home and speak with and on behalf of the people of El Paso. Trump’s visit to El Paso was not welcomed. Rep. Veronica Escobar made that clear. We applaud her for her leadership. We, in the Black community, have suffered under racism for a very long time, and we, too, wonder when racism will end. Together, we can make the time shorter.

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is National President of the National Congress of Black Women and host of “Wake Up and Stay Woke” on WPFW-FM 89.3.)

August 7, 2019

The Impact of Trump’s Vile Racist Rhetoric; The Hate that Hate Produces
By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon, III

NEWS ANALYSIS

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - “Sadly, the overwhelming amount of violent crime in our major cities is committed by Blacks and Hispanics…” - Trump Tweet 6-5-13

"They (Democrats) don’t care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13. - Trump Tweet 6-19-18

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” - Trump 1-11-18

On August 3, 22 people were killed, and dozens injured in a shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. Authorities have uncovered a document that they believe links the shooter’s actions to his dismay at the increasing Hispanic population in Texas.

On April 27, 2019, one woman was killed, and three other people were injured at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, CA. In an antisemitic and racist open letter posted on 8chan shortly before the shooting and signed with the shooters name, the author blamed Jews for alleged “white genocide” …a conspiracy theory, which he referred to as the "meticulously planned genocide of the European race".

On October 27, 2018, eleven people were killed and seven (including the perpetrator) were injured at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Citing the Central American migrant caravans and immigrants, the shooter posted on “Gab” shortly before the attack that "HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered…”

At least three people were killed, and 12 others wounded in a shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Northern California on Sunday, July 28. Nine people were killed, and 27 others injured in Dayton, OH Sunday, August 4. Police have yet to determine the motive in these shootings.

Much has been made of President Trump’s racist and xenophobic Tweets and rants. The discussion now centers around the “rise” of white supremacist language, web sites, activity and action. Analysts and others are trying to assign blame to President Trump for inciting this hatred and violence…but this is not new; this is America! To quote H. Rap Brown, “violence (and in this case racism) is as American as cherry pie”.

America as a settler colonial state was founded upon violence, racism, bigotry and hatred. This month America commemorates the 400 years that enslaved Africans arrived on the shores of Port Comfort, Va. in 1619.

It’s codified in the Constitution. Article 1, Section 2 of the US Constitution - Better known as the 3/5ths compromise. Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3, - The Fugitive Slave Clause and Article 1, Section 9 – the importation of enslaved Africans was allowed for 25 years after the Constitution was ratified.

The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by President Andrew Jackson. The act has been referred to as a unitary act of systematic genocide as countless numbers of Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee people (including mixed-race and Africans who lived among them) were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands in the Southeastern United States and forced to relocate west of the Mississippi. It will never be determined how many people perished during this process also known as The Trail of Tears.

The Supreme Court was very clear in its language on March 6, 1857, Chief Justice Roger Taney issued what is widely regarded as the worst Supreme Court opinion ever in the infamous Dred Scott v. Sanford case, “[African Americans] had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect…”

These are just a few examples of the historic basis of President Trump’s racist tropes, but Trump is not alone. On the evening of March 21, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson attended a special screening at the White House of THE BIRTH OF A NATION, a film directed by D.W. Griffith and based on THE CLANSMAN, a novel written by Wilson's good friend Thomas Dixon. It depicted the Ku Klux Klan as valiant saviors of a post-war South, ravaged by Northern carpetbaggers and immoral freed blacks. The film helped to revive the Klan and its domestic terror in African American and Jewish communities.

Even the beloved Ronald Reagan (Obama’s favorite) was clear in his racism. According to Slate, In 1971, when both then-CA governor Reagan and President Nixon were frustrated about a United Nations vote to recognize the People’s Republic of China. African delegations sided with others in supporting Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan. In a racist phone call to President Richard Nixon Reagan said, “To see those, those monkeys from those African countries—damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!” Reagan said, to laughter from Nixon.

Trump is not the progenitor of this racist rhetoric. He is an accelerant of it and the resulting violence. What is most dangerous is how Trump has now neo-liberalized racism. By using his bully pulpit as president to spew his hatred and racism for political advantage, he has given the green light to like-minded white supremacists to act out individually. He is neo-liberalizing or privatizing what here-to-for has been government sanctioned violence.

So, whether it is Trump’s people from “shithole countries” or Reagan’s “monkeys from those African countries” the controlling American sentiment is that people of color in this country still have no rights which the white man is bound to respect. Trump’s vile racist rhetoric is the hate that hate produces.

Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the nationally broadcast call-in talk radio program “Inside the Issues with Leon,” on SiriusXM Satellite radio channel 126. Go to www.wilmerleon.com or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. www.twitter.com/drwleon and Dr. Leon’s Prescription at Facebook.com