Results reflect intentions. Think about that. Results reflect intentions. Nowhere is this clearer than in the school to prison pipeline. If you haven’t done so, please watch 13th tonight. The  prison industrial complex which uses legal slave labor and as an extra benefit keeps Black and Latino families  divided, literally, by prison walls. The United States has the highest number of incarcerated persons than any country in the world. This slavery is thoroughly legal, explicitly sanctioned by the 13th Ameendment: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall […]

As I lit up a joint and opened a beer this afternoon, I got an insight into why alcoholism and other addictions are so popular: it gets so we can’t really tolerate living unless were high on something. This is no accident. The triangular trade, dating from 1560, defined as follows, was the foundational transaction for capitalism in the Americas: New Englanders manufactured and shipped rum to the west coast of Africa in exchange for slaves. The slaves were taken on the ‘Middle Passage’ to the West Indies where they were sold for molasses/sugar and money. The molasses would be […]

If I were Trump, in my first 100 days, I would tell Jeff Sessions to go after the Sanctuary Cities, those 39 communities that have banned city employees and agencies from inquiring about people’s immigration status. And I would start with the larger cities with large Black populations: Chicago, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Newark, Oakland. I would freeze funding for the programs that disproportionately affect Black people: Food stamps, Section 8 housing, welfare, child care. What a terrific way to divide the urban liberal coalitions! IMHO, the only way to fight this is by organizing and educating all groups on precisely […]

The men and women in prison are the strongest people in the country. Guilty or innocent, think of what they have to endure. It’s not stylish, as “Orange is the New Black” seems to imply. It’s brutal. Dehumanizing beyond belief. Those of us who haven’t been there have no clue. It is quite literally, slavery. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. So reads the Thirteenth Amendment that “abolished” slavery, except… On September 9, 2016, […]